AN: Sorry that this is a bit later than usual - out of town company is fun to stay up late and talk to but not so good for getting chapters done. :) I appreciate everyone who reads my stories, and extra appreciation for those that take the time to tell me what they think. :)
Later that night, Hermione crept into the boys' room. She knew that they would wait for her, but she was careful not to earn the ire of any of the grown-ups. Although, she reasoned, Snape was gone and he was likely the only one who would reprimand her.
"You two okay?" she asked, settling down in the chair in their room, being careful of her sore bottom.
"Okay," Ron answered from the top bunk. "But blimey that man has an arm on him."
"I'm sorry you were punished," Harry told them.
"Don't be," Hermione answered firmly. "We were all equally at fault. Did you really take fifteen of those swats that time?"
"I did," Harry answered. "I was pretty sore afterwards."
"Merlin's sakes, Harry, I'm surprised you sat down that week!"
"It actually fades pretty fast," Harry told them. "You're sore now, but by morning you'll be fine. Apparently that's one of the advantages that the paddle has over the cane. Even when I got 15 I only had a few twinges the next day."
"Have you had the cane, Harry?" Hermione asked, concerned.
"No," Harry answered truthfully, though he didn't volunteer the abuse he had undergone at the Dursley's. "And if I haven't earned the cane by now, I don't think I'm going to."
"That's for sure," Ron snorted. "I would say you've earned it."
"That was rather foolish of us," Hermione admitted, looking at her hands. "Snape was right."
"He usually is," Harry sighed.
"I don't want to piss him off again," Ron agreed. "I guess we're going to have to follow the rules."
"I think the point is that we need to trust the adults more," Hermione told him. "And that's not something we're used to doing."
"They haven't given us much reason before," Ron said, rubbing his aching fundament.
Laughing, Harry chimed in, "Well, I think we have reason now. Hermione's right, we have a full team and should use all of them."
"I trust Dumbledore and Snape," Hermione confirmed. "And Sirius Black too."
"So how many Horcruxes are left?" Ron asked. "I mean, how many could the bloke make?"
"There are more, I feel it," Harry answered.
"If I were Voldemort I would use a normal stone and throw it on the bottom of the ocean or on the top of a mountain," Hermione sighed. "Do you think he was really foolish enough to leave them all around for us to discover and destroy?"
"I think you don't have the level of megalomania that Voldemort has," Harry answered. "I've been in his head, at least a little. He sees his reign as fated, and he sees himself as something of a savior of the wizarding world. He really doesn't think he can be defeated, so why store his soul in something as anonymous as a stone on the bottom of the ocean?"
"Bloody foolish," Ron snorted.
"And bloody lucky for us," Harry agreed. "Tomorrow we're going to talk with the old folks to try and see what the next step is."
. . .
Snape returned to the main room where Black and Dumbledore waited for him, and he gave them a black look as he poured himself a firewhiskey. He certainly deserved one.
"So you did it then?" Black asked him. "Did you really whack all three of them?"
"It's good I did," Snape answered. "Harry already is nearly crippled with guilt, it helped that they were each equally responsible."
Black whistled lowly, and took the decanter to pour himself a drink as well.
"Next time someone else does it," Snape announced after quaffing the drink. "Why am I the one who always plays the strict disciplinarian?"
"You do look the part, Severus," Dumbledore nodded gravely, but with his eyes sparkling. "I'm half scared of you myself. I think they would laugh if I were to order them to bend over for their punishment."
"And I would be shaking so bad I'd probably hit one in the head," Sirius smiled in apology. "I couldn't imagine having to scold them, let alone something firmer."
Rolling his eyes in disbelief, Snape poured another drink and sat down on the sofa as he snorted in answer.
"So how many more Horcruxes are there?" Sirius asked.
"I believe that there are at least a few more," Dumbledore answered, but there was something in his tone that made Snape look at him sharply.
"What are you not telling us?" Snape asked, his shrewd eyes on the former headmaster. "You know something."
"I need you to trust me to tell you when you need to know," Dumbledore answered hesitantly. "Trust me that I cannot tell you know."
Snorting again, Snape closed his eyes in exasperation. When would these Gryffindors realize their best chance of success lay in him knowing everything? "So what can you tell me then, old man?"
"Well, seeing as the cup of Helga Hufflepuff was used as a Horcrux as well as Slytherin's locket, I was thinking of other artifacts that might be used."
"He can't use the sword of Gryffindor," Snape told him tiredly. "He would never use something that answers to Gryffindors and not heeding who actually owns it, and even if he did the basilisk venom would have done him in."
"I was thinking about Ravenclaw," Dumbledore answered softly.
"The diadem," Snape answered, sitting up in interest. "But it's been lost for centuries."
"Lost at Hogwarts," Dumbledore answered. "And it brought to mind a time when Tom was at Hogwarts when the Grey Lady had a time of great distress. She would not tell anybody what it was about, but it comes to mind now."
"What does the Grey Lady have to do with it?" Sirius asked, incredulous.
"She's the one that lost it," Dumbledore told him. "She is Rowena's daughter, and she lost the diadem. But perhaps not really lost? What if Tom found it?"
"That's a good lead to check out," Snape nodded. "And I have one other option. I have long been disturbed by how Voldemort is with his snake. It's his familiar, of course, but they seem to be able to communicate in a way that is beyond the typical. Is it possible to make a living thing a Horcrux?"
"Yes, it is," Dumbledore confirmed with a flash of sadness in his eyes. "But it is not a good option. When the vessel dies the Horcrux is destroyed. However, there are some advantages in the way of communication and purpose while the thing is alive."
"So the snake is a good possibility," Snape said, watching Dumbledore carefully. He was not a master spy for nothing, he knew that whatever Dumbledore wasn't telling him was very serious.
"If Voldemort would be foolish enough to purposely put part of his soul in a living thing," Dumbledore answered.
"Then he did it accidently once," Snape divined, looking at the sad and shocked look on Dumbledore's face.
"Why would you think that . . ." Dumbledore hedged, and then the truth hit Severus heavily in his chest.
"Oh God, it's Harry," he said weakly, sitting down without realizing he had. What little color he had drained out of his face and he felt as if he were going to vomit.
"Harry?" Sirius echoed, suddenly a little faint himself. "But that means . . ."
"I see you see the truth," Dumbledore sighed. "I had hoped to keep it from you until I had to tell you. That's the scar on his forehead. He was an accidental Horcrux created when Voldemort killed his mother. His soul was so unstable by that time it didn't take much, and his soul latched onto the only living thing in the room. Soul shards prefer living things, when you create a Horcrux you have to force the shard into an inanimate object. That is why they affect us so – the shards would prefer to be in a body."
"His ability to identify the Horcruxes, his scar hurting with the Dark Lord's emotions, the Dark Lord able to communicate and link to his mind . . . Merlin, I can't believe I never saw it before." Snape felt the shock of it shake him to the very core. Harry – his Harry! – was a vessel to part of the Dark Lord's very soul.
"It's obvious once you see it," Dumbledore nodded. "I didn't know for sure until he was nearly lured to the ministry – how else could Voldemort have done that?"
"How can we fix this?" Snape asked in a hollow, dead voice. "I refuse to kill him to destroy Voldemort. How do we fix it?"
"I don't know," Dumbledore answered, his voice equally hollow.
"Kill Harry?" Sirius echoed. "Surely not. I mean, we have the two most brilliant wizards here since Merlin here, surely there has to be something else."
"I do have some hope with the prophecy," Dumbledore countered. "It says that neither can live while the other survives, implying that if we are able to kill Voldemort, then perhaps it will restore Harry somehow."
"And how are we to do that without killing Harry?" Snape asked incredulously. "This is a devilish puzzle, old man."
"I did have a theory that if Harry were to present himself to Voldemort and he performed the killing curse just as he did last time without Harry resisting, I think it may kill the Horcrux instead of Harry," Dumbledore explained. "I think his mother's spell would protect Harry enough that he should be able to survive."
"That sounds utterly foolish," Snape growled. "And that is not a chance I'm willing to take. If that is truly the only way, I want to know for sure."
"Absolutely," Dumbledore agreed. "But some things are hard to know for sure, Severus, and require some measure of faith."
"We will find every written word about Horcruxes," Snape said, his voice gaining power. He could push away the abject terror he was feeling and focus on the problem – he was good at that. "We will find a way to separate Harry from that shard. I refuse to let the Dark Lord take another person that I love."
"Love?" Sirius repeated blankly.
Snape, clearly feeling this was no time to dissemble, said clearly, "Yes, love. I have loved precious few people in my life, and that boy is one of them. He will survive if it kills me in the process."
"We are with you, Severus, of course," Dumbledore told him. "But I feel we need to keep it from him for now. Tell him when the time is right."
"I agree," Snape answered. "We will tell him when it's beneficial to tell him, and when we know more. But that boy does not go blindly into the battle, Albus, on that I am firm."
"We agree," Dumbledore answered. "And in some way it is a relief to share this burden with you two. I have a feeling by the time the curse claims me that you two will know all my secrets."
"All your secrets could be a dangerous thing," Snape answered wryly. "I can barely cope with the ones you've given us."
"You are coping remarkably well," Dumbledore assured him, his eyes twinkling once again. "And you will continue to do so."
"We have some dark books at my house," Sirius acknowledged. "I can Kreacher to fetch them. He's familiar with the darker places to procure such books as well, I will work with him on it."
"Sounds good," Snape answered. "I've already pilfered the restricted section at Hogwarts as well as the Headmaster's private library."
"I have a contact or two I can chase up," Dumbledore nodded. "I have been researching this for a while, but with fresh eyes I have great hope."
