A/N - There was a couple of reviews asking about how Voldemort looks in this story - so I thought I'd answer them here so everyone knows for future reference. In this story, Voldemort looks like a normal person since he was never in that bizarre no body state he was in the books and films. In this story, he's always had a body, albeit he was weak and had very little magic until fourth year. Therefore, he just looks normal - and looks wise he resembles Severus and Harry.


There was a sombre atmosphere as a section of the Order gathered at Grimmauld Place. A few days earlier Dumbledore had been laid to rest, but Sirius Black had decided it was now time for the Order to look to the future. As tragic as it was to lose Dumbledore, they couldn't lose sight of the real problems they faced. Voldemort was now in a strong position, and he had the support of people who until a few weeks ago were trusted by the Order.

Sirius and his best friend, Remus Lupin, had discussed who to invite to the meeting, and had settled on just including the people they trusted the most. The group included the Weasleys, who turned up with all their children, Kingsley Shackelbolt, Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks and her parents, Ted and Andromeda, as well as a selection of Hogwarts staff.

"We've got something very important we want to discuss," Sirius began. "So before we start, Molly, Arthur, are you sure you want Ron and Ginny to stay?"

"We're not going anywhere," Ron exploded, before either of his parents could answer Sirius.

"You will if we say you will," Arthur said sternly. "But for now, we're happy to let the pair of you stay. Although any more outbursts like that and you'll be sent back home."

"There won't be any outbursts," Ginny reassured her parents, giving her brother a warning glare.

"Okay, so now that's settled, let's move on," Sirius said. "I know we're all still reeling from Dumbledore's death, not to mention the betrayals we suffered, but we have to make plans for the future."

"Is that even possible?" Arthur questioned. "Now we've lost Harry, we don't have any way of defeating You-Know-Who."

"That's not strictly true," Remus said. "Don't forget, everyone thought Harry was going to defeat You-Know-Who because of the prophecy. The prophecy still exists, we just thought it was about Harry when it wasn't. We could work on that and try to find out who it could be."

"Albus did have a second option for the prophecy," Minerva McGonagall informed the group. "He confided in me that he thought the prophecy was either about Harry, or Neville Longbottom. But then the Potters were killed, and the answer was seemingly presented to us."

"Do you think Neville can take on Voldemort?" Kingsley asked. As an Auror, he was one of the few members of the Order not intimidated by saying The Dark Lord's name.

"No way," Ron answered with a snort. "I mean, Neville's a nice enough boy, but he's hopeless with magic. He wouldn't stand a chance against anyone with a dark streak."

"Minerva?" Kingsley turned to the Transfiguration Professor for her opinion.

"I wouldn't say he's hopeless with magic," McGonagall answered. "In fact, in some subjects he'd quite adept at magic. However, from what I've seen he lacks the fighting skills he'd need to take on such a dark wizard. Not to mention the confidence."

"We can build both of those up," Sirius replied. "We need to bring him into the Order, and set about training him up. He lives with his grandmother, doesn't he?"

"He does," McGonagall answered with a nod. "I know Augusta, and I'm not so sure she'll just let you use Neville as a weapon."

"We won't be using him as a weapon," Remus argued. "We'd be helping him fulfill his destiny. No-one will force him to do anything he doesn't want to do."

"And we know they support the light because they turned up at Hogwarts before the final showdown," Sirius pointed out.

"But that might not be the case now," McGonagall warned. "Augusta was pretty affected by what Harry said to Albus before the battle. I've only spoken to her briefly since then, but the impression I got what that she disagreed with a lot of things Albus did in regards to Harry. I wouldn't say she was definitely on our side any longer. She might be wanting to stay neutral."

"We need someone to approach Augusta Longbottom and convince her to allow her grandson the chance to achieve greatness and help us defeat You-Know-Who," Sirius insisted. "We need to get her and Neville back on our side. We need to convince them that staying neutral will only aid You-Know-Who."

"Although sadly, we can't do anything about his reservations about Dumbledore," Remus remarked. "I think we all agree he didn't always handle things with Harry the way he should have."

"I'm not sure I can change her views about Albus, but I can try and talk to Augusta about becoming more involved with the Order," Molly volunteered. "And don't worry, by the time I've finished with her, she'll be thrilled that Neville can play such a crucial role in the war."

"Excellent," Sirius said with a grim nod. "Now gaining a new saviour isn't going to be enough to win this war. I think we're all in agreement that Dumbledore wasn't quite the man we thought he was, but before he died he left a box in my possession, and in it contains everything we need to defeat You-Know-Who once and for all."

"Why did Albus leave a box with you?" Alastor Moody asked warily. "Did he know something we didn't?"

"He didn't know he was going to be killed if that's what you mean," Sirius answered. "He left the box when he thought Harry would be moving in with me. It was something for Harry and I to work on over the holidays. It was also something Dumbledore himself worked on with Harry during last year."

"So you're saying the dark know about this box?" Tonks asked, wincing slightly as she moved her shoulder which was still heavily strapped following her injury at the duel. Luckily, she hadn't lost any real function of the arm, it was just taking a long time to heal enough for her to return to work as an Auror. "What good is it to us, if they know about it?"

"They don't know about it," Sirius answered. "Harry had no idea Dumbledore left the box here. In fact from what I can gather, he's under the impression that no-one but him and Dumbledore know about what's in the box. We've got some information they don't know we have, and information they don't think we have any way of knowing. Unwittingly, Dumbledore has given us the edge in this battle."

"I'm not so sure about that," Molly muttered. "I would say the dark have quite an edge, now they both Harry and Hermione with them."

"They always had them, we just didn't know it," Remus pointed out. "And now the truth is out, they're not hanging around us picking up useful bits of information. You-Know-Who made a mistake in revealing who they both were if you ask me. If he was smart, he should have left one of them with us, so he knew what we were up to. But now, we can work on defeating him and he'll have no way of seeing it coming."

"And won't it be fun when we take him down," Sirius smirked. "Not to mention, Snape, Harry and Hermione. They all need to be taken out as well."

"And as painfully as possible," Ron added with a slight snarl. "They need to pay for betraying us."

"And they will," Molly promised her son. "But for now let's focus on this box. What exactly is in the box, Sirius?"

"The box contains research Dumbledore has been doing into Voldemort," Sirius answered. "Particularly, into some dark magic he'd been doing in order to protect himself. Dumbledore believed that Voldemort had created these things called Horcruxes, and unless they're all destroyed he can't be killed properly."

"Horcruxes?" Molly frowned. "I've never heard of them."

"They're very dark magic," Bill Weasley, the oldest of the Weasley children, provided. "I ran across a few while in Egypt. You can create them when you kill and a piece of your soul detaches itself from you. Your soul then resides in the Horcrux, and as long as it's intact, you're immortal."

"But what exactly is a Horcrux?" Molly asked. "What does one look like?"

"And that's the tricky part," Moody said with an unamused laugh. "A Horcrux can take the form of anything. Anything can be used to create Horcruxes. If Dumbledore is right and Voldemort has one, we'll never be able to find out what it is. He could have just used some random bit of rock as far as we know."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," Sirius said smugly. "Dumbledore has extensive notes on the subject. Not only does he believe that Voldemort had created six Horcruxes, therefore splitting his soul into seven, he believes he's used objects that mean something to him."

"Six Horcruxes," Tonks repeated in horror. "Fancy splitting your soul into seven, that's horrendous."

"I'm sure a monster like him doesn't view it the same way as we do," Remus said, shooting Tonks a small smile. "To him, killing is a natural part of his life."

"Indeed," Sirius agreed. "But anyway, Dumbledore was convinced he had six Horcruxes, and that he's hidden them in places that also mean something to him."

"If Dumbledore is right, it means Voldemort is very sentimental," Moody pointed out. "Do we believe that he still has that much humanity?"

"I say yes," Molly said. "I think we can all agree that he's a monster, but recent events have also shown us there's a side to him we didn't know about. Monster or not, it was clear he cared about his children and grandson. I think with that knowledge, we can say that Albus was probably on the right track with the Horcruxes."

"Okay then," Moody conceded. "Tell us what you know, Sirius."

"Dumbledore left us a list of possible Horcruxes, along with a few potential hiding places," Sirius began. "Firstly, he believes one has already been destroyed. A diary that was possessed, or something."

"You mean the diary, I had in my first year?" Ginny asked with a gasp.

Sirius shrugged uncertainly. "I don't know. He only had a few notes on the diary, and he mentioned it had been destroyed a few years ago with a Basilisk fang."

"That's the one," Ginny answered shakily. "Harry destroyed the diary when he and Malfoy rescued me."

"Harry and the Malfoy boy rescued you, why?" Sirius asked with a frown. "Given who Harry is, why not let you die?"

"Now is not the time to dwell on Harry's past actions," Arthur said sternly as Molly checked Ginny was okay with remembering the incident that nearly led to her death.

"I guess not," Sirius conceded. "But if Dumbledore was right, the diary was a Horcrux and now it's gone."

"But how did Ginny get hold of it?" Tonks questioned. "I thought you said all these Horcruxes were hidden."

"That is one question Dumbledore didn't answer," Sirius admitted. "I'm guessing since it was already destroyed, he didn't dwell on how it had gotten into school."

"I think we can all make a guess on that one," Ron snorted. "Ginny just happened to find a diary belonging to You-Know-Who in her belongings, and his daughter and grandson also just happened to be in the same house, and friendly with her. Clearly one of the pair planted it on her."

"It does seem the most reasonable explanation," Charlie agreed. "Although I guess it's a whole other conversation to discuss why they even had the book at Hogwarts in the first place."

"To open the Chamber of Secrets," Ginny whispered. "I can remember finding the book, but not when I found it. What if they didn't plant it on me until they'd had their fun with the chamber first? What if their intention had been to frame me for opening the chamber? What if they'd planned on killing someone and pinning the blame on me?"

"I wonder what went wrong with that plan." Kingsley mused. He thought that Ginny could possibly have hit the nail on the head with her theory, as it made perfect sense.

"Hermione got petrified," Fred offered. "I'm guessing that wasn't part of the plan. Maybe when that happened, they panicked and framed Ginny sooner than planned."

"It's definitely something to think about," Remus said. "But right now, it's not of too much importance. Let's return to the Horcruxes."

Turning back to Sirius, everyone gave him their full attention as he began listing the other things Dumbledore was convinced Voldemort had made into a Horcrux. The first thing was a magical resurrection stone, which was set in a ring. Dumbledore had unearthed a memory of Voldemort suddenly wearing the ring in his last year of school, and he was convinced it was a Horcrux. The next thing was a silver cup, once owned by Helga Hufflepuff. Again, Dumbledore had found a memory of a young Voldemort taking particular interest in the cup, before its current owner had been mysteriously killed and the cup went missing. Using the Hufflepuff connection, Dumbledore had deduced that Voldemort had also likely used something once owned by Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw, although he hadn't yet narrowed down ay possibilities.

"Why nothing from Godric Gryffindor?" Andromeda asked.

"Dumbledore believed that You-Know-Who's loyalty to Slytherin was too strong for him to use something of Gryffindor's," Remus answered.

"I'm not so sure," Moody said. "I'm sure Voldemort would get a kick out of using something once belonging to Gryffindor to help keep him alive. I think it's something we should look into, especially since I noticed you only listed four potential Horcruxes, the diary makes five, and there's supposed to be six."

"Yeah, Dumbledore was clueless on the identity of the sixth one," Sirius admitted. "He seemed convinced we shouldn't be looking at something of Gryffindor's, but I agree it has potential."

"And what about locations?" Tonks asked. "Didn't you say Dumbledore had some places for us to search?"

"Yes, as with the Horcruxes he thinks You-Know-Who uses places that mean something to him to conceal his Horcruxes," Remus replied. "Dumbledore had a list of potential places, although that's a bit smaller than his list of potential Horcruxes."

"A bit, try a lot," Sirius snorted. "Basically he's come up with some cave, where You-Know-Who supposedly visited when he was a child. The house his biological father and grandparents lived in at Little Hangleton, an old deserted cottage his mother and her family lived in, also just outside Little Hangleton, and Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" McGonagall queried. "How could he have hidden something at Hogwarts?"

"Maybe when he was at school there," Sirius suggested. "And recent events prove he can enter the school without anyone knowing about is. Who know how many times he's visited over the years."

"Although, it might not be the castle itself," Remus pointed out. "Dumbledore noted that he could have hidden something on the grounds, or even down in Hogsmeade. He just thought the area was a good place to search."

"Minerva, maybe you can organise some searches when school starts back," Moody suggested. "Some of us can head up to the castle on a weekend."

"And why would I be able to organise searches of the school grounds?" McGonagall asked with a frown.

"Surely you're taking over as Headmistress," Molly said. "You are deputy."

"Maybe," McGonagall mused with a thoughtful nod. "I did receive an owl this morning, inviting me to a meeting at the Ministry to discuss staffing at Hogwarts. Maybe the subject of Head will be raised then."

"I also received an owl asking me to go to the Ministry," Filius Flitwick, piped up.

"And me," Pomona Sprout said. "And I know Poppy got one, as did Irma."

"I'm guessing they went out to all the staff," McGonagall said. "I suppose next week we'll find out just who is taking over from Albus."

"Hopefully it will be you," Remus said.

"I wouldn't count on it," Kingsley said with a slight snort. "We all know Nott is in Voldemort's pocket, so I would say there's a good chance Snape will get the job."

"And what will you do if that happens?" Molly asked McGonagall and the other Professors.

"I won't leave," McGonagall said firmly. "I will not abandon the students of Hogwarts. Even if Severus does get the job, I won't quit. If they want rid of me, they'll have to sack me."

Flitwick and Sprout both mirrored McGonagall's stance, much to Molly and Arthur's relief. At least if the likes of McGonagall were still at school they'd feel comfortable with sending Ron and Ginny back to Hogwarts, even if Snape did turn out to be in charge. Although with a bit of luck, McGonagall would take over as Headmistress, and she could make sure the likes of the Weasleys weren't persecuted for not supporting Voldemort. She could also keep them safe from Hermione and Harry, as they were also a cause for concern in the Weasleys eyes. Although with a bit of luck, now the truth was out, the pair would transfer to Slytherin with the other snakes, and Ron and Ginny wouldn't have to deal with the pair.