A/N: I would like to thank my friends (who are also HP freaks) for their unwavering support at my crazy rantings… Love you guys! Do check out my fictionpress story… just look for perenniallyclumsy, ok?

I will repeat it again:

Miss J. K. Rowling owns the entire wizarding universe and my soul… I am at her disposal… Note: Miss Rowling, I'm deathly afraid of lawyers! I'm just one of the millions of HP fanatics and one of the many H/G shipper…

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Chapter 10

The week had past but the three had a hard time researching about Horcruxes in the library in Grimmauld Place.

"I think it's time for us to go back to the Burrow… Maybe once we get to Hogwarts, we'll find out anything about the Hogwarts founders…. I have this feeling we should start there…" Hermione told Harry and Ron.

Harry nodded at her. The past week had taken its toll on him. He already had dark circles under his eyes, he can't get decent sleep with many of his thoughts swimming inside his head… and then he suddenly remembered…

"Wait…."

"What?" Ron's voice was muffled as he was wolfing down another piece of toast.

"I remembered something… This house had a metal snake thing on the door, right?"

Hermione nodded at him.

"I remembered inside Dumbledore's memory, in the pensieve, that the house where the Gaunts had lived had a snake nailed on its door."

"Meaning?"

"A Horcrux might be here somewhere…"

Hermione's eyes lit up, "Remember when we were cleaning up here and we found a music box that made us sleepy and inside was a…"

"Locket that we cannot open…" Ron finished her sentence, "It might be the true locket! R.A.B. maybe a Black!"

"Sirius's brother Regulus was a Death Eater, remember?"

"But he was killed…" Harry answered dejectedly.

"Maybe he was killed because he wanted out. Maybe he had a change of heart when he learned about what Voldemort was doing to himself to be immortal…"

"Then the locket might still be here…" Ron said hopefully.

"We only have one slight setback here…"

Harry looked at Hermione, "Mundungus stole stuff here…. He might have stolen the music box and the locket…"

"Well, there's one way to find out… Call Kreacher…"

"What? Why would Harry call that thing!"

"It's the only way!"

Ron and Hermione started their usual bickering.

Harry rolled his eyes and shouted, "Kreacher!"

An old house-elf appeared before them, he was on an extremely low bow.

"What can I do for the young master?"

"Kreacher, did you keep any of the possessions here when we cleaned up?"

Kreacher muttered, "The nerve of this half-blood ordering me around."

"What did you say?" Harry sarcastically asked Kreacher, hearing every word the house elf said.

"Nothing, young master…"

"This is absolutely useless!" Ron exclaimed.

The three heard a mutter "Filthy blood traitor!" from Kreacher.

Harry's temper was coming to a boil, "Thank you Kreacher, you may go back to Hogwarts now."

Kreacher was not moving a limb.

Harry's patience was wearing thin because of lack of sleep.

"I said now, Kreacher!"

The house elf executed another low bow before disappearing.

"Merlin, that house elf is such a pain!"
Harry sighed, they must go through everything inside Grimmauld Place again.

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In the Burrow, there was another person who could not get decent sleep for a week. Ginny has had the same thoughts throughout the week.

'What if Harry kills himself? Or what if Harry really is a Horcrux?'

Anne, on the other hand, was researching practical Healing charms she thought would be of use during the rest of the year. She was also puzzled when she researched about the wizarding family of the Rosellos, she found out Franz really was from that family, and when she checked her lineage, she also existed in the eyes of the wizarding world. She had been contemplating on asking Dumbledore's portrait as soon as Harry and the others got back.

Ginny helped Mrs. Weasley around the Burrow with Anne when they were done researching useful spells for the DA. She hoped that Harry, Hermione and her brother Ron would come back safely. Both of them had heard from the members of the Order that they were indeed safe inside Grimmauld Place and Order members who are Aurors are keeping tabs of them daily.

A knock outside was heard and soon Anne and Ginny heard a scream. They ran downstairs, holding their wands, ready to attack.

They both saw Mrs. Weasley hugging Harry, Ron and Hermione, with her left hand covered in a piece of cloth.

"Mrs. Weasley, what happened to your hand?" Hermione inquired.

"I cut myself when you knocked. I'm jumpy these days…with practically the whole family in the war and all.." Mrs. Weasley said tearfully.

Harry, who was still hugging Ginny, looked at Mrs. Weasley.

The war indeed took its toll on her. Her face, once was plump and rosy, is now pale and thin. Her eyes are now full of worry. She was always on the verge of tears.

"Hermione, try Alacerato with your wand swishing counterclockwise."

Hermione nodded at Anne and performed the spell on Mrs. Weasley's cut. It healed instantly.

"Anne and I have been researching on different spells we think are useful. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey even sent us some books." Ginny explained to Harry.

Sobs were heard from Mrs. Weasley. The five of them, who seemed to be on the same page, hugged Mrs. Weasley all at the same time. Mrs. Weasley sobbed but then laughed at this affectionate gesture.

"I might lose my marbles with all of you running about. Now, go up and unpack!" she said as she was wiping tears from her face, half-crying and half-laughing.

The five saw her predicament and laughed as they went upstairs.

Harry went to Ron's room. Ron was unbelievingly silent.

"Ron?"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing…"

"What?"

"Nothing, you seem quiet today…"

"I was just thinking about Mum… the whole family, really… I do hope we survive this war in one piece… Even with that git Percy…"

"I do hope so, Ron… You guys are the only family I've got besides Lupin…"

"And also Hermione… I mean, has she even told her parents about what's going on around here?"

Harry was now folding his clothes while Ron patted his bed flat.

"Maybe not, or else she wouldn't be here with you… er, with us…"

Ron threw a pillow at him.

"I thought when you got your act together you would stop fighting… then again, I was wrong… you two still drive me up the wall!" Harry threw back the pillow.

"Seriously, Harry, if we survive this war, what would happen to us? The three of us, I mean? We might go our separate means, you with the whole Auror thing, me with I don't know what, Hermione with her spew thing on a grander scale…"

"Don't worry, Ron. We would still be best mates… And I think I don't want to become an Auror anymore…"

Ron sat on his bed, opening a Chocolate Frog. "What are you saying, Harry? You're the best in Defense. You already fought V-v-volde.. oh damn… Moldyshorts tons of times and also Death Eaters… You have a lot of experience under your belt, Auror training should be easy for you…"

"That's my point, Ron. I don't want to fight Death Eaters forever... I also don't know what to do after Hogwarts and the whole Voldemort business… I didn't think I would survive this long…"

"Don't say that, Harry. I know we can do it… I know you can kill him…"

There was silence after Ron's last statement. The tension and serious thinking broke when there was a muffled boiling noise.

"What's that sound?" Harry looked at Ron.

Ron's ears reddened. "That my stomach saying it wants food pronto.."

Harry laughed and they both got up and headed downstairs.

"By the way, it was cool when you called him Moldyshorts… It has a nice ring to it…"

Ron clapped him on the shoulder, "Better than Fred and George's U-No-Poo…"

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Anne and Ginny helped Hermione unpack her things in Ginny's room.

"Harry told me about everything you guessed while you guys were in Godric's Hollow…"

"Ginny, maybe it's just my silly brain.. Maybe my brain's just addled with too much thinking…"

"Actually, you're partly right, Hermione… Ginny here is just overreacting to what Harry told her."

"So, what's your guess in all of this?"

Anne got up and got a piece of parchment and her Everlasting Ink quill.

"Okay, let's say that Voldy has already divided his soul into six pieces before coming after Harry. Since he found out half of the prophecy that made him into a wanting-to-be-immortal lunatic, he set out to kill Harry and make himself the last Horcrux or what he thought as the grand finale of all Horcruxes. My guess is that a soul is on the process of 'ripping' while doing the Killing Curse… So, while Voldy is doing the Killing Curse, his soul is ripped and he would soon transfer the seventh soul into another vessel… But Harry's protection from his mother acted as a shield so Harry won't be killed… The curse went back to Voldy turning him into Vapormort (Ginny snorted at Anne's humor), but the souls are still there… The whole sacrifice thing was the main factor… It made Harry into what I call a reverse Horcrux…"

"A what?" Hermione asked as she was trying to digest what Anne was talking about.

"We should discuss it later with Harry and Ron… Let me tweak a bit more on my hypothesis…"

Ginny nodded at Anne and Hermione and they went downstairs.

After dinner, the five met up at Ginny's room.

"What is this about?"

Anne looked at the others nervously, "Let's just all sit down first…"

As they all sat down, Hermione started the conversation.

"Remember what I said in Godric's Hollow? Anne heard your conversation with Ginny and she formulated something a bit more positive than what I have told you."

Anne looked around the room, "Ron, could you put a locking spell and a silencing charm on the room?"

Ron got up to do what Anne said.

"Well, I do hope that this maybe the answer to the question why Harry has a connection with Voldemort…"

The others nodded.

"Like what I said earlier, maybe before he was to kill you, he only had five Horcruxes, that would make six parts of his soul. Since he was all bonkers with the whole prophecy thing, sorry Harry I knew about that too, he might have planned to make a Horcrux after killing you. Let's just say it would be more dramatic if he made THE last. I mean, it's pretty symbolic, but he had made his own enemy. You were but an innocent (Ginny snorted at this statement) baby. What harm could you do? What I thought was a soul rips while doing the Killing curse. So, when Voldemort is in the process of killing you, that millisecond after he said the curse and before the curse hit you, his soul rips apart into the seventh one. Of course, it would become the Horcrux after he transfers it to a vessel. Then, your mother's protection was an important factor in this. Her protection deflected the curse and destroyed Voldemort's body, but the seventh piece of his soul accidentally got transferred into you…"

"His scar…." Ron mouthed as the information Anne just said was a bit shocking.

"That's it! The scar!" Hermione exclaimed, "Now, I fully understand everything! He accidentally marked you, meaning he unwittingly transferred his soul into you through that scar, but he couldn't control you, unlike the snake."

"Yeah, I do have that connection through this scar.."

"He couldn't control you because your scar is a reverse Horcrux." Anne interrupted.

"A what?"

"A reverse Horcrux. Simple, a Horcrux that had been accidentally made but your mother's protection made it good. I mean, it canceled out Voldemort's evilness? Shucks, I sound corny…"

"You do have a point there." Ginny answered.

"We could discuss it with Dumbledore's portrait…"

"Or his brother…." Anne smiled mysteriously, "Don't worry, we can talk to him at Hogwarts. Come on, let's go to bed. My brain's all mixed up right now…"

Just when Harry followed Ron out of the room, "Harry?"

"Huh?" Harry looked at Anne.

"Can I borrow Dumbledore's portrait for a while? I need to clarify something…"

"Okay, I'll just get it in my room."

As soon as Harry returned and gave Anne Dumbledore's pocket-sized portrait, she quickly went in the bathroom and locked it.

"Professor? I need to ask you something about what happened after we came here… There's something terribly wrong…"

Dumbledore winked at her, "Your question will be answered, my dear… As soon as you go back to Hogwarts."

Anne nodded at the portrait.