"Riddle, stop it!" Harry shouted pulling his wand out.
"Save it." said Riddle pocketing the dagger. "I was only portraying what I had forgotten to mention."
"What?!"
"In getting over all his emotions to control his powers, it also includes getting over his fear, his fear of the stupid knife, his fear of me nearly stabbing him to death."
"You could have mentioned!" said Harry pocketing his wand.
"I wanted to, but he didn't let me."
Harry frowned slightly before bending over Tom to bring him back to consciousness while Riddle stared at him. Harry was relieved. For a moment he had thought Riddle was going to stab Tom all over again.
"You think I would have tried to kill him." It was more a statement than a question. Harry was tired of Riddle reading all his thoughts. He himself was never that good at occlumency. Harry nodded quietly looking up at Riddle incredibly seeing nothing more or less than disappointment on his face. "I may not love him the way he loves me, but after what happened at the Ministry I finally understand the importance of a life, be it of anyone. And the person in question here is none other than my own blood. Would I kill him?"
It was very difficult for Harry to believe everything that Riddle had just said but he wanted to. Although he didn't let Riddle know of that. "I know why you wouldn't, Riddle."
At that Riddle looked at Harry actually a little embarrassed. Harry knew exactly why he had refrained from killing Tom last year.
"Tom, are you OK?" Harry asked Tom as he came to in a few minutes.
"Yeah." said Tom heavily. As he stood up he was still a little shaky. He froze at Riddle's sight who was sitting quietly opposite the Headmaster's chair and thankfully had no daggers on him. Tom sat down beside him not daring to look at him very often.
Harry sat down opposite the two of them. "Look I need all three of us to know everything that happened. Otherwise, we'll be in trouble when Latnok comes back to ask more questions and our story doesn't match or else sends somebody to find out what's going on. In any case the facts must remain between the three of us and only a well versed story must leave the confines of this office."
Tom nodded and Riddle stared at Harry in approval.
"Tom, I want you to begin with what happened in the forest." Harry continued. "Then we'll add the bits we know so all of us know of everything."
"I walked into the forest with Porch," Tom started. "and as we reached a parting I started flying. It was very difficult for me to fly because of my back. Halfway through the flight when I was flying over the trenches my back gave away and I fell right through-_"
"Why are you explaining everything in a blow by blow detail?" Riddle had stared at Tom all the while he had spoken and now shot at him sarcastically. It was frustrating for him when people didn't bother to be brief.
Both Tom and Harry stared at him. Tom who was too angry with him didn't say anything but Harry who could see an argument coming between the two decided to step in. "It is necessary that we know every detail."
"Every important detail." Riddle had no intentions of giving in.
"Still, I'd rather if there were no interruptions." said Harry pointedly to Riddle. "Tom, you may continue."
"I fell into a trench. When I tried to fly back up, I couldn't I had hurt my already injured back-_"
"How come you're always hurt? It's strange for a wizard to be in so much trouble at all times. I mean you're always, broken, battered or bruised. I wonder how you've survived for 23 years."
Harry closed his eyes in mere frustration. Riddle hadn't left a single opportunity to mock Tom which could very well brew a duel between the two of them right now. Riddle was being relentless only Harry didn't know why.
"That is because I cannot stand this ridicule." Riddle answered before Harry had said anything. He had read his thoughts again.
"Stop it, will you?" Harry couldn't take it anymore.
"My dear Professor, if you wouldn't practice occlumency yourself, how will your students follow you?" Riddle had started mocking him too.
"That is none of you concern." said Harry. "Please, continue Tom, and Riddle please no interruptions."
"Very well, but I would rather if he mentions important facts only and that too briefly." said Riddle.
"Oh really, you want me to be brief? How brief would you like me to be?" Tom finally spoke up to him and Harry saw things becoming worse between the two. If it kept going this way neither will understand the other.
"Just tell us how you gashed your arm, broke your back and most importantly broke your wand." Harry stared at Riddle who had literally explained how concise should Tom be.
"Fine! I met the dragon I was supposed to be looking for in the forest on a path where no human but me had ever set foot on, which was being guarded by that dragon who gashed my arm while trying to help me, stepped on to my wand snapping it into two so I couldn't summon anyone for help and I broke my back when I crashed into the Castle grounds after my last flight back here and when your sent backstabber sent me a patronus to help him!"
"That's better." Riddle commented the moment Tom had finished who looked like he would murder Riddle if anything else escaped his mouth.
"What was your plan?" Harry asked Riddle completely ignoring his taunt.
Riddle who was amusing himself by mocking everybody suddenly turned serious and looked straight at Harry. "We worked on our plan of bait. Lestrange pretended he needed help to duel me and when Tom caught sight of us we pretended Lestrange had been stunned and Malfoy spilled some blood on the floor to portray that Lestrange was in a pathetic condition."
"What happened next?" asked Harry looking at Tom.
"I left to help and on the way told Porch to alert you. Once at the Ministry I realized I was trapped. Estella was already there awaiting me."
"Why had you set her up?" asked Harry looking at Riddle.
"To make sure he had the other half of the locket on him." said Riddle as Tom remembered she had looked for it on him ever since he had appeared in the Atrium. Both Tom and Harry had realised that very night that the lockets had been horcruxes that had carried Riddle's soul. What neither had been able to understand was why there were 2 in the first place.
"Why did you make 2 parts of your horcrux?" Harry asked Riddle who for the first time seemed unsure and a little afraid as if remembering something terrible. He shut his eyes for a moment as Tom stared at him. He too remembered everything that he had seen while the spirits conjured by priori incantetum had punished them brutally for the pain they had to endure when Riddle had killed them. He gulped down. He had felt every bit of what they had felt when they had left this world. As he remembered Neville's face, tears leapt down his eyes but he wiped them off quickly not wanting Riddle to notice. Harry chose not to look at him just at that moment thankfully. He didn't know if any of that had made any difference to Riddle at all. After a moment, however, Riddle spoke up.
"I didn't make 2 parts of it. It broke, all by itself. When I had made it, in June, it just broke. When it did, I simply sent one half to Tom through Estella, so it would help in our plan. A horcrux has the power to alter judgment, mostly for the worse. We devised it could help Estella change Tom's mind about you."
"In June?" Tom asked suddenly remembering he had fainted one day at St. Mungoes last June and no one had been able to explain why. Was it because his soul had departed his body?? "Harry...what does this mean?" He asked a little alarmed.
Harry held up his hand for him to wait and answered calmly. "You will understand everything. As we move on..."
"So, what was the plan exactly?" Harry finally asked Riddle what had been bothering him. He had figured it out as well but he wanted to confirm.
"The plan was to retrieve the two most difficult ingredients for the Elixir. Tears of Remorse of the Evil and Tears of Guilt of the Purest...Both things quite impossible to retrieve... The sole purpose of creation of the horcrux was my opportunity to ask for remorse...only I had never known what remorse actually was..." Riddle trailed away as Harry stared at him stunned. He seemed to be rationalizing something that Harry had previously considered him to be incapable of.
"And now you do?" He asked quickly not wanting to miss the moment.
Riddle looked up at Harry and Harry felt all doors close in his face. He didn't answer.
"You wanted me to feel guilt...that's why they broke my trust..." Tom looked at Riddle outrageously who sat unmoved by his words.
"There can never be a betrayal where there is no trust...it had to be that way." Riddle replied resolutely.
Tom sat gaping at him. Riddle had no clue of how cold he was.
"What happened after Estella found the locket on you." Harry nodded to Tom.
Tom looked away from Riddle after a moment and answered Harry's question. "She took me to the room with the Veil. Riddle overpowered me there but I was able to snatch his and Malfoy's wands and then..." Tom left the sentence incomplete. He didn't want to talk about Roy or even mention him.
Riddle understood why Tom had stopped and granted him liberty by continuing himself. "Lestrange appeared." Harry looked at Riddle as he started. He was surprised to see that after being so cruelly mocking to his brother Riddle was actually trying to relieve him. Did that mean that somewhere inside that black cloak, behind that mocking nature lay a heart of gold exactly like that of Tom's? Perhaps if Malfoy had never taken Riddle in, things would be different for him too. "He overpowered Tom but our plan was far from successful until Tom felt the weight of his guilt. But it seemed like he had never trusted Zavatti and Lestrange..."
"Actually I had." Tom started off suddenly. Although he hated to admit it and hated the two of them more than anybody else he couldn't ignore that he had fallen right into their trap. It was somewhere his inexpertise, his incompetence, his negligence... "I had trusted them but at that point in time I felt so trapped and helpless, the least I could do was humiliate them as much as possible but I didn't know that if I had kept it up for a little longer Voldemort would never have returned."
"It wasn't your fault, Tom." said Harry seeing quite clearly that Tom was blaming himself for everything all over again. Riddle was staring at Tom in astonishment. Tom had taken the liability of something that he had never contributed to actively or by will. Why though? Riddle who had taken an active part in Voldemort's return and willingly would never have admitted, for one, that it was a mistake, Voldemort being back, let alone accepting that it was his fault. And as far as he knew neither would have Malfoy who had brought him up and never taught him any of the nobility. Tom on the other hand had willingly taken the weight of the guilt that wasn't his and so easily he had stated himself responsible for everything. Riddle had never found accountability to himself or his conscience that easy. "You were as much a victim of this plan as I was."
Tom nodded quietly at Harry's words as Riddle continued when Harry turned back to him. "When everything failed, we acted on the second plan. The Weasleys were already under the imperius curse for days. They brought you at Malfoy's command." And all three of them knew the rest until both Tom and Riddle had fainted.
"Although I never mistrusted the judgment of the Dark Lord, I never understood, why had he kept you as a back up? Zavatti, a woman, she could lure him, as women can make men do anything they want. Lestrange has the same blood running in his veins as us. But why you? And how come betrayal by his own blood could not stir his insides and a little harm to you could?" Riddle who had finally started expressing himself, asked Harry like a child who was lost on his way to his home. Although Riddle's control, interpretation, manipulation and implication of his powers was much better than Tom's but he was nowhere near him. Tom who understood the depth of love, its obligations, duties, responsibilities, who had often cherished its charm, beauty and simplicity but had frequently fallen prey to its betrayal, despair and disloyalty, was much more experienced than Riddle. Riddle had never understood love, for anyone, because he had never felt love.
Now that Harry looked at the two of them altogether, he felt why they were connected so profoundly. Each one completed the other. Tom could never reach perfection without Riddle and Riddle would never become pure without Tom. They both might be two different ends of a spear but when combined their spear would never miss its target. Harry understood that now but he knew that neither of them would understand it, not just yet at least.
Harry smiled at Riddle's question and replied him politely. "It is simply love."
"Oh yes, Dumbledore's favourite solution, love." The moment Riddle said it, all thought vanished from Harry's mind. His smile faded and he suddenly felt outrageous. When riddle had spoken, for a moment Harry had felt Voldemort saying exactly the same thing years before.
Tom who had seen Harry's expression change asked him. "Harry, are you alright?"
Harry kept staring at Riddle for a long time. Had he misjudged him? Was he making a mistake by even inviting him into the Castle? He was so much like Voldemort, you could never tell when he would strike. Harry felt torn between his own better judgment. "I'm fine." Harry replied Tom who nodded quickly to allow him to proceed.
"Now," Harry continued not wanting to persist the awkward silence. "All three of us know everything that happened except for a few facts that must be clarified." Harry stopped and saw both their reactions of approval. "For one, both of you must realize that the two of you are connected to the core. When Riddle's soul parted with the horcrux, it divided into two for each of you. That means that when Riddle made the horcrux, not only his soul parted but so did yours." said Harry looking at Tom who was oblivious of this fact. Now, he understood what Harry had meant when he had said he would understand as they moved on.
"But nothing happened to me. I never changed, like Riddle did." said Tom still confused.
"Yes, you never did, probably because you never actually performed the procedure, you never killed anyone, never harmed a soul, Tom, and that stands more than you give it credit for. I know it is hard for either of you to understand that just yet but a time shall come when you will realize what I've just said. What concerns you, Tom, now is that there is another explanation awaiting you being led out of this one."
Tom stared at Harry confused. What else was left for him to know?
"You've always known that I never knew why Riddle hadn't killed you...but the truth is I know, at least now I do." Harry waited for Tom's reaction. He knew Tom would be upset with him even angry if he knew Harry had known and had hidden it from him all the while.
Tom, who had heard Harry's previous explanation very carefully had realized his worst assumptions coming true. Although he had never lived with Riddle but he was after all his brother. And if not everything, Tom, at least knew enough of his brother to judge what he did and why. He had been suspecting this for ages but now that Harry explained him the way they were connected he was sure he knew why Riddle hadn't killed him.
"So do I, Harry." said Tom as Riddle stared at him unbelievingly and Harry astonishingly. Tom turned to Riddle and for the first time in days smiled. It wasn't sarcastic, neither pitied, it was a knowing smile. One that Harry was unable to decipher. He had known Tom to despise Riddle and yet Tom knew every vein of his. How curious things happened that way. "Kill me and lose your protection, the strong core of both our powers. Right?" He asked looking questioningly at Riddle who kept staring back at Tom. "Now, why would you take such a risk? It feels strange to know that the only reason I'm alive today is because of my powers. You were right. I've always despised my powers, because I've never wanted them. I could easily swap them for a family of my own but hell if that were possible." He shut his eyes in mere hopelessness and quite unwillingly his eyes watered as they did every time he thought of how his family would have been if he had any. "You never wanted me to die, not because you love me, or even because of my blood, but because you were afraid to lose your powers, without which you are unable to do anything. Our strong, extreme powers are what make us different from others, more perfect, you wouldn't want to lose that, would you, now?" Tom asked staring into Riddle's eyes, finding them hollow.
Now that he had finally spoken what had been going on in his mind for a year and a half since Riddle had attacked him, Tom felt his own heart ache. He had felt nothing but pain when it came to Riddle. And now was not going to be any different. Tom had thought about it, if it ever came true that Riddle hadn't killed him to save his powers Tom would perhaps hate him for the rest of his life, would never love him, would diminish all relations with him, would never turn back and extend a hand to help, but now, today when finally the truth was at the surface, he had felt nothing but pain. He didn't know why but he just couldn't stop loving him, couldn't stop longing for him, couldn't stop feeling hurt. He felt shattered to know that if it hadn't been for their powers, Riddle would have killed him, but didn't express any of his resentfulness. He kept it all inside like he had always done but Riddle had seen right through him and for the first time in his life he had felt disappointed in his self to have hurt his brother.
Harry stared at Tom. So he had known all along. Harry had thought Tom's emotional personality was somewhere his weakness. He said everything he felt, trusted everyone that was polite to him but today he had realized something. Tom had always known much more than Harry had ever given him credit for. Although, he had never expressed it but he was wise in his own ways. He had known why Riddle hadn't killled him and instead of making it an issue and going after him he had kept it all inside and not for once sought for vengeance. Dumbledore had always been right. Love could never be anybody's weakness it could only strengthen them in ways that could not be touched by people with lesser conscience. It kept them away from evils of hate, loathing, revenge, treachery and protected them from shame and disappointment in their own self.
"Tom, Riddle, " Harry continued wanting to get over the icy silence that had settled over all three of them after Tom had finished. "What all three of us know is to remain confidential. The story that we are to tell Latnok or so to say the official story will be that Voldemort lured me into a trap to kill me. He had kidnapped Ginny and imperiused Ron and Hermione to get to me. Tom got air of it and kept tail on me, reached the Ministry just in time to save my life. Estella and Roy only helped Voldemort. Estella will be declared convicted deatheater and Royston's charges will be taken care of-_"
"Why?" Tom asked suddenly. He didn't want Roy to get off so easily. He had betrayed him there was no justification for that.
"Because he didn't do anything intentionally, Tom. Rabastian's life was at stake. Roy didn't have any other options."
Factually Roy had every other option in the world. All he had to do was trust Tom and tell him the truth. Tom and Harry would have rescued Rabastian even at the cost of their own lives but Roy hadn't trusted him. Tom who had come to dislike him over time said none of this.
"And me?" asked Riddle wanting to know what part would Harry give him.
"Oh, you don't exist." said Harry simply seeing Riddle expression turn to anger. "Well, I don't have any other options. You cannot be revealed, otherwise both of you will land into Azkaban. Tom has no siblings in records and if suddenly you appear out of nowhere and claim you're his brother, questions will be asked and it will lead to the revelation of your relation with Voldemort so it's only for good if we kept you hidden." Harry saw rationale dawn upon Riddle's face and continued. "Now, you two will share the room." Tom nodded. Although the idea of living with Riddle alone in a locked room wasn't something that Tom was looking forward to but he knew it was a must. Harry would want Tom to keep an eye on Riddle making sure he wouldn't be roaming around the Castle unnecessarily. "Riddle, work with Tom to improve his powers. We only have a couple of months for the new term to begin and I want Tom to start taking classes from day one, with or without a wand."
Riddle smirked. "He doesn't have more than a couple of months if he doesn't control his powers so it is a do or die case with him." Harry wanted to murder Riddle. Why did he have to remind Tom every second of how difficult it was all going to be for him?
Harry looked at Tom quite concerned. He needed to talk to him alone. "Riddle, I want you to disguise yourself and wait outside my office. Tom will join you shortly." Riddle stood up covered himself with a disillusionment charm and left the office. Harry looked at Tom. "I know everything that's happened has been harder on you than any of us. Tom, you know I love you and I don't want to lose you. I know it's very difficult for you to forget about what happened last year but you have to try. Your powers are unstable but you can make it right. All you have to do is focus and concentrate. I assure you that Riddle will not harm you. I will not leave you alone with him. You'll be watched every single second. You know Dumbledore's in your room, he'll keep me reported."
Tom nodded at Harry's words. They were a lot of comfort for him as he was feeling a little scared at the prospect of being alone with Riddle.
"There's one more thing Tom." said Harry. "I am giving you a task. I don't want Riddle to come into any contact with any of the students. Make sure he doesn't leave your room purposelessly and doesn't get an opportunity to portray you and roam around the Castle. I still don't trust him completely. I don't want any of my students harmed. He may have left Voldemort but he's still quite different in his ways."
Tom looked at Harry comprehension dawning over him. "That is why you told James to stay out of trouble. You didn't want him caught by Riddle again."
Harry nodded. Tom smiled. He would do anything for Harry's children and the rest of his students.
"One more thing, Tom. I know James very well. What happened today was quite unusual and if he doesn't know anything about it he'll work tooth and nail to find out what's going on and I'm sure Mr, Purcell will only accompany him in his efforts. Be cautious. I don't want them to know about anything. Make sure they're not on your tail or something."
"But Harry why would they tail me?"
Harry smiled. "Because that's what I and Ron would have done if we weren't being told anything."
Tom smiled too. This time his million dollar, thirty-two teeth exposing smile. Harry was happy to see him smile knowing quite clearly it would fade way all too soon.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Arjun
Cricket
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