The Diadem part 2
Eyes wide in what could only be described as panic (not for himself but for his child), he jerked his knee up as hard as he could. There was a part of him that reveled in the look of pain on the man's face even if it were only for a moment.
"Mama?" Delphini whispered.
Immediately he rushed to the girl, swinging her onto his hip.
"Hello darling." The man's voice was smooth, regardless of the pain he surely was in. "It's lovely to meet you."
"Meet you?" His voice rose an octave. This was Tom Marvolo Riddle and he sure has hell has met this man before. "I already know you."
"Ah." He clicked his tongue. "I am merely a facet of him."
"Mama." She whined slightly, tugging at his shirt. "It's papa."
"I know baby," he murmured, bouncing her slightly.
It was a motion she enjoyed, something that no one had ever done for her before. She wasn't a baby, she wasn't, but it made her feel small and safe. So with a happy sigh she buried her head into his neck.
"You're like the diary." Harry turned his attention back to the man. "Where's your tether?"
"Why don't you sit down and talk with me." He plopped down in a chair, one that had appeared behind him. It was ridiculous how smooth he made the motion look.
"Not until you tell me what your tether is." He demanded, taking a step backwards.
"I think you already know." He clasped his hands together.
Harry shivered, one had reaching to touch the diadem on his head. There was a part of him that wanted to tear it off and flee the room. This horcrux was a mirror image of the boy he once knew before he turned into a monster.
Delphini pressed a tiny hand to his cheek.
A shaky breathe escaped him. He couldn't take it off. Why couldn't he take it off?"
"It's okay, mama," she whispered. "He won't hurt us."
"Delphini's right." His lips curled up in a smile. "I would never hurt my child or the mother of my child."
"What do you want?" Thankfully the panic in his chest wasn't visible on the outside.
"To talk to you. I've heard so much about you," he purred.
"How?" He breathed, dropping onto the couch behind him. "How could you know about me?"
Delphini squeaked at the sudden motion, grip on her mother growing tighter.
"The diary has told us about you." He shared an amused smirk. "He's rather taken and well... it's made all of us curious."
"All of you?" His voice rose. "How many did he make?"
"So you do know." He laughed. "I knew it. The others didn't believe me of course, but it will be all the more satisfying when they learn they were wrong."
"I'm not stupid." Harry snapped, throwing a water bottle at him. The room of requirement was really amazing. It knew just when he needed ammunition to throw at a dumbass idiot.
"I never said you were." His face softened.
"Mama, I'm hungry." She tugged at his shirt.
He sighed, something soft and fond there before reaching in his bag for a snack. "Sliced apples and gold fish okay?"
She beamed at him. "Soda too, please?"
"No." Both said at the same time.
Harry shot the man a brief glare at the other before turning back to their child. "Sorry baby, but you're too young for soda. You can have juice though."
She pouted, only to giggle when Harry poked her nose. "Mamma!"
"Delphi!" He mocked, rubbing their noses together. "Eat your snack, baby."
"You truly do make a magnificent mother." He smiled at him, a real smile.
His eyes snapped back to the other's, face flushed red and mouth open slightly.
"What are you doing here?" He tilted his head back, eyes fluttering closed.
"I wanted to meet our child." The diadem leaned forward with half-hooded eyes, an amused smirk on his face.
Harry stiffened, a shaking hand cradling her to his chest. She had fallen asleep to the quiet words exchanged, soothed to sleep with white noise and a full stomach. Was it a good idea to nap so close to night? Probably not, but he couldn't help but to indulge her. No one had ever indulged him as a child and he would never allow Delphini to live a life like his.
"I won't take her away from you." The red eyed man's voice was gentle, low and soothing in a way that made him fall limp against the couch.
He hated it, hated that he felt so safe here with this horcrux. Yes, he was a facet of the boy he had loved and the man who would eventually give him this child, but it wasn't the same. Life didn't work like that. Life is not a fairy tale where everything works out perfectly. If it were, he wouldn't have spent so long at the Dursley's wishing for someone to come save him. It was a hard truth he had grown resigned to, one that he swore to never forget. To do so would be to break his heart again and he didn't want that.
He had long since given up on rubbing lamps or wishing on stars. It does no good, you see, to wish upon a stars. He still looks, of course, but now he knows better than to put his faith in something that is long since dead. The Dursleys taught him that.
It always circles back to them, doesn't it?
Even now, even now when they were gone and far, far away from him, there was still part of him hurting. The affect of abuse is far reaching, no matter the time past or severity of it. That's why is disillusioned to so many things.
They had taught him the truth about stars, that they're nothing more than fiery balls of gas in the sky. There's nothing that can come from wishing on one or dreaming for them. Stars, in all their simplicity, are already dead. They are dead in the sky, even though we can't see how the light has imploded or exploded. It's simply a trick of the light, a flickering of distance that gives the appearance of life in the night sky. Those stars are nothing more than a glimpse into the past, a tragic tale of magnificent beings that give to much and burn out in the end.
That's how a star dies, after all. They give too much.
"What do you want from me?" He sighed.
"You know my true nature. You can't deny that, especially after the intimacy you shared with my younger counterpart. You know that I am cruel and manipulative, you know that I am possessive and domineering, and still you chose to get close to me."
"I didn't know who you were at the time," Harry snapped.
"I think you did." He countered. "Despite what you lead others to think, you are smart and I doubt it took long for you to figure out the truth. Especially after learning how much you already knew at that point."
"So what?" He bared his teeth at the elder. "What difference does it make?"
"Harry, my darling," the diadem purred. "It makes all the difference. You bonded with him, toed the line with us when it came to manipulation and charisma. You are just as much of a snake as we are, and it has made us oh so curious."
"I grew up with abusive muggles and was forced into the spotlight as a child. I had to be that way in order to survive and that never would've been the case hadn't you attacked my parents." His hair wavered in a wind that came out of nowhere."
"It was a war. Your parents were the ones who decided to fight and have a child in the midst of it." He growled. "Yes, my counterpart was a complete fool to go after a child, but they knew what could come of fighting."
"They truly could have stayed neutral?" He whispered, wind dying down.
"Yes," he said gently- or at least gently for him. "There were many families that remained neutral and no harm came to them."
Harry squeezed his eyes shut, unable to say anything more.
"And now? What of us?" He asked bitterly. "I refuse such a fate for my child, I don't want her to grow up without her parents, I will not make the same mistake as my parents. Would you let us go?"
"In a sense."
"Don't you dare hold my parentage under stipulations." He reached for another item to throw at the horcrux across from him. "I will kill you if you try to keep her from me."
"Would you keep her from me in the process?" The diadem asked calmly. "She is my child as well."
"Only if you forced me hand." He sighed. "No one should have to grow up without parents as we have."
He tilted his head to the side. "You would accept me as a parent even though I don't feel things as others do?"
His child's mother offered a wry smile, chapped lips shifting painfully. "You may not feel things the same way others do but that doesn't mean you can't feel something resembling love to our child."
"Dumbledore would say otherwise."
"Children are a byproduct of their environment and you didn't grow up in an environment that allowed for the development and coping of positive memories." He paused. "Whether it be fear, manipulation, anger, competitive behavior, or any other learned defense mechanisms, they were not traits you were born in."
"There are not many who would agree with what you've said."
"It's true though." He shrugged- or at least it was something resembling a shrug. "Our thoughts, actions and beliefs are moulded over time by our environment and events of childhood."
"You are right to some degree." The diadem admitted. "I think that contributed to my nature but I don't think that's the entire reason for who I have become."
"Because you were born through the use of a love potion?" He asked, before shaking his head. "Personally, I believe that's bull shit spouted by Dumbledore to justify the way he treated you."
"I doubt I'll say this much, but you might have a point. He always has been the type to spew out some bull shit about true love and light knowledge." He huffed.
"You'll probably be surprised to hear this, but that's not the first time you've admitted something like that."
"It seems that you'll always be an exception to my plans and beliefs Harry Potter." He paused before looking slyly to the other. "Or should I say Harry Riddle."
It set his stomach on fire, something running through him resembling desire but more innocent. It was the longing for family, a place to call home.
"I thought you didn't like your last name." Harry rolled his eyes, even as his face became flushed.
"It has a rather nice ring to it, don't you think?" The diadem smirked. "I would enjoy sharing a last name with you."
"You're ridiculous."
"No," he corrected. "Cunning, possessive even, but not ridiculous, or at least in the way you mean it."
Harry yawned. "I suppose you have a point."
"Of course I do." He preened, resembling a Malfoy in that moment. "You should have known this was coming after realizing who Delphini's father was."
He couldn't help but to smile fondly. "You'll never let me go, will you." It was a statement, not a question. He had known his fate from the very beginning. Tom learning of his child had sealed their fate.
"Do you even have to ask?"
"I suppose not." Then more quietly, "I expected no different from you."
The man just hummed, watching his child along with Harry laying limp on the couch.
He was far more relaxed than earlier, his worries and concerns having been addressed. Now that the panicked adrenaline had faded, exhaustion hit him like cement. It was all too easy to drift off to sleep, especially when the room felt so safe and comfortable. The room was warm and the couch soft. His child was breathing and holding tight to him. Even with the Dark Lord in the room did he feel safe.
Harry closed his eyes and drifted away.