You Know I'm Right

Harry woke slowly. He didn't move. He didn't make a sound. He just gradually became aware of his surroundings: sunlight, distant noises, people moving and someone talking. Harry was lying on his side in a warm bed, but it wasn't his. He could tell this without opening his eyes to confirm his suspicions because the bed was not large enough for him to be at Zabini villa, not soft enough to be his bed at Grimmauld Place, the room was too bright to be his dorm room and the bedding wasn't scratchy enough for him to be at Privet Drive. That left one last option. Harry was still in the infirmary.

"You don't learn, do you?" Now that he knew where he was, Harry tuned into the conversation that was bantering over his bed. "You may as well turn around and go right back out," Maddalena stated, "My answer has not and will not change regardless of how many times you ask."

"Madda…" Dumbledore corrected himself, "Mrs. Zabini…" Harry did his best not to smile, but realized he must have failed when a hand gently landed on his head and stroked his hair as if soothing him. Even if the gesture was just for show, it did indeed soothe the teen. Harry relaxed into her gentle touch, but Dumbledore was adamant about being heard, "It has been three days."

Harry frowned. He hadn't realized it had been that long. Maddalena wasn't impressed with the elder man's plea, "I'm aware."

"I need more information." Dumbledore implored.

"If Harry wishes to speak with you, he will do so when he is well." Maddalena wasn't giving the old man any ground. If Harry were to guess at what was truly driving his adopted mother's ire with the headmaster, he'd say it was Dumbledore's own fault. The old man should have told them about the horcruxes when the diary was discovered; especially since Dumbledore knew or guessed that Harry had one within him.

The room grew silent as the two adults stared at each other over the supposedly sleeping child. Dumbledore sighed heavily in defeat and acquiesced, "Please let Harry know that I'd like to speak with him when he awakens."

When Harry confronted Dumbledore about the connection he had with Voldemort the night the self-proclaimed Dark Lord was resurrected, the headmaster admitted to his theory of a horcrux within the teen. Sirius punched the old man in the face breaking his nose. That started the yelling, which naturally woke Blaise. Remus held Sirius back from attacking Dumbledore again and Pomfrey moved to heal the man. That respite only lasted moments, long enough for the rest of the occupants of the room to learn what a horcrux was. When the fact that one had been within Harry with Dumbledore's knowledge dawned on them, Pomfrey stopped healing the man stating he deserved whatever discomfort or pain he experienced and it was left to Sirius to try and hold back the werewolf from causing the old man more bodily harm.

Each person in that room had turned on Dumbledore that night. Snape couldn't say what was truly on his mind, but the angry glare spoke volumes. Maddalena approached the headmaster and slapped him, then - adding insult to injury - told the man to leave the infirmary. Dumbledore was dumbfounded. He was the headmaster of the school, yet that didn't stop Pomfrey from agreeing and ejecting him. The entire scene was a thing of beauty and could easily be Harry's new patronus memory.

Maddalena's hand gently ran through his hair bringing him back to the present. She informed Harry, "He's gone."

Harry opened his eyes and looked up at her, "I will have to speak with him eventually." She harrumphed at the idea which earned her a tired smile from the teen. "There's a reason I was sent back and given another chance at life."

He watched the emotions flit across her lovely features and sat up in the bed. The Zabini matriarch fluffed the teen's pillow and stuffed it behind her son's back busying herself rather than facing the conversation they both knew was inevitable. Harry took both of Maddalena's hands in his and held them. He smiled at her and earnestly told her, "I have no death wish, but there are things that I need to do. I will need help and I was told I will need him. That doesn't mean I trust him fully."

Maddalena blinked away the tears that pooled in her amber eyes, "Poppy thinks you may be released this evening."

"Mrs…" Her pursed lips had Harry grinning again and he corrected himself, "Mother… you know I'm right."

She sighed resignedly, "Fine," Maddalena gave in while tucking his blankets around him. "I don't have to like it, but I understand one should always use what resources are available to you."

"Exactly," Harry agreed.

Maddalena had been at Hogwarts daily since their kidnapping and Voldemort's return. She fussed after both boys and continued to visit even after Blaise had been released in order to look after Harry. It wasn't that she didn't trust Pomfrey, Maddalena was simply enjoying the excuse to dote over the boys. Pomfrey came out of her office and made her way to Harry's bedside. She performed her diagnostic spells and gave her nod of approval, "You're improving greatly."

"Does that mean you'll let me go soon?" Harry asked with a note of hope and optimism in his voice that wasn't disguised in the least which earned him amused looks from both women. Harry winced, "I appreciate everything you do, Madam Pomfrey. I'm just not fond of being sick."

"Don't worry, Mr. Potter," Pomfrey reassured her patient, "I have worked long enough in this infirmary that I won't take your eagerness to leave my company personally."

Harry held his breath as the infirmary doors opened catching the current occupants' attention. While he didn't expect Dumbledore to make another appearance so soon, it wasn't unlike the man to make a nuisance of himself. Harry was relieved to see it was his friends making their daily visit. Harry gave a startled snort of laughter when he felt the cleansing magic wash over him. He gave his adopted mother a huge grin of thanks and she threw another cleansing spell at his mouth which caused him to laugh aloud.

With various greetings, the small group of friends made their way to Harry's bedside: Alia and Ginevra gave hugs, Blaise gave a nod, Padma gave a smile, Colin gave a small wave and Hermione gave her betrothed a kiss. The Slytherin girls made themselves comfortable sitting on the bed next to Harry's pulling a willing Gryffindor to join them. Blaise made his way to his mother's side. Padma stood beside her Ravenclaw friend who sat on Harry's bed. Blaise looked to the matron and asked, "When will he be released?"

"Tonight after dinner," Pomfrey declared, "You have one more potion to take before I can release you."

"I brought notes for today's classes. Did you get all of your work done for yesterday?" Hermione asked him. "I don't want you falling behind."

Harry chuckled at her, "I'm working harder lying in this bed than I do when I attend classes."

"If that's the case, perhaps I shouldn't let you out of here too soon…" Pomfrey debated.

"No!" Harry exclaimed only to note the amusement on the matron's face as she began walking back to her office. "That was cruel, Madam Pomfrey."

Pomfrey stopped at her office doorway and laughed, "I find my amusement where I can, Mr. Potter."

The students all laughed at Harry's expense. Maddalena excused herself and joined Pomfrey in her office giving the group of friends some privacy. Blaise moved closer to the bed and stared down at Harry, "How are you really?"

"I'm fine." Harry insisted, ignoring the exchanged glances from the others. Alia hopped off the bed to move closer to her adopted brother and he held out his hand for her to take. "I really am." Harry knew he was breaking his promise to Jason, but he wasn't sure how to tell Alia or her parents that 'Jason says hello' without admitting that he died even if it had only been for a few minutes. If or rather when he finally admitted that he'd spoken with Jason to any of the Vaisey family members, he didn't want it to be in front of… outsiders.

Harry flinched internally at the thought of considering Hermione, his betrothed as an outsider, but she wasn't a Vaisey… she wasn't a Zabini… she knew nothing of the Order… or what happened at the graveyard…

A soft squeeze of Alia's hand in his brought him back from his thoughts, "What?" He asked and saw the concerned looks on everyone's face… including Blaise. He sighed and rubbed his forehead purely out of habit, "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind."

Alia shot a look to Ginevra who simply smiled and hopped off the bed, "Well I don't want to be around for all the brainstorming on how to keep you out of your own head." Ginevra gave Harry a hug, "Come on Colin, it's time you walked me back to the dungeons."

"Bye," Colin waved with a shy wave to the other occupants and walked his girlfriend from the infirmary.

The minute the door closed behind them, Alia rounded on Harry, "What's going on?"

Harry gave her a tired smile, "Am I that transparent?"

"Only to those of us that care about you," Alia corrected.

After a brief silent pause, Harry made his decision, "Have you ever heard of occlumency?"

They were to gather in the headmaster's office. Harry was not looking forward to the meeting as he was finally going to tell the others of his experience the night Voldemort returned. The four friends took their time walking from the infirmary. Harry still felt a bit off kilter, but did his best not to allow it to show as they moved down the halls.

There was a curious buzzing that flew up and down the halls behind him as he passed students. Some of his peers spoke politely to him and went about their business; others stared long enough to get an eyeful before whispering behind their hands. Harry was never more appreciative of his Slytherin persona than he was during that long walk across the castle. He was even happier with Hermione on his arm as she was keeping him steady without making it obvious that she was doing anything other than walking at his side.

When they came to the stone gargoyle statue that guarded Dumbledore's office the friends briefly looked at each other and as one turned to Harry expectantly. The Slytherin made eye contact with each and told them, "I know many people. I have a fair amount of friends, but only a few that I trust implicitly. You three I trust with my life. There are many things I want and need to tell you…" Harry sighed heavily, "I need you to learn Occlumency. I need to share these things with you."

Padma gave him a nod in understanding and smiled at him. She gripped his forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze, "We'll learn. You're more than just a friend… you're family…"

"Family…" Harry smiled back, "Exactly."

Hermione smiled up at him, rose on her toes and kissed him softly before adding, "We are always going to be here for you. You're not alone in this. We'll fight that mad man and his DEs together."

Harry wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, "I don't want any of us fighting them… but it's good to know I'm not alone. Now I have to get up there." He looked over at his brother and he gave him a lopsided grin, "We'll talk soon." With another quick good-bye, Harry turned to the statue and sighed softly before giving the passcode, "Jelly Babies."

As the gargoyle moved aside, the Italian Slytherin made a discontented sound. "Jelly Babies…" Blaise squinted at Harry as his words faded and deduced, "A muggle sweet?"

Harry shot his friend a parting grin and instead of answering, he took a step onto the moving staircase. Blaise's parting disgruntled comments about daft old men and their eccentricities with safety codes accompanied by Hermione and Padma's soft giggles gave him a sort of comfort as he was ushered up into the tower on the spiral stairs. Harry held onto the thought of his friends… his family… as he came to a stop at the top.

With a calming breath, Harry raised his hand to knock, but stopped himself when he heard a raised voice inside. The words were muffled and hard to distinguish, the tone were not. Harry sighed as he recognized one word out of the many buzzed… his name. Harry didn't hesitate any further and rapped on the wood frame. The door opened and the voice carried out to him. "-care what you think. He's my godson and I won't put him in danger because you 'think' it's necessary!"

"Please do come inside, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore motioned the teen in.

Harry closed the door behind him and entered while looking at the range of emotions between the men in the room. Sirius looked belligerent. Snape managed to look resignedly incensed. Dumbledore looked indomitable and yet his customary blue eyed twinkle still managed to give him the air of a grandfatherly figure. Harry wasn't fooled by his passive aggressive behavior.

The fire was burning warmly in its hearth, the silver gadgets on the side table twirled or puffed small tufts of smoke and Fawkes watched the room from his perch. When the bird spotted the teen, he flapped his brightly feathered wings and trilled his welcome. Harry smiled both at the bird and the surprise guest he hadn't expected, but should have. Maddalena sat primly in the wingback chair with her shapely legs crossed, her clothing impeccable, her hair curled to perfection and her skin flawless. Her expression was impassive when he entered, but when their eyes me, they danced with relief and a joy that warmed his heart.

He crossed the room and dutifully greeted his adopted mother with a kiss to her cheek and a warm smile. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen her just an hour ago, but her presence was still welcomed. Harry then gave a differential bow of his head to his Head of House, a lopsided grin to his godfather and stifled the sigh he felt when faced with Dumbledore, "Good evening, sir."

Before they could start their first round of questions, Sirius made a beeline to his godson and did much as he had when he first saw the boy after he had been kidnapped. The animagus began patting his hair, smoothing his hands over his shoulders and simply reassuring himself that the boy was truly okay. Sirius asked, "Should you be out of bed already?"

"Madam Pomfrey would take offense if she knew you were questioning her abilities." Harry teased, but relented quickly enough as he confirmed, "Yes, I'm well enough to be released from the infirmary. Besides, I was going stir crazy in there. I can only do so much lying around reading and homework. I need to run."

There was a knock on the door and it opened to allow Remus to enter with Blaise a step behind him. The werewolf went straight to Harry and took over from Sirius. The man squeezed the teen's shoulder before giving in to his need to embrace the child. He inhaled deeply before releasing him and turning his attention to the rest of the room. Remus gave a sheepish grin and asked, "Are we late?"

"You're right on time," Harry stated as he moved away from the man and positioned himself beside Maddalena's chair as his best friend stood on the other side both boys flanking their mother.

The strategic positioning was not lost on the other occupants in the room, yet no one commented on it. Sirius took a seat across from the woman, Remus sat to his right and Snape took up his post where he traditionally stood, behind Dumbledore who sat at his desk. The offer of tea or lemon drops was quickly made and refused before the headmaster finally sat back and asked the boys, "Please, tell us what happened."

The two friends began the tale of their encounter. Harry told of their journey back to the castle, the brief confrontation with Vincent and the portkey to the graveyard. Blaise only interrupted to add a point or answer a question and seamlessly took over when the killing curse struck Harry. Blaise told them of the ritual and answered questions as best he could. His part of the tale ended at his realization of Harry's return to the living. Harry closed his eyes and took a calming breath before he could continue. The pained and haunted look on his face had his mother taking his hand to give him the strength to speak. Harry told what he saw and felt to his guardian and his best friend; he told them of his conversation with Jason.

Harry looked at Blaise and gave him a melancholy smile, "Jason asked me to tell you hello." Upon hearing this news, Blaise closed his eyes and would have turned away to hide his emotions, but Harry was there to hold him and whisper in his ear the reassurances his brother needed. The two teens clung to each other for moral support and the adults wisely kept quiet until the two were able to emotionally pull themselves together.

For reasons he'd evaluate more closely at a later time, Harry didn't mention Jason's comment about Death's three heirlooms, only stating that he was sent back in order to tell them about the horcruxes and that they needed to be destroyed so Tom would be mortal once again. Harry admitted, "I was only allowed to live again, because he took Tom's horcrux. That bit of soul was sacrificed."

Sirius looked from Dumbledore to Harry and asked, "How many did he make?"

"Jason wasn't allowed to tell me how many horcruxes there are, or where they are located." Harry answered.

Remus tried a different approach, "How many can a person make?"

"Theoretically none," Snape said. "It was attempted and failed numerous times. One was already risky and he's obviously made more. He's quite superstitious. It'd have to be a magical number…"

That caught Harry's attention, "For a magical number, he'd use three or seven and seeing how I was sent back we can hope it was only three. We'd have only one more to find."

"That's not necessarily true," Dumbledore corrected. The old man's eyebrows were furrowed as he pulled an old, nearly forgotten booklet out of a drawer and laid it on his desk. The Slytherins in the room stiffened at the sight of the black, leather, worn and damaged journal. The headmaster nodded, "Tom's diary."

"That was a horcrux. That was how he was draining Weaslette's life force…" Blaise theorized, "It was bringing the DL back… or trying to anyhow."

"Precisely," Dumbledore agreed, "Only Harry was able to destroy it before it could take permanent hold."

"I used the sword," Harry reminisced, "So that means there's a horcrux in Gringotts."

Sirius frowned, "Why do you say that?"

"Harry mentioned them earlier. Jason told him that we will need to involve the goblins." Maddalena pointed out, "You'd only involve the goblins if a horcrux is in a vault or we needed their knowledge on how to destroy one. Since we already have the means to destroy them, it only stands to reason there is at least one horcrux in the bank."

"So that's two destroyed," Blaise commented, "I would imagine that the preferred vessel for a horcrux would not be another living being. An inanimate object can be hidden behind wards; whereas a person with free will could die unexpectedly…" He shot a side glance at Harry when he continued, "…by jumping in front of a killing curse." Harry's lip twitched as he fought back a grin, but the diversion turned into a halfhearted glare when his godfather snorted in amusement.

"This will take some research," Dumbledore admitted ignoring Blaise's last comment, "I doubt his horcruxes would be just anything. Tom was the sort to covet valuables. When he was a child, he took trophies from other children in the orphanage." The other occupants stared at the headmaster who apparently hadn't meant to speak that last sentence aloud. He peered over his half-moon glasses and restated, "I have much researching to do."

Every person in the room recognized the dismissal, but Maddalena was getting impatient with the headmaster's half answers and didn't rise as Sirius and Remus had. The stubborn woman crossed her legs and leveled her gaze at Dumbledore asking, "How, pray tell, does one research the personal belongings of a man that was dead for over a decade? Not only is the man's household gone, but any horcruxes he has were probably created and hidden longer than even I've been alive."

Dumbledore looked hesitant - if not a tad constipated - at the thought of sharing his knowledge or theories. Harry peered at him and stifled his sigh stating, "I'm curious if you're more hesitant at sharing information with us or in general."

The headmaster didn't comment right away. It wasn't really possible to be heard over Sirius' laughter. At the stern look from Dumbledore, Sirius' amusement abated… mostly. He was still grinning, but was at least silent. The elderly man looked at Harry over his glasses and admitted, "Most of what I know is pure speculation. Therefore voicing any data would only muddle the valid facts that you have already gathered and shared." Dumbledore then turned his gaze onto Maddalena, "I intend to speak with people that knew Tom when he was younger. I hope to gain some insight into the man he once was. I believe each horcrux was of great value to him personally."

"Very well," Maddalena stood to leave and was making her way out of the office with her sons following, but she had a parting comment for the headmaster. At the door she paused long enough to turn and remind Dumbledore, "You will need to do better at protecting my sons while they are in your care. This isn't the only school available to them."

Bkerrmom1, burntbookwyrm: Welcome to the madness. I hope you're still enjoying the ride.