How to Prevent a War

Happy Birthday

On December 31, Harry woke up extra early. Like he had hoped, he was up before Tom was and he quickly made work of getting ready. When he was showered and dressed, Harry went down to the common room and sat down on the armchair, waiting tensely for Tom to arrive. The Christmas tree was still standing tall and green in the middle of the room and was once again hiding a large stack of presents. Birthday presents this time.

If he was completely honest with himself, Harry had to admit he was terrified of what Tom would think of his gift. After having to think so long and hard on the Christmas present, Harry had given up on finding something for his birthday as well, so he decided to give something else that wasn't of the materialistic sort. Tom cared little for such frivolities anyway.

Don't get Harry wrong, he wasn't particularly afraid that Tom would refuse his offer, but more that he'd be too excited. His proposition put him in an extremely fragile position after all, and there was a huge possibility that Tom would take advantage of this and take it too far without Harry's consent. This was something that would decide the entire future of their relationship and even if there would be a relationship to speak of. Everything depended on how much Harry trusted Tom and whether or not Tom would break this trust.

. . . . .

Tom woke with a groan and rolled out of bed. He'd been working on information on the Chamber till late last night while trying to make sure not to wake Harry. He'd been tempted to ask questions a few times, his talk with those Weasley twins – the real ones, Hermione Granger was no Weasley after all, and he still couldn't understand how anyone would possibly believe she was – had made it painfully obvious their little group knew things. Then again, they were against it too, so better not letting Harry know he was planning to open the Chamber lest the time traveller would think Tom couldn't be saved anymore. He couldn't of course, or more accurately, he didn't want to.

Shaking his head away from those thoughts, Tom walked over to the bathroom, glancing only for a short moment at Harry's empty bed. It was unusual for the younger teen to get up before him, but Tom had overslept – to his own annoyance. What if Harry decided to turn against him? Or what if something important happened when he was asleep? If he could, he'd never fall asleep.

At last, Tom walked down to the common room, raising a brow at Harry's pale complexion and nervous eyes. Deciding to ignore it for the time being, he walked over to the chair across from Harry and grabbed one of the letters that were stacked on the coffee table next to him.

Every single one of his friends had sent him a birthday card, even Abraxas Malfoy. He hadn't spoken to the older boy since he'd graduated last summer, but in his letter, the Malfoy Heir did invite him to the annual Midsummer Dance his family held. All the most important members of their society were usually invited and it was the perfect time to make grand announcements. Tom loved those parties because he could learn so much about the people present and make new connections.

The mindless 'Happy Birthday's' and other well wishes were of very little interest to him, and he skimmed through them quickly, doing the very same with all the gifts. Not one was noteworthy, just useless little trinkets and silly books he either already read or wasn't interested in. Curious, and more than a little disappointed, he noticed Harry's present wasn't among them.

"No present from you?" he asked, pushing his lower lip out in an exaggerated pout.

"Not one I could gift-wrap," Harry chuckled nervously.

Tom raised a single brow and waited for Harry to continue.

"I've decided to give you something I think you might want," Harry muttered.
"It's asking a lot of trust on both sides, and I know it's really soon for something of this calibre, I mean, we only know each other for three months for Merlin's sake! We only started da- doing things a week ago, so maybe it's stupid of me to even suggest this-..."