Until the End of Time [Tomarry]

Chapter 6: Even In Death

Harry leaned closer, leaning against the table with one arm. "You don't have to make excuses; nobody here will judge you."

Tom glared at Harry, but there was no real heat behind it. Instead, they only stared at each other, waiting for one of them to back out. It didn't take long for Tom to glance away, sighing, and looking much more hesitant and bashful than he had a moment ago. (Harry quickly decided he liked that look on him.)

"I.. I'd rather you call me Tom than anything Voldemort-related, because.. I don't want you to associate me with him anymore," Tom mumbled, close to blushing a furious red. "I.. don't want Harry's family to be scared of me, or to hate me, or to think I have anything nefarious planned, because.. here, with Harry, I can just be Tom. I'd hate for you guys to hate me because then Harry might be put in a position to choose between us, and I already know he'd choose his family-" Tom cut himself off suddenly, hanging his head low and avoiding eye contact.

Harry would bet that Tom was a bright red, not used to being so open with his feelings.

"And I guess.. being here, with Harry's family.. it feels like.. a new start. Not that I'm making excuses for my past, no, I fully own up to it, and fully expect and accept any retribution you may have against me." Tom waved his hands a bit, denying their doubt before it had formed.

(If only Tom knew that they'd never had any doubt about him, ever since Harry had brought him home. They'd accepted Harry's trust of him, and in turn, trusted Tom themselves.)

(For all it mattered to them, Tom was already part of the family.)

Tom, ignorantly unaware of their thoughts, only continued with his spiel, in too deep to stop now. "I suppose it feels like I'm able to be myself here, without any of the masks or lies that I always have. Harry already knows all my tricks and secrets, so I feel like I'm able to let my guard down and not have to worry about a sneak attack or keeping up a mask or about any expectations from the Death Eaters. Here, I don't have to worry about being a Dark Lord... I can just be Tom."

The family sat in silence for a minute, nobody really sure what to say.

Surprisingly, Tom was the next one to speak, despite having finished his speech. "Well, that was the most emotional thing I have ever said."

Harry grinned, catching onto Tom's sudden playfulness, also known as a ploy to change the topic as quick as possible. "You know, have I ever told you about the time I met a different Voldemort? This must've been like, the fifth one I'd met, and honestly, I was just tired of them at that point."

Tom looked vaguely insulted, while the rest of the family was definitely both intrigued and amused.

"It was just your regular 'Voldemort wanting to rule the world' gig, and I was just some random muggle he kept running into on the streets. As in, I was pointedly behaving like a muggle, and was born as one, while traipsing around in the wizarding world," Harry explained, falling into another one of his stories that the whole family enjoyed. "I would make sure to run into him while he was busy trying to do a raid or something, and I'd just laugh at his pointy stick and call him out on his nice special effects, since he had no clue that none of his spells affected me. He never gave up trying to kill me, no matter how many times it didn't work and how many times I made fun of him."

Tom made his displeasure known by sipping his chocolate milk loudly. Harry could see that Tom was only pretending; he had a fascinated look in his eyes, much too absorbed in the story to be genuinely upset. And Harry knew Tom didn't mind a bit of teasing, even if Voldemort had protested and announced his hatred often.

"Of course, along with trying to kill me, he also monologued like a stereotypical super-villain, which meant the wonderful third person "Lord Voldemort does not have time for a simple muggle!" thing. Anyways, I got him to admit his human name was Tom Riddle after a lot of pestering, and I swear he almost tried to punch me in the face a couple times. Never actually did-probably thought that fighting like a muggle was beneath him, honestly."