Bound To You

Chapter 7: Yule

"Potter," Severus said curtly.

"Severus," Harry's face morphed into a sly, yet innocent smile. It was to be expected, that his Lord would have to possess him so that they could enter the Chamber of Secrets. Even though they both knew that Harry could speak Parseltongue, they didn't know that they both knew of the fact. And so, Severus ended up thinking that only the Dark Lord knew of a special password to the Chamber of Secrets while Voldemort thought that it was beneficial for Harry in the future to keep his ability a secret, despite the whole school knowing.

"Open," Voldemort hissed, hearing it from Harry's tongue made him shudder. He didn't have a forked tongue, something the Gaunts and Slytherin line had to assist in their special ability, and yet he could speak it so easily as if he was born to do it. In Harry's robe pocket, the Diary rested, right next to the Diadem that held his other horcrux. It seemed that only the diary that held half of his soul and the main soul piece could gain a consciousness of their own, and the diary due to the fact that it was in Ginny's hands for a while before Harry took it.

When they'd arrived at the Chamber, Voldemort used a special spell that could light up the whole Chamber, thanks to Salazar Slytheirn himself. Voldemort took out the items needed to prepare the ritual and placed them systematically, before turning to Severus with a look that didn't fit the young, innocent face of a twelve-year-old. "Do you remember the steps, Severus?" he asked.

"Yes, my Lord," he nodded.

"Well then, I entrust these to you then," he said, handing over the diary and diadem to the Potions Master before letting Harry take over his body once more.

"I've been wondering," Harry said, looking up from a defence book he found in one of the shelves. He wasn't certain that the question would be accepted, tolerated, but he was curious.

"Ask away, Harry," Tom nodded, closing the book he was reading.

"Umm, so there's two of you," Harry said, his voice taking on a tentative tone. "And you both have different thoughts, and you act differently, and such, right..." Tom nodded, his whole focus was Harry. "But then, you'll be in the same body... Will you both then merge?"

Tom hummed in thought. "Well, souls do have the tendency to merge, true," Tom said, noticing the hopeful and yet crestfallen look on Harry's face. "But then again, we shall see. Nothing in Soul Magick is definite, Harry."

"Oh, I see," Harry said, turning his head away so that Tom wouldn't see the sad look that crossed his face. But it seems like he failed anyways, because a few moments later, he heard Tom sigh and was gently pulled into his warm embrace.

"What's the matter Harry?" he asked, his tone gentle and soothing.

"... I'll miss you," he mumbled in response. "I'm just so used to having the two of you that... I don't know if having just one Tom would be enough."

"Harry, look at me," Tom said sternly, his eyes softening when those vivid green eyes turned to him, sadness clear within those orbs. "Just because there will only be one of us, it doesn't mean that we'll disappear completely when we merge. We'll still be the Toms you know," he said soothingly.

"But even so, you both are different in your own way," Harry argued, trying to hold back the sadness that threatened to overwhelm him.

"How so?"

"Well, Voldie is older, for one, and he's got this whole library of knowledge... And he's also ruthless and sadistic, and scary and is a Dark Lord out for my life, but he's also nice and gentle, and just so... so Voldie. And you on the other hand, you're younger, ambitious, not yet tainted so much by the darkness that covers Voldie's heart, you're not ruthless nor scary, nor are you out for my life, you're also nice and gentle and you like cuddling so much and you always pet my hair and you--"