"You cut yourself," he reached out without thought when Harry tried to turn away. Slowly he rubbed his potion-stained fingers over the skin that had been cut an hour before. Quietly, he stated, "You cut across, even though you are aware that killing yourself would work faster if you cut lengthwise." He had seen the faded scars. The young man did not insult him by pleading ignorance. Instead, he replied quietly, "Tom cares for me. But he is out of practice. He needed time to set his priorities straight. I know that me aligning with him makes no sense to you. You consider that he put a spell on me, though we both know that I can throw off the Imperious with little difficulty. Still, I am grateful that you took my mark. It's just ... after Dumbledore, after everyone making decisions for me, I need to be able to trust. If Tom ... Voldemort goes back on his word ... I can't ... that's the only thing I can't take, and I knew of no other way to show him that."