Death Never Stopped Me Before

|Chapter 14|

"What are we going to tell people?" Harry asked. He was comfortable in this position, with Tom's arms wrapped around his waist, his head pillowed by Tom's muscular arm. He wanted to stay in Tom's arms forever, but he knew he couldn't. They'd been avoiding the situation long enough.

"I don't know," Tom said, and the candor shocked Harry into lifting his head to look at him. Tom's expression was fond as he looked down at Harry, and Harry could see no trace of fear or worry in them.

"You don't know?" Harry repeated. "How will your followers handle this?"

"Badly, I'm sure," Tom said with a grin, and Harry shivered when Tom's hand ran through Harry's unruly locks.

"You don't seem too concerned about that," Harry pointed out. "I mean, what are you going to do if they start another war?"

"Deal with it, I suppose," Tom said. Harry frowned at the blase answer.

"Really?"

"I suppose I am worried about my Inner Circle," Tom admitted, and finally Harry saw the familiar emotion of concern flit across his face. For a second there, Harry was concerned that Tom had become indifferent to the idiots—albeit very dangerous idiots—that made up Tom's Inner Circle. "I can't have them thinking I'm going soft now that I'm sane and risk an overthrow."

"I'd love to see them try," Harry said with a grin. "You're too powerful for them to do anything."

"Oh? What's this? Are you complimenting me?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow his crimson eyes glowing with mirth.

"Don't let it get to your head," Harry teased. "Your ego is already the size of your waist!"

"You like my waist," To pointed out, his lips curling into an amused grin. Harry chuckled and snuggled closer to Tom's warmth.

"Yeah, I do," Harry agreed.

The pair laid there together for a very long time then, no other words being said. The comfortable silence made Harry sink into Tom, his eyes fluttering as he fought against sleep. He had just woken up and he was already tired again!

"We'll have to tell them something," Tom said finally, breaking Harry from his sleepy haze. "Eventually. Everyone thinks you're dead. We'll have to explain to them at some point how you're alive."

Harry hummed. "What do they know?"

"About us?" Tom asked, and Harry nodded against his bare chest. "Nothing really. They know about my plans to change things, though. I used your notebook."

"Oh, did you?" Harry asked with a smile. "I knew that would come in handy!"

"Yes, you did," Tom agreed. "It was quite helpful."

"How did they take it?"

"They were shocked at first," he said. "I don't think they really believed that I had any plans. When I explained to them why I thought it was important, I could see some of them considering it, but I haven't really done anything to further push it since I first brought it up."

"I think we should just be honest with them," Harry suggested. When Tom said nothing, Harry pushed up so that he was sitting, and looked into Tom's eyes. "We don't have to tell them everything, of course, but they deserve to know the truth."

"And what happens when they don't accept it?" Tom asked.

Harry bit his lip. "You don't know they won't," Harry argued, but the argument was weak.

"I am nothing if not realistic," Tom said with a wry grin, and even though Harry didn't feel like laughing, the dryness of Tom's response made him grin. "I want nothing more for them to accept you. Accept us. But..."