Royalty ~ Ongoing

The End of the Beginning

At first, Tom was confused. He could tell by the pale sun's light that the morning had just come, but that gave no clue as to where he was.

After a few groggy seconds of glancing around, he finally figured it out.

"Good morning, Angel." The prince whispered, smiling at the man sleeping besides him. He lied back down besides Harry, deciding he had a few moments to spare.

Harry woke at the sound of his voice, attempting to roll out of bed. Tom pulled him back, tutting softly.

"You can't be trying to leave already!" The healer snorted, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the blurriness.

"I normally don't lie in bed all morning, Your Highness." Tom covered both of their heads with the duvet.

"Why? It's far too cold to run around the castle this early anyway." Harry laughed, patting his cheek softly. It was, admittedly, nice and warm under the heavy covers. "I don't want to leave today." The prince's voice was now serious. His lips grazed Harry's knuckles, then the back of his hand, and so on until he'd made it up to Harry's burning face.

"I don't want you to leave either." Evans whispered, giving Riddle a sad smile.

"Ahh, it's times like these where I just want to run off in the woods and live out the rest of my life in solitude. I'd bring you with me, of course."

"I have responsibilities. I can't disappear like that." Tom's eyes bored into his intensely.

"Oh how I wish you could," Tom shook his head with a bitter chuckle, "I'm truly a selfish man when it comes to certain things." Harry pushed the duvet off of them, deciding it was time to get up.

"Come now. I'll help you pack and then we can do whatever you want." Riddle grumbled to himself quietly, pulling on his shirt quickly.

"God I'm tired." Evans frowned, shaking his head.

"I knew I should have made you go to bed earlier."

"My, my. Always so fussy." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Let's get going."

/:/

"Is that everything, your highness?" Harry set the leather bag down besides Tom's cot.

"I believe so." He said softly, sitting down with a sigh.

"Now what?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure." Harry glanced over at Draco, who'd been woken by their conversation.

"Go get a snack from the kitchen, I'll catch up in a minute." Tom nodded and stood up.

"Alright, but it's your fault if I get lost." Harry chuckled and waited for him to leave before going to stand by Draco's bed.

"How are you feeling?" The young Malfoy yawned and smiled sleepily at him.

"Good. I noticed that prince Riddle didn't come back to the infirmary last night." Harry suppressed a grin.

"Oi, don't go getting any ideas."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Harry stuck out his pinky.

"Promise?" Draco linked his with Harry's.

"Promise." Evans ruffled his hair, a fond look on his face.

"That's a good lad. I'll bring you lunch in a bit." The blond waved good-bye as Harry left, heading to the kitchen.

He got about halfway there before bumping into the Prince, who'd been having a conversation with one of the maids.