DISCLAIMERS: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER

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{Chapter Fourteen}

Snape wasn't happy, not one bit, but there was something about Harry that he could never quite explain, something that he realized that made him simply different, untouchable almost, with a kind of power that made the Dark Lord look like a mewling child, he was one of few blessed to feel it and realize it in its most beautiful form, it would only be a matter of time before others saw it too - especially after Hogsmeade. Snape wasn't happy because Harry had yet to ask about wolf-hunting for their potion and now he'd basically pulled him into his Marauder fold, but one look at his face told him that it was something beyond schoolboys, something serious, and so he had to swallow much of his bile - and obeyed.

He was curious that the meeting spot was Myrtle's bathroom, he was sure there were other rooms or empty classrooms to use, but he wanted to hide in plain sight, and Harry wanted to keep the Room of Requirement to himself for a while.

Snape watched in fascination as Harry spoke in low tones to the irritating ghost girl for all of ten whole minutes, watching her salute before giggling and disappearing away, doing her best impression of a guard. He grimaced when his worn shoe landed in a puddle, and walked on. The fact that nobody used the toilet and that it was a female one meant that it didn't have the ghastly stench he was used to associating with Hogwarts bathrooms, and the toilets were mostly functional save for the few Myrtle haunted and destroyed with her ghostly rattling inside of pipes. He watched as Harry moved down to the last stall, all of the way out of sight of the bathroom entrance and turned to Snape after casting a quick Tempus.

"We have about twenty minutes to make a secure room, I trust you know your runes?" huh - a room within the bathroom stall? A tall order but not difficult for two highly capable wizards, Snape looked at Harry oddly before nodding slowly.

"Why the bathroom?"

"Nobody uses it because of Myrtle, she's actually not too bad company and can act as a guard, portraits steer clear of the entry to avoid her too, and it's not too far from the boy's one so it doesn't look odd when we all end up heading towards the same place, not too odd anyway," he also didn't want to share the Room of Requirement yet, it was his sanctuary, so the loo would have to suffice. It was also close to the Chamber of Secrets, once he found his way around the Parseltongue locking system, he could move them down there easily - should the talk go well and they end up convening regularly.

"I can cast an expansion rune on the floor, it'll cause some damage though, so we'd need to ward the door against teachers and random wondering students," said Snape after a moment.

"Know anything about warding?" asked Snape.

"Just temporary stuff," he remembered back to his tent days with Ron and Hermione, and ignored the pang in his chest as he did so, and Snape dutifully didn't comment on the pained look that flashed through the other's features.

"Temporary is all we need, we'll only have to dismantle it when we're done unless we had a way to permanently seal off the stall from wanderers," said Snape with a shrug, opening the stall door - which was just a toilet cubicle. It didn't look like much, but he started with vanishing the toilet completely, leaving a leaking pipe of water in it's place which he quickly halted and disappeared before grimacing.

"Casually damaging Hogwarts and altering it, this would get us into trouble," he sighed, not even stopping as he began firing out a burning spell which shot out a dark red light that hit the floor tiles like a laser from a muggle spy film, using an engraving charm as he artfully moved his wand - concentrating on drawing out a rune that Harry vaguely recognised.

"Usually but if we did I'd just square it with Albus, not my fault students don't get offices and we're making one out of a loo," huffed Harry - he didn't want to use Dumbledore's either because the man might monitor them and give into his temptations regarding the Resurrection Stone, and he couldn't allow it.

"Mhm - there, Falsuf Dernum Haps Dominicae," Harry watched in fascination as Snape seemingly effortlessly began stretching the size of the room, as he walked, trailing a deep engraving along the floor, the further he walked, the more the room seemed to stretch, and the very sight of it was a bit nauseating and made Harry squeeze his eyes shut until it was done.

"Alright, large enough?"

Harry opened his eyes and saw the room was the size of Dudley's main bedroom in Number 4, and stepped outside to see the stall looked as non-assuming as the others, opening to the unrealistically large interior - not for the first time, Harry expressed "I bloody love magic," - much to Snape's faint amusement.

"Think we could transfigure the floor?" mused Harry, looking at the engraved bathroom tile in disdain - and Snape shook his head.

"That's a bit above me, not something I can do on the spot, but I know how to glamour it, same for the stall walls?" suggested the Slytherin, Harry nodded and watched him wave his wand and the rune engraved floor tile turning to resemble carpet flooring. It still felt like tiles under his feet, he could feel where the cracks would be as he walked on them, but it was visually pleasing at least. Snape was smart enough to cast a cloaking glamour over the ceiling so nobody standing on a toilet could peer over the high ceiling into the other stall. Harry changed the stall walls to look deep velvet red, it was quite pleasing, like stepping into a whole new part of the school, but it was rather dark.

Harry was sure the wall sconces were stuck to the Hogwarts walls, until Snape looked at him like he was particularly slow and told him to fetch some lanterns from a supply cupboard.

"And see if we can get some tables and chairs, I don't feel like breaking a sink and trying to transfigure scraps," he drew a line on destruction of property.

It was a few minutes until Harry came back with a shoddy transfigured bag filled with shrunken tables and chairs from an unused classroom and began taking them out, casting engorgement charms until they were the right size - the three work desks didn't exactly fit in with the meeting room atmosphere Harry was trying to create, but it had enough mass that Snape could easily transfigure them into one long piece of furniture. It wasn't the most glamorous looking thing, it was a long wooden table with no wood pattern or texture, but Harry was able to give it a chrome-like finish to make it look passable, before tucking in the six chairs he'd filched.

A first year spell he'd learned from Hermione easily lit the lanterns up and Snape was able to hang them from the velvet stall walls with a strong sticking hex, giving the room a smoky atmosphere.

Perfect, Harry mused, for keeping secrets. He set a few Notice-Me-Not charms, squib repellents - aimed at Filch - and silencing-privacy wards like those around his bed, before floating an Out of Order sign from another stall and placing it on the outside door. Quite pleased with himself, he let Snape make any inside alterations before pulling a few resources and dumping them in the room. He wondered, briefly, if the Marauders would even come, until he felt a light tap on his shoulders.

Spinning around sharply, his eyes met directly with James Potter's - and over his shoulder, was Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black.

He didn't know whether to be relieved or nervous, his troubled face.

"Good, you're here,"

He noticed them all stiffen up, glowering nearly, and he wasn't sure why - until Harry heard Snape's voice behind him.

"The changes are complete, take them through," not letting his eyes leave the Marauders out of sheer wariness, Snape let them all go ahead as Harry frogmarched them to the bathroom.

Watching how Snape was around Harry was just a little strange for the Marauders, he was stalked behind him like a shadow, a tall, lumbering, skinny mass of darkness - and what was even stranger, was how he simply did things with little question. If they hadn't witnessed Harry restore Snape's limbs first hand - they would almost think he had dirt on the guy to have him act the way that he did. It was strange, none of them trusted the Slytherin, but Harry seemed to - for reasons none of them could fathom, and trusted him as one might trust an assistant.

The Marauders watched with some trepidation as Snape and Harry led them into the girl's loo - a strange meeting spot but certainly secluded enough - and led them down to the very end stall, where an Out of Order sign hung.

Snape held back a self-satisfied smirk at the gasps of surprise and appreciative looks once the stall door was open, leading to a cavernous, smoky meeting room well lit by hanging lamps of blue light in ornate lanterns pilfered from a supply cupboard. The long table had a shiny finish and they found themselves a little out of sorts by the seriousness in which Harry took it. He'd have had this meeting in the dorms except, Snape wouldn't have been able to come, and that was an issue for him, he fully intended on working on the civility between the two diametrically opposed groups.

"Nice," said James after a moment, giving a low appreciative whistle, it didn't even smell like the bathroom in there, but rather an old bookish smell, which Harry supposed was Snape's doing.

"Take a seat," said Harry, gesturing to the chairs. Harry sat on the end with Snape leering behind him, too wary to even sit with the Marauders. On the long table were a few books which Snape saw him dump there before the others arrived, he glanced at the titles on the spines facing his way and raised a brow. The more amiable of the Marauders - Remus - acknowledged Snape.

"Why are we here?" he asked, rather politely.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Snape was terse and to the point, but lacked a sneer.

"I asked you here because I wanted Severus here too, to discuss Voldemort, James here walked in on me and Albus talking and I figured I'd owe you all an explanation at some point, but could kill two birds with one stone if Severus was here too," he glanced up at him "-It'll make sense in a moment,"

He turned back to James, who resisted the urge to squirm under scrutiny.

"Why don't you start with telling us what you saw and I'll explain it,"

James shifted around a bit in his seat before scratching the back of his neck, before he relayed the events.

"I walked in on you and Dumbledore arguing about something, with a gaudy looking old tiara on the desk, and you were shouting 'It Will Kill You Albus!' and that's about as much as I caught, and by the time I was in the door you were calling him an old fart, proclaiming your love for him and general urge not to let him near anything that'd kill him," said James after a moment.

Harry nodded and turned to the others who were sat down - maybe this was a bit too formal, but it wasn't like they could have this talk in the Library either, it had to be away from prying eyes, and this was all he could think of, and he didn't think they'd be thrilled to sit on the bathroom floor, glamoured or not.

"If it's something that can put even a man like Albus in danger, you can try to understand the need for privacy and why I didn't drag you to the library for this talk or any other spare room, too many portraits," understanding dawned on the lot of them, who relaxed a bit, when the overly formal situation was explained.

"Severus," a few Marauders didn't look too thrilled with the first name basis Harry had, but didn't say anything as he glanced backwards to the boy acting as his shadow.

The boy raised an eyebrow - something that could kill Dumbledore was what had him thrown into the conversation and basically ignoring and somewhat forgiving the presence of the most despised Marauders, in favour of listening to Harry.

"What do you know about Horcruxes?"

The Marauders watched in fascination as what little colour was in Severus Snape's face noticeably drained, and his dark eyes widened while the pupil shrank, he even visibly balked at the word, and anyone or anything that could induce that reaction in someone like Snape was probably the foulest thing on Earth. The Marauders looked at each other warily when Snape didn't immediately answer, and turned deathly nervous when he started to talk.

"Not much, except that it's so foul most Dark Arts books wont even touch it, not even Magicks Most Evile - I've only ever come across brief passing outlines in it even when I had access to the Lestrange family library, any books that know about it mostly refuse to talk about it or warn you off of it, even medieval era flesh print books," confessed Snape, who seemed to almost recoil at the mention of books printed on flesh, for someone who was largely into all that stuff, and disgusting potion's ingredients, he seemed to draw a line when it came to human flesh, and it was a personal, visceral distaste.

"I know it's really, really dark Soul Magic, and it's supposed to cut your soul in half, the whys and hows I don't know, though Darkest Endeavours mentioned something about flesh sacrifice and I had to stop reading because that shit makes me queasy," said Snape, rather openly, making the Marauders blink and look at each other in surprise - so there was stuff that Snivellous didn't like about the Dark Arts - who'd have thought it?

"Very good," said Harry grimly - it was still more than most people knew. "Can you tell me why it'd be so reviled - obvious reasons to one side,"

"Cost-Benefit analysis," said Snape after a moment - wondering if that was the answer, it seemed he wanted to verse the Marauders in the basics of Dark Arts, though Sirius just looked grim, nodding along.

"The basics of most magic is on a Cost-Benefit analysis, but the Dark Arts especially, and it's a core tenant of Necromancy - 'Quid Pro Quo' - Something For Something. If you want to say, raise the dead, you need to pay sacrificial cost magic wise that is equal or greater than what you're trying to do. No magic can actually bring back the dead though, so an animal soul in trade for something that just lumbers around and does your bidding would suffice. So..." you could almost see the cogs turning in Snape's head as he spoke, looking only at Harry "-in Soul Magic, you'd have the same - I think. If a Horcrux splits a soul, then the cost of doing that...would be another soul, equal or greater than your own...?" somehow, the Marauders weren't at all surprised that Snape knew his theory so well, and could relate it to making Inferus, but it was still disquieting to hear.

"And since human beings all have the same equivocal worth - despite what Voldemort thinks - it can be anyone," added Harry, turning to the table, and James had gone deathly pale at this point, as though he'd just realized something, which Harry confirmed in his next words.

"That tiara you saw was a diadem James, what you saw in Albus's office was a Horcrux,"

The silence that followed was deafening, Snape looked queasy and was staring at the back of Harry's head in disbelief, it was Peter Pettigrew who broke it.

"What? But who, why?! Why would anyone do that?!" Peter's abject horror was wholly believable and rather soothing to Harry, considering the treachery he could be capable of in the future, and Harry just looked grim.

"It was in Hogwarts, it was hiding for years and years, when I found one was actually left inside of here, I took it straight to Albus. He'd long since suspected that Horcruxes had been in creation by a Hogwarts student but had no proof, when I found the diadem - well, he had all the proof he needed,"

"As for who..." Harry trailed off.

It was Snape who spoke, who still looked faintly queasy.

"The Dark Lord...?" the fact he jumped to that from Hogwarts student was jarring, but what was even more unsettling was Harry nodding in agreement.

"Even Voldemort was a kid once, a kid who went to Hogwarts," he glanced at the uncomfortable Marauders "-His journey into the unforgivable started here,"

"And the why?" prodded Remus softly, arms wrapped around himself - why would anybody split their own soul...? A soul was sacred, even the wolf understood that, it was something precious, not something one ham-handedly splits, it simply wasn't done.

"If a soul isn't whole, it can't pass on," said Harry patiently "Voldemort's not human, we all know that, but he's not mortal anymore, and therein lies the problem,"

Silence.

"Isn't Dumbledore just going to...destroy the diadem then...?" asked Sirius in a quiet voice "-I mean, then the Dark Dork is human, right?"

Harry resisted the urge to smile inappropriately at Sirius's name for the detestable creature and didn't speak, as Snape beat him to the punch, his horror unable to be fully masked by his usual droll, sarcastic monotone.

"Good Lord, are you telling me he made more than one!? Can you even do that?!"

"At the present moment, Voldemort has likely five in circulation,"

"Holy fucking Shit," James swore "-five...!?"

"That me and Albus know of,"

Snape cut in with some urgency, looking at Harry with worry in his eyes.

"The headmaster hasn't destroyed the diadem, has he?! All magic is linked, especially Soul Magic, if that's destroyed, the Dark Lord might create more, and we wouldn't have a chance of knowing what or where they are," Snape caught on quick, frighteningly in quick, and Harry was more than a little impressed.

"That is correct and because of this, he hasn't," he turned to the group once more "-if a Horcrux is destroyed, the Master Soul will feel it,"

"Me and Albus have decided that due to this it would be better to collect them all and destroy them at the same time, when the Master Soul is in its weakest moment, an attack can be led, and Voldemort will be human again - well - as human as he gets, anyway," shrugged Harry "-the fate of those who use Horcruxes to survive is what only few would prefer," quoting Slughorn nearly directly.

"Committing murder rips the soul apart, a wizard intent on selfishly creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion of his soul in something and anchor himself to Earth. The only way to undo a Horcrux outside of destroying it is remorse, and it's excruciatingly painful because you have to really feel what you've done and it can kill you, in the end, and I don't see Voldemort attempting that,"

"Life for life...it would make sense that the remorse kills you, I suppose..." mumbled Snape, before he began rubbing his head.

"Those outlines in the books never even entertained the possibility of more than one, citing anyone who managed to do it was damaged near irreversibly and that the effects of it should be enough to ward any sane man off, you're telling us he's made five?"

"Voldemort is not sane," said Harry flatly, laying his hands over the table.

"Herpo the Foul was the first of few to ever make them, and even he never did beyond one, as it rendered him less than human, every split of the soul leaves the Master Soul more and more unstable, that's why - Severus - if you've read on him - and I know you have - you'll find his works getting gradually more...unstable over time," said Harry gently.

"These are not facts you find on his Chocolate Frog Card, how...?" trailed off Snape, which the others were interested to know too.

"When young Voldemort found out about Horcruxes, he found out from one of his mentors in more detail, but originally found Herpo's accomplishment detailed properly in Secrets of the Darkest Art, naturally, Albus removed it fromt the Restricted Section and has it in his own personal library, and naturally, he's had me read it cover to cover. If you think the detail in what you've read so far is queasiness inducing I don't think you'd be all too keen to read the ritual section," said Harry with a grimace to Snape.

"Just give me the notes version of it please, I'd prefer to keep my dinner," now that surprised the Marauders, who expected him to be pining for such a book, and the fact that he openly reviled at least one tenant of Dark Arts, not to say he wasn't pro Dark Arts in all it's other forms, but he seemed to have a weak stomach for things that involved flesh sacrifice, at least, at that age, he did.

Harry chuckled "-if we need to get through it at any point for more Horcrux research than I'll just have to spare you much of the gross stuff," he turned to the others, humour disappearing.

"We need to find the other Horcruxes, obviously. Each of them tend to have their own defence mechanism at least, in theory. Horcruxes that have been left to time with no human interaction have been passive and the Diadem proves it - though still wouldn't wear it," mused Harry.

"Why a diadem? The Dark Lord doesn't strike me as somebody into women's jewellery," said Snape crisply, Peter snorted, and the Marauders wondered vaguely if they had to get their ears collectively checked by Madame Pomfrey because none of them thought they'd see the day where Snape made a joke, much less at the expense of Voldemort.

"He is an egotist," said Harry flatly "-the diadem you saw was a heirloom of Lady Ravenclaw. It's Lady Ravenclaw's diadem,"

James's eyes went wide as he remembered it and exclaimed "-Shit, yeah it is! There's a statue of her wearing it in Ravenclaw Common!"

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that," said Remus flatly, shaking his head at his friend.

"Has he picked founder heirlooms for all his Horcruxes?" said Sirius, speaking up for the first time in a while, not sure of what to make of Snape thusfar and shoving him to the end of his priorities list.

"Yes and no, he couldn't get ahold of Gryffindor's Sword, only a true Gryffindor can wield it and it's with the Headmaster," said Harry "-he does have a locket belonging to Slytherin though, Helga Hufflepuff's cup - another is something that belongs to the pure line in his family, and the last is his diary from Hogwarts," said Harry quietly.

"His pure line?" it was Peter who caught onto this "-that would be the Dark Lord's p-parents right? We don't know who he i-is really, and it could go back g-generations as an heirloom from either his mum or his dad's line, it would take ages to find," he said in a small voice.

Harry blinked in surprise before offering a small smile, it was rare when Peter used his head, but worth acknowledging.

"Here's the kicker, he's no pureblood," grinned Harry "-if he was, he'd be shouting it from rooftops, there's a reason you don't know his name before he called himself Voldemort, his mother certainly didn't call him that,"

The fact the Dark Lord was not pureblood was something that needed a few moments to sink in - that is - of course, until James started laughing, albeit darkly, and Sirius found himself doing it too, while Remus was shaking his head and Peter remained silent, cogs turning behind his eyes.

"Whose the muggle in his blood?" asked Snape with a smirk tugging at his lips.

"His dear old dad, Riddle Senior,"

"I'd rename myself if my last name was that pun worthy too," snarked Sirius.

"Your name is Sirius, you don't have room to talk," mumbled Peter, until he felt himself getting playfully kicked under the table.

"So the pureblood is..." trailed off Remus, prodding Harry to continue.

"Merope Gaunt," silence followed that - Gaunt was the name that was in the Pureblood Directory as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, a name that mysteriously disappeared along with Selwyn, just utterly gone, it died with Merope Gaunt, and resurfaced as Voldemort - diluting Slytherin's blood for the first time in decades.

A low whistle left Sirius.

"Damn. Old Sal must be rolling in his grave," he said with a crooked grin, Snape resisted the urge to snark back, considering he himself was half-blood.

"Wait, Riddle? I know that name!" said Peter suddenly, making everyone's head snap to attention and stare at him, leading him to squirm under their many surprised and curious gazes, while James gently encouraged him to keep talking.

"I've scrubbed those trophies in detention long enough to know - there was a Tom Riddle who got the Special Award for Services to the School! It's engraved on a gold shield - June 1942, it doesn't say what for, but it's in the Trophy Room!" said Peter hurriedly, beaming when Harry nodded and spelled his name out to rearrange from Tom Marvolo Riddle to I Am Lord Voldemort, as he'd done in the Chamber.

"Voldemort was indeed Tom Marvolo Riddle, he was falsely awarded that trophy for allegedly capturing the student responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets all those years ago, previous headmaster Armando Dippet awarded it to him and without any proof, Albus couldn't redact it, and it's been hanging there ever since," said Harry quietly.

"And with no record of the Gaunt with Riddle, nobody could directly associate him as Slytherin's heir so he's free to implicate whoever he likes," said James with a scowl.

"Yeah, and unfortunately, the victim of that is still in Hogwarts," he said, debating whether or not to spill the beans, then again, this whole operation relied on honesty, didn't it? He'd had enough of lying to them, really.

"Rubeus Hagrid," the sounds of outrage echoed in the room, and even Snape's jaw was hanging ungracefully - who'd believe for a second that a half-giant was Slytherin's heir or capable of opening the mythical and fabled Chamber of Secrets?

"I'm sure we all know Hagrid's fondness for rare and dangerous beasts, correct? He's forever driving Ogg up the wall with it," said Harry gently after a moment "-with that, and the Acromantula baby he was cultivating under his bed, Tom Riddle was easily able to blame him for releasing Slytherin's beast when the Chamber was opened and a poor girl was killed. Hagrid unfairly served time in Azkaban for it, expelled, wand snapped. It is only with Albus's intervention he is able to live as a free man and able to stay on Hogwarts grounds under an apprenticeship with Ogg,"

Sirius's head was spinning - he looked at James, both of them had asked Hagrid many times why he was expelled but he was never forthcoming, they all thought it was something hilarious or saucy but the truth couldn't be further from it. Suddenly, he felt rather pained for Hagrid, who had to watch them all do magic on a daily basis, and what was worse, was serving time in Azkaban - however briefly - as an innocent man.

"A student died?" it was Remus's quiet voice that broke the solemn air.

"Yes, when the Chamber of Secrets was opened all that time ago, Slytherin's beast killed a girl, it was Tom Riddle's first kill, his first taste of death, and with it, he was able to make his first Horcrux out of his school diary," he was rather thankful none of them had thought to ask how he knew what he'd put his soul into, and simply reasoned Dumbledore figured it out his magical Dumbledore way. Until such a time as they asked, he wouldn't correct their assumption, he hadn't even thought up a cover story for that yet.

"Who was it?" asked Peter in a soft, tiny, sad voice.

Harry's smile turned wane and he glanced to the stall door and rose from his chair, taking long strides towards it and opening it slowly into the bathroom.

"You can meet her if you like. Myrtle - sweetheart - could you come here a second?"

His back being turned to everyone - he missed every single one of their jaws dropping.

xx

Myrtle was a sucker for pet names really, which was why Harry used it. She was a sucker for any and all nice treatment, which was a little sad, but considering she'd been teased in both her physical and spiritual life, it was not at all surprising.

She was quick to gawk at the room and promise to keep it a secret once Harry smiled at her, so long - she said - as they promised to come by a lot, which was easily done. When she wasn't sobbing all over the place, she wasn't half-bad.

The boys really did expect her to burst into tears when Harry asked her to tell them how she died.

They didn't expect for Myrtle's face to light up, and to be excited by the idea.

"Oh! It was terrible! Horrible! Awful! I came here to cry because that nasty little bitch Olive Hornby was making fun of my glasses again for the upteenth time and I swear she was an awful piece of work! Well, I came in, and then I heard this funny whispery sound, this hissy noise, and I recognised the voice - Riddle something. Well, I opened the door to yell at him to go away, but the next thing I saw was just this pair of big yellow eyes. Big horrible sickly yellow eyes - and I felt this horrible feeling, cold all over, and then the next thing I know, I was staring at my own body on the floor," said Myrtle sadly, and rather dramatically.

"Was it...spider eyes...?" asked Remus quietly.

"Wha? Oh no, no not at all! But then that poor giant-boy Hagrid got blamed for it and I never heard from him again..." said Myrtle sullenly.

"This is horrible," said James, swallowing thickly, needing to disperse the tension "-and screw whoever that Hornby chick was, I like your glasses," he gestured to his own, which sent Myrtle into explosive happiness. James had never regretted words so fast, Snape was smirking widely when Myrtle departed with a promise to save a spot in her bathroom for James, copious eye-fluttering, before flying through his body and leaving the stall.

"So there you go, now, I didn't want Albus getting involved too directly because he has a school to run and because he is old and particularly susceptible to some of the Horcruxes, but he was correct, in that I shouldn't face them alone. So I'm asking you all to help me, help me make Voldemort mortal again," said Harry softly, letting the heaviness fall again.

"And if we don't?" asked Peter timidly, shrinking under judgement from James.

"You reserve the right to quit, but you have to tell me now - and Albus will probably modify your memories, for safety's sake,"

Their heads were still spinning, Remus silently dropped his head into his hands, Peter was plucking hairs from his head out of mad, nervous twitching, Sirius was staring openly at Harry, and James was folding his arms over his chest, already nodding tersely.

First to lay his life down - typical.

"I already made my choice," said Snape, when Harry glanced at him, who was picking up a book he'd dumped on the long table and giving him a silent quizzical look.

"If you agree, you'll all be swearing oaths before you leave the room, and given a copy of one of these books," Harry tilted his head at Snape who held up the copy in his hands Occlumency - Shielding Your Mind in Several Steps, Mind Arts V1.

"The Dark Lord is a known Legilimens meaning he can access your mind, and anyone trained in it can," said Harry shortly.

"I'm already an Occlumens, I've practiced against Lord Lestrange," said Snape quietly "-he taught me a bit of Legilimency to help me understand it better, I'm not an expert at it though, I think Dumbledore is,"

"He is," agreed Harry.

"That's how he knows when we've done something!" said James indignantly, making Harry nod and roll his eyes a bit.

"The most basic defence - if you suspect someone is a Legilimens, is to simply not look them in the eye, that is how they get you," it was Snape who spoke then, and the Marauders actually listened.

"I'm in," said Sirius shortly.

"Me too," said Remus after a moment of deliberation, James had already nodded - and that left Peter.

Tiny, timid, tubby Peter.

"I'm i-in too,"

Harry let out a short sigh of relief and floated the books over to them. "If you feel a need to test your shields you can swallow your pride and ask Severus,"

A bunch of snorts filled the room at that statement.

"Geez, you know, when most guys keep secrets, it's secret partners, betrothal contracts, and all that, but not you," said Snape dryly, while Harry just gave him a weak smile.

"I have one question," said Remus suddenly "-if an Acromantula wasn't Slytherin's beast, what was it, and where is the Chamber of Secrets? We know every secret of the castle and we've never found it - we've tried,"

"The secret tunnel to it is in this loo actually, and the beast is a basilisk - so it's asleep in it's coma until it's woken," he watched in some amusement at the noises of horror and the gasps that followed. "The Chamber is...here actually, where Slytherin's beast came out - from the snake shaped sink is mine and Albus's theory, what Myrtle heard was likely Parseltongue, we plan to find a way around it so we can neutralize the threat, probably during the holidays," said Harry, casually waving off the ancient fifty foot deadly beast snoozing beneath them.

"How have I not fainted yet?" groaned James, rubbing his eyes.

"Glad you haven't - I hate repeating myself," said Harry curtly "-anyways, that about covers it, but there's just one more thing, how and where we'll keep the horcruxes, Albus has one but it's a passive one, I'm not happy with him keeping stuff that could kill an old fart,"

"You could put them in a Gringotts vault but you wouldn't be able to check on them when you want," mused Remus.

Snape coughed a bit to get Harry's attention - his green eyes fell on the sallow boy calculatingly, leaning down to mutter something.

"I have an idea but I'd need to do more research,"

Harry blinked and reached into his uniform, drawing out a small folded piece of parchment that Snape and the others recognised as a permission slip - he kept it on hand should he ever need it, it was unrestricted access to everything in Hogwarts library, something not handed often and incredibly rarely, when teachers gave access it had to be for good reason and only for a specific book or subject, and Harry had essentially handed over a golden ticket.

Snape took it, thanking him quietly and tucking it into his inside pocket with a small pat before his arms fell to his side.

"I'm assuming you want to start right now?"

Snape nodded eagerly, desiring to leave the room of Marauders - James quickly spoke, stopping him.

"Not so fast Sni-Snape, you've got to swear an oath, just like all of us!"

The meeting ended on the following words.

I swear on my magic not to willingly reveal anything pertaining to the mission to destroy Lord Voldemort and his Horcruxes, I solemnly swear fealty to no Death Eater, official or otherwise, nor to the Dark Lord. We do swear to keep the secrets of Harry Fey safe, and to assist him in any way that we can, so mote it be.

xx

Snape left first, the rest were quiet when leaving, sealing up the stall and heading out with an air of heavy silence. Sirius rushed ahead and asked his friends to walk on so he could hang back with Harry, an uncharacteristically serious look in his eyes. James took a look at his friend, shoulders burdened and heavy, nodding - leaving him to it.

"So that's your baggage, hm? That's why you were saying all that stuff before, you were going to try and do this all by yourself, weren't you? If we said no," said Sirius softly.

Harry just nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets - he felt bad dragging them into it, and it showed on his face - one good thing came of this, he had Peter Pettigrew's loyalty sworn to oath, changing their horrible destiny already.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Merlin, I regret it already but I know I can't do it by myself, especially not when I'm trying to keep Albus at a safe distance from it," said Harry quietly.

"We agreed, you told us everything, I'm sorry you shouldered all that by yourself, but there is no way you're taking the Dark Dork on your own," said Sirius vehemently - his eyes glittering "-me liking you only played half a part in my decision too, I want to do this. I want this war to stop, even if it means working with Snape, I'll do anything Harry, anything,"

Even young, he was stupidly brave - and again, in that second, he saw the man Sirius could become, and felt his breathe catch.

"But I also want to do it because I want to keep you safe, and be near you," he swallowed "-whatever happens, whatever we are, I want to be by your side, and I'm sorry if that's creepy, but I can't get you out of my head, and when I try not to, I can't replace you with anything, there can be nobody else, and I don't know why," he breathed, his tone shaking.

"I don't know that I know how to be someone reliable, that you deserve, but...I kinda wanna try," his face was burning, and it'd be cute if it wasn't such a tense moment.

"You didn't tease Severus once, that's a start," said Harry, trying to joke, but it fell flat in the moment, because Sirius was still looking at him with burning intensity, speaking in a manner that for some reason made him shudder pleasantly.

"That's because you make me a better man when I'm with you," it's the whole reason he even tried, and Harry could feel himself going uncharacteristically red at this, Merlin - who knew he could be such a sappy romantic.

"I want to help you destroy the Dark Dork, and then, when it's all over," Sirius swallowed - dammit, him Royal Seducer Extraordinaire was reduced to a quivering, romantic, nervous mess.

"I would really like to go out with you," he breathed out quietly, in a fast rush.

Harry didn't say anything, but offered a shy, awkward smile in return - well, that would be something to look forward to, wouldn't it? He could try, for the last time, to build a peaceful life when it ended.

"That sounds nice," said Harry quietly - hesitantly.

Sirius swore that he'd erase all hesitation, no matter how long it took.

xx

The following day, in the Great Hall - the owls began to flood in, dropping mail on unsuspecting students with a few landing in pudding and soups. One Ravenclaw was the unfortunate of an early-morning howler for getting bellow 80 on a test, but other than that it was uneventful, until a large eagle swept down to where James was, dropping a letter on his lap, stealing a bit of bacon, before swooping out as quickly as he came.

'To My Dearest Troublemaker,

There have been some rumblings in the Pureblood community, your young friend Sirius has finally been blasted from the Black family tree, Dorea overheard Arcturus discussing it at the charity regatta. Personally, they're missing out, Sirius is a lovely lad and if you happen to be reading this aloud, you may want to stop. Wouldn't want to embarrass anybody would we?

You're alone now I assume, good.

The headdress you're referring to has been - according to Dorea - in the Black line only for the past 100 years, but it's an heirloom all the same. Customarily when a Pureblood gifts jewellry to another, it's a token of engagement. As it wasn't jewellery and I don't see Lord Orion becoming a bigamist any time soon, it isn't that.

When the Lord of an heir bestows an heirloom to another outside of the family, it can be assumed that if the item is not a standalone gift for Beltane or Samhain or anything tied to the Old Gods, it's seen as a dowry gift. Something to help cover the expense of the wedding or something to mark the union and solidify the very act of giving their heir or heiress away - by giving away an object that is precious and has been in the family for an extended period of time.

Usually this is done after an engagement is announced or after a formal courtship has been entered. As I don't see young Sirius doing this, I'm at a loss, but Lord Orion - we may think whatever we think about them - he is no fool, and though he may listen to his Lady first and foremost, blood will always win out, and clearly, he must know his eldest son better than perhaps we do, in order to bestow an heirloom to your friend.

He might be expecting some curious things between the two, or he just wanted to part with something valuable so he didn't feel indentured even if it isn't considered proper as a life/safety debt payment.

If what we suspect is true, maybe don't tell Sirius about it, let things take their natural course - that's Dorea's advice, not mine.

Your Loving Father,

Charlus Potter'