To Live is the Rarest Thing

Chapter 17

Tom sent his Patronus off to alert Regulus of a potential problem and to invite him over to discuss strategies. Harry always had to smile when he saw the huge, shimmering lion that erupted from Tom’s wand. Not the animal most people would associate with Tom Riddle, formerly known as Lord Voldemort, but Tom’s Patronus had changed into a lion during their eleventh life, when they’d been wizards in France and had first started an intimate relationship together. Harry knew this was the moment Tom had started loving Harry, because before that Tom’s Patronus had been a basilisk.

Ironically, their eleventh life was also when Harry’s Patronus had changed, from a stag which had served Harry well up until that point, into a raven, which was Tom’s Animagus form. It was funny how that worked, Harry always thought. Over their many lives lots of things changed about them, from their bodies to their intelligence and their natural talents, but both their Patronus animals and their Animagus forms always remained the same. They were, Harry was now utterly sure, tied to their souls and not their bodies, no matter who they were in whichever life they lived.

Regulus showed up just as Harry came back from a quick stroll to let Izzy do her business, and because they were too curious for their own good, Sirius and Remus had decided to tag along.

Tom showed them the letter while Harry made coffee and found some leftover German crumb cake in the cooling cabinet which he managed to slice up in just enough portions to serve them all.

“They’re dragging you in front of the Wizengamot?” Sirius asked in astonishment. “Are they already putting you on trial for this?”

“It says it’s an inquest,” Regulus pointed out.

“Knowing the ministry, they might try to turn the inquest into a trial on the spot,” Harry said while he placed cups of coffee on the dining table while everyone took a seat.

“You might want to contact a solicitor,” Remus said with a worried frown. “Merlin knows that might be the only thing keeping the ministry from doing something rash and stupid.”

“I doubt it will come to that,” Tom said in a surprisingly reassuring tone. “Obviously the ministry has no idea what we’re doing in our new business, and once we explain we aren’t actually breaking any laws I’m sure they’ll leave us alone.”

Sirius released a dubious snort while he added two lumps of sugar to his coffee. “Sure, because the ministry never makes any mistakes when it comes to throwing people behind bars.”

“Point taken,” Tom managed to concede with a small nod.

“Babe, let’s just stop by Diagon Alley first thing tomorrow and hire a solicitor,” Harry said with a stern look as he placed slices of cake in front of everyone. “I know you get off on lording your superiority over all the idiots at the ministry, but having some legal backup won’t hurt a thing. And it’s not as though we can’t afford it.”

“Yes, fine,” Tom said with a haughty sniff while everyone else chuckled. “We’ll pay a visit to Brown and Spears. Regulus, I’d like you to join us as well, even if you’re technically an employee. Having a member of a prominent pureblood family there to endorse our business will probably help as well.”

“Of course,” Regulus said with an amused smile. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Harry sat down at the table and offered everyone a huge grin. “We might as well turn this into a party. You’re looking at the new Potions and Defence professors.”