one or the other // oneshots!!

in his eyes a flaming glow (tomarry)

so incredibly sorry for the delay in posting, im very busy with work and all. it's been really hard but i wanted to get this out as soon as possible. as usual, i will come back to this and fix any mistakes or add missing elements.

cont. of "there was a certain man" !
(mentions of blood and smut)

The stomping of hooves invaded the chilly night air.
There was a gentle rustle of sounds while on the journey to the next village, like the clinking of the buckles on the saddle, the soft breathing of the stallion beneath him, and the breeze that caressed Harry's hair. It would be a while before they got the next village that Tom was being asked to see to, so Harry had figured he would do his best to relax with what little space he had.

Harry stirred from his uncomfortable sleep and jolted forward, nearly falling off the horse he had forgotten he was riding on. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep even with the constant jostling and the dull ache in his back.
Fortunately, Tom seemed to have been watching him closely (maybe too closely for his liking) and was gripping tightly onto the back of his jacket.
The snow had cleared up as they made their way away from Harry's old town, and, instead, the grass began to reappear in patches, though it was dead and crisp underneath the horse's hooves.

The days began to pass by, and everyday Harry would silently watch the man who had taken him from his very home.
He wanted to feel resentment towards him, wanted to throw angry words his way or maybe hit him a couple of times.
It was to no avail and Harry felt guilty for feeling free for the first time in his life.
There were no demanding relatives to bully him around and give him little money when he worked all day. In fact, as much as he loved his friends, there was no one to talk over him or leave him in the background like before.
He felt some sort of peace in leaving behind the town he'd never left before.

"Your horse have a name?"
Harry asked on the third day, scrubbing at his eyes from underneath his glasses. He blinked blearily and took note of his surroundings.
It seemed they still had a very long way to go.
"Voldemort." Tom said simply, though he accentuated the word with an accent.
"It means 'flight of death'."

"Really?" Harry sat up in interest for the first time since they'd left, and he leaned forward to avoid the warmth of Tom's chest that beckoned him to return.
He still felt strangely about having left with the man... after all, he had been forced to leave all his friends behind.

The cold began to seep into him again.
"People will think you're the grim reaper on a horse with a name like that."
Said horse neighed, and Harry would have believed Tom if he was told that the horse could understand their conversation.
It definitely sounded like it was agreeing with him.

"I'd like that. It strikes much more fear into someone than when I'm referred to some type of silly magical man... I'm a warlock."
He could practically hear the twitch of lips that would quirk into a half-smile as Tom spoke, but he didn't turn back to make sure it was there.
Tom was a warlock?
He supposed that killed the rumors that came from Luna. Truthfully though, he shouldn't have completely trusted her, because, as much as he loved her, she believed in things like dragons and unicorns, and those didn't exist.
Magic existed...just not like that.
Harry reassured himself of this.

Their days didn't accompany only horse riding and small talk though.
They would stop in-between points of their journey, taking to camping by the trail but far enough to where they wouldn't be bothered or robbed (though Tom had stated on multiple occasions that he could easily defend the both of them).