Death Never Stopped Me Before

|Chapter 12|

Harry huffed and turned to glare at Death. "I can't focus with you humming so loud!" Harry exclaimed. "It's distracting! What is it, anyway? I've heard it before but I just can't place it..."

"That is the song your soul sings when it meets Tom's soul," Death said, making Harry freeze in place as Merope gasps. "Because a piece of Tom's soul has been touching yours since you were a child, your soul always sings."

"They're soulmates?" Merope asked in a hushed whisper.

Harry knew what singing souls meant, something that he learned in Hogwarts back in fourth year. If a soul sings it means the soul is powerful, but if two souls sing together then they are soulmates. It was something Harry never considered before, but as he thought about it, it made sense.

Death had been humming that tune since he first arrived here, and it always sounded familiar to him, but he was never able to figure out where he heard it before. And just now, while Harry was inside his core, the humming was louder, not because of Death, but because he could hear his core sing!

"That's... that's our soul song?" Harry asked.

"Indeed," Death said. "Instead of focusing on the tether, perhaps you should focus on the song. Find your missing duet."

Harry smiles and closes his eyes, instantly returning to his core. The hum, no longer quiet, echoed all around him. He gave himself a moment to bask in the wonderful sound before he focused on finding the missing part.

The song sounded beautiful, but the harmonies were off. Harry's soul sung louder than Tom's, probably because of the distance. As Harry got closer to the tether, Tom's part got louder. Harry grasped the red string and he could feel a surge of warmth run up his arm, the vibrations from the song tickling his fingers.

Harry grinned, letting his hand slide down the string as he followed it. The farther he went down the string, the louder the music got. The music, previously unbalanced and quiet, began to get louder and more balanced with each step he took.

The music surrounded him on all sides, and Harry couldn't stop the tears that flowed down his face, nor the smile that tugged at his cheeks. As his fingers brushed the end of the tether, the music became deafening. He basked in the sound for a few moments before it suddenly went quiet.

In the absence of the song, Harry could hear everything else going on around him.

He could hear what sounded like people crying, and he could feel a warm grip on his hand, a soft heat on his wrist where someone breathed. He could hear and feel things again! Harry slowly opened his eyes and squinted against the shock of color. After spending what felt like an eternity in a white void, the return of color was almost blinding.

Harry, once his eyes had adjusted, darted around what appeared to be the Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts, greedily taking in the sights. He could see a rune circle on the floor and stars shining through the open window of the tower. He could see his best friends, Ron and Hermione embracing each other in the corner, sobs racking their forms.

But the most beautiful sight was not the stars or his friend's faces. The most beautiful sight was Tom hunched over his still form. Harry could see his hair in disarray, his clothes rumpled in a way that advertised his emotional state. Despite his pale face, dripping with tears, despite the bags under his eyes and the sickly color of his skin, Tom had never looked more beautiful to Harry than he did in this moment.

A warm smile spread across his face. "Are you watching me while I sleep, again? Tom, I thought we talked about this."

Harry pitied Tom's neck, watching as Tom's head shot up at such a fast rate, he heard his neck pop. Tom's eyes were wide with a mixture of disbelief and longing, his crimson eyes appearing to glow from the shine of tears against the gentle torchlight.