How to deal with Dark Lords

Author's note:

Hi all! Yes, I know I've been quiet and yes, I haven't updated in years, I have just been very busy. Had a supervisor that didn't know how to do anything, so I had to do two jobs and suddenly my supervisor quit so I was given the position, for now, only to find out that there is a lot of work that hasn't been done at all! Luckily, I am on a three-week holiday for now so I can write to my heart's content!

Anyway, regarding The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor, I would like to ask your opinions. I know I have made Harry a little OP in it, so it has been bugging me to no end and I want to know if I should keep him like that, I was given a hint as to the direction I should go in a few months back but I am going to have to read it from the beginning to make sure that I don't miss stuff or get things mixed up. Please comment and tell me what you think.

Warning:

This fic is SLASH although it will probably not contain anything explicit since I struggle to write those scenes. I will let you know if it changes though. All the characters you know are the product of their respective authors, I am just borrowing them since that is what fanfiction is all about.

I hope you enjoy it!

Epilogue

Harry glanced blankly at the slightly open door in front of him. His entire body stood frozen with his hand mere inches away from the door handle. He did not know how long he stood there, but it felt like an eternity before he threw his best mask up and walked into the room with a smile on his face as if his entire world was not crumbling to pieces around him.

No one in the room noticed the strain in his eyes or how he gripped his seat to try and stay calm. Some moments he would think that he had imagined it all or that it was some trick from Voldemort, but his Occlumency was a lot stronger than most people thought. All thanks to one man. He glanced to the side and saw that Severus had entered the room while he had been focused on his thoughts and the man was glaring at him. Though Harry spent enough time with the man in the past year to know that he was more worried about him than angry at this point.

Harry tapped on his watch twice before bringing his hand up to his eyes as if he were tired. The barely noticeable nod from Severus confirmed it and Harry allowed thoughts of Sirius to pool his mind when he noticed that Headm…no…Dumbledore was looking at him. The old coot seemed to find nothing out of the ordinary because he went back to talking to Arthur.

…A few hours later…

It was just before two o'clock in the morning and Harry found himself waiting outside Severus' room. The potions master did not always sleepover at Grimmauld Place, only when Dumbledore asked him to brew a few potions. Luckily, the potions master had a few potions to brew tonight so it was not out of the ordinary for him to stay.

He still had a few minutes to wait so Harry almost let loose a yelp when the door suddenly opened, and a hand dragged him inside. Severus usually waited for the exact time just to be safe so what is the rush? He found himself pushed onto a chair in front of the fireplace and even though he was still slightly underage, even if it was only a few months, Severus poured both of them a firewhisky shot. The potions master immediately downed his then poured another one, before he went to sit down on the chair opposite Harry and gave him his.

Harry frowned as he looked at his glass. Severus seemed to pause for a moment as if he wanted to take Harry's glass back but then he just sat back and that is when Harry knew that something was wrong. Neither of them spoke for a while as they tried to gather their thoughts but Severus motioned for him to speak first, so Harry hesitantly did.

"I went up to my room this afternoon to finish some last-minute homework that I didn't get to while I was at the Dursleys. I think they thought I would be gone longer because I came back to ask Hermione about the charms assignment, and I heard them talking. It was not everyone, mainly just Dumbledore, Ginny, and Hermione. I thought I saw Ron there, but he looked blank as if he were in a trance. It was weird because there was a bunch of food in front of him, but he didn't react to it. They were talking about the Black estate now that Sirius was gone and how they would divide the Potter estate since it would all go to the next of kin and either Ginny or Hermione would have that sorted if one of them can entice me enough. They said they couldn't allow the Malfoys to get it since Narcissa and Draco is the closest to me in relative status at the moment."

Severus looked deep in thought, although anger clearly simmered beneath the surface, and Harry took the chance to take a small sip of the whisky before immediately setting the glass down and trying to hide his cough. Damn that stuff was strong! He knew he was sixteen, but he hadn't had the chance to taste alcohol before. He was about to hand it over to Severus, but the man pushed it back towards him and Harry clutched it anxiously. What was it that Severus had to tell him?

Severus downed his second glass but set it lightly on the table before looking him in the eyes. "I'm not going to dance around the subject, but you better prepare yourself." Harry nodded even though his insides felt numb, and he was tempted to take another sip of that whisky now. "Dumbledore summoned me earlier and told me that he had a way to defeat Voldemort. But it would require him to fake his death by my hand, and for you to destroy a few key objects, and that included getting yourself hit by a Death Curse from Voldemort and essentially killing yourself in the process. Which, when added to what you heard, would probably happen after you either married Weasley or Granger."

Harry counted till ten and then to twenty in his mind, but then he gave up. "Fudge" was all he got out before he downed the glass in front of him and almost choked to death on the burn. Part of him almost wished he had, but then Severus refilled their glasses, and he came to the realization that the potions master was not done talking.

He was right. Severus glared at his full glass before setting it down and facing him once again. "He didn't want to tell me why at first, but I told him that I refused to help him if it meant that you would die, and he finally caved because he knew that I could counter most of his spells and that I have a lot of fail-safes in place. There is also the fact that he thinks I still hate you."

Harry gave him a pointed look. It was not like Severus to try and dance around the subject. The man in question growled before finally answering him. "It seems that you have a part of the Dark Lord's soul inside of you and if he were to learn of this, he would probably lock you away like some prized possession at this time. Dumbledore does not want this because then he would truly be immortal."

Harry grimaced as he tried to take in the information that finally filled him in on why he had a connection with Voldemort. He had initially suspected something like this after exchanging ideas with Severus, but for it to be true was quite a blow to his mind. "You told me last time that he is trying to reabsorb most of his soul-pieces after the destroyed diary-Horcrux returned some sense to him, why would he lock me away then?" Severus seemed to give up on the small glasses because he stood and went over to the table to grab the bottle and set it next to his glass after refilling it. Harry decided that he had had enough though and he took the bottle and placed it out of the potions master's reach. He got a glare for his efforts, but he did not relent to which Severus just sighed fondly and sat back.

"He might have had some of his sanity and even some of his youth returned, but that does not mean that he would become less possessive of the things that he considers his. Nagini, and you, are the only Horcruxes left as there are no known ways to remove a Horcrux from a living being without killing them and the soul-piece in the process, he initially did research to try and remove it from Nagini, and he will never feel completely sane unless all of his soul-pieces are either merged within him or at least at his side."

Harry groaned as he fell back onto the couch. An idea hit him then and he sat up. "Why not convince him that he should leave false Horcruxes within their original places, Dumbledore would be sure to look for them and that will take care of him, I have the smallest soul-piece if my calculations are correct regarding how the Horcruxes work, otherwise he would have noticed it before now or it would have taken over my soul, so logically he can live without it. If we can stage my death, then the war would be over. You can go back to inventing potions and I can travel the world without power-hungry morons on my trail."

Severus seemed like he was about to deny that until his expression turned thoughtful. "That might work if we can calibrate the right runes, spells, and charms to work together. And if Dumbledore falls for one of the Dark Lord's traps, then he will certainly die. He was a brilliant mentor in the past, but his ideology had twisted him into a very paranoid and dangerous man." It was strange to see Severus looking slightly sad about something, but Harry didn't draw attention to it.

They spent the rest of the morning plotting and Harry did not even feel tired the next morning as Mrs. Weasley piled on the chores for them. Things got even better when the Twins joined in on the fun after spying on one of their impromptu conversations, which irritated the potions master because he had been caught off guard, not that anyone could predict what the twins would come up with next, and with that, even Percy, Bill, and Charlie followed. None of them trusted Dumbledore and they decided to work from the shadows while the Death Eaters were informed that they were forbidden from attacking anyone that carried a symbol of a lion with a jester's hat on. Which could conveniently only be revealed with an obscure spell. But the Death Eaters were ordered to use the spell before they captured and tortured anyone.

The Dark Lord did not like not knowing who his hidden allies were, but because they did such a fine job of throwing the light into chaos under the Dark Lord's name, he mostly turned a blind eye to that not-so-little technicality. He had almost crucio'd Severus when the man told him that he knew a few individuals that wanted to help his side, but without revealing themselves. The fact that their symbol involved a lion said enough though, so he humored them.

Unfortunately, Harry and his friends didn't know which spells or compulsions Ron was under so they couldn't free him yet, and that would also possibly alert Dumbledore, so they simply kept a close eye on him and made sure he had everything he needed.

(A/N: And that is the end of the epilogue , don't worry I will upload chapter 1 by tonight)