Chapter 15
…So for those of you who didn't read the author's note in the last chapter, this isn't going to be a traditional chapter. I'm likely never going to finish this, so I thought I'd post a summary of the outline and notes I had, so people would at least know how it ended. I wrote this story seven years ago as a teenager, and I'm piecing together notes for plans I don't remember very well. For example, I read the last chapter and apparently there was an unbreakable vow? I must've had something planned for that but no idea. And I had some future scenes written, but after chp14 I did not write chronologically...
Oh well. Here we go.
To understand where this was going, I need to say, what I WANTED to write was not actually a 'love potion fic,' but rather a subversion of the trope. While it's all in good fun—fictional characters are fictional, explore as you like—I personally never enjoyed love potion fics much. There's often consent issues, and a lot of times, these are brushed off because the victim was in love with the love interest the whole time (or fell in love with them under the potion). It's just not really my cup of tea.
My goal was to write a cutesy love potion fic for the first half, and then pull the rug out for the second half. Chapters 13-14 officially marked the transition to Part II in my timeline.
When Harry wakes up, he's very traumatized by the whole thing. He isn't going to admit he was in love with Tom before the potion—he wasn't. He also isn't going to realize he fell in love with Tom during the potion—he didn't.
He avoids the hell out of Tom. With the love potion, Tom and Harry were trapped in their own world with no one else. Upon waking up, Harry starts talking to other people and makes new friends. I really enjoyed the idea of making his friends an all-girl squad.
I felt like girls in particular would have a lot of sympathy for how he was taken advantage of (although of course men can experience assault too). But anyway, I just felt like that could be a wholesome dynamic of support and recovery for Harry. I'm not sure how much I could've incorporated this from Tom's point of view, but I did want to address it... Maybe one of his gal pals would confront Tom. Idk.
Meanwhile, Tom goes back to his death eater cult. This was going to be very un-wholesome and it was meant to give a really stark contrast. Tom is pining after Harry, but would be far too proud to chase after him initially. He goes after Harry a few times to "recruit" him (although really just wants an excuse to talk to him).
Anyway, Harry rejects him multiple times and shuts that down, Tom ostensibly gives up and goes back to horcruxes and planning murder. You know, throwing himself into his hobbies to distract himself from the breakup. Is this... A healthy coping mechanism? (butterfly meme)
Now, the things that keep Tom from being absolutely morally reprehensible at this point in the story is that:
a) -he hasn't committed murder yet.- *jk I got further in my notes and it looks like he murdered his father already... haha... I really don't remember my own writing, do I? Let's change this to "hasn't murdered TOO many people yet" (Goddammit, Tom)
b) the love potion spill was a genuine accident
c) although he kissed Harry under the potion/that's dubious consent, he at least didn't cross that line beyond redemption
So most of the readers would still be on his side, hoping Harry gives him a chance. Harry also recognizes that Tom isn't the person who killed his parents…yet.
Harry also knows Tom will never give up on immortality. Ever. But he can't ignore the fact that being back in time, he could prevent so many deaths by stopping Tom.
So finally, after a long period of radio silence, Harry approaches Tom. He says, Tom, I know you're working on Horcruxes.
Tom panics, threatens, blackmails, plots Harry's murder, etc., etc.
Harry goes, I'd like to offer you an alternative.
…Tom is still panicking, but says, go on.
And then à la National Treasure, Harry says, we're going to steal (the declaration of independence) *The Philosopher's Stone.
Tom wants an excuse to be near Harry, so even though he thinks this is a stupid idea and has no interest in breaking into Gringotts, he goes along with it. He promises not to unleash the basilisk and he swears he'll be a good boy and give up his horcruxes. He's lying. But he manages to convince Harry that he's interested in the Gringotts plan, at least. Harry doesn't trust him, but is just trying to stall for time at this point.
Once they actually start planning, Harry shows off a really improbable amount of knowledge about the sorcerer's stone AND Gringotts. After all, he broke into Gringotts before for the cup! And he knows about Nicholas Flamel, goblins, what the stone looks like... he even knows the stone is in vault 713 (where it was before Dumbledore took it to Hogwarts). He knows several of the protections on the vault. Griphook told Harry they only checked the vault every ten years (to see who was trapped inside). That also means if they pulled off the heist, ideally, no one would know they stole it for ten years.
I just googled it and found out that the vault was under Dumbledore's name and was not actually where Flamel kept it, but when I wrote this outline, I thought it was Flamel's vault. OOPS. Let's ignore that because it ruins the whole outline! Haha. This sign can't stop me because I can't read.
Anyway. There would be time in the library where they're forced to work together and research—Tom is very frustrated that Harry is super cold to him, and flinches away when Tom tries to casually touch him or flirt.
Then there were going to be some chapters of them adventuring and breaking into Gringotts together. Probably fighting the dragon, because, dragons! I wanted to come up with some cool obstacles, monsters, and puzzles they could fight and solve together. Didn't really write down specifics in the notes, and I can't remember if I had any in mind.
Anyway, they graduate, and they successfully steal the Philosopher's Stone! It's a full circle. Harry prevented Voldemort from stealing it the first time around; now, he helps him do it.
Tom has finally won some of Harry's trust. To Harry's knowledge, Tom has moved on from the death eater cult and murder plans. Harry starts to believe Tom has changed. He doesn't flinch away from him anymore. Post-Hogwarts, they work at Borgin & Burkes together. The specifics for this section were really tentative, judging from all the question marks my teen!self left everywhere. I probably would've come up with a story arc/subplot... I was toying with the idea of Harry having gone back in time for the Elder Wand; maybe he enlists Tom's help with this. Idk.
I mostly wanted to show Harry slowly developing feelings for Tom, thinking he'd changed, but still too distrustful to actually move into a relationship. But Myrtle has escaped unscathed, and to Harry's knowledge, no mysterious murders have cropped up. Meanwhile, Tom has moved on from the denial of his feelings and is really trying hard to win Harry over.
…And he's successful. Finally. There was going to be a lot of pining before this, though. Mutual pining is my favorite. It would be a few years, at least.
But the blissful start of their relationship is cut short too fast…
Tom still wants to make horcruxes, unbeknownst to Harry. Although he and Harry are both using the Philosopher's Stone, the stone doesn't give Tom enough of a safety net for his comfort. Although the stone protects from old age and disease, he could still be murdered. But he's also heeded Harry the "seer's" warnings of too many horcruxes making him unstable and unrecognizable. So he wants to make one. Just one. Maybe two. Juuuuuust in case.
He doesn't think Harry will notice… but this Harry had transmigrated when he was 17, fresh off the horcrux hunt. Harry knows the signs.
The blow out is huge.
Tom tries to convince Harry nothing's changed; for Harry, that's the problem—nothing's changed. Tom still made the horcruxes, even when Harry had finally believed that Tom was different from Voldemort.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that Tom can do to make up for murder. Even when Tom says he murdered the bare minimum, that they were his enemies and they were objectively bad people even by Harry's standards, Harry just can't stand for it. Cool motive, still murder. He can't trust him anymore. What Tom did wasn't for justice, it was for his own selfish means.
They have a duel… Harry wins. Harry's heart is breaking, but Harry's going to do the right thing. He's going to go to the Aurors. Screw the unbreakable vow I apparently wrote in... Harry's willing to risk it. Screw the rules, he has the protagonist halo.
…Tom is unarmed. He manages to convince Harry to talk to him before turning him over, just so he can explain! Harry procrastinates on the inevitable... he's still going to turn Tom in no matter what, but he wants an explanation. He wants to compose himself before facing law enforcement. He wants just a few more minutes with Tom before it all goes to hell.
Tom, of course, was never going to come quietly. He drugs Harry.
Harry's put under the love potion (permanently)… and is held captive.
Tom finally turns out just like his mother.
ooo
I can't read stories with sad endings! They make me too upset! But unfortunately for you guys, they're also my favorite endings, and I have no problem writing them. I thought about trying to give it a happy ending for the readers, but in my heart of hearts, this was always the "true" ending.
Maybe, if I was feeling generous, in an extra, I'd have Hermione and Ron come rescue Harry. No matter what, I was going to give Tom and Harry a doomed love story. But I felt bad leaving Harry there.
ooo
Why did Harry time travel? Since the story was all from Tom's point of view and I was never going to have Harry trust him enough to tell him… honestly, I was toying with the idea of never revealing why. Didn't seem needed for the plot… so many time travel fics revolve around the hows and whys, but for me, is my plot centered around that? Nope. If it's not relevant to the plot, do I need to include it? Nah.
However, I did think it would be hilarious if Harry time traveled for a reason completely unrelated to Tom. I had tentative plans which I never really incorporated into the outline above… The concept was basically this: Harry would offer to help Tom steal the Philosopher's Stone, and in exchange, Tom would help Harry with whatever task he went back in time to solve. There was so much going on in the forties- isn't it arrogant to assume Harry went back just for Voldemort? What about Grindelwald? What about the Elder Wand?
I just think it's funny if Tom thinks they're connected by a string of fate and is going on and on about it… meanwhile, Harry looks at the camera like he's in The Office… and as an aside, tells the audience, "I just came back for the wand, but I feel bad telling him that. He thinks it's romantic…"
ooo
Anyway, that's it. I had lofty ambitions, but I doubt I would've ever pulled it off. I was a teen operating on too little sleep and too much stress, and I'm not going to pretend my writing was (or is) very good. At best, it was a bit fun and indulgent. I do regret that I intended to subvert some of the common love potion tropes, but then since I never finished it, the story essentially became just another love potion fic! Oh, well. Hopefully it's still fun.
Honestly, the support is really overwhelming. Everyone was really nice last chapter, saying goodbye…Ah, it made me sad but also very happy. Everyone was so nice about my writing! I really don't like my writing... But then I see people saying they like it, and I'm happy it makes some people happy. I try and remind myself this fic was just for fun and no one's expecting Chaucer...haha. For all the hate comments, I'm the one hardest on myself! But reading the kind and thoughtful comments "one last time" always stops me from deleting my account when I get the urge.
Well...Thanks, guys! Really, thank you. Quiero agradecerles a todos por su apoyo. It's cool people are still reading this so many years later, and it's so nostalgic when people comment. I hope you had a good seven years, and have good years to come!