Harry looked at Sirius, running towards them, with a letter in his hand. "I'm free! After fourteen years!"

It was surreal to hear the words coming out of Sirius his mouth. After the end of third year, he never expected to get his godfather free again. He had thought it impossible to get Pettigrew, especially because Voldemort seemed to keep the rat close. But thanks to Tom, it all worked out.

"Congratulations." Harry said, grinning, before Sirius practically picked him of his feet and swirled him around through the air.

"I got a letter this morning." His godfather pronounced, while letting go. Harry looked at the letter, absorbing every word of it, with Tom leaning over his shoulder to read as well.

Dear Mr. Black,

On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I apologize. After extensive testing to determine it was indeed Peter Pettigrew, we got a full confession, and thus clearing you of all charges. Pettigrew even confirmed the story told by Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger two years ago.

You are hereby cleared of all charges and are asked to attend the hearing of Pettigrew on the fourth of May.

Sincerely yours,

Cornelius Fudge,

Minster for Magic.

"Wow Sirius, this is great." Of course he already knew this was going to happen. After all he helped Tom to deliver Pettigrew to the aurors. He gave the letter back to his godfather.

"Don't pretend, kiddo. I know you had something to do with this." The man was still grinning from ear to ear.

"Tom did most of the work, I only helped him deliver Pettigrew to the ministry." He shrugged, not caring how it happened, just that his godfather was finally free.

At that the smile on Sirius his face began to fade. The man looked from him to Tom and back again. When his godfather smiled again, it was a little bit forced. "I suppose I should thank you, Riddle."

"Do not even mention it. It was part of my deal with Harry." The Slytherin Heir made a dismissing gesture with his hand. "You could have rotten in Azkaban for all I care."

"Tom!" Harry looked at his companion. "Can't you just keep up that Charming façade you like so much?"

"You think I am charming, Sweetheart?" The heir purred, grabbing his wrist and pulling him slightly closer.

"No, I think you are a fruitloop." He interjected, noticing the uncomfortable look on his godfather's face, while freeing his wrist.

"Again with the non-existent words."

"It does exist. You just don't know what it means." He had the urge to stick out his tongue, but realised again him immature that would be.

"Perhaps I need to look it up in the dictionary for idiots and people with speaking-problems?" Tom started pacing in front of the room of requirements, after three turns, he gestured again. "Come on, Pet, we need to find my horcrux."

"Could you please stop giving me nicknames!" Harry exclaimed, following the heir.

"Harry, wait." Sirius grabbed his arm. "You know what I said at the end of your third year?"

Harry tiled his head slightly, trying to remember the faithful night two years ago. So much had happened, that it was hard to figure out what his godfather meant.

"I am a free man now." The Black Heir continued. "You can come and live with me, of you still want to, Kiddo."

His eyes widened. In the midst of everything he had totally forgotten that little perk. "I would love to! I never liked the Dursleys anyway." He never understood why he had to go back to his muggle-relatives every year. They weren't nice to him, he was unhappy living in that house and he was cut off from the magical world and all his friends. At Grimmauldplace he could perform magic as much as he wanted. It was impossible for the ministry to find out if it was him, or Sirius, or even Regulus, who cast the spells. It meant freedom, living with the closest thing he had to a real family, and being able to contact his friends as much as he wanted. Perhaps he could even invite Ron and Hermoine over.

He fell a pang in his heart when he thought about his two best friends. It had been a while since he had last talked to the both of them. If he was completely honest with himself, he missed them. It was nice being with the snakes, but he missed the carefree environment the lions provided. He just had to remember it was for their safety. Once he collected all the horcruxes, and Voldemort was defeated, he could go back to his friends.

"Thanks, Sirius." Harry smiled again. "I would love to live with you."

He was pulled into a short, but firm embrace. "Are you ready for another adventure?"

"I am always ready for another adventure. And I still haven't figured out if that's good or sad." Ever since he came to Hogwarts, and the wizarding world, his life has been a concatenation of adventures. One more enjoyable than the next. But he wouldn't be who he was now, hadn't it been for those events.

He turned around. Tom was waiting by the door, like the guardian of patience itself, but Harry knew better. Not only could he feel the annoyance through their link, he could see it in those unnatural dark blue eyes as well.

Tom let him pass, after which he closed the door, right in front of Sirius his nose. For a moment he could hear his godfather yell 'Hey!', but then the door disappeared, making sure no one else could enter, without knowing what kind of room Tom had asked.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked, a bit annoyed now himself.

"The mutt gets on my nerves." The heir simply stated, before walking away from the exit. "Besides, we do not need him now. I doubt this horcrux is going to be as protected as the last."

"He's my godfather, not a mutt. Do you enjoy being rude to him? Or is it the psychopath inside you, that needs to be released once in a while."

"Do you enjoy tormenting me, or are your suicidal-tendencies taking over?" Tom looked back at him. "Now, let James come out and play, we have a lot of ground to cover."

"I wish it had chosen another name." Harry muttered, looking around for the first time. They were in a seeming endless room, filled to the high ceiling with all kinds of things. Furniture, old book, clothes, that have been outdated for centuries, broken stuff...it was like every student in Hogwarts had left something behind here, either to come and pick it up later -which obviously rarely happened- or to get rid of it. "Charming place."

"We could go back to the inferi-filled cave, if that is more your scene." Tom replied.

"I will take the inferi over you any time." He said sugary-sweet, while taking out his wand. "Accio Horcrux."

"Really, Harry? A summoning charm?" Now the Heir rolled his eyes.

"What? It was worth a try." He shrugged again. He preferred some spell work over the release of the horcrux inside him.

"If you keep it up, I might enjoy the company of some inferi over you as well." Tom was tapping his wand impatiently against his arm. "Now, are you going to do what I asked? Or do I need to put you back in the diary?"

"Really?" For the second time that day, his eyes widened, but this time it was an act. "I would love to see more of your past. Oh Tom, I knew you cared about me somewhere deep down."

For a moment Tom's eyes flashed red, he could feel the anger through their link. It took the Slytherin only two paces to get close to him. A moment later a wand was pressed against his throat, making a bit harder to breath, and a lot harder to think clear. This was after all still the teenage dark lord. "Being my horcrux does not make you immune to pain, sweetheart." The last word was filled with venom, extracting a chill, that went down Harry's spine.

"Oh, and here I thought that I was actually Voldemort's horcrux. My mistake." Perhaps not the smartest move, but he could never stand being bullied around by anyone, let alone the young Dark Lord.

"Potter, do not provoke me." The wand was pressed even harder into his throat. It would surely leave a mark.

"Then stop ordering me around! I am not one of your bloody deatheaters, despite what others might think." Harry was getting angrier by the second, but it was hard to determine to whom the anger actually belonged. Him or Tom. He needed to calm down again. So he closed his eyes, before breathing in and out a couple of times.

"You are right, you are something far more valuable, and more entertaining." The pressure on his throat vanished, as did the heat radiating from Tom's body. When he opened his eyes, the Heir was standing a few paces away from him, the wand still in his slender long fingers, his face thoughtful. "Why is it that you are the only one, who does not fear me?"

Harry shrugged again. "Why should I fear someone, who could kill me at any given time? The fear would only render me unable to actually have a fighting chance. Besides, if I would fear anyone, it would be Voldemort, and you're not him, whatever you might say."

"I will become him, it is futile to distinguish me from older counterpart."

"No, another part of your soul became him. You have been given a second chance. You don't need to become him." Before Tom could say anything else, he let the Horcrux take over. Of course this time, he could listen to the conversation, be there consciously every step of the way.

Tom looked at Harry. This reaction was completely different from the one he had gotten in the chamber three years ago. You're him, you're Voldemort. Had he changed since then? He highly doubted it. But perhaps his companion saw him in a different light now. Most people would find it hard to believe he was the same as the snake-like freak running amok somewhere in Britain. Not that Harry would ever fall for his Charming-act.

The brilliant green eyes of the boy in front of him turned red, leaving not even a trace of warmth. Even if this thing was a part of him, of his soul, he did not like it. It took away everything he praised Harry for. The defiance, strength and warmth. His 'soul-brother' might look like Harry, but there was nothing similar about their characters. James was a lot colder, then Harry could ever be.

"You called for me, brother." The horcrux said, letting his red eyes take in their surroundings.

"You sensed the presence of a horcrux before, help me recover it." They might be brothers, in a weird sense of the word, but he was still more powerful and therefore entitled to be the one in charge.

"You wish to cover more ground?" James asked.

"Obviously. Have you even seen the seize of this room?" How could a part of him, be so oblivious to obvious? It was probably the Gryffindor idiocy of Harry rubbing of on the thing. The boy has been under influence of Dumbledore and his magic for a long time, who is to say the horcrux hadn't been affected as well?

"Yes, I have. I was merely hoping you would ask me to help, instead of demanding it, we are after all brothers." The soul-piece stated, in a very Harry-ish way.

Tom look at the boy incredulous. "You have been stuck in that Gryffindor head to long. His suicidal-tendencies are rubbing of on you."

I do not have suicidal-tendencies!

Harry? He inquired in his mind.

Is there someone else you share a mind link with?

There might be, does that idea make you jealous? He smirked, knowing full well how Harry would react.

I am not one of your fangirls, Riddle. Now Hurry up, I have a detention to get to.

How eager we are. Perhaps I should be worried about your relationship with the old toad then. He could practically feel the disgust washing over him, but there came no reply.

In the meanwhile, James was walking between de high stacks of furniture, looking around, with a rather bored look on his face. Even with the red calculated stare, it made Harry seem like Harry. It was strange to see one of his own horcruxes turn out to be so much like someone else.

He walked into a different aisle. His companion was slowly moving away from him. He tried to focus on a similar presence somewhere in the room. It was there, he just couldn't quite pinpoint it.

Tom wondered what would change this time. Would he lose his link to the diary entirely? He knew for a fact, that if the diary was destroyed, he would still be destroyed with it. His life was still dependant on Harry's magic and his soul still attached to his dark prison. But that could change entirely when he was reunited with this piece of their soul.

He had been walking around for a few minutes, wrapped in his thoughts, when he felt Harry getting closer again. Or at least, he got closer to the boy. When he turned a corner, the boy was lying on the ground, staring at the high ceiling of the room. The red eyes where glassy, as if lost in his own thoughts.

"Might I enquire what you are doing, James?"

"Waiting." The boy answered, in a very Harry like fashion.

"For what?" He was starting to get annoyed again. Harry might be irritating at some points, never listening to him and in overall acting like an idiotic brave little Gryffindor, but his Horcrux had a way of getting under his skin.

"You."

He wanted to yell at the boy, tell him to get his ass moving again, unless he wanted to be cursed into oblivion. It was only then that he realised Harry had something on his raven-locks. It looked like an old crown with a blue oval sapphire in the middle of it. He hadn't felt the soft beat of the diadem, because it had been so close to Harry.

"You found it." He stated.

"Obviously." James drawled, now much more like him, then the boy.

"Why did you not call me then?"

"Because Harry said it would be good for you to walk around a bit more." The horcrux shrugged. "He said it would be good for your ego to know that you cannot do everything yourself and that some might actually be better at some things. For instance, finding a horcrux."

"Now, did he?" He kept his anger carefully under control. Harry really did have a dead wish, trying his patience like this. "Perhaps you should let him return."

"I could, but I will not." The boy was still lying on the ground, with the diadem on his head, not looking at him, but at the ceiling. "Harry feels a lot safer hidden in our combined souls, then in his body right now."

"I believe Harry can speak for himself." Tom's hands were itching right now, his fingers close to his wand.

"He could, but he will not." The horcrux said again. "He is having too much fun with this."

"Perhaps I should torture you then, instead of dear Harry." His wand was in his hand in mere seconds. He aimed it at the boy, lying on the ground. Yet his companion did not move an inch. The boy just kept staring at the ceiling, as if it was the most interesting thing in the universe.

It annoyed him even more. But that was exactly was Harry wanted. The boy was challenging him. He lowered his wand. Perhaps he should handle this in a different manner.

"You know, James, I like you." He walked closer to the boy. "You are more like me, and less like a brainless Gryffindor." He looked at Harry's face, the red eyes turned towards him. "You asked me before if I was giving you this body. I still might. I could destroy Harry his soul. I am sure you will be of much more use to be, then the boy anyway."

He held out his hand. "What do you say, brother?" A charming smile adorned his face.

The horcrux was very still, studying him intently, trying to figure out the catch behind this most generous offer. "You would let Harry die?"

"Of course I would. He was after all not more than a tool, to reach my aim." He smirked. Harry got fairly good at hiding his feelings, but when they were strong, they would still come through the link. Currently it was disbelieve and utter horror washing through.

Before the horcrux could answer, the eyes turned green again, a defiant look in it. "You bastard!" Harry slapped his hand away, getting up in his own.

He smirked again. "I see you still have the most control."

"Unlike you, some parts of your soul actually care!" It looked like the boy was angry, he even sounded angry, but it was a completely different feeling he got through their bond. It wasn't until later that he realised it was actually fear. He had rarely felt the feeling, because Harry was rarely afraid of anything.

"You are the one, who dared me, Sweetheart." He said in a dangerous tone. "Do not get on my nerves again. I am not afraid to execute the threat. Now, I believe we have a ritual to perform."

Harry stared at him, this time it was real anger radiating from the boy. "Screw you, Riddle." The boy took of the diadem and threw it at him. "I'm not helping you any more today." Harry strode out of the room.

"Potter, get yourself back here this instance." But the boy just kept walking. He loved a challenge or two, but his companion was taking it to far. His patience had its limits, and the Golden boy was pretty close to reaching it. Harry would see just how far he would go to punish those, who defied him.

He picked up the diadem. Another confirmation of his intelligence. The lost diadem of Ravenclaw had been...well, lost. And he had been able to find it. After all those centuries, it was him, who collected the rare artefact, and made it in something even more beautiful. Pity he had to destroy it again. Oh well, he gained a lot more out of it.

He left the room of requirements. He would leave Harry alone for today, maybe even for a couple of days, but one way or another the boy was going to pay for his insolence.

Harry didn't look back, while he strode out of the room of requirements. He just kept on going, until he was almost at the toad's office. Then he slumped against the wall, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

It had been unwise to talk like that to Tom, but the bastard still deserved it, and a lot more. How could Tom even speak about killing him, or at least destroying his soul? Perhaps it was not so much the fear of being killed, after all he had been under such a threat for the past four years. It was more the fear of losing someone he believed to be his friend.

Was it foolish to think that Tom Riddle, of all people, cared about him? They were supposed to be enemies. They were supposed to kill each other. But in some way, he had grown fond of the Slytherin Heir. Maybe they weren't real friend, but at least something akin to it. Did he destroy that fragile friendship? Did Tom even feel the same way? Or was he really just a tool to the older boy?

"You are worrying too much." Harry looked up, to see a small boy sitting in front of him. The boy wasn't really there, it was more like Tom, when he first came out of the diary, ghostlike and invisible to all but him.

Harry slightly tiled his head, while looking at the horcrux. It had changed. When he had first seen James, the horcrux had seemed like a toddler. Now James looked like a child, five or six years in age, still with the same cold red eyes, the pale skin and dark hair. The boy looked like him, but at the same time like Tom.

"He cares for you, in his own twisted version of the word." James continued, mimicking his sitting-position.

Harry pulled his knees to his chest, putting his chin on top of them. "How do you know? Perhaps he is just biding his time to kill me. If he does so now, he dies with me."

Again the child mimicked his movements, like they were one opposites sides of a mirror. "I might be connected more to your soul then to his, I am still a part of him. If you are killed now, he would still survive. Undoubtedly a lot weaker, but he will remain corporal in this world."

"Then why hasn't he killed be yet?" Harry knew he was going in circles, but it was just hard for him to believe that Tom really cared, even if it twisted to fit the heir's psychopathic character.

"Like I said, he cares about you." The boy stared intently at him. "You are very similar to him, in many ways. Not only do you look the same, you also have the same level of power. It is nice to be near you."

"Nice to be near me? Because of my power?" Harry blinked. Tom was a lot stronger then him, wasn't he? Voldemort had always been stronger then him. The only reason he defeated the Dark Lord so many times, was out of sheer luck. His friends had been there to help him as well. Except perhaps when he faced Voldemort in his first year. He stopped Voldemort on his own then, admittedly he passed out at the end, but still. And in his second year he had been the one to kill the basilisk, with only a little help from Fawkes. He would have destroyed Tom back then. He still wasn't sure what had stopped him. Perhaps it was too close to murder in his mind.

And last year he had faced Voldemort again. But this time the wizard had been even more powerful. The only reason he managed to escape he thanked to the ghost of the ones Voldemort killed and the weird connection between their wands.

"It feels good." The child said, closing his eyes. "It feels like Tom his power. I like it."

"Are all of you power-obsessed?" Harry remarked flatly.

"Perhaps. But I do not need that power for myself. I am content slumbering near yours." The boy almost seemed like he was falling asleep, a pleasant dream awaiting him.

Harry watched the child for a few moments. With his eyes closed, James looked a lot more like him, and a less like Tom. There was innocence, something the Slytherin Heir had lost a long time ago. And yet the boy did not seem fragile or weak. This boy might be a part of Tom, but it was up to Harry to protect the child.

"Why did you choose James as your name?" He asked, still a bit lost in his own thoughts.

"You do not like it?" The boy looked up again.

"I do, it was my father's name after all. But I expected something different." He mused. "Like Marvolo."

"Would you feel more comfortable if I called myself Marvolo?"

Harry thought about it for a few seconds, before answering. "No, James fits you. Marvolo sounds too old and evil-like anyway."

The child laughed. Unlike what he had expected the laugh didn't sound high-pitched or cold, it was a soft and warm laugh, like you would expect from a child. "You are right, it does. Yet you did not seem found of the name 'James' in the beginning."

Harry shrugged. "That was because I saw you as a vile piece of Voldemort, that was stuck to my soul. But I know better now. You are nothing like him. You are more like Tom. Perhaps something between me and him."

"I am glad you think that way. I rather like it to be close to your soul." The child yawned. "I am going back to sleep, if you do not mind, I am rather tired."

He looked at the child again, before nodding. "Thanks James." The ghost-like form of the child disappeared, leaving him alone in the corridor. Well, not really alone, as long as he carried a piece of Tom's soul around with him, he would never be alone again. Somehow that made him happy.

He got up to his feet, visibly calmer now. Tom would still be angry of course, and the heir would probably try to punish him one way or another, but at least now he knew he wasn't alone any more. And, if the bastard cared to admit it or not, Tom cared for him.

He turned a corner and stopped in front of Umbridge her office. Last time he had been here, he made up a plan to get rid of the toad. Today he was going to try to execute it. He was sure it would be a lot easier now he got full control of his mind and thoughts again. He held his breath for a few seconds, before knocking.

"Enter." The sugary-sweet voice almost sang. The toad had way too much pleasure in torturing in. But that was going to change. Game on, Umbridge