𝕯𝖊 𝕷𝖆 𝕸𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖊 [√]

6

Tomorrow was Harry's birthday, and he was excited, to say the least. He was in the sitting room with Tom, sitting by the bay window looking out over the gardens. "Tom, aren't you excited? I am going to get my inheritance. Even though I don't know what that is, it sounds exciting," Harry rambled, and Tom chuckled.

Then he realized what Harry had said. "Do you really not know what an inheritance means?" he asked, and Harry shook his head.

Tom patted the seat beside him, and Harry happily bounced and sat beside him. "An inheritance is a really big time for every wizard. When you unlock your true power, your creature emerges, and you find your mate. You also inherit your ancestral wealth and will become recognized as an adult in the wizarding world. You can take your N.E.W.T.S and O.W.L.S. early at the ministry and finish all the adult things without your parents or Guardian. Tomorrow, we can go to Gringotts, and you can see how it usually happens," Tom told him, and Harry looked thoughtful. "Have you never heard of an inheritance before?" Tom asked, a small frown appearing on his face.

"I have heard of it," Harry answered, "But I have never learned what it was. I heard Dumbledore, Hermione, and Ron talking about someone getting an inheritance, but when I asked, I was completely shut down, so I don't know much about it," he said, and Tom nodded.

"But the people you...lived with," Tom started. He didn't like bringing up the topic of Harry's previous 'Family' because he could see the effect it had on Harry every time he did. "Did they not teach you about the wizarding world?" he asked, and Harry shook his head.

"They are magic-hating muggles. My aunt is my mother's sister and lives with her husband and son. He was the fat boy who chased after me. They abhor magic, the first sign of it, and I'm beaten and thrown under the stairs in my cupboard for weeks without food or water," Harry told him nonchalantly, and Tom sat there for a moment processing what he had just heard.

"You were...beaten?" he asked, and Harry nodded. "And no one did anything. Surely they must have known. You are their savior. They had to have been keeping an eye on you. They would have known," Tom hissed.

"Yes, I didn't even know I was a wizard until my eleventh birthday when they sent Hagrid; I had a few random bursts of magic. But they were just told I was a freak and they would beat it out of me," Harry explained, "The first time I was supposed to leave Hogwarts, I told Dumbledore, and you know what he said," Harry paused and looked up at Tom with glossy eyes.

"He said to stop complaining, that I should take whatever discipline they gave me for doing what I did, and that I had to stay there because there were blood wards there and they would protect me from you. But yet, you are the only one who helped me escape from there and is trying to help me," The teen said. "Everything I'm around you is trying to find the evil, heartless man that I fought and that they describe to me. But I can't. And I have asked myself a few times and want to know. Is this a front? Is it some game you're playing to get me to trust you, then you betray me?" Harry asked, and Tom felt a pang in his chest as he reached out his hand and cupped the green-eyed boy's cheek.

"It is not; I swear to you it is," he said. "I know right now, after all I have done for you this month, it does not make up for the years of what I have done. But tomorrow everything will be explained, everything will be as it should be," Tom said. Harry looked at him for a moment before shuffling towards him, prompting the older man to wrap his arms around him.

"Okay," He mumbled.

Tom sat on the ledge looking out the window until he felt Harry limp in his arm. Looking down he saw that he had fallen asleep, he ran a hand down his cheek before turning back to look out the window.

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Word count: 713

Re-published: April 28, 2024, 8 am

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