The Greatest Love to Roam These Halls (TMR x fem!OC)

Chapter 5: Where Has The Time Gone?

"Sera!" Who on Earth is trying to wake me up at this ungodly hour?!

"Sera, wake up, would you?!" Daphne was going to die if she didn't shut the hell up.

"Sera! Potter was taken to the hospital wing last night! Supposedly, Quirrell tried to kill him, along with Weasley and Granger." Now, that woke me up.

"What?! What's going to happen to Quirrell?"

"Oh, so you'll wake up for that!", she grumbled, annoyed at my unwillingness to indulge her.

I growled, losing my patience rapidly.

"Daphne..."

Okay, so maybe that was slightly too aggressive, judging by the way Daph's eyes widened in shock and slight apprehension (I had gained quite the reputation within my house, and the other first-years were some of the very few who felt comfortable enough to act familiar with me). Still, it was really not the time to deny me information (though, when is it ever?) - I needed information about Quirrell, dammit!

I needed to know what happened to Tom's soul fragment, and that would be very hard (though, not impossible) without Quirrell's (unwilling) help.

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As it turned out, Quirrell was dead, and this occurred, somehow, at the hands of our very own 'Boy Who Lived'. I discovered that by using legilimency, on the child, of course, as both Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore would surely have enough defenses to at least detect my mental probes, ridding me of my current anonymity.

However, the soul fragment had somehow left him, as I saw in the Potter boy's memories. I later found out that it had found its way to the diary and was fighting Tom for complete dominance over the other.

I was not all that worried. As Tom was around fifty times the percentage of his soul compared to the fragment, this 'fight' was quickly starting to become a little one-sided. Getting fed up with the continuous back-and-forth between the two over-zealous entities (would they be considered the same entity, despite their different experiences?), I took things into my own hands and sent calming echoes of my magic to the diary, confident in Tom's ability to take control over his soul once more.

Settling down at my desk, I felt the magical surges from the diary die down and started writing.

'You back yet, Tom?'

'Of course, dear. You did not really believe...it...had a chance against me, did you? Hi-its extra years of experience mean nothing.'

'I believe in you, Tom.'

Seeing the now familiar handwriting convey the same grumpy, disgruntled tone I was more than used to hearing, I relaxed enough to not concern anyone who might see me, secure in the knowledge that Tom was, once again, safe (for now, at least).

... 'Thank you, Serena. That means a lot, especially coming from you.'

I had forgotten how he reacted to affection of any kind. Growing up in an orphanage, and then in Slytherin during Grindlewald's reign, the only niceties he would have received from anyone not a part of the Knights of Walpurgis (and even from some Knights) would have been to curry favor with an extremely powerful and promising wizard, or as some knew him, the Heir of House Slytherin.

Additionally, as far as I knew, the boy absolutely hated being vulnerable, especially in front of people, which would not have let him connect as well with any of his peers. It took me three years to wear him down using every method I knew of, and Tom was still guarded with me, sometimes to the point where I would have no inkling of what he was feeling or thinking, had it not been for the multiple lifetimes I had lived through (and the experiences I gained from them).

My foremost goal for this life, in recent years, had become healing this boy. He may be a child prodigy, and actually more than half a century old, but everyone needs friends, no matter how jaded they may be.

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This had been a hectic year, made more so by the utter lack of competency of the so-called 'adults' of the school. What would next year bring? How long would it take to make Tom whole again? Would I even succeed?

I hadn't fully realized it yet, but Tom had become very important to me, enough that his well-being seemed to be the motive behind most, if not all, of the actions I took. That put a scary thought into my head, one I was unwilling to entertain. There was no way I actually loved this boy (no, he was a man), was there?

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This doesn't feel very complete to me. Does anyone have any suggestions either for this chapter or for how to start Year 2?

~Lila