A/N: This chapter is more of a set-up into what's about to happen (crazy stuff guys). Read and review please!

Harry focused on the bubbling mess in his cauldron, willing himself to stay awake long enough to get through the class period. The past few nights had been emotionally draining, and he still had a week and a half left of school to get through before he could go to Grimmauld Place for the Christmas holidays.

Hermione occasionally nudged him, but fortunately she was doing the majority of the work on their potion. The end of the period was nearing, and Harry almost thought he'd make it out of the class without Snape taunting him. That is, until he accidentally dropped a mandrake leaf in their potion too early. The concoction exploded, eliciting screams and cries from nearby students.

"Potter! Granger!" Snape spat, stalking over to the table the two were working at. "How daft are you? The mandrake leaves aren't to be added until the potion is boiling, or can you not read instructions?"

"Sorry, sir." Harry mumbled through gritted teeth, though he genuinely felt bad for messing up Hermione's grade as well as his own.

"Sorry won't cut it," Snape said, the edges of his mouth curling upwards in a snarl. "You'll both receive a troll grade for this potion, and serve detention with me every night until Christmas break."

"What?" Harry said indignantly. "It was an accident, and Hermione shouldn't be punished either way. I was the one that messed up."

"I don't care. Both of you, my office, starting tonight." Snape said, before turning around and stalking off.

Harry turned to Hermione, who was frowning, but looking at him with concern. "Sorry, I wasn't paying close attention. I'll try and see if McGonagall can get you out of the detention."

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said, starting to clean up the potion remains. "Are you alright, Harry? You seem tired."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just ready for break." Harry mumbled, helping her clean up as the rest of the class took their completed potions to the front to turn in.

As the Gryffindors piled out of the dungeons, Harry was fuming at Snape's unfairness. Sure, he had heard all of the stories about the Marauders and Snape; he knew Snape despised his father, godfather, and Remus. Did that mean the man had to be so cruel to him?

"-so anyway, after dinner you think we can work on that? Harry?" Ron asked, nudging Harry when he realized he wasn't listening.

"Er, sorry. I need to go talk to Sirius." Harry said urgently, turning to climb the staircase that would take him to the charms corridor.

"What, again? Can't it wait until after dinner?" Ron said, Hermione and him following Harry up the stairs.

"You guys can come too," Harry said, continuing his ascent. "I just want to ask him something about Snape. You saw how unfair he was to us this afternoon!"

"I'm pretty hungry…" Ron mumbled, following Harry anyway.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We can go to the kitchens later. But Harry, Snape has always been that way. I doubt Sirius has the answer to why he's so cruel."

"He might," Harry mumbled. "And Ron, we can summon the food to his quarters. Now hurry up."

The three finished the walk to the charms corridor and arrived at Sirius's portrait. They heard Remus's voice inside, and Harry figured the two were having an afternoon drink.

Harry knocked on the door, momentarily forgetting the password in his haste to talk to his dad.

Sirius opened the door quizzically, then looked relieved when he saw the three standing there. "What's going on?"

"Just want to ask you something," Harry said innocently, as he followed the man inside.

"Go for it," Sirius said, taking a place in an armchair in the sitting room. Remus was seated on the couch and appeared to be drinking tea, whereas Sirius had opted for the stronger shot of firewhiskey.

"Why does Snape hate us so much? I know you told me what happened when you guys were kids, but I still don't know why he takes it out on me. I know I'm not always the best behaved but I don't torment him or anything." Harry said, sitting down on the couch, Ron and Hermione following suit.

"The thing about Snape that you need to understand, is that he holds a grudge for a long time. James is dead, and yet he's choosing to torment his son instead of letting the past be," Remus said, stirring his tea. "Now, what did he do today?"

Sirius looked intently at Harry, as if challenging him to say anything bad. Harry almost stopped himself, knowing the man would be upset at the injustice the potion master had placed upon them. "Nothing as bad as usual…" Harry started, trailing off.

"Just tell me, Harry." Sirius prompted, looking impatient.

"He just gave Hermione and I bad grades because I messed up the potion… it was my fault really." Harry explained, looking back and forth between his guardians. Sirius looked relieved and Remus looked confused.

"I don't understand why you're upset then," Remus said, placing the cup of tea on the sofa table. "If you messed up the potion, don't you deserve the bad grade?"

"Er… well, he also gave us detention… every night until the Christmas holidays start." Harry explained sheepishly.

Sirius rolled his eyes and stood up. "Snivelly has to exert his power. I'll tell McGonagall and see if she can convince him to drop them. Surely a messed up potion isn't grounds to give students two weeks worth of detention."

"But why does he feel the need to do that?" Harry asked, frustrated. "I wasn't cheeky or anything, I apologized. Hermione didn't even do anything and he gave her detention. It's not fair."

Sirius frowned at this, and Harry tried to think if he had said something that would upset his father. "Snape has never been a fair man, nor the type of man to care much about justice. Trust me, I know from experience."

"Sirius, don't get them worked up. It's over and done with-" Remus said, but Harry interrupted.

"What do you mean, you know from experience?" Harry asked.

Sirius sighed and Remus gave him a pointed look. "Look, Harry, I don't want to turn you against the man more. You three promise me you won't breathe a word of this to anyone, alright? Like Remus said, it doesn't matter much anymore." Sirius sounded annoyed as he mumbled the last part, so Harry knew it still mattered. He nodded nonetheless. "Well, I'm sure by now the three of you know that Snape's a spy for the Order. He acts as a Death-Eater, and he's a part of Voldemort's inner circle. Well, turns out he had the same job right before your parents died, Harry. Switched and started working for Dumbledore soon after you were born. Of course, Order members didn't know this at the time. Apparently the two had made a deal after the prophecy was spoken about you, though I don't know what any of that involved or what Snape even had to do with it. Anyway, the point is, Snape was in with the Death-Eaters; he knew who all of them were, as well as who all of the Order members were-"

Hermione gasped, realizing something that Harry hadn't caught. "Oh, Sirius…"

"What?" Ron asked, frustrated. "He knew who all the Death-Eaters and Order members were, so what?

"It means…" Harry started, catching on to where his father was coming from. "Snape would have known if there was a spy in the Order."

"Snape would have known that Wormtail was the spy, and was in the position to tell Dumbledore, should he choose. He probably didn't realize that Wormtail was made the secret-keeper, but he bloody well knew that he was a Death-Eater and not me." Sirius said angrily, throwing himself down in the chair.

"Which means that when you went to prison, Snape knew the truth. Snape knew you weren't a Death-Eater and didn't give the secret to Voldemort." Hermione said, looking sadly at Sirius.

"Right. I don't think he knew who told Voldemort, but he knew who was showing up to Death-Eater meetings. If he had wanted to, he could have pointed this out to Dumbledore, and I know Dumbledore would have gotten a trial for me… but instead, I sat in Azkaban for twelve years." Sirius said, looking out the window onto the grounds.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and Harry was stewing - he didn't think he could hate a man more than he hated Severus Snape.

"Why'd he do that to you?" Ron asked, unaware of the feud Snape had with the Marauders.

"We didn't treat Snape the best when we were boys…" Remus started, glancing at Sirius.

"No, we didn't, but it's not like he was an angel to us either. All the times that he hexed us, or got the bigger, older Slytherins to corner us. He deserved every bit of what he got," Sirius said grumpily, not moving his gaze from the window.

"Well… I don't suppose this is an ideal time to bring this up, but Harry, I suppose we need to go to detention soon." Hermione said, her voice cracking a bit.

"Wait, Harry, you can't. You have your meeting with Dumbledore tonight." Remus pointed out, standing up. "Why don't you three come with us to Professor McGonagall's office to see if we can get this worked out. In the least, Dumbledore will get you out of detention for tonight."

The three nodded and followed Sirius and Remus out the door.

McGonagall had agreed with Sirius and Remus's objections to the detentions, and went to speak to Snape herself. Sirius offered to walk Harry to Dumbledore's office, and the group bid goodbye to one another, Remus walking Ron and Hermione back to Gryffindor common room.

"What do you think Dumbledore will tell me about tonight?" Harry asked his godfather as they rounded a corner.

"Not sure," Sirius said with a shrug, "but he asked me to join you on this one. I believe he will be discussing a memory, though I'm not positive."

"Another memory of Voldemort's," Harry mumbled. "I suppose it'll be about a new horcrux. There should only be three left…" Harry trailed off, leaving a tense silence in the air, knowing that one of those three was himself.

When they walked into the office, Dumbledore stood to greet them. "Sirius, Harry, I've been waiting for you."

Sirius sat down in a seat in front of the headmaster's desk, Harry following suit.

"Now, as you both know, we are extremely close to knowing and destroying all of Voldemort's horcruxes; however, something has been brought to my attention that complicates things significantly. The reason I asked you to join us tonight Sirius, is to give you an assignment." Dumbledore paused, waiting for Sirius to nod. When he received the man's confirmation, he continued. "You recall giving Harry training lessons before the third task last year, correct?" Sirius nodded again. "Well, I need you to start those up again. Harry will need to be prepared, seeing as the war seems to be coming at us full force, and, as talented as you are, Harry, you are not ready to defeat Voldemort yet."

Harry nodded his understanding, knowing that the headmaster was right. They had gotten four out of seven of the horcruxes and if they kept destroying them at this rate, the time to fight Voldemort would come sooner, rather than later.

"The memory I have involves a Hufflepuff artifact; surely, Harry you remember me telling you that I believe Voldemort wanted an artifact from each house?" Harry nodded as Dumbledore continued. "Based on this memory, from Hokey the house elf, I believe I discovered it, though I am unaware of its whereabouts. I will do my best to investigate, but I have unfortunately discovered some concerning news…"

Harry and Sirius both stared at the headmaster, waiting for him to speak. Dumbledore sighed, then looked between the two. "There has been a death threat placed on my head from Lord Voldemort. Normally, this wouldn't frighten me; however, I have discovered it was ordered to be carried out by a student here at Hogwarts, out of revenge for his father's failure."

Harry felt his mouth drop open. "Malfoy? It's Malfoy, isn't it, Professor? He attacked me last week!"

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "I believe that attack was out of pure revenge, and not on Voldemort's orders; however, Voldemort is angry at Lucius's failing to retrieve the prophecy and then getting shut away in Azkaban. He has asked Draco to murder me, which he knows Draco will fail to do. I have arranged my death with someone else, so that Draco does not necessarily fail, and his soul remains intact."

"What!" Sirius exclaimed, shooting up in his chair. "Dumbledore, why? Can't we just offer Malfoy protection?"

"Then our Order spy will be revealed to Voldemort," Dumbledore explained, shaking his head. "I cannot risk losing such a valuable asset to the Order."

Sirius rolled his eyes, clearly not agreeing with Dumbledore on Snape's "importance" to the Order, but he held his tongue. "So someone else will kill you in Draco's place? When is this to happen?"

"I can't say," Dumbledore said. "I don't even know; I suppose whenever Draco feels that he is ready. Severus will be keeping an eye on him, and will alert me when the time comes. The reason I tell you this is not to frighten you, but to make you both aware that I am on borrowed time. I want to make this as easy on you as possible, Harry. We need to destroy this next horcrux before my time comes; that will just leave the snake and-"

"Me," Harry finished for him, "How is that supposed to work? Am I just supposed to kill myself when we destroy the snake?"

"No," Sirius said before Dumbledore could get a word out, looking at the headmaster with hard eyes.

"Sirius is correct," Dumbledore said wearily. "Tonight, I will give you information on this horcrux, my leads on where to find it, and then vital information on how you can win. I just need you to trust me. Okay, Harry?"

Harry nodded and waited for Dumbledore to begin. "First, Harry, have you heard the Tale of Three Brothers?" Harry shook his head, and Dumbledore smiled a little. "I figured you would not have, considering you grew up with muggles. It's a children's fairy tale that holds significant truth. I believe that there will come a time in which Voldemort will want to retrieve one of the objects mentioned in that story; it is vital that he does not, that you receive it instead."

"How does the story go?" Harry asked, confused as to what a fairy tale had to do with the dark wizard.

"Lily used to read it to you when you were a baby," Sirius explained. "It comes from the Tales of Beedle the Bard, a fairy tale book for wizarding children. It's about three brothers that defied death and received objects that fulfilled their heart's desire; the most powerful wand, a stone that could bring the dead to life, and an invisibility cloak. Does that sound familiar?"

Harry nodded, thinking of his own invisibility cloak. "Does that mean that my dad's cloak-"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, it is a hallow. The objects are known as the Deathly Hallows and many wizards and witches have perished looking for them." Harry noticed a sad glint came into Dumbledore's eye, but it was gone after a moment. "Harry, you're a distant descendant of the Peverell's, the original men in the story. That's why the cloak is in your possession. I have the elder wand," Dumbledore explained, showing it to the two men.

Sirius's mouth opened in shock. "You got that from-"

"Grindelwald," Dumbledore said, looking uncomfortable. "He possessed it when I defeated him, so it's power was transferred to me. Harry, what I am about to tell you is crucial, so listen closely. The way I've planned it, Draco will overpower me when he tries to kill me, though he won't do the actual deed. Therefore, the elder wand's power will go to him, though he won't be aware of it. He probably won't even realize that the wand actually exists. I will be buried with my wand, but there is no doubt in my mind that Voldemort will go after it, especially since he's realized that the cores of the two of your wands are brothers. He won't be able to properly fight you with the wand he possesses; if he didn't realize it last year in the graveyard, he'll know soon. He'll search for a more powerful wand-"

"He'll go after the elder wand," Sirius finished, looking at the wand in Dumbledore's hand.

"Precisely," Dumbledore said with a nod. "But it won't work for him because Draco will be its true master. Harry, for everything to end up the way it should, you must disarm Draco at some point following my death, but before you face Voldemort. That is key. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, though he was confused. "That's all I have to do? Draco wouldn't even have the wand, would he?"

"No," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "But wandlore is a magical thing, and it will know when you overpower him that you are his true master."

"But won't Voldemort get to Draco first?" Harry asked, confused. "Especially if he assigned Draco to kill you?"

"Voldemort will not understand how the wand works; the man does not thirst for knowledge, he thirsts for power. Simply knowing that it exists, he will assume the man that killed me will have the power of the wand, not Draco. This, of course, requires my plan to work out perfectly, but I have confidence in all involved." Dumbledore explained.

"So, how will I get the wand then?" Harry asked.

"You don't need it," Dumbledore said. "Just trust me, all you must do is disarm Draco."

Harry nodded, though he still felt as if he had more questions than answers; however, Dumbledore was continuing. "Harry, there will come a time when Voldemort is very scared for the life of his snake. This will mean that the time is coming for the final battle. You've heard the prophecy, Harry - one of you will not survive."

"Dumbledore," Sirius said angrily, but the headmaster put up a hand to silence him.

"Trust me, Sirius. We need Harry to win-" Dumbledore started, only to be cut off by Harry.

"But how can I win if I'm a horcrux? I have to be the one who dies so someone else can finish him off." Harry trailed off, looking down. Sirius made a noise of protest and began to say something, but Dumbledore beat him to it.

"That, Harry, will become apparent in time. The most important thing I need you to know right now is that you must disarm Draco, and we need to get that last horcrux." Dumbledore said simply.

Harry and Sirius both sat there, appearing uncomfortable and confused, but waiting for the headmaster to continue anyway. "Ron and Hermione will be of vital importance to you, also, Harry. Don't forget about them. I have two things to give to Mr. Weasley and you. First, the snitch you caught at your first quidditch match."

Harry looked at his godfather, and the man nodded to the object Dumbledore was handing him. Harry looked at the headmaster like he had lost it.

"I hope that you will not need to use it for some time, but the war is progressing fast and I feel it will become inevitable-" Dumbledore began, only to be cut off by Harry.

"But sir, what do I use it for?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"That will also become apparent with time," Dumbledore said. "Give this to Mr. Weasley as well. He'll know what to do with it when the time comes." Dumbledore handed Harry a black stick looking object. Harry pocketed it, still extremely confused.

"I had initially planned to leave them in my will, however, given the current state of the ministry, I didn't trust it to be left to you. Sirius, I have one more thing Harry will need, but I would like you to keep up with it. I feel that you will do a better job hiding it until it is needed." Dumbledore said, turning and pulling the Sword of Gryffindor out of its hilt in his office.

"That's for getting rid of the horcruxes, then?" Harry asked, watching as his godfather tucked it away into a bag he magically enlarged.

Dumbledore nodded. "Speaking of which, we need to discuss the last object we have to find, which I now believe to be Helga Hufflepuff's cup."

Harry and Sirius nodded, and situated themselves as Dumbledore continued. "As I said, I collected a memory from Hokey the House Elf, who belonged to Hepzibah Smith at one point in time. I have viewed the memory, and for the sake of time, will tell you its contents now. We have some major planning to do this evening, however, so I would like to keep this part short."

"Planning for what?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've talked to your father already, so I suppose it won't hurt to tell you know. We're going to attempt to retrieve the cup this coming weekend. Should we succeed, that leaves you one more week of class and the holiday break to rest up before we start preparing for an ambush or battle. I have a feeling it's coming soon." Dumbledore explained. "So Hokey was Mrs. Smith's house elf at the time that she got a visit from Tom Riddle. Tom had heard that she was a descendent of Helga Hufflepuff, and was in the process of creating his horcruxes. As you know by now, he was fascinated by Hogwarts and wanted as many artifacts as he could get from here. He poisoned Mrs. Smith and stole her cup once she showed him it. Hokey was blamed for it, because Tom poisoned her tea and Hokey was the one who had delivered it to her. Hokey was devastated and knew that she didn't poison her mistress, but it was too late - Tom had gotten away."

Harry thought the memory over, then asked a question. "Where do you think he hid the cup, professor?"

"I found out that he originally intended to hide the locket that you destroyed last summer in a cave on the coast. I think he prefered natural places, so I have a lead that we can look into this coming weekend near Albania."

Harry and Sirius both nodded and continued listening.

"We leave here at 9 PM sharp on Friday - there shouldn't be any students wandering the halls that late at night. Harry, you are to bring your invisibility cloak, and Sirius, make sure you have the sword packed just in case we find it. We're going to apparate out of Hogsmeade to the location. I don't know what kind of dark magic will be in the area when we get there. I need you both to promise me now that you will follow every instruction I give you, even if that means leaving me behind to escape for yourselves." Dumbledore said gravely.

"But, sir-" Harry started, only to be cut off by the headmaster.

"No, Harry, I need your word. You are the most important person in this war and you need Sirius - there is a death threat on my head that could come any day now, it's more important that you two escape than me. If it becomes apparent that you two will have to leave me behind, Harry, you must disarm me - you don't need the wand, but you must do it. If we make it back okay and I have to go through my plan for my death, then you must disarm Draco. Understand?"

Harry looked to Sirius, who was nodding. He nodded as well, though he didn't feel sure about this mission at all.

"Alright then. I will see the both of you in the entrance hall at 9 PM on Friday. If all goes well, we should only have the snake to worry about." Dumbledore explained.

Harry looked down at his feet and Sirius knew exactly what he was thinking - they wouldn't have to just worry about killing the snake, they'd have to find a way to remove the horcrux without killing Harry.