A Different Kind of Training

AN: Yay! I finally got another chapter out! We'll have some Voldie bashing and such in the next chapter but right now Lily is too busy sharing important info. Bisexuality alert, just a warning. And don't forget my poll, seeing as I added more questions...

Chapter 3

"Destroy his soul entirely?" Harry echoed, staring at Lily.

"Yes," was her response. "It's a very old, very Dark spell; it was actually the first spell in Britain to be legally declared black magic, and although its not actually listed as an unforgivable (since by the time the unforgivables were outlawed the full incantation had been lost) it is still well...illegal, although with the destruction of all sources mentioning it, the ministry records had to go too."

"It's illegal?" asked Harry hesitantly.

"Well, yes. It is a spell which literally destroys every little scrap of your soul, even if you have a horcrux...or more than one. But it's the best way to kill Voldemort, and it's the safest for you, because his horcruxes are very heavily cursed and would likely kill anyone who tries to get at them, whatever Dumbledore thinks."

"So I should do it?" Harry asked, seeking confirmation.

"Yes." Her voice left no grounds for doubt. "We can see the future, here, and the paths in which you use the spell are better, happier."

"So how do I do it?" Harry asked, now determined.

"The incantation is 'exanimo'," she told him, using a pure white rod which appeared in her hand to demonstrate the wand-movements. "And you have to make sure it only hits Voldemort, because it's not reversable."

Harry nodded, practicing the movement himself as though with an invisible wand. "Exanimo?"

"Soul out of," she translated. "No, swish it a little further, like so," and she guided his hand. Harry felt so happy he felt as though he might burst, just feeling her soft warm hand around his, which he had imagined for years. Meanwhile James watched the two of them with a fond smile.

Harry practiced it dozens of times, so that he could do the movement almost without thinking. At last Lily laid a warm soft hand on his arm. "That's probably enough, baby. Time passes differently here, but it doesn't stop entirely, and there are a few more things we have to get through. And then hopefully there will be enough time to just get to know each other."

Harry grinned up at her, ecstatic at the thought of getting to know his parents, not just through Remus's stories and Hagrid's pictures, but through actually talking with them. "So what else do I have to know to win this war?" Harry asked.

"Well, for one thing, when you kill Voldemort, all of his Death Eaters will die. There are three of them who don't deserve it: Igor Karkaroff, Severus Snape, and a lower-ranking Death Eater named Tarquin Rosier. After their master is gone, you'll have twenty-four hours to save them before the Mark stops torturing them and starts draining their magic and killing them. I suggest that you also save Lucius Malfoy, not because he deserves it, but because I don't want Draco to be an orphan and because a Malfoy life-debt would be very helpful if you needed any kind of influence."

Harry stared at her. "Ok," he said at last. "But...um...how do I do that? Remove the mark, I mean."

"You have to apply a certain potion which is sold in almost every retail store to cleanse dark artifacts, put your palm against it and say 'release totally' in parseltongue," Lily told him. "It will cause a lot of pain and likely knock the wizard out, and then the Dark Mark has to leech out through their skin over the course of a few days- obviously Voldemort hadn't intended that anyone but himself would be able to remove it."

Harry blinked, nodding. "Ok. Wait-" he added, as something occurred to him, "will I still be able to speak parseltongue? Dumbledore said I could only do it because of my link to Voldie, and-"

It was then that Lily started laughing.

"What?"

"Dumbledore got it totally wrong," was her reply. "Either that or he lied to you. Parseltongue is just another Wizarding power, albeit very rare. I'm one."

"What!?"

"Oh, yeah, I was a parselmouth, but Severus warned me I should probably keep the ability to myself, so I did. Jamey wasn't too happy when he found out," she continued, grinning. "I had to make him sleep on the couch for a week before he would stop ranting about slimy snakes..."

"I did not need to know that," was Harry's response, and Lily laughed again.

"I wasn't even related to Salazar Slytherin, either," she continued, when she had stopped laughing. "I was related to a guy called Ismet, who was an Indian healer and parselmouth. Apparently that meant I was somehow a halfblood though, which is a little odd after I'd gotten used to considering myself a muggleborn. Not that it really makes much of a difference, except to snotty purebloods like Lucius Malfoy..."

Harry grinned. "I wish I could tell Draco Malfoy, just to see his face. It would be priceless!"

Lily laughed along with him.

They sat and talked for several more hours, (or at least that's what it felt like in this timeless place) before at last Harry noticed that Lily's skin was starting to grow translucent, and that he could see the white armchair James had conjured for himself through his legs.

Lily seemed to see it too. "Baby, it's time to go."

"What? But-" Harry began to protest.

"We can't stay forever, Prongslet," James added gently. "The 'station' is only open for so long...then you either have to follow us or go back."

"Just a few more minutes!"

"Harry, we can't." Lily pulled Harry into a desperate hug, followed by James so that Harry was nearly suffocated between them. "We would if we could but you need to go back before it's too late. You have a life ahead of you- a long, beautiful one. We will wait for you as long as we have to- right now you need to live."

"You're going to make history, Prongslet!"

"But I don't want to make history!" Harry knew he sounded sulky and childish, but damn it, why couldn't he have what he wanted, just this once? "I just want to be Harry, not the Chosen One or the freak or the attention-seeking git or the Boy-Who-Lived-to-Have-a-Hyphenated-Name. I just want to be with you."

"We know, Harry, we know." Lily's voice was very soft. "But you need to kill Voldemort. And...could you take a few messages, remember a few things for me?"

"Y-yes, anything."

"Right. Tell Dumbledore first that he's an idiot and second that it was Ariana's time, and that no one with her condition can live longer than five years. Tell him that she killed herself, and it wasn't his fault."

"Tell Lupin that we love him and went him to live for us, and that he needs to get laid," James broke in.

"Tell Severus that I forgive him, and that he should not be afraid to love," Lily said.

"Give Wormtail a good smack upside the head for me," was James's second contribution. "And tell Snivellus that I'm sorry but that he's still a git. Actually, leave off that first part."

"James! You have no idea how much he's been through, especially on top of all your nasty pranks!"

"He's a Death Eater! Plus, he had no right to vent all his frustrations on Harry, and plus he's a slimy snake who ought to wash his hair."

"He's a spy for the Light!" Lily argued. "Yes, he was into the Dark Arts, but so much of that was coming from an abused household and then being bullied." She gave James a pointed look. "And on top of it, Lucius Malfoy was grooming him to be a Death Eater from the moment he entered the Slytherin dorms. He was a halfblood! He had no other choice!"

"He called you a mudblood!"

"Yes, and it still hurts, but he was humiliated. And he had a crush on you."

"WHAT?!" issued from two throats.

"He's bi, although I don't think he ever told anyone but me, Regulus and Lucius," Lily said. "And Lucius used his attraction to convince him to take the Dark Mark, so he probably hasn't told anyone since, either."

"We're talking about Snape here?" said Harry in a very faint voice.

"Yes. And- oh, Harry, you need to go, it's almost too late! Remember that we'll always love you, and tell your friends that we approve. And tell Neville that he's a great wizard and a great godson and that I miss him and-"

"And remember I'll always love you, pup." That was Sirius. Harry whirled around. "Sirius!"

"It's me, pup- took a little while to find my way here..."

The man hugged him, and Harry stared breathlessly into his face, grey eyes now no longer bearing the haunted look from Azkaban. "Pup, I'll always..."

But at that moment his voice faded away, and so did the replica of the Great Hall. And he was falling through icy black fog, skeletal hands clutching at him as he fell. And then he came into contact with some kind of silken screen. His fingernails tore at it as he fought to escape this limbo until at last he fell through. Into the death chamber in the department of mysteries, where Remus was still screaming "Harry!" and Bellatrix was laughing insanely.

It was time to do what he had been born for. But first he had to comfort Remus.