Chapter Fifty-Six

                                    

                                          
 By the time Tom and Avalon got cleaned up, it was time for them to finally go to bed. She couldn't deny how much better she felt knowing that she could sleep beside him again. The sound of his heartbeat lulling her to sleep was something she had missed dearly. 
                          
	They laid down beside one another, his arms around her waist as he looked into her eyes adoringly. His fingers gently reached out and stroked her cheek, his touch sending familiar electricity through her skin. 
                          
	"How are you feeling?" she asked, putting her hand on his. 
                          
	"Exhausted," he answered truthfully. 
                          
	She paused for a moment, thinking to herself before saying, "Do you feel different at all?"
                          
	"It's a bit strange," he said, his deep brown eyes lost in thought. "I can sense that a part of me is gone, but I reckon it's better this way. As though I was able to lose the darkest parts of me. And now I'm left with everything that I could ever need," he said, smiling when he leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. 
                          
	She couldn't help but feel relieved-- as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. He had destroyed the Horcruxes and vowed to never pursue their creation ever again. If she hadn't been convinced before, she knew now that his future would no longer lead to becoming the Dark Lord. 
                          
	She had succeeded. Not in the way she had originally planned, but a victory nonetheless. He wouldn't-- and couldn't-- go down the path she had feared. If he broke his Vow, he would die. It was as simple as that. 
                          
	Tom would not become the immortal Dark Lord. 
                          
	"I'm proud of you," she said, shifting a little to lie her head down atop his chest and listen to the soft beating of his heart. "For destroying the Horcruxes, I mean."
                          
	She couldn't see the soft smile on his lips, but he kissed her forehead, mumbling into her skin, "Now there are no more secrets or lies between us."
                          
	"Orion gave me a time-turner today," she admitted, not wanting to hide it from Tom. She could sense his sudden worry almost instantly and quickly added, "I don't think I will use it."
                          
	"You don't?"
                          
	She shook her head, deep in thought. "No," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "Even if I wanted to, I've undoubtedly changed the course of time far too much by being here. I don't even know if the people I love will know who I am in a world without Voldemort."
                          
	"Voldemort?" he asked. "Is that my nam-" 
                          
	"His name," she quickly corrected him. "Not yours."
                          
	He paused for a moment before quietly saying, "Everything that happened to you... I'm- he... is responsible?"
                          
	"It doesn't matter anymore," she said, swallowing down the painful memories, pushing them back to the far corners of her mind.
                          
	"It does, dove," he sighed, putting his finger beneath her chin and gently lifting her gaze to meet his. "If you have to carry the weight of your actions, I should know of mine."
                          
	"They're not your actions-"
                          
	"They would have been," he replied, a forlorn look in his eyes. "Had it not been for you, they would have been."
                          
	She took in a deep shaky breath, looking down once more as she paused to think. "He was evil... and his followers just as bad. After we lost the war, they took to the streets and hunted down every last muggle-born they could find along with those of us who defended them. They tortured people for information and once they got what they wanted, they'd murder them and make a show of their bodies." He felt a small drop of water fall from her cheek and onto his chest, so he pulled her closer, rubbing her back as she spoke. "I was sent back to kill you because we had lost all hope. We had exhausted our options and it felt as though we had already lost-- and we had. We were desperate."