"So you have watched the memory," Dumbledore said once Harry was seated before his desk.
"Yes, sir."
"Your thoughts? Any questions?"
"Do you know what book Riddle found the Horcruxes in?"
"No, I do not. I was never able to find it though I have looked through the library several times," Dumbledore said, shaking his head.
For once Harry believed him. He doubted anyone who wasn't a Parselmouth would've even noticed the book, even Dumbledore. "Do you think he did it then? Made a Horcrux?"
"Not just one, Harry," Dumbledore said and Harry looked at him as though eagerly awaiting new knowledge. "As I'm sure you recall, Tom asked Horace about making more than one Horcrux."
"Seven," Harry said and Dumbledore nodded.
"Seven."
"So you think he managed it? He managed to make seven Horcruxes?"
"No, I believe he only made it to six. The seventh piece of his soul is still within him and six other pieces are in objects strewn about," Dumbledore said.
"Do you know what they are? They Horcruxes, I mean."
"I have been able to discover what some of them are though I have not found them. I believe you have done that," the headmaster said, peering at Harry over his glasses.
Harry froze and his eyes widened.
"I suppose when you have found these items you did not know what they were, only that they seem dangerous. Correct?"
Harry grabbed the chance. "Yeah, I never would have guessed that they had part of Voldemort's soul in them."
"No, I would guess not. However, this simply means that we only need to find three more," Dumbledore said.
"Three? But I thought I only had two?" Harry said with a frown.
"You unknowingly brought me an already destroyed Horcrux back in your second year," Dumbledore said and Harry made a show of thinking.
"The diary? The diary was a Horcrux?"
"Yes, it was."
"Do you know of any others?"
"Can you not think of anything important to Voldemort? Something he keeps close by at all times?"
"Nagini?" Harry said and Dumbledore nodded.
"Very good, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Yes, his own familiar holds a piece of his soul within her. We now only have to discover two more but I am unsure of what they are."
"Do you have any ideas?" Harry asked. Perhaps if Dumbledore had some ideas then he and Severus could expand on them and try and find the Horcruxes.
"Voldemort wants to stay connected to Hogwarts. Like you, it was his home, his only home. He also wants powerful items, items of the Founders if he can. That is where I've been starting, is with items that once belonged to the Founders," Dumbledore told him and Harry nodded.
"How do we find them once we know what they are?" Harry said.
"That is what the memories are for. There are two more memories for you to watch and I believe one may tell you what another of the Horcruxes is," Dumbledore said.
"Really?"
"Yes. The other is simply some more background on Voldemort that I believe you may find interesting," Dumbledore said.
"I'm sure I will, Professor," Harry said.
Dumbledore smiled. "I suppose that is all for now, my boy."
"Bye, Professor. Thank you," Harry said and left the office, heading back down to the dungeons for the second time in under an hour.
"Anything interesting?" Severus asked when Harry walked into the rooms.
"Not really. Nothing we don't already know. Apparently one of the last two memories will show what one of the Horcruxes is. He also told me there are only six Horcruxes. He neglected to tell me about the seventh being in me. He said the seventh piece of Voldemort's soul is in his body," Harry said, rolling his eyes as he sat on the sofa next to Severus who put his book down.
"It's obviously not time for you to know yet," Severus said and Harry snorted.
"It's never time for me to know anything," Harry said, crossing his arms across his chest.
Severus put his book on the coffee table and put an arm on the back of the sofa, behind Harry. "Why does it matter? It's not as though you don't already know all of it."
"I know, but I want to know how long I would've had to wait to find out if I didn't know. I want to know if he was going to wait and tell me I have a bit of Voldemort in me and have to die right before I go off to fight him," Harry said.
"No matter when he tells you, you will be ready and you will survive," Severus said. Harry gave him a tiny smile but said nothing.
"Come on, Harry. That bloody heat wave has finally broken. Let's fly," Draco said, pulling on Harry's arm.
It was the day before Harry's seventeenth birthday and while it was still very warm, the heat wave had finally moved on. It wasn't the only change. Based on the short letter he had received from Remus, he and Tonks had gotten engaged and married just three days earlier. While saddened that they hadn't been able to have a real ceremony or to have anyone witness their vows, Harry was ecstatic for them, for Remus who had been alone and unhappy for so long.
"Come on, Harry. We haven't flown in ages," Draco said and Harry grinned.
"Fine, let's go," Harry said and summoned his broom. He and Draco ran to the door and were almost out when they were stopped.
"And where are you two going?" Severus asked, coming out of his lab.
"Flying," Draco said shortly and attempted to pull Harry away.
"Do you both have your wands?"
"Yes," they said in unison.
"You have your bracelet?" Severus looked at Harry.
Harry held up his arm. "Always."
"Not too late?"
"Three hours," Harry said.
"Patronus if you need help?"
"Of course."
"Can we go now or are there more interrogations and a strip search to go through?" Draco said, crossing his arms.
Severus narrowed his eyes at the young Slytherin.
"Draco," Harry hissed and shoved him out into the corridor. "His mouth likes to run."
"But you don't disagree with him," Severus said pointedly and Harry flushed.
"Well, I wouldn't have said it the way he did but…" Harry said. "I'm sorry, Sev'rus, but you're going a little crazy with this. We'll just be at the Quidditch Pitch for a few hours."
"I'm trying to protect you both," Severus said.
Harry sighed and put his broom down. He walked over to stand in front of his friend. "I know you are and we appreciate it, we do, but you're acting like an overbearing mother."
Severus glared at him. "I'd watch it, Potter."
"Severus, I know you're worried, especially because Voldemort's been pretty quiet, but I'm just going for a fly. I need to get away from the war for a little bit but I can't do that if you keep me confined down here," Harry said.
Severus' glare remained. "Fine. Go. Do what you like."
"Severus—"
The Potions master shoved a quickly summoned box into Harry's hands. It was wrapped in simple blue paper with a gold ribbon. "Happy early birthday, Potter, in case I'm called away tomorrow."
"Thank you," Harry said.
"Go have fun, Potter," Severus said and swept back into his lab, slamming the door.
Harry jumped slightly at the sound and sighed. He brought the package to his bedroom and placed it on his bedside table. He returned to the sitting room and grabbed his broom again. He glanced at the closed lab door sadly before joining Draco in the hall.
"What in the bloody hell was that all about?" Draco said.
"He's stressed out and worried. It's my birthday tomorrow and he thinks Voldemort might try something, especially since Voldemort's been really quiet. Also, we haven't had much luck finding the other Horcruxes and he's mad because Dumbledore still isn't saying anything," Harry said as they left the dungeons.
"So he acts like a prison guard?" Draco said.
"He doesn't want anything to happen, Draco. He's trying to protect me."
"So that means he can keep you locked in the dungeons."
"I'm not locked anywhere. I'm allowed to come and go as I please."
"With a million and one rules."
Harry shook his head. "Let's just fly."
"Fine. Race you to the pitch."
Harry laughed and jumped on his Firebolt, racing Draco across the grounds.
Harry and Draco flew for three and a half hours with Seamus and Dean joining them halfway through and Neville and Luna watching from the stands. They raced and chased the Snitch and threw the Quaffle around while avoiding Bludgers until they were exhausted and finally decided to go back inside.
Though invited to join them in the Great Hall for lunch, Harry refused his friends and instead headed to the dungeons. He wanted to apologize to Severus. With his broom against his shoulder, he walked down corridors and stairs into the cool dungeons and manoeuvred his way through the maze that was the dungeons to his and Severus' rooms. He gave the password to Salazar and walked in, sending his broom to his room with wandless magic.
"Severus?" he called out but received no answer. He immediately figured that the man was in his lab so he went to the lab door and knocked. He knew the door was charmed so that Severus would hear even the quietest of knocks. He knocked again after a few minutes of silence. This time he was granted quiet entrance. He pushed open the door and walked down the narrow stairs to the man's private lab.
In the dark room that was only lit by a few bright candles he found Severus standing at the table, hovering over a cauldron that had green smoke rising up from it. Harry raised an eyebrow at the potion, wondering what it was. He ignored it for now and turned his attention to Severus who had yet to look up or acknowledge him. Cocking his head slightly and biting his lip, Harry walked to the opposite side of the table and looked across at Severus through the green haze.
They stood in silence for a long while before Harry finally spoke. "Are you going to acknowledge I'm here or should I stare at you for the next few hours?"
He heard Severus give a heavy sigh before the man raised his head and met Harry's eyes. "What?"
"Charming," Harry said.
"Potter, what do you want?" Severus snapped.
"Why are you calling me 'Potter'? You haven't called me 'Potter' for months," Harry said and sighed when Severus just glared at him. "Are you almost done here?"
"Yes."
"Can we talk after you're done?"
"I suppose."
Harry gave a small smile. "I'm coming down to get you if you're not out of here in twenty minutes."
Severus just grunted quietly as he turned back to the potion and Harry left the lab. He sat on the sofa with a book but he didn't read it. Instead he had pulled out his pocket watch from Draco and stared at the many hands inside.
Remus', Kingsley's, Ron's, and Hermione's hands were all pointing at 'lost'. Draco's, Luna's, and Neville's hands were pointing at 'school' and Severus' hand was pointing at 'work'. Harry had had two more hands added over the past couple months and they were for Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. Both were pointing at 'school' as well. He sighed and looked at the inscription.
'When the world says "Give up," hope says "Try again." Keep going, Harry. Love, Draco.'
He loved the inscription but sometimes he couldn't help wonder what he was to do when there was no hope.
"All right, what do you want?"
He looked up at Severus' voice and found the man standing behind the sofa with his arms crossed and looking thoroughly unimpressed. Harry sighed. The man really knew how to stay angry.
"Severus, I want to apologize," Harry said and Severus raised an eyebrow. "I shouldn't have said the things I did before I went flying. I know you're trying to protect me."
"So you've caught on."
"Severus, you're trying to protect me, I get that, but I know that you know that you can't protect me from everything or go crazy whenever I leave home." Harry watched Severus closely for his reaction to what he said. Severus sighed and sat on the sofa next to Harry.
"I should be the one to apologize," he said. "I have lost nearly everything in my life, whether it was by my own doing or something else. I lost my mother, I lost Lily…twice. First her friendship and then she was killed. I lost my childhood, I lost my freedom. I have truly only kept Ivory and that is because she is far too stubborn and determined to leave. I have had very little in my life."
Harry stayed quiet as the man paused.
"You have become very important to me, Harry, and I do not wish to make the same mistakes I have made with others in my life. You are a large part of this war as much as I wish you weren't and because of that I will protect you or try to. I have failed at protecting far too many but I am determined not to fail with you. I realize I overreacted this morning both with my precautions and at your words. I do not wish to keep you locked away but I do wish to keep you alive. You have frequently asked me not to leave you. I ask you to do the same," Severus said.
Silence lingered on them as Harry observed his friend-turned-secret-crush. He smiled and sat closer to Severus, taking the man's hand and gaining his attention. "You are and have done so much more than you give yourself credit for. True, you have not been able to save everyone but there are so many that are alive because you managed to protect them. Many of those who didn't survive, you tried to help them like how you tried to save my mother. I don't care that your request was only for her life at first before Dumbledore pushed you into asking for all of us. You turned from Voldemort; you tried everything you could to save her.
"Severus, you are the most important person in my life and you are the one person in my life that has managed to protect me. You have done so much for me even when I was completely unaware it was you. You have not come even close to failing to protect me. When I leave home sometimes, you just have to trust that I will be careful despite my Gryffindor tendencies. I want to leave you as little as I want you to leave me."
Severus turned and looked at him. He said nothing as he squeezed Harry's hand, eliciting a smile from the young man. He found his own lips twitching into a small smile as Harry leaned against him, trying to comfort him.
They sat in silence for a long while before Harry sat up again and waved his hand through the air to Severus' confusion. A wrapped box floated into Harry's hands and Harry handed it to him.
"I don't care how mad you were at me or if you get called tomorrow. I'm not opening that until tomorrow when you give it to me," Harry said with a smile as Severus took the gift. "Also, I don't want a big celebration. Just something small."
"I'll make sure of it," Severus said.
"Thank you," Harry said. They both knew that it wasn't just for his birthday.
Harry sighed as he sat on a ledge up in the Astronomy Tower looking out at the starry sky and moonlit grounds. He knew it was late and he should be at home but he felt that he needed some air. He was completely aware that Severus would probably push him off the Tower when he found him. He looked up at the sky and found his eyes were immediately drawn to the Dog Star or Sirius.
So much had happened in the past year and he couldn't help but wonder if Sirius would have accepted any of it. He doubted his godfather would have accepted that he was friends with Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape but he wouldn't have let his godfather try to ruin things. Draco and Severus were the only reason he had survived the past year. He had gotten over his guilt over the murder of Cedric Diggory and Sirius. He had found friends that he knew were true.
So much had happened. He had found Horcruxes and destroyed them. He had discovered more similarities between himself and Voldemort. Hogwarts had closed. Emmeline Vance had died in action. He had made friends with Caleb Manden, a young Slytherin. Many students had been sent to North America for safety.
He was turning seventeen in—he looked at his watch—five hours. He would soon be a legal adult in the wizarding world. There was a very large and very real possibility that, in five hours, the war would get much worse.
"Harry Potter," a familiar female voice said and he looked up just as Ivory landed on the ledge before him.
"Hi, Ivory," Harry said with a small smile. "Severus noticed I'm gone, didn't he?"
"But of course he did, dear," Ivory said amused and Harry chuckled.
"I needed air," Harry told her.
"Do you worry about tomorrow as my Protected does?" Ivory asked.
"A little," Harry admitted. "I know the war is already extremely bad but things can only get worse before they get better, so I always hear."
"It is very true," Ivory said. "However, do you not sometimes think that things could be much worse if you did not have certain people in your life? Draco, Miss Luna, Severus, and others."
"Things would be so much worse, especially without Draco and Severus. I never thought that would be something I'd ever say," Harry said with a wry grin.
"You have certainly come a long way with the two of them," Ivory said.
Harry smiled at her. "Yeah, we've been through a lot."
Flashback
Harry looked to his left at the blonde Slytherin who he swore lived solely to drive him crazy. Malfoy was keeping his head down as he ate though there wasn't much point. They were the only ones in the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione had been brought into private rooms and Ginny, Neville, and Luna had been released the day before.
Now it was just the two of them. Malfoy was still healing from the nasty hex that he had taken for Neville. Harry was still healing from the torture he had been under and the possession that had taken place. He was actually kind of glad that he couldn't leave. He didn't want to face everyone though he could probably use a distraction to stop Sirius' death from playing over and over again.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to eat."
Harry shook his head when he heard Malfoy's voice. "What?"
"Stop staring at me. I'm trying to eat."
"Sorry," Harry said and looked away.
After a few minutes of Harry fidgeting and glancing his way, Malfoy shoved his food away and looked at Harry. "What the hell do you want, Potter?"
"What are you—"
"You can't lie. Don't try. Now, what do you want?"
Harry sighed. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Malfoy shrugged.
"Why were you at the Ministry?" Harry asked.
"I saw Snape leaving and I grabbed his cloak," Malfoy told him.
"That's how you got there, not why you were there," Harry said and Malfoy sighed.
"After your other friends got away from us in Umbridge's office, I went out after you guys. I got out there just as you were all leaving. I knew my father would be there and I-I wanted to help," Malfoy said, using his fork to poke at his food.
"Why?"
"I hate my father. I don't want to be like him. I don't want to follow Voldemort," Malfoy said, shrugging slightly.
"How do I know that's true?"
"I'm sitting here healing from a curse I took for Longbottom, aren't I?" Malfoy said pointedly and Harry conceded his point. "Potter, for the record, I'm…sorry about your godfather but I'm not sorry for holding you back."
Harry sighed and looked down at the painful reminder of his lost godfather. "Thanks. I'm not really mad at you for holding me back. It's better than letting me go through that veil."
"My thoughts exactly when I saw you running for it," Malfoy said with a small smirk and Harry grinned briefly before sobering.
"I'm sorry too," he said.
Malfoy frowned. "What for?"
"For turning you away in first year," Harry said.
"As if I can blame you. I was the biggest git in the world and we live in a world with Voldemort and my father," Malfoy said and Harry chuckled slightly.
"Yeah, you were, but I still sometimes wish I hadn't turned you away. You were just so horrible to the first person to ever be nice to me, to my first friend. You made it difficult to want to accept your friendship," Harry said.
"I'm aware of that." Malfoy nodded. "What do you mean that Weasley was your first friend?"
Harry hesitated. "I'm not exactly the spoiled prince everything thinks."
"You're having me on."
Harry shook his head. "My relatives don't exactly like me. My cousin always stopped people from being my friend back in elementary school."
Malfoy stared at him in shock, clearly unable to figure out what to say in response.
"My aunt and uncle aren't the nicest of people," Harry said with a small shrug.
"In what way?"
"Let's just leave it at that they're not nice," Harry said stiffly and Malfoy nodded even though he wanted to keep prodding.
"Well, I can say the same about my father especially now that I'm disowned," Malfoy said.
"You're disowned already?"
"Well, my father hasn't said anything yet but probably." Malfoy nodded.
"Guess the name 'Prince Malfoy' won't really be appropriate now, will it?" Harry said with a wry grin.
"It can just instead it'll be for being the prince of Slytherin," Malfoy said and Harry laughed.
"So, you know, after everything that's happened, what do you say to a bit of a change?" Harry said and Malfoy looked at him in confusion.
"What are you on about?"
Harry gingerly got out of bed and walked over to Malfoy's. He held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Harry."
Malfoy looked from the hand to Harry, clearly wondering what he wanted to do. Finally Malfoy grasped Harry's hand. "I'm Draco."
And as they shook hands and gave each other smiles, Harry couldn't help but think that he had gained someone who would become extremely important to him.
End of Flashback
Harry sighed and looked back out at the dark grounds. "I suppose I should get back home before Severus comes and shoves me off the ledge."
Ivory gave a melodic laugh. "He would find a way to bring you back to life afterwards."
"And then give me a thrashing," Harry said and she laughed again. He jumped off the ledge and headed down from the Astronomy Tower with Ivory on his shoulder. He eventually walked into the rooms and Ivory immediately left his shoulder. "Traitor," he muttered.
"Where in the bloody hell have you been, you imbecile?"
Harry cringed slightly and turned to see Severus leaving the kitchen. "Uh…sorry?"
Severus glared at him.
"I was in the Astronomy Tower. I needed to think," Harry said.
"You are unbelievable. You are mere hours from being seventeen and we are almost positive that something will happen on your birthday," Severus said and then sighed. "Just go to bed and please, for the love of Merlin, stay there."
"Yes, sir." Harry nodded and walked past Severus with his head down. He stopped briefly and looked up when he felt Severus brush the back of his neck. He saw the softness in the man's eyes and smiled. "Good night, Severus."
"Good night, Harry."
"Severus, I said I didn't want anything big," Harry protested as he was led up to the Great Hall.
"And I have stuck by that promise," Severus said. Harry looked at him suspiciously. They stopped outside the closed doors of the Great Hall. Looking down at Harry, Severus smiled and said, "Happy birthday, brat." He pushed open the doors.
It really was small. There were no decorations but there was a single round table in the center of the Hall with a tablecloth over it. There was a small table nearby that had a few gifts on it. Standing by the round table was Draco, Neville, Luna, Seamus, Dean, Flitwick, and McGonagall. Ivory and Hedwig were there as well.
"This is amazing, Sev'rus. Thank you," Harry said, smiling at the man.
"My pleasure. Now go," Severus said, shoving him forward slightly. Harry grinned and rushed towards his friends, accepting the hugs from all of them. He talked exuberantly with them as they sat at the table where a large dinner was suddenly laid out. As Harry talked with his friends, Severus talked with the other two professors. Harry couldn't help but wish that Remus and Kingsley could be there and he hoped they were all right. Both of their hands were still pointing at 'lost' in his watch so he could assume that they were all right.
"Presents!" Draco shouted and Harry laughed. One by one he opened the few gifts from his friends. His favourite was from Severus. The man had given him a single Muggle photo that was black and white. It was from his parents' wedding and they had clearly just shared their first kiss as husband and wife. Lily had her arms wrapped around James' neck and was smiling widely at him, her red hair being blown in the wind. James had his arms around her waist and was grinning at her.
He stroked the picture reverently. He looked across the table at Severus with prickling eyes. "Thank you so much."
Severus inclined his head with a soft gaze at his young friend. Cake was served and conversation started up again. However, the celebration was interrupted by Harry's head exploding in pain and Severus' arm burning. Harry grabbed his head and shouted out in pain. He wasn't seeing anything but Voldemort was both angry and happy. Eventually the pain subsided enough that Harry could see and he looked at Severus.
He was about to speak but was interrupted by Dumbledore walking into the Hall. Everyone turned to look at him. "The wards at Privet Drive have fallen."
"They're dead," Harry breathed.
"Your cousin is alive," Dumbledore said.
"How did you find out so fast?" Harry asked.
"I went there as soon as I felt the wards fall," Dumbledore said.
"Where's Dudley?" Harry asked.
"In my office."
Harry looked away from the headmaster and shook his head. His aunt and uncle were dead. How many people were going to die before he finally managed to kill Voldemort?
"I want to see him," Harry said. Dumbledore nodded. "I'm sorry but I think I'm done," Harry said to his friends. They all waved him off, saying it was perfectly fine and they understood. Banishing his gifts to his bedroom, Harry started to follow the headmaster out of the Hall but he stopped and turned back around, meeting eyes with Severus. The request was clear and Severus followed them.
Walking into the office, Harry's eyes immediately found Dudley who was curled up on the sofa under the window and extremely pale. There were tear tracks on his dirty face and Harry felt his heart pull. His cousin may have helped make his life hell but he did not deserve whatever had happened to him or to lose his parents. He didn't feel the loss of his aunt and uncle much, especially not his uncle. The man had nearly beaten him to death or killed him in other ways on several occasions. Dudley, though, had only been acting the way he had been taught.
Harry took slowly steps towards his cousin. "Dudley?" he said quietly. Dudley's eyes slid up to his and Harry could see the pain in them. "What happened?"
"White light," Dudley whispered. "It hurt so much."
Harry nodded.
"Yellow light," Dudley whispered again. "Cuts all over Mum."
Harry bit his lip and nodded again.
"Green light."
"I'm sorry, Dudley," Harry said quietly and Dudley nodded.
"I-I—" Dudley stuttered before clearing his throat. "I brought something for you. It's been in the attic all this time. I think you'd want it."
Harry looked at Dumbledore questioningly and the old man pointed to a box that was on his desk. Harry nodded and turned back to Dudley.
"Thank you."
Dudley nodded again.
"Where will he stay?" Harry asked.
"Here. It is far too dangerous to place him anywhere else," Dumbledore said. "He will have his own quarters. He will be free to leave once the war is over."
Harry sighed and looked at his cousin sadly. They now had something in common. They were both orphans and their parents had been murdered by Voldemort. He was startled when an arm settled around his shoulders and Harry looked up at Severus before leaning into him gratefully.
A/N: I never had any plans initially to kill the Dursleys. It just happened. And I kept Dudley alive specifically so he would give Harry this box. :P He will not be playing a larger role. Hope you enjoyed it, please review. Thank you.
