Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, etc.
Warning: there's some theories that I have in here. this is after the Half Blood Prince. There's some man/man love but no sex right now.
Please read and review.
Harry sat at the table the next morning between Hermione and Draco. Laid out in front of them were a couple of maps and a few spell books open to pages that contained spells they found useful. Mrs. Weasley refilled their tea cups again as she listened in on their conversation. They had tried to keep her out of it, but had given up long ago. Lupin and Tonks sat across from them and were helping the youngsters across from them formulate a plan.
"The biggest thing to remember Harry is that Voldemort has almost gathered together all the pieces of his soul that he has hidden away," said Lupin cautiously. "The last horcrux is still missing."
"Does anyone have idea what it could be?" said Harry looking around at the others.
"We've thought and thought but nothing has come up. We've tried some relics from Hogwarts history but thus far nothing has worked."
"All right, let me make sure I have this right," said Draco calmly and writing down on a piece of paper. "He wanted to hide pieces of his soul in seven places. To do this, he would have to kill seven people. So, first we have the notebook that Ginny found. Then the ring that was his grandfather's. The locket that was Salazar Slytherin's. The cup owned by Hufflepuff. The snake Nagini. The sixth horcrux is the one that's missing?"
"We had a theory that it was a relic of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," said Harry nodding. "The problem being that the Gryffindor relic that would be most important to him is the sword and it's being kept at Hogwarts so it can't be that. If there is a relic of Ravenclaw then no one's sure where or what it could be. No one's sure when he will find it."
"He doesn't know where it is?"
"You would think he would know. But it seems that he doesn't. Wouldn't he have gotten it by now if he knew where it was?"
"True. But it bothers me that he wouldn't know where something that important would be." Harry had to agree. It didn't seem like the kind of thing Voldemort would just put anywhere or even loose like one looses keys or a book.
"We have to figure out where it is or else Voldemort will be able to come back," said Lupin. "That's the whole point. No matter if he's dead or not, there's still a part of him somewhere alive. All we have to do is find the last horcrux and destroy it." Draco seemed deep in thought.
"What is it?" asked Harry.
"I was just thinking, in order to rip one's soul apart you must kill someone."
"Right."
"The last people that he killed were your parents."
"Yes... what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that the last horcrux might be something that your parents' owned. Or..." Draco looked up at Harry's scar on his forehead.
Suddenly everyone at the table understood what Draco was thinking. There was a collective gasp and everyone including Draco tensed.
"No," said Harry shaking his head. He stood up from the table and knocked over the chair he had been sitting in. "No. No. I can't be the last horcrux. There's no way. That can't be it." Draco stood as well and locked eyes with Harry. He felt horrible for even suggesting that this could be possible, but he couldn't deny that it was possible.
"Harry I didn't want to suggest this. But it's the only thing I can think of. And plus it would explain a lot."
"Like what!"
"Uh... your ability to speak Parsel tongue, your scar burns every time that Voldemort is angry, your visions of what Voldemort does, the fact that he couldn't kill you alone says that something went wrong and somehow, trying to kill you made you a horcrux instead and gave you a piece of Voldemort's soul."
"But... but... I'm not evil..."
"I'm not saying that you are evil Harry!"
"I have a piece of the most evil wizard of all time's soul in me! What else can I be?"
"Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. The Chosen One. The Defeater of Voldemort. That's who you are. It doesn't matter that you have a piece of his soul. That makes the two of you equals. You know how he thinks, what he will do, and you are the only one who can stop him."
"But then I'll have to die. In order for the last piece of his soul to be destroyed, I have to be destroyed."
"No, Harry, there has to be another way. Dumbledore was able to extract the piece of Voldemort's soul from that ring. That ring was never destroyed. We can find a way to get that one piece of Voldemort's soul out of you and you won't have to be killed."
"But how? Dumbledore was an incredibly powerful wizard and extracting that soul from the ring alone hurt him terribly. To extract it from me... it could kill someone."
"We'll find a way. There has to be a way to do this and we will find a way."
"How?"
"I don't know how. But you are surrounded by people who love you. We will find a way."
"And if it turns out that you have to kill me?"
"Don't talk like that."
"I want your word Draco. I want your word that if it comes to that, you will be the one who kills me."
"Harry!" shouted Hermione in protest.
"No! I don't want my blood on anyone's hands. But if it has to be, I want it to be Draco. Give me your word." Draco took in a deep breath and steeled himself.
"I promise you, if it comes to that, I will be the one to kill you." A silence fell audibly over the room. Harry and Draco continued to stare at each other while everyone else stared at the both of them.
"Thank you," said Harry finally. Harry looked around at the room slowly as if he was surprised to see everyone else in it. "We need more information. Tomorrow we need to go to the library and look up everything we can about dark magic so we know what we are up against. We also need to find any information on horcruxes that we can, how they are made and how they are destroyed or the soul is extracted from them. We need to research everything that we need to know to fight Voldemort."
"Why tomorrow?"
"We've all ready wasted half of today figuring out what we have. We need to spend the rest of the day cooking potions and practicing spells to fight Voldemort."
"Well, you're better at potions with that potions book you've been using," said Hermione helpfully. "I can do several spells without speaking and I can try practicing them today. George is pretty good at spells but better at charms. We'll practice in the back garden while you cook up some potions with Draco." Harry silently nodded and watched as Hermione and George went out into the back garden to practice their spells and charms. Then he pulled out two cauldrons.
"I'm going to work on a wound healing potion. Can you get to work on a blood replenishing potion?"
"Sure," said Draco taking the other cauldron. Both carefully worked on their potions and bottled them until they had ten vials of each ready for what may come. Then both of them cooked up anti poison potions for the rest of the day.
That night all of them sat at the dinner table with Mrs. Weasley's dinner in front of them. They were tired and worn out from the day. N one really spoke except for the usual pleasantries that accompanied a normal meal. Everyone was tense about what was going to happen and the tension made the air thick. Harry ate barely anything and went upstairs before anything could be said. Draco finished his dinner quickly and followed.
"Are you all right?" asked Draco quietly as he shut and locked the door behind him. Harry was curled up in a fetal ball under the covers. Harry's body shook slightly and Draco didn't have to hear anything to know that Harry was crying.
"I'm so scared..." Harry choked out between gasps. "What if we can't find anything?"
"We will." Draco walked across the room and stood next to the bed. He quickly pulled off his shoes and socks before getting into bed next to Harry. He carefully put his arms around the shaking boy and pulled him close to his own body.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I can't. But I have faith. I believe that there is a way. I refuse to believe that I will have to give you up just so that an evil wizard can die." Draco knew what he had said had hit Harry in some secret place where he believed he was alone. Draco just held Harry closer to him and nuzzled the nape of Harry's neck.
"Thank you," murmured Harry before he fell asleep.