To Live is the Rarest Thing

Chapter 23

Harry was still laughing when he entered their quarters, Izzy right behind him. She made a beeline towards Tom to greet him.

Tom absently patted Izzy's back a few times while he looked up at Harry with a curious look on his face. "Care to share?"

Inhaling a deep breath, Harry dropped himself onto the couch beside Tom. "Remember that time we were wizards in Africa during the 1500s?" When Tom nodded, Harry added, "I used one of the local shrinking spells on Fluffy. She's now barely bigger than Izzy."

That got exactly the reaction that Harry had hoped it would. Tom threw his head back and laughed for a good minute before giving Harry an undeniably fond smile. "Very inspired, darling. No one here will be able to break that spell, at least not anytime soon."

"Yep, that's why I chose it." Harry bent down to unlace his shoes before kicking them off. He placed his feet on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch with a satisfied sigh. "Now to determine what to do with the Devils Snare."

"Isn't there a potion that instantly kills it?" Tom asked, his attention already going back to the Marauder's Map still in his hands.

"Yeah, an extra-strength weedkiller. But I don't want to kill it, I just want to render it useless." Harry frowned as he considered option after option. "It might be possible to simply transfigure it into something harmless."

"But then Dumbledore would most certainly be able to undo the transfiguration," Tom said at once, making a very good point.

Harry sighed in obvious disappointment. "Yeah, you're right. I'll give it some thought."

"I've figured out how the map works." Tom gave Harry a bit of a triumphant look before his expression turned contemplative again. "Well, I have figured out that it draws all the information on it directly from Hogwarts' wards. The layout of the castle and the position of every person inside of it. I've yet to discover how a bunch of teenagers managed to actually tap into the wards and transfer all that information for decades to come."

"You could just owl Remus or Sirius and ask them," Harry suggested, though he was sure Tom had no intention of doing such a thing anytime soon.

And as expected, Tom gave Harry an affronted look. "Now where is the fun in that?"

Chuckling, Harry got up, pressed a kiss to the top of Tom's head and went to make them both some tea in the small kitchenette. Tom was very much the kind of person that insisted that the journey was equally as important, if not more important, as the destination, and he used that in pretty much all facets of his life.

They sipped their tea side by side on the couch, Tom still absorbed by the map while Harry let his thoughts wander towards Dumbledore's ridiculous obstacle course and how he could sabotage each of the tasks.

"How about I go and enlarge out bathtub so we can have a bit of a soak before turning in," Harry suggested as their tea was finished.

Tom visibly perked up at that, a small smile appearing on his otherwise tired face. There were few things in life that could relax Tom as much as a soak on some warm water could. So Harry went to quickly remodel their standard bathroom into something that would provide plenty of bathing space for two adult wizards.

Hogwarts did always have amazing bubble bath available, made by the elves, and Harry selected one that smelled like a combination of tropical flowers and coconut. By the time Harry had stripped off his clothes, Tom appeared in the doorway, lured in by the sweet scent and the sound of running water. They settled in the enlarged tub with Harry leaning back against Tom's chest while the water lapped at their chins.