I'm back! Sorry, I got a job while I search for another job and it's been absolutely kicking my ass. According to my Pokemon Go step tracker I'm walking at least 8 km (about 5 miles or so) each day, plus moving heavy shit and interacting with the public. So my progress on translating has slowed a tad. Right now I'm about half a page into chapter 8, so I'm also slowing down posting chapters until I can get a few days off in a row to translate.

The next morning Harry, Ron and Edward were gathered in the kitchen and chatting while they waited for the girls to come down. Harry felt he needed to do something to forget the deaths of Moody, Dumbledore, and Hedwig… But Ron argued in favor of staying in the Burrow for a few days instead of rushing headlong into the hunt for Horcruxes which they did not know the appearance and/or locations of.

"Right now, there's nothing we can do about you-know-what until you're seventeen. You're still subject to the Trace. And here you can plan just as well as anywhere else. Well, okay, mum will probably try to question us and be on our back all the time, but we will find times to put our plans into focus. You told me you don't know where the other you-know-whats are, right?"

"No, unfortunately," Harry confessed, "and even worse, the only one whose hiding place we managed to find turned out to be a fake, so we're one step back."

"In the meantime, Hermione has done some research on what Horcruxes really are. We decided to wait until you were there to discuss it."

"So there are only four days left before we go," said Harry, "then we can-"

"Five days," Ron corrected, interrupting firmly. "We have to be there for the wedding otherwise she will kill us."

Harry sighed but realized that it was useless to argue: Fleur or Mrs Weasley would certainly not understand the importance of their mission compared to the planning and celebration of a wedding. Edward also seemed in a bad mood but still seemed optimistic. However, in the meantime, Ron kept his momentum going:

"Actually, Harry, Mum tried to get Hermione and me to talk. She wants to know what our plans are, why we're not going back to Hogwarts or why we're leaving the Burrow, that sort of thing. So, expect her to try her luck with you… Dad and Lupin also asked questions but they didn't insist when they were told that Dumbledore had recommended you not to tell anyone. But mum, she keeps asking. She's determined to know and you know how she is..."

Harry knew what Ron meant: even though Mrs. Weasley's six sons were taller than her, each of them harbored a holy fear of their mother when she was angry. Chances are he and Edward would be the next to be questioned.

And it was indeed the case. When Harry saw Edward run away from the back kitchen as if he had the devil on his heels, he realized he had just escaped questioning by Mrs. Weasley. He swallowed hard when the latter called him, supposedly to identify a lonely sock: he too was going to have to go through the strong indiscreet questions of the mother whose inquisitive gaze was sometimes equal to the once piercing gaze of Professor Dumbledore. Mrs. Weasley jumped in immediately, giving Harry no time to prepare and asked, casually, if it was true that he and Ron were going to be leaving Hogwarts, as the other two had implied. Harry replied that it was true and Ron's mother asked the fatal question:

"May I ask you why you are dropping your studies?" She asked, emphasizing the "why".

"Dumbledore left things for me to do and I'm sorry, but he forbade me to talk about it except to Edward, Ron and Hermione. They have decided to come with me and it is their choice as adult wizards," Harry replied, emphasizing the adult aspect.

"As parents we have a right to know and I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Granger would agree. I consider you and Edward my own sons, the same as Ron or Ginny!"

Harry thought that if that was the case, it would transform his relationship with Ginny into incest, not that Mrs. Weasley needed to know. In the meantime, she continued:

"I don't see why you should go! The four of you are barely of age. This is sheer madness. If Dumbledore had a job to do, he had the whole Order at his disposal! Harry, you must have misunderstood what he was telling you. He probably talked about something he wanted to see done and you thought he was asking you…"

"I am neither deaf nor stupid, Mrs. Weasley. I understood very well what Professor Dumbledore said. It has to be me."

Almost unwittingly, he released some of his magic in its raw state, like a wizard did when he wanted to show his power without the aid of his wand. Luckily it was not a use of magic detected by the Trace but Harry had almost lost control to Mrs. Weasley who seemed seized by Harry's display of power and stepped back, tears in her eyes. The wizard felt a little embarrassed to use this trick to convince her to let them go but she had to understand that they were no longer children. Finally, seeming resigned, she asked only one thing: that the young wizards help her to prepare for Bill and Fleur's wedding, which Harry accepted.

He should have known that the matriarch of the Weasley family wouldn't give up so easily. She took advantage of Harry's acceptance to give them the most work to do so that they didn't have time to prepare their plans. She seemed to think that if she prevented them from being together, then she would manage to delay their departure. Thus, she made them polish the cutlery, harmonize the colors of the favors, ribbons and flowers, demolish the garden and prepare immense dishes of petits fours. This greatly annoyed Edward who made it clear to his friends, when they were briefly together for the first time in two days:

"Sometimes Ron, I think your mother should have been sorted into Slytherin. She's as cunning as a fox finding ploys to separate us."

"Hey! Don't say that about my mum, even if it's true!" Ron exclaimed.

"In the meantime, Ed is right! Does your mother think someone else is going to go kill Voldemort while we cook vol-au-vent?"

"It's true that everyone except Mum seems to expect that from you and I find that unfair," Ginny said with a rebellious tone. "The rest of the wizarding population could also try to fight against You-Know-Who, instead of waiting for you to save the world again! Why did some kind of crackpot have to come along and say that you are the Chosen One who is supposed to save the wizarding world?"

The young girl was in fact aware of the contents of the prophecy, like all the other members of the Circle. Even though Dumbledore had advised him to confide only in his closest friends, Harry had decided to trust everyone in the Circle with the prophecy. She had been pretty angry with Trelawney ever since. Somehow, it reassured Harry to know that Ginny now didn't care about his Boy-Who-Lived or Chosen One status. But at the same time, he felt some guilt as he thought about the fact that he was probably going to die at the end of their hunt for the Horcruxes and that he and Ginny's relationship would have no future. He hadn't dared to admit it to anyone yet and only Edward had guessed it at the end of last year.

In the meantime, Mrs. Weasley had spotted with her hawk eye that there were four young wizards not working and she gave them a list of preparations to make. On his way to tidy up the garden, Harry ran into Kingsley, Mr. Weasley and Bill.

In effect, the HQ of the Order was now in the Burrow because since the death of Dumbledore, all those to whom the latter had revealed the secret of the location of Grimmauld Place had become a Secret Keeper. This had the effect of weakening the Fidelius spell considerably, especially given that Snape was one of the Secret Keepers, according to the members of the Order, which they said made the former HQ less than reliable. Of course, Moody, before his death, had cast some hexes to prevent the Order's headquarters hiding place from being revealed, but you never knew.

That evening a good portion of the Order was gathered at the Weasleys table and everyone was openly discussing the issues of the Order, much to Mrs. Weasley's annoyance, who wished the "children" weren't around when they had this kind of discussion.

Harry asked Bill about Moody's body, but it had not yet been found. Getting any information was all the more difficult since the Daily Prophet had not said a word about the death of the old Auror. Likewise, no one had mentioned his use of magic during the battle that had pitted him against Voldemort. Either way, the newspaper has been glossing over a lot lately.

Hermione wasn't wrong when she claimed that either the Ministry or the Death Eaters or worse, both, controlled the press. The young witch had even turned to the Quibbler for news closer to the truth. She had indeed received a letter from Luna claiming that she was now writing articles in it and even if they were sometimes a little eccentric, others were written very seriously, showing the Ravenclaw character of the young witch. But in the meantime, The Quibbler remained the only free newspaper in the Wizarding World that focused on telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Ron groaned about the Ministry asking why no one stood against the Dark Lord. Arthur Weasley tried to explain the situation to him using the example of Professor Burbage, whom he was sure had not resigned. Edward paled upon hearing this: although he had never had class with her, he remembered the woman hanging from the ceiling at the Death Eater meeting. He didn't know what happened to her in the end but it was a safe bet that she was dead, especially after his escape.

Then Fleur broached the subject of Harry's disguise at the wedding: it was indeed safer for the Weasley family and their guests if he was disguised as a different person. Apparently, she was certain that the leak about Harry's move was from Hagrid and she didn't want him to reveal that he was present at the celebration. Ron's mother began to scold Ron about tidying up his room which was more than a mess despite Edward's best efforts.

Harry and Ed immediately offered to help (with the secret purpose of meeting to discuss their plan of action with the girls) but Mrs. Weasley sent the two boys to clean up the henhouse. But by some strange combination of circumstances, it happened to be the place where Mr. Weasley had stored all of the Muggle parts of Hagrid's motorcycle that he absolutely didn't want Molly to find. Harry took the opportunity to join his friends who had all managed to find themselves in Ron's cramped (and still messy despite Edward's best efforts) room.

Hermione and Edward were sorting through a pile of books which included Harry's. Ron, while using wandless magic to try to both tidy up his room and practice, wondered about the fate of Mad Eye Moody. With Edward as a direct eyewitness, he was certain of the ex Auror's death but wondered what had happened to the corpse. The boys put forward various hypotheses on this: transformed into an Inferius, stuffed and taken as a victory trophy by triumphant Death Eaters…

Unfortunately, these words were taken badly by Hermione who burst into tears. Fortunately, Ron, noticing his blunder, ran to her with a handkerchief and hugged her tightly, whispering words of comfort to her. Harry and Edward smiled at this display of affection from Ron, who had once had the emotional range of a teaspoon.

Finally, once the emotional outpourings were over, they could go back to sorting out the books they would take with them. Harry would have tried to tell them that no, they wouldn't come with him, but deep down he already knew it was useless and would only earn him disapproval from his friends. Harry therefore turned to less slippery ground and asked them what they had been doing during the first part of July.

Hermione explained to him that she had stolen some of Moody's Polyjuice Potion and had already started packing their bags by turning a bag into a bottomless one. Immediately Edward jumped on her excitedly asking if she had used the theories regarding the possibility of multiple dimensions, but her two friends stopped her in time before Hermione embarked on a doctorate level course in university physics.

Edward looked quite disappointed, but he didn't insist; he intended to create one of his own before departure anyway. Hermione also confessed that she had modified her parents' memory so that they no longer remember her or Harry, so that they would move to Australia, as far away from Voldemort as possible. She had tears in her eyes as she said this and everyone surrounded her, hugging her to comfort her.

Ron, meanwhile, showed what he and his father had done: they had prepared a decoy using the ghoul that haunted the attic. The ghoul must have donned Ron's old pajamas and had red hair and disgusting pustule-covered skin. All this so that the Death Eaters, when they came to visit the house in search of Harry and Ron, would think that the latter had the terribly contagious Spattergroit. That way, the Weasley family wouldn't be in as much danger as expected. At least, Harry and Edward hoped so.

Harry couldn't help but feel deeply moved when he saw how far they were willing to go to protect their families in order to accompany him on a dangerous and potentially deadly hunt. Quietly, embarrassed to the point of not knowing what to say, he began to help Hermione with her sorting, tossing Lockhart and Slinkhard's books onto the not-to-take pile.

Finally, he was relieved when Ron's mother broke the silence by yelling at Ginny that she could be more careful cleaning up. The feat was considerable knowing that they were four floors above her… The discussion then shifted to the wedding and Harry learned that Gabrielle, Fleur's sister, would be a bridesmaid, which was why the Delacours would arrive two days early which obviously didn't help Mrs. Weasley's stress. The conversation took a more serious turn when Hermione asked what their destination would be when he left here.

"I don't know," Harry replied, "I had thought of going to Godric's Hollow. Maybe my parents' house is still in good enough shape that we can set up a headquarters there… I don't know…"

"All the books need to come, Harry. The house was destroyed and after sixteen years I don't think it's still habitable." Hermione said hesitantly. "And the main thing to worry about, isn't it focusing on the Horcruxes?"

"I still need to know where they are…" Harry whispered.

He couldn't explain to Hermione his desire to return to Godric's Hollow. He had the impression that there, by going to his parents' grave, he would find the courage to do what had to be done. Perhaps there he would find answers to his questions like the essential one of knowing if he was going to survive or not, if his death was really inevitable. After all, that was where he had survived the Dark Lord's Killing Curse. So he needed to go back to the scene in order, perhaps, to understand.

Hermione thought Voldemort might just be watching Godric's Hollow just in case, especially now that Harry was about to be old enough to go there. Meanwhile, Ron thought aloud:

"For the moment, shouldn't our priority be finding the locket? I know RAB said he would destroy it, but we're not sure he did, right?"

"You're right, Ron," Hermione agreed, "it's always better to be sure."

"But how do you go about destroying a Horcrux?" Edward asked. "I suppose it would be too much to ask for it to be easy…"

"Exactly," Hermione interjected in an embarrassed tone, "I did research with some books that I stole from Professor Dumbledore's office after his funeral. I thought we would definitely need them, after all, the more we know the better. I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't blame me, especially if we're using them to destroy the Horcruxes, right?"

"Of course not, we're not going to complain. Don't feel guilty about it." Ron reassured her.

"Where are the books?" Edward asked.

Hermione rummaged through the pile and pulled out a large volume with a worn black leather binding. She seemed completely disgusted with the book and was loath to even touch it, which was quite odd considering how much the witch loved books. The contents must be really awful to give her nausea. She handed the book to Edward who opened it to the chapter on Horcruxes and started to read, his brow furrowed and his hand over his mouth as if to keep from vomiting.

"This is the one that gives explicit explanations on how to create a Horcrux: Secrets of the Darkest Arts. An abominable, really awful book, filled with evil magic like summoning demons, that type of thing. I think Dumbledore must have removed it from the library as soon as he became Headmaster, but I'm willing to bet that Voldemort found all the information he needed in there."

"I see," said Harry, "I think you're right, Hermione, he created one, maybe the ring with his father's death, and that's when he asked Slughorn what would happen if his soul was split into seven parts. He seemed a little too familiar with Horcruxes when he asked the question…"

"The further I read in my reading," Hermione said, "the more horrible I found it and the less I could believe he really created six. The book explains that when you tear part of it off, the soul becomes very unstable, even with just one Horcrux."

"No need to say more," Harry interrupted, "just from Alchemy lessons, I understand how abominable it is to do that."

"Isn't there a way to piece your soul back together by putting the pieces together?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but it would be excruciatingly painful." Hermione replied with a weak smile.

"Why? How would you do it?" Harry asked.

"By remorse," Edward replied, closing the book, looking on the verge of nausea. "You have to truly feel the wrong you have done."

"And there is a small secondary detail: the pain is such that it can destroy you. I can't imagine Voldemort even attempting it." Hermione added, gazing jealously at Ed who had already completed the chapter on the Horcruxes.

"It reminds me of Snape's lesson on souls…" Hermione whispered thoughtfully. "Do you remember, Ed, Harry? Snape told us that for those who ventured into the paths of Necromancy or soul manipulation, the soul could be damaged almost irreversibly and that this was a taboo for alchemists."

"He also said that only remorse would allow us to return from such a path! That means your book is telling the truth, Hermione, since our sources agree!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, but what I don't understand is how remorse can be so painful to the point it kills you." Ron said in a puzzled tone.

"Maybe it's because you've never done anything irreparable to your soul before. But imagine for a second that you could relive all the moments that you felt at fault in your entire life and now imagine that pain suddenly inflicted on you and multiplied by a thousand. Imagine the moment when you might have disappointed your parents, all the shame and the pain of having disappointed them that you felt. Also, think about it: some people commit suicide under the weight of remorse… Now add the facts together and then you will have a little idea of how remorse can hurt or even kill." Edward explained.

"Wait a minute… I killed someone during the battle with my Stupefy when we were a hundred meters high. I still have nightmares every night… And you have to commit murder to create a Horcrux because killing weakens the soul… But does that mean that my soul has been fragmented like that of You Know Who?" Ron asked, pale.

"I don't think it did as much damage as a real murder, committed in cold blood," Edward replied thoughtfully. "I mean, it was self-defense and your life is precious too and it's your job to protect it. And besides, you have nightmares about it all night long… It means that deep down, you regret having taken a life, even that of a Death Eater. And remorse and sincere regret make it possible to "repair" the soul, in a way."

"How do you know so much about the subject?" Harry asked, a little flabbergasted.

"Let's say Dumbledore tried an experiment on me that made me understand this better. The experience was not pleasant at all, I can tell you that much…" Edward said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked immediately, curiosity taking over.

"It was about seeing if I was trustworthy or not. I don't really want to talk about it but hey, I'll tell you anyway since you are my friends. I had to stand in front of a kind of scale and say I'm standing in front of the Truth and after that, the scale kind of weighed my soul with a feather as a weight while making me feel all the faults that I had made in my life and for which I felt regret. Despite this, the scale remained stationary and did not tip the wrong way."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, "That reminds me of an old Egyptian legend: it's said that after death, the soul is weighed and if it weighs more than the feather of truth, then the soul is devoured by a monster… Oh, but I hope it wouldn't have gone that far for you, Ed!"

"Thanks, I hope so too." Edward replied dryly.

"But then," Ron interjected with a quickness of mind that was not welcome here, "does that mean you remember all of your memories? You no longer have amnesia?"

It wasn't a question Edward could answer without getting into a lot of trouble… He had talked way too much already and he would have done better to shut up. But now it was too late: he had to find something that, preferably, wasn't a lie, in order to explain why he couldn't say anything. He felt like a kid caught in the act of lying by their parents. He wondered whether or not his friends would stop trusting him.

"I can't tell you anything." He declared; he was restricted from giving them the strict truth without going beyond the limits fixed by the Truth.

"But of course you can tell us," Hermione protested. "We are your friends, you have nothing to fear from us!"

"But maybe he does, in a way…" Said Ron. "Maybe he had to take an Unbreakable Vow that prevents him from revealing anything. Come on, Ed, don't look at me like that! We all suspect that you are bound by one. You know, the amnesia excuse is a little too easy- and we are your friends and we know you well."

Edward's silence was eloquent. It was true that, from a certain point of view, he had made an Unbreakable Vow with the Being who called itself Truth by promising not to reveal anything about his world and about alchemy in general. And he had no intention of breaking his oath to find out what the consequences might be. He didn't want to find that out, thank you very much!

"Well, we'll avoid asking you too much about that so as not to break your Unbreakable Vow. It would be stupid if you died because of a stupid oath. But, Ed? Know that we will always be your friends: you have given us ample proof that you can be trusted. So we will respect your silence."

Edward nodded silently, happy that his friends had agreed to understand the difficult situation he found himself in. The silence did not last long when Ron asked the crucial question:

"Uh, getting back to the subject of the Horcruxes ... Does this book say how to destroy them?"

"Yes. The book warns the wizard who risks making a Horcrux that they must surround it with powerful magical protections so that it does not get destroyed by conventional means. From everything I've read, what Harry did to Riddle's Journal is one of the few effective ways to destroy a Horcrux."

"You mean, stab it with a Basilisk fang."

"How lucky, we collected Basilisk venom when we were setting up the Chamber of Secrets. I was just wondering how we were going to use it. Too bad we're not going back to Hogwarts this year to get it…" Ron said in a slightly defeatist tone.

"It takes something so destructive that the Horcrux cannot repair itself. Basilisk venom has only one extremely rare antidote..."

"Phoenix tears." Harry completed with a nod.

"Exactly, the problem is that there are very few substances as destructive as basilisk venom and they are all very dangerous to transport. But we will have to find a solution because breaking, hitting, or crushing a Horcrux has no effect. We have to damage it so much that no magic can fix it."

"But don't we risk the soul fragment going to find shelter in another object?" Ron asked in a relevant tone.

"Not exactly. The reason for that is that a Horcrux is the exact opposite of a human being." Hermione said.

Faced with the Ron's disconcerted look and Ed and Harry's deep reflection, she decided to explain herself:

"If I suddenly took a sword and put it through your body, Ron, I wouldn't inflict any damage on your soul."

"Not true," Ron said in a really mature tone, "I think my soul would be shattered into pieces if I was killed by the woman I love…"

"Bad example," Hermione muttered, blushing. "But what I meant, Ron, is that no matter what happens to your body, your soul remains intact. With a Horcrux, on the other hand, it's the other way around. The survival of the soul fragment depends entirely on its container, on this kind of bewitched body."

"So in fact, by destroying the Horcrux, you also destroy the soul. It's an even more terrible punishment than death." Edward assured, a little pale.

"I guess that's what Dumbledore meant when he told Riddle that there are things far more terrible than death." Harry said remembering the fight between the two wizards in his fifth year.

"Basically, it's 'fear not for your body, fear not for your death' Edward said, citing a Muggle book he had found interesting in some ways. The religious themes had put him off at the beginning because he was very wary of it, what with certain religions of his home like Letoism. However, this one, he had to admit, contained some beautiful pearls of wisdom.

"Come to think of it, Riddle's Diary seemed to die when I stabbed it with the Basilisk fang. However, it was intact when Ginny threw it in the toilets. This proves that conventional means don't work." Harry said thoughtfully.

"But how did the diary go about controlling Ginny? I thought it couldn't pass to another person or thing?" Ron asked.

"As long as the Horcrux is intact, the soul fragment can enter a person at will if they get too close to the object. I don't mean touching it for too long- I don't think it's about physical contact, rather, I mean emotional closeness like Ginny did when she opened her heart to the journal. Suddenly, she made herself extremely vulnerable and according to the book, you have big problems when you become too attached to a Horcrux or become dependent on it." Hermione explained.

"I wonder how we're going to destroy the Horcruxes or how Dumbledore did it. We will have to ask the members of the Circle who remain at Hogwarts to send us Basilisk venom, assuming it works and that the castle does not fall into Voldemort's hands." Harry said in a slightly depressed tone.

"Shit, I hear Mrs. Weasley coming up the stairs!" Edward exclaimed.

Immediately Ron used his wand to finish tidying up his room as the other Circle members dispersed throughout the Burrow pretending to be very busy. That didn't stop the Weasley matriarch from ordering them to sort through the pile of wedding presents in the sitting room or finish cleaning the house. Fortunately, the majority of the young wizards were of legal age and did not hesitate to use magic out of sight of Mrs. Weasley, who seemed to share her husband's Muggle fascination with cleaning that had to be done by hand.

The next day, however, after these long days of work, everyone was on edge about welcoming the Delacours, with everyone expecting the worst from these intruders. Fortunately, they didn't notice and revealed themselves to be charming and helpful people, contrary to everyone's fears. Unfortunately, at the same time, the house was overcrowded and it was impossible for Harry, Ron, Hermione and Edward to be alone, even by offering to feed the chickens. They resented Mrs. Weasley a little but they knew the poor woman was exhausted from all the wedding hassle not to mention the threat hanging over her family and Harry couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he asked Mrs. Weasley if he could invite Neville and Luna to stay on his birthday for a simple dinner. But fortunately, she accepted.

Original author's note: On the topic of faith… If there are people that the religious quotation has turned off, just know that I wrote this chapter at a time when faith was very important to me and this story took years of writing during which I've changed. Still, this passage fits the Horcruxes theme perfectly, so I'll leave it. Moreover, FMA and HP are not devoid of allusions to religion (negative or positive). Edward is not a Christian, but he enjoyed certain passages of the Bible as with all the Muggle books devoured during his summers, that's all.

Someone asked if/how the injury inflicted by Greyback will affect Edward. The answer is no more than for Bill Weasley who now loves his meat rare. Even though it had an impact on his character, Ed is already known for his legendary fits of rage. In reality, this injury was mainly intended in the second book to weaken Edward enough to justify his capture: he was not in very good shape and his injured shoulder prevented him from defending himself alchemically.

Translator's notes: So the line that Ed quotes. I could not find a specific book it was from; it's a hymn. A hymn that does not have an English equivalent (and also sounds hella depressing in every version I found on Youtube. Search "Ne craignez pas pour votre corps" if you want to hear-me, if I have to listen to gospel music I want something happy and exciting like Oh Happy Day). So I just tried to translate it as hymn-ly as possible, I guess. *cries in raised-Mormon atheist who does not know a single actual used-outside-the-mormon-church hymn outside of Christmas songs and a few songs covered by Elvis* If one of you guys recognizes what it's from/if there's an English hymn equivalent, please let me know. Despite the original author's note, it's not a bible quote as far as I can tell.