Inspired by the challenge set down by Acolyte of the Blood Moon. What if Harry was the reincarnation of a certain green-eyed SOLDIER? Hopefully fast updates, if people like it.
Never a Memory...
The trio were huddled together inside the tent, trying to stay warm as much as comforting each other as best as they could. The past twenty four hours had been stressful, with the raid of the ministry and the subsiquent 'trial' of Umbridge. It had taken a lot out of the three, especially the one who had to wield the blade at the end...
~~~...~~~...~~~
Green eyes were dark with steely promise as they congregated within the Materia bubble, Hermione having put it and the wards back up as soon as they had jumped far enough for them to be safe from anyone pursuing them. The cliffs of Dover were their temporary home for now, the white chalk of old Albion a whisper of home as they circled around one another, Harry pulling the stunned Toad from his pocket. She seemed a little squished, but was still breathing, for now.
"Do it," he ordered, and Hermione nodded, casting Heal from her sword. At once, the toad popped, Umbridge staggering from the sudden shift of gravity as she came back to her normal shape and size. She shook her head, trying to clear the stars from her eyes, snapping at the trio imperiously. "Who in Merlin's name are you?! I demand that you take me back at once! As soon as I find the fiends responsible for this, they will be Kissed immediately!"
"Look no further," Ron drawed, eyes serious even as his body language went loose, the same stance that the SOLDIERs recognized from Reno about to get serious about a fight. The EMR in his hand tapped a steady rhythm against his shoulder, and Hermione was similarly tapping the tip of the Rapier against the leather of her boots. Both warriors were very angry indeed.
"Tell us, how did you escape Azkaban after what you did in Hogwarts?" Harry intoned, voice calm and even. "We looked them up," or at least Hermione had, "Blood Quills, outside of contracts, are illegal. You tortured dozens of innocent kids, for what? The sick pleasure of it?"
She must not have recognized them yet, their hair and facial structures had been changing for almost fourteen months now, from both age and memories of ages past. But they couldn't depend on this holding forever. "They were horrid little brats who needed to be put into their place, including the Potter brat! Speaking against my dear Fudge, getting him thrown out of his position! They all deserved to be put back in their place."
"You didn't answer our question," Hermione said now, causing the nasty little woman to spin around to look at her. And now the piece of work noticed the weapons in their hands as a danger, and she reached for her wand, only for Hermione to dart out, pricking her in the arm just hard enough for her to yelp and drop the little stick, Ron scooping it up. "How, did you stay out of Azkaban? Every last student you tortured was inspected by Madam Pomfrey, and I know she sent all the names and information to the Ministry."
A haughty look as the woman straightened up, hand clasped over the trickle of blood staining her pink sleeve. "Fudge pardoned me before leaving his office," she sneered, a smile on her squat face. "He at least, understood that everything I did for him was for his good."
"And threatening the Cruciatus Curse? Was that for the 'Greater Good'?"
Those froggy eyes blinked, only to narrow as she finally recognized the eyes of the young man. His cheeks had thinned, making his cheek bones seem sharper, and his hair was down to his shoulder blades now and streaked liberally with gray and silver, but those eyes. "Potter?" The smirk on his face was all the confirmation she needed. "Potter, when I get out of here, I will have you core bound! You'll be Kissed for this! And your friends!"
"Who says you will get out of here alive?"
A gasp, low and quiet, and Hermione shook her head, slipping into Wutain. "Harry fyed, dryd'c duu vyn! Fa lyh'd dyga dra myf ehdu uin ufh ryhtc!" (Wait, that's too far! We can't take the law into our own hands!)
"Fuimt drec fusyh ajan navuns? Lyh fa dyga dra necg dryd cra lyh pnehk udranc pylg yvdan ic?" (Would this woman ever reform? Can we take the risk that she can bring others back after us?) He shook his head as he switched back to english, Ron nodding in quiet agreement. "No Hermione, we cannot take that risk."
The young Red Mage frowned, lips pulled tight in anguish, but she nodded after a minute, straightening her shoulders back as she shifted to Attention. "Then do it," she said quietly, metaphorically washing her hands of the role as executioner. "She is guilty of torture, at least one Unforgivable, and of being an ally to the Death Eaters. Do it then, put the Half Blood out of her misery," she ordered, a slight taunt in her voice. They had likely killed before during the flight from Grimmauld Place, but to strike down an unarmed woman in cold blood was something completely different.
"Half Blood? I am a Pureblooded daughter of the Selwyn line! How dare you insult me!" Umbridge snapped, moving as if to slap the younger woman, only to back pedal as the mage raised her sword in warning. She looked around at the trio frantically, too panicked to consider Apparition at the moment, and even if she had tried, she likely would have lost an arm at the least. She started hyperventilating at the stony looks on the faces of the trio, seeing the deadly promise in eyes too old for their forms. "You, you can't do this! They' they will be looking for me! I have powerful allies!"
"Like Vo-"
"General! You know better, yo!"
Harry blinked, noting the fresh anguish on their prisoner's face. "That was your plan? To trick one of us into saying the name and hoping his scum you call allies don't kill you too when they come?" he asked, stalking closer to her, eyes glowing from repressed magic and anger. He smirked suddenly, holding up his right hand, turning it so that she could see the scars, 'I Will Not Tell Lies.' "I'll be honest, it almost worked. And that's why we can't just knock you out, or Toad you until the war is over."
"But you're too dangerous to be left on your own," Ron drawled, the Materia in his bracer starting to glow a little brighter as he closed in, keeping the gaps in thier formation as small as they could. "Hey Commander, you gotta quote for this bitch to take with her to Hel?" he asked.
She was stoic, quiet, and withdrawn, not liking the inevitable conclusion Umbridge had forced herself into. If she had been calmer, more rational, they may have taken the change to just Toad her and keep her in a cage somewhere. But Harry and Ron were right, she was too dangerous.
A slow nod. "I have the perfect one." Hazel eyes glared at the woman that was forcing them to destroy the last of their innocence in this war. There was no turning back now.
"Suffer Not A Witch To Live."
The cut was swift, fast enough to be practically painless, and the Masamune was sharp enough to completely sever the bones in her neck, leaving only a small piece of skin connecting her head to her breastbone so that it wouldn't go rolling. It spoke of the time and effort the young wizard had gone through to retrain his skills, but the wizard himself was un-naturally quiet as the witch collapsed, dead before her mind even knew what had happened. He was buried in the memories of Sephiroth, taking refuge in the knowledge that that was far from the first time he'd had to do something like this. The memories included a few specimens of Hojo's that he'd put out their misery if they managed to get loose from the labs, and spies that the troops had located while in Wutai. They too, had preferred to take their own lives if possible, and a few had requested at the end of the war for him to be their second as they cut their stomachs. This grisly business was far too familiar to the young man, but at least Sephiroth had the mental fortitude to endure it without losing his mind, and Harry leaned on the memories of that strength now, trying to claim it as his own.
They were all quiet, following the instructions of old memories as they Cured her, forcing the wound to close even if it wouldn't revive her. Ron lead the operation, grinding the chalk of the cliffs into her shoes and hands before they pushed her off the cliff itself. The tide was going out, and she disappeared quickly, her body heading across the Channel towards France. The Turks used to frame many of their assassinations on accidents, and with the white chalk under her nails and caked in the treads of her boots, if she washed up in France they would have to assume that she slipped off the Cliffs and drowned.
~~~...~~~...~~~
Hermione shook her head as the sunlight faded, the walls of the enchanted tent lighting up in the deep reds of the fading light as she extracted herself from the pile of grieving magicals. She sighed heavily, leaning back against the pair without any true conscious thought before forcing herself to her feet, grabbing the red beaded bag that she had tossed onto the table. "We really should go over the information he found," she ordered softly, her tone enough to rouse the boys out of their memory diving. Slowly, the pair joined her at the table as she reached for the files, arm buried up to her shoulder as she rooted around for the right item.
"Draco informed us that His name is most likely been Tabooed, but with how fast they jumped us after leaving the Fidelius, something else must have triggered it," she hypothesised as she finally pulled out the right scroll, frowning as the Locket was pulled out as well, the chain hooked around part of the scroll. She left it out for the moment though; they would look at it afterwards to see if they could figure out how to finally destroy it. She unrolled the parchment, and the trio huddled around her as they read the spiky calligraphy over her shoulder.
Dumbledore's name had been Tabooed, as well as Voldemort as they expected. In fact, a small list of names had been Tabooed, including Alastair Moody and Sirius, which explained how they had tripped the Taboo before. They would have to use code names for so many of their friends. Luckily Sirius came with his own build in code name now.
The Unforgivables had been Tabooed before, but they now had a list of names under them. Seeing as they included many known Death Eaters, the trio correctly assumed that they were there as an exemption from the Taboo, as they were most likely the ones to use them. Horcrux was on the list as well, and a few rituals that the trio knew nothing about.
Hermione shook her head, eyes hardening as they read over the list again, Ron turning on the radio to listen in on the listings of witches and wizards being taken in by the Snatchers. It was a shorter list today, repeating only a dozen names or so, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief to not hear any of his family. "This, will get a lot of people in trouble," she finally said after a minute. "If we had a way to get the information to Hogwarts I'd send it in a heart beat. But Hedwig," and she turned to look at the faithful owl perched on a limb outside of the tent. She had shown up an hour ago, having finally tracked them down. "Hedwig is too flashy. I'd hate for her to get hurt if we asked that of her."
"Would the Disguise work on her?" Ron asked after a second.
"It likely would, but it only lasts for an hour before it needs to be cast again. And as amazing as she is, I do not think we could teach her how to cast it herself."
Harry smirked after a second, and it was Sephiroth leaking through as he pulled a mirror out of his pocket. "Why can't we ask the Puppy to relay the information for us?" he asked. That telling smirk grew as Hermione slapped a hand against her forehead.
His eyes turned back to the Locket even as he called for Zack to 'pick up the phone.' Something about it was feeling off, like the magic in it was shaking, losing it's grip. Only for the trio to stumble away from the table with a syncronized yelp as black smoke started to pour out of the heavy gold. It screamed at them, taking the form of a skull as it tried to reattach itself to the metal, writhing and fighting it's fate with everything in it's foul form. Not a single person took a full breath until it finally dissipated, the heavy feeling of black magic slowly clearing with the smoke as a fresh sea breeze flowed through the canvas of the enchanted tent.
"What in the name of the Undead Icy Tits of Hela was that?!"
Well. Zack seemed to have picked up his mirror at the right time. Harry took an unsteady breath as he picked up the mirror from where he had dropped it on the table, staying away from the now quiet locket. "I have no earthly clue," he finally admitted. "It almost looked like the Death Sentence finally kicked in, but it should have done that back when we cast it to begin with."
"Maybe it was too strong before?" Hermione offered as she picked herself up off the ground. "If the Journal was the first one, this might have been the second, maybe the third at worst. If they hold half of his remaining soul in each, then it would still be pretty strong."
"Then why didn't it die a few days ago?" Ron wondered, recovering from tripping over his chair in his haste to back away. "Did ya put stasis charms on your bag or something?"
"Actually," she looked down at the red bag in question. "I did. I thought it would be useful for keeping our food fresh." She blinked after a second, ignoring Harry showing Zack the Taboo list through the mirror. "It must have delayed the magic while it was in there, like a Time magic."
"Well, all we need now is to find the other four."
"Three," Harry interjected. "We can safely assume that Nagini is one. It's the other three we have to find."
Ron laughed, a cocky grin on his face. "Well, then I guess we're half way done already!"
Argh! I hate the ending, but anything else and it just seems like I'm just adding words for words sake.
Death Sentence doesn't kill you at once, you get a count down.
I thought Zack's cursing needed to be a bit more colorful for this. Try saying it out loud, it's kinda fun.
The math for the Horcruxes is actually kinda scary when you think about it for too long. He divides his soul in half each time. So it's 1/2, then 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64! At the end, he only has 1/128th of his soul left! Not enough to fill a teaspoon!