Sorry for the wait. I've been reading other fan fics. See below for authors note. Please enjoy this chapter.
Draco walked slowly back to their dormitory, trying his hardest to figure out what all this meant. Josie had part of Voldemort's soul inside her. The part of Voldemort's soul had to be destroyed in order to defeat him. The only way to destroy a horcrux was to destroy the vessel that contained the horcrux. Josie was the vessel. Josie had to die.
No. There had to be another way.
The walk back was short and even though he walked slow, he was still no closer to coming to terms with it than when he left the headmasters office.
It was now night time and he knew that she would normally be asleep at this time. He pushed the door open and peered into the room, seeing Josie's form in the bed. He quietly stepped over to the bed and laid down beside her, pressing his body against the back of hers. He wrapped one arm around her body and breathed in the scent of her. She was everything to him. The sun rose and set with Josie and he couldn't fathom a world without her. Although… she had to die. Or Voldemort could never be destroyed.
He contemplated the conversation in his head, the one he had to have with her. He visualised the disbelief, the heartbreak, the utter shock that he knew would cross her face and he realised what it was that Snape has meant. He loved her too much to hurt her in that way. He couldn't tell her. He couldn't be the one to let her know that she had to die. Yet, how could he not? How could he go on, having this information and not tell her? Not tell her she had lived with Voldemort inside of her for more than 16 years and had to die to remove him?
After hours of thinking and coming up with ideas and strategies, Draco drifted off to sleep. His dream were filled with images of his wife with the face of Voldemort or with images of Josie dead in the middle of the forest. He dreamt that he told her and she left him, accusing him of lies.
He awoke early in the morning to find the other side of the bed cold and empty. He had hoped that she would be there waiting for him if she woke before him, but he supposed that was just him being hopeful. He got out of bed and dressed for the day, hoping that she would be in the library or somewhere, giving him the silent treatment. He deserved it, afterall.
He searched the places he immediately thought she may be, such as the library, the tree by the lake and the great hall. He picked at a piece of toast and drank some pumpkin juice without sitting before leaving the breakfast hour to resume his search for his wife.
The more he searched, the more desperate he became. There was no way she would leave Hogwarts. Despite the bracelet she wore that gave her the ability to go home to her parents, he doubted very much that she would go to them following a fight.
His last hope was that Josie had gone to the only place she knew he couldn't access; the Gryffindor Common Room. He made his way to the Gryffindor Tower and stood before the portrait of the fat lady. She eyed Draco and sipped what appeared to be a glass of champagne, refusing to make small talk with him.
"I shan't let you in dear boy" she said any time he asked her.
"My wife might be in there" he said, running his hands through his hair.
"You expect me to believe that there are students in this castle who are married?" she asked with a giggle that reminded him too much of Umbridge.
"Of course. Now is Josie in there or not?" he asked.
"Uh, Josie Potter…"
"Malfoy. Josie Malfoy" he said.
"Yes, your wife entered the room several hours ago" she said.
"Can you get her to come out then?" he asked.
"I can not leave my frame my boy. How on earth can I protect the students if I run off delivering messages for everyone who comes my way? Now clear off. I will pass on a message if she exits" the lady said.
Draco sat in the corridor across from the portrait, waiting for someone to exit so he could question them on Josie's whereabouts. He couldn't understand why she would come here. She feared telling anybody the truth about what was really going on, but he knew she needed her friends now more than ever. He had unintentionally alienated her from them, and that is absolutely the very last thing he wanted. He had seemingly done the same, not having interacted with his friends in months.
While lost in his thoughts, he almost missed the portrait open, allowing a group of girls to exit.
"Hey…" he called out to them, standing to his feet.
"What do you want Malfoy?" spat a 5th year Gryffindor.
"Is Josie in there?" he asked.
"She's your wife. Don't you keep tabs on her?" another girl asked.
Draco pushed the anger away that was threatening to rise and let out a slight chuckle.
"Funny. I need to speak with her, and I know she is in there" he said.
"So, you ask us if she is in there, then tell us that you know she's in there? What do you want, Malfoy?" the first girl asked.
"I want someone to go in there and tell Josie that I am out here and need to speak with her urgently" he said slowly.
"Well… We're kind of in a hurry" the second girl said, smirking to her friends.
"It won't take you long" he said, running his hands through his hair for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"I'll go" came the voice of one of the smaller girls Draco didn't recognise. She had to be a 2nd or 3rd year. She was quite small and had dark hair that was neatly braided into many long thin braids.
"Thank you. What's your name?" he asked.
"Rebecca Jordan" she said.
"Lee's sister?" he asked.
"I… um… I'll go get Josie for you" she stuttered.
"Now you've done it. It's taken us 2 years to get that Rebecca girl out of her shell. Out of her brother's shadow… and now you've gone and thrown her back into it" one of the girls said.
"You girls are quite strange" he said, looking around the group of Gryffindors.
Within moments, the portrait opened again, and Rebecca climbed out, closely followed by Josie.
"Thank you, Rebecca" Josie said, not looking to Draco.
"I'll be in touch Rebecca. I owe you one" Draco said as the girl followed the older Gryffindors away from where Draco now stood with his wife.
"I thought you left" he said.
"I wanted to" she replied.
"You have to know that I didn't mean any of the things I said. It was just what I knew he would be thinking. It wasn't from me. I don't think like that. You need to believe that" he said.
"I do" she said, walking away from the tower, towards the stairs to the 7th floor.
"So why are you so mad at me?" he asked.
"I'm mad at everything. Everyone. Draco… I never wanted this for myself" she said.
"What? Me?" he asked.
"I didn't ever envisage myself being married at the age of 15, or being caught up in some elaborate plan to save the world or being forced to lie to all my friends and completely isolate myself from everyone I ever cared about" she said, as they made their way towards the Room of Requirement.
"You want out?" he asked plainly, trying to hide the rejection he was feeling.
"Of course not. I want to be with you Draco, till death, no matter what. I take my vows seriously. I just… yesterday was a lot to handle. I realised things about myself… things I could do that were frightening to me" she said.
"You're very powerful Josie" he said, wondering if now was the time to tell her she was a horcrux.
"It's not just the magic, Draco. I have gotten myself into a place where people are afraid of me just for who I am. Who I associate with. Who I married. People think I'm a death eater" she said sadly.
"Well, you kind of are, Jose" Draco said.
"No, Draco, I'm not. Not really. I don't mean any of the things I say. Neither do you" she said.
"I know that, but the reality of it is Josie, you are a death eater. People will see you as one. Not only now, but when this war is over, you'll always be known as a death eater" Draco said, not caring to think that those thoughts and opinions will be once she's dead.
"So that's it? There's no way to change people's opinion of me?" she asked.
"Of course there will be, in time. Once people know the things you sacrificed for the greater good, they will realise" Draco said, walking beside her, realising she was headed to the room of requirement. "Besides…" he added, "It doesn't matter what people think of you" he said.
"It kind of does. To me anyway" she said. "I'm this crazy freak of nature now. Not only am I a death eater's wife and a legitimate death eater myself, I actually genuinely spark magic from my hair and fingers. I scorch the cobblestone when I walk and I can create shields that silence out the entire room. I can do so many things Draco. Its scary. And its only beginning. I don't understand it" she said, looking at him for the first time since she exited the portrait.
"I think I have an explanation as to why" he said.
"What do you mean?" she asked, pausing outside the seventh-floor tapestry of Barnarby.
Draco walked past the spot three times, thinking of the room where things are hidden only to be completely unsurprised when it didn't open.
"We need to see Snape. He understands it better" Draco said.
"Understands what? Draco?" she asked.
"You'll see" he said.
"I don't want Professor fucking Snape to tell me. Draco, what is it?" she demanded.
Draco's eyes searched the corridor for onlookers and pulled her into an empty classroom. Josie sat at one of the tables and looked to Draco expectantly. All of the sadness and emotion she was feeling a minute ago when she poured her heart out to her husband was gone, replaced by anger and frustration. What did he need to tell her and why was he messing around?
"There is a reason why you're so powerful, why you get along with the Dark Lord so well. Why he likes you. He probably doesn't even realise himself" Draco said.
"Reason, yes, what is it?" she asked, impatiently
"The night he went to… to kill your family, to kill Harry, he prepared a horcrux. He had the sword, but didn't realise the sword is more of a sentient object than the other house items" he began.
"The sword presents itself to worth Gryffindors, everyone knows that" she said.
"Well, actually, everyone only knows that after the whole thing in the chamber of secrets" Draco said. "Anyway, when the killing curse failed, the sword disappeared for its own safety, but the horcrux curse had already been mostly cast…" he said.
Josie's eyes widened as she began to understand what this all meant.
"When he died, his body was destroyed, but his soul had already been split. He already killed and the soul needed a container, or a vessel. It latched itself onto the thing that it deemed to be the safest, or most protected thing in the room" Draco said.
"Don't say it…" Josie said, tears in her eyes, shaking her head.
"Unborn babies are very safe and well looked after. The least likely to die from accident of misadventure" Draco said.
"Draco…"
"Josie… I swear, I will find a way to fix this…" he said.
"DRACO!" she yelled, now standing, breathing heavily. "Draco, am I… Are you trying to tell me that there is a part of him in me?" she asked.
Draco didn't respond, he just stared at her.
"Am I a horcrux?" she asked.
"Josie, I promise, I will do everything in my power to stop this from happening" he said.
Josie stood for a moment, taking it all in. Of course she was a horcrux. She had never been given an explanation for how intelligent and powerful she was, she had always just assumed she was special. Of course, this made sense. She was no one special. She was only powerful because she was the safest possible option for Voldemort's rogue piece of soul to attach to that night.
"What do you think will happen?" she asked Draco.
"Snape said... That the horcrux vessel must be destroyed in order for the soul to be destroyed" Draco said.
"We know that" Josie said, suddenly realising what it actually meant. "I need to die?" she said.
"Snape thinks so… But I think… There has to be another way. I will find another way" Draco said.
"Another way? What other way Draco? Horcruxes must be destroyed. We might as well go now and get a basilisk fang and get it over with. What do you think, heart or head for the point of impact? I don't know where in me it is, so maybe just do it ALL FUCKING OVER" Josie screamed the last part, losing control of her emotions and collapsing on the floor.
"I'm not going to… we won't… I'll find something else" he said, kneeling down in front of her.
"No Draco. There is nothing else" she said, tears streaming down her face. "I need to go home. I need to say goodbye to my family" she said.
"I'll come. I want to come with you" he said.
"They wont like that" she said.
"I don't give a fuck what anybody likes. You're my wife and I'm never letting you out of my sight" he said, walking to her and enveloping her in his arms. She sobbed into his chest while he rested his chin on her head, allowing tears of his own to fall.
Josie and Draco arrived in the living room of 12 Grimmauld Place later that evening. It had taken an hour before she could be moved from the classroom and taken to their dormitory and a further hour till she was lucid enough to port out of the castle.
"Mum?" she called, hoping the house would be full of people.
"Josie? Is that you?" came the voice of Harry, followed by footsteps on the stairs.
When Harry arrived in the room, he stopped dead in his tracks when he said Draco standing hand in hand with his little sister.
"What…" he began, but Josie interrupted.
"I need you to stop for a moment Harry, there is something bigger going on right now than this rivalry you have going on with Draco" she said.
"For the record, I'd like to move beyond our childhood issues" Draco said.
Harry just looked at the couple, not speaking for what felt like an eternity before the three of them were joined by their mother, Sirius, Lyra and Carina.
"Josie" came the rushed voice of Lily. "Its so good to see you my girl… Oh my, you look dreadful" she said, hugging her daughter then holding her at arm's length.
"Kiddo" came the voice of Sirius, who ruffled her hair, causing her to smile at the childhood manner of affection.
"Josie says there is something going on" Harry said, looking around the room.
"There's always something going on when Josie's involved. She's probably pregnant. That's why he's here", Carina said, gesturing to Draco.
Lily and Sirius sat down, motioning for the couple to sit down as well. They were grateful for the large size of the living area and the more than adequate seating, so Josie and Draco could sit side by side.
"I must admit, this… Seeing you two together. Its freaking me out" Harry said.
"I don't know, she looks content" Lyra said, the first time Josie had heard her say anything in the longest time.
"Thanks Ly. I am content. As far as my relationship with Draco is concerned, we are happy and content with one another. I know it had come as a shock to you all, and to me as well, but we had to marry for so many more reasons than you realise. Besides, if I hadn't married Draco, I wouldn't have been strong enough to save mum" she said.
"And we are all so grateful for you for that. Oh, all hail Josie, the saviour of our family" Carina said with a scoff and a roll of her eyes.
"Carina that's enough" Sirius scolded sternly, making Josie jump. She hadn't heard him use that tone before.
"How about we get to the reason why we're here?" Draco said, hoping to get this over and done with so they could develop a plan together.
"We have a pretty solid explanation as to why I have been gifted with so many abilities, beyond what would normally be expected of someone my age" Josie said.
"We gave you every opportunity to learn as you grew up. You learnt everything the same as Harry. Its only reasonable to expect you to have been as smart as him" Lily said.
"No mum, that's not it. Partially, yes. But there is far more to it than that. There are things I can do that you don't know about. More than the memory and more than being highly intelligent and mature for my age" she said, looking around the room and earning a sigh from Carina.
"I can perform complex wandless and nonverbal magic. It started at first when I was emotional, upset, angry, that kind of thing, but I quickly learnt how to master it. I am exceptional at occlumency and can store portions of magic, thoughts, memories and any part of me away in what I like to think of as compartments inside my mind. These compartments are not accessible by anybody, not even Draco, not even the most skilled legilimens in the magical world. Recently, there have been… advances… in what I have been capable of. I have been known to spark magic from my hair and my fingers. I have scorched the ground when I walk. I am quite scarily powerful" she continued.
"It truly is a sight to behold" Draco added.
Josie looked to him and smiled, placing a hand on his knee while she continued.
"Draco, as you know, is close with Snape, being his godson and all and he went to him with his fears about my power. There were things that Snape told him that no one knew. There was more to Dumbledore in those last months than we all knew" she said, feeling quite upset, as she was partially responsible for his death. She looked to Draco, who continued the story for her.
"Professor Snape told me about the horcruxes, he told me all that Dumbledore told him, but he told me something else as well. Dumbledore was already dying. He had destroyed a horcrux, but the curse had impacted him as well. Professor Snape contained it to his hand, but Dumbledore only had twelve months or so until it would have spread throughout his body and killed him regardless. That's why Dumbledore allowed me to carry on with my mission. For the greater good" Draco said.
"Rubbish" Harry said.
"Harry let us finish, please" Josie said.
"There's more to this?" Sirius asked.
"There is" Draco said.
"Dumbledore had a theory as to why I am the way that I am" Josie said, looking to Draco, as the words couldn't form in her mind.
"He understood that the night your husband was killed…" Draco said, looking to Lily, "You-Know-Who, had already prepared and cast the horcrux spell. The death split his soul and he was to finalise the spell, using the sword of Gryffindor, once the he had killed Harry" Draco said, looking to Harry.
"But the sword being what it is, feared its own safety and vanished from Godrics Hollow" Draco said.
Lily's eyes widened in horror as she held onto Sirius' hand. Josie knew that all the pieces had fallen into place for her now.
"Once the Dark Lord had been hit by his own spell, his body was destroyed and the piece of him that was in his body fled. It was neither alive, nor dead. It was a portion of his soul that existed only because it was tied to the earth by the other horcruxes that he had made. We all know what eventuated several years later, but the portion of his soul he had torn apart using James' death lingered" Draco said.
"Turns out, a soul created using the horcrux spell will latch onto the safest thing it can, despite the spell not being finished" Josie said.
"An unborn baby is about the safest thing in the world. Protected by so many factors" Draco said, holding Josie's hand tight and squeezing it to let her know he was here for her.
"Oh my god" was all they heard in the moments that followed. Lily was on her knees, almost crawling to her daughter to wrap her in her arms. Harry was sitting on the armchair in stunned silence and Sirius was pacing the room. Lyra lept forward to join her mother in embracing Josie and Carina remained by the doorway, shock on her face.
After a long time, Sirius broke the sound of sobs and sniffles.
"What does this mean?" he asked.
"She's a horcrux?" Harry asked.
"Josie is the Horcrux You-Know-Who doesn't know exists" Draco said.
"I don't get it. We have to destroy the horcruxes, right?" Lyra asked, wiping tears from her face.
"Josie has to die" Carina said from the doorway.
"No. That's not happening. We will find another way" Lily said.
"Mum… Draco and I have been through all the options. There is no other way. A soul can be re-joined but only through acts of remorse that he is not capable of. There is no way he is even capable of those kinds of emotions" Josie said.
"I'll find something. I'll figure this out" Harry said, standing from the armchair and leaving the room.
Josie stood to go after him, but Sirius stopped her. "You need to be with your mum right now kiddo" he said.
He looked to Draco and motioned with his head towards the doorway. Draco kissed Josie's head and followed Sirius out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen.
Draco looked around the room and vaguely remembered the room from a visit he once had in his younger childhood with his mother.
"I've been here before" Draco said.
"This is the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. You would have visited with your mother when you were small" Sirius said, reaching into a high cupboard and retrieving a dusty bottle.
Draco was uncertain as to what was happening, but when Sirius pulled two small glasses out of another cupboard and poured the contents of the bottle into them both, he did not refuse.
"To the newlyweds" Sirius said, downing the shot in one go and gesturing for Draco to do the same.
"Thank you" Draco said after downing the liquid in one.
"Is this legitimate? The things you're saying about Josie?" Sirius asked.
"Of course. I wouldn't say it if it weren't true" Draco said.
"You love her?" Sirius asked, throwing Draco off.
"With everything that I have" he said sincerely.
"Good. That's good. You'll need it" Sirius said.
"Do you have any ideas?" Draco asked.
"None" Sirius said. "But faith and love is what you'll need to get through whatever is to come" Sirius said.
"We're no closer to destroying the diadem than we were weeks ago. We can't get into the room of requirement" he said.
"That's neither here nor there now is it?" Sirius asked.
"Of course, it is. Once that's gone, that's all of them. Except…" Draco said began.
"My daughter, your wife. Technically, now my cousin. Although, the two of you were already cousins through marriage, so that makes this all the more awkward" Sirius said, putting the family relationships together.
"Josie is a spectacular person. It's a credit to you and Lily for raising her to be so" Draco said.
"Don't patronise this with your pureblood crap Draco. I was raised on that too. I know the routines" Sirius said, throwing Draco off a little. He hadn't realised he was behaving that way.
"I'm sorry, I…" Draco began.
"Look, I know you and Harry have been at each other's throats since day one, but all that is neither here nor there. All you need to do, little cousin, is be yourself. Show us the Draco that Josie sees. Then we will understand all of this" Sirius said, gesturing to Draco's wedding band that shone on his left hand.
"I will try my best" Draco said. "Now, we need to come up with some ideas. A way to get this out of her without killing her. She needs to live" Draco said, almost pleading with Sirius.
"There is no way" Harry said from the doorway before walking in to join the men at the table.
"What are we toasting to?" Harry asked. "The imminent demise of my sister? Oh, wait, that happened when Draco whisked her off to Malfoy Manor and made her one of them" he said, pouring himself a shot and downing it in one.
"Potter, I didn't… It's not like that" Draco said.
"Oh really, Malfoy? What is it like then? You took my 15-year-old sister, manipulated her into thinking she loved you, took her home to mummy and daddy and branded her a Malfoy by invoking outdated underage marriage laws" Harry said.
"You're wrong" Draco said.
"Harry…" Sirius warned.
"No, give him a chance to explain" Harry said, taking a seat across from Draco at the table.
"I tried my hardest to push her away. I really did. But she's a strong-willed woman. She wouldn't let me go, not after everything we had shared. When we both realised how miserable we were without each other; we just went with it. I never wanted her to get involved with all that last year. I never wanted to be involved myself. Josie was the one who kept me anchored to reality. She reminded me that I was good and that I was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons" Draco said.
"You're not good though, Malfoy" Harry said.
"I don't blame you for thinking that way" Draco said.
"How else is someone supposed to think?" Harry asked.
"Potter, I never wanted to be a death eater. I hated my father and all that he stood for. I had death eaters roaming the halls of my childhood home from the time I was born. I was brought up having the ideas drilled into me that muggles were scum and purebloods were not and there was no in between. I lived in fear of absolutely everything, but the biggest fear of mine was anybody finding out who I truly was. I worked extremely hard to be the horrible person everyone knows me as to avoid being killed or cast out by my own family. Because that's the alternative when you're a pure blood. Just ask your stepfather" Draco said, breathing heavily and looking to Sirius.
"He's actually right Harry. Assimilate or leave. I left" Sirius said.
"I have no where to go" Draco said.
"Harry, I think you need to listen to Draco. He hasn't had it easy" Sirius said.
Harry was about to speak when Lily, Josie and the girls entered the room.
"We need a plan" Josie said, sitting beside her husband, looking from him to Harry and to Sirius. "Is everything ok here or should we get a referee in?" she asked.
"Everything's fine. Just sorting out old rivalries" Harry said.
"Good. So, we've been talking about this situation and we are not going to just take it lying down. I will not let this take my life. We are going to sit here and we are going to brainstorm until we have an answer" Josie said.
Draco smiled at her, suddenly aware that some of the spark had returned to her eyes. She was the Josie that he fell in love with, full of energy, full of fight and ready to survive.
"I think there may be some books at the Manor that can help. I'll go there and have a look" Draco said.
"Is that safe? There's a hundred people there and you know he likes spending all his time in the library" Josie said.
"I'll be fine. I'll say I'm looking for something for school" Draco said, standing and kissing her cheek.
"Wait, I'll walk you out" she said.
"You can disapparate from the top of the steps. It will recognise your magical signature and allow you to return" Lily said.
Before leaving the room, Draco extended his hand to Sirius, who shook it immediately. He turned to Harry and held his hand out for him to take. No one breathed in that moment. Josie looked from her husband to her brother and back again, hoping beyond hope that they could come to some sort of arrangement where they could work together. She smiled when Harry took Draco's hand and shook it.
She walked him to the front door and held him in her arms, fearing that if he was seen and questioned, he may not be able to get away. She realised that she might not see him again, if he failed. If he was seen taking suspicious books, he will be killed. He was risking a lot for her.
"Hurry back, ok?" she asked.
"I promise I'll come back to you" he said, taking her face in his hands and kissing her on the lips.
"I love you" she whispered.
"I love you too" he whispered back, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against hers.
He stepped back and turned on the spot, leaving her alone with a pop.
AN- Apologies for the delay. Its been an incredibly rough month for me personally. I quit my job for reasons that i wont get into and have hit a rough patch, mentally. I have been caught up reading another story called The Marriage Decree which i finished today. I literally rushed through the last few chapters because i was desperate to get back to Josie and Draco. So now i am unemployed and back to being a stay at home mum with plenty f time on my hands. I hope to upload a chapter a day so stay tuned and hold on tight. It will get crazy from here and we head down from the top of the rollercoaster. Hoping to find a conclusion in the next 10 chapters or so **shrugs**.
Please tell me what you think.