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A/N: I know, I know. I am such a BEAST for writing this so quickly! I've just had a lot more spare time than what I am used to and I put it to good use! Be sure to leave me loads of those long and juicy reviews! And enjoy the chapter!
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Chapter Forty-Five
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Harry woke the next morning to yet another nightmare… It was really starting to concern him, and he wondered if Voldemort was sending him the nightmares though the mental connection they had - just like with when Voldemort sent him the false vision of Sirius in the Department of Mysteries.
But Harry didn't dwell on the thought and brushed it aside to deal with at another time. Instead, he allowed himself to feel the malicious anticipation that every other Gryffindor student felt for what was coming later in the day…
Harry grinned widely as he shot out of bed. Though he did have a nightmare, thankfully it had only happened right before he normally got up for the day, so he actually had some sleep last night.
Harry quickly changed his clothes, putting on his warm, green sweater that Mrs. Weasley had knit for him last Christmas and some trousers. Before he left the dormitory, he made sure to grab his winter robe, scarf and mittens, knowing that he would need them for after breakfast.
He knew that it was still too early for Ron to be out of bed on a Sunday, and the loud snore behind his bed curtains confirmed as much to Harry. So, he decided to let his best mate sleep in for a bit longer.
Harry went downstairs to the common room, deciding to wait in the chair by the fireplace. And he didn't have to wait long for people to start coming down from their own dormitories…
It seemed that he wasn't the only one buzzing with anticipation for today, seeing as everyone was up early for the Sunday.
Ginny seemed to be no exception. When Harry saw her bounding down the stairs, wearing the old, green sweater that he wore during his first year that she had claimed as her own. Harry couldn't help but laugh at her excitable demeanor as he stood to meet her at the bottom.
"Harry!" Ginny greeted, ecstatic and also a tad bit smug. She jumped into his arms and he caught her easily, both laughing as he twirled her once before putting her back down on the floor. Though, he still kept his arms around her waist as he beamed down at her.
"You know what today is, right?" She asked, looking up at him with mischief shining in her eyes.
Harry chuckled. "Of course, Gin. How could I forget?"
Ginny only grinned wider in response, before she tightened her hold around his neck and leaned up to kiss him soundly.
Harry kissed her back, loving the feeling of her soft lips against his as well as the taste of her fresh, minty breath…
Until, she couldn't hold back the bubbling anticipation within her any longer and she started giggling against his lips.
Harry pulled back to raise a single eyebrow at her, and the one look had her outright laughing, which Harry automatically joined, as her laughter was too infectious.
"I'm sorry!" Ginny managed to get out in between fits of laughter. "I can't help it! I just keep picturing it, and-"
She broke off in another fit of laughter, and they had to lean on each other for support.
They were interrupted by Hermione, who came down the stairs in much the same mood as everyone else. She smiled when she saw them, coming right up to immediately ask, "You both remember what today is, right?"
Both Harry and Ginny, who had calmed down significantly from their laughter, both nodded eagerly at her.
"Of course!" Ginny exclaimed. "And I have to say that I'm downright excited!"
Something flashed in Hermione's eyes that Harry had only seen a few times from her before… the sight of justice being served.
They all went down to breakfast together, each chattering about what was to come as they loaded their plates with delicious food. It wasn't long before Ron joined them at the table, where he first planted a kiss on Hermione's lips, before he turned to all of them and asked, "You know what today is, right?"
They all laughed, and confirmed that they did, indeed, know what today was.
It was clear to Harry that everyone in the Great Hall was anticipating the end of breakfast. Even some Slytherins were bouncing their legs anxiously in anticipation.
So, when the food on the tables finally disappeared - signifying the end of breakfast - everyone let out a loud cheer and stood from their seats.
Harry stood from the bench as well, and held out his hand to Ginny in offering, where she smiled brightly at him before taking it and standing herself.
The four of them followed the crowd through the Great Hall entrance towards the castle doors to the outside.
Harry and Ginny walked next to Ron and Hermione with their hands firmly clasped and swinging slightly in between them as they walked.
When they were almost to their destination, along with the rest of the crowd, Ginny started randomly giggling again. And Harry couldn't help it, he smiled widely down at her and pressed a lingering kiss to the side of her head.
"I just keep picturing it!" Ginny exclaimed, causing all of them to laugh as they themselves pictured it as well.
When they got to the quidditch pitch, Harry experienced the unusual occurrence of heading up the stairs to the Gryffindor stands to find a seat. He honestly couldn't think of many occurances where he was a spectator instead of a player for a quidditch game.
But by the time they had gotten to the stands, they found the seats to mostly be filled with few actually vacant.
"What should we do?" Hermione asked, slightly anxious as she craned her neck for any seats.
They all looked around until Ginny gasped delightedly and pointed towards two seat openings towards the back. "Right there!"
Ron and Harry looked to where she was pointing.
"Those seats will only fit two people, Ginny…" Ron pointed out, with a roll of his eyes.
Ginny looked at him as though he were daft. "Which is why I'll be sitting on Harry's lap and Hermione will sit on yours."
A redness crept up Ron's neck up to his hairline. "Oh no you won-"
"Perfect!" Hermione interjected before the two could get into a row and they would lose the seats. "Let's go."
She started tugging Ron up the steps to the vacant seats, while Harry turned his gaze to Ginny with an amused gleam in his eyes.
Hermione really had Ron wrapped around her finger...
Harry tightened his hold on Ginny's hand and led them up the steps behind Ron and Hermione. They each tried to ignore the whispers they heard following them from the number of Gryffindors that still believed the article. They learned that it was just easier to think that the article never happened and they just continue living their lives as usual.
When they arrived at their spot, Harry let go of Ginny's hand and sat down in the available spot next to Ron and Hermione. Then he opened his arms for Ginny to step forward and sit herself sideways on his lap.
As she did so, Harry caught a waft of her flowery scent. And he was suddenly acutely aware to how close she was to him.
Without meaning to, his mind drifted to what he would do in that moment if they happened to be alone…
He would most-likely pull her closer so that his lips could attach themselves to her neck. He had wanted to give her more hickeys since the first ones he gave her. He had never gotten the chance to really explore them before they disappeared. And they hadn't much time since to find a good time to snog, with everything that had been going on…
He thought of the red welts his mouth had created on her collarbone and much to his horror, he felt himself start to react in his trousers! And he was quickly filling to full-mast… his erection pressing up right against Ginny's bum!
Beside them, he heard Ron and Hermione chattering with one another, but he was distinctly focused on not meeting his gaze with Ginny's.
He knew that she could feel his hardness. It was impossible for her not to.
With all of his internal willpower, Harry tried to get his erection to disappear. He thought of numerous disturbing things, even the mental picture Dudley in that yellow, polka-dot dress that had always worked for him in the past.
But it didn't work this time.
Not with the object of his desire pressed up so close to his burning need.
Knowing that he had to face her at some point, Harry lifted his eyes from the spot he had been focusing intently at on the ground. He tentatively peeked his eyes up at her.
She was looking off into the distance… Her face flaming as red as her hair as her eyes were trained away from him.
Harry was mortified! He knew it… She could feel it!
He had been all prepared to wish for a hole to open underneath him that he could fall through, when Ginny finally turned her gaze towards his.
Her face was still flaming as they stared at one another, and Harry could feel that his own was much the same.
Her eyes were indistinguishable to him. He had no idea what she could possibly be thinking about his predicament… But then she leaned forward, slowly closing in on him so that she could press a lingering kiss on his cheek.
Harry nearly froze at the action.
Then she was pulling away… and looking into his eyes once again with that unreadable expression.
What in Merlin's name did that mean?!
Did the kiss mean that she was okay with the way his boner was pressing up against her? Did it mean that she merely understood that it was out of his control? Or maybe, just maybe, did it mean that she actually liked it?
Harry was scrambling his brain, trying to find clues through her mere actions. Because it wasn't as though he could outright ask her about it now...! Or even merely apologize. They were in a crowded place with Ron, Ginny's brother, sitting right next to them. There was no way he could find out what she thought about it now.
And a sinking feeling overcame him as he realized that he had no way of bringing it up when they were alone, either… Because how in Merlin's name was he supposed to ruddy bring it up?!
"Say, Ginny… Remember, back when you were sitting on my lap and you felt my erect penis poking your bum? Yeah… I was wondering what you thought about that?"
He would probably get bat bogeys coming out of his nose for that one. Just from how bloody wrong it sounded.
It made him sound like a creep that was propositioning her and it reminded him of something that Draco would say to her.
So Harry merely continued to stare, silent questions in his eyes. And she stared right back.
"Did the quidditch pitch alway have mosqetero eggs laid into the field, Professor McGonagall?" Luna's voice came abruptly from the speakers overhead, causing both Harry and Ginny to jump. "Because if the players touch them, they will start to have hallucinations and want to jump off of the nearest cliff and-"
"Miss. Lovegood!" McGonagall's voice came over the speaker, both admonishing and scandalized at the same time.
"What?" Luna questioned, seeming completely unbothered. "It's a defense mechanism for their offspring."
Beside them, Ron was laughing uproariously along with some of the other students in the stands, and even Harry and Ginny felt their lips twitch with humor.
"Just introduce the players for the game, Miss. Lovegood," McGonagall aquised, sounding beyond tired by Luna's antics.
So, Luna did. First, she introduced the players for the Hufflepuff team, each running out of their locker room and onto the field as their names were called. Then, much to everyone's intense excitement, she started introducing the Slytherin team.
"-Vaisey, Slytherin's second chaser." Luna continued commenting, as the fifth year in question ran out onto the field with his broom in hand.
Everyone waited on bated breath. Ginny scooted subconsciously closer to him on his lap, tightening her hold around the back of his neck with her one arm in anticipation. The action caused her to rub against his cock, and it took everything within Harry not to let out a strangled groan.
"And, finally, the Slytherin captain and seeker, Draco Malfoy." Luna announced, and everyone craned their necks to try and see the exact moment Draco would step out onto the field.
It took a long moment, as everyone waited to see Draco emerge…
Until…
"Merlin!" Ron cried out, malicious glee in his voice. "There he is!"
Draco emerged from the locker room, walking onto the field instead of running as every other player had. And Harry knew exactly why he wasn't as excited as every other player was for the match…
Draco was wearing a green dress. And not just any dress, either. It looked like a dress that would be put on the cover of Witch Weekly, from how low-cut it was.
But that wasn't all… Oh, no… Draco had his short, white hair up into two stubby pigtails that stuck straight up from his head. And he was wearing the thickest amount of make-up he had ever seen.
One look at him caused Harry's erection to die.
Which Ginny must have felt, as she whipped her gaze from Draco to lock eyes with him, surprise heavy in the weight of them.
Harry honestly tried not to look sheepish, but he couldn't help it when her eyes were appraising his face like that.
Then, Ginny let her head fall back with a boisterous laugh. Which, luckily, wasn't so out of place as everyone was pointing a laughing at Draco as well.
"Oh, my…" Hermione breathed with a mixture of disgust and awed curiosity in her voice. It reminded Harry of people who couldn't look away from a tragic accident. "He's hideous."
Ginny, who wasn't even bothering to contain her laughter, managed to get out, "Harry thinks so too!"
Harry thought that he would just about die of humiliation. The only solace he had was that Draco was probably more embarrassed than he was at the moment.
But Ginny must have seen the redness that overshadowed his cheeks, because she finally managed to stop laughing in order for her to lean closer to him to whisper into his ear, "I must say that I'm glad that you find Draco hideous, Harry. I'd be concerned if you didn't…"
And with that, she pulled away, winked at him and turned to watch the game start.
Harry watched the side of her face for the entire match, completely flabbergasted at this side of his girlfriend… before he finally came to the conclusion that he liked it, just as it was announced that Slytherin had actually won the match.
…...
Harry shivered as his shoes crunched in the white snow with his every step. He had thought that a good walk around the grounds would calm him enough that he wouldn't have any nightmares that night, but the winter air was chillier than he had originally anticipated.
That wasn't his only reason why he was out for a walk. The truth was, that it was just something that would occupy his time. Ginny had to study more for her O.W.L.'s, so she and Colin were in the library for the evening. Harry had offered to help them study, but Ginny banned him from joining them…
"You are far too distracting, Harry." She had said before she had given his a saucy wink. She had been giving a lot of those to him, lately. In fact, she was more flirty with him, altogether.
And he liked it. A lot.
Then, Ron and Hermione were spending some quality time together, and Merlin knew that Harry wanted no part in that…
So, he decided that a walk along the grounds would be nice.
He was wrong.
The bite of the wind cut at the skin of his half exposed face as he tried to bury as much of his chin within his red, Gryffindor scarf as possible. He was sure that his cheeks and the tip of his nose were a blazing, chapped red at this point, and he really hoped that he wouldn't come down with a cold.
He had just been making his way back to the castle, when a puff of smoke caught his eye out in the distance…
Harry gasped, completely forgetting how the cold affected him, as he started to rush forward toward the stairway down the jagged hilltop.
Excitement coursed through his veins, and the effect made him feel loads warmer.
He passed by the Herbology greenhouse, completely unaware of the portly body sticking half out of the window of the green house…
"Merlin's beard, Harry!" An exclamation came from the man that Harry had accidentally bumped into, knocking him over to the floor.
Harry looked down at the man in surprise, his eyebrows raised as he noted Professor Slughorn on his bum on the snowy ground.
"Oh, sorry, Professor," Harry said, apologetically, as he held out a hand to help the man up to his feet again, which Slughorn accepted.
"Oh, it's quite alright, Harry… You just have to be more mindful of where you are walking, is all…" Slughorn said light-heartedly as he brushed off flakes of snow from his robes.
Harry bit his bottom lip to keep the snarky reply that he wanted to say in, and merely nodded his head and replied, "I'll be more mindful in the future, Professor."
Slughorn nodded, and lifted a hand to pat Harry on the back. "Very good, then. Now, allow me to escort you back to the castle, Harry."
"But, sir," Harry complained, his voice just on the edge of firm, "I had just noticed that Hagrid is back and I was hoping to go pay him a visit."
"Hagrid, you say?"
Harry nodded vigorously, still rather anxious to finally see the gentle half-giant for the first time that year. "Yes. You see, Hagrid and I are quite good friends and I hadn't seen him all year, so far. I only just noticed that he's back in his hut."
"Harry, I can't just have you wandering the Hogwarts grounds unaccompanied." Slughorn chided, in a disapproving tone. "It's almost curfew!"
Harry paused as disappointment coursed through him, before he decided to take a chance to daringly say, "Well, you're welcome to come along…?"
Harry could see the glint in Slughorn's eyes as he considered this. It was clear that Slughorn very much liked the idea of spending quality time with Harry in order to have another chance to 'collect' him as one of his connections.
A flash of distaste coursed through Harry, before, with a start, he realized that Dumbledore would be extremely pleased with this very situation.
Hadn't Harry promised that he would get close to Slughorn and try to get the tampered memory when Dumbledore brought his family back from the dead?
This could be the exact opportunity that he was looking for. Only, he would need Hagrid's help in order to make it possible…
"Well," Slughorn said, a lilt of concession in his tone, "I suppose a quick chat with Hagrid would be nice."
Harry smiled pleasantly in his outward appearance, but inwardly, he was smirking at his good fortune. Little did Slughorn know, this visit with Hagrid was going to be more than just a quick chat.
They made their way down the jagged stairway together towards Hagrid's hut, and Harry felt the swooping sensation of excitement in his gut at the anticipation of seeing the very first friend he ever had, again.
It wasn't long before the two of them had made it to the door to Hagrid's hut, and Harry took the initiative to knock.
A howling bark came from the other side of the door, which Harry recognized to belong to Fang, before creaking footsteps could be heard on the other side as well.
"Settle down now, Fang." Harry heard Hagrid's distinctive accent. "No need fer fuss."
Then, the door opened, and the flooding of warm light came out of the opening of the door.
"Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed with an exuberant belly laugh. He reached forward to pull Harry into his giant's embrace, giving heavy pats on Harry's back. "Good to see yeh, Harry, good to see yeh!"
"Hello, Hagrid!" Harry replied with a beaming smile as he leaned back from the embrace to get a good look at his friend. But when he did, a prompt frown replaced the smile on his face.
"Hagrid…" Harry breathed in concern and dread. "What in Merlin's name happened to your face?"
For a moment, Hagrid almost looked embarrassed, before he shook his head and his face cleared. It made Harry even more suspicious.
"Was wranglin' with beasts, is all, same as las' year…" Hagrid responded in a very light, albeit demure, manner. And Harry immediately caught on to what he was implying to.
Hagrid had went to visit the giants again. Most likely on Dumbledore's request.
But judging by the state of Hagrid's face, he had proved to be unsuccessful on his second go around with the giants.
There was a clearing of a throat behind him, and Harry turned to see Slughorn step forward as he extended his hand to Hagrid.
"Hello Hagrid, ol' chap. It's been quite some time since we last met."
"Don' I know it, Mr. Slughorn!" Hagrid said boisterously as he reached his hand forward to heartily shake Slughorn's. "Whacha doin' aroun' Hogwarts?"
Harry smiled slightly as he interceded and answered for Slughorn. "Professor Slughorn took over for Potions this year. And I am mighty glad for it. Professor Slughorn is an excellent teacher!"
Slughorn spluttered at the unexpected praise, pretending to be modest from Harry's words by dismissing them. But as he did so, Hagrid looked over at him with raised eyebrows and questioning eyes.
Perhaps Harry was laying it on a little too thick… especially if Hagrid, the most accepting and naive person Harry had ever met, could see through his bullshit.
But apparently, Slughorn didn't see through it, which was what mattered most.
"Really…?" Hagrid drawled, still eyeing Harry with suspicions of what he was up to. "What's happened to Professor Snape then?"
Harry tried not to let his face sour at the mention of Snape, but he was luckily saved from answering in what he knew would be a snide way towards Snape when Slughorn answered.
"Albus had put him in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. From what I understand, the man has wanted the position for quite some time."
Pure shock flashed across Hagrid's face before he remembered himself and schooled his expression. "Well, I always say tha' good ol' Dumbledore has good reasons fer doin' things."
Slughorn shifted slightly where he stood, trying to cover a cough, and it was clear to Harry that Slughorn disagreed with Hagrid's statement.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew in their direction and all three of them let out shivers.
"Merlin's beard!" Hagrid exclaimed as he stepped out of the way from the open door to his hut. "I've gone an' fergot my manners! Come in before yeh freeze from the chill!"
They all gratefully piled inside, and as soon as they did, Fang was upon them. Sniffing happily before he jumped up against Slughorn with a wagging tail.
It was just the distraction that Harry needed.
He quickly pulled Hagrid over to his kitchen area of the hut, dragging him by the fabric of his sleeve jacket.
"I'm here on business for Dumbledore." Harry muttered as he let go of Hagrid's sleeve and took the liberty to pour some of the hot tea from the kettle he found waiting on the kitchen countertop. "Make sure you offer Slughorn a goblet of mead and keep his glass full. We want to get him plastered."
He peaked one look over at Hagrid and saw that he was looking at Harry in shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but Harry cut him off with a look, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Slughorn had managed to wrangle away Fang and was coming towards them. His robes now looked unkempt.
He elbowed Hagrid discreetly, hoping against hope that Hagrid had heard him correctly and that he was willing to do what he said.
Hagrid jumped at the jab to his side, before he turned to Slughorn. With one last secretive glance at Harry, he looked up invitingly at Slughorn with a welcoming grin. "Would yeh join me in a glass of the finest mead in all of Scotlan', Professor? I've been wantin' to break open a bottle, but I've been waitin' fer someone to join me."
Slughorn looked uncertain, but seemed to look unable to find a way to say no. Hagrid took the choice away from him, as he turned and took out a bottle and uncorked it. Then he poured it into two goblets and passed one over to Slughorn.
"Well…" Slughorn surmised as he looked down at his very full goblet. "I suppose that one drink won't hurt."
And with that, he brought his goblet over to the table where they all sat down. Harry with his tea, and Slughorn and Hagrid with their goblets of mead.
…
"I'mma telling yeh! Good ol' Dumble-dee-dore went righ' up to dat there stage an' started dancin' the jabberwocky jus' tah keep the poor lad from embarrassment. Good man, Dumble-lee-dore."
It took everything within Harry not to fall over from his laughter as he pictured Dumbledore doing the sporadic jabberwocky dance in front of so many people. He could just picture it with Dumbledore in his bright, purple robes.
Hagrid had been true to Harry's request in keeping Slughorn's goblet full, but in the process, Hagrid had indulged in too much drink, as well. And from the way that Hagrid swayed in his seat, he wasn't going to last past the drink in his hand.
Luckily, Slughorn seemed just as out of it as Hagrid. And Harry was wracking his mind in how he was going to broach the subject of the tampered memory. Especially with Hagrid present.
Hagrid finished his laughter, and lifted his goblet to his lips, attempting to drink all that remained in the cup. But in the middle of finishing it, Hagrid fell back, his goblet falling to the floor and he passed out into a snoring sleep.
Slughorn didn't even seem fazed by Hagrid's fall and instead turned his bleary-eyed gaze over towards Harry.
Harry stared back evenly at him, wondering at how and why this man before him had the answers that he and Dumbledore seeked. It was true that Harry was slightly biased, as he didn't have a very high opinion of the Potions Professor. It seemed that Slughorn cared about everything that Harry has ever detested. Like wealth, status… fame.
Before Harry had even met him, he had already formed a judgement of him from what Dumbledore had told him about how Slughorn would try and collect Harry.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have eyes exactly like your mother's?" Slughorn said suddenly, drawing Harry from his thoughts.
Harry tried not to roll his eyes. He had heard that very thing from every person who had ever known his mum. "Yes, Professor."
Slughorn nodded minutely, taking another sip of his goblet, before he looked over Harry again. "But you look like your father…"
Harry didn't say anything.
Slughorn set his goblet down, and continued to study him with an appraising eye. "I didn't know James very well. He was the epitome of a troublesome Gryffindor, and I tended to distance myself away from those sort."
Harry tried not to smirk, glad to hear that his dad had given Slughorn hell back in his Hogwarts years.
"But your mother…" Slughorn said, as his voice trailed off wistfully. His eyes stared at nothing as he remembered the past. "I was quite fond of her."
Harry swallowed, unable to know of what to say.
Slughorn stared down at the table, his hand subconsciously wrapped itself around the cup of his drink again. "You know I had a fish once, Francis, he was very dear to me. But then one afternoon, I came downstairs and he, and he vanished."
Harry frowned, wondering at where the conversation was headed. "That's very odd…"
Slughorn nodded, and his arms came up in the air, suddenly animated. "Yes it is, isn't it? But that's life, I suppose? You go along, and suddenly… Poof."
Harry stared as Slughorn dropped his hands and looked down at them, suddenly very melancholy.
"The student that gave me Francis… One spring afternoon, I discovered a bowl on my desk. Just a few inches of clear water in it. Float on the surface… was a flower petal. As I watched it sank, just before it reached the bottom, it transformed. To a wee fish. It was most beautiful magic." Slughorn's voice cracked as he lifted his eyes to look at Harry once again.
Harry could only stare, his lungs now devoid of breath as he sat and listened with wide eyes.
"It was wondrous to behold," Slughorn whispered. "The flower petal had come from a lily… Your mother."
Harry couldn't even blink.
"The day that I came downstairs, the day the bowl was empty… was the day your mother..." Slughorn trailed off, seeming unable to finish the sentence that would have broken Harry if he didn't already know that his mother was alive and well. Slughorn's eyes suddenly became wide and knowing as his fingers slowly unfolded themselves flat onto the table.
"I know why you're here…" Slughorn whispered before he shook his head minutely, "...But I can't help you… It'd ruin me."
Harry swallowed, and finally blinked his eyes as the brokenness of the words hit him. "You know how I survived, Professor?" His hand came up to trace the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. "The night I got this…"
Slughorn's gaze openly stared at the prominent scar on his forehead as he traced it. Harry dropped his hand. "It was because of her. Because she sacrificed herself. Because she refused to step aside. Because her love was more powerful than Voldemort-"
Slughorn immediately held up his hands and shook his head in fear. "Don't say the name." He said, hastily.
Harry frowned.
"I'm not afraid of the name, Professor." He said with a hard edge to his tone as he stood and walked around the table until he was standing right in front of Slughorn, towering over the seated man. "I'm going to tell you something… something that only others have guessed at. It's true. I am the Chosen One."
Slughorn looked up at him with a mixture of dread, awe, and fear.
"Only I can destroy him," Harry continued passionately, "But in order to do so, I need to know what it was that Tom Riddle asked you all those years ago in your office and I need to know what you told him."
Slughorn was shaking his head in denial before Harry even finished his sentence, his bleary eyes now watery.
"Be brave, Professor!" Harry exclaimed, as he took hold of the courage of the words that seemed to want to flood through him. Before he trailed off, his voice becoming soft. "Be brave like my mother… Otherwise, you disgrace her."
The watering in Slughorn's eyes tipped over to the tops of his cheeks as he stared up at Harry with desperate grief.
"Otherwise… She died for nothing." Harry said quietly. "Otherwise, the bowl will remain empty. Forever."
The tears stopped flowing from Slughorn's eyes. And he looked up at Harry with nothing but a daunting stare. Harry watched as his arm moved, down to his pocket where he got his wand.
"Please…" Slughorn's cracked voice whispered. "Don't think badly of me when you see it. You have no idea what he was like, even then."
Slughorn lifted his wand to his temple, concentrating with a wince as he extracted the white wisp of the memory from his mind.
Harry could hardly breath as Slughorn held up a vial in his shaking hand, and Harry reached forward to help him steady it as he released the memory into it.
…..
"I must say that I am impressed that you took your mission so seriously, Harry." Dumbledore stated as he poured the memory from the vial into the pensive. They both stood, looming over the pale glow as the memory took hold in the watery bowl.
As soon as Harry had departed from Hagrid's hut, he had went straight to Dumbledore's office with the memory. Luckily, he had his invisibility cloak to keep him hidden since it was past curfew. And Merlin knows that if he were caught by Filch, he would have confiscated the vial from him.
Harry chose not to respond to Dumbledore's praise, not knowing what to say. Some part of him actually felt guilty in how he had used his mother as a pawn to get what he needed from Slughorn. Lily Potter was no longer dead, but Slughorn didn't know that. And Harry had used that to his advantage.
But he kept telling himself that it was all for the greater good of the Wizarding World. He did it to keep his mum safe, along with his dad, Sirius, Remus, the Weasleys, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. And that was a mission that he took very seriously.
"You ready?" Dumbledore asked him and Harry could only nod before they each leaned their heads forward to get sucked into the pensieve.
The memory started out similar to the tampered one before. Until the key differences started to reveal themselves. For one, Slughorn didn't shout at Tom and instead answered his inquiries. And as Harry watched the sly smile on Tom Riddle's face, it sent shivers down his spine… memories from the Tom Riddle he saw in the Chamber of Secrets coming to mind.
It wasn't long before they both emerged from the pensieve. Harry looked over at Dumbledore, who immediately strode over to his desk, rummaging through the mess in his drawers with intent purpose.
"Professor…?" Harry asked, his voice wary as he sensed, with mounting dread, the precariousness of the situation he was about to learn of. "What's a horocux?"
With a gleam in his eye, Dumbledore found what it was that he was looking for and produced a hole-ridden book that had multiple stab wounds and ink stains covering the pages.
Harry's eyes widened as he recognized Tom Riddle's diary.
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A/N: Leave me plenty of reviews! I just love the conversation between Slughorn and Harry from the movie! It was actually the one instance where the movie did it better than the book, in my opinion. Cheers!