Bound To You

Chapter 54: Aftermath

It's been a few months since the announcement about Voldemort's 'death', and Tom found it funny that people were still celebrating his demise, even to this day. He shook his head, turning around to look at his mate, his lover.

Harry had fallen asleep, reading a particularly fascinating Defense book Tom had gifted him a while ago. He'd given him a beaming smile over the Christmas gift, and was rewarded with a baby basilisk.

A hatchling basilisk, for a Christmas present. Only Harry could know him so well.

He was estatic to have such a young hatchling in his hands--it soothed his creature side as it saw the hatchling as their offspring. It was both amusing and deeply disturbing, though he didn't let it disturb him too much. He'd asked Harry where he'd gotten a basilisk, but he just smiled and kept quiet. He had a suspicion that Jamila helped, though. Said basilisk hatchling curled around his neck, absorbing the warmth of a living body.

He was a bit miffed, though, when Sirius found out that he'd broken the Black Chastity Curse somehow and had only let him marry Harry once he was out of school. Didn't mean that he couldn't stay at Tom's though. He had a feeling that Remus had something to do with it, but decided not to test his luck.

The Weasley's were still coping with the aftermath, often times jumping at the slightest sounds. He couldn't figure out whether it was a bad thing or not, since that made the Weasley Twins even more mischievous and even more discreet--all of their pranks ever since hadn't pointed to them at all, even though most of everyone knew that they were the culprits.

He turned back, looking out the window, watching as the sun slowly made its' way towards the horizon. Everything in his life had worked out eventually, and Tom was pleased by the turn of events. True, he did feel a margin of guilt over the deaths he'd caused, even though it wasn't truly him who'd done that. It was Voldemort, and not Tom. But he still felt guilty for it.

Thankfully, most of his bills had been pushed through rather quickly, what with the wizarding world celebrating and agreeing to literally everything Harry said.

He heard Harry snuffle in his sleep, and he felt his heart melt at how adorable (not that he'd admit to calling him that--he'd get the couch for years for it) his fiancé was. Not just his fiancé, though, not just his mate, but his horcrux too. Who would've thought that his Harry would have a part of his soul within him? Deep inside his heart, he was thankful that the last horcrux he made, accidentally or otherwise, was his mate.

It was odd, to think of a living person as a horcrux, something he'd synonymize with an object before. Now he knew better, he felt as if it was destiny to have Voldemort come for Harry that fateful night--to have a part of him embedded within him--and end up being soulmates with him in the future. Who would've thought?

Tom shook his head--Harry's Gryffindor sentimentalities were rubbing off on him.

With a kiss to Harry's forehead, he left to make supper.

Sixth year came and went. It was one of the most laid-back years Harry had ever experienced in all his time in Hogwarts. Maybe it was because of Hermione's nagging about studying early into the school year, and doing their homework the day it was given. It gave both Ron and Harry more relaxation time, and since the war has ended--officially, as there were a few runaway Death Eaters running amok--Harry felt as if it was truly the time he felt like a teenager.

Everyone was recuperating, coming to terms that there is no war to fight, mourning for the lost ones, healing wounds that could only be healed by tears and time, and recovering from the many damages wars brought upon people. Tom pushed more laws, and took down those that proved to be holding the evolution of the wizarding world.