A/N: Here it is, last chapter. Go on, read it!
Standing on the sidewalk overlooking number 4 Privet Drive, Albus wished that he was dreaming.
It had been a trying past few days for the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His trip to the Gaunt property had yielded nothing. He was certain the Tom would have hidden one of the shattered pieces of his soul in that place which contained so much of his broken family's history. By the dilapidated looks of the it, the shack had been abandoned for many years. Although a faint hint of magic lingered about the derelict building, there was no sign that anything was out of the ordinary. He poked around the many loose floorboards of the shack with the Sword of Gryffindor, but it was hopeless. There was simply nothing to be found. After equally fruitless trips to Riddle Manor and the remnants of the orphanage where Tom had grown up, Albus had hit an impasse. More research would need to be done on the memories he had in his Pensieve and so he had returned to Hogwarts.
It was there, yesterday, sitting in his office, when he felt the powerful wards he had applied at the Dursley's house on Privet Drive fall.
Albus arrived in Little Whinging and immediately rendezvoused with the guards on duty there, Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody. Neither had seen anything remotely out of the ordinary since their shift began. In fact, after contacting the guards for the other shifts on the house, he found that nobody had seen anything in nearly a week. No vehicle leaving the garage for work in the morning; no rotund, beastly boy walking to the park to terrorize others; no shrew-like woman tending garden; and, most distressingly, no Harry Potter. Fortunately, a simple magical scan of the premises revealed four bodies of reasonably healthy condition meandering through the home.
Not discounting the possibility of a trap by Tom, he ordered Aurors Tonks and Moody to accompany him into the premises. As the two magical law enforcement agents slipped under their invisibility cloaks, he Disillusioned himself and strode to the the door. Muttering a quick Alohomora, he opened the door and stepped into blackness.
"Hello, Headmaster."
The voice in his ear roused him. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, his gaze settled on the loveseat opposite him containing the boy destined to save the wizarding world, Harry Potter. Curled up in his lap was a very beautiful young girl, her features familiar to him but somehow... strange. Albus ignored the girl for the moment and tried to stand from the seat he occupied. However, he quickly found that his muscles from the neck down were unresponsive.
"Please, Albus, don't get up," Harry said, laughing at his joke as he stroked the thigh of the girl perched in his lap. "I suppose you are here about the wards," he sighed. "Of course you are, you wouldn't be here unless your plan for the greater good was threatened. What do you think, Mione," he asked the scantily clad girl on his lap.
It was then that he made the connection. The barely clad bird occupying the boy's lap was none other than Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of the age. He nearly did a double-take as he took in the normally reserved Miss Granger's new look. An extremely short skirt paired with a barely there top completed what you might call an outfit, but the real change was her hair. Gone were the curly, frizzy locks she was known for. Somehow, she had managed to tame the bushy mane into a more manageable contemporary style that made her look years older. If he didn't know her personally, he would've sworn she was well past the age of majority. "Certainly it's his plan that he's concerned with," the brilliant and beautiful witch agreed. "We know your welfare isn't one of his top priorities."
"Harry, that is quite untrue," Albus quickly stated. He needed to bring this conversation back under control, and quickly. "I have had nothing but your best..." He trailed off, distracted by a bright silver flashing coming from Miss Granger's hair. He stared intently at the crown of her head and his eyes widened in realization before he could cool his reaction.
It couldn't be.
"Miss Granger, is that the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw upon your head?" She laughed lightly, confirming his suspicions. "The magical world has been searching for this lost artifact of the Founders for over a millennium. May I ask where you managed to locate it," he asked, trying to keep his tone light and friendly despite the adversarial conditions by which he was bound.
"You just did," Hermione replied in tone equally as light, although there was nothing friendly about it. He sensed something in there. An undercurrent running through this entire conversation.
Something dark.
"We retrieved the Diadem from the place where Tom Riddle left it decades ago," Harry answered for her. "The Room of Requirement. Hermione is now not only the smartest witch of the age but one of the smartest of all time." He kissed her softly on the neck in compliment and Hermione purred in delight.
But that would mean-
"We know about the Horcruxes, Headmaster. All of them," Harry finished darkly.
Merlin, help me. "Then all is lost. For, if you know of these pieces of Tom's soul, then that can only mean the battle for possession of your body is over and you and Miss Granger have been lost to the dark," he finished sadly, head hanging to his chest. "Tom has won."
"Close, Albus. So very close and, yet, so very far." Harry placed a kiss on his lover, before scooting out from under her and walking around the room. He stopped at a small rodent cage, clicking his tongue at the three gerbils scurrying through the cage in fear, before facing the older man once again. "The battle for my body is over, as you surmised, but Tom Riddle has not taken possession of me. Quite the opposite in fact. I have assimilated the piece of soul that he accidentally transferred to me when I was a baby." Albus shuddered at the thought of such terrible magic, an act Harry did not miss. "You think I have been corrupted, don't you?" Albus nodded. "The difference between dark and evil magic, Headmaster," he sneered, "is in the purpose. I use these skills I have gained, not for nefarious deeds or subjugating others, but for one purpose: Killing Tom Riddle." Harry reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, black stone. "I'm sure you know what this is, don't you, Albus," he asked, holding the stone to the seated man's face for inspection.
"The Resurrection Stone," he breathed in surprise.
"Indeed." Harry nodded in agreement, placing the stone back in his pocket. "I found it in the floorboards of Tom's paternal family home. You were correct in thinking that Tom used his old family heirloom to contain a piece of his soul."
"But, it is whole. Unmarred," Dumbledore stuttered in confusion.
"Correct once again, Headmaster," Hermione spoke up. "So is the Diadem. And so is Harry." She joined him in standing in front of the man they had respected until a few days ago, wrapping herself around her lover.
Albus was having trouble keeping this conversation from running away from him. "How were you able to remove the soul without destroying the object?"
"Professor, I have all the knowledge of the one who created them." Harry pointed at his head. "The memories of the master of this form of dark magic are up here." That was all Albus needed. With a twinkle in his eye, the old wizard used his considerable prowess as a Legilimens to force his way into the poor boy's mind and shut him down for good. He was completely unprepared for what followed.
The force of an Occlumency barrier falling in Harry's mind forcefully expelled the educator from his former playground and blew him backwards off of his seat. Since the paralysis had not been removed from his body, he struck the living room wall behind him with some force, breaking his arm. With a sigh, Hermione waved her wand, returning the immobile Headmaster to the replaced chair and knitting together the broken bone. At a snap of her fingers, the dazed and concussed professor returned to the land of the waking with a very dignified, "Huh?"
"I wouldn't recommend doing that again, Professor," she offered, replacing herself on the loveseat. "Harry is a Master Occlumens now. Part of the knowledge he gained from his passenger," she finished, looking admiringly upon her lover. Harry smiled in response, rejoining her on the seat and giving her another kiss.
"Isn't she great," he asked Albus, after breaking the lip lock. "After removing the soul fragment from the diadem, I knew it belonged on her head. Now, with the most intelligent witch in over a millennium at my side, Tom doesn't stand a chance. Ironic, isn't it Albus," he asked the staring old man. "The poor sod has no idea that what he did to me on that Halloween night all those years ago has led to me becoming the most powerful wizard since Merlin."
Dumbledore tried one more time to get through to the boy. The boy he had failed. "Harry, you must realize this is madness. You have been corrupted by your possession. Let me help you. I can take you to a mind healer that might be able to assist you in removing this stain from your soul." He held out hope that he would be able to get through to the boy that once trusted him long enough to give him a peaceful rest.
That hope was dashed as he saw the sad shake of the head Hermione gave to her lover. "I had hoped that it would not go this way," Harry began morosely. "I told Hermione that, even after locking me up with the Dursleys for all these years and consistently placing me and my friends in harm's way year after year, you would still want what's best for me. She, in all her mighty wisdom, disagreed. Seems I owe her a galleon." He stood once more from the chair he shared with his girl, a heavy weight seemingly on his shoulders. "I'm very sorry to have to do this, Albus, but I have no other choice. After all, you wanted worse for me." He pointed his wand at the man he used to trust.
"Harry, what happened to the Dursleys? To Nymphadora and Alastor," Albus asked, hoping to delay what was coming long enough to formulate an escape plan.
Harry laughed. "Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and ickle Duddykins are experiencing the other side of the coin." A flick of his wrist brought the gerbil cage from earlier sailing into view. Harry tapped his finger along the cage again, eliciting a chorus of loud squeaks. Staring closely, Albus could see two fat gerbils and one skinny one huddled in the corner of the tiny cage, shivering. "At least I'm providing them with unlimited food, drink, and exercise. The cage will be removed to St. Mungo's upon our departure." He tilted his head in thought. "Maybe Uncle Vernon will bite someone and they'll be left like this." He shook his head, dismissing the thought. Another swish of his wand and the cage was back where it was before. "As for Tonks and Moody, milady," he said, nodding to a blushing Hermione, "was gracious enough to provide them with a small memory charm. They will remember nothing of your arrival here."
"And the Ministry," Albus asked, interrupting as Harry brought his wand back up to point in the headmaster's face. "Surely there are post owls en route carrying multiple notices of violating the Underage Use of Magic. How will you get out of those? You need my assistance in removing yourself from this mess, my boy."
"Albus, you are trying my patience," Harry ground out. "Surely you know of the charms that are out there that one can use to disguise his magical signature? There are other, more permanent, methods even you have no knowledge of that have been lost to time. It is not nearly that hard to hide oneself from the Ministry if one tries." Hermione stood then, grabbing his hand and whispering in his ear. "Hermione is correct, it is time. There can be no more delays." Harry stepped away from Albus and lifted his wand, causing the headmaster to rise and float into the air.
"What will you do, Harry? Surely an old man such as myself is no threat to a couple of wizards and witches as powerful as yourselves."
Harry chuckled lightly, without humor. "You know, Albus, that's what I always liked about you. Your never quit attitude. Always planning to the last second. I'll always remember that." He began to move his wand in a complex pattern as Hermione began to chant. "I'm binding your magic, Albus."
His heart dropped like a stone. "You... you can't!"
"I can and I am. You have proven by your manipulations that you cannot be trusted with this gift any longer. The world will mourn your loss for awhile, and rightfully so. You were a great fighter for the Light and you have accomplished many great deeds. That can never be ignored and it is what is saving you from a horrible death right now. However," he continued, his wand movements speeding and light beginning to trail from the tip, "it cannot be ignored that you left me in this building to suffer abuse, both verbal and physical, for ten years without checking on me one single time. Your invariable disregard for my safety while here and at Hogwarts, along with your continued manipulation of mine and my parents' lives for your 'greater good' is your undoing. You have no one to blame but yourself for this mess." Harry shook his head in sadness. "Believe me when I tell you that doing this brings me no joy."
"Then stop," Albus shouted, near hysterics. "Please, Harry. This is too much!"
"I disagree. In fact, Hermione suggested we kill you, but I thought I owed you more than that. With your defeat, I become the master of the Elder Wand and the true Master of Death," he said, showing Albus the aforementioned item. "Tom and his Horcruxes stand no chance." He pocketed the wand and continued his movements. Hermione's chanting grew louder.
Albus began to cry. The loss of his magic was too much to comprehend. He couldn't take losing something that he had lived with his whole life! He would perish for sure. The last thing he heard before the darkness took him was Harry's voice.
"Be easy, Albus. At your age, it was surely only a short time before you moved on to the next great adventure anyway."
A/N: So, yeah. My first foray in HP fanfic. Done! I was pretty happy with it but I'd like to know what you guys think. Send me a review if you have a question or a comment or if you just want to say hi. I respond to em all. Thanks for reading!
AZ