A/N: Alright guys, get ready. Read and Review!

Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited until later that evening to find the grey lady. After talking to Luna a bit more, they found out that she was rather shy, and decided that once they found her, Harry would be the one to try and talk to her.

At ten that evening, the trio snuck out under Harry's invisibility cloak and walked through empty corridors, searching for her. They passed multiple ghosts, including the Baron and Nearly Headless Nick, but couldn't seem to find the timid Ravenclaw ghost. At a quarter until midnight, they were contemplating returning to the common room, when Hermione saw movement out of her right eye.

"Guys," she whispered, nodding towards the figure floating through the next corridor. "There she is… go Harry."

Harry slipped out of the cloak and followed her quietly, making his steps loud enough to let her know of his presence but not frighten her. "Excuse me, Helena?" he said gently.

She regarded him for a moment before floating down to another corridor.

"Wait!" Harry called, chasing after her. "Wait… can I… can I ask you something?"

"All you boys are the same… can't you see I want to be alone?" She said, a bite of impatience in her voice.

"It's important," Harry insisted, feeling his spirits fall a bit. Nevertheless, he persisted. "Do you know anything about Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem?"

She looked as if he had insulted her, and immediately started to float away again.

"No, please! I… I want to destroy it! That's what you want, right? I can tell you don't like it." Harry tried, chasing her again.

"That's what the last boy said… he said he would destroy it. He didn't though… HE DEFILED IT." She shouted, rushing through Harry with force, sending cold chills through his entire body.

"I know, that's why I want to destroy it," Harry said, turning around and chasing her. "He… he killed my parents, I want to help get rid of him. This will help do that. Don't you want me to?"

Helena regarded him for a moment before she sighed. "I stole my mother's diadem. I was jealous of her wisdom and wanted it for myself. Guild-ridden, I fled Hogwarts. My mother became fatally ill after that and wanted to see me, so she sent the Baron to find me. I refused to come back with him so he stabbed me, then stabbed himself. That's how the diadem was lost… but then that boy charmed me, sweet-talked me into telling him where the crown was and… then he defiled it. You really will destroy it?"

"Yes, I promise! Just tell me where it is and I will," Harry begged.

"It is here, in the castle, in the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask." She finished mysteriously before floating away.

Harry had only a moment to contemplate her words before he heard an angry voice calling his name. He spun around to face his livid father, standing at the other end of the corridor.

"Dad!" Harry exclaimed, feeling both relief and fright coursing through him. He was happy to see his dad had made it back from his mission, but well aware that he appeared to have broken the main restriction placed on him for the weekend.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Did you listen to anything we told you?" Sirius began, advancing towards his son. "First, you're walking around the castle alone. Second, do you have any idea what time it is? You could be killed, you could-"

"Dad, wait please! I have a good reason, I know where another horcrux is!" Harry exclaimed in a desperate attempt to console his enraged father.

Sirius faltered a bit, but he features stayed angry. "Damn it, Harry, that's not worth me losing my son over! A bloody horcrux! What if some students decided to attack you, or a death eater on "ministry business" broke in? What would I have done? I can't lose you."

Harry looked down at his shoes, feeling defeated. He didn't want to get Ron and Hermione in trouble, so he decided to take the scolding and attempt to calm his father down enough to go get the horcrux.

"He's not alone!" Hermione said, stepping out from under the cloak. Soon Ron followed her, draping the cloak over his shoulder gently. "Luna told us that the Grey Lady knew where one of Ravenclaw's artifacts is, so we went to find her tonight… so it's a horcrux then? That thing that Dumbledore was talking about at Grimmauld?"

Harry winced and looked up at his dad guiltily, knowing Ron and Hermione weren't supposed to know about the horcruxes in the first place. Sirius still didn't look pleased, but his initial anger was gone at seeing that Harry didn't directly disobey him.

"I can't tell you that, Hermione." Sirius said, not taking his eyes off Harry. "Though I'm glad you three had enough sense to come out here together. You two, take the cloak and get back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry, come with me."

Harry nodded and followed Sirius as his two friends concealed themselves again. Sirius stopped at the next corridor over and looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was around. "You're still in trouble," he said quietly to Harry. "You should have waited until we got back and you and I could have gone to find her. You don't have to do this alone, Harry."

Harry huffed and looked away, not wanting to meet his father's gaze. "I will have to eventually, isn't that what the stupid prophecy says?"

"Prophecies can be broken," Sirius said, grabbing Harry's chin and sharply turning his head back to look him in the eyes. "Finding these horcruxes and destroying every one isn't only your job. Dumbledore wanted you to do some research, and then maybe help him once he retrieved the horcrux or found its location. I know you like being independent, but damn it, you will not risk your life again - even if Ron and Hermione are with you. Do you hear me?"

At Harry's short nod, Sirius sucked in a deep breath and nodded himself. "Right then. We can discuss this more later. Show me where the horcrux is, I can dispose of it."

Harry looked up at his father with surprise, then turned and walked in the direction towards the Room of Requirement. "This way!"

They walked quickly through the corridors, then came to a blank wall. Sirius turned to Harry, who had begun pacing in front of it. "What are you doing?"

Before Harry could respond, an ornate wooden door appeared in the wall. Harry grinned smugly as he walked in, Sirius on his heels, staring around in awe.

"This is where we had our DA meeting - Dumbledore told me about it. It's called the Room of Requirement, it gives you whatever you need. The horcrux is somewhere in here…" Harry said, walking down one aisle.

The place was packed with old objects, hidden by students for centuries. Sirius followed behind Harry, scouring every detail with his eyes. "Wait, Harry what is the horcrux?"

"It's Rowena's lost diadem," Harry said, picking up an old book and moving it out of the way. Behind the book was a beautiful silver crown with a blue jewel at the top. It was sitting on a dummy's head, looking completely out of place. "Dad, this is it." Harry said, reaching out to grab it.

Sirius grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him back. "Don't touch it, the ring horcrux Dumbledore was trying to dispose of was cursed. This probably is too. I got it." He reached into his bag from earlier and pulled out the sword of Gryffindor, then brought it down hard on top of the crown. It exploded, but this time the dark cloud emanating from it encircled Harry and flew right through him, knocking him to the ground.

Sirius bit his lip, thinking of reasons as to why the horcrux would go after his son; he didn't like the theory that was coming to mind. He kneeled down and helped Harry up on his feet. "Sorry, puppy, I didn't think it would do that. Are you okay?"

Harry swallowed thickly and nodded. "So that's four down, right? Only two or three left."

Sirius nodded and grabbed the now broken crown, placing it in his bag with the sword. "Right… let's get back to my quarters, you should probably hear what happened today."

Harry wrinkled his brow as he took in Sirius's weary appearance. "Is everyone okay?"

"Er… not really, but they think he will be. Dumbledore got cursed badly when he touched that ring, Harry. Remus and I brought him back here, he's with Snape now." Sirius scowled at the mention of his childhood nemesis, but didn't say anything else about it. "We'll talk with him about this horcrux when he's better."

Harry nodded and followed his dad back to his quarters, relieved that things were finally starting to look up.


The rest of the weekend and the next week passed fairly uneventfully; Harry taught his defense lessons in the room of requirement, and the hunt for horcruxes continued. He was happy - he had his family together, his friends were getting along, and according to Hermione, Ginny was considering breaking up with Dean. The majority of the horcruxes were now destroyed, and Voldemort and his followers seemed to be keeping quiet for now; needless to say, life was pretty good, considering the war they were fighting.

However, it was a different story for Sirius. The incident with the diadem was still fresh in his mind; the way the piece of Voldemort's soul had surrounded his son once he had destroyed the object worried him, especially with Dumbledore's theory. It was for this reason, that he decided to pay the headmaster a visit one evening.

"Sirius," Dumbledore greeted warmly when he walked into the office. "I was expecting you, have a seat."

"How's your hand?" Sirius asked, looking at the charred and blackened skin that covered the older man's fingers.

"Severus has stabilized it, so it shouldn't give me any problems soon. It's hard to say what the long-term effects of that curse will be. Now, I know you didn't visit to ask me about my hand; what's troubling you?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"Well, I gave you the diadem I destroyed… but when I broke it, something happened. Voldemort's soul fragment specifically targeted Harry and knocked him out for a moment… I think I'd be a fool to keep denying the truth about something when it's looking me in the eye. I'm worried about my son, Albus… he's a horcrux, what do I do?" Sirius asked desperately, putting his face in his hands.

Dumbledore didn't respond for a moment, instead choosing to watch Sirius through his half-moon spectacles. Finally, he spoke softly. "Sirius, we don't have much of a choice here. You know as well as I do how horcruxes have to be destroyed."

Sirius looked up sharply, anger flaring in his eyes. "No, Albus. If you even consider that, I'll take Harry and run as far away from here as I can. I don't care if I'm a coward for it, I won't let you hurt him."

"Harry would understand and know he would have to-" Dumbledore started, only to be cut off.

"No," Sirius said, standing up and placing his palms on Dumbledore's desk.

"Then what are you planning to do?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow at his former student.

Sirius sighed and sat back down. "I'm going to tell him, he should be aware. After that, I'll devote the rest of my life to finding a way to remove it without killing him. I couldn't live with myself if that happened."

Dumbledore looked weary. "I don't think you should say anything-"

"And why not?" Sirius interrupted, eyes flashing.

"You've already burdened him with the prophecy, you want to hang this over his shoulders now too? You said yourself he's just a child." Dumbledore tried to reason.

"He is just a child, and he's my child. I decide what's best for him, not you. He wouldn't see it as a burden, he'd want to know… he needs to know. What were you going to do? Just wait until Voldemort and him fought and then let Voldemort kill him, without even giving Harry a warning?" Sirius said, deathly quiet. "If we can remove the horcrux some other way, Harry won't even have to be the one to kill him - someone else can."

"Sirius, I implore you to see reason. There is no other way to remove a horcrux - we have to play these cards carefully-"

"Harry isn't a damn card in your game! I'm bringing him here tomorrow and we're going to tell him, and then plan from there. I care too much about him to lose him." Sirius practically whispered the last part, his voice breaking from emotion.

"I care about him too, Sirius. I truly do… I just need you to trust me. I know a way to sort this out I think, but I can't tell Harry or you. Please trust me, you'll understand in time." Dumbledore said, standing up and walking around his desk to face his former student.

Sirius surveyed him for a moment before nodding. "I'll trust you for now, but if you place my child in any danger, I'm taking him away. And no matter what, we're telling him tomorrow."

Dumbledore sighed, accepting defeat. "Okay, we'll tell him. But that puts pressure on us… we need to find the rest of the horcruxes quickly."

Sirius nodded his acceptance of the condition, bid the headmaster goodnight, then left to walk to his quarters, deciding to spend one last peaceful night with his child before the long ordeal tomorrow.