Possessiveness and Other Such Oddities

Vagary

a/n: harry talks to tom! everyone is terrified of the minister! what on earth is going on?? this was a fun chapter to write because I love the dynamic between harry and tom and i hope you like it as much as i do!

Prophecies are finicky things; they always have many interpretations and answers. The bright green prophecy in the Ministry was no different, and it was in the process of being fulfilled, in a strange, roundabout sort of way. The current Minister did not believe in prophecies, to the distaste of the Unspeakables, but they kept their heads down and continued serving Mother Magic, not the Minister.

Harry did believe in prophecies. He'd be stupid not to in a world full of magic, but he didn't think there was one about him, much less one so important, so he didn't care about them that much. Harry had already gotten his Divination OWL anyway. Besides, he was far more worried about that bloody Minister. After Minister Peverell performed that stunt, his mental shields were torn to tatters, and he could barely function. A Mind Healer wouldn't be useful in this situation, as the only solution was to rebuild the shields in their entirety, which required immense trust. So, Harry's options were slim.

He ended up letting Headmaster Snape rebuild his shields because he had taught him how to occlude after Headmaster Snape had easily slipped in his mind in his first year and was immediately assaulted with Harry's trauma. Headmaster Snape devoted seven hours to rebuilding Harry's shields layer by layer, with Hermione and Draco taking over if the mental strain became too much.

They eventually collapsed in their separate hospital beds, not their own beds, since Madame Pomphrey would not hear of it. She also kicked out Draco and Hermione, so the loneliness Harry felt was beyond oppressive. He wanted Hermione and Draco. Harry wanted his Uncle Moony. He wanted Tom. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair before turning over and attempting to fall asleep.

Though he eventually fell asleep, Harry slept fitfully, nightmares about his childhood plaguing his night. He did get enough sleep to feel adequately rested the next day, luckily. Madame Pomphrey did a couple of check-up scans, gave him a clean bill of health, and let him escape to his dorm. He was, though, banned from going to class today (something about his fragile mental state and he shouldn't exert his mind).

When Harry got back to his blissfully empty dorms, he went straight to his bed, drew his curtains, cast the usual concealment charms, and began to write to Tom.

Hey Tom...

Hello Harry. Are you alright? You didn't write at all yesterday.

I uh. A lot happened.

I can surmise that much, would you like to talk about it?

So you know how the Minister was really weird and oddly possessive?

I don't like where this is going.

Well, you shouldn't, because in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast he performed legilimency on me.

...He didn't.

I'm afraid he did.

I- what????

I feel the same way. My mind shields were destroyed entirely, and blood was everywhere.

And he did that?? In the middle of the Great Hall???

What can I say? I guess he's gotten complacent.

I'm going to kill him. Truly. I am going to escape this diary and strangle him with my bare hands.