oneshot based on an idea of harry (also known as hadrian) and tom becoming ghosts, and after performing a ritual, they can touch just like living beings
content warning: mentions of blood
[Harry Potter]
Hadrian pulled Eddie's feverish, tear-streaked face onto his lap, putting his hands comfortably against the first year's head.
"Shh, little one. Sleep."
In the course of a few minutes, Eddie's breathing evened out, and the Slytherins watched in quiet interest as he positioned his hands more firmly on the sleeping child's head.
He breathed in.
He breathed out.
And in one swift jerk, Harry snapped his neck.
An audible snap echoed through the room. Cries of horror from the younger years were heard, the older years settling for flinches and ragged breaths. Tom shook his head. No one dared move as Harry stood up, Eddie's dead body tumbling to the floor.
"Let's go," he said, grabbing Tom's hand and leading him out of the common room, an odd gleam in his eyes and a hint of a cruel smile on his lips.
"You m-monster! H-How c-could you?!"
Hadrian turned around to stare at the second year, disgust briefly showing in his eyes as his neutral mask cracked. He crouched down to talk to her, unsuccessful in his attempts to keep a sickly sweet smile from spreading across his face.
"Little girl," he purred. "He was merely a test subject. Didn't the caretakers at your orphanage tell you to not get attached?"
She shook on the spot, tears leaking out of her eyes. He sighed.
"Sectumsempra."
The girl gasped.
"W-what-?"
Red bloomed on her shirt, as she rapidly paled before collapsing on the floor, blood flowing out from her wounds in a rather ugly fountain show.
Tom hummed, his curiosity now satisfied, and the two strolled out of the Slytherin common room.