A/n: I was going to make this longer, but I think this was a good stopping point. Enjoy, don't forget to review! Check out my other two stories too, Harry's New Home and Heartbeat.

Grimmauld Place was chaotic during the remaining weeks of the Summer holidays. Between the bustling of the Weasley clan, members coming and going from missions, and the kids preparing the Defense Club lessons, there was always something going on in the dark, old house.

Molly had been assigned to continue preparing the headquarters for future meetings, which included removing dark artifacts from the rooms. She often consulted Sirius with the ancient family artifacts and sought the kids out for help cleaning - Harry, however, argued that it was closer to fighting for their lives than cleaning. Many of the objects they found were dangerous and attempted to harm them in some way. Ron was going through an old wardrobe when the robes inside almost strangled him, and Ginny and Hermione came across an old music box that put them into a trance of some sort. When Sirius noticed them dozing off in a corner, he had the good sense to slam it shut and throw it into the rubbish bin.

It was on a day like this, when the kids had planned all they could manage for their Defense Club, that they found themselves helping out with the removal of the dark objects. Molly was supervising them, while Sirius was meeting with Dumbledore in the next room over. Hermione had been rummaging in an old trunk all morning, when she pulled out a strange artifact that caught Harry's attention from across the room. It was as if a bolt of energy had shot through him, like something was trying to communicate with him.

"What have you got there, Hermione?" Harry asked, walking over to her to see what had given him such an odd sensation.

"It's a locket… you don't reckon it's much danger if we can't open it, do you?" Hermione asked tentatively, attempting to pull the two pieces apart with her hands.

"Hey, Harry, it's got an S on it - looks kinda like Salazar Slytherin's S, doesn't it? Maybe you can open it with Parseltongue, the way you did in second year?" Ron said, joining the two in the corner.

Harry felt nervous - second year had been a nightmare when everyone discovered he was a parselmouth, and he would rather not use it now in front of the entire Weasley clan; but, he reasoned, they wouldn't know if they should throw the locket out unless they knew what was inside it.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, peering over at the doorway where Sirius and Dumbledore had just walked through to talk to Molly. At least if something went wrong, there were three adult wizards that could correct the damage, Harry thought fleetingly. "Hasss-la-haaaaa-sssss."

As soon as Harry told the locket to "open," it shot out of Hermione's hand, and a large cloud of blackness came at Harry, blinding him, sending a scorching pain through his scar.

Harry heard his godfather and Molly shout for him, but he was too focused on the voice - the voice that had haunted him since the third task of the triwizard tournament, the one that was now speaking to him through the locket. The voice of Lord Voldemort.

"I have seen your dreams Harry Potter - you have lost, and you fear that you will continue to lose those you love. Why are they dying for you, merely for you? A freak of a boy." The voice spoke loudly.

Harry was breathing heavily and searching around desperately for something - anything, to quiet the voice. The black cloud was now morphing into an image: Hermione and Ron being attacked by a snake, Remus being killed by Greybeck, Sirius falling off a cliff. He heard himself shout out as his hand struck hard metal - before he could think, he was charging back at the locket on the floor, hitting it hard with the long sword that he had found beside him, silencing whatever evil had been speaking to him only a moment before.

He was breathing heavy and hunched over the thing. He sat there for what felt like an eternity, living his worst fears and memories over and over again - he almost wondered if there was a dementor around, because he couldn't get the images out of his head.

Finally, he felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder. "Harry?" A voice rasped out gruffly beside him.

Harry nodded and turned to meet his father's worried gaze. "I'm… what was that?"

Dumbledore stepped forward, seemingly surprised. "Harry, did you mean to summon the sword of Gryffindor?"

Harry looked dumbly down at the piece of metal in his hand. At the time, he had just been trying to grab something to throw at the accursed piece of jewelry, he didn't have anything specific in mind. "No sir."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Sirius spoke. "That was Voldemort. How?"

The Weasley's flinched at the name, but they all knew it to be true - that was definitely magic at it's darkest, and only a wizard as terrible as Voldemort could create it.

Dumbledore stared at the destroyed locket for a long time before sighing. "I have a theory, but it's merely guesswork without the right evidence. I think I may know who to go to for that evidence though."

"Well give it a guess, then," Sirius said impatiently, helping Harry stand back up.

"I… have you ever heard of a horcrux?" Dumbledore asked, looking around wearily. For once, even Hermione looked confused. Sirius, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable.

"My parents… used to talk about dark magic a bit, as you can imagine…" Sirius began sheepishly, not meeting anyone's gaze. "You think that was a horcrux then?" He said after a moment's pause, staring at the headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded, but Fred huffed. "Anyone going to enlighten us, then?" He asked impatiently, looking back and forth between the two older wizards.

Dumbledore locked eyes with Harry, but shook his head. "No, we will not. We have allowed you kids to be very involved with Order affairs thus far, but this information, if true, is far too important to disclose to more than a few ears, no matter how trustworthy. However, I would like a word with Harry and his father."

The Weasley's immediately began to protest, only to be silenced by Molly. Sirius and Harry followed Dumbledore out of the room and upstairs, away from any extendable ears that might try and listen in on the conversation.

"Harry," Dumbledore began immediately, motioning for the two to sit in front of him. They were in a dark den with multiple bookshelves crossing the floor. "We were going to hold off for a few months, but now that you have destroyed what I believe to be a horcrux, it is of vital importance that you learn occlumency. I trust Sirius has shared the prophecy contents with you now, and so you know too much valuable information for us to let you be vulnerable to Voldemort's legilimency. You will begin tomorrow with Professor Snape."

"Wait, aren't you going to explain everything?" Harry asked, eyes widening with confusion.

"Harry…" Dumbledore sighed and looked away. "I need to confirm the horcrux theory before I confide any more information, and you need to promise me that what I share with you tonight and in the future will not be told to anyone. Eventually, you will be permitted to tell Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Granger, but for now, it needs to be kept between the three of us, okay?"

Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued. "A horcrux is some of the darkest magic one can perform. It's the act of splitting one's soul and placing it in a host, in which it can live. A horcrux is difficult to destroy, but once it is, that piece of the person's soul is lost for good, and they become less immortal. I think we can successfully say that, if these are Voldemort's horcruxes, basilisk venom will destroy them." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Harry, and he immediately had a flashback to his second year with the diary and him shoving the sword of Gryffindor into the basilisk.

"So, sir, you think the diary was a horcrux too?" Harry asked, meeting the pale blue stare.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "If my theory is correct, you have destroyed two of his horcruxes. I need to do more research so we can know just how many Voldemort has created and what those might be. What made you open that locket, Harry?"

Harry looked down and flushed. "I-it kind of… well, spoke to me. I felt its presence inside me." As if remembering something important, Harry met the headmaster's gaze again. "Wait, how come I have to learn occlumency and no one else in the Order does? Aren't they susceptible to Voldemort's legilimency too?"

Dumbledore looked away and shook his head. "You're different… your scar… it connects you to him."

Harry nodded, but Sirius looked furious. Dumbledore continued quickly, not wanting the bright, but temperamental father to frighten Harry before he knew for sure. "You will take occlumency lessons with Snape because he's a skilled occlumens. I will have a word with him before you begin the lessons to be sure that you're treated better than you have been in potions. Now, Harry, I will need to call on you again in the near future about the horcrux business, but in the meantime, please don't share any of this with anyone. If you will, I need to speak to Sirius again before I depart."

Harry looked up at his dad, and at the curt nod that he got in response, he stood up and left the room. His head was spinning and he was extremely disappointed at the extra lessons with Snape; he retreated immediately to his room to think through everything.

Once the door closed behind his son, Sirius turned on the headmaster. "Why can he communicate with those accursed horcruxes?"

Dumbledore looked away, an ashen expression covering his old features. "It's only a theory, Sirius-"

"Yeah, Dumbledore, but your theories are almost always correct. And I think I know exactly where this theory's going. Harry's a horcrux, isn't he?" Sirius whispered angrily.

"It… well, it fits, Sirius. It would explain why Harry could see in Voldemort's mind. I think that when Voldemort murdered James and Lily fourteen years ago, a piece of his soul detached and latched itself onto the only living thing in that building - it attached itself to Harry. And if this is true, then the only way to completely kill Voldemort would be to kill-"

"No, stop." Sirius said, shaking his head and backing out the door. "I won't let you. Never-"

"If it's true, Sirius, it's the only way," Dumbledore insisted, looking older than he ever had.

"Stay away from my son, Albus! We'll find a different way, I won't let anything hurt him." Sirius yelled angrily, storming out of the old room and downstairs to his son's room.

"Dad?" Harry asked, surprised by his father's change in demeanor as he burst through the door. Sirius pulled the boy into a bone-crushing hug and Harry was even more taken aback.

"I'll keep you safe kiddo, okay? It will work out." Sirius insisted, more to himself than Harry.

"Erm, okay, dad." Harry said with a shrug, returning the hug half-heartedly.

They stayed like that for a while. Sirius wouldn't let Albus kill his son, Order be damned. There had to be some other way, a way where Harry wouldn't be harmed in the process - he would devote his life to finding it, if it meant Harry could live a long and happy life.