By the time Severus had to go back to Hogwarts his worries had ceased a little. While Val was shocked of course by the news she had chosen to believe Antonin's assurances. After her husband had explained more about Occlumency she even suggested to leave the Horcrux where it was if the goblins deemed an extraction as too dangerous, giving Harry time to grow magically and learn meditation and rudimentary mind arts. For now they had decided to tell their child nothing. The calming techniques Severus had started to teach him were just another aspect of becoming an accomplished wizard like his dad to Harry. Dolohov was a frequent visitor with Filius Flitwick and always managed to give Severus an update about his research, which was promising so far.
On Valentine's Day Severus got a letter. It was not pink but rather official looking. The Wizengamot had reviewed the Potions master's case together with other cases and had found out that it had been put on hold without any conceivable reason, as Albus Dumbledore had vowed that young Snape had infiltrated the Death Eaters on his orders to spy against Voldemort. The case should have been closed then and not kept open. The Wizengamot had rectified this, as it obviously had been overlooked in those trying times. A second letter from Mrs. Tonks had come as well, explaining the exact wording and working of Dumbledore's vow and stating that wizarding law also had a double indemnity clause. The headmaster's hold over Severus Snape was gone.
In March the conspirators got a lucky break. Dumbledore happened to knock on Flitwick's quarters on school business while Antonin was there. The Charms professor invited his boss for a cup of tea and they continued to trade opinions on wards and curses the Russian worked with, slowly working their way towards soul magic. The Headmaster fell for it. He asked very pointed questions about Egyptian Horcruxes Dolohov had destroyed. As he did not know about their common goal he did not guard his mind against surface Legilimancy. While a very good Legilimens himself Albus Dumbledore was not very proficient in Occlumancy. He never knew that he gave Antonin enough clues about his suspicions concerning Tom Riddle's Horcruxes. After the old mage had left Flitwick brought forward the good fire-whiskey. Teacher and pupil toasted themselves and their quest of finding and destroying up to six of these abominations of magic.
At the next war council, when the rest of the saviours of the world were brought up to date, Lucius became a very unbecoming shade of green. Narcissa's screech was worse than a harpy's cry even though her husband assured her that the unassuming diary his father had entrusted him on his deathbed was safely in a warded ritual room in the dowager house far away from Malfoy Manor and Draco. Sirius Black offered to house the thing in the magically dampened second cellar of Grimmauld Place until it could be destroyed. While Val was trying to console an uncharacteristically emotional Narcissa the men made the transfer. And came back with a most astonishing tale of a disillusioned young Regulus Black, Slytherin's locket and a desperate house-elf. Sirius cried too that night.
Val hit her husband with a pillow when he commented that Narcissa's breasts seemed to be bigger.
"Oh shush, woman. I am merely satisfied that my potion worked to quickly. 'tis scientific interest, purely. You and your breasts are the only ones I would view in other ways."
He turned to proof his devotion to his wife who remarked on the necessity of Grace having a sibling closer to her own age when Harry would go to Hogwarts. Something registered in Severus' brain as being of importance but even if he was a clever wizard he was just a man very much in love with his wife which would result in yet another Snape-offspring being born two months after Cassiopeia Valeria Malfoy.
Easter holidays 1990
Valery's prediction of having saved the world by Easter proved to be false. But they had made huge steps in the right direction. Antonin spent all his time to research the Horcruxes and had already destroyed two – the Slytherin locket and the diary. Narcissa had remembered her sister Bellatrix being very proud of some artefact the Dark Lord had given to her for safekeeping and was working towards gaining access to the Lestrange vault. Black had taken over negotiations with the goblins concerning the funding of Voldemort together with Lucius Malfoy. They would never be best buddies but managed to work together for a common goal. Filius Flitwick had managed to create a charm that told them how big the part of Voldemort's soul had been. The diary seemed to have been the first Horcrux and consequently the biggest part. Depending of how many had been made the one in Harry should be a 64th or even a 128th part, much too small to do any damage. Nevertheless everyone wished it gone.
The Dark Marks of Lucius, Severus and Antonin grew fainter with every destroyed soul-piece, they were now a light grey, with Toni's darker skin it was hardly visible. Beltane might be a good day to do the ritual to extract the Horcrux from Harry but it was a school-day. Severus refused to attempt it without him present. Val proposed to use the night before Easter Sunday. Narcissa did an Arithmancy calculation and got surprisingly good results. It was to be done then.
Night before April 15th, 1990
A motley crew assembled at Gringotts' employees entrance. Lucius, Severus, Antonin, Filius and Harry were waiting to be admitted. Healer Granrok and Director Sharpclaw were in the ritual room already. The goblin healer and Severus were here to care for Harry after the ritual, Antonin would cast a containment ward for the hopefully extracted Horcrux and Lucius and Filius were here for their expertise in the Dark Arts and charms. Narcissa would keep Val and Grace company at Spinner's End.
Harry had been told that the ritual would cleanse him from the remnants of Dark Magic in his scar, that it would possibly hurt but only for a short while. For his young age he was remarkably composed which helped Severus to quell his own fear. The boy changed into a light tunic and lay down in the circle. With his father's help he did some meditation exercises to clear his mind and focus on his magical core. At Severus' nod Sharpclaw started to chant in Gobbledegok. After some minutes a dark mist began to rise from Harry's scar and faint screeching could be heard. Lucius paled, recognising the voice.
The child became visibly distressed and the lightning bolt scar was pulsating. The magic in the room was oppressing. When Severus was about to dash towards his son Healer Granrok stopped him. Harry's back arched and the black mist stopped being connected to him. The scar started to bleed. Antonin, with Filius' help, directed the mist towards a waiting chalice. Both wizards were sweating heavily. At Sharpclaw's sign the healer and Severus went to Harry. The Potions master cleaned the boy's face while Granrok did some diagnostics.
"The dark magic is gone from the child, there are no remnants. I am going to close the wound now and Harry can take a pain potion."
Dragging the child into his lap Severus murmured how glad he was and how proud and that everything was going to be alright. The little patient managed to down the potion before falling into an exhausted sleep. Antonin thanked the goblins, in Severus' name, too, as the man was too focused on his child to care for manners. They Apparated back to Cokeworth while the Russian stayed behind to destroy the Horcrux in the chalice.
Narcissa and Valery cried happy tears. The Dark Mark on Lucius' forearm had lightened minimally which confirmed the council's theory of Harry having been the last, smallest Horcrux. A Patronus was dispatched to Sirius Black who, due to his volatile temper, had not been told the exact date of the ritual.
The next few weeks showed no change in Harry's personality, a further proof of the Dark Lord having no influence over the child. The scar was nearly invisible by then which would make the boy's life at Hogwarts easier. Child and parents were yet undecided whether to keep the charade of Peter H. Parker up or use Harry's real name. Dumbledore seemed to have given up searching for the saviour in the Muggle world, waiting for the Hogwarts letters to be sent.
The Hufflepuff cup was retrieved by Narcissa from the Lestrange vault and destroyed by Fiendfyre. Filius' spell showed that Horcrux being a 16th part which told the conspirators that they had missed an older one. The breakthrough came with Valery researching Voldemort's Muggle ancestors. Lucius recognised the village as being the same as the one the Gaunts had lived, a family who was said to be the last descendants of Salazar Slytherin. She started to plan a family holiday – Whitby Abbey for herself and Narcissa, the North York Moors Steam railway for Severus, Toby, Draco and Harry and the Viking museum for Lucius and Toni. They booked a sprawling cottage at the outskirts of Whitby and used the first days of their stay for playing tourists. Val's morning sickness was finally abating, when she would get into the second trimester of this pregnancy Severus and she would tell Harry. They did not expect any troubles as the boy had already told Draco that it was fine that Draco's little sister would keep Grace company when the two of them would go to Hogwarts.
Filius was with his family so only three wizards made their way to Little Hangleton. If they found something they expected it to be a big part of Voldemort's soul. Therefore it was agreed that they would put it into a magic-dampening container for class five potions ingredients and would destroy it either on an uninhabited island or in a Gringotts safe room.
Riddle Manor must once have been a handsome mansion, now it looked neglected. Dressed as Muggles hiking Severus, Lucius and Antonin had lunch at the local pub. They had chosen a table near the bar with an ear towards the conversations of the locals. The churchyard with its Riddle crypt had given Val's research credit. It seemed that Voldemort had murdered his father and grandparents in the summer of 1943. If he had used those murders for the creation of a Horcrux it would be the second or third.
The toad-in-the-hole was very fine and luck was on the three wizards' side as a very old man called Frank had shuffled in to sit on what must be his regular's table. The proprietor of the pub had greeted him with, "It's not as if anyone ever appreciates your hard work in Riddle Manor's garden, the current owner is never here and there's no family left."
"Doesn't matter, Jack. I kept the gardens when Master Tom was a little boy and I will do so as long as I am able and paid."
"I think it's creepy up there, what with all three of them dying at the same time."
"The coroner said it must have been some sort of accidental poisoning, they had those modern electrical lights but the line for gas still active, in case of a blackout. And it's being far from creepy since the Gaunts left. Be glad you're too young to have known them."
"My father was a coroner's helper. He said that Tom Jr.'s face was a rictus of terror."
"Well, he was the youngest. He must have survived the longest and probably realised what was happening. Get me another beer, if you will, please."
Our adventurers decided not to enquire further. If Dumbledore came here with similar enquiries the old man Frank might remember those long-haired fellows, one blond and one black, with their Russian friend, asking the same questions. Val had provided them with excerpts from the land registry, they would have no problem finding either Riddle Manor or the Gaunt plot.
Thanking Jack's wife for a wonderful lunch they set off. The manor house was easily found, the shack of the Gaunts not. Shrubs had nearly overgrown the building. Antonin as a curse-breaker had cast the detection wards. The middle of the single room of the dwelling was fairly pulsating with the Dark Lord's magic. The friends were using magic to dig up the floorboards, always two working and one keeping their backs in case of any traps. Despite these safeguards Severus had to push Antonin away from the ring in a rugby tackle, there had been no time to use a spell.
"Thanks, Severus. That is one hell of a compulsion spell! Lucius, step back until I have it contained!"
They Levitated the ring into the special pouch they'd brought along and then Apparated back to Gringotts London where the destruction of the magical abomination would take place. That night, back in Whitby, they told their wives, read to their children and then went out again to celebrate.
The next morning Draco Malfoy picked up the festive mood and asked what they had been doing. Narcissa raised her left eyebrow and Val absently wiped Grace's banana smeared face while looking expectantly at her husband. Toni, who obviously had a better tolerance for the overindulgence of alcohol than the other two, answered.
"My dear little dragon, Harry's and your mother made a plan to save the magical and the Muggle world by defeating a very bad wizard. Severus, Lucius and I, and sometimes Aunt Andi and Uncle Filius, are their helpers. Last night we made an important step in the right direction, tonight we will know whether it was big enough."
The two boys looked at their mothers with big eyes. Harry piped up, "Mum, you are a superhero, like Spiderman or Elastigirl?"
"My superpower lies here - " with that Valery tapped the side of her head, "I cannot climb walls or something."
"All that boring numbers you've been writing all the time?"
"Yes, quite."
"Well, I think my Spiderman comic is not as boring."
"Ok. Do you want to visit the beach today?"
The boys were easily distracted by that plan and were thankfully asleep that evening when three grown men wept as their Dark Marks dulled to near invisibility due to the destruction of two Horcruxes by Filius in Gringotts safe-room. After some hugs Lucius voiced it aloud, "Even if there's still one more, I think we have bought ourselves enough time to look for it at leisure, our marks would warn us of any activity on the Dark Lord's side. And I do not want to call him `lord´ any longer. Personally I think `Moldyshort´ is fine."
"Moldyfart has a certain ring, too."
"Or `He-who-is-insane´."
"Too long. I'd rather not talk about him at all."
"Cheers to that. Lucius, any ideas for a name for your daughter?"
The evening ended with Narcissa beating Toni over the head with a pillow for his more and more ridiculous suggestions. Who in their right mind would name a child Betageuze?