Chapter 7
Few days later, time skip brought to you by a cat Minerva chasing a rat with a missing toe
“I’m ready” Regulus stood inside the rune circle, one hand holding his wand and the other wrapped around a silver circlet that Tom had given to him as a courting gift. Tom was standing outside the circle pointing his wand at a frozen form of a rabbit, ready to float it into the circle when he got the signal.
Normal people might hesitate to promise to give themselves to someone for forever, but Regulus didn’t have to think twice about it. He trusted Tom and his skill in magic completely.
Tom, on the other hand, was nervous on the inside, though he hid it well, he was terrified he got something wrong while writing the runes or while translating the spell from parseltongue. Something could go wrong and Regulus could get hurt more than necessary, and it would be his fault.
But before he could overthink it too much, Regulus gave the signal that he was ready. Tom floated the rabbit into the circle but left it frozen before stepping into the corner of the room, protected by a magic proof shield, ready to observe the ritual and help if needed.
Without wasting anymore time Regulus raised his wand and cast the killing curse.
“Avada kedavra”
The rabbit was dead, Regulus took a deep breath before continuing. Halfway through the chanting Regulus fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around his body, experiencing the pain of a piece of his soul ripping off. And while Tom knew that the ritual was supposed to happen and that it is painful, it didn’t make him feel any better about having to watch his soulmate cry out in pain. But Regulus pushed through the pain and continued chanting even stronger than before, determined to get through this and finish the ritual.
Internally, Regulus was feeling like somebody was trying to rip him apart, which wasn’t too far from the truth. Despite the burning pain he felt he did not scream, he was determined to finish the ritual and show his soulmate he was not weak.
Finally after nearly 15 minutes of watching his soulmate in pain, Tom could see a little sliver of silver mist leaving Regulus’ body and straight into the circlet in Regulus’ hand.
Regulus, having not uttered a noise throughout most of the process, screamed as part of his soul left his body and as soon as the ritual was finished, his eyes rolled back and he started falling forward. Luckily Tom, who had been ready for this exact scenario, was close enough to catch him before he hit the floor and picked him up.
After adjusting Regulus into a more comfortable position, he began his journey back to his room, to take care of Regulus and make sure nothing went wrong. He paused at the ritual chamber door and glanced back, he had almost forgotten the reason why his beloved was in this state in the first place, the horcrux. Quickly deciding to not leave it out there in the open as anybody could walk in and steal it. Tom summoned the band to him. He admired the snakes and gems on it for a second before putting the circlet back where it belonged, on Regulus’ head, and continued his journey to his room.
Reaching the master bedroom, he gently lowered Regulus onto the bed and tucked him in. Having made sure he was as comfortable as possible, Tom reached for his wand and started casting every diagnostic he knew to make sure that everything went according to the plan and nothing harmed Regulus.
Finally being completely sure that everything was alright, and running out of diagnostic spells to cast, Tom sighed in relief finding nothing but exhaustion and a missing piece of his soul, wrong with Regulus.
Having the reassurance that everything was alright and Regulus wasn't dying, Tom decided to lay down next to Regulus, he wanted to make sure everything stayed alright…and he wanted to cuddle Regulus, but he would never admit it.
While in bed next to his beloved, Tom could only think about while slowly falling asleep was how he doesn’t have to spend forever alone anymore, he would have his soulmate with him for the rest of forever. With those thoughts he slowly fell asleep with a small smile gracing his lips, truly content for the first time in his life.
Regulus slowly awoke to someone thrashing around, whimpering beside him and wild magic storming around the room he was in. Feeling groggy he sat up and tried to remember what put him in this state in the first place. It took him a few seconds before all his memories rushed back to his head. Now having all the pieces of his memory, he began to look around for the thing that awoke him, luckily he didn’t have to look far as he turned his head and saw his darling having a nightmare.
“No, don’t take him from me”, “I didn’t mean to”, “He will be alright, he has to”, “I don’t want to be alone”... Hearing this, Regulus quickly decided to take action and slowly started moving towards Tom.
As Tom’s magic had started flying things around, Regulus decided he had to comfort him somehow without scaring him further. A few years ago Regulus had no idea how to comfort someone, neither did Tom, but they learned for each other. So Regulus laid back down and pulled Tom to his chest, just above his heart, so he could listen to his heartbeat. It freaked Tom out at first and his magic lashed out more, but as he got more settled he smelled Regulus’ scent and calmed down a little more. Soon his magic had calmed and he didn’t seem to be having a nightmare anymore.
Having Marvolo in the position he wanted him in, Regulus started to thread his fingers through his hair with one hand and caressing his back with the other.
Sighing in relief Regulus looked around the room to make sure everything was safe. Nagini was lounging in front of the fireplace but everything else looked to be where it is supposed to be. As Regulus started to get comfortable he saw the armband on the nightstand, seeing it brought a little smile to his lips, it symbolised that he was now immortal and could spend forever with his soulmate.
Smiling softly, Regulus looked down at Tom, who looked at peace again with his messy dark hair, pouty lips and long lashes that hid his beautiful ruby orbs. Regulus leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, keeping his lips there for a few seconds to savour the moment. Slowly he pulled away and settled back down himself, with Tom still between his arms, it didn’t take long before he too was asleep.
They both were dreaming of what their future could bring.