Harry and Hermione spent the week before the wedding holed up in Ron's room with 'A Practical Guide to the Ancient Arte of Occlumency'. Ron and Ginny had been too busy to join them; the Delacours had put up most of the money for the wedding, which meant the Weasleys were doing most of the work. Both Ron and Ginny were awakened by Mrs. Weasley at dawn, and were so exhausted that they went to sleep right after dinner. Harry and Hermione had offered to help, but Mrs. Weasley would only let them prepare lunch.

Harry had to admit, the garden looked incredible. To the left of the gigantic tent that resembled a medieval French castle, there was a patch of raspberry and strawberry bushes with a dark chocolate river running through the center. To the right of the tent was a gazebo surrounded by a rose garden. Dotted around the property were koi ponds full of brightly colored fish, flower gardens with every species you could imagine, and fountains of water, wine, and the finest brandy. It was the most extravagant thing Harry had ever seen in his life. If he and Ginny ever married, he hoped she would go in for something a little... simpler.

Unfortunately, 'A Practical Guide to the Ancient Arte of Occlumency' had recommended that during the first week of study, the student should dedicate him or herself almost completely to learning how to relax and let go of their thoughts. Part of this relaxation technique required the student to remove themselves from as much stimuli as possible. Both Harry and Hermione had found this to be incredibly difficult, as that meant they could not use the pensieve, read the paper, or even talk about what lay ahead of them. As a result, they spent most of the daytime hours in Ron's room with a silencing charm placed on the door. At night, they would go sit by the lake with their eyes closed, simply taking in the sounds of the night for hours at a time.

The first few days of this were, well... boring as hell, actually. The book had instructed them to close their eyes and breathe, count each breath from one to ten, and then start over. If any random thoughts came into their head, they were to acknowledge them, and then release them. Harry and Hermione did this for thirty-minute stretches followed by a thirty-minute rest period. Boring as it was, they promised each other to remain disciplined and practiced for eight hours a day. At first, Harry couldn't stop the random thoughts and internal dialogue that kept popping up. After a while however, the thoughts became less frequent, and when the sessions were over, he found that everything seemed more intense; colors seemed brighter, and his senses of smell and hearing seemed sharper.

On the night before the wedding, he and Hermione were sitting by the lake meditating. They had increased their practice sessions to an hour at a time. When the alarm on Hermione's wristwatch went off, signaling the end of their session, Harry slowly opened his eyes. What he saw made him want to laugh, and cry, and sing, and shout all at once. His body began to quiver, as his face seemed to tighten up.

"What is it Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione asked, looking concerned.

"It's," Harry shivered as tears welled up in his eyes.

"What is it Harry? Tell me."

"It's so beautiful," he gasped, tears running down his cheeks, "you are so beautiful."

"Harry, are you all right?"

Harry couldn't find the words to describe to her what he was seeing. The only way he could put it was "life". The entire Weasley garden was radiating life. The grass, trees and flowers had an almost electrical energy pulsing from them. Hermione had an orange glow that radiated out from her body. It was as if he could see her life force, her soul. It was the most beautiful thing Harry had ever seen in his life, and it's power was overwhelming. Everything, every tree, every flower, every blade of grass had it's own energy, it's own light emanating from it that pulsed with its life force.

As he described what he was seeing, Hermione began to laugh with happiness, tears running down her cheeks. The most amazing thing happened when she did this; the orange glow that surrounded her grew in size and intensity, reaching towards Harry until he was engulfed in it's warmth. He was beginning to understand what Dumbledore had meant about the power of love. He had always intellectually understood it of course, but now he could feel it, and the difference was astounding.

Harry went to bed that night absolutely exhausted, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Almost as soon as he was asleep, Harry found himself in a yawning, pitch-black space that was as quiet as the grave. Harry couldn't say why, but he knew that he had to get out of this place, that he didn't belong here. There was a door behind him, giving off a faint light. Harry tried to open it, but it was locked. Far away, maybe even blocks away, he could see another faintly glowing door. "Lumos." The light from his wand was almost completely engulfed by the darkness that surrounded him, so that he could only see a foot or two in front of him. Harry began to cautiously make his way toward the far door, hoping that unlike the door behind him, he would be able to get through.

He was about halfway towards the door, when the silence in the giant black space was broken by the sound of someone gently sobbing. "Hello?" he called into the darkness, "Is someone there? Are you all right?" Whoever it was did not answer him. Harry stopped and listened for a moment so that he might trace the direction from which it was coming. He veered to the right, and after walking in the dark for several minutes, the noise became more distinct.. "Hello?" he tried again, "I won't hurt you. Do you need help?" The person continued to cry, but did not answer. The sound grew closer as he walked in its direction, and just as he felt that he must be very near whoever it was, he tripped, landing face first on the floor. Except there wasn't a floor exactly, just solid blackness.

Harry, still on the ground, quickly turned, pointing the light from his wand behind him. He had tripped right over the weeping person. It was a man dressed in blue robes, lying on his stomach, crying into his arms, which were cradling his head. Long silver hair covered the sides of his face. "Are you okay?" Harry asked again, "What happened?". Albus Dumbledore looked up at him, his eyes almost swollen shut with tears, his body convulsing. A wave of alarm shot through Harry. "Sir! Are you okay? What happened?" he asked in horror. This was not the Albus Dumbledore that Harry had known for the last six years. Gone, was the twinkle from his eyes, and the quiet calm power he had always exuded in life. The headmaster looked broken and weak. "Sir, who did this to you?" Dumbledore attempted to answer, but the words got stuck in his throat as he began to sob anew. With Harry's help, he managed to slowly heave himself into a sitting position. Too weakened to maintain it, his body weight fell upon Harry, who struggled to keep him upright. Dumbledore was muttering into Harry's robes in between sobs, but Harry couldn't understand what he was saying. "What is it sir? I can't understand you. Who did this to you?"

Dumbledore used the remainder of his strength to lift his head off of Harry's collarbone. "Please forgive me Harry." he choked through fresh sobs, "I'm so sorry... please forgive me... all my fault... I'm so sorry... so sorry..."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. "It's not your fault sir. You protected me. You helped me. All these years, you were my friend." Dumbledore's grief seemed to grow with Harry's words.

"No! It's all my fault! Please forgive me!" Dumbledore had grabbed onto Harry's robe for dear life, his eyes wild with desperation.

Harry, confused and afraid, stuttered, "Okay, okay I forgive you sir. I forgive you. It's – it's okay."

Harry awoke in a pool of sweat and immediately threw the oppressive covers off. Had the lights been on, he would have noticed a single phoenix feather fall off of the comforter and gently float down to the floor, landing under his bed. "What the hell was all that about?" Harry had been angry with Dumbledore in the past, but he knew that Dumbledore had always tried to protect him. Even if Harry didn't always agree with his methods, Dumbledore had always had his best interests at heart. Harry started to wonder if deep down inside he blamed Dumbledore for everything that had happened. He didn't think he did, but if not, then what the hell was that dream supposed to mean?

Harry laid back on his pillow, pondering what he had just seen inside his minds eye. Maybe it was the meditation that had brought this strange dream on. After a few moments, his thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley, who came barging in the room to begin her daily battle of trying to get Ron out of bed. With a flick of her wand, the covers flew off of Ron's bed as one of his pillows began repeatedly thumping him on the head.

"Ronald! Ronald Weasley, you wake up this instant!"

Ron let out a groan. "Kay... okay... I'm up... I'm up."

"Get dressed and get yourself downstairs. There is still a lot of work to be done."

"Geroff," Ron moaned, blindly swatting at the pillow that was beating him about the head, "Okay mum I'm up. Get that bloody pillow away from me."

Mrs. Weasley, seemingly satisfied with his response, flicked her wand, and the pillow fell to the bed, motionless. "In five minutes time Ronald, I want you downstairs polishing auntie Muriel's tiara," then looking over at Harry said, "sorry to disturb you Harry. Things will be back to normal after today."

"That's okay Mrs. Weasley," Harry chuckled, "I rather enjoyed watching that."

Ron shot a bleary-eyed glare at his best friend as he dragged himself out of bed. After Mrs. Weasley had left the room, Ron muttered to himself, "If that's all the respect you get around here for being head boy, I wouldn't have bothered. Polishing a stupid tiara for Fleur. I can just hear mum now. 'You're rubbing too hard Ronald! Be careful, that's a goblin made tiara, it's a replica of Ravenclaw's!' She's going to drive me spare."

"She'll calm down after today Ron. She's just nervous."

"What are your plans for today? You going to stick around?"

"For a bit. Thought I would watch the wedding ceremony from under my cloak, then maybe check up on profess- I mean, Remus."

"I'm sorry you can't be there mate. Bill's sorry too. The whole family wants you there. We hate it that you're stuck up in this room like you were back with your aunt and uncle."

"I know, and I appreciate it. Once this is all over, there'll be a lot more weddings we can celebrate together," Harry said, looking off into the distance. Then, he smiled dreamily. "I can't wait for that day mate."

Ron gave him a slightly odd look. Harry turned to him, and looking him straight in the eyes, said, "As soon as this is over, I'm asking Ginny to marry me, and if she says yes, I want you to be my best man."

Ron turned slightly pink as his mouth repeatedly opened and closed. "Um, sure mate, of... of course... Does... does Ginny... I mean..."

"I've behaved selfishly Ron. I see that now. I need to have a long talk with Ginny. Once this wedding business is done with, and we have some time to talk-"

Harry was cut off by the voice of Mrs. Weasley. "Ronald Bilious Weasley! If I have to come up those stairs-"

"I'm coming mum! For Merlin's sake! Sorry Harry, later?"

"Yeah mate, I'll talk to you later."

Aside from a quick trip downstairs for breakfast, Harry spent the remainder of the morning in Ron's bedroom meditating in an attempt to relive what he had experienced the previous evening. Much to his chagrin, he found that no matter how hard he concentrated, everything still looked, well, normal. The grass, the trees, everything looked like it normally did, with none of the vibrancy he had experienced the night before. Was it because he was looking at everything through Ron's bedroom window? Or did the invisibility cloak somehow block the energy? Perhaps you could only see the energy at night. Guests were beginning to arrive, so opening the window and removing his cloak were no longer options. Tired and frustrated, Harry laid on Ron's bed (Ron's pillows were more comfortable), picked up a copy of "Quidditch Through The Ages", and began leafing through it as he waited for the ceremony to begin.

While in the middle of reading about the long, illustrious history of the Wimbourne Wasps, Harry heard the sound of footfall on the stairs. Harry silently closed the book, and tensed up, making sure he was completely covered by the cloak. It was probably one of the Weasley's, but Harry wanted to make sure he wasn't seen by the wrong person. Harry aimed his wand and tensed as the doorknob turned. The door cracked open, and Ginny slipped inside quickly closing the door silently behind her. "Harry," she whispered.

Harry let out a sigh of relief, and cast a silencing charm on the door. "I'm here Ginny." Harry allowed a foot to stick out from under the cloak so she could see it. Before he could react, Ginny went straight for his foot, and lifting the cloak off of it, slid underneath it with him.

"Harry, I'm sorry. I should have been more understanding. I should have realized-" She was pressed up against him, and Harry suddenly found that it was very difficult to breathe.

"Ginny, what are you talking about? I'm the one who has been acting like an idiot. This is entirely my fault. If anyone should be apologizing, it's me. I pushed you away. I love you Ginny and I'm sorry. I behaved like a git. I only hope you can forgive me. I never meant to hurt you like that. I thought I was protecting you, and I was, but I was also protecting myself. I realize that now, and I'm sorry. I love you Ginny. I'm in love with you, and however much time I have left on this earth, I want to spend it with you. Do you forgive me?"

Ginny slid her arms around his waist, as her moist, chocolate brown eyes gazed up into his. "I do. I love you Harry. I'm in love with you, and however much time I have left on this earth, I want to spend it with you. Do you forgive me?"

Harry moved his lips to within a whisper of hers, and just before their lips met, answered, "I do."

Harry closed his eyes and allowed himself to melt into her, to give in to her completely; her every kiss sending his spirit soaring. Right then, he didn't care about Horcruxes, or Snape, or Voldemort. His entire soul had been enveloped by her. It was only when she drew a sharp breath and jerked back that he opened his eyes. "Ginny what's-" Harry didn't need to finish the question. Ginny was gazing in wonder, hypnotized by the deep red pulsing light that was emanating from them, filling the entire room.

"Harry, what's happening? What is it?"

Harry gently took her head in his hands, and smiled as he gazed into her eyes. "It's us Ginny. It's our... life force maybe? I don't know exactly what it is, but I know it's beautiful, and I know it's nothing to be afraid of."

"You've seen this before?"

"Last night, for the first time. Hermione and I were out by the lake meditating. When I opened my eyes, that was the first time I saw it. It was everywhere, the trees, the grass. Hermione and I both had it, but it wasn't this big, or bright."

"It's so beautiful Harry." Ginny whispered, kissing him softly.

"That's because it's us." Harry whispered back, gently rubbing his nose on hers.

The spell was broken by the sound of Mrs. Weasley's voice coming from downstairs. "Where has that girl gotten to? Ginerva Weasley!" Ginny's eyes widened. Neither of them had any idea how long they had been under the cloak together. The pulsing red light shrunk down until it was a barely visible line, outlining their bodies.

"You'd better get back down there."

"Ginny! Where are you?"

Ginny gave Harry another quick kiss. "Gotta go, I love you."

"I love you too Gin."

Ginny slid quietly out the door. Before she shut it, Harry heard her cry down the stairs, "Can't a girl use the loo in this house? For Merlin's sake mum!"

The ceremony was beautiful, at least the parts of it that Harry saw. Unfortunately, he had found it incredibly difficult to keep his Omnioculars off Ginny. What an idiot he had been. Hermione had been right the whole time. He was denying himself the only true happiness he had ever had. What he had just shared with Ginny was the most incredible thing he had ever experienced.

Moving the Omnioculars across the Weasley garden, Harry saw that Scrimgeour and Fudge were both in attendance, along with what seemed like most of the Ministry. Even that cow Umbridge had shown up. There were other men, Harry noted, who were dressed like guests, but seemed to keep to the perimeter of the area, and didn't seem to want to socialize with anyone. "Aurors? Hit Wizards?" Either way, Harry was positive that they weren't there to enjoy the festivities. They were there because the Ministry expected an attack. "If there is an attack, then so much for keeping up appearances. I'm not letting anyone near Ginny. If I blow my cover, then so be it."

Luckily, Harry's worries proved to be unfounded, and the ceremony went off without a hitch. Harry zoomed in on Bill and Fleur as they exchanged vows in front of the Weasley pond, and then gently kissed. The tiara on Fleur's head reflected the sunlight right into Harry's eyes, momentarily blinding him. Harry, wincing, pulled his eyes away from the Omnioculars, blinking rapidly. Every time he closed his eyes, the afterimage of the tiara swam in the blackness before him, etching itself into his brain. Somehow, it seemed familiar to him. "Where have I seen that tiara before? Harry closed his eyes, staring at the bright image of the tiara that the sun's reflection had burned into his corneas. The head of a very ugly warlock, wearing a ridiculous looking wig slowly materialized underneath it.

"Of course! I used it to mark where I had left Snape's potions book. I guess that tiara's not as rare as Mrs. Weasley thought."

"Be careful Ronald, that's a goblin made tiara, it's a replica of Ravenclaw's!"

"Four objects from the four founders would, I am sure, have exerted a powerful pull over Voldemort's imagination."

"Let us speak openly. Why have you come here tonight, surrounded by henchmen, to request a job we both know you do not want?"

"A job I do not want? On the contrary, Dumbledore, I want it very much."

"Oh, you want to come back to Hogwarts, but you do not want to teach any more than you wanted to when you were eighteen. What is it you are after, Tom? Why not try an open request for once?"

"Why did he come back? Did you ever find out?"

"I have ideas, but no more than that."

"What ideas sir?"

"I shall tell you when you when you have retrieved that memory from professor Slughorn. When you have that last piece of the jigsaw, everything will, I hope, be clear... to both of us."

"Merlin's beard! The thing has been right under my nose! I've held it in my hands!"

Harry quickly scrawled a note to Ron, telling him that he had gone to see Remus, and left it at that, in case the note fell into the wrong hands. Despite telling Ron and Hermione that he would include them in the hunt, he wanted to get his hands on this one now, and there was no way to include them without completely ruining Bill and Fleur's wedding. Besides, he wouldn't be alone, Remus would be with him.

OOOOOOOOOOO

When Harry finally stepped out of the fireplace in the Shrieking Shack, he found Remus in the kitchen, feasting on never ending platters of roasted meats, whipped potatoes, crunchy vegetables, and savory desserts. Remus looked up from his food as Harry entered.

"If I had known how good the fringe benefits of this job were, I'd have taught you Occlumency years ago." When Harry didn't so much as crack a smile, Remus became alarmed. "The wedding – is everything-".

"The wedding was beautiful Remus." Harry said, plopping down into a chair, "She did, he did, everything went off perfectly."

"So why so serious?" A look of realization suddenly dawned on Remus' face. "Oh Harry, it's Ginny isn't it? Look she may need a little time-"

"Everything's fine with me and Ginny. I think I found one Remus. I think I found one of Voldemort's Horcruxes."

Remus almost choked on the piece of roast beef he had just put into his mouth. "You found... How did you find it? Where did you find it? I thought you were at the Burrow all day."

"I think you mean, 'When did I find it?'. I found it last year. It's been sitting right under my nose at Hogwarts the whole time. I want to get it tonight Remus, now."

"Hold on Harry, we don't even know how to neutralize it. You even said yourself-"

"I don't want to destroy it yet, not until I'm sure of how to do it. I do want to secure it though. I want to make sure no one else can get their hands on it."

"How do we even know we can touch the thing without it killing us Harry?"

"Because I already have touched it." Harry went on to explain how he had hidden the book after using one of Snape's spells on Draco Malfoy last term, what he had heard Ron say about his aunt's tiara, and what he had seen in the pensieve with Dumbledore. After he finished, he added, "I only hope I can find it again."

"What do you mean 'find it again'?"

"It's in a special room Remus-"

"Ahh yes, the Room of Requirement. I'm sure we might be able to find some of your father's belongings up there while were at it."

"Are you ready then? I don't want to waste any more time."

Remus nodded as he choked down the last of his supper. "Harry we need to be careful and we can't be seen."

Harry nodded in agreement. "We'll have to use my father's cloak. It will be really slow going with two of us under there, but it's better than nothing." The men stepped one after the other into the fireplace, reappearing in the Head Boy and Girl's dormitory.

When Remus stepped out of the fireplace, he turned his attention to the high vaulted ceilings. "I remember visiting James and Lily here often in our seventh year. Lily, Peter and I would sit on the sofa with a copy of 'Hogwarts: a History'. One of us would call out the name of a random Head Boy or Head Girl. Sirius and James used to fly around the common area on their brooms, trying to locate the name on that enormous plaque. Your father usually won of course, he was definitely the better flier. But Sirius wasn't beneath knocking your father off his broom, which ensured him a victory here and there."

"I was thinking about how I wished I'd had my broom the first time I saw this place," Harry replied, "I'd wanted to see my mum and dad's names, but they're too far up."

Lupin snapped out of his reminiscence. "I'm afraid that will have to wait for another day Harry. I have a feeling this is going to take a while."

Harry nodded in agreement, and stepping next to Remus, drew his cloak over the two of them. This would be slow going indeed. The cloak only covered them completely if they stayed very low to the ground. It was uncomfortable, but there was nothing to be done about it. Harry opened the door leading into the fifth floor corridor, Lupin directly behind him. They slowly creeped their way towards the staircase leading up to the sixth floor, stopping every few moments as their legs kept cramping up. When they reached the head of the stairs, a sudden reality hit them. There was no way they would both be able to ascend the staircase, and remain under the cloak, without falling backwards and killing themselves. "Any ideas?" Remus whispered.

"Yes, actually, and it's you that gave it to me back in the dormitory. We need to fly up the stairs."

"I don't own a broom Harry, and yours is in Ottery St. Catchpole. I doubt even you could cast and 'Accio' that powerful, and even if you could, it would take hours for it to get here."

"We don't need brooms, we have wands. Wand out Remus, point it at me. 'Wingardium Leviosa' on the count of three."

"We're going to levitate each other up the stairs?"

"Exactly. Ready? One, two, three." Both men whispered 'Wingardium Leviosa' at exactly the same time, and shot upwards like a bottle rocket, hitting their heads on the fifth floor ceiling. Remus let out a small grunt, as Harry winced with pain.

"Okay, that worked, sort of," Remus said, blinking rapidly, as he tried to clear the spots out of his eyes, "perhaps we were a little too enthusiastic. Here's what we'll do Harry, I'll control our up and down movement, and you control our forwards movement. Together, we should be able to guide ourselves up the stairs." Harry nodded in agreement. The two men interlocked their non-wand arms, and with a little trial and error, had reached the sixth floor landing in less than a minute.

The marble staircase leading to the seventh floor was at the other end of the corridor. Neither Harry nor Remus saw any point in crawling down the entire way when floating was so much faster (and easier on the legs). By the time they reached the mid point of the corridor, they had gotten the hang of working as a team. When they reached the stairs leading up to the seventh floor, they ascended them quite effortlessly. They guided themselves down the seventh floor corridor until they gently landed in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"All right Remus, here's the tricky part. We're not going to both be able to pace in front of the entrance. You stay under the cloak, and I'll try to make it quick. If I'm seen, we'll just have to deal with the consequences as they come."

Remus was just about to argue that Harry should be the one to stay under the cloak, when he closed his eyes, put his head into his hand, and began to shake his head while quietly chuckling to himself. He looked up at Harry. "You, Harry James Potter, are an idiot, and I only feel comfortable saying that because I'm an even bigger one."

Harry gave him a look that said "Do you care to explain?" Remus took his wand, and tapped himself on the head while saying 'Exolvo Illusio'. He slowly faded until he became part of the seventh floor corridor, and then slipped out from under the cloak. "The Disillusionment Charm! I didn't think of it because I didn't know how to cast it... What's your excuse Lupin?" Harry needled.

"You'll have to excuse me for not thinking of everything," came Remus' voice, "it's not every day I'm asked to hunt down a piece of Voldemort's soul on a moment's notice."

"Good to know you're level headed during a crisis." Harry teased.

"Shut it Potter," Came the reply, "how about a little less fun at my expense and a little more getting that door to appear."

Harry had always been quite fond of Remus, but in the past, he had always considered him to be a teacher, a mentor. Lately, he felt that their relationship had changed significantly. They were more like friends and equals with every passing day. "My dad was lucky to have him," he thought to himself, "he's the best friend one could hope for."

Remus would never replace Ron or Hermione of course, but Harry knew that was okay. Unlike Sirius, Remus never expected him to take James' place. He still missed his godfather terribly, but in the last year, as he began to mature, he realized that Sirius could never be the father Harry desperately wanted him to be. Nor could Harry fill the crater carved into Sirius' heart by James' death.

"Um, Potter? The door?"

"Sorry Remus. I'm on it." Harry stood up, closed his eyes, began pacing, and focused his mind. "I need to find Ravenclaw's tiara. I need to find Ravenclaw's tiara. I need to find Ravenclaw's tiara." When Harry opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a blank patch of wall. "So much for the direct approach." Harry strained to remember the things he saw in the room when he had retrieved the potions book. "What were the titles of those horrible books?" Harry searched his mind for a moment, closed his eyes, and began pacing. "I need a copy of 'The Ritual Suicide'. I need a copy of 'The Ritual Suicide'. I need a copy of 'The Ritual Suicide'. When Harry opened his eyes, he was greeted with a door. "Bingo!"

Harry's enthusiasm was short lived however, for when he opened the door, he and Remus stepped into the largest library either of them had ever seen. It had to be ten times the size of the one at Hogwarts. "Well, it was worth a shot." Harry said flatly.

"What were you thinking while you were pacing?" Remus queried.

"Well, first I thought of Ravenclaw's tiara, and nothing happened. The second time, I remembered the title of a book I had seen when I retrieved the potions book. I thought that might do it."

The door vanished when they had exited the room, and Remus stood silent in thought for a moment. "How did you initially find the room that the tiara was in Harry?"

"I thought to myself, 'I need a place to hide my book'."

"That may be the best approach then. Why not try, 'I need a place to hide my invisibility cloak'?"

Harry nodded, and began pacing. "I need a place to hide my invisibility cloak. I need a place to hide my invisibility cloak. I need a place to hide my invisibility cloak." When Harry opened his eyes, he was once again greeted by a door. Harry hoped it was the right room this time. The minute they walked through the door, Harry shouted "Yes!"

Remus immediately shushed him. "This is supposed to be a stealth mission, remember?"

"Sorry, I got carried away." Harry led Remus through the maze of broken furniture and illicit items until they reached the acid scarred cabinet that the statue of the warlock sat upon. "Well, this is it." Harry stated grimly, looking up at the tarnished tiara.

"Are you sure that it is what you think it is?"

"We'll find out soon enough." Before Remus could stop him, Harry drew his wand and cast the spell Hermione had taught him. "Aperio Malusmagus!" The tiara radiated a sickly blackish-red light, as the acrid smell of burning flesh filled the room. Both men instinctively covered their mouths and turned away as the fetid stench burned at their nostrils. "I'd say it's the real deal." Harry choked out from under his hand.

Remus, looking alarmed, pointed his wand at Harry, and choked out "Bullae Capitalis!" An airtight bubble appeared around Harry's head. Remus reached for his throat as he began to suffocate

Harry began to panic. He pointed his wand at Remus' head. "Bully Catapilis!" Remus dropped to the floor, eyes bulging out of their sockets, his hands clutching at his throat. "Sir! The incantation! What is it?" Remus couldn't answer him. His face had turned dark purple and he started foaming at the mouth. "Bully... Bulla... Damn it!" Remus was dying... painfully. Not knowing what else to do, Harry turned his wand back towards the tiara, and in a fit of desperation, screamed, "Reducto!"

When the jet of light from Harry's wand hit the tiara, a blinding explosion of sickly purple light filled the room, followed by a piercing scream that seemed to shake the entire castle. The towers of furniture and books collapsed onto themselves in response. Vials were sent crashing to the floor, their noxious contents eating away at whatever they touched. Harry dove on top of Remus and shouted "Protego!" The shield went up in just enough time as a large cabinet bounced harmlessly away from Harry's head. When the avalanche of illicit items had finally settled, Harry looked down at Remus, who was gasping for breath, as his face returned to its normal color. "Remus! Please tell me you're okay! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have-"

Remus nodded at Harry, signaling that he was all right. When he had finally stopped coughing, he looked up at Harry and panted, "If you ever... do that again... I will personally... put you in a full body bind... and owl you to Voldemort."

The two men sat silently amongst the rubble, contemplating what had just taken place. Harry was ecstatic. He had destroyed another one of the damned things, and more importantly, he destroyed the one that had been a mystery. He now knew what the rest of them were. The locket, the cup, and the snake.

Remus wanted to be happy, but something was gnawing at him. "Why would Voldemort go through all the trouble of housing his soul in something that could be destroyed with a simple Reductor Curse? It just didn't make sense. It was, well, it was just too damned easy. Surely, Voldemort would have protected a piece of his own soul more diligently than that. Surely, it should have been harder than that to destroy.

He stood up and cautiously wound his way through the rubble until he reached the spot where the tiara had been. After a few minutes of searching, he found it lying amongst battered cabinets and tattered books. He took a breath, and slowly reached for it, "Merlin! Please let me be wrong about this!" Before he had even brought the thing to eye level, he knew he wasn't wrong. Remus Lupin had never regretted being right this much in his life. The tiara showed exactly where Harry's 'Reductor' had hit it. There was a small crack down its center in the shape of a lightning bolt.