A/N I fully admit to being emotionally unbalanced as I wrote this chapter. Those of you who own pets will understand; I lost my three year old cat today after four days of increasingly severe epileptic attacks.
As I entered the library, four anxious people were waiting for me. Apparently, Severus had been curious enough to join the Trio. I pressed the button and down we went.
Hermione must've thought she was in paradise. She literally squealed in delight and ran towards the books. All four of us snorted in laughter as the Grey Lady suddenly materialised and Hermione ran straight through her, gasping and holding on to the bookcase as if she had run straight through a bath of icewater.
"Oops, sorry dear girl," the ghost said, smiling slightly, "you were rather anxious in getting to the books, weren't you?"
Hermione blushed. "I like to do research and this is of the utmost importance."
The Grey Lady nodded. "Indeed, destroying the last Horcrux will free the path to finally defeating Voldemort."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "True, but that's not what I had in mind. I was thinking more of keeping professor Snape safe."
Severus stirred uneasily besides me. I just hid a smirk. It would be uncomfortable, but very healthy for him to hear comments like these more often.
I picked up the books I had dropped the day before and showed them to Hermione. She read and nodded.
"Yes, you were right. Muggle history knows these Greater Inferi too, although only in their human form. Now, we need to focus on some method of removing the soulshard without killing the host…"
About a dozen books flew our way. We managed to dodge them just in time as they piled themselves on the table.
"This library is dangerous," Ron said.
Hermione scowled. "Shut up and start researching."
Three hours later, our search hadn't yielded any results. There were various spells that would remove the soulshard from an object; the Trio had used a number of these to get rid of the other Horcruxes. But none of those were suitable for use on a human Horcrux. It would not remove the soulshard at the best of times. Worst case scenario was of course, killing the person and creating the Greater Inferi. Seeing Severus go greenish as he read the entries on these beings, I decided a lunch break was in order and called for Dobby.
"Yes Sirs and Miss? Will you be needing lunch down here?" the overexcited house elf asked.
"If you could bring some here, yes, please, Dobby," I said, stretching my arms over my head, "that'd be great, thank you."
Dobby disappeared and I yawned. "Lunch break, folks," I called to the others, who were busy studying in various parts of the library. I stacked the books away and cleared the large table in the centre of the room.
Ron rushed over immediately, ready for a break. Severus was sitting in a lounge chair, now reading a large, very old looking tome, and was so deeply buried in it he didn't hear me call. Hermione carefully marked the pages of her books before joining Ron. Harry, however, was standing at the far end of the room, with a book in his hand. He looked at me and beckoned me over.
"I've been meaning to ask you," he said, frowning, "back at the gas station, with the Death Eaters…Rastaban cast the Killing Curse."
I nodded. "And you are wondering how a Reflecto could have stopped it."
He grimaced. "Not that I'm not grateful for it, mind you, but you have to admit it's a bit weird. What is it about you that made it work?"
"Nothing about me made it work. I simply cast the spell. I was in contact with Severus. That is what made it work." Seeing Harry's confused face, I continued, "I've read up on it a bit, I knew why it didn't work but I didn't know how. See Harry, a Horcrux that is in a human behaves differently from a Horcrux in an object. Essentially, a Horcrux is nothing more then a piece of soul anchored by some perverted magical means. In an object, it doesn't actually do anything. But in a person, a Horcrux is active. Not completely like a sentient being, but close. That is why Greater Inferi can't be controlled, not even by the one who created them. Severus' own soul usually overrides the Horcrux. His soul is not broken, and much stronger therefore then the one seventh fragment he carries inside him. He can be killed, of course. But the Horcrux does not want to be destroyed. It has a crude sense of self-preservation, AND it is Dark Magic in itself. Should someone fire a Killing Curse at Severus without anything blocking, he would die. But the Horcrux used my magic, my Reflecto, to send it back at its caster. While I didn't do Dark Magic, it's effects certainly were, very, very Dark. What Severus is walking around with, Harry, is basically an embryonic Greater Inferi. Right now it protects him sometimes. Does that make sense to you? I can show you the books if you want to read it for yourself…"
Harry shook his head and smiled sadly. "No, I understand. It's a really weird situation we've got here. I found something in this book, Neville. It's some sort of diary entry, like Severus used to put in his old potions book. Here, take a look."
I took the book and scanned the notes. At the bottom of the page, there was a scribbled sentence. Hc in person: Merlin's diary? Helga.
I looked at Harry. "Helga Hufflepuff? You think…"The Grey Lady approached. "Lady," Harry began, "Did Helga Hufflepuff have a secret library too?"
The ghost smiled. "Not a library exactly, but yes, she did have a secret room as well. She and Rowena Ravenclaw were the best of friends. They did many projects together. The entrance to Helga's room is through here somewhere, but you'd have to ask the Fat Friar about opening it."
"Could you find him for us, Lady? Please?"
She smiled again and slided off through the wall.
Lunch was a quiet affair. Ron ate with gusto, of course, and Harry and I were hungry as well. Hermione absentmindedly ate while still reading. Severus was just playing with his food.
"Severus, you need to actually eat that. You haven't eaten since the day before yesterday and you need your strength."
He sneered. "Afraid I will die and become a big bad monster that will destroy the world, are you?"
Insufferable git. I wasn't going to let him get away with that. "Most students would agree you already ARE a big bad monster, Severus. Must be your enchanting personality. Yes, I want you healthy and alive. For your own sake, not ours. Now EAT, or I will have the Headmistress bring Dumbledore's portrait down here to supervise you."
He stared at me, insulted. "That was a low blow," he said eventually, "Albus will tease and twinkle me into eating with his incessant happiness, he always did. Would you really do that to me?"
"I would if you don't start eating right now."
He scowled, but took a bite all the same. "So even you have a Slytherin streak in you, Mr. Longbottom," he said in between bites.
"When it comes to keeping you safe and healthy, yes, I certainly have," I stated calmly, returning my attentions to my own plate, but not before I caught the slight twitch on the corners of his mouth that gave the slightest hint of a smile.
The Grey Lady floated back in, accompanied by the Fat Friar.
"Hello there, youngsters," he greeted us cheerfully, causing four of us to smile at him and one to glare. Take your guess which one.
"I heard you want to enter Helga's domain. Well, my good friend here has explained your intent to me and I fully agree. Come along then, children," he nearly sang, as he floated over to the far end of the room. Four smiles and one glare deepened.
The friar stopped in front of a small painting of an eagle and a dragon. "Here it is, the entrance to Hufflepuffs domain. The password is the school's motto, Helga came up with it, you know. She thought it was funny, and the others agreed. Say it out loud, and tickle the dragon, but only when it's awake."
We all raised our eyebrows involuntarily, I suspect, because he looked at us and chuckled. "Well, Helga did appreciate things like that. Drove Salazar insane at times with the pranks she played on him. He never had the sense to return the jokes, unlike Godric and Rowena. Be careful what you touch in there, she's bound to have left some weird jokes behind."
Severus sneered. "Is this the person who we are to ask for advice on how to defeat Voldemort? Someone who spent her life playing pranks?"
The Friar cast him a stern look. "Helga was a lot more then just a prankster, young man. She was a genius, or she wouldn't have become one of the founders of this school. She just recognized the need for humor and relaxation in difficult times, and believe me, she had many. So don't you ever belittle her in front of me, because you don't know who you are talking about," he chastised.
What happened next caused all our jaws to drop gently to the floor. Severus apologized.
"I'm sorry, sir, I meant no disrespect. It's just that our research is so vital…"
The Friar smiled at him. "Apology accepted. I know what difficult times you live in. Just remember you are not alone. Now, shall we enter?"
Severus tentatively reached out and tickled the dragon. "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titilandus," he said softly. The dragon looked up a bit annoyed and then the entire painting disappeared, leaving a hole in the wall that grew bigger until it reached the size of an average door. A small hallway led inwards. We entered and the door closed behind us.
"Not to worry," the Friar said, "It'll open again if you knock from the inside."
A large oak door at the end of the hallway opened to a massive room full of interesting gadgets. In the middle, on a pedestal, lay an ancient tome. Hermione took a step closer and gasped. "Merlin's ghost," she said in shock.
The Friar grinned. "No, Merlin's diary," he replied.
A/N: the theories on the Horcruxes are of course entirely my own, and are exactly that: theories. I'm just using them in this story. In fact, this story forced me to develop them.