Hey there! So I finished the second chapter. This one was a bit harder because I didn't want to make the telling of the stories part too long. After all, we already know what happened. I want to say thank you to everyone that reviewed, I ll try to respond to it asap. And dont hesitate to review this time, it makes my day! I took one quote more or less directly from the books, I put it in bold. I think it was in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I dont own any of the caracters, they all belong to JKRowling Then I guess there is only one thing left to say: enjoy!
It was the third day after the battle. Harry had spent most of the first day and night asleep and the second day and night in the hospital under the tender but strict care of madam Pomfrey. After Ginny's visit, Ron and Hermione, who were both staying in another room in the hospital wing, popped by for a while, and they had discussed what exactly they would tell, and more importantly, to who. Apparently there was a huge crowd of journalists and reporters camping outside of Hogwarts gates, and the only reason they did not come up to his bed to bury him under their enormous amounts of questions was that professor McGonagall had decided that no one, without a valid reason, was allowed inside the castle until everyone had safely returned home and they would start the rebuilding of Hogwarts. It was clear that with "everyone", McGonagall had mainly meant the trio, to protect them from the publicity and allow them to recover a bit before being confronted with huge crowds of reporters. Harry couldn't express how grateful he was for this. By the time, most people had returned to their homes or had been transferred to St. Mungo's. Harry, Ron and Hermione decided not to tell the press anything of what they had been doing while they were gone. They would make a short statement to the press, but there would be no mention of horcruxes. The last thing they wanted to do was to inspire young, dark wizards to follow into Voldemort's footsteps by bringing horcruxes into full publicity or even into the history books.
In the morning of the third day, Harry had recovered a lot already, and he decided it was time to tell the people closest to them their story. He found the room Ron and Hermione were staying in empty, and wandered off to the great hall. The great hall had been hit very badly. Of course Harry had seen it in the hours after the battle, but now that it was almost empty from people and with new energy, it finally came to him. As he stood in the doorway, he let his gaze pass through the hall. Some of the walls had broken down and there was rubble everywhere. It was a devastating sight. In the middle stood a large table at which a few people, including the Weasley's, a few of the professors and several members of the order and the DA sat. Ginny spotted him first and came over to him.
"Hey"
"Hey", he couldn't help but grin at her.
"You had a good night of sleep?" she asked.
"Yeah, sort of. I'm having trouble sleeping, nightmares and such, but it was okay." He had never spoken to anyone about his nightmares, yet to Ginny, he just seemed to blurt it out. "And you?"
"A bit of the same. Nightmares too… Hey listen, I haven't told my family about us yet, also not about the first time we dated, so…uhm….. You know what, for Merlin's sake, I have waited long enough!" And with that having said she swung her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him. He had forgotten how she tasted, but damn this was good. After some time she pulled back again.
"Uh, wow, I was not expecting this… But…" With a goofy grin on his face and one hand still on her waist he looked down at her. "It was good, I like this. We could do this more often".
"We sure…"
But she was interrupted by Bill.
"What the hell Ginny! What was that?!" Quickly, Ginny turned around. Merlin's beard, he had forgotten that everyone sitting there could see them, and judging by the looks on their faces they probably did. How could he have been so stupid? Hermione just looked at them with a broad smile on her face, Mr. Weasley winked at them with a small but gentle smile playing around his lips and George… This was probably the first time he smiled since the loss of his other half, although it did look like he was more amused by the reaction of his family than that he was happy for them, but that was at least better than how the rest of the Weasley's looked at them. Ron had an awkward look on his face, but looked like he tried to express his happiness for them. Charlie was simply shocked, and perhaps a bit angry, Percy looked very confused. Then there was Mrs. Weasley. She looked at the two of them wide eyed, her mouth a bit open and clearly at a loss of words. And Bill… Bill was just…
"What the hell were you two doing?!" he yelled at Ginny.
"Well, that was about the only thing that seems very clear to me right now!" George exclaimed. Bill ignored his brother.
"It looks like you're back to good health again, Harry. Glad to see so", a dreamy voice suddenly stated. Harry looked over to Luna. Great! Now they all got a good look at us snogging! Harry thought sarcastically. Ginny took on a defensive and determined look on her face and took a pulled Harry next to her, before wrapping an arm around his waist. Carefully he placed an arm around her shoulders. Well, better to stand my grounds now, I guess. Too late to crawl back.
"Please explain yourselves right now!" Mrs. Weasley demanded strictly.
"Well, I guess it's kinda clear what's going on, mom."
"Watch your mouth, young lady!" Mrs. Weasley was clearly not amused. "How long is this been going on for?"
"Well, we dated for a while in my fifth year, but then Harry decided he had to go and hunt bad guys and of course he was way too noble and selfless to keep up our relation because that would mean I would be in even more danger, so he broke up with me, but we made it up yesterday and now we're just going to continue where we left off. So that's the story and could you now please be so kind as to stop staring at us? I think Harry was just ready to tell us all about his recent adventures but not if you scare him away like this."
Harry unconsciously smiled at her. Man, he loved her.
"We're going to have a good talk about this later on, Ginevra". Apparently their eager to hear the trio's story was greater than their urge to interrogate Harry and Ginny about every detail of their relationship. They sat down amongst the others and Harry quickly scanned the table to see who was there.
"Don't worry about that, mate, we already made sure everyone who should know is here, and who shouldn't is not", Ron assured him. An expecting silence fell over the table, as dozens of eyes were turned to him. Harry sighed.
"Where should I start?"
"I suggest the beginning."
"If only it were that easy." It fell silent again, but after a while Harry started to talk.
"Before I begin, I want to ask every single one of you to never ever tell anyone anything of what we are about to tell you. This story includes the darkest of magic many of you have ever heard of, and we are going to do our best to ensure that this magic will be forgotten, and can never fall into the hands of any young dark wizard ever again." The people around the table sincerely nodded at him. "Well, here goes then… About a year before I was born, a prophecy was made to professor Dumbledore, about me. That prophecy stated, and I quote: 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have trice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.'" He shrugged. "I memorised it. Anyway, that description fitted two people, both Neville and me." There were a few gasps around the table because people did not see this coming. Harry looked over to Neville. He looked shocked. "Go on", he whispered. So Harry continued. "One of Voldemort's death eaters heard part of the prophecy, and immediately reported this to his master, and a year after I was born, Voldemort decided upon killing me. I don't know why he chose me, but he did. We all know what happened then. My mother refused to step aside as he threatened to kill her son. If she had, she would still be alive. That sacrifice she made granted me with an old form of magical protection that Voldemort never knew of. Because of this protection, Voldemort was unable to hurt me, and so when he avada kedavra'd me, his curse rebounded to himself. This protection is the power the prophecy spoke of, and by trying to kill me, Voldemort marked me as his equal. When his curse rebounded, he should have died. But he didn't. This is all because of the dark magic Voldemort used. When he was sixteen, Voldemort discovered the magic of horcruxes. Well, I don't think any of you knows what that is, so let me explain. A horcrux is an object in which a piece of one's soul can be stored. This can be anything. The thing is, however, that a horcrux can only be made by ripping your soul apart by committing a murder. But as long as the horcrux is there, you cannot die." Harry looked around the table again. Everyone had a look of true horror on their faces.
"So that's what you did, wasn't it? You three went looking for the horcrux this year." Charlie asked.
Ron, Harry and Hermione all grimly smiled, after which Hermione continued the story.
"If only it had been that easy. No, it wasn't just one, he made six." Several people gasped. They had all known Voldemort was horrible and inhumane, but splitting your soul into seven pieces… That was just horrible on a whole new level.
"The diary that possessed Ginny in her fist year, that was one of them", Ron continued. Ginny turned pale.
"That thing… That… It was a piece of Voldemort's soul that I trusted with my biggest secrets and held in my hands for so long?" Harry answered her.
"Yes it was. But in the chamber of secrets, I stuck a basilisk tooth in it, and basilisk venom just so happens to be one of the only things that can destroy a horcrux. So that was one that could be checked off the list. I had given the diary to Dumbledore, and in my sixth year, when Dumbledore started giving me tutoring lessons, I found out that he had done quite some research since that diary. He managed to find out that there were most likely six horcruxes, because Voldemort split his soul in seven: one piece was present in his body. He also found out what some of the horcruxes most likely were, and he found and destroyed one. Do you remember he showed up to Hogwarts with one hand all black, two summers ago? That happened when he had put one of the horcruxes in the form of a ring on his finger. The ring cursed him, and although Snape managed to control the curse in his hand and prevent it from spreading further, Dumbledore was slowly dying. That's when he made the agreement with Snape: Snape had to kill Dumbledore, to gain Voldemorts trust and become a triple agent. He gave Voldemort information from the Order on the command of Dumbledore and sometimes even Dumbledore's portrait. He was the one that informed Voldemort about the day and time the Order would be moving me to the burrow." It was silent for a while. Even though they were there when Harry had revealed that Snape still worked for Dumbledore to Voldemort in the final battle, for most people sitting at the table, this was still a hard to grasp concept.
"So that is where you had been, the night Dumbledore died, wasn't it? You two had been horcrux hunting", professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes it was indeed. I had asked him if I could come with him, if he found another horcrux. He promised me I could and so we went. Of course Voldemort didn't leave his horcruxes unattended and open for everyone to take, so when we were trying to get through Voldemort's safety measures, Dumbledore was weakened a lot. He was no match for the Deatheaters to disarm and capture when we arrived back at Hogwarts, until Snape killed him. But our trip to the horcrux had been for nothing. Someone else had already figured out Voldemort's secret and taken the locket that was the horcrux. It was Regulus Black, Sirius' brother".
Not many people at the table knew Regulus' story, but those who did stared at him in disbelief.
"So you are telling me that Regulus' managed to figure this out on his own and went to take it? Is that how he died?"
When Harry confirmed both questions, professor McGonagall looked at him and whispered
"If only Sirius had known about this. He was so heartbroken when his little brother joined the deatheaters, when he followed their family's path… With him in the Order, that would make them enemies. If only he had known…"
Ron broke the silence by continuing where Harry had left off.
"So by the time, two horcruxes had been destroyed, and of three of the remaining ones we knew what they were. When we fled Bill and Fleur's wedding, we went to Grimmauld's place. There we found out that Kreacher had accompanied both Voldemort and Regulus when they brought and took the locket. He told us Mundungus Flecher had taken it" – the name of Fletcher had raised some irritated scoffs and groans – "and Dobby and Kreacher together managed to track Fletcher down. Only one problem: Fletcher had given it to Umbridge in order to escape punishment." – The scoffs intensified, and many people grimaced at the name of Umbridge – "That's why we made up a nice plan to invade the ministry. We had taken mad-eyes reservoir of polly-juice potion, and used some of it to turn ourselves into three people that worked at the ministry."
"No way! That was actually you?! Pottermore mentioned it as a rumour, that it could actually have been you three that had created that nice chaos. But now you're telling me that that was actually true?!" Neville exclaimed.
"Was it you who saved that group of muggle-borns?"
"So you were just planning on walking up to that toad and taking the locket off her?"
Everyone was talking at once, trying to respond to this revelation.
"Please, please, let me explain!" Ron laughed.
Ron continued. He told everything there was to tell about their invasion of the ministry, sometimes supplemented by Harry and Hermione. After that they kept talking. They talked about the camping, about their frustration when they didn't know where the rest of the horcruxes could be. When Hermione reached the point of Harry and Ron's fight and the moment Ron left she hesitated. She looked at Ron questioning and a bit uneasy. Quickly Ron took over.
"Well, then tensions rose high, Harry and I got into a fight and I left. As soon as I had disapparated and cooled down a bit, I regretted it heavily, but because of the excellent protective spells we put up I couldn't find them anymore so I stayed with Bill and Fleur for some time until I finally found them again." His voice was soft, he spoke quick and as-a-matter-of-factly, and he looked truly remorseful.
Harry picked up the story again.
"It's okay mate, we talked about this, remember? Besides, we took turns in wearing Voldemort's locket, and at the moment of our fight, you were wearing it. We all know it influenced you far worse than it did to us. But we soon found out why we needed you so much. Sure, we had accomplished little since the Ministry, but when you were gone our productivity crashed down even further."
Harry picked up the story from here, and the three of them told about their nearly fatal visit to Godric's end, Ron's return (Harry made sure to tell this part as spectacular and heroic as possible), their visit to Mr. Lovegood and their traumatic captivity at Malfoy Manor. At this part, Hermione fell silent. Harry saw tears blinking in her eyes. He grabbed her hand across the table and held it tight until they had reached a better part of their journey. Somewhere at the start of the story, Mrs. Weasley had put her arm around Ron and for the rest of the story she held him tightly, as if she tried to protect him from the harm that had already been done. She had a horrified look on her face, and every now and then tears streamed down her face. Somewhere along the story, Ginny had put an arm around Harry as well and laid her head on his shoulder. Ron was holding Hermione. Harry and Ron quickly rounded off Malfoy Manor, not wanting to go into much detail, and definitely not wanting to remind Hermione of that day for much longer. Dobby's death saddened them all, but they were relieved the story had taken a lighter turn after that. And then, almost at the end, they finally reached their great burglary into Gringotts. With pride in their voices they told the story. Harry knew that, even though at the moment they would have done anything to get it over with, their break-in, and even better, their escape, was soon to become a legend. It did sound very cool, he admitted to himself. Ron and Hermione rounded off the story by telling about how they found the last one and destroyed the cup and then it fell silent again. No one said anything or made any sound for a few minutes, as everyone tried to process everything they had just heard. People were visibly stricken by what they had learned. But the story wasn't over yet. Harry knew that he would have to tell this last part on his own, so he took a deep breath and broke the silence.
"We… We… We went to Voldemort to see if we could find a way to end that snake. We couldn't, but we did witness him killing Snape. Voldemort left and we went up to Snape. He gave me some of his memories and we returned to the castle. That is when Voldemort called his troops to withdraw. We had an hour, so I went to the headmasters office and took a look at the memories. They showed me about Snape and Dumbledore's pact… And… About something else… It was Dumbledore telling Snape that by the time Voldemort kept his snake close around him, protected that snake, it was time to tell me that… that I had to die. Dumbledore had known all along… When Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby, he accidentally made me his seventh horcrux: the horcrux he never intended to make and never knew he made. The only way Voldemort could die was if he killed me first." Silence.
"So I went. I faced him in the forest, and I knew that Hermione and Ron knew what had to happen. I trusted them to be able to finish the job, and I had told Neville too, that the snake had to be killed. I stood in front of him. I looked him in the eye… And… he killed me. I don't know exactly what happened next, but when I woke up again, Voldemort was lying on the ground and I was still alive. Or rather, again. I don't know exactly. But anyhow, Voldemort was surrounded by death eaters so I knew I had to await my chance to finish him. Therefore I pretended to be dead. Hagrid carried me to the castle and… The rest is history…"
No one said anything, not wanting to be the first to break the silence with their questions, Harry could see it on their faces. But he wasn't at all eager to answer or even hear their questions. He didn't want to know how worried they must have been, those ten months. So he did the only thing that appealed to him at the moment: he stood up and walked out of the door.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Suggestions for the story are always welcome. Chapter 3 is coming up! XXX
