Death is but the Next Great Adventure

Later Bloomer

In the last chapter: Harry and Tom enjoy a summer storm. Phil warns them that Fudge is making a move for control over Hogwarts to try to get Dumbledore under his thumb. Tom has a talk with Barty and Bellatrix about his new mentality and they move back into Riddle manor. Bellatrix and Harry reunite. Tom is going to miss Harry.

Harry turned on his heel, pale green eyes flitting over his surroundings with a growing smile on his face as the taller male stood quietly beside him, drinking in his wonder with an amused quirk to his lips. It was late afternoon, only a half hour from sunset, and Tom had suddenly stood from the loveseat in their favorite sitting room and had told Harry to follow him. Tom proceeded to lead Harry to the rarely used east-side of the manor. There, Tom ushered Harry into a room he hadn't seen before in their previous explorations of the estate.

It was a greenhouse.

The planthouse was perhaps the largest one he'd ever been in. Truly something magnificent to behold. It was a wonder it had stayed out of sight on that side of the manor, but he knew that the woods beyond those walls came closest to his side of the estate and probably hid the beautiful monstrosity from prying eyes.

The room was cylindrical, with dark cobblestones underfoot laid in a circular mosaic pattern. All of the walls were a work of wrought iron and cloudy glass—even the ceiling was a dome of glass panels laid into the dark iron frames—and some of the glass was broken, bringing in cooling air from outside and keeping the greenhouse from becoming too muggy as well as letting in enough rain to allow for the tangled overgrown mess of plants that had overtaken the place to thrive.

Unlike the neat rows of plant life in the Hogwarts greenhouses, this was more like an indoor garden that had grown wild from neglect. The high ceiling accommodated the ever-growing trees spaced throughout, their thick roots curling up over the brick ledges surrounding the soil they were planted in and twisting over the cobblestones. Vines hung from their branches, creeped up the walls to hang out of broken windows, and covered large patches of the floor. There were more ferns and bushes and weeds than there were flowers, but it was no less breathtaking. Harry smiled as he caught the high trill of songbirds somewhere up in the trees.

When they slowly reached the center of the room, Harry's breath caught in his lungs for one stuttering moment. At the very heart of the greenhouse stood a magnificent weeping willow. Through the curtain of long green strands—covered with thin, narrow leaves that cascaded down like a waterfall—Harry could just make out the thick twist of the trunk and its many branches. Harry carefully parted the strands that brushed the ground and stepped through.

Inside, it was slightly warmer with the insulation of its leaves. Right in front of the trunk sat a wide stone bench, lit by the hazy warm afternoon light coming through the leaves. He turned to Tom and found the other male watching him with open amusement and fondness.

"I found this place last night after you left. You seem to like nature in its more wild and untamed form, so I figured you'd like this as well." Tom nodded to the greenhouse as a whole as he followed Harry fully under the cover of the willow. Harry took a seat on the bench, Tom doing the same.

"It's beautiful. I'm glad you decided to show me." Harry spoke with warmth in his voice that matched the beaming of the sinking sun as he continued to take in his surroundings.

They sat there for a while, discussing whatever came to mind as the light filling the greenhouse slowly grew richer with gold and red tones and sunset approached. Somehow, their conversation turned to Harry asking Tom about how he was adjusting in terms of his magic. By now, Tom seemed completely recovered and even said that he felt more in tune with himself and his core than he had before the Horcruxes.