In Nobis

Chapter 15

Their breaths were unsteady, the room filled with the sound of Hara's occasional hiccups and sniffles. The Dark Lord clung to Hara as if she were his sole connection to the world, fearing she might be torn away. He buried his face in the softness of her curls, his grip tightening.

"Hara, I- It is a complex matter, yet inexcusably simple to explain. Your questions have always been on the horizon. You're far too intelligent for me to expect them not to, but I didn't think it would be so soon and so many at once. Let me start here..." He said in almost a whisper.

He separated her from his shoulder; his hands reverently came to the sides of her face. "Close your eyes, little one, and let me guide you."

Tom and Hara appeared in a dark abyss. The little horcux clung onto the sleeve of Tom's robe. "Where are we? It's so dark..."

"We're, in my mind, just along the edges. There are things within myself I do not want to expose you to. You're too... You're perfect, Hara, and I will not subject you to anything that could harm you in any way. I do lo-" He cleared his throat. "Care for you more than I have ever cared for anything in my long years—more than every endeavor or possession. I hope you keep that statement at the forefront of your mind as I try to answer these questions. I will not conceal the truths from you any longer."

In front of them appeared a vision of dark liquid silver with stripes of gold pulsing and undulating in the center. "What is THAT?" Hara asked curiously. "It looks alive and feels ominous, yet- I feel like I know it. I feel like it's calling me Tom?" Before he could open his mouth, her feet propelled her forward toward his soul. Tom followed close behind her. "That's my soul Hara..." Her head whipped around to look at him, wide-eyed, but then her face softened into a gentle smile. Hara's hand reached up to touch the silvery substance, but before she could, Tom grabbed her hand. "I don't think you should, little one... My soul is- It's not like yours. It's not good..." Hara's other hand was already moving towards it. "Nonsense! It's you; it's my Tom's! Like you just said, you'd never hurt me."

As soon as she made contact with his soul, it began to glow and pulse excitedly. The liquid moved up and covered her hand of its own accord. Tom collapsed and fell to his knees, and his hands flew to hold his chest. Hara dove to her knees near him, and the silvery liquid followed to where she was engulfing her shoulders on either side. "Tom! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Not realizing she was still in contact with his silvery soul.

Tom's hands shakily dropped from his chest, and his right hand moved to grasp her hand in his. "You didn't, Hara, you touched my soul literally, and I- I didn't know- have never felt THAT emotion before. You care about me, truly? So surely, without end, to such an unimaginable extent... Especially for someone like me."

Hara blinked slowly. "You bumbling, brainless, dum dum! Merlin, Tom Marvolo Riddle, that's called love." She started laughing, then tackled his still prone form into a hug, successfully knocking the Dark Lord onto his back. "Of course I love you, you red-eyed, bullying snake! Honestly, you're so brilliant, yet really thick sometimes..." She tapped his forehead jokingly. "How are you just NOW realizing this?" The Dark Lord, Hara's Tom, lifted his head finally, eyes still blue but reddened from this revelation and new experience of what genuine, pure love feels like. Tom launched at Hara, squeezing her unreasonably tight. "Stop-constricting-me-snake-lord," she gasped out, trying to breathe. "It's-really-not-that-big-of-a-deal-or-new-you-just-have-the-emotional-range-of-a-teaspoon!" Tom laughed into her hair. "Little horcrux, it is, too, the 'biggest deal'. It means EVERYTHING to me."

Tom shifted Hara to carry her on his hip, completely unwilling to put her down. Images flashed around him: a distorted shape of a woman leaving him on a cold English morning in the arms of the caretakers at the orphanage. Now, a young Tom is looking up to a caretaker instructing him to go with the priest because he will cleanse him of the demons. A suspicious Dumbledore watching him as he showed him the toys he "collected" from the other children, and Dumbledore disdainfully telling him to give them back. Fellow Slytherins calling him a half-blood, Gryffindors calling him an unloved orphan. Bombers flying over Tom's orphanage and him curled into a bawl. Dumbledore denying his request to stay at Hogwarts over the summer to avoid the war. His Gaunt family denying him as a bastard child. Memory after memory of Tom Riddle facing suspicion, rejection, and hatred. Now, it was Hara's eyes that were brimmed with tears. "No... No, no, no... Why would they do that?" She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "Shhh... Why don't you look up now little snake?" An image of a toddler Hara waddling over and tugging on his pant leg. A three year old harry trying to stuff a chocolate frog in Tom's mouth. Hara running into a meeting with all of his black-robed "employees" and asking him to take her flying. Hara sneaking up on him on his birthday with a magically drawn handmade birthday card and handing him a half-eaten cupcake with a candle. Christmas day with her balancing present upon present in her little arms wobbling toward Tom to give him his gifts. A drawing of Tom and Hara mysteriously left on his desk. Purple marker on Nagini's scales with a heart, Tom, Hara, Nagini, Sirius, Remus, and Sghetti on her. Hara pushing the Malfoys, Remus, Sirius, Snape, Sghetti, Nagini, and his other black-robed employees into the dining room while he was researching and making them all sing "happy birthday Tom".

"See, Hara; my life has known tremendous happiness and love... Too... Thanks to you." Tom squeezed her a little. "I have yet to answer a single one of your questions, so let us continue." The room fell once again into darkness. Tom's dark, silvery soul floated in the mindscape, but now a brilliant gold soul was also present. "That is your soul, Hara. I want you to look closely at both of them. Can you see any similarities?"

"You have some gold in yours?" She smiled. "Just there!" She pointed at the golden veins happily. "I have silver veins in mine!" Tom wore a sad smile. "Yes, there is a reason. Hara, part of my soul has latched on to yours, and part of your soul has latched on to mine." Her eyebrows pinched together. "Is it because we love each other?" Tom shook his head. "If it were only that simple. You see Hara. You asked if I was your father... Though I would be honored to be your father, I am regrettably not. A very dark and deranged wizard murdered your mother and father when you were only one year old... That dark wizard was me." Tom's face dissolved into his serpentine figure with hellish eyes.