A Snake Named Voldemort

Chapter 13

It really was quite fascinating. Almost irresistible.

Tom couldn't help but think these things as he threaded his fingers lightly through a sleeping Harry's hair. Such a plebeian gesture. He'd never done this before with anybody. He'd never known how satisfying it could be.

Harry shifted in his sleep, and Tom halted his movements to make sure the boy didn't wake.

How did this happen? When did this happen? Tom's hand clenched and his face twitched, his visage morphing into one of unreserved incredulity from the fact that Harry Potter, this child once destined to kill him, had become someone he'd rather live with than without.

This was one thing he was definitely blaming Harry for. The brat probably planned this all along.

And yet, though he'd like to proclaim Harry had planned this, the utterly laughable thing was the fact Tom was almost positive Harry had no idea what he had done.

Tom had enough self-accountability to admit that yesterday, while it had been necessary to be away from Potter to conduct long-neglected business, it had served the dual purpose of avoiding him. He needed time away; to think, to focus, to stop touching him...

Tom's hand resumed their previous activity of fingering through Harry's black and horribly uncontrollable hair. He simply couldn't resist touching Harry. He had grown used over these weeks to almost constantly basking in the boy's body heat. He wasn't a snake anymore, and thus didn't need it, but perhaps he wanted it—a feeling akin to instinct.

It was the Horcrux; it could easily explain this need to be close, this possessiveness, and even fondness. Harry was the carrier of his soul, and therefore something that needed to be protected in order to protect himself. He was Tom's, no matter what Harry had to say about that; he was his to watch over, his to keep safe, his to keep close. There had always been a little bit of Harry Potter that was his, even before he knew of the Horcrux connection. Harry had been his to kill once. He had owned his death, and now he owned his life. How the world turns...

The rational part of his brain, the one with all the answers, assured him that Harry was his Horcrux and nothing else. Any and all things could be explained away by this. But, the new—dare he say it—emotional part of himself, the one that said logic really doesn't hold all the answers, traitorously whispered the one thing that would blow a hole right through his assessment of the situation using one little piece of evidence.

The fact of the matter was...the Horcrux connection was only the how, not the why of Harry being in his mind to share in his rather desolate dreamscape, something even his rational brain had to admit. The why was something else entirely; there was something more than the Horcrux at work. Nagini, his precious familiar, had been his Horcrux, but he hadn't stumbled across her in any of his dreams. It could be said that Nagini was a snake and Harry was a wizard and so entirely different, but ultimately that didn't matter. He had perfectly operable Occlumency shields, while Harry and Nagini did not, and no matter how close that little sliver of his soul lay next to Harry's, there was no reason for their minds to merge naturally, especially so easily into his mind, without any of them trying, unless one of them wanted it to happen. All Tom remembered was not being at all surprised Harry had met him in that undefined darkness.

Therefore, he could only conclude that he let him in. Why? Tom gritted his teeth and stared at the young face before him as the answer bubbled up.

Okay, fine; he had grown rather attached to Harry Potter and enjoyed his company. There, that wasn't so hard to admit...

...Tom could feel his headache coming back. What he wouldn't give to have someone to Crucio.

This was a whole new experience for Tom. It wasn't every day that he came across someone to whom he could be around and not feel like every second he did so was time wasted. He had never met someone quite like him. Harry Potter was no minion, or enemy. Harry Potter was...something else.