The Darkening of Your Soul

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Harry had never been so glad before that he had decided early on in the schoolyear to always keep his invisibility cloak and the Marauder’s Map in his bag that he carried around pretty much all day. He swung the cloak over his head after quickly checking the map to make sure there wasn’t anyone watching the doors in the entrance hall, and then he ran as fast as he could through the castle, down the stairs and out the door.

It rained buckets and he was soaked through in less than half a minute, but Harry hardly noticed it as he dashed through puddles, water splattering everywhere, across the wide lawn towards the whomping willow. He shot a spell at the knot to stop the willow from moving and all but threw himself down the dark hole, only remembering to light up his wand at the last second so he wouldn’t brain himself on the low ceiling while he scrambled towards the shack. Getting a traumatic brain injury, again, wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest, least of all his, but Harry was so elated he had trouble thinking rationally about anything right then.

Seeing Tom again…well, seeing him in the flesh, did things to Harry’s heart and lungs and brain that went far beyond a simple physical attraction. And how weird was that? Harry saw Tom almost every evening when they talked on their mirrors, but seeing him face to face, being in the same room with him, was something else entirely.

With a loud bang Harry pushed open the trapdoor and launched himself through it, leaking water every step he took. And then he looked up. And up. And up some more.

“Sweet Merlin, were you always this tall?” Harry asked in astonishment as he had to throw practically his whole head back to look up at Tom. He now realized he’d barely seen Tom as a whole person, standing upright, since his resurrection. He only ever saw the man’s face through their mirrors.

Tom, for his part, had to look down, which he did with a teasing smile. “And I don’t really recall you being such a soppy miniature human.” Before Harry could respond, Tom waved his wand around and a warm wind dried Harry in seconds.

Shivering, since he only now noticed how cold he’d been, Harry gave Tom his best unimpressed look. “Thanks. And I am only eleven. I will grow.”

“Certainly,” Tom agreed easily, tucking his wand away up his sleeve. “And this time you might actually grow to a decent size now that you’ve taken some nutrient potions to correct years of malnutrition.”

“A decent size?” Harry sputtered, while really only feeling mildly offended. “I made it to just shy of 5 foot 10 in my first life. That’s not exactly small. And what are you? 6 foot 5?”

“I’m just about 6 foot 6,” Tom said with a nonchalant shrug. “And you might make it to 6 foot this time around, if you eat all your veggies.”

Harry sighed and then shook his head in mild amusement. It would be nice to grow a little taller this life, certainly, but he wasn’t about to agree with Tom on principle. Harry shook out his invisibility cloak, even though it was completely dry now thanks to his soulmate, and folded it before sliding it in his bag. “So what happened? And did Dumbledore really bring you before the Wizengamot?”

Tom’s small smile grew into a sly smirk at once and he gestured towards the rickety table on which a grey, stone pensieve stood, with two simple, wooden chairs on either side of the table. “Have a look for yourself.”

“Is this your memory?” Harry sat down on one chair, while Tom occupied the opposite one.

“Yes. I had expected Dumbledore to pull something like this, I just hadn’t quite expected it to be this soon after your godfather’s trial, since that put Dumbledore in such a bad light. But apparently Dumbledore was in such a state of shock over my return he’d forgotten that part and just went full steam ahead without considering all the possible consequences.”