Tomarry One Shots

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Summary: It takes Voldemort four days to notice. Four days of Harry being out of his wing, out of the manor, out of his reach, and it's only once Voldemort looks into Harry's room after his absence from their dinner together, that he learns that he's gone.

Ship: TomRiddlexHarryPotter

All credit goes to Delightfull on Ao3

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— January 26th 1999 —

It takes Voldemort four days to notice.

Four days of Harry being out of his wing, out of the manor, out of his reach , and it's only once Voldemort looks into Harry's room after his absence from their dinner together, that he learns that he's gone.

"He missed your lesson yesterday, and you didn't think to inform me?" Voldemort grits out, an hour after his initial discovery.

The time since he learned of Harry's absence had been hectic. There were protocols in place for if Harry had attempted to run during the first month after the wedding, but given how he had settled into the manor, and the progress they had made during their last few dinners, Voldemort had deemed them unneeded and allocated those resources to more urgent matters.

Which has left Voldemort all the more irked at Harry's absence, because he hadn't predicted it, had even expected the opposite, leaving him to grasp at whatever recourse he could to find out what had happened.

The Carrows had already confirmed the boy's presence at their last lesson through their end of week report, but beyond that, no one had been able to place when his absence had started, and Severus was his most recent avenue to narrow down when Harry had left, and why.

He curses his decision to keep Nagini by his side rather than sending her to Harry like he had the week before. He'd felt unstable over the weekend, leaving him teetering closer to instability than he had been in years, so he felt the need to keep his Horcrux close. If he hadn't, he thinks, he might have learned that something had happened earlier.

"My Lord," Seversus says, pulling Voldemort from his thoughts, his tone carefully controlled to be as neutral as possible, "he had a history of truancy at Hogwarts. I didn't want to interrupt your work for what I assumed was just bad habits coming back into play."

Severus's response makes Voldemort pause, but not for the reason he must be hoping for.

When Severus told him what the boy was mere moments after Voldemort had laid out his plans to remove him as a threat once and for all - that Dumbledore knew, and had left him instructions to ensure Voldemort killed the boy after the cursed ring finally killed him - he'd scoured Severus's mind.

He'd looked at every interaction he had with Dumbledore, made him share every hint that had suggested what Harry was, and after proving so thoroughly that he had told Voldemort the truth, revealing even his secret dealings with Dumbledore and the vows he had taken, he hadn't thought to verify what he said about the boy after, something he had been starting to think was an oversight, but one he hadn't yet taken the time to correct.

How different is he from what Severus had claimed? When Voldemort had seen Harry dragging his feet down the aisle at the wedding, he had thought Severus' claims were accurate, and it seemed to be confirmed when he witnessed his behaviour at the reception. He had refused to greet their guests properly, he neglected to follow proper meal etiquette - signalling clear disapproval for the wedding to purebloods in attendance - and he stumbled through the ceremony with only the bare minimum of engagement, refusing to acknowledge the rites and rituals expected of a marriage for a couple of their influence.