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Horcrux Talk with Breakfast

"I have super powers," Harry Potter proclaimed one morning in mid July scaring the crap out of Draco.

Since Cornelius Fudge had been sacked and Rufus Scrimgeour had taken over, Draco spent a lot of time alone. Regulus was always off doing whatever elsewhere, Sirius was working in the Auror office ("Paperwork," Sirius had scoffed, "It's all I'm good for these days"), and his mother was now the Under Secretary to the Minister and almost never home.

Draco felt whiplash when he thought about how she'd managed to talk her way into that position with a little help of Madam Bones. After their talk, his mother allowed him twenty-four hours before she began to drill him on the Summer of Terror. He desperately tried to remember all those who died, but in all honesty, he couldn't remember. So, since he couldn't remember, Narcissa simply gathered up those in power who were publicly against Voldemort and had them put in more secure locations. Madam Bones was in one of these houses, due to her position in the Ministry and her help to free Sirius. Draco, while he couldn't be positive, felt like it was highly likely Madam Bones had died the first time around. Even though the dementors still fled to Voldemort's side and were breeding all over, making the entire country gloomy and cold, the deaths of wizards were down.

Muggles weren't as lucky. The bridge was still was crushed by giants and Narcissa cursed each morning when she read the various Muggle newspapers, as she'd taught herself to recognize Muggle murders verse wizarding murders of Muggles. As the summer wore on, Draco saw her less and less as she spent more time at the office.

"I have super powers!" Harry repeated, raising his arms up at a forty-five degree angle and running into the dining room making whooshing noises.

Draco watched him with a look of confusion till the Boy-Who-Thought-He-Was-a-Superhero sat down, hopefully to explain his new found power.

"Dumbledore picked me up to convince Slughorn to return to collect students," Harry reported, tucking into the breakfast that appeared on his plate. "Please tell me Slughorn is a passable teacher."

"He is," Draco allowed. "More so if you're a favorite. I was not one. I did poorly, but likely due to the fact I didn't do my homework or put any effort into classes. Seventh year, Slughorn was terrified of any of the Death Eater kids, so I got good marks I did not deserve."

Harry hummed. "Sounds about right."

"Tom would be best to ask about his teaching style," Draco offered, picking up his coffee cup. "He had him for four years, then sat through many of his classes when he was in the 1970s."

"Oh, yeah! I could also ask Regulus or Sirius. Or even your mum. Where is she?"

"Work."

Harry snickered at Draco's expression.

"It is a new experience for me," Draco insisted, hiding behind his coffee cup.

"That's fine. It is for me as well," Harry admitted, grabbing a glass of pumpkin juice. "So, what are our big plans for summer?"

Draco shrugged. "I've been house bound, mostly."

"You could have gone to see Tom," Harry pointed out.

Draco gave Harry a look and ignored him. "Order members come and go downstairs, but it's kind of frowned upon for a sixteen-year-old wizard to hang out in the kitchen eavesdropping."

Harry smirked. "What are they up to?"

"Trying to gather strength," Draco replied, lifting his chin. "Doing a good job at it, too. Since Sirius went back to the Auror office, he's rather high ranking even if he's not actually doing anything other than paperwork. He's still Sirius Black and charming. Mother, as you might have guessed, is proficient at getting people to join the Order. I'm sure by the end of the school year, anyone who is not sympathetic to Voldemort will be in the Order thanks to Mother."

Harry chuckled quietly. "Did the Order not have many members last time?"

Draco shrugged. "I've no clue. I don't believe so, as when they all went to ground after Voldemort took control of the Ministry, there wasn't many of them. Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, the Weasley family save Big Head Boy, Moody…and a few others I can't remember at the moment."

"Why wasn't Percy on the list?"

"Wasn't an Order Member," Draco answered. "And he kept himself where he'd been and served the Puppet Minister. It was known he'd had a row with his father and left home, so Voldemort didn't bother with him. He was a pureblood and was happily toeing the line of Magic is Might."

Harry mouthed the words and shook his head. "That is not happening this time."

"No. I've got a feeling…" Draco trailed off, eyeing Boy Wonder.

"It's not bunnies, is it?"

Draco gave Harry a strange look and shook his head, "No. I have a feeling we're going to be blindsided this year with things."

"Why?"

"Because I was so focused on what I was doing, I don't know what happened passed that," Draco admitted. "It was hard to think of what might be fixed other than Dumbledore's death and that Nott likely has the job I did."

Harry nodded. "Dumbledore's hand is black, withered, and useless."

Draco thoughtfully studied Harry. "Could you draw it?"

"Give me a black marker and I'll just color my hand and there you go."

"No, I mean, if it is withered, how does it exactly look."

"Oh. Like it's dead," Harry filled in. "There was a Halloween prop I saw once as a kid that looked similar."

Draco nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"He also gave me the ugly ring he was wearing and said I ought to return it to the rightful owner."

Harry fished the ring out of his pocket and set it in front of Draco. Draco picked up the clumsy made ring and studied it. It was very old, judging by the craftsmanship. It had also been worn often, if the scratches on it were anything to go by. The curious thing about it was the smooth, cracked stone. It had some sort of coat of arms on it, but not one that Draco knew.

"Who is the rightful owner?" Draco asked, seeing if there were any further markers on the ring.

"Tom," said a new voice from behind Draco. Draco turned around to see a very pale Regulus Black standing in the doorway, dressed in dark Muggle clothing, his dark hair hidden under a dark cap. "Where did you get that?"

"Dumbledore gave it to me last night," Harry said, watching Regulus carefully. "Why do you look as if you've seen a dead person?"

"There was a very dark curse on that ring," Regulus quietly said. "Dumbledore was sure he could…"

"He didn't," Draco realized, setting the ring down and pushing back from the table. "He didn't."

"It's broken now," Regulus said, looking at the ring. "He'd never have given it to Harry if there was still a curse on it."

"Why would he put it on, though, if he already knew it was cursed?" Draco asked.

"I don't know," Regulus whispered.

"It was a horcrux," Harry proclaimed, making the elder two boys look at him. "You're horcrux hunting. That's what you've been doing since you woke up."

Regulus nodded. "Correct. I found this outside the village where the Riddle graves are located. Dumbledore believes it was the homestead of the Gaunt family."

"He hid a horcrux in his mother's home?" Draco asked. "Wouldn't that be obvious?"

Regulus snorted. "No. It wasn't so much a home as a run down shack filled with dark magic booby traps. It took me months to work my way through all of them once Dumbledore and I found the right spot."

"But why would he think no one would think to look there?"

"He's arrogant," Regulus reminded him. "And he assumes no one remembers Tom Riddle."

"Dumbledore does," Harry pointed out.

"But, he's Dumbledore. And why would Dumbledore know about horcurxes or go investigating Tom Riddle's family tree?"

"Because he's a nosy old coot," Draco mildly suggested.

Regulus snorted once again, finally sitting down.

"So, what is that coat of arms? The Gaunt family coat of arms?"

"No," Regulus said. "I've no idea what it is, to be honest. Dumbledore didn't volunteer anything when I left it with him. I looked up the Gaunt family and any other family they were related to and can't find anything."

"Would Tom know? He said he did a lot of research during his flat bound years," Harry said, reaching for the ring.

"Maybe," Regulus shrugged.

Harry stared at the ring in his hand. "This really was a horcrux?"

Regulus nodded.

"What others have you found?"

Regulus shifted uneasily. "Besides the ring? Just the cup from Bellatrix's vault."

"How'd you get it? Potter and Friends broke into Gringotts with the aid of a rouge goblin," Draco offered. "Or so the rumor went. They did escape the manor after capture with a goblin. I was back at school when they did the actual breaking in."

Regulus and Harry both stared at Draco as he shuddered wondering what had happened at the manor when Moldy got wind of what Potter and Friends had done.

"Did I forget to mention that over Easter Break, Potter took up residence in the Malfoy wine cellar-slash-dungeon?" Draco mildly asked.

"Yeah," Harry said, staring. "Why was he there?"

"He was wanted by the Ministry, but more so by Voldemort, so he was brought to Malfoy Manor where Voldemort…lived," Draco offered.

Regulus cleared his throat. "Yes, well, there will be no breaking into Gringotts this time. Before Bellatrix escaped, your mother retrieved the cup. She forged Bellatrix's signature and had the cup and a few other trinkets she claimed belonged to the Black's transferred into the vault belonging formerly to my father."

"The Goblins didn't catch on?" Draco asked, feeling aghast.

"No. Especially when the duplication charm didn't go off when they took the items," Regulus remarked, smirking. "They didn't realize I had Tom make me something that would halt it till the door closed."

"You didn't," Draco said, eyes large.

"Duplication charm?" Harry asked.

"Intruders or thief set it off, making the items they touch multiply at an alarming rate, usually bearing them alive."

Harry shuddered.

"Tom is an evil genius," Regulus drawled, smirking over at Harry.

"So, the crown, the diary, the locket, and the cup have been destroyed," Draco recapped, ticking the items off on his fingers.

"Who'd the cup belong to?" Harry asked.

"Hufflepuff," Regulus answered. "And you've forgotten Harry."

"Yes. I've been destroyed as well," Harry proclaimed, pumping his arms in the air. "So, five down. Two to go."

"Only three. You're forgetting the bit of soul within Voldemort," Regulus said. "That's the last bit."

Harry scowled.

"Would he have counted that bit?" Draco inquired. "I know he didn't count Harry."

"I think he would see his body as an object of greatness," Regulus said. "He is the last blood relative of Salazar Slytherin, as well as other great wizarding families through his connection to the Slytherins. And while he wouldn't count Harry, he might have known something…"

"He did," Harry said. "He simply thought he'd marked me as his own, kinda like Atl…Atlanta."

"So, he didn't realize the connection was due to you being an accidental horcrux?" Regulus inquired.

Harry shook his head.

"Then, the only horcrux he'd make after he'd returned would be the one he failed to make the night he went to kill Harry," Draco surmised.

"There's the diary, the locket, the ring, the cup, the diary, and myself, plus one unknown object and himself for eight total objects," Harry recapped.

"Correct," Regulus agreed. "He didn't realize he'd made an extra."

They all shuddered.

"So, we've still got to find the one he did make after he'd returned," Draco pointed out. "Do you have any leads?"

Regulus shook his head. "We've already searched any childhood ties, or ties to the powerful wizarding families he'd have, so we're at a loss on where the next one is located. Though, Dumbledore believes the snake he hangs out with might be a horcrux."

"He'd make a snake one? I thought living—"

"They don't," Harry said, "but the snake he'd see as a tie to Slytherin and he was likely desperate and lost whatever he was going to use when he failed to kill me."

"He might not have lost it," Regulus said, leaning forward. "It could be that when Crouch Junior went to get Moldy's wand, he got the object he wanted to turn into the horcrux. There was a Muggle in the village the cemetery he used for his return who turned up bearing a number seven cut into his forehead two years ago."

Harry's eyes went large.

"Hence why Dumbledore believes the snake might be his so called last one. I think Crouch Junior got whatever he wanted out of the ruins of the Potter's cottage."

"So, how the heck are we to kill his snake?" Harry asked, looking at Regulus with wide eyes before sweeping his gaze to Draco. "It's not like he lets it wander around."

Regulus shrugged. "That is no worry for now. In the final battle, he'll bring the snake to show his power and threatened people with letting it eat them. We'll kill it. And I honestly don't think the snake is a horcrux. I think he got whatever he wanted to use before. It would still have been there, since no one touched the house."

"It's still there?" Harry wondered out loud.

"Yes. Ruins charmed to look like just an empty house to a Muggle. After all this is over, I am sure we can take you there if you wish to go. It was deemed not safe until Voldemort was good and gone."

Harry didn't look as if he was sure what to do with that information.

"What we should be worrying about is what the object he decided to use, since we're out of Founder's objects, and where he'd put it."

The two boys nodded.

"Just food for thought."

Regulus reached out, grabbed and apple. He tossed it a few times before he left the room.

"Well, that was cheery breakfast conversation," Harry muttered.

"Still think you've got super powers?" Draco teased.

Harry threw a scone at him.