A Little Help from a Snake // Tomarry

13: Thnks fr th Mmrs*

Like a puppet, Tom jerked to his feet and walked out of the office.

"How do you remember this?" Harry whispered hoarsely, turning to the older Tom.

"You will see," non-memory Tom said softly. He was looking away, pain darkening his expression.

Harry braced himself. "What's next?"

In answer, the office began to spin around him, morphing into the dungeon where Snape taught Potions.

"Evening, Rubeus," said Tom as he entered. He now looked like the Tom that stood beside Harry, though Harry flinched when he saw the coldness in his eyes. Something brushed against him and he turned to see the non-memory Tom had placed a hand on his back. He didn't meet Harry's gaze.

"What yer doin' down here, Tom?" That was a Hagrid speaking.

Tom stepped forward. "It's all over," he said. "I'm going to have to turn you in, Rubeus. They're talking about closing Hogwarts if the attacks don't stop."

"'And what do you —"

"I don't think you meant to kill anyone. But monsters don't make good pets. I suppose you just let it out for exercise and —"

"It never killed no one!" Hagrid protested, backing against the closed door. From behind him, Harry could hear faint clicking and even though he knew it couldn't hurt him here, he backed away. Only the non-memory Tom's presence calmed him.

"Come on, Rubeus. The dead girl's parents will be here tomorrow. The least Hogwarts can do is make sure that the thing that killed their daughter is slaughtered..."

"It wasn't him!" Hagrid insisted. "He wouldn'! He never!"

"Stand aside," said Tom, drawing out his wand.

The corridor, which had been cast in shadow throughout this entire conversation, suddenly burst into brightness. The door flew open, knocking Hagrid into the opposite wall.

Harry jumped as something dark and hairy emerged from its hiding place and scurried out, knocking Tom over. Tom scrambled back up, but Hagrid seized his wand yelling, "NOOOOOO!"

"Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked, dismayed, as the room faded from from view.

"No, I framed him," said Tom. "Myrtle happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Myrtle? As in Moaning Myrtle? The ghost?" Harry said.

Tom nodded. "In my... altered state of mind, I decided to use her death as my first Horcrux."

"Horcrux?" All these short answers just piqued Harry's curiosity more.

"Watch."

"Sir, I wanted to ask you something."

"That is Professor Slughorn," non-memory Tom told Harry. "He was the Potions teacher at the time."

"Ask away, then, m'boy, ask away..."

"Sir, I wondered what you know about... about Horcruxes?"

"Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?" he said doubtfully.

"Not exactly, sir," said Tom. "I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it." His eyes were bright and rounded like a curious child asking for a sip of beer.

"No... well... you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed," said Slughorn.

"But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you — sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously — I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could — so I just thought I'd ask —" He broke off and shifted his feet as though nervous, but Harry could tell it was an act.

"Well," said Slughorn, "well, it can't hurt to give you an overview, of course. Just so that you understand the term. A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."

"I don't quite understand how that works, though, sir."

"Well, you split your soul, you see," said Slughorn, "and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a form... It is not something most would like. Few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable."

"How do you split your soul?"

"Well, you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature."

"But how do you do it?"

"By an act of evil — the supreme act of evil. By commiting murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion —"

"Encase? But how —?"

"There is a spell, do not ask me, I don't know!" Slughorn shook his head. "Do I look as though I have tried it — do I look like a killer?"

"No, sir, of course not," Tom said quickly. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to offend..."

"Not at all, not at all, not offended," said Slughorn gruffly, "It is natural to feel some curiosity about these things... wizards of a certain caliber have always been drawn to that aspect of magic..."

"Yes, sir," said Tom.

The memory faded, and in the next one, Harry glimpsed the ritual of creating a Horcrux and saw how the Horcrux Tom's memories slowly broke through the compulsions and blocks, screaming in pain much like how Harry had back in Gringotts, sweat pouring down his face as he realized what he had done.

"Wait..." he rasped. "No! Wait! You're making a mistake!"

But the diary wasn't opened again. He sank to the floor, gripping his hair. "What have I done?"

Harry backed away, sickened by what he had seen. As he continued to watch, time passed again, and the last thing Harry saw was Lucius Malfoy slipping the diary into Ginny's cauldron.

It took a moment for Harry to process what he had just witnessed. When he did, his legs began to give way. "Oh, Merlin," he whispered, staggering backwards. He would have fallen over completely if it weren't for Tom's arms catching him.

Disclaimer about title: I do not listen to Fall Out Boy.