Author's Notes: I'm not even going to try to apologise for the lateness on this one. Safe to say I've got a lot going on and that I haven't abandoned any of my currently in-progress fics, but that I'm unlikely to be doing much writing for a while yet.

Chapter 11: Soul Connections

Maybe if I light the whole place on fire it'll actually get clean, Sirius mused sometime around eleven o'clock.

His little 'chat' with Harry hadn't really gone much farther after he'd finished telling the story of Voldemort's first defeat. They had been interrupted by the arrival of Hermione Granger, who was apparently on what the Order had dubbed "Harry duty" today, and Ronald Weasley, who wasn't but who had been dragged along anyway.

Hermione's arrival had been less than quiet. She'd shown up with no less than twenty books and proceeded to bombard Harry with questions. Harry had actually laughed before greeting them both with a pleasant good morning and a question about whether they'd eaten breakfast yet.

The muggleborn had the decency to blush at her rudeness, while the Weasley boy had pounced on the offer of food.

Sirius had abandoned Harry to the wolves soon after consuming a proper morning meal (his coffee and toast from earlier were failing to do the job). Hermione's questions were giving him a headache and he needed time to assimilate the conversation from earlier. He'd expertly ignored Harry's look of betrayal.

Several hours later Harry was probably still making a fruitless attempt at assuaging Hermione's curiosity. As for Sirius, he'd gone back to the even more fruitless attempts at cleaning the house.

Yes, a good cleansing fire. Wouldn't even be hard. Just a little spell and WHOOSH!

"Mr. Black?"

Sirius blinked, and turned to look at the bushy haired girl who'd suddenly appeared in his sitting room. "It's just Sirius. What happened to Harry? And Ron?" He added as an afterthought.

She huffed. "Talking about Qudditch. I just can't keep those two on track!"

Sirius choked back a laugh at her indignant expression, but couldn't hide his grin. "Only so much a chap can talk about inter-dimensional travel."

"But it's so fascinating!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry's appearance proves so many theories!"

"So what can I help you with?" Sirius interrupted before the young woman could continue her rant. He'd discovered in the very short time he'd known her that she could go on for ages if you let her.

"Well, I was looking into that spell Harry mentioned. Anima letum ritus." Irritation crossed her face, "He was right. I couldn't find anything on it. But I did manage to find something on soul connections."

Sirius blinked, "Soul connections?"

"Don't you remember? Harry mentioned it as a necessary component of the spell. The 'living focus' has to have a soul connection with the spell's target."

Sirius did remember. Vaguely. "Why are you bringing this to me?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Well, I brought it to Professor Dumbledore, but he didn't seem too concerned. And I know that if Professor Dumbledore thinks its okay, then I probably shouldn't worry."

"But?" Sirius prompted.

"But I can't get it out of my head that it's important. I think... I think that maybe Harry was the living focus he mentioned. I mean, why would he know so much about the spell otherwise? And I know I've only just met him, but I feel like I know him and that..." She gestured wildly, "I don't know, that he needs to be taken care of? That he matters somehow?"

"Like he's a major part of your life and that if you can just reach a little further you'll be able to remember him?" Sirius supplied, thinking about his own confusing feelings for Harry, even before he'd known who he was.

"Exactly!" Hermione cried. "And Ron hasn't said anything, but those two have just... connected. Like they've been best friends forever. And they only really met a couple of hours ago."

Sirius sighed and took a seat, waving for Hermione to do the same. She ignored him, pacing the carpet instead.

"That spell of his worries me. He said that it required eight focus points of spirit energy, ones that have a positive emotive connection with the living focus. I didn't think about it at the time, but he was talking about dead people! About using the spirits of eight people who loved him to power the spell."

"You think he's dangerous?" Sirius questioned.

"No!" Hermione denied vehemently. "I think that spell hurt him. That it did damage, or changed him, or something. And that's not even talking about the soul connection. The target was You Know Who. V-Voldemort. If I'm right about Harry being the living focus, that means he had, maybe still has, a soul connection with Voldemort!"

Sirius froze, horror seeping through him. "You aren't sure though," he managed to say. "You aren't sure that Harry was the living focus."

Hermione deflated. "Well, no. Not one hundred percent."

But Sirius was sure. Albus had said it himself in that overheard conversation. "It was you who destroyed the Lord Voldemort of your world. You were the 'living focus.'"

Harry hadn't denied it.

And later, when Sirius had asked what had happened to him, Harry had been livid.

Breathe, Black. Just keep breathing.

"Tell me about soul connections," Sirius demanded suddenly. "You said you found something."

Hermione pulled out a sheet of parchment. "This was everything I could find. I copied it word for word."

Sirius grabbed it and read.

Of Soul Connections

There are two categories of soul connections, those that occur naturally and those that are unnatural. Under the first category there are two types. Type One: Soul Mates. Not necessarily lovers (in fact soul mates can often be bitter enemies, unable to escape the pull of the other), but two inextricably linked souls, brought together by the naturally occurring currents of magic. Type Two: Same Soul. This widely agreed upon cross-dimensional theory states that it is possible for one person to exist in separate dimensions due to a unique sort of soul connection. That is, two or more physical bodies in differing dimensions can be inhabited by the same soul, making them one person while also being separate individuals. An interesting, if not as widely accepted theory, is that certain 'information' is shared between the various Other Selves through the soul.

The labels for the second category, unnatural soul connections, are something of a debate. I shall, for the purpose of this text, forgo the more common usage of light and dark due to the misleading nature of these terms. Rather, I prefer to refer to positive and negative connections, though not without some hesitation. In both the positive and the negative case these connections are caused by crafted magic – the magic of witches and wizards. The difference lies in the intent of the original casting. Positive connections come from magic crafted with the intent of creating a soul connection (regardless of the light or dark nature of the spell and/or ritual). Ritual marriage bonds are the most common example, though the connection they create is breakable. Some of the older slavery bonds also fall into this category. Negative connections are the result of high level magic – generally that of a dark nature – going awry. This last type is extremely rare and it is unknown precisely what sort of conditions can cause such magic to go so very wrong. The speculation in this field is wide and varied, and largely, unprovable. What is known is that the bearers of negative soul connections tend toward being unstable. Depression, anxiety, and outright madness can be symptoms of a negative connection. Even the most stable bearers of this kind of connection tend to display a disturbing lack of concern for their own well being.

"This is everything?" Sirius asked.

Hermione nodded. "The author abruptly cut to another topic after that."

Sirius closed his eyes. That just left one question.

What type of connection did Harry have with Voldemort?