Hello people! Sorry to have taken so long but I'm back.

Please enjoy!

Walking Free

Discoveries: An Old Man's Tale

That morning Harry woke early. To be honest he had barely slept after his nightmare and revelation about his future, or lack of. He had stared at the ceiling for hours, imagining what his life could have been like. What he could have had, if he wasn't…him. If he wasn't Harry Potter, who would he be? Would he have parents? Would he have been brought up in a loving family who cared for him, played with him when he was a child, celebrated special events with him? Loved him? If he wasn't Harry Potter then maybe he could have had these things and he could live happily knowing that there were many more moments like this to come. He would marry, have children and live the life he had always dreamed of. There was just one problem. He was Harry Potter. The chosen one.

Before leaving the bed he used a cleaning spell over the bloody sheets and the floor where he had been sick in the night. As he dressed, he continued to fret about what could have been. Pulling on a woolen jumper he checked his watch which read six thirty am. He knew Hermione would probably be awake and would have most likely cleaned half the house already so he made his way down to the kitchen where, unsurprisingly, Hermione was cooking breakfast. She and Ron had decided to stay with him over the past two weeks since his splinching, wanting to spend more time together. They had occupied a room down the corridor from Harry's own and the amount of the couple's possessions in the house had begun to increase each day it seemed. Soon enough they'd be completely moved in, which wasn't really a bad thing. They lived in the Burrow currently which was always busy and full of people so Grimmauld Place could be a better alternative for a young couple.

'Oh, hello Harry. You okay?' Hermione asked as he shuffled through the doorway.

He nodded as he slipped into a chair at the table. He poured himself a glass of juice from the jug and thanked Hermione when she placed a plate of beans and bacon in from of him.

'So, what are you doing today?' she asked, taking a seat opposite the brunette.

'Going to Hogwarts again.' She looked at him with worry.

'Don't you think it's a little risky? You could end up splinching yourself again if you're not careful.'

'I'll be fine. I only got hurt because I was tired and shaken up.' Harry said with a smile, understanding her concern.

'Okay, but use Dumbledore's fireplace to come back this time instead, just to be sure.' Harry nodded but she made him promise.

They ate together with idle chatter, Ron joining them only half and hour later, the smell of bacon rousing him from his sleep. They weren't disturbed by Malfoy who had a tendency to sleep later and keep to himself, not joining them at meal times. The trio were glad of this as it gave each of them a sense of normality. They were able to laugh and fall back into the familiar actions of their breakfasts at school together. They peered over the Prophet and discussed the news as if they were once again as close as they had been.

For Ron and Hermione this was a blessing. They had waited for months for Harry to accept them and feel comfortable being around them but for Harry it was more painful than he possibly could have imagined. He had wanted the comfort of his friends' presence for ages but now that he knew it was only to last a few more weeks, possibly days, it hurt to be near them. When he had been in Azkaban and on the run Harry had stayed awake night after night, dreaming of what his life could be like once the war was over. He had selfishly wished for a better life, for things to work out for him, for his life to one day be what he had always hoped it would. But now he had no life to dream for. He had no wishes for himself to make. So as he sat at the kitchen table, with two of the people he loved most in the world so close, he wished for their happiness. He wished for their lives, not his.

Feet crunching through the snow and a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck Harry marched purposefully towards the grand castle ahead of him. He had felt like the end of the world had hit him when he woke that morning but over the last hour or so he had decided that instead of feeling sorry for himself he would do what he knew had to be done. He was making the biggest sacrifice a person could make but he was doing it for the people he cared about and the sooner he did it, the better.

When he reached the large wooden doors he found the handle glistening with ice, sealed firmly shut, indicating that no one had ventured outside yet that morning. Then again it was eight in the morning and he doubted, considering his own time at Hogwarts, that many of the students were even awake. The Christmas holidays for the students had ended the day before and Harry suspected that a lot of them were not used to waking up so early for their lessons. He waved his wand over the cold metal, casting a warming spell which quickly melted the ice, allowing him to turn the handle and enter the school.

Without hesitation Harry made his way to the Headmaster's tower, which held Dumbledore's office, on the third floor. He saw only a few teachers on his walk through the castle, none of whom spoke to him. When he reached the gargoyle protecting Dumbledore's quarters he fumbled with the many possible passwords in his head until he remembered what it had been on his previous visit.

'Toffee drizzle.' he said clearly and sighed in relief as the gargoyle began to turn. When the steps came into view Harry took them two at a time, eager to get things moving. The longer it took for them to find the last hidden Horcrux the more time it gave him to think about his impending death. He knew that if he dwelled on that thought the harder it would be to follow through with his plans.

Just as Harry was about to knock on the door he noticed it had been left ajar. Peering through the crack he saw a familiar man stood before the headmaster's desk. The conversation was slightly muffled so lowering his hand he leant in, trying to pick up what was being said.

'I'm a target in this war, Severus, just as much as Harry is.' Dumbledore's soft voice held a sound of regret. 'If I die before I pass this information onto Harry, I will need you to step in.'

Harry was unable to see Snape's face but he could practically feel the scowl that graced his thin features. 'What information?' he drawled.

Dumbledore let a small sigh pass his lips. 'That night, almost nineteen years ago, when Lily Potter gave her life to save her son from Lord Voldemort, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a part, albeit a very small part, of his soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto the only living soul in the room.'

Harry felt his stomach drop and a tight chill erupt down his spine. He had been right. He had suspected but he hadn't completely allowed himself to believe it until now. It was then that Snape spoke the words all three men had been thinking.

'So that…man's soul…is inside Potter?'

Dumbledore took a deep breath and lifted a china tea cup with a slightly quivering hand. 'Yes. You are quite right. This part of Voldemort's soul inside Harry gives the boy the ability to speak with snakes, and his connection with Voldemort which I am sure he still doesn't understand. And as long as this fragment of his soul remains protected by Harry, unintentionally, Voldemort cannot die.'

'And you're telling me that Potter must die for the Dark Lord to be vanquished?' Snape asked angrily, surprising Harry who stood behind the door, his breath held.

'I am afraid so. And Lord Voldemort must be the one to do it.'

Neither of the two men spoke for a moment or two. Harry felt his eyes burning with frustrated tears even though he had seen this coming.

'But you said…' Snape spluttered. 'You…I thought that all this time…we were protecting him…for her…for Lily.'

'We have been protecting him because it has been essential to teach him, let him grow into the man that he needs to be, to do what no one else can. He must be the one to eventually destroy Lord Voldemort. If I know Harry, and I'm pretty sure I do, he will have arranged matters so that when he does hand himself over, and goes to his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort.'

'What matters? What do you mean?'

'The Horcruxes. Harry must destroy the remaining Horcruxes.' Dumbledore said flatly, as if it were obvious.

Snape said nothing. And then, 'Why didn't you tell me this before?' He didn't wait for an answer. 'The Dark Lord has Horcruxes? After everything I've done for you, all the spying, the lying and the number of times I've put myself in mortal danger and you never thought once to tell me about this?'

'I'm sorry Severus but I couldn't afford to tell you. You have been working too closely with Voldemort for me to have shared this information with you sooner. I could not risk him finding out that you knew about them as it would endanger your life as well as others. Even now I am putting you at risk.' Dumbledore said. 'I feel though that the war is coming to a climax, it is reaching its peak. Voldemort has obtained complete control of the ministry, everyone is in danger. He grows stronger every day. For these reasons, I believe it is necessary for this information to finally be entrusted upon you.'

'I work closely with him at your orders!' Snape all but snarled. 'After everything I do for you the least I expected was your trust! Have I not proven myself over the years?' he asked sarcastically. 'Am I not worthy of your trust?'

'Enough!' Dumbledore's voice soared above Snape's as he silenced the man. 'Don't be childish Severus. You know that is not the case and I do trust you; wholeheartedly. More than any other person I know. Why else would I have given you such a colossal task as the one you have been burdened with for all these years?'

'But this? I can't believe you kept this from me! If I had known about the Horcruxes maybe I could have helped. Maybe I could have found out where they were hidden and the Dark Lord would be dead by now.'

'You know that is not so, Severus.' Dumbledore said sympathetically as Snape became a little frantic. 'Even if you had known; there would have been nothing you could do. I myself have only recently discovered what we are truly up against. It was only a few years ago that I managed to acquire the memory from Slughorn that revealed Tom Riddle's interest in Horcruxes.'

The conversation ceased and Harry waited in anticipation, his mind not fully taking in everything he was hearing. From where he stood he heard Snape exhaled in exasperation, obviously trying to figure out what he had been told.

'So let me get this straight,' Snape suddenly said. 'that boy….Harry Potter, is a Horcrux?' Dumbledore said nothing but both Harry and Snape knew what he was thinking. 'And to destroy the Dark Lord, Potter must also die?'

There was a painful pause before a whispered 'Yes' sounded from the aged man. Harry could almost see him in his mind, the man's head in his weary hands, his eyes closed in sorrow.

'You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?' Snape spat.

'This was the only way, Severus. This way we can finally be rid of Lord Voldemort. Lives will be saved, changed for the better.'

'All but his.' Snape cut sharply. From the reverse side of the large wooden door, Harry, for the first time he could ever remember, felt a glimmer of compassion for the greasy haired man not ten metres from where he stood. 'After everything that boy has been through, even from the innocent age of one, being orphaned, tortured by the Dark Lord, the Death Eaters…myself…being sent to rot in Azkaban like his godfather for a crime he never committed and now, now you tell me that after all that…he must die. And for the convenience and lives of others. Those others who refused to believe that their so called savior was innocent of murder and locked him away. Face it Albus…you've been raising him like a pig for slaughter!'

Dumbledore was quiet for a while and the atmosphere seemed very still, as was Harry's heartbeat. He had never heard Snape speak to the Headmaster with such venom before, never expected he could hold so much passion behind his cold, hard exterior. And to top it all off, he was defending him, Harry Potter. The man may still hate him, but for some reason he was arguing for his sake.

'I never thought you cared so much for the boy. This is rather touching.'

'For him?' Snape spat, shattering Harry's moment of warm admiration for the Death Eater. 'It was never for him. Never! Expecto patronum!'

Harry saw a blinding glow of white light erupt from inside the room. He stood on his toes as he peered closer to see what was happening beyond the crack in the door. All of a sudden the light became stronger and Harry reared back automatically, despite knowing that whatever animal Snape's patronus was couldn't hurt him, and watched as the light sprung through the gap.

The beautiful doe bowed her graceful head as she glided past Harry and flew down the long, lonely corridor until her brilliant light faded into nothing more than a soft glow before she disappeared altogether. Harry swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as time seemed to slow down, almost to a stand still. Something felt so unbelievably familiar about Snape's patronus. He felt as if he had seen it before, felt it's presence before. Oddly, it reminded him of his father's animagus form of a stag. He shook his head of his thoughts when the two men in Dumbledore's office continued their conversation.

'Even after all this time?' the headmaster asked, voice cracking slightly.

'It's always been her…My Lily.'

Harry gasped, his whole body freezing over. Lily? Lily Evans? His mother? It then struck him why he recognized the doe. He had often wondered what his parents' patronesses were. As his father's animagus had been a stag he had assumed that his patronus would be the same and on many occasions he had been told by people that knew them that his parents were true soul mates. If that were the case then it would make sense if his mother's patronus was a doe. And so was Snape's. Because…because he loved her.

'I never realised just how much she meant to you.' Dumbledore said sorrowfully. 'I wish things could have been different, Severus. I wish it didn't have to end like this…for Lily and James' sakes as well as Harry's.'

Harry leant against the wall outside the office, his heart beating in an unruly pattern leaving the young man breathless. His head was spinning. He was confused, angry at Dumbledore for not telling him everything he knew before.

'He should have just let me die!' Harry thought venomously. Before allowing himself to slip into an angry depression, Harry calmed himself down and fixed his mind on what he needed to do. If he was to defeat Voldemort he needed to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes and for that, he needed the elderly headmaster's help.

'What about the other Horcruxes? What were they? How many are there? Snape sounded a little desperate. Dumbledore sighed tiredly and Harry felt the same way; knowing that it was a long story.

'There are six,' he started. 'at least, six which Voldemort knowingly created.' Snape looked at the aged man skeptically.

'And the one he unknowingly created…was Potter.' he stated, mainly to his own pounding mind which had reached breaking point.

'Yes. Voldemort was led to believe that he had the upper hand with his secret Horcruxes. However, not only do I, as well as some others, know about his Horcruxes, the two of us know about the one he never meant to make. He wants to kill Harry; however, he is unaware that by doing so, he is destroying a part of his own soul. But once Harry…once Harry is dead and the remaining Horcruxes destroyed, Voldemort can finally be killed.

'The first Horcrux destroyed was Tom Riddle's diary. Harry killed the fragment of Voldemort's soul that was inside the diary during his second year; using a Basilisk fang. Although at the time, Harry had no idea just what he was doing or how it would benefit us all now. I destroyed the second Horcrux.' Harry heard the sound of a desk draw being opened and a soft click as something was placed on the wooden surface. 'Marvolo Gaunt's ring.' Dumbledore supplied before Snape could say anything. 'Hidden under the floorboards by Voldemort in the Gaunt house. I do not believe Tom knew all of the ring's secrets though. This stone' Harry heard the metal of the ring scrape across the desk and guessed Dumbledore had held it up for the Potions master to see, 'is actually one of the Deathly Hallows.'

Snape stood silently before hesitantly speaking. 'The Deathly Hallows? As in, the ones described in the children's story?'

'The very same, my boy. The very same. Most believe it is indeed, merely a children's story. I have studied the Hallows for many years, desperate to find the last of the three.'

'You have the other two then? The wand and the cloak?'

'I have one of the two.' Harry heard the elderly man place the ring back onto the desk before he grabbed another item.

'The Elder wand? The Death stick?' Snape whispered in astonishment. 'How…where did you get this? I had thought that its trail had been lost, many years ago.'

'I won it.' Albus said simply. 'I won it from Gellert Grindelwald all those years ago.'

The two men were silent as the Potions master studied what was considered to be the most powerful wand in the world. After a minute or two, Snape spoke again.

'And the cloak. If you do not have it, where is it?'

'You are a clever man, Severus. Surely you can think of such a cloak. A cloak impenetrable by spells, a cloak that has successfully kept the wearer hidden since its creation. I can think of only one.'

'Potter.' Snape snarled.

'Indeed. The Potter's are descendants of the Peverell brothers, the brothers of which the childrens tale pertains. But this is beside the point, my boy. We were talking of Horcruxes, not Hallows.'

Harry sucked a deep breath in, in shock. He had never come across the Deathly Hallows before but if Dumbledore had searched for them, surely they were of some consequence. To hear that his father's old cloak, the one given to him at his very first Christmas in the Wizarding world, belonged to a wizard from centuries ago gave him a warm tingly feeling inside. It made the item so much more precious to Harry. Knowing that it had a history made it all the more special.

Harry imagined Snape nodded as Dumbledore continued.

'I found the ring and discovered its secret. I wished to use the ring, to be able to say that I had used all three of the Hallows. Moreover, I wished to see my family again, my parents, my sister.' The aged wizard sighed again. 'Few people know of my past, Severus. I am a secretive man. Understand that it is hard for me to speak of my past. I am not proud of it. I wanted to make amends with my family. I was foolish enough to believe that by wearing the ring it would activate the stone.'

'You put it on? But if it was a Horcrux, surely it carried a curse?' Severus interrupted, disregarding Dumbledore's earlier comments about his past.

Dumbledore sighed heavily before whispering 'No.' There was a pause as the elderly man cleared his throat. 'No. I was tempted, greatly tempted. I held it in my hand, eager to put it on my finger. I thought that if I did, I would see my family once again. I was so close to sliding it on when I became distracted by a more pressing matter. Distracted, in fact, by you.'

'Me?'

'Yes, the very patronous you just performed, delivering a message of upmost importance, stopped me. The message, of course, was that of Harry's arrest. That message saved my life for, as you quite rightly said, the ring carried a curse that would have undoubtedly resulted in my death had I placed it on my finger. Needless to say, I destroyed it with Gryffindor's sword.'

Harry heard the draw close and guessed that the Headmaster had placed the ring back into its current hiding place.

'The next Horcrux involved a slightly different approach. I believed it to be held close to Voldemort, perhaps inside Malfoy Manor where so many of his meetings had taken place. You, quite conveniently, overheard Voldemort speaking to Bellatrix over a matter involving the moving of some of Tom's possessions in Malfoy Manor to a more secure location.'

'I recall this conversation. Bellatrix offered her vault in Gringotts. The Dark Lord seemed pleased by this. They discussed moving the items in the near future.'

'Exactly! Exactly! Your information gave me hope. What would Voldemort possess that he would require to be protected? A Horcrux. Of course, I could not waltz into Malfoy Manor to seize a Horcrux and I could not send you for fear of you being caught. I was stuck in a quandary.

'That night, as I sat in my office, going over various plans to find the Horcrux, I had a visitor. A house elf named Dobby. A friendly, independent elf who had a fierce, fierce dedication to young Harry. He was visibly upset over Harry's imprisonment. He had come to my office to ask for help, to persuade me of Harry innocence, of which I was already certain he was, and to find a way to remove Harry from Azkaban. I told the elf there was nothing that I could have done. I had already tried. I had exhausted all of the possibilities; but, I had an idea. An idea that did not involve Harry directly but would certainly help him in the future. The elf agreed readily. I should not have asked him to do it; anything could have happened to him but I was a desperate old man.

'He was more than happy to go back to his old master's house, back to Malfoy manor to search for an important item that, if destroyed, would lead us one step closer to Voldemort's demise. I told him to look for a cup. Hufflepuff's cup to be exact. I asked him to, once he found such an item, make a copy of it, replace the real cup with the copy and to return to my office with it. I waited a week for his return. By the third day, I believed the plan fruitless. Surely he would have found it by now? But, on the seventh night, I was awoken at twenty to four in the morning by a bright and joyful elf who had searched the Manor from top to bottom but had eventually come across a glass cabinet, protected by enchantments, which contained a small, old, ornately decorated cup.'

'How did an elf get past the enchantments?'

'Do not doubt house elves, Severus. They have far more control of their magic than we give them credit for. They have an amazing grasp of magic. The elves are able to apparate inside of Hogwarts, something us wizards are not capable of. Dobby told me he was not able to open the cabinet at first, but in fear of turning up to my office with no cup, he stayed at the Manor, hidden from sight, until he was able to open the cabinet. And when he did so, he made a copy, placed the copy on the shelf and left without a trace. I studied the cup carefully, ensured that it was indeed a Horcrux and then rid the world of it in the same way as the last.'

'Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that an elf aided you in the destruction of one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes.' From where Harry was, he could make out Snape pacing around the office.

'I also find it somewhat miraculous, Severus; but, in a bout of bad luck, Dobby turned up and gave me hope. He allowed me to believe that this task may be possible.'

Snape sighed and ceased pacing. Harry heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor and guessed that the Potions master had taken a seat before the Headmaster.

'The other Horcruxes? You have only described three. You said there we more?'

'Tom Riddle wished to create seven. He did so, but the seventh, Harry, was made unknowingly. The fourth one belonged to Salazar Slytherin. It was a locket, hidden by Voldemort in a cave he had visited with the orphanage when he was a boy. I travelled to the cave, with Dobby as a companion. Inside the cave, on an island surrounded by water containing Inferi, was a basin. The basin contained the locket; however, the only means of obtaining the locket was by drinking the potion that covered it. I did so, with Dobby's help. The elf fed me the potion; a ghastly concoction that caused the drinker pain and horrific visions. I drank it all, collected the locket and left with Dobby. It was only when I returned to Hogwarts did I realise that I was not the first to have gone to the cave. The locket was a fake, replaced by a young Death Eater just before his death. I did not know this, of course, until I was told the full story sometime later.

'You recall the trip we took to Grimauld Place not that long ago.' It was a statement, not a question but Harry guessed that Snape nodded in affirmation. 'I took the fake Horcrux to Harry, told him my story and left. A few days later, Harry paid me a visit. With him, he brought the real locket, the real Horcrux, and its story. Regulus Black, having discovered Voldemort's secret, went to the cave, obtained the locket and gave it to his elf, Kreacher to destroy. Regulus died in that cave, taken to the lake's depths by the Inferi. Kreacher kept the locket and tried in vain to destroy but had no such luck. When Harry went to Azkaban, Kreacher moved to Malfoy Manor to serve Bellatrix. He took with him his few possessions of which included the locket. When he saw Harry had the fake locket, the truth came out. The elf handed over the real locket to Harry when he learned that it could be destroyed. Harry destroyed it here, in my office, with the sword of Gryffindor.

'So far, those are all that have been destroyed. There are two left of which I am unsure; however, I believe one of which to be Voldemort's snake.'

'Nagini?' Severus questioned.

'Yes, Nagini. I should think that soon, Voldemort will begin to fear for her safety. She will be a difficult one to destroy.'

'And the last? Do you have any idea what it could be or where it is hidden?'

'Alas, I can only guess that it is linked to another of the founders of Hogwarts. Since we have the sword of Gryffindor in this very room, I should think it is some item related to Ravenclaw, but all of this is purely projection rather than fact.'

'So we have hit a block in the road?'

'It would seem so, my boy. It would seem so.'

The two men sat in silence for some time. Harry's heart beat painfully in his chest. The only sound he could hear was a rushing in his ears. He did not know how long he stood there; leaning against the wall, trying to comprehend all that had unwittingly been divulged to him. It could have been ten minutes, it could have been an hour, Harry was unsure but the conversation between the two wizards in the office had moved on and Harry had missed the start, too focused on himself. Without giving himself anymore time to become frustrated Harry turned to the door and gave a loud knock upon the wood. The discussion in the room came to a halt. Then he heard an elderly voice beckon him into the room. When he opened the door he saw the headmaster standing next to Fawkes who nuzzled the man's wrinkled hand, while Snape was stood awkwardly by the window to Dumbledore's left. He guessed that they must have moved from their seats when he wasn't listening.

'Hello Harry. Did you have a merry Christmas?' As usual the man indicated a seat to Harry who took it but refused the offer of a sherbet lemon that followed.

'Yes, thanks.' Snape gave an indignant snort but Dumbledore smiled brightly as he too sat down, behind his desk. 'And yourself?' Harry asked somewhat awkwardly.

'Quite enjoyable, my boy. Thank you for asking.' The two men stared at one another for a moment or two until the headmaster tilted his head to the side. 'Was there something you wanted, Harry?'

'Yes, please stop wasting our time.' the Potions master spat as he turned from the window and folded his arms in a scolding manner. Harry suddenly felt as if he were back in school and stuck in one of Snape's classes, trying to concentrate on his work but finding it almost impossible with the man's unnaturally crooked nose looming over his shoulder.

'Sorry…Professor, but I was here to see Dumbledore and the matter I have come to discuss with him has nothing to do with you.'

Snape's nostrils flared in silent outrage.

'Not to worry, Harry,' Dumbledore cut in before the two brunettes could start an argument knowing that if he let them continue, his office may never fully recover and Severus would sulk around the castle with a look of pure, unadulterated hate in his eyes. 'I'm sure that anything you need to talk to me about will be safe with Professor Snape. And on another note,' he said more brightly. 'as you are no longer a student here, I find no need for you to continue referring to us by our professional positions.'

'Okay…sir.' he said, still not able to shake off his polite disposition in front of his previous headmaster. Harry then eyed Snape, jaw tight. Although he now knew that Snape was aware of Voldemort's Horcruxes, the two professors were oblivious to his spying leaving Harry uncomfortable divulging the information he had about the final pieces of the Dark Lord's soul to Voldemort's right hand man.

'I've found it.' he said shortly. Dumbledore's brows lifted and his eyes became quizzical. 'At least, I know where he's hiding it.'

The headmaster had to stop himself rising from his seat, his hands gripping the arms of his chair. 'Where is it?'

'Here. Inside the school.'

Snape approached the desk, keeping his back to Harry. 'Is he talking about…what we were just discussing?' Dumbledore nodded once. Snape drew in a sharp breath. Spinning on the spot the Potions master glared at the younger man. 'How do you know this?'

'The connection.' Harry said bluntly. Snape gave a quick nod. 'I've seen where he's hiding it. He was thinking about them. He's worried for their safety.'

'Did you see exactly where in the castle it is?' Snape asked. 'Where the…Horcrux is?'

'Yes.' Harry said confidently. 'It's in the room of requirement.'

'Do you have any idea what the Horcrux is?' Dumbledore questioned. He was leaning forward in his seat, his elbows resting on the edge of his desk, his eyes having clouded over with distant thought.

'It's the 'lost' Diadem of Ravenclaw.'

Snape grunted. 'Don't be ridiculous, Potter. How could the Dark Lord have gotten his hand on the Diadem? It hasn't been seen in centuries. No. You must have been hallucinating in your sleep, or consumed too much dairy products before you went to bed and had an over exaggerated dream. I wouldn't put it past you. After all, the whole point of something being lost is that you can't find it, isn't it Mr. Potter?'

'Well, it's not lost anymore is it…Severus?' Harry held back a grin as the Potions master's eye twitched.

'I'm not sure where it was being kept before Lord Voldemort found it, but if he has hidden it in the room of Requirement as you say he has, Harry, then it makes perfect sense as to why it hasn't been seen in more recent years. The room of Requirement is very clever at hiding secrets.' The twinkle in Dumbledore's eye was clear and he looked excited, if a little anxious.

Thank you for reading! Sorry it's been so long. I've been busy with school.

I hope you all liked it.

For those of you who wanted Harry to have one last rage at all the people who didn't believe he was innocent, I hope Snape's little fight with Dumbledore in Harry's favor helped a little. I love Snape!