Author's Notes: Mild spoilers of HBP as I used Snape's canon family background. There is also a concept similar to the horcruxes portrayed in this chapter with some slight changes to fit the story. Hope it doesn't offend anyone.

Thanks Menecarkawan for beta-reading!

Chapter 17

To Unbind a Soul

Harry Potter opened his eyes feeling the coldness of chains around his thin and almost frail wrists. He adjusted to the atmosphere around him by blinking several times until he was able to focus on his surroundings. Even though he wasn't wearing his glasses, he could see everything perfectly and suddenly thought that perhaps he was dreaming.

Feeling the chains, he tried to pull to no avail, and by trying to fight them, he started to bruise his wrists and blood started to fall in droplets to the cold stony floor. By that point, Harry was sure he was dreaming and he had to wake, but he couldn't wake. He tried to will his body to wake up, but didn't even feel a stir that could mean he was waking as Larissa McGonagall. Larissa McGonagall? Deep fear crept through his body as he noticed that he was naked and he was not girl. He was Harry James Potter yet again, but the atmosphere had to be that of a dream. Why couldn't he wake up? Again, he started to fight the chains and even though he could see, feel, and even smell the blood oozing from his damaged wrists he couldn't feel any pain. Was he trapped in his own mind? That was when he felt it, first a cackle, and then maniacal laughter. 'Voldemort,' was the name the immediately wrote itself in his mind. He hardened his gaze and looked around until he found a silhouette approaching. The dark lord was there with him in that strange atmosphere.

"Did you think you could destroy me that easily, boy? I do have to recognize that seeing you as a girl was seriously disturbing, but amusing at the same time. You and that Malfoy brat even managed to confuse me, but I won't go that easily. Now I'm going to possess your body and live as you. I will not be stopped. I can never die! I already had that special spell ready for whoever tried to kill me. That wizard would be magically subdued and I would take over his pathetic body." Voldemort licked his lips almost seductively and Harry spat at him. The dark lord laughed yet again. "You can try fighting all you want. You will remain trapped until you die. Your soul will leave your body and I'll take its place. It will be nice to have a very young body. Thank you for your gift, Harry Potter." Voldemort caressed Harry's face and started to try leaving when chains just like the ones that had Harry bound him too. "NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! THE SPELL DOESN'T WORK THIS WAY! I CANNOT BE SUBDUED TOO!"

Harry was exhausted though. He had wandlessly managed to create a counter spell through a flaw in Voldemort's original woven spell. "I will never let you take my body," Harry said with ragged breaths and trembling in anger. "Not without a fight." Voldemort glared at the boy.

XxXxX

Draco had gotten very nervous all of a sudden. Larissa had stopped breathing and her features had turned extremely pale. He was sure there was something very wrong with Larissa, but was unable to figure what.

It was 2:00 AM by the time they arrived at Hogwarts and placed the girl in the hospital wing. Pomfrey bit her lower lip before turning to them: "She is alive, but there's something wrong. It seems that she is fighting for her life somehow. There's very strange magic in her body."

Severus Snape was in the hospital wing and recovered his wand from Draco. Draco had also recovered his wand. Tonks had taken it from beside the ashes of Lucius Malfoy and had brought it to her cousin. Severus looked at Dumbledore and the ancient wizard looked at the Potions Master. Both knew what kind of magic was involved in Larissa's unconsciousness. Severus blurted in an expressionless tone: "She is possessed. The dark lord must have planned a trump card in case someone managed to kill him. That trump card was a spell to possess his killer. The dark lord's soul has entered the girl's body and doesn't want to leave. It must have subdued Mr. Potter's soul."

Dumbledore lowered his gaze and nodded at Severus' words. "There is only one way to help Harry. We have to perform an exorcism to remove the invasive demon that is Voldemort's soul. There is one problem though. We do not have an exorcism medallion in Hogwarts. We need an exorcism medallion to be able to perform the exorcism."

"What is the purpose of the medallion?" Draco asked looking blanched.

"After the evil soul is exorcised it enters the medallion and the medallion disintegrates along with that soul. That kind of medallion is an antique instrument. They are rare and never heard of nowadays. Without one there's nothing we can do for Harry." Dumbledore looked almost ashamed of himself. "I should have known Voldemort would use trickery like this. I've failed Mr. Potter."

"What are we to do then? Just leave her like this? Transfer her to St. Mungo's? What about the baby? Can the baby get possessed too?" Draco was on the verge of tears as he asked so many questions. Pomfrey quickly fetched a calming draught, but the student pushed the phial that she offered away.

"The innocent can't get possessed. Only the body of the one who killed Voldemort," Dumbledore stated and removed some sweat from his wrinkled forehead.

Severus took a deep breath and searched for something underneath his robes and around his neck. He removed the hidden item and let it hang from his neck in a visible manner. The medallion was of a bronze colour and had serpent like vines that entangled with each other. There were also strange flower designs encrypted and a letter 'P' was engraved in the center with a star in a circle as background. "This has been in my mother's family for generations and as it has passed, every member that wore it has always known what it is. Perhaps it can be of use." Snape spoke looking very tired.

"Severus... That has the Prince family crest... Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked and Snape nodded looking at the floor. "You are aware that it will be destroyed, right?" Snape nodded again never looking at the headmaster's eyes.

Draco did something that no one expected then. He hugged the Potions master looking like a son hugging his father in an eternally grateful gesture. "Thank you, sir. I will never forget this. I'll always be in your debt." Draco looked into the Potions master's eyes and the wizard looked back and nodded being very sure of himself. Draco then bowed humbly in front of Snape and turned to Dumbledore. "Is there a risk of exorcising Harry's soul instead of Voldemort's by mistake?"

Dumbledore seemed surprised by the question, but quickly answered. "There is always a risk for everything, Mr. Malfoy. Even if the chances of something like that happening are extremely small, it can happen." Dumbledore looked very sad at that.

"What if it does happen then?" Draco asked as calmly as he could.

"Then Harry Potter will be dead and we will have to kill Voldemort immediately. The possession spell can't work twice so quickly so there won't be any risks of that happening anew. For Voldemort to use the spell all over again he has to possess the body for an extended period of time before that body gets killed."

"Does that mean we would have to kill Harry's body along with my child?"

"Yes." Severus was the one to answer.

Draco took several breaths. He was nervous about the exorcism failing, but at the same time knew there was no choice but to do it. It wasn't a matter of considering the risks. There was simply no choice. They had to perform the exorcism and that was it. "Let's do it then. Let's try to save Larissa with Harry's soul." Draco stated it with an almost trembling voice, but he knew he had to keep the faith.

Severus gave his medallion to Dumbledore and both wizards started to chant. Larissa opened her eyes, which were completely white, and as her body began convulsing, she levitated from the bed. Draco was horrified thinking that she would lose the baby like that, but Pomfrey reassured him by telling him the baby was quite safe in the amniotic sac. The girl fell on the hospital bed again as the two wizards kept on chanting. The exorcism could take many hours.

XxXxX

Harry was having no luck fighting the chains or invoking magic to break them. All of his attempts of trying to free himself were futile. His only joy was seeing Voldemort in the same predicament. Voldemort suddenly spoke: "Ever since you somehow defeated me as a baby I have always wanted to have your body."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You do know that what you are saying is quite sick and sadistic? I never knew you wanted me in that way. That is quite disgusting."

Voldemort got angry at the boy: "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN FOOLISH BOY! I WOULD HAVE NEVER WANTED TO TAKE YOUR BODY IN WAYS OTHER THAN THROUGH MERGING MY OWN SOUL INTO IT!"

Harry rolled his eyes: "Well, thanks for clarifying that. The thought of you wanting to have my body when I was just a baby was enough to give me nightmares. Well, I'm glad you're not going anywhere using my body for that matter..."

"I'll free myself and your soul will cease to exist in this world, boy. You'll see." Voldemort suddenly trembled in his chains. "They are trying to destroy my plans! How can they possibly know that I'm inside your body?"

"Do you think that everyone besides you is an idiot or something?" Harry asked with a glare, but at that moment, robes appeared covering his nakedness and the chains started to weaken. Harry seemed surprised, but he started to create magical golden waves that kept weakening the chains even more while Voldemort's chains got stronger holding the dark lord back. "Someone is trying to help me win..."

"But it won't work," Voldemort stated before breaking the chains. He summoned a wand out of nowhere and pointed it at Harry. "Fluctus Dolens."

Harry had just managed to finish breaking from the chains too when he fell to the floor in pain. It was almost like the Cruciatus curse, but it came in waves that alternated between weak and intense pain. It was a slow and painful torture. Harry couldn't even wonder if his body was suffering from the pain in the world outside his mind, although he did try to think about the baby and the possibility of the baby feeling the pain too. At the thought of his unborn child suffering, Harry was somehow able to dispel the curse and create an impenetrable shield around himself. "You won't hurt me inside my own body, Voldemort!" The words were spat with fury that burned in the emerald green eyes of The-Boy-Who-Lived.

"Crucio!" To Voldemort's surprise, the curse rebounded on an invisible shield. "This can't be! The Cruciatus curse cannot be blocked!"

"Maybe not in the real world, but this is my mind and my body, you fucking son of a bitch!" Harry exclaimed still ablaze with deep anger.

Both Harry and Voldemort started to hear the chanting coming from somewhere outside reverberating through their surroundings like an echo. Voldemort then physically attacked Harry, surprising the teen. The shield could repel magical attacks, but wasn't designed to repel physical aggression. Voldemort easily grabbed Harry's neck as if the shield had been non-existent. "They won't be able to save you. I am going to kill your soul right now with my bare hands."

Harry tried to fight Voldemort as the dark lord strangled him. He was quickly reminded of Pansy trying the same thing, but then he had Ron and Draco to save him. Now he was all alone and he had to somehow get rid of Voldemort by himself. He managed to grab Voldemort's hands and even though he couldn't make the dark wizard loosen his grip, he channeled a wave of electrocuting energy through Voldemort's hands. The reaction was instant and Voldemort freed him, but tried to claim Harry's neck yet again. Harry let himself fall backwards and joining both legs kicked Voldemort away from him, and then stood as fast as he could and strengthened his shield.

Voldemort threw himself against Harry yet again, but this time the shield was prepared to repel physical aggressions too. Harry was still holding his injured neck with one hand and his breathing was heavy and difficult. He noticed that the dark lord started to chant in a strange language and Harry wondered if it was some sort of counter attack against whatever the wizards were doing in the normal world to get the dark soul out. Harry gasped all of a sudden and a sensation of very deep fear enveloped him. He felt his body weakening and realized what Voldemort was doing. The dark lord was using a special confusing charm to channel the exorcism against Harry. Voldemort smirked all of a sudden. "Now they will destroy your soul instead of mine. Your body belongs to me, Potter."

Harry shook his head in disbelief. Voldemort couldn't win. Not like that. He had to do something fast or he would be the one to be expelled from his own body.

XxXxX

It was already 8:00 AM and Draco had a bad feeling something was amiss as Snape and Dumbledore kept chanting. He could feel as if Harry was getting farther and farther from him and suddenly couldn't hold himself any longer. "STOP!" He yelled at the wizards that had been chanting.

"What is it Mr. Malfoy?" Severus asked.

"What if the dark lord knows what you are doing? What if he has made a spell that will definitely expel Harry instead of him?" Draco looked very nervous.

"You might be right, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore replied. "I will make a counter magic right now. I will ward Harry's soul." The old wizard turned to Severus. "I will need your help. We will make sure that we won't destroy Harry's soul. We cannot commit a grave mistake, Severus."

The Potions master made a gesture that stated he would help and both men started a new chant combined with the previous one. They chanted for two hours more and at 10:05 AM magical waves flickered in the room. Magic in the form of a small dark purple demon came out of Larissa's mouth and Severus placed the medallion to receive the creature. At the same moment the creature entered the medallion, it started to get pulverized and soon disintegrated into nothingness. Nothing was left of the medallion that had been a relic passed through generations in the Prince family.

Draco trembled and the rest had worried glances. Tonks and Lupin had been silent the whole time since they had arrived at Hogwarts. Shacklebolt and Moody hadn't come with them. They would have come if they had known Larissa was Harry, but Dumbledore didn't tell them. Not even Moody's magical eye could decipher that Harry and Larissa were the same person.

They patiently waited for the girl to open her eyes and Snape even had his wand ready in case he had to kill the girl. Larissa at last started to open her eyes. She looked around the room and fixed her eyes on each of the wizards and witches there. She looked almost confused as she looked at her body. Draco carefully approached her and took her hand. "Are you alright? Is it really you?"

Larissa blinked several times and then asked in a very difficult voice: "What time is it? I'm so hungry... I'm craving some scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and if you can, Draco? Please get me some chocolate fudge ice cream for dessert. I think this baby has a sweet tooth." She gave the shocked Draco a weak smile and the white blonde boy threw himself at her, hugging her hard.

Dumbledore suddenly interrupted the sweet scene as if still trying to make sure that they had the correct person. "I have some news for you, Harry, or Larissa if you prefer the other name. I have already sent a letter to your relatives about the situation and they say that they'll receive you anyway. It will be for a few weeks until we decide where we will definitely place you. We will be looking for a house and due to investigations going on we cannot have you in the Malfoy Manor yet."

Larissa looked horrified. "WHAT? YOU ARE GOING TO SEND ME TO THE DURSLEYS LOOKING LIKE THIS? HAVE YOU GONE MAD?"

Severus lowered his wand at last and in a bored tone stated: "Yes, this is definitely Mr. Potter."

Wow... Twenty reviews! I thought I was dreaming! It's the first time I get so many reviews for one chapter! Thank you everyone! -glomps readers- Hope you enjoyed this chapter too even if it's a bit strange!

Annalisia: I'm a bit confused. I went a bit over the fic and I can't find where I mentioned that Sa came from U.S. I did mention that Harry was supposed to be in the U.S., but now that I think about it I don't remember if I ever wrote where Sa came from. LOL Silly me! I did mention somewhere that her family was supposed to be residing in New Zealand. Please point me the chap where I put it and maybe I'll rewrite that little detail as both me and my beta might have overlooked it. Sorry about that and thanks for pointing it out. -bows respectfully-