Love and Compassion

After a very delicious and filling breakfast, Harry and Tom walked into the living room where three presents awaited them.

Tom was a little miffed, expecting more than three gifts but he decided to give Harry the benefit of the doubt. 

Tom was filled with excitement , he had never unwrapped a present before. 

Since coming to live with Harry, Harry had gotten Tom an abundance of clothes and toys but it was never something that Tom had to unwrap. Tom usually picked them all, especially clothing as Harry was absolutely abysmal in that department.

"Come on, open them"Harry encouraged, practically vibrating with anticipation.

"You're such a child" Tom smirked, rolling his eyes as Harry's knee began to bounce impatiently.

"Good, someone has to be" Harry shot Tom a playful grin "Now open them before I do it for you".

Tom knelt down and unwrapped the first one.

Geneology: Britains Most Noble lineages.

"It's the most updated version and it even includes you. I know you've become obsessed with powerful families and history lately so I thought you'd like it. Do you?"

Tom liked it, a lot.

Harry liked to tease him and call him a nerd but Tom genuinely was really into history. Even before Tom knew he had magic, it was something that always fascinated him. He would spend hours at Wools, combing through books on English History and the Royal family.

He thought it was cool to be able to trace peoples origins, to see how people had interlinked. Tom had become fascinated with wars and powerful leaders too, swearing that one day he would make history and become the most fearsome leader to ever exist.

Of course now he had magic, he had no interest in making any sort of muggle history book but he definitely wanted to make the magical ones. Tom wanted to go down in history as the smartest and most powerful wizard to ever exist. 

Tom was excited to start reading the book, intrigued to trace back not only his 'friends's' families, but his own. He loved the fact that he was Slytherins heir but it was cool to know how.

"Indeed I do, thank you Harry"

Saying thank you was still a somewhat foreign concept to Tom and it wasn't something that he particularly liked either but after the first week of living together, Harry had moaned and lectured Tom on manners. It was tedious and stupid, Tom didn't feel grateful to anyone and he certainly didn't want to thank anyone but to shut Harry up he had started doing it more

Well, he started saying it to Harry anyway. He wasn't bothered about anyone else and no amount of moaning would make Tom say thank you to the muggles they encountered in shops and restaurants either.

Harry beamed at his manners, pleased.

Tom opened the biggest present next and then let out a gasp of surprise.

In a large enclosure filled with dirt, rock and plants lay a beautiful purple and black baby Viper. It was coiled around a broken tree branch in its enclosure.

Don't like it, want to get out.

The snake hissed, looking around irritably.

One moment, I shall let you free.

Tom quickly released the snake, letting it slither curiously up his arm.

You speak?

Yes. My name is Tom, I shall call you Napoleon.

Napoleon hissed, licking Toms arm in acceptance.

"What are you saying to it?" Harry asked curiously, his eyes intense.

"I named him Napoleon, he wanted to be free of his enclosure"

"Napoleon? That sounds familiar, I know I've heard it somewhere"

"Yes, he was a great leader. Won lots of battles"

"Of course, so do you like this present? I wanted to get you a pet , to teach you some responsibility but I knew you'd much rather a snake than a dog or a cat" Harry said, his smile bright and warming Tom.

Tom sometimes wished he could freeze Harry forever, so he could always see the soft look in his eyes and the smile on his face when he was enjoying Toms company. 

It was nice.

No-one had ever enjoyed his company before. 

"You made the right choice" Tom nodded, stroking Napoleons head.

The last gift was a beautiful golden locket with an emerald vibrant green snake on it that made an S shape, glistening almost menacingly. Tom had never truly been bothered about jewellery but something about this was fascinating, calling to Tom.

"It's your heirloom, made by Salazar himself and passed down your family for generations. When your grandfather and uncle were sent to Azkaban, it was....lost but I've retrieved it for you, it does belong to you after all" Harry explained, his own vibrant green eyes never leaving Toms.

Tom felt a surge of possessiveness as he carefully unclasped the locket and put it around his neck. Yes, this was what he deserved, this was the life he was intended to live.

He deserved to have expensive and priceless heirlooms, he deserved to be showered in riches and pampered. He knew he was better than those filthy dogs he had to endure whilst at Wools and this was confirmation.

He had a higher purpose, a greater purpose.

He was the heir of Slytherin.

"Yes, it does belong to me" Tom repeated, his eyes fixated on the bejewelled snake as Napoleon looked at it with sharp and curious eyes.

Tom and Harry spent the rest of the morning setting up wards so Napoleon could roam freely around the large garden but could not escape from the house before Tom sat out in the garden reading his new book. Harry cast a warming charm around him as he lay in the grass, engrossed in the book as Napoleon climbed over his relaxed form.

Harry then left to go to the Malfoy manner, wanting to see how his party set up was going, leaving Pebbles in charge of Tom which was a joke. 

Tom listened to no-one.

Tom also felt like Harry's endeavour was futile. 

Mrs Malfoy had offered to host Toms ninth birthday party which was great for Tom as he didn't want anyone in his home with Harry. 

Even before Harry started being unbearably nice to Alphard, having the boy in their house made Tom deeply uncomfortable. The house was their own little private sanctuary, a place Tom could truly relax and let his guard down and he didn't want anyone else spoiling it. He didn't want Alphard in his bedroom or sat on the sofa or around the kitchen table, it made Tom annoyed.

By the end of Alphards visit, Tom was barely restraining himself from hurting the boy. Twice he had been tempted to push him down the stairs but Tom knew he couldn't treat him how he treated others, Alphard was a Black.

His family had too much of an influence for Tom to break any ties with them, so Tom decided he would just ensure that no-one would ever come to the house again which suited him just fine. Alphard had been their first and last visitor , not even Harry had guests over.

Nevertheless, Harry wasn't over the moon for the party to be hosted at the Malfoy's but Tom had emotionally manipulated him, telling him he had never had a party before and he was thankful to Mrs Malfoy for making one of his biggest wishes come true.

Harry had predictably given in afterwards.

However, the party had caused a lot of tension between Mrs Malfoy who wanted the party to be grand and elaborate so she could boast about throwing a party for the heir of Slytherin and Harry who wanted the party to be childlike.

Tom trusted Mrs Malfoy to stand her ground and ensure the party was fit for him.

Of course, she didn't disappoint.

If Tom had originally thought that the Potters mansion had been impressive then it was nothing compared to the Malfoy's. Tom couldn't even describe it as a mansion, it looked like a palace. 

Malfoy garden was more like a forest and they even had fairies!

Toms party was being held on the vast grounds, an enchanted marquee set up and decorated beautifully. Magical creatures roamed around the grounds, Aethonans which the Malfoy's kept as pets being mounted by children and being flown around the grounds. The Malfoy's had an entire stable full of the winged horses, something that Abraxas loved to brag about.

The Blacks had Crup's which was almost certainly a wizard-created dog, as it was intensely loyal to wizards and ferocious towards Muggles*. 

Lestrange had a Kneazle. 

A small catlike creature with flecked, speckled, or spotted fur, outsize ears, and a tail like a lions. They were  intelligent, independent, and occasionally aggressive, though if it takes a liking to a witch or wizard, it makes an excellent pet. The Kneazle also has an uncanny ability to detect unsavoury or suspicious characters*which is why it wasn't too keen on Tom.

Now Tom had a snake, a snake that could grow and inspire fear in others.

"You missed it, Lestrange shoved Weasley into the table and he almost made the cake topple over. He's been banned from coming inside of the marquee until it's time to cut the cake" Abraxas smirked after Tom had done his rounds and greeted everyone.

The Weasleys were a large bunch, one of them Harry's age, one three years older than Tom, one the same age, one a year younger than Tom and two twins who were three years old. A pureblood family who were ridiculously poor, bred like rats and were blood traitors. In fact, the Weasley matriarch was currently pregnant again.

Venice, the daughter who was Harry's age, actually played as the keeper on Harry's team and they had become fast friends, hence their invite to the party. 

Disgraceful.

"Which one?" Tom asked, amused.

"Does it matter? They're all as bad as each other" Came Abraxas haughty reply before he began bragging about the cost of the party and how his parents had spared no expense.

After about two minutes of listening to his bragging, Tom began scanning the room, looking for Harry.

Where was he?

Tom abruptly turned around, mid-brag from Abraxas and made his way outside so he could track him down. He didn't like having him out of his sight in such a crowded place, they should be near each other at all times.

On his endeavour to look for him, he ended up running into Lestrange who was deep in the forest with Wulburga, Alphard and Orion who was riding on one of the winged horses. 

"Tom, happy birthday!" Alphard beamed as soon as he spotted him.

"Yeah, happy birthday mate" Smiled Lestrange.

Wulburga gave him a curt nod.

"I heard you were giving one of the Weasleys some trouble"

"I pushed one of them, it's not my fault they almost destroyed the cake and now my father has banished me out here instead! Just wait until I get ahold of them again, I'll do much worse then push" Lestrange muttered darkly.

"Why are they even here? Don't tell me you're friends with them" Wulburga demanded, hand on her hip.

"Of course not, I've not even met all of them but Harry and Venice play on the same team and he extended an invitation without my say so I might add" Tom replied hotly.

Wulburga opened her mouth, probably to say something insulting about Harry but Alphard elbowed her, silencing her with a glare of his own. Alphard knew Tom would suffer the girls attitude but he wouldn't suffer anything negative about Harry.

A few weeks ago at the Lestrange mansion, Avery had made a snide comment about Harry to which Tom had promptly cursed him with the wand that Lestrange's father sometimes let him use to practice magic . Tom didn't really know any dark spells, yet, so he had cursed him with an itching jinx, refusing to undo it until the boy had been in tears.

Tom had been furious on Harry's behalf but seeing Avery so close to tears at his own hand had made Tom feel something akin to pleasure. He had to refrain himself from licking his lips as the boys eyes filled with tears. He wondered how it would feel to really hurt someone. 

Would he like that even better?

After trying and failing to start an argument with her brother, Wulburga stormed off to find her own friends.

"Where's Abraxas?"

"I don't know, I left him bragging to anyone that was near about the cost of this party. It was insufferable"

"You think that's bad? We all got invited to Longbottoms seventh birthday a few years ago and he went on and on about the fact that they all share a bathroom and how he hadn't even seen half of the bathrooms in his own home. I'm not even joking when I say he managed to talk about his bathrooms for at least forty minutes" Lestrange informed Tom, letting out a shudder. 

"Well it is kind of barbaric, I mean one bathroom? Can you imagine. Very unseemly" Alphard replied, wrinkling his nose.

Tom could imagine.

He shared one bathroom between at least twenty other orphans. 

No-one knew that Tom had been raised in the muggle world or that Harry had found him in an orphanage. They were both purposely vague about the details and most people assumed the Gaunts had just become unfit to care for Tom and Harry had just ended up taking him in instead.

Tom had practised his posh drawl until it was perfect and trained himself out of doing plebeian movements like shrugging. Moreover, he carried himself with grace and poise like any other pureblood would so no-one was none the wise. 

The Blacks found it somewhat distasteful that he was a halfblood , they were the biggest blood purists after all, but he was the heir to the Gaunts and of Slytherin so they made concessions for him. 

The rest of the party ran smoothly and Tom had to admit that he was genuinely enjoying himself. Harry even made him ride one of the winged horses with him and Tom felt warmness spread across his body as he leaned back into Harry's arms as they flew in the sky, the moonlight shining down on them.

Tom enjoyed it so much that he made them ride around for another half an hour before finally relenting and allowing the horse to carry them back to the ground. Tom opened all of his gifts and was pleased to find toys, books and expensive artefacts and jewellery.

He loved the attention of everyone singing happy birthday to him, all eyes on him and smiles on their faces. But as the crowd sang to him, Toms eyes locked with Harry, eyes greedily roaming around his face that shone in love and happiness as he took in Tom.

Tom suddenly wished everyone in the world was dead, he didn't want anyone else to experience the expression on Harry's face but him.

Harry should only look at Tom like that.

Any goodness in Harry belonged to Tom.

~~~~~~~

Before Harry knew it, January turned into February and then February turned into March. The change from winter to spring was nice, the weather unusually pleasant.

Fleamont had invited Tom to come with him to a magical zoo as the weather was nice. Tom would've refused but Harry insisted that if he could spend time with Malfoy and Lestrange then he could spend time with Fleamont at least once a month.

Fleamont had become enamoured with the boy, thinking he was incredibly cool and loved spending time with him. Harry thought it was sweet and Fleamont would be a great example to Tom, he was incredibly kind and thoughtful.

Not to mention they were now practically family so it would do Tom good to spend some quality time with his cousin.

Tom had even seemed to somewhat warm up to him, he still complained the entire time he was getting ready to meet him but Harry could tell he was also excited to go to a magical zoo. Harry had even seen Fleamont make Tom genuinely smile and laugh before, Tom had even written to him first once.

He would never admit it but Tom somewhat liked Fleamont and enjoyed his company.

Although, he still wasn't the biggest fans of the Potters as Henry had been the one to get the Potters removed from the sacred twenty eight.

Henry had caused a minor controversy by publicly condemning the Minister for Magic Archer Evermonde's decision to forbid the wizarding community from aiding Muggles during the First World War. Henry's outspoken pro-Muggle views were one of the chief reasons for the Potter family's exclusion from the Sacred Twenty-Eight* which Tom found disgraceful.

Harry had spent the day at the pub with some of his team mates when he got home and saw Pebbles ironing her ears, her eyes watery.

Harry had immediately rushed over, stopping her, full of concern and confusion.

"Pebbles, you are not to hurt yourself!"

"But Pebbles tricks Master Potter" She wailed, upset etched across her droopy face.

"Trick me? How?"

"Pebbles does young masters chores and young master forbids Pebbles from telling Master Potter" She sniffled mournfully.

"You've been doing Toms chores? For how long?"

"Since the first day. He says Pebbles has to do what young master says and that Master Potter has never told Pebbles that she can't do it for him but I'm not to tell Master Potter. Pebbles punishes herself, Pebbles is being bad"

"Pebbles, it's not your fault and you're not to punish yourself. Thank you for telling me but you are forbidden to do Toms chores, yes?"

"Yes"

"Okay good" Harry nodded, chewing his lips.

He wasn't sure what to do next.

At the start of the year, Harry had started giving Tom chores to help him understand responsibility and would give him pocket money as a reward too.

It was a great way to teach him that everything needed to be earned and a way to make sure he wasn't too spoilt. Harry had learnt about it from his muggle parenting book.

Three times a week Tom would help Pebbles with the laundry, once every two weeks he would help de-weed the garden, plant some flowers and fruit and veg and tend to the garden and he would take out the bins every week too. All that would earn him 6 Galleons and 11 Knuts which was the equivalent to around £30 in muggle money. 

Tom had tried to bargain for more but that was more than enough money for a nine year old and Harry had said he would up it when he turned eleven.

Harry still bought Tom all the necessities but it was nice that Tom now had his own money if he ever wanted to buy himself something or had to get his friends birthday gifts.

However, to hear that Tom was abusing the system and thus making Pebbles hurt herself was frustrating.

Harry had genuinely thought the system was working but Tom had managed to manipulate it for his own benefit and make a complete fool out of Harry.

Worst of all, Harry was worried that he was aware Pebbles was hurting herself and just simply didn't care. 

Harry secretly hoped that it was a factor Tom had just overlooked and he didn't know.

Harry had been living with Tom for seven months and he never actually needed to punish or tell him off for any sort of misbehaviour. Harry would admonish him for some of his opinions or lecture him on the importance of inclusivity and being kind but he had never did anything that warranted a punishment.

According to his parenting book, consequences made children feel safe as they knew what was expected of them. It tells children that adults are in charge and looking after them. Limits and consequences teach children to make good choices so Harry was determined that Tom should have some type of consequence for his behaviour.

The book obviously didn't give any suggestions for what to do when your child lied about chores and made his house elf hurt herself. So, Harry decided he'd go to the Potters early and speak to Agatha.

Harry floo'd over to the Potters and their house elf, Juno, bought Harry outside to the garden where Agatha was sipping lemonade and knitting.

"Harry! What a pleasant surprise, I didn't know you were coming over. Henry was going to floo Tom back to yours" Agatha beamed, her eyes crinkled.

"I know, but I thought I'd spend a little time with you first. How are you?"

Agatha poured him some lemonade.

"I'm good thank you, I'm actually planning a charity gala for the children's ward at St Mungos. I was going to ask if you don't mind coming down, the kids would be delighted to see you"

"Yes, of course, I'd be honoured" Harry nodded, sitting down and sipping his drink.

Merlin knows the amount of times he had ended up in St Mungos for an injury, so it was good to give back.

"Good, I'll owl you all the details later this week. How have you been keeping? I've not seen you in a good few weeks, I heard you've been offered an eye sore amount of money to leave the Arrows and go to the Wimbourne Wasps. 24096 Galleons, 6 sickles and 16 knuts a year I read" 

Harry felt himself flush, shifting uncomfortably.

"Well, yes. Something like that but I turned it down. I love the Arrows and I'm happy there" He insisted.

Agatha nodded.

"Agatha, may I ask you a question? On parenting?"

"Of course" Shs gave Harry a scrutinising look " Parenting can be incredibly challenging, especially with young boys and I can imagine Tom can be a handful at times. He's very opinionated"

"Well, yes he can be but he's not a bad child. He's really sweet when he wants to be and very helpful"

"I don't doubt that, I'm sure he is all of those things. He must be with how much Fleamont enjoys his company" Agatha conceded. 

Harry took a deep breath and then told her what had happened with Tom and Pebbles.

"Oh Harry, I really wouldn't worry, it's typical child behaviour. The amount of times I've told Fleamont off for lying! The only well, worry, is that he knew that Pebbles was hurting herself. That would be most concerning" 

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about" Harry let out a sigh "How would you punish Fleamont?"

"I'd talk to him first and tell him the importance of telling the truth and then let him know I was disappointed in his actions. After that, I would either ground him from his seeing his friends or take away some of his favourite toys. Honestly, it's whatever you deem appropriate, you are his guardian after all" Agatha replied, squeezing his hand.

Before Harry could reply, Fleamont, Tom and Henry all walked out into the garden.

Fleamonts entire face was painted like a lion and he had magical lion balloon that let out little roars, a big toothy grin on his face as he spoke about something excitedly with Tom.

Tom didn't have on any face paint but he did have a balloon of a dragon that was breathing tiny sparks of fire and he clearly wasn't paying attention to Fleamont, his eyes firmly on Harry.

"Harry, good afternoon, how nice of you to join us" Henry said, shaking Harry's hand and sitting down.

"Of course, it was lovely catching up with Agatha" Harry turned to the boys "Did you guys enjoy the zoo?"

"It was so cool, we got to see a Hippocampus and an Amazonian Salamander! I want one for a pet but father wont let me" Fleamont pouted, flopping down on one of the chairs as Juno poured him some lemonade.

"I had a good time" Tom narrowed his eyes "Why are you here? I thought you were spending your time at the pub with your friends".

"I did but we went home early so I thought I'd come and collect you. Are you ready to go?"

"Aww, can't Tom stay for dinner? Or sleep over? That would be so cool" Fleamont pleaded, glancing at Toms stoic face.

"Tom can't stay, Harry has something important to discuss with him but I'm sure we can arrange another play date soon" Agatha replied instead, patting Fleamont on the knee.

Tom's eyes suddenly became razor sharp.

They said their goodbyes and Juno took them to the sitting room so they could floo back home.

"What's going on?" Tom demanded, his eyes narrowed as they walked into their own sitting room.

"We need to have a discussion about your behaviour" Harry replied sternly.

"What about it? I was well behaved in the zoo, it's not my fault the glass in the snake enclosure disappeared. It was an accident!"

"I- wait, what? What are you talking about?!"

"Nothing, what are you talking about?" Came Toms hasty reply, his cheeks flushing.

Harry narrowed his eyes but decided he'll get back to it later.

"After the pub, I came home and found Pebbles ironing her ears. She was doing it because she had been doing your chores for you the entire time and you had made her not tell me so she was punishing herself" Harry explained, watching Tom closely.

Toms eyes darkened with understanding but he crossed his arms, his chin jutting out stubbornly.

"Well, I didn't make her iron her ears so I fail to see how this is my fault" He grit out.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't explicitly tell her too, she was doing it because of you. Don't you feel bad at all?".

Toms stony silence spoke volumes.

"Tom , you're a smart kid so I find it difficult to believe that you wouldn't guess that she would do something to punish herself. Did you know she would and still instruct her to keep this secret anyway?" Harry asked slowly, trepidation in his tone.

"So what if I did? I don't get what the big deal is! She always punishes herself for dumb things, she put her head in the oven when you started making breakfast for Merlin sake! It's not my fault house elves are idiots. It's not even a big deal, you should see how Malfoy treats his house elf. He made his throw himself down the stairs for not bringing him the right snack so don't look at me like that! It's not a big deal" Tom hissed out, his hands balled up.

Harry felt a sudden flair of anger at his blasé attitude and casual cruelty.

"That's an awful thing to say! House elves aren't idiots, they-"

"-Their entire lives revolve around basically being slaves to wizards. Sounds like an idiot to me"

"Shut up! What is wrong with you?" Harry snarled, red in the face and furious.

He had never snapped at Tom like that before but he couldn't believe what was coming out of the boys mouth. Yes, Tom wasn't like other children and he could be cold at times but this was awful.This wasn't the Tom that Harry had put so much time and effort into, this wasn't the Tom that made Harry smile and laugh.

It made Harry feel like a failure, like the last seven months had been a lie.

Tom flinched back at Harry's words, his own anger being replaced with hurt.

"You are grounded for the rest of this month, you will not be seeing your friends and they won't be seeing you either. I want you to apologise to Pebbles and you will be doing your chores, is that understood?" Harry demanded, his eyes hard.

Tom gave him a curt nod before pushing past him and running up the stairs.

By the time the evening came by, the anger had left Harry and he felt guilty about how he had responded to Tom. He definitely deserved his punishment but Harry wished he hadn't shouted at him, the genuine hurt on his face making Harry feel awful.

He had stayed locked up in his room the entire time and hadn't even come down for dinner which worried Harry, Tom never missed a meal.

Harry allowed Pebbles to give him his meal in his room, deciding that Toms wellbeing was more important than forcing him to come downstairs when he wasn't ready.

They usually made their hot chocolates around 8.45pm but Tom didn't come out of his room for that either and Harry was in no mood to make one for himself without him. 

Sighing, Harry made his way to his room, feeling guilty and restless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tom was furious.

He knew something was wrong when Harry had been waiting at the Potters for him but he didn't imagine it was because of the chores situation.

Tom had gotten away with it for three months!

He didn't understand why Harry cared so much either.

Who cared if Pebbles ironed her ears ?

She was a creature, it wasn't like she mattered. She hurt herself all the time, what was one more occasion to add to the list?

Tom had been annoyed at first but when Harry had shouted at him, Tom had annoyingly felt hurt too. Plenty of adults had shouted at him in his lifetime and he didn't care, in fact, he enjoyed getting them angry whilst he stood there a smug unbothered smirk on his face.

It was the easiest way to annoy Ms. Cole.

But it has been different with Harry.

Harry was always so patient and kind, always so soft with Tom. 

But now , over a house elf, he had shouted at Tom. Moreover, it wasn't so much the shouting that had upset Tom, but it was how he was looking at Tom.

He looked so disgusted and disappointed.

Suddenly the word freak came to mind and he remembered Ms.Coles taunting words of Harry would bring him back.

He felt unwanted and scared.

Did Harry hate him now ?

Did he think he was a freak? 

Unlovable?

Evil and wrong?

Would he give up on him like his own mother had?

That's what everyone else thought, it was what Tom had heard constantly growing up. He pretended he didn't care, like he was above being cared about and loved but then he had it with Harry. 

Harry made him feel safe and happy and Tom had become addicted to the feeling . Addicted to Harry's touches and smiles.

Now Harry looked at him the same way the muggles had. 

Whenever Tom felt hurt, he wanted to lash out and hurt others so he spent the entire time in his rooms thinking of creative ways he could kill Pebbles.

It was all her fault. 

He couldn't get his revenge yet because Harry would be suspicious but he wouldn't forget and she would get exactly what she deserved. If Harry thought ironing her ears was bad, then he hadn't seen anything yet.

It was nothing compared to what Tom would do to the little imp.

Tom spent the remainder of his evening in his room, his emotions going from murderous to upset constantly. When it got to 12am and Tom couldn't sleep, plagued with insecurities and fears of being abandoned, he decided he had to do something about it.

He grabbed his dressing gown off his hanger and slowly made his way to Harry's room, his hands shaking and his heart beating erratically. By the time he got to Harry's door, his breathing had picked up and he felt almost paralysed with fear. 

What if Harry rejected him?

Harry's door suddenly opened, revealing Harrys face which was awash with concern.

"Tom? Tom? What's wrong ? What's happened?" Harry asked, his tone frantic as he looked at the genuine terror on his face.

Tom opened his mouth but he couldn't get his words out, his throat tight.

"Tom, please, you're scaring me. What's happening?"

"Please don't send me back, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry , I'm sorry. I'll be good, I swear. I-I know I'm a freak and I'm evil and unlovable but I'm sorry, please" Tom burst out, his voice strangled as Harry looked at his face.

Harry looked crushed at his words and before he could say anything else, he cupped Toms face, his thumbs stroking his cheek softly but his eyes were determined.

"You're not a freak Tom and you're not unlovable. You're the sweetest and most loving child I've ever met and my life has been so much better with you in it. I love you so much and there's nothing in this world that could break us apart and get me to bring you back to Wools. It's me and you together forever" Harry said, his tone stern. 

The words were like a drug to Tom, fuelling his body and chasing away his fears and anxieties. He leaned into Harry's touch, his eyes fluttering.

Yes, together forever.

"You promise , you'll always love me and you'll stay with me forever?"

"Of course Tom, you're my world but one day you'll grow up and you'll want to lea-"

"-No, never" Tom threw himself at Harry who was crouched down, his face tucked into his neck "Together forever".

Harry nodded as Tom stuck his nose in the crevice of his neck and inhaled his scent greedily. Harry smelt like home and Tom had to restrain himself from licking the scent so he could taste him as well as touch and smell him. 

Harry was his.

He promised to never send him away to Wools and he didn't think he was an unlovable freak.

Harry loved him.

Tom planned to keep him forever.