Disclaimer- I do not own the Harry Potter series

This was it. They were all finally going to know what happened to Harry in the forest. Would they think of him differently? Would they think he was a monster because he had harbored a piece of the very person he sought to destroy? Would this be the ending to these relationships and nothing would ever be the same again?

"I...I walked towards the forest. I told Neville that if he had a chance to kill Nagini in case you two didn't get to it," Harry gestured towards Ron and Hermione. Neville beamed at hearing this and many DA members congratulated him once again, at his amazing feat. "From Snapes memories I now knew what the message on the snitch meant." at incredulous looks from some people Hermione decided to explain.

"Harry got the first snitch he ever caught from Dumbledore in his will. He caught it in his mouth, if you all remember correctly, and when he touched it again it said this 'I open at the close,'" Hermione explained to the crowd and nodded at Harry to continue.

"What it meant was that it would open when I most needed it, when I was about to die... When I said that the snitch opened and a stone was there." Hermione gasped at this point already grasping what Harry had meant and drawing conclusions. "Yes, Hermione, it was the resurrection stone."

Gasps filled the room, this story was so filled with suspense and adventure at every turn, and it seemed they were doing too much gasping for one day.

"How did Dumbledore get the stone?" someone asked.

"The same time that his hand got blackened. It was on a ring originally from Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort had made it a horcrux. Dumbledore was tempted to put it on, but it was cursed, hence the blackened hand. Snape was there and destroyed the horcrux stored within it and the hallow remained in tact. So I guess he stored it in the snitch for when I would need it most. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Any more or can I continue now?" seeing that no one voiced any Harry continued. "Well my parents, Sirius, and Remus showed up when I used the stone. If they hadn't been there I... I don't know if I could have gone on..."

Hermione looked at her best friend with a sad smile on her face. She knew how much that moment probably meant to him, how much he had yearned for those who had died to be living again. She went over to him and squeezed his hand reassuringly, while Ron came to stand on the other side of him. It showed how much the two friends cared for him and would be there for him, during this difficult time.

"What did they look and feel like?" Hermione couldn't stop her curiosity.

"It was amazing!" Harry smiled at the memory, probably the only happy one next to him defeating voldmort about that night. "They were there but not all the way, if you know what I mean. They were like ghost, almost, but a little more physical. I couldn't really touch them like ghosts but I could feel their presence. They also sort of acted like patronas's, if that makes sense?"

Hermione nodded with tears in her eyes. His face shone, just talking about it. Hermione just hoped that Harry didn't get caught up in the dead and ended up wishing he was...

"So what happened next, mate," Ron urged breaking both Hermione and Harry out of their reveries.

"Umm... well I made it to the forest and I met voldemort and his death eaters. They...uh...tortured me and then killed me," Harry said quickly hoping that people would just let him scrape by with that so he could get on with his life.

"Harry, I assumed you were tortured because of the extent of your injuries, but we need to know allthat happened. This is important and I won't let you skip over it," Hermione scolded. She needed to know the truth even if no one else did.

"Hermione, he shouldn't have to talk about things he doesn't want to talk about. It's probably already been difficult just admitting to it and talking about all the events of this past year, but now you want him to go into detail of where he got that cut and that one? It's just asking too much," Ginny yelled at her friend. They were rarely at odds and it came as a great shock to Hermione to hear her only girl friend to say that to her.

"Ginny, I...I didn't mean..."

"It's alright," Harry resigned. He had known deep down that Hermione wouldn't rest until he had told the truth and everything of it.

"But, Harry, if...if you're not ready..."Ginny started stumbling over the words.

"Its okay, Gin, I knew I would have to eventually and it's probably best that the ministry add another spell to their unforgivable." Harry took a deep breath and looked out over the grounds from the window. It looked so peaceful down below. Harry wished he could be carefree and not have to think about the situation that he happened to be in. Couldn't he just be a bird? To be carefree and be able to fly away from his problems. But it was hopeless to even hope for such a thing and his heart was heavy as he turned back to the crowd anxiously awaiting this last part of the tale. The most important part of his tale, as they all believed, and what they believed was correct.

"Um... well... Voldemort had discovered this new spell called memento Dolores. It is a spell that brings your worst memories back to the surface so that you're actually reliving them both mentally, emotionally, and physically..."

"Harry, you mean he brought back everything?" Hermione said looking sadly at him.

'What do you think? You asked me what every scratch I got came from! The thing is they were already there! How can I tell you that I'm suffering from something that happened to me years ago?" Harry demanded of her. Couldn't she understand what he was going through? Sirius's death was still fresh on his mind, as was Cedrics. It had taken him over a year to even get over that, how was he expected to do it all over again?

"Harry, I'm just trying to understand, we all are," Hermione said softly looking him straight in the face.

"I know and I'm sorry. I just... I didn't want to have to relive those things over again and to have to describe them it's like having to do it all over again."

"Wait a second, mate, I got a question. I don't remember you having that scar on your back or... those bandages on your hands," Ron said trying to break the tension that had been building between Harry and Hermione.

"I was getting to that," Harry said looking at Hermione before turning back to the crowd and resigned look on his face. "Voldemort wanted to reward Bellatrix for her loyalty. So he let her torture me... She used a knife laced in poison that made all the wounds more painful and harder to heal. She also used her wand but Madam Pomfrey could fix those easily, Bellatrix just wasn't expecting me to survive after she gave them. Does that suffice?"

"Yes," Hermione said nodding her head.

"Well, then Voldemort killed me with the killing curse."

"But how are you alive?" an order member asked.

"Well, here comes the hard part. What Dumbledore told Snape was that I would have to die. That I would have to die at the hand of Voldemort or else his plan wouldn't work."

"So Snape was only protecting you so you could be slaughtered later?"

"Precisely."

"That's completely barbaric!" Hermione yelled outraged.

"Albus Percival Wifred Brian Dumbledore! How dare you!" Molly Weasely screamed at the portrait of Dumbledore.

As harry watched Molly Weasely scold Dumbledore to no end he could only think on how he was glad that he wasn't Dumbledore right then.

"Molly, I know what I did was wrong, but let Harry finish the story and everything will be explained," Dumbledore tried to plead.

"You raised him like a pig to be fattened and slaughtered. How am I supposed to react to that?"

"I understand your anger, Molly, just give Harry a chance to explain."

Mrs. Weasley seemed to consider this for a moment before glaring at Dumbledore one last time and plopping back down in her seat.

"Um... now that everyone's ready I guess I'll start again. So Dumbledore had an idea that on the night Voldemort killed my parents he created one last horcrux with their deaths. And that last horcrux was...well when Voldemort hit me with the killing curse Dumbledore was hoping that when it did, it wouldn't kill me, but instead ," Harry finished in a rush looking quickly away. Looking at all the blank faces around him, Harry knew he would have to say it again and maybe not as fast.

"The killing curse knocked the bit of Voldemorts soul that was inside me."

"But that would mean-" Hermione started.

"That you're a horcrux!" Ron finished for her, not unlike the twins.

"But, Harry, how?" Hermione asked.

"When Voldemort killed my parents that set off the process and he ended up putting a piece of soul inside of me. It's why I had such a close connection with him and why I could speak parseltongue. He had put a piece of him in me. When he hit me with the second curse he didn't kill me, but actually killed a bit of himself."

"This all sounds impossible. It shouldn't be possible," Hermione seemed angered that she couldn't have figured this out for herself with all of her extensive research on this very subject.

"But you weren't positive, Dumbledore, this was just dumb luck!" Molly got started again.

"Please, Mrs. Weasley, can I finish first and then you can yell at Dumbledore all you want? I won't even try to stop you, I might even add a bit," Harry said looking a little revengeful at Dumbledore.

"Understandable, harry," Dumbledore only said.

"Very well, dear, but I'm not done with you yet!"

"Okay so let me get this straight. You are a-" Ron said before he was cut off.

"Was," Harry corrected.

"So you were a horcrux ever since you got your scar. And then when voldemort tried to kill you again he ended up killing his own horcrux, so that is how you survived the killing curse again?"

"Yup, that pretty much sums it up,' harry nodded.

"Life is just getting way too complicated,' Ron muttered rubbing his head.

"But didn't they check yer te see if yer were's dead first?" Hagrid asked. "Narcissa weren't it?"

"She lied," Harry simply said. "She lied to know if her son was okay."

"What are the after effects of having a horcrux inside of you, do you think?" Ron asked.

"This has never been recorded to have happened. So I have no idea," Hermione said.

"Well, that a first," Ron muttered under his breath elbowing Harry who hadn't been paying attention. All of what he was saying was catching up to him. It was one thing to just be blubbering on and on but then when you listen to the meaning, it really sinks in. Harry had been a horcrux and his friends were okay with it, he thought.

But there was also other things flooding into his mind. Why had he been the only one to survive? Why did it have to be him? He would never wish this upon anyone, but still he couldn't help but wonder. Why hadn't Dumbledore told him? Questions flew across his mind, one after the other, and he could no longer pay attention to what was at hand.

"I even have a mark," He said eventually pointing at his chest. Hermione came closer to him, as if to see it through his shirt, and lifted her hand to his chest.

"Does it hurt?" she asked and unconsciously applied a slight pressure and Harry couldn't make a response before dropping to the floor in pain.

"Well that's one hell of an answer," Ron said running over to his friend.