Last chapter:

After a moment of silence, the Potions Master spoke.

"We should leave now. We have been down here long enough. There will be another Order meeting tonight, so we can tell Albus about our findings then. During the meeting, we can discuss what our next move shall be and whether we shall go to Godric's Hollow or not."

Seeing that they were getting prepared to exit the vault, Harry grabbed the items which he had set aside to bring with him. Even though they had not found the necklace, he was not leaving empty handed. He had found some important items of his parents, and they even had an idea of where the necklace might be. Leaving the vault, Harry felt happy enough that he found himself smiling and humming quietly under his breath.

xXxXxXxX

Upon re-entering the house, Ron and Hermione immediately rushed over. They must have been waiting nearby in order to hear the news.

"Well, did you find it?" Ron impatiently asked.

"No, Mr. Weasely, we did not," Snape replied.

Ron's face fell slightly at the news. Hermione, however, noticed that Harry didn't look too upset.

"Let's go upstairs," Hermione suggested.

Since Snape, Remus, and Tonks were leaving the hallway, Harry figured that it was okay for him to go with Ron and Hermione. He didn't know if he would be allowed to attend the Order meeting tonight; however, he hoped that he would be given permission to go back to Godric's Hollow if Dumbledore allowed the Order to search there.

Shutting the door to his and Ron's room, Harry sat on his bed while his friends sat across from him.

"What happened?" Hermione inquired.

"Like Snape said, it wasn't there. I think that it might still be in my parent's house. It could be hidden like my mother's diary was," Harry explained.

"Why would she have hidden the necklace?" Ron asked. "She didn't know the true story behind the necklace: who it belonged to and the power inside it."

"Just because she didn't know those things doesn't mean the necklace wasn't special to her," Hermione huffed. It was just like a male not to understand the sentimentality that females placed on things like jewelry. "The necklace had been a family heirloom, so it was valuable to her."

"I guess at the Order meeting tonight they will decide whether or not to search my parent's house. Where could she have hidden it?" Harry mused, the last part more of a rhetorical question.

"Hopefully it won't take long to search through the house since a lot of their things have been moved to the vault at Gringotts," Hermione reasoned. "Of course, it could be hidden any where inside the house. Lily was a witch, so she could have created a secret place in a wall or under the floor."

Noticing that Harry still had some items clutched in his hands, Ron asked, "What's all that?"

Harry looked down and forced his hands to loosen their hold. Standing up, he walked over and laid the items down on a dresser.

"These are just some of my parent's things that I found and decided to bring back," Harry answered. "Remus brought some stuff back too."

"That's great, Harry," Hermione enthusiastically said.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "So, what have you guys done this morning?"

"Mum made us help clean some of the rooms in the house like she did last summer. I think she just wanted to take her mind off things. She was worried about you the whole time that you were gone," Ron answered.

"I was with three Order members. They weren't going to let anything happen to me," Harry confidently said.

"Yeah, I know," Ron responded, "but you know how Mum is."

"Ron, Harry, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley's voice carried up the stairs. "Lunch is ready."

The three of them stood up and walked towards the hallway. Mrs. Weasley was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and she looked relieved upon seeing Harry.

As soon as Harry was near her, Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a quick hug.

"I'm glad that you had a safe trip this morning, dear. I know you must be hungry. Come, come."

Steering Harry into the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley led Harry to a place at the table. Most of the dishes were already on the table, so it only took a few moments for everything to be finished. Once everyone was seated, they started digging in. Harry noticed that Snape and Remus were absent, so he guessed that they must be informing Dumbledore about their morning.

"Did you buy anything in Diagon Alley?" Ginny asked as she looked at Harry.

"No, I was too anxious about going to Gringotts. I heard that you guys had to clean today."

"Don't remind me," Ginny groaned. "My back is killing me."

"Are you done for the day, or does your mum have more stuff for us to do?" Harry asked.

"I think we're done, but we should probably still make ourselves scarce once lunch is over," Ron said.

As soon as everyone finished eating and had helped to clean off the table, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed back upstairs. Harry stopped by his bedroom first in order to grab the chessboard. Before he could begin looking for it, however, he spotted some items on his bed. Taking a few steps forward, recognition flooded through him. Remus must have stopped by his bedroom and left some of his parent's things that Remus had taken from their vault. Harry wanted to look over everything, but Ron's voice in the hallway told him to hurry up. After sparing the items one more glance, Harry got what he came for and left the room.

xXxXxXxXx

Snape and Remus arrived at the house towards the end of dinner. Harry wanted a moment to talk to them, but Mrs. Weasley shooed them out of the kitchen as soon as dinner was over.

"The Order meeting will be starting soon. I want you children to go find something to do while the meeting is taking place. No eavesdropping," Mrs. Weasley sternly added. Her glare encompassed the whole group in front of her, but her gaze lingered longest on the twins. Fred and George just innocently stared back with a 'Who me?' look on their faces. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Mrs. Weasley huffed before turning around and re-entering the kitchen.

"Well, I can take a hint. I know when we're not wanted," Fred said, acting hurt.

"We have some new joke products that you four can try now, if you want to," George said as he looked at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

The group started following Fred and George up the stairs. Harry stopped, though, when he reached his bedroom. When Ron and Hermione realized that he was no longer with them, they quit walking and looked back questioningly.

"You guys go on ahead. There's something that I want to do," was all that Harry would say.

"If you're going to listen to the meeting," Ron immediately said, "then I want to hear it too."

"No, that's not it," Harry answered.

Hermione noticed the serious look on his face, so she took Ron's arm and led him away. Harry was grateful that they hadn't asked too many questions. It wasn't a big deal, but he wanted to spend some time looking through the items that he and Remus had found at Gringott's. After grabbing the items from his bedroom, Harry walked back downstairs and entered the sitting room. Walking over to a sofa, Harry curled up on the cushions. Harry leaned over slightly and pulled the coffee table towards him so that he could place everything on top of it.

Remus had said that he would look through the photo albums with Harry, but Harry didn't know when Remus would have some free time. They could always look through the albums again later. Harry bet that Remus had some good stories to go along with the photos.

Harry didn't know how long he had been sitting on the couch looking at everything; however, he was aware when the door opened behind him and someone entered the room. His parent's marriage certificate was sitting in his lap. Their names were slightly raised on the thick parchment, and Harry was lightly running his fingers over the letters. From the corner of his eye, Harry saw Snape come around the couch and sit down next to him.

Without lifting his head, Harry asked, "What did the Order decide?"

"We will be searching your parent's house in Godric's Hollow, and you will be allowed to accompany us. We will not, however, be leaving for at least another week."

That caused Harry's hand to still and his head to turn.

"Why so long?"

"Diagon Alley and Gringott's are more secure areas than the house in Godric's Hollow. Diagon Alley has hundreds of witches and wizards inside it at various times, and Aurors and other Ministry officials can be quickly notified to appear in the case of an emergency. Godric's Hollow does not have the same security. We want to make sure that no Death Eaters are stationed around the area. I know that the Dark Lord has no reason to suspect that the necklace could be there; however, the house did belong to your parents, and we want to ensure that he does not have the house watched."

"I guess with me involved you have to take every possible precaution," Harry said with only a hint of bitterness. He would be glad when the day arrived that he didn't have to worry about Death Eaters or Voldemort.

"Yes," the professor seriously responded.

"Fine," Harry answered as he placed the piece of parchment on the table.

The Potion's Master glanced at the items on the table before looking back at Harry. Harry noticed how stiffly the man was sitting and how uncomfortable the professor seemed.

Clearing his throat, Snape reached into his pocket and pulled something out. After unwrapping the package, he briskly pushed it into Harry's hands. Surprised, Harry looked down. In his hands, he saw more photo albums, a few of his parent's Hogwarts textbooks, and a baby book. Flipping through the pages of the baby book, he saw dates written down for when he had apparently hit milestones, such as learning to crawl and learning to walk. On one page, Harry even saw that his first word had been "Daddy."

A gruff voice interrupted him.

"I saw these in the boxes that I was looking through," Snape explained. "I thought that you might like them."

Carefully setting the items on the table with the rest of his parent's possessions, Harry smiled. He impulsively turned and grabbed the professor in a tight hug.

"Thank you."

The professor was stunned at Harry's actions, but he didn't hesitate in placing a hand on the back of Harry's neck.

"Your welcome."

Harry pulled away a few seconds later.

"You should go to bed," the professor said. "It's getting late."

After taking a quick look at the clock, Harry was a bit shocked to see the time. Standing up, he gathered the items back into his arms. Snape followed Harry out of the room as Harry started towards the stairs. With a foot on the first step, Harry glanced over his shoulder.

"Good night," he called before ascending the steps.

Harry heard Snape quiet response just as he reached the top. When he opened the bedroom door, Harry saw that Ron was sprawled under the covers and already lightly snoring. It didn't take long for Harry to set the items down on the dresser and to put on his pajamas.

Despite the late hour, Harry had difficulty falling asleep. It had been a long day, but Harry felt a bit saddened and overwhelmed upon going through all of his parent's things both at Gringott's and then in the sitting room. Plus, he would have to return to Godric's Hollow within a week.

As he tossed and turned in bed, Harry kept seeing his family's pictures in his mind. The photo albums had contained several wonderful pictures; however, they only made Harry realize what he had missed over the years. One picture showed a laughing baby Harry who had apparently had more fun painting his face with mashed peas and carrots rather than eating them. Another picture showed baby Harry, thumb in mouth, sleeping in Sirius's lap as Sirius himself also took a nap. Standing over them, James had an evil grin as he drew pictures on Sirius's face with black ink.

It was at least another hour before Harry fell into a restless sleep. In his dreams, he saw his mother wearing Slytherin's necklace. She was dancing merrily in James's arms; the two of them talking and smiling. A loud bang sounded throughout the room as Voldemort suddenly entered. With a wave of Voldemort's wand, James soared across the room before vanishing in the air. Lily stood helplessly as Voldemort cockily sauntered towards her. Reaching out his hand, he ripped the necklace from her slender neck. As soon as the necklace was in his grasp, the room dimmed and Lily slumped soundlessly to the floor. Lightning flickered outside of the window. A smirk filled Voldemort's face as he stared hungrily at the necklace in his palm. Power surged around him…

Harry started up in the bed as a hand firmly grasped his shoulder and shook him. Opening his eyes, Harry saw Snape in a chair next to the bed.

"Are you okay?" Snape asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered as he leaned back into his pillows.

"I was passing through the hall when I heard muttering in here. When I came inside, I realized that you were having a nightmare. What were you dreaming about?" Snape questioned.

"Something about my mum wearing the necklace and Voldemort taking it from her. I don't know," Harry said as he rubbed his eyes. "The dream is kind of fuzzy."

"Did you clear your mind before you went to sleep?"

"No," Harry replied. Ever since Snape had taught him some Occlumency techniques while they had been trapped in Snape's house, Harry had been practicing them before going to bed each night. Harry confessed, "I had a lot on my mind."

"Understandable," the professor answered. "Why don't you try to do so now? You need some undisturbed rest. I will stay here until you have gone back to sleep."

"Okay," Harry said without arguing. His eyes were already drooping, and he knew that it wouldn't take long this time for sleep to come.

As he worked on clearing his mind, Harry felt a hand hesitantly settle on his hair. A few moment's later, the hand brushed the fringe away from his forehead. The gentle movements felt good, and Harry found his thoughts slipping away as he slept again.

xXxXxXxXx

A/N: Sorry it's been so long, but at least the semester is over with. The next semester will be more hectic, though, as I begin student teaching. I've already started the next chapter, so hopefully I can get it done soon.

Next chapter: Harry's (long awaited) answer to Snape's offer of guardianship.