Summary: "I love you." Harry's eyes opened, almost before he thought about it, and he looked up to meet Tom's dark gaze. "You've never said that before."
Ship: HarryPotterxTomRiddle
All credit goes to DobbyRocksSocks on Ao3
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"What's up, grumpy?"
Tom scowled.
"Tell me that you're not going to Quidditch Practice," he said, glancing out of the window.
Harry frowned. "Of course I am."
"There's a literal snowstorm outside."
"It's just snow."
"Snowstorm," Tom corrected fiercely. "An actual storm. With snow. And you want to go flying ."
Harry sighed. "Tom, I'll be fine."
"See, I want to believe you, but I can't, so I think you're just gonna have to not," Tom said, shaking his head. "You can stay inside with me. Where it's safe ."
"Tom..." Harry sighed, shaking his head. Tom always got like this when he thought that Harry was going to be in danger—real or imagined. His best friend didn't do well with emotions, and Harry was the only person other than himself that he actually had them for.
"You're not flying."
Harry rolled his eyes just as the bell went, signalling their next class. Before he could walk away, Tom pulled him back, his hand gentle but firm on Harry's wrist. "Please, Harry."
...
"Smiling won't kill you, you know?" Ron said, glancing across the Gryffindor table at his friend.
"No, but it might strain my muscles," Harry replied, grumpily. "So best not."
"Is this because Tom asked you not to go to Quidditch practice?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrow.
Harry sighed. "I understand he's worried about me, but I just... he should trust me to know my own limits."
"The weather is horrendous," Hermione said, glancing up at the ceiling of the hall. It was pure grey, and the snow had shown no signs of slowing. If anything, it was getting heavier.
Harry just huffed.
...
"Lift up," Tom murmured, nudging at Harry's head, where he lay on a sofa in the Room of Requirement.
Harry glared up at him for a moment, and then lifted himself up enough that Tom could slip beneath him, so that Harry's head was pillowed on his thigh. He stroked a hand through Harry's hair.
"Thank you for not flying," he murmured.
Harry just nodded. He closed his eyes, and dropped the book he'd been reading to his chest, enjoying the feeling of Tom's hand in his hair.
Part of him—though it was a small part—hated how cosy it was in the room. The fireplace flickered merrily, Tom was comfortable beneath him, and, no matter that he was still irritated he hadn't been able to go flying, being with Tom was always Harry's favourite.
It had been since they were young, sharing a room in the orphanage they'd grown up in.
"It looked like the storm was finally dying down," Tom murmured, his tone gentle in a way it never was with anyone else. "You might be able to practise tomorrow."
Harry nodded. "I know."
"You're not mad at me?"
Harry opened his eyes and looked up at him. "I guess not. You have to learn to trust me to know my own limits though."
Tom chuckled slightly. "You know that I'm never going to be happy with things that put you in danger, Harry."
"You can't wrap me up in cotton wool to keep me safe forever."
"No," Tom agreed. "Though that's only because you won't allow it."
Harry chucked, he couldn't help it. "It's a miracle I put up with you sometimes."
Tom snorted. "You wouldn't know what to do without me."
That was true enough, and Harry wouldn't deny it. He was Tom's, in a way he could never be anyone else's, but the same was true in reverse as well.
Tom was his, in a way that he would never belong to anyone else. Closing his eyes again, Harry turned into Tom's touch.
His hand left Harry's hair and traced delicately over his face. His fingers lingered over Harry's lips.
"You know, I realised something today," he whispered.
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
Harry's eyes opened, almost before he thought about it, and he looked up to meet Tom's dark gaze. "You've never said that before."
"No. Not to anyone. You don't seem surprised."
"I'm not. I know you love me, Tom. Everyone knows."
Tom's eyes widened slightly. "How did you know when I didn't?"
Laughing now, Harry reached up and cupped Tom's jaw. "Because you don't want me flying in the snow."