Warning: I do not recommend eating while reading this chapter. Gruesome imagery follows.

Resolutions

By Neurotica

Twenty-Four

Upon entering the Three Broomsticks, Remus breathed a sigh of content. Just being in the pub again brought back all the good times he'd had there with Sirius and James and Peter, and though his worries about Harry in Godric's Hollow were far from alleviated, at least now he wasn't quite so tempted to Apparate to where Dumbledore had taken his boy. Sirius, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as calm. He'd hadn't even waited for Remus to fully enter the pub before marching up to the bar and ordering the strongest drink they had—Chinese Pepper Tea, a blood-red liqueur served in a shot glass, since its alcohol content matched that of a tall glass of firewhiskey. As Sirius put the glass to his lips and tipped his head back to drain the drink in a single gulp, Remus could almost see steam coming out of his best friend's ears. He took Sirius by the arm and practically carried him to an empty booth in the corner.

"Feel better?" Remus asked, watching his friend's head drop heavily to his chest, rising a few seconds later.

Sirius shook his head hard. "A little," he said, his voice hoarse from the burning drink going down his throat. "What's your poison, Moony?"

"Just a butterbeer, please," Remus said to the waitress as she took out a quill and parchment pad.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Lightweight. Firewhiskey, if you will, m'dear." He smiled charmingly at the young brunette. She giggled shyly, blushing, and sauntered back to the bar.

"You're married with a daughter," Remus reminded him amusingly, leaning back in his chair. "Stop flirting."

"I am not flirting, Mr. Moony," Sirius replied with as much dignity as he could muster, trying to shake off the aftereffects of his first drink. "I'm being friendly."

"I'll tell Naomi."

"That's just plain mean."

Remus grinned. "So, hell of a month, eh?"

Sirius snorted as the waitress brought their drinks. "That, my dearest friend, is an understatement..." Sipping his drink, the Auror looked around the pub. A few Hogsmeade villagers had felt safe enough with the Aurors stationed around to venture away from their homes for a few drinks and a good meal. Remus watched his best friend sigh and turn back to him.

"Feel like talking?" Remus asked quietly.

"Don't know that you want to hear what I have to say," Sirius replied grimly. He sighed again, setting down his drink, and ran a hand through his hair. Remus looked back at him in calm curiosity. "It's about the Werewolf Underground," the Auror said very quietly. Remus sat back in his chair, his face fading into his blank mask. "Greyback's gone. You... killed him. That makes you—"

"I know damn well what it makes me," Remus said dully, averting his eyes. "You don't think I haven't thought about it?"

Sirius watched him closely. "What are you going to do about it?"

"What would you have me do about it?"

Sirius took a deep breath and fell into what Remus called Auror mode. "You can help us, Remus," he said. "Remember all those times we talked about the werewolves in the Underground, and about how they could have normal lives if Greyback wasn't around to control their every move? You could make that happen now. Those kids you told us about—send them back to their families. The ones who were involved in the attacks—we can put them in Azkaban where they bloody well belong."

"You just expect me to walk down there and demand that they all cooperate?" Remus asked.

"Yes," Sirius said simply, nodding. "A team of Aurors would be with you, led by me. It's your choice in the end, but think about everything that could change..."

Remus was thinking about it. He'd been thinking about it since his return to Hogwarts after the full moon. But he'd never been a good leader. James had been the one to lead the Marauders, straight into detention. Remus hadn't even been able to stand up to his friends when he knew they'd gone too far with a prank or teasing of other students.

But hadn't Naomi told him just after Mira's birth that others in the Order thought of him as a leader, something of a second-in-command to Dumbledore? It was a weird thought, him being the leader of anything. Then again, he'd been a department head at the Ministry for nearly two years, and he thought he'd done a rather decent job of it. And his family... Looking back, he'd always been the leader with his little family. Sirius never got too out of hand when Remus was there, telling him to calm down a bit. Remus was the one they all looked to for guidance when there was danger or when they found themselves in a situation they didn't know how to handle; the night Voldemort ambushed the cottage came to mind. Sirius and Emmeline had let him do the thinking on how to out alive.

Naomi was the real reason we got out of that, Remus thought. She saved us that night...

But didn't she look to you for forgiveness and permission to help? asked another voice. You could have told her to bugger off that night. What then?

Emmeline, Sirius, and I would be dead. But what does that have anything to do with leading and commanding werewolves?

As corny as it may sound, you've got to believe you're a leader before you can be one, mate. If you go to the Underground without confidence in yourself, those werewolves will tear you apart. But if you believe in your leadership skills like Sirius does—or even Emmeline, Naomi, and Harry, and the rest of the Order—they'll believe in it. They won't think twice about disobeying you. You're the Alpha of the pack now, Remus, whether you like it or not. You can either do good with it, or you can ignore it, and watch more attacks happen. Isn't that the reason you went down after Greyback in the first place? To stop the attacks?

Remus raised a mental eyebrow. I am not being lectured by a voice in my head, he thought firmly. He looked back to Sirius who was watching him carefully. Gulping surreptitiously, he nodded. "All right, I'm in," he said quietly. "I'll go to the Underground with you. But let's just wait a few days, eh? Let's get past this Horcrux business before we start more trouble for ourselves."

Sirius nodded and smiled a little. "Moony, I think we started trouble for ourselves the moment we stepped on the Hogwarts Express when we were eleven."

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but the pub door burst open and a little old man stumbled in. A few of the closer patrons abandoned their drinks to catch the skinny, bald wizard before he fell to the floor, stumbling over his words.

"Hector, what in the world is the matter?" Rosmerta came from a back room, carrying a crate of fresh butterbeer. She sat the crate on the bar, rushed around to the man, and knelt beside him. "I've told you a hundred times, Hector, to lay off the ale."

"They're here!" Hector panted. Sirius and Remus exchanged a rather startled glance.

"Who's here?" asked one of the older bartenders.

"They're all over the place! Bustin' into houses!"

"Hector, what're you talking about?" Rosmerta asked, sounding impatient.

"Just like the Ministry's said! He's usin' Inferi! And they're here!"

Remus looked at Sirius, who'd already gulped down the remainder of his drink, and stood, retrieving his wand. "Happy Halloween," he said flatly, reaching for his own wand.

Sirius sighed and led the way out of the pub. A few other wizards followed them with their wands drawn. When Remus looked down the path towards the Shrieking Shack, he was glad not only he and his best friend were left to face this... Just as Hector said, there was an army of Inferi coming up the hill. Remus hadn't seen anything like this since Sirius made him watch some rubbish zombie movie a few years back.

"INCARCEROUS!" Sirius shouted at the closest walking corpse. Ropes shot out of his wand and wrapped the Inferius' arms and chest. It fell over and the one behind it tripped and stumbled a little.

"STUPEFY!" shouted one of the wizards who'd come from the pub.

"Remus, send a patronus to Tonks," Sirius said. "Tell her to get my Aurors down here!" Remus rolled his eyes as the Head Auror charged down the road. He did as asked, sending his patronus up towards Hogwarts. For a moment he stared in awe at the large white form—

Something tripped into him, knocking him to the ground. He struggled to turn back and was now staring into a decaying face. He grasped for his wand, which he'd so conveniently dropped when he'd fallen. The Inferius was bending down, reaching for his throat—Remus could see its milky white, dead eyes—

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

The corpse fell right on top of Remus, stiff as a board. He hastily pushed it off him, finally finding his wand. "All right, Moony?" Sirius asked, sticking out a hand to help him up.

Remus nodded. "Fine," he lied. He wasn't exactly fond of having corpses try to strangle him.

Someone screamed. The two wizards ran down the road, spotting a woman surrounded by the walking bodies. Sirius raised his wand. "IMPEDIMENTA!" The Inferi froze—Remus knocked a few of them out of the way, grabbed the woman, who was frozen in fear, and pulled her to the side. Once she was out of reach of the Inferi, she crawled to the nearest door, opened it, and slammed it shut behind her.

Remus turned around, looking for Sirius, but not finding him anywhere. "Sirius?" he yelled. He'd been right beside him two seconds ago...

There was a strangled cry in an alley just beside Zonko's. He'd heard the scream before—just after Hestia Jones had been killed, and Sirius had very unfortunately found a very nasty boggart in the attic of Number Twelve. And just like when he'd found his best friend then, Sirius was pushed against the wall as though he wanted nothing more than to fall right through it.

And no bloody wonder...

Standing in front of Sirius was a man as tall as Remus, maybe an inch or so shorter, with still messy black hair. Beside him was a woman with dirty long red hair, her emerald green robes looking torn.

"No... Please..." Sirius moaned, his wand completely forgotten, as he tried to get away from the Inferi forms of Lily and James Potter.

How did Voldemort get them? Remus didn't waste much more time pondering how the Dark Lord did anything.

"Sirius, it's not them!" Remus shouted. "Hex them!"

"I can't!" Sirius shouted, his voice cracking. "Remus... Please..."

Remus raised his wand, preparing a hex, but the Inferius-James turned around. His glasses were broken, his formerly hazel eyes misted over with a milky white film, his tattered skin hanging from his skull. Remus automatically stumbled back a few steps, hesitating. You just told Sirius to hex them, and you can't even do it. Maybe you're not so much of a leader after all... Remus took in a deep, rattling breath. "I'm sorry, James," he said quietly, raising his wand again and pointing at the corpse of his best friend. Other spells were only temporary solutions. Most Inferi could break through a body-bind or a Stunner. Only one thing could really stop them... "INCENDIO!" James' body caught fire immediately, and Remus floated him over into the road where the magical fire finished the job within seconds and disappeared leaving nothing left of the Inferius.

Remus turned back to Sirius. The Auror was still cowering away from Lily—she reached out a pale bony finger and touched the wizard's cheek. This seemed to break Sirius' fear. "INCENDIO!" he shouted, albeit rather hoarsely. Remus took care of floating the second burning corpse to the road. He felt horrible for watching it, but he couldn't turn away.

This is better... he thought. The Ministry will only do the same later anyway...

A hand grasped his shoulder and he spun around, prepared to curse until he remembered Sirius had been behind him.

Fortunately, the other Aurors were now arriving, taking care of the Inferi, so the two best friends could stay were they were, frozen in confusion and scared out of their minds. Sirius backed up against the wall again and slid down, pulling his knees to this chest. What they hadn't been able to do in fifteen minutes, the Aurors did in less than five—most of the Inferi were either destroyed or about to be. Tonks found Sirius and Remus during her check to see if they'd missed anything.

"Is he all right?" she asked Remus worriedly, watching Sirius' eyes change from pained to completely deadened.

Remus shook his head. "I don't think so." Tonks sighed as he walked over and knelt down beside the other wizard. "Sirius, come on, let's go back to Hogwarts..."

Sirius nodded slowly and accepted Remus' help to stand again. "Hogwarts... Right..." he said dully. Remus sighed and nodded to Tonks, helping Sirius up the path to Hogwarts.

But just as they made it up the hill leading to the gate, Remus realized their night was still far from over. Does it ever end? he wondered, pulling Sirius' arm further around his shoulder.

Hagrid was exiting the gate to meet Dumbledore—the Headmaster was floating an unconscious figure into the half-giant's arms.

"Harry?" Sirius rasped, the strength in his legs seemingly coming back finally. He pulled away from Remus and stumbled over to the Headmaster. "What happened to him?" he demanded rather loudly.

Dumbledore looked at them calmly. Remus' heart fell to his feet as he looked at the boy Hagrid carried. Harry was nearly as tall as Remus now, but he looked like a little boy in the gamekeeper's arms. "Harry will be just fine," Dumbledore said quietly. "He has only suffered a mild concussion."

"How?" Sirius growled.

"Sirius," Remus said warningly. "This can wait—Harry needs to be taken to the hospital wing."

The Head Auror clenched his jaw and nodded. "Alright," he said very quietly. "After you, Hagrid."

The walk to the hospital wing was a silent one. Sirius walked beside Hagrid, glancing worriedly at Harry every few steps, while Remus remained beside Dumbledore, wondering what exactly happened at Godric's Hollow. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Headmaster's hand going to the pocket of his robes. Remus only hoped that the Horcrux had been retrieved, and that whatever happened to Harry had been worth it, as horrible it was to even venture on that train of thought.

Once in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey, in her night robes, since it was nearing midnight, busied herself with casting diagnostic spells on Harry. While this was going on, Sirius found it in himself to pull away from his godson's bedside to give Dumbledore a look that would have had anybody else running for cover. "What. happened. to. him." Sirius said, obviously fighting hard to keep his temper under control.

Dumbledore looked Sirius directly in the eye. "When Harry retrieved the Horcrux, he was hexed. He was able to pull his hand away before he was too badly harmed, but he fell to the floor, unconscious."

"But he got the Horcrux?" Remus checked quietly.

The Headmaster smiled slightly, looking triumphant. "He did." He carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out something wrapped in a heavy black cloth. Remus watched anxiously as he unfolded it to reveal a silver dagger that looked brand-new. "It once belonged to Godric Gryffindor and was passed down through the Potter family for many generations."

Sirius furrowed his brow, his anger forgotten in light of this news. "The Potters had this? But..."

"Harry's an heir of Gryffindor, isn't he?" Remus asked. Sirius looked at him in surprise. "Not much is known about the rest of the heirs of the Hogwarts founders. We know that Voldemort is Slytherin's heir, but the others are a mystery." Dumbledore looked at him proudly. "Over the last thousand years, information of which heir married whom was lost. I've had my suspicions about the Potters for years now—I once saw a picture of Godric Gryffindor and couldn't help but see similarities between him and James' father, as minor as they were. I never outright asked James, but I had a feeling something wasn't normal about their family; like they were more special than people thought."

"The Potters can't be heirs of Gryffindor," Sirius said, looking as though he didn't really believe what he was saying. "James would've said something about it."

"Would you have wanted to amplify the fact that you're an heir, especially knowing that another heir, particularly Slytherin's, was out there somewhere, looking for revenge on what happened between the founders?" Remus asked.

Sirius sighed, not saying anything.

"Being an heir of a Hogwarts founder is dangerous," Dumbledore said gravely. "For example, Harold Potter did not know who the other founders' heirs were, and if an heir of Slytherin discovered Gryffindor's heir, it is quite possible the Slytherin heir would kill the Gryffindor heir, merely because he wanted to carry out Salazar Slytherin's final goals."

"Everything I've ever heard about the Founders said Slytherin and Gryffindor were best friends up until Slytherin left the school, because the others wouldn't let him exclude Muggleborns," Sirius said. "But I never heard anything about Slytherin wanting to kill Gryffindor over it..."

Dumbledore nodded. "Not many books, not even the ones in the Hogwarts library speak of the feud between Slytherin and Gryffindor in quite that manner. There were numerous battles between the two, one in particular, the very last one, in which Gryffindor defeated his once friend turned enemy."

"Gryffindor killed Slytherin," Remus said, nodding. "I've heard that theory, but every history book claims Slytherin died of old age."

"Because Gryffindor did not wish to be known as a killer of a man he once called his brother," Dumbledore explained. "He preferred rewriting history, and did so with the help of Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff—they formed a story and spread it around until it was believed."

"That makes no sense," Sirius argued. "Why would Gryffindor, the founder of the house of bravery, want to lie about this?"

"If you and Remus had a falling out that resulted in your becoming enemies, and one day you killed him, would you wish it to be known, or would you rather the world think something else?"

"It wouldn't matter what the world thought; I'd still know the truth," Sirius said. "Okay, so Harry's an heir. Add that to the list of things not to tell anybody—the number one listing being 'he's a Parselmouth'... What does this mean for him?"

"Well, tonight it meant he could reach in to retrieve the Horcrux, which was protected by Voldemort's blood, and in turn Harry's and Gryffindor's."

Remus' brow furrowed for a moment before his expression cleared. "Right, Voldemort had Harry's blood from the resurrection attempt." He looked from the dagger to where Harry was now sleeping peacefully—Madam Pomfrey had given him a potion to make him sleep for the night. "What will you do with it now that you've got it?"

"Destroy it," Dumbledore said. "Once that has been accomplished, there is only one obstacle in our way before Lord Voldemort can be defeated for good."

"The snake," Sirius said with a twist of his lips. "I hate snakes..."

Remus chuckled. "I'm none too fond of them myself." He sighed and looked over at Harry again. "If you're sure he'll be okay, Albus, I think Sirius and I might go back to our quarters—we've had a rather rough evening as well..."

"How so?" Dumbledore inquired.

Remus quickly gave the Headmaster the gist of what occurred in Hogsmeade, not wanting to go into too much detail—he hadn't completely recovered from the shock of setting his best friend's body on fire. "Nobody was hurt, thankfully, just mostly frightened," he finished.

"And we wondered if Voldemort had a sense of humor," Sirius said. "Sending Inferi out on Halloween..."

Dumbledore nodded. "The two of you rest," he said. "I've much work ahead of me and I should begin. Remus, if you do not object, I wish to speak with you tomorrow before you and Emmeline depart for London."

"Of course, sir." With a final check on Harry, the two wizards left the hospital wing, walking quickly to Remus and Emmeline's quarters. "Are we going to tell Naomi and Emmeline about what happened in Hogsmeade?" Remus asked quietly as they reached the penguin portrait.

"If we don't, and they find out, do you want to face the consequences?"

"Good point."

"Where have you two been?" Naomi demanded when they climbed through the portrait hole. "Tonks just sent a patronus saying all the Inferi have been taken care of. What Inferi?

"

"You know," Sirius said, turning to Remus. "One of these days, I might actually get a message Tonks sends me instead of hearing it secondhand from someone else."

Emmeline carefully stood from the sofa, looking both wizards over carefully. "Are you both all right?"

"Physically or mentally?" Sirius asked. "Physically, we're fine, just a bit dirty; mentally... Well, you know the answer to that..."

"You'll both want to sit for this," Remus said quietly, moving to the sofa. "It's not the easiest thing to hear, I'd imagine."

"And he lived it," Sirius muttered, going to where Naomi sat and took a seat beside her. "You start, Moony, I just want to sit here for a while." He proceeded to pull his wife into his arms and bury his face in her shoulder like he never wanted to come out again.

"There were Inferi in Hogsmeade," Remus said quietly. "Dozens of them. Sirius and I were doing all right, until we discovered two of them were Lily and James." Naomi and Emmeline gasped—Sirius took his face from Naomi's shoulder and silently thanked Remus for not mentioning the part about him cowering in fear. "It took us a moment to get over the shock, but eventually we got a handle of the situation."

Naomi paled. "How did he get them?" she asked in a strangled voice. "Godric's Hollow cemetery is supposed to be protected by magic..."

Remus shook his head. "I don't know," he said honestly. "But as we've learned in the past, Voldemort will find a way around any protections."

"Can't we just have a normal night for a change?" Emmeline asked rhetorically, leaning her head against Remus' shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her. "Any word from Harry and Dumbledore?"

"They're back," Remus said quietly. "And they got the Horcrux—it's a dagger that once belonged to Godric Gryffindor."

"Harry's in the hospital wing with a mild concussion," Sirius elaborated. "Pomfrey says he'll be fine—I think she put him under a sleeping charm for the night so we wouldn't be tempted to stay and question him all night."

Naomi snorted. "Wouldn't surprise me," she muttered. "So shall we stay up all night talking or are you two ready for some sleep?"

"We can try sleep, but I can't guarantee I won't wake up screaming in the middle of the night," Sirius said, reluctantly pulling away from Naomi. "What time to you two plan on leaving tomorrow?"

Remus shrugged. "Not too early, if Dumbledore wants a word with me," he replied. "But sleep sounds like a wonderful plan."

The plan was carried out minutes later—Sirius and Naomi said good night, taking Mira from the blanket on the floor she'd been sleeping on. Once they'd left the room, Remus looked at Emmeline, feeling completely exhausted. "You're going to make me go to the bedroom, aren't you?"

She smiled at him and kissed him softly. "Only if you want," she said. "I'm sure we can make ourselves comfortable out here."

He shook his head. "No, you need the bed," he said. "I want you to be perfectly comfortable."

"I'll be comfortable wherever you are," she replied. "But you're right; in the bed, I won't push you over the side with my enormous stomach."

Remus smiled and bent to kiss her stomach softly. "It's not that big," he said softly.

She rolled her eyes. "Liar," she said, though she was smiling. "Come on, help me up so we can get some sleep."

He chuckled but stood, taking her hands and pulling her up to him. On impulse, he captured her lips and kissed her deeply, feeling a calm wash over him that he only felt with her. The night he'd had was momentarily forgotten as he was caught up in everything about his wife—the scent of vanilla shampoo she used, the feel of her body against his, the softness of her lips... When he pulled away minutes later, she looked a little dazed, but there was a large smile on her face. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she breathed as he led her to the bedroom.

Next morning, Harry woke as the sunlight hit his face and he very reluctantly opened his eyes. He reached over blindly to the bedside table for his glasses and put them on, bringing the room into focus. His robes from the night before were on a chair beside his bed, and Madam Pomfrey wasn't over him, fussing over his health, so he pushed himself up and began changing from the hospital pajamas he wore. While he tied his shoes, he tried to remember how he'd gotten to the hospital wing—the last thing he remembered was reaching in through that brick and touching something warm and sharp — there was a small cut on one of his fingers where he'd grazed the edge. Then there'd been a jolt of electricity that had run through his body and had thrown him back as he grasped the dagger.

Hopefully I pulled the dagger out before I hit the floor, he thought idly, running a hand through his hair. Maybe I'll stop by Dumbledore's office before going back to the tower...

But it seemed there was no need to go see the Headmaster—Dumbledore had just entered the hospital wing. He spotted Harry and crossed over to him briskly, a small smile on his face. "How are you feeling, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "I'm all right, sir," he said, wondering why his voice was hoarse. "Bit of a headache, but I'll manage..."

"Good," Dumbledore said, looking at a box of Every Flavor Beans on his bedside. "I believe these are from Hagrid, as a Get Well gift. Would you mind if I...?" He gestured to the box.

"Oh, no, not at all," Harry said.

"I once had quite a taste for these in my youth," the Headmaster said, examining the different colored beans thoughtfully. "But I was most unfortunate to accept one from my brother, and it turned out to be a vomit-flavored bean."

Harry chuckled as Dumbledore selected a tan-colored bean. "Sirius gave me one once that I'd thought was cherry— turned out to be blood."

Dumbledore nodded, smiling. "Perhaps a nice toffee..." He popped the bean in his mouth, his eyebrows rising slightly as he chewed. "Alas, earwax," he said.

Harry laughed.

Dumbledore sat the box back on the table and pulled up a chair beside Harry. "I am certain that you are curious about last night."

The younger wizard nodded, his smiled fading. "Did I get it? The dagger..."

"Indeed you did," the Headmaster said. "And a very admirable job you did as well."

Harry sighed in relief. "Has it been destroyed?"

"It is now nothing more than a dagger." He reached into his robes and pulled the dagger out by its hilt. "I'd thought about keeping it and adding it to the case that holds Gryffindor's sword, but this morning, I've come up with a better solution for where it should go." He turned the blade away and held it out to Harry. "By all rights, it does belong to you."

Harry's eyes widened as he reached out and took it. "Thank you, sir."

"You're quite welcome, Harry."

The dagger was feather-light in his hands as he looked at the bright ruby at the top of the hilt; the name of Godric Gryffindor was etched into the blade. It looked almost fake, it was so shiny and new-looking. Harry looked up at Dumbledore. "So there's only one Horcrux left, right?"

"Correct," Dumbledore replied, nodding. "Nagini the snake. I've not yet come up with a plan to find her, so any suggestions would be most welcome."

"Well, wherever Voldemort is, wouldn't she be nearby?"

"That is a theory I've wondered about, and more often than not, it is accurate," Dumbledore said. "Unfortunately for our search for Horcruxes, Voldemort has not ventured from his hideout in many months."

Harry nodded. "Sir, I know you said only a wizard with Potter blood would have been able to reach in there, but wouldn't Voldemort have thought I might go after it at some point."

"I do not believe Voldemort had the forethought that you would ever even know about the Horcruxes. He'd probably planned to have you destroyed before you could learn of them."

"And why wasn't I hurt? Didn't my grandfather's portrait say there were enchantments and curses over it?"

"As I explained last night, the blood in your body gives you an advantage others would not have. You know of course how powerful blood is—the blood from your mother protected you from outside harm when you were residing with your aunt and uncle as a young child. Had Voldemort come back to power another way, one that did not involve using your blood, he would not have been able to touch you there. However, he now has the same protection that Lily gave you, as well as the blood you carry as an heir to Gryffindor."

"What will that mean? Other than he can touch me now, I mean."

"Hopefully, nothing," Dumbledore replied. "Once the final Horcrux is destroyed, he will be mortal."

Harry frowned. "Sir, how is it that Voldemort doesn't know that you've gone around destroying pieces of his soul?"

Dumbledore smiled a little. "He knows, Harry. Or at least I believe he has his suspicions—I have it on good authority that he has felt some odd sensations over the last months since I began my search for his Horcruxes. Obviously that does not mean that he's moved them, or put even more protections around them—the one we retrieved tonight was the least guarded of any of the Horcruxes, save the locket that Sirius found in Julia Sedler's belongings. That is why I have been acting quickly, so as not to arouse his suspicion even further. By the time he realizes what has been done, I hope to have the final Horcrux destroyed." He stood. "Now then, I believe it is nearing breakfast time, and Remus and Emmeline will be returning to Number Twelve shortly—I am sure they will wish to see you walking on your own two feet before that time."

Harry swung his legs over the edge of the bed again, tucking the dagger into his belt loop—he'd have to find a safe place for it in his dorm—and followed Dumbledore out of the hospital wing. He tried not to grin at the thought of Voldemort's face when he realized all his precious Horcruxes had been destroyed.

Now we just have to figure out the best way to kill a snake...

AN: I disclaim the "Alas, ear wax," line from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philospher's Stone. It belongs to J.K. Rowling.