Until the End of Time [Tomarry]

Chapter 2: It Was At This Moment, Voldemort Knew, He Screwed Up

Harry humored him. "I would mostly read or play pranks on Moldyshorts."

James and Sirius shared a look, then promptly burst out laughing for a good five minutes. "You- You were playing pranks on the most evil wizard of our time!"

"That's my Harry alright!!"

"He's my son, Pads!"

"I'm officially adopting him!"

Remus sighed at his two best friends, but also gave Harry an intrigued look. "You know how to read? What kind of books did you read?"

Harry nodded. "Mostly whatever I found on the shelves. Sometimes a novel."

"That's wonderful, Harry!" Lily smiled, joining the conversation. However, there was a gleam in her eyes, telling Harry she wasn't surprised that he'd been able to read at only age three. "Danny is pretty good at reading too, aren't you?"

"Yeah! I can read all the kids books in our room, but bigger books are super hard for me still.." The fiery redhead shoveled mashed potatoes into his face, hazel eyes glinting with determination.

"I'll help you with them." Harry smiled.

"Hooray!!!" Danny hurriedly ate the rest of his dinner, after asking if Harry wanted any more of what was on their plate. He then dragged Harry upstairs to their room, and the two sat down and read one of the books Danny had been having trouble with. It was a decent sized book, too, meant for kids around eight years old.

Danny fell asleep a few pages in, with his whole body leaning against Harry's. Even while asleep, Danny kept a tight hold on his brother's hand.

Harry closed the book and set it aside, and went to brushing his hand through Danny's hair until Lily came in a few minutes later. She gently laid Danny in his bed, then turned to Harry. Her eyes were filled with so many mixed emotions, it was hard to point out any individual one.

"Can we talk?"

.....

Voldemort walked numbly back into his quarters, still trying to wrap his mind around the sudden emptiness that filled him.

He didn't think the Potter brat ever had this much affect on him before. All he did was play stupid muggle pranks and teach him about useless things like 'vines' and 'memes'. No matter how funny Potter Puppet Pals was to watch, there was no magic to be learned in it.

But.. was learning magic still the entire point? He'd admit that was why he kidnapped the brat at first, with the toddler's wonderful show of magic that knew no bounds. His magic was.. endless, easily the most beautiful thing Voldemort had ever seen.

And.. when he'd first felt the magic.. it had felt like something more. Harry's magic had felt peaceful-it made him feel at peace.. Something that hadn't happened in many years. Every time Potter used his magic, it had felt like nothing else mattered, because it was so big and grand and excellent that there was no need for anything else, even if it was only vanishing a book or making an apple float.

Harry's magic had felt like.. home. Like he was back in the Slytherin dorm, realizing that this was where he was truly meant to be.

Harry's magic.. made him feel like.. he belonged.

He had wanted to be near that wonderful feeling as much as possible. And now.. it was gone. Not a single trace was leftover, no matter how much Voldemort's magic subconsciously reached for it.

Perhaps.. after the first few months, it had stopped being about just learning magic. That would've been a nice bonus, yes, but.. just having Harry around was good enough, at one point.

Voldemort sighed.

His eyes wandered around his room, remembering some pranks that had been scattered around here and there, or the times when the Potter brat would lounge around the room like he owned it.

Voldemort's gaze stopped on his desk, where there was a single foreign item resting upon it. He sat up from his bed, thoughts laced with confusion as to what it was.

Upon closer inspection, it was a simple, small gift, wrapped in the most hideous of bright colors. The brat should know better than to mix red and green together!

On the top, there was a small card. Not enough room for much writing or pictures, and was obviously homemade (with blue construction paper).

To: Moldyshorts

We've been getting along fairly well recently, so I thought I'd be a benevolent ruler and grace you with a gift.

From: Harry, easily the best and most important person in your life

(P.S. You're life sucks, dude)

It would've been funny, if his words weren't true. If Voldemort had seen this earlier, he would've scolded the brat for ten minutes about how he was in charge, and how the infernal brat meant nothing to him. Now.. the Dark Lord wondered if Harry knew the affect he had on him.

Despite his previous thoughts about terrible colors, Voldemort took the utmost care unwrapping the present.

Inside was a thin book, too small in size to have any meaningful magic written down. However, the title was unmistakably familiar.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Voldemort read in merely a whisper, almost unbelieving.

The Dark Lord stood there, frozen, for almost ten minutes, staring at the simple book in his hand. There was a faint trace of Harry's magic still on the book, but it was quickly dispersing into nothingness. Only enough to make Voldemort remember exactly what was lost.

Merlin, the Potter brat ruins everything even when he's not here.

He shakily-barely-made his way back onto his bed, too overcome with emotions, and yet, much too empty.

...On this night, Voldemort regained a piece of his human self. Just enough that the fearsome Dark Lord, feared by so many, could be undone by just a single kid.

Voldemort cried for the first time in many many years, until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion.