And then Dumbledore was there. Silently, he removed the Shields and gestured. Holly and the others followed slowly. More than once, she cast a look in Severus's direction, but he remained far behind the group. Once they made their way to the entrance to the Headmaster's office, Severus veered off and stalked down another corridor. Reluctantly, Holly followed Dumbledore onto the spiraling stairs. In close quarters, she was squished between Hermione and Ginny. Holly had more than noticed Ron's silence and his anger.

"Have a seat," The Headmaster said and waved his hand. Multiple squishy, red chairs appeared. Each teenager hesitantly took as seat. Dumbledore sat in the chair behind his desk, putting his elbows on the wooden surface, and eyeing them with piercing orbs of brilliant blue. There was a moment of exhausted silence before he began talking.

"Voldemort has done terrible things. We all are aware of that. He lies, cheats, tortures, and murders. The four of you know this more than most because you have lost family to this madness. You have witnessed friends hurt or killed. However, perhaps more concerning than all of that is Voldemort's ability to defy death itself. You see, Voldemort created what is called a Horcrux. This is Dark far beyond what even Dark wizards would attempt. This type of magic deals with destroying one's soul in order to achieve immortality."

He sighed, long and hard. "Voldemort has created many Horcruxes. Holly and I have been trying to locate these objects. Without destroying them, there is no hope of ever ending Voldemort's reign of terror. He fears death in a way that goes beyond logic. Currently, he is far too arrogant in his plan and believes he is safe from death. He is not, to my knowledge, aware of the destruction of his Horcruxes. This is to our advantage, although I know it may not seem that way right now."

"Holly said…" Hermione glanced her way before turning back to the Headmaster. She cleared her throat and firmly repeated, "Holly said there are six Horcruxes, sir. How many have been destroyed?"

The ghost of a smile touched Dumbledore's lips. He replied, "Four."

"Which items have been destroyed, sir?" She asked promptly.

"Tom Riddle's diary," Dumbeldore answered, pausing to glance at all eyes in the room before continuing, "The antique locket, Salazar Slytherin's ring, and Rowen Ravenclaw's Diadem."

Hermione nodded and asked, "What of the other Founding items?"

"Gryffindor's sword is under personal protection spells of my making." Dumbeldore answered, "It could not have been used by Voldemort at all in the last two decades. However, the sword could still prove useful in the future."

"Why couldn't it be used by him?" Holly and Hermione asked in unison.

"Only a true Gryffindor, one of mind, body and heart, could use the sword." Dumbledore responded, "Just as the wand chooses the wizard, the sword chooses the Gryffindor."

They lapsed into silence until Ginny slowly said, "There is only two of these things left. How do we go about finding them?"

"Ah, none of you will be finding them, Miss Weasley. I have been researching and believe I know where one might be. Now, why don't the four of you go to the Great Hall? Food will be waiting. Afterward, you will be escorted back to Grimmauld Place. Someone will be along shortly. And, of course, you know to remain silent about this information. The consequences of any other knowing would be dastardly."

Thoroughly dismissed, the small group trudged out of the office. They made it down the many corridors and staircases in silence. More than once, Holly swayed with exhaustion. She thought of leaving the others, making an excuse, and going to find Severus. Something about the look on his face and the swirling black smoke stopped her, though. First the mother and now the daughter.

The sound of that cold, cruel voice had her wincing. They sat themselves at their usual spots along Gryffindor Table, despite the desertedness of the room. Within moments, two jugs of Pumpkin Juice appeared. Along with that came platters of scrambled eggs, sausages, buttermilk pancakes, toast, beans, and tomatoes. There was a moment when nobody moved. With a great sigh, Ginny leaned over and began pouring juice into each goblet. Hermione murmured, "Thank you."

Slowly, Hermione loaded her plate and Ron's plate with food. Ron glared at the tabletop, his fist clenched around a fork. Ginny slowly buttered a stack of pancakes and asked, "Do you want syrup, Ron?"

Holly had a hand wrapped around a cold goblet and was staring at her empty plate. Her stomach was rolling horribly. As soon as the question left Ginny's mouth, Ron banged his fists on the table. Holly watched, shoulders tensed, as he turned his face in her direction. He glared at her as if she were the one who had spoken. His voice was hard and clipped as he asked, "What in the hell is going on, Holly?"

She took a deep breath and replied quietly, "The Horcrux can make a person see horrible things. Nightmares and worst fears."

"And Snape's worst fear is you dying?" Ron demanded, big fists clenching on the table as if he wanted to start punching. Holly shook her head slowly, but said nothing in return. There was an awful moment of silence and Holly flicked a glance toward the other two girls. Hermione was frozen, eyes wide and skin still too pale. She was chewing on her bottom lip and staring at Ron with apprehension. Ginny was still carefully buttering her pancakes.

Holly looked back to Ron's face. He had a vein bulging in his forehead and he was turning a rather unattractive purple color. Hermione cautiously suggested, "Why don't we eat our breakfast and calmly talk about this? I'm sure Holly can explain."

"Calmly?" Ron whipped his head in her direction and echoed harshly, "Calmly? Hermione, if you didn't notice Snape stood outside, slumped over like he was dying, and practically cried while You-Know-Who's Dark magic showed Holly bleeding out all over the floor. You heard him, talking about love and all that rubbish. How in the bloody hell is anybody calm right now?"

Holly looked away from her friend's angered face and gaped at her hand. It was still clutching a goblet of cold Pumpkin Juice. She listened as Hermione replied, "We all saw, but Holly has no control over Professor Snape's fears. She has no control over Horcrux magic, either. To be angry with her is pointless."

"Don't act like you didn't hear Holly call Snape by his first name earlier." He snapped, "Come to think of it, that isn't the first time she's almost said his name. She just finally slipped up."
Holly felt her grip tighten on the goblet in front of her. Ron's grumbling voice was echoing loudly and Holly's cheeks were feeling warm. Her entire body was feeling warm and it was not in a good way. A quick movement had Holly glancing at Ron only to find him fully facing his sister, who was taking measured bites of her breakfast and staring around the Great Hall. Ron demanded, "You heard what she called him behind Honeyduke's, didn't you, Ginny?"

She slowly chewed, swallowed, and reached for her goblet. After swallowing again, she set the goblet down. Ron snapped, "Don't ignore me, Gin."

"I'm not ignoring you." Ginny's voice was sharp, but she continued cutting her pancakes into tiny squares as she hissed, "I just think you're being too angry. You haven't given Holly a chance to speak."

Ron whipped his head around to face the opposite side of the table. Cornflower blue eyes glared spectacularly in Holly's direction. He crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled, "Well? What have you got to say?"

Holly's shoulders tensed even more. She slowly straightened her back and looked directly at him. She took in the protruding vein in his forehead, the purple splotches of upset skin, the crossed arms and angry scowl. Her heart was sinking and her stomach was churning.

Holly dully stated, "I love him."

Hermione squeaked like a mouse, but Holly didn't look at her. She watched as Ron's sky-blue eyes went wide, impossibly wide, and then narrowed to slits. His jaw dropped and she wondered if it would unhinge and fall to the floor. His face went darker and Holly hated that the color reminded her of Uncle Vernon. He choked, "What? W-What?"

Holly blinked and snapped, "You heard me."

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD!?" He bellowed and shoved away from the table. Holly's heart was hammering in her chest as she jumped up, one hand automatically pulling her wand from the waistband of her pants.

"Has he slipped you a potion? Do you even hear yourself right now? What in Merlin's knickers is happening?"

"Ron, stop this." Hermione stood up as well, coming around to his side and putting a hand to his arm. He jerked out of her grasp and began to stalk up and down the nearby tables. Ginny sighed, set down her fork, and stood up. She went to Hermione's side, putting a consoling arm around her shoulders. Hermione's bottom lip was bleeding, but she continued to gnaw on it. She spoke quickly, "Professor Snape has been mentoring Holly for a long time, both school year and summer. She's learned to respect and care for him. That isn't a bad thing. He's a brilliant teacher. You saw him cast Fiendfyre. You've seen him duel. You know he isn't evil. He isn't You-Know-Who; he's fighting against the Death Eaters."

"He is a Death Eater!" Ron shouted, rounding on Hermione and sending disgusted sneers at Holly. "He has the Mark. He stood by You-Know-Who during the First War. Merlin, he probably killed people and used the Unforgivables. Using Fiendfyre goes to show just how Dark he is."

"He's friends with Headmaster Dumbledore." Hermione insisted firmly, the edge of heat creeping into her voice. She stomped her foot and added, "Who could ever fool him? Don't you think he would realize if Professor Snape was truly evil?"

Ron snorted heavily. "Him being best friends with Dumbledore isn't even the point, Mione. The point is that Holly is standing here, claiming she's in love with Snape. Snape. Do you hear me? The greasy git who tortured us for years, failing us on assignments for no good reason. The one who hates my family on sight. The one who made fun of your teeth, Mione. The one who took pot shots at your dad, Holly."

"Stop it." Holly whispered.

Ron paid no attention to her, still briskly walking up and down the length of the table. Hermione glanced at her before turning back to Ron and saying, "She never said that she was in love, Ronald. She cares about the Professor. She's friends with him, I think. I noticed how much kinder he acts toward her, especially in Advanced Potions class. That doesn't mean anything illicit is happening. Please, Ron, you're jumping to conclusions and forming opinions without all the facts."

"Illicit?" Ron choked and abruptly stopped walking. He blinked blankly and then exploded, "Illicit! Oh, Merlin, kill me now. Scrub out my brain and pluck out my eyes. No, no, no. Holly, tell me you haven't…"

He spun around, nearly tripping over his own feet. His eyes were wide, begging. He gulped and rasped, "This is a joke. Tell me this is a very bad joke."

Holly felt her body trembling. She gritted her teeth and said, "No. I'm not joking, Ron. There's no love potion. No spell or Dark magic. And what I do with him is my own business, illicit or not."

Hands fisted at her sides, wand gripped tightly, Holly headed out of the doors just as the first tear fell from her burning eye. She marched right into a tall, lanky form that smelled of expensive aftershave. Big palms caught her by the elbows and then she was blankly staring into the scarred face of Bill Weasley. He was frowning, which made Holly nervous. He looked past her shoulder and his frown deepened. He asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She cleared her throat just as Bill let go of her elbows. He slowly said, "Dumbledore's asked me to bring you back to Headquarters. We're to meet other Order members at the front gates. Have you all finished breakfast?"

Holly shrugged her shoulders and muttered, "I'm done."

Soft footfalls sounded. Hermione came forward and hesitantly said, "Let's walk through the grounds, yeah, Holly?"

Holly nodded and the two slowly made their way out of the Great Hall's entrance. They were several paces away, but still heard the deep, disapproving voice of Bill speaking to his younger brother. There was heated hissing from Ginny and a loud snort from Ron. Hermione shot Holly a nervous glance, but Holly pretended not to notice. The group, although split in two, made its way through the castle grounds with the early morning sun rising. Holly was trying not to think of all that had happened. She was trying to ignore the sickening feeling in her stomach, but that feeling only intensified when they came to the gates and saw a fuming Mrs. Weasley and a big, black dog waiting on the other side.

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I hope you're enjoying. If you are interested, I recommend reading Where Your Treasure Is, which is written by zeegrindylows. This story is completed and is very well written. The plotline is unique. Severus is, of course, a main character. This writer is much better, overall, than I am. I believe most of my readers will enjoy the tale, although it is quite dark.