Disclaimer: This chapter has some text copied verbatim from the books. But all rights for those texts go to JK Rowling.

Tom had taught Harry a little bit about apparating in the past week. Since Harry had not been able to practice and this would be his first time, he guided Harry through the apparition process. He told Harry to visualize the location (he had shown Harry his memory of it in a Pensieve) and told him to turn on his heel.

Harry turned and at once felt the horrible sensation of apparating. It felt like somebody was trying to push him through a very narrow pipe. He couldn't breathe, it felt like he was being suffocated. Just when he thought he would suffocate to death, the horrible sensations ended and he was standing in the cool darkness, gratefully breathing in lungfuls of fresh, salty air.

"That was horrible. I hate this way of traveling. Why couldn't we have taken brooms instead?"

Tom ruffled Harry's hair, "because broomsticks are not meant for long-distance travel. You would have fallen down mid-way. and besides it is not a dignified way to travel."

"Why are purebloods so stuffy." Harry scoffed.

Tom ignored Harry's question and just walked forward.

Harry observed the place around him. He could smell salt and hear rushing waves; a light, chilly breeze ruffled his hair as he looked out at moonlit sea and star-strewn sky. He was standing upon a high outcrop of dark rock, water foaming and churning below him. He glanced over his shoulder. A towering cliff stood behind them, a sheer drop, black and faceless. A few large chunks of rock, such as the one upon which Harry and Tom were standing, looked as though they had broken away from the cliff face at some point in the past. It was a bleak, harsh view, the sea and the rock unrelieved by any tree or sweep of grass or sand.

"What do you think?"

"Rather bleak for a picnic site. Though grandmother would love this place."

"Yes, she definitely would." Tom laughed.

Tom beckoned Harry to the very edge of the rock where a series of jagged niches made footholds leading down to boulders that lay half-submerged in water and closer to the cliff. It was quite a treacherous descent. The lower rocks were slippery with seawater. Harry could feel flecks of cold salt spray hitting his face.

"Lumos," said Tom, as he reached the boulder closest to the cliff face. A thousand flecks of golden light sparkled upon the dark surface of the water a few feet below where he crouched; the black wall of rock beside him was illuminated too.

"What do you think?" said Tom quietly, holding his wand a little higher. Harry saw a fissure in the cliff into which dark water was swirling.

"I am not swimming down there in this cold weather. Are you mental? The water would be freezing." Harry shuddered. "I am already cold as it is without adding in ice-cold water, thank you very much."

"Yes, yes. I know. I was just asking for your opinion on the place." Tom rolled his eyes.

Tom held Harry's hand and apparated them both, and Harry saw they were now standing on some steps that led into a huge cave.

"HEY!"

"Element of surprise is better when dealing with side-along apparition." Tom replied, unapologetically.

Harry hufffed, but followed him inside the cave.

Tom was standing in the middle of the cave, his wand held high as he turned slowly on the spot, examining the walls and looked a little nostalgic.

"Torture many people here?"

"Oh yes. I had some fun here."

Harry shook his head fondly.

Tom stepped back from the cave wall and pointed his wand at the rock. For a moment, an arched outline appeared there, blazing white as though there was a powerful light behind the crack. Then he chanted something, and the blazing silver outline of the arch appeared in the wall once more, and this time it did not fade away: the rock within it simply vanished, leaving an opening into what seemed total darkness.

"Wow. That's some complex magic." Harry whistled.

"Yes, it requires blood as payment, if it was someone else. But since I am the caster, I can bypass all the restrictions. Walk behind me Harry" said Tom, and he walked through the archway with Harry on his heels, lighting his own wand hastily as he went.

An eerie sight met his eyes: they were standing on the edge of a great black lake, so vast that Harry could not make out the distant banks, in a cavern so high that the ceiling too was out of sight. A misty greenish light shone far away in what looked like the middle of the lake; it was reflected in the completely still water below. The greenish glow and the light from the two wands were the only things that broke the otherwise velvety blackness, though their rays did not penetrate as far as Harry would have expected. The darkness was somehow denser than normal darkness.

"Be very careful not to step into the water. Stay close to me."

"Yes grandfather."

He set off around the edge of the lake, and Harry followed close behind him. Their footsteps made echoing, slapping sounds on the narrow rim of rock that surrounded the water. On and on they walked, but the view did not vary: on one side of them, the rough cavern wall, on the other, the boundless expanse of smooth, glassy blackness, in the very middle of which was that mysterious greenish glow. Harry found the place and the silence oppressive, unnerving.

"Only you could choose such a creepy place. What is that in the water?"

"Oh that? Inferi."

Harry shuddered in great dread. Those were some nasty creatures. Trust Lord Voldemort to make use of such demons to guard his soul.

Tom again waved his wand and immediately a thick coppery green chain appeared out of thin air, extending from the depths of the water into his clenched hand. Tom tapped the chain, which began to slide through his fist like a snake, coiling itself on the ground with a clinking sound that echoed noisily off the rocky walls, pulling something from the depths of the black water. Harry gasped as the ghostly prow of a tiny boat broke the surface, glowing as green as the chain, and floated, with barely a ripple, toward the place on the bank where Harry and Tom stood.

"That boat does not look like it could take both of us."

"Oh it can." He chanted in latin and the boat became a little wider and started looking sturdier. "Now, you first this time, and be careful not to touch the water."

HE helped Harry onto the boat and then climbed beside him. The boat at once began to move.

Soon enough, the greenish light seemed to be growing larger at last, and within minutes, the boat had come to a halt, bumping gently into something that Harry could not see at first, but when he raised his illuminated wand he saw that they had reached a small island of smooth rock in the center of the lake.

"Carefully climb out Harry."

The island was no larger than Dumbledore's office, an expanse of flat dark stone on which stood nothing but the source of that greenish light, which looked much brighter when viewed close to. Harry squinted at it; at first, he thought it was a lamp of some kind, but then he saw that the light was coming from a stone basin rather like the Pensieve, which was set on top of a pedestal. Tom approached the basin and Harry followed. Side by side, they looked down into it. The basin was full of an emerald liquid emitting that phosphorescent glow.

"What is it?" asked Harry quietly.

"A potion of my own creation." Tom said proudly. He waved his wand in a complex motion and the potion vanished, leaving behind a golden locket curled up .

"Looks pretty."

"Hmm. Something is wrong."

"What do you mean?"

Tom was turning the locket over in his hands and Harry saw him open a clasp on the locket and a note fell out. Harry scooped it off the ground and opened it.

" To the Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R. A. B."