A/N – I know, it's been a few weeks and I ended the last chapter with a small cliffhanger. But I did warn you my summer was shaping up to be busy.
Chapter 22 – I've Got You Under My Skin
Hermione rolled her eyes at Tom and started yelling at him, "Could be a problem? Aren't you the master of understatement? If I'm figuring this out correctly you made Harry a Horcrux!"
Tom turned to the irate girl, "Indeed. I had prepared myself to create one out of Harry's death. I had even purchased a special deck of cards …"
"Screw your cards!" Hermione was just getting started now, "What are we going to do about the fragment of your soul lodged in Harry?"
Luna came over and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Hermione, please calm down. Let's wake Harry up and try to figure something out."
Hermione stopped in mid-rant and looked down at her boyfriend who had been unconscious since Tom cast the Horcrux-revealing spell. She flicked her wand out of her holster and "enervated" him.
Harry opened his eyes and the first thing he saw (really the only thing) was Hermione's worried face hovering above his and his peripheral vision block by a cascade of brown hair. Taking quick stock of the situation he could figure out he was lying down on something hard, Hermione's face was inches from his, his scar hurt like hell, Hermione had the most gorgeous eyes, he could not remember why he was in this position, Hermione's lips looked very kissable, and the rest of his body seemed to feel OK.
He noticed from Hermione's facial expression that she looked worried about him. He knew it was about him in particular since she had a special "worried" face when she worried about him. He quickly did the first thing that came to his mind – he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her down to kiss her. He knew he did the right thing when she responded rather enthusiastically.
Hermione was overjoyed when Harry opened his eyes and when he pulled her into a kiss she temporarily forgot about everything else. That was until she heard a very Familiar voice say "Potter, Granger, please contain your displays of affection to someplace private."
Both of them turned and looked a Severus who was trying – and not succeeding – to contain his laughter. Neville and Luna were giggling.
Blushing madly, Harry reluctantly let Hermione get up and she helped him to his feet. "What happened?"
Before Hermione could get warmed up, Tom started talking, "It seems that I created a Horcrux the night I tried to kill you."
"So there's a missing deck of cards?"
"No. It appears that when my curse rebounded off of you and hit me it split my soul and transferred it to you." He noticed Harry's confused look, "Harry. You are the horcrux."
"Oh." He went pale. "No problem – how do we get it back to you?"
"Well, I'm not sure. Finding anything about horcruxes is virtually impossible. In all my study on the subject, I did not come across any recorded case of a living object let alone a human being used as a horcrux. This is probably the first time it's ever been done."
"Great. Another way I'm unique. I guess I should be expecting it by now. I guess this explains our "special" connection." He paused, deep in thought. Suddenly he looked very angry, "The old bastard knew."
Hermione looked over at him, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I bet that he knows that Tom made horcruxes. That's why he wasn't too surprised when I explained the diary to him in second year. I bet he cast the revealing spell on me after my parents died. It explains why he has locked me away for the past few years and gone out of his way to make sure for the most part we had crappy Defense teachers."
Severus, Luna and Tom got looks of understanding on their faces – they saw where Harry was going. Hermione had not quite figured it out and Neville looked completely lost.
Harry continued, "Dumbledore knows about the Horcruxes – or at least the decoy ones. He even dropped a hint that he might want me to help him hunt them. He needs to make sure they are destroyed. Then with one left," Harry pointed to himself, "he'll send me out unprepared to face Voldemort and get myself and the remaining horcrux killed. I bet he would be counting on Voldemort being weakened by the fight and destruction of his horcruxes that Dumbles could then finish the job and get the glory."
Hermione looked murderous, "When I get my hands on that old fu…"
Harry stopped her with a kiss. He pulled back and smirked, "Hermione my darling assassin, we can't kill him – yet. Besides, I believe if it has to come to that Tom has already called first dibs."
Tom smiled, "Hermione, I would suggest you focus on more pressing issues. Albus does not need more people trying to kill him."
Now all four teens looked at Tom who had an evil but playful grin on his face. Luna spoke up with a voice a mother might use with a devious child, "Tom, what have you done? You've been a naughty boy again haven't you?" Her face was completely passive, but the tone of her voice gave her playfulness away.
Tom put on his most innocent face – quite a feat that did not go unnoticed by the other 5 people – and said in a manner playing along with Luna's, "Well, I just didn't want Albus to be lonely and unescorted. I kind of asked that dear witch Bellatrix to 'play' with him."
Luna kept up her act, "Play with him Tom?"
"Well maybe I said kill him. But really, for Bellatrix it's the same thing. I made sure to tell her she could not visit him at Hogwarts though. Why would I want her to damage our castle?"
Hermione surprised Harry with the evil glint in her eyes, "Oh that is sooo perfect. But how will she find him."
Severus spoke up, "With the tracking charm I put on him this morning. It's an invention of Voldemort and pretty much undetectable."
Neville finally caught on, "That means he'll be pretty distracted and it will give us a better opportunity to put together a resistance."
Tom smiled again, "My thoughts exactly. However, we must get back to the point at hand. We need to decide what to do with the Horcrux called Harry Potter."
Hermione thought for a moment, "Tom, what happens to the horcrux when you pull the soul fragment out and reintegrate it?"
"I'm not sure."
Harry spoke up, "Only one way to find out. Tom, you were planning on going through the procedure today. I think you should tick to the plan. Use one of the decks. We can then see what happens to it."
Tom nodded, "Very well, I need about 30 minutes to prepare."
/Scene Break/
Amelia Bones sat back in her chair. She had spoken with her niece for hours about the enigma that was Harry Potter. Susan told her everything she knew or had heard about.
Discounting some of the stories as outrageous (killing a Basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor - I mean really) she focused on things that Susan had direct experience with.
They spent a very long time talking about the DA from the past school year. Amelia had already heard rumours that the fifth year OWL and seventh year NEWT scores for Hogwarts were going to be well above average. She even heard that one or two students might get OWLs with distinction for their performance in the Defense practical exams.
Amelia was told about these scores every year to target her recruiting for the Auror Corps. Since the last war the quality of potential Aurors has been steadily decreasing. This year seemed to be the exception and she now knew who was responsible. When Susan mentioned she had learned and – upon request from Amelia – proceeded to cast a corporeal patronus, Amelia knew that Harry Potter had a rare gift for teaching. He would probably make a good Auror, but his gift for teaching would potentially produce even more.
She made a mental note to get in contact with Mr. Potter – or rather Lord Potter-Black – and discuss his future with him. She shook her head again – most Auror cadets could not produce anything more than a silver mist by the time they graduated.
/Scene Break/
Albus had apparated to a secluded section of Muggle London. There was one particular candy shop that made the lemon drops he was so fond of. As he walked down the alley he had apparated to he heard the telltale pops of additional apparitions behind him. He then heard the distinctive voice behind him, "Oh Headmaster – I've been looking for you. I want to play."
Albus did not want to play with Bellatrix Lestrange. This was an unfortunate coincidence. Giving up on his lemon drops he apparated away instead of allowing the fight to spread to muggle streets.
He apparated to the Magical area of Glasgow where another confectionary stocked more of his favourite sweets. As he walked away from the apparition point, he heard the pops behind him again. He didn't pay them any mind since it was a public apparition point after all.
That was, until he heard the voice. "Albus," Bella whined, "that was rude and I expect an apology. You hurt my feelings. Don't you want to play?"
Albus apparated away once again when he saw them ready their wands.
/Scene Break/
Tom had everything set to go he was in his bedroom at the cottage and had one of the decks of cards in front of him. For the first time in a long time Tom was scared of what lay ahead. The faith and trust his new allies as well as his thirst for revenge on those who guided him down the path allowed him to find the strength to move ahead.
He had sent the teens back to the manor. If he were correct in his suspicions this procedure would be quite painful and very loud. Severus volunteered to stay behind and monitor his health.
Tom sat in his bed and drank the potion. He then muttered the incantation and drew the soul fragment out of the deck. Once free of the deck of cards the silvery vapour accelerated and slammed into Tom's forehead and he fell straight back onto his bed.
Severus heard the commotion and came into the room. Tom appeared catatonic. His body was still and stiff and his lifeless, unfocussed eyes stared at the ceiling. As Severus approached the bed Tom's mouth opened and a guttural heart-rending scream began and did not stop for another four hours.
What Severus did not know is that at the same time a similar scream was being heard in the Manor house.
/Scene Break/
Tonks looked up from the papers in the estate agents office. Remus was smiling at her. "Well what do you think?"
She was looking at a picture of the 200-year-old cottage in the Lake District near Kendall. It looked perfect. She smiled back at him and nodded.
The estate agent smiled at the happy couple. She had been looking for someone who could appreciate this property. Most people looked for more urban or suburban properties, as there were few Wizard farmers. But really with apparition, floo and portkeys you didn't need to be close to everything all the time. "Well," she said smiling at them, "Do you want to go for a visit? I have a portkey right here if you want to visit." She held out her clipboard.
Moony and Tonks touched it and disappeared from the office.
/Scene Break/
Tom opened his eyes. Great. Just great. He had to pick this one to start. He remembered this situation as he found himself at Riddle Manor facing Tom Riddle (his father) and his grandparents.
His father looked at him, "You're back. We've been stuck here ever since you killed us."
"Stuck where?"
"Right here where you left us. We don't even know where here is. All we know is that we are dead and you are responsible."
Tom tried to say something but his father interrupted him, "I mean if my life was not bad enough. I mean my wife drugged and manipulated me into loving and marrying her." He looked at Tom, "do you know what it's like to be manipulated for years and one day find out that your life was a lie? That it was bent to someone else's will? That everything in your life was a lie? My wife stole me from my parents and rest of my family when she drugged me."
Tom realized his Father's situation was very much like his own. A strange pain started to grow in his stomach.
His father continued, "Once I cast her out and got my life back together I found out she had a child. I looked for him for years and had just found a strong lead from an orphanage in London. My son had my name and they gave me his last known address." Tears were running down both their faces, "Then just as I'm finally closing in on him, you show up and kill us without an explanation. Well you are here now and you are not going anywhere until you tell me why!"
Tom looked at his father, "I'm your son." He then proceeded to tell them about his life and how Dumbledore manipulated his life. He kept his eyes down as he gave them the summary of who he was and what he became. He finally looked up with a tear-stained face, "I thought you didn't want me. I wanted to punish you for what happened to my mother Merope and erase where I had come from. I didn't see it from your point of view and after all those years in the orphanage I never thought you might actually want me."
His father and grandparents took all of this in and at the end they had tears as well. His father spoke up, "Tom, I am so sorry I never found you until is was too late. I want you to know that as soon as I found out I tried to find you. I even managed to contact a wizard since your mother was a witch. I was finally put in touch with a wizard who was a teacher. Mr. Dumblesomething. He was very nice but said that he could not help me. It would have been at the time you were eleven or twelve. I never stopped looking for my son."
Tom collapsed. He could have had a father and a family. His father loved him even after his mother's manipulations. He could have had a home to go to during school breaks. Dumbledore forced him to go back to the orphanage even though he knew Tom's father was looking for him.
He looked at his father and grandparents seeing what life he could have had. The pain inside him had been growing the whole time. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Then the pain hit with the force of a threatened Horntail. The scene disappeared and all Tom saw was explosions of light and colour, as the pain seemed to be tearing him apart at the cellular level. This was worse that the Cruciatus curse. The curse came from the outside. This pain was from within. It felt like his body was trying to destroy itself one nerve ending at a time. As bad as the physical pain was, the mental anguish was worse. He could have had a home, a family, a father and grandparents who loved him unconditionally just because he was Tom Riddle.
But Voldemort had found them and killed them without remorse – without a thought. Tom felt the loss and remorse now. It was like an attacker going after his mind and sense of self. His long repressed anxieties were running free and unsuppressed.
He could not stop screaming as he experienced true remorse for the first time in his life.
/Scene Break/
Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk. He reflected on his very strange day. All afternoon Bellatrix and other Death Eaters had shown up either taunting him or just simply throwing curses at him. For Merlin's sake she had even cornered him in the men's room at the Leaky cauldron. He had turned around quickly and when she looked down she had just started laughing and calling him peewee.
The only place he had any rest today was when he returned to Hogwarts. He checked his clothing and person with all the revealing spells and charms he knew and could not find a tracking charm on him. So how was she able to know where he was? There must be someone spying on him. But who was it?
He headed down to the Great Hall for dinner and to prepare for the Order meeting at seven. He had to have his faculties as they discussed the new Potter problem.
/Scene Break/
Arthur Weasley had decided not to return to the Burrow. He sent an owl to Molly explaining that he was going to stay a few nights with the twins and Percy to catch up with his boys and reconnect with them. He had done this before with both Bill and Charlie after they had moved out.
In reality he was not sure if he ever wanted to face Molly again. The revelations of the Conspiracy and Molly's involvement and his two youngest children left him with a feeling of disgust. In the middle of it all was the man he had thought was above all suspicion and could be trusted more than any other – Albus Dumbledore.
Arthur also made a scary discovery. As every day passed and he stayed away from the Burrow his connection with Molly was weakening. He had never heard of this happening, however Molly was very good with potions. He would have to get himself checked at St. Mungo's.
/Scene Break/
Albus looked out over the Great Hall at the assembled Order of the Phoenix. Much like the Death Eaters many of the pureblood members were part of the plan for the New Order. The rest were here for appearances and were expendable for what he euphemistically called the 'Greater Good'.
As he waited for everyone to assemble and find their seat he thought back to his day and being followed everywhere by Bellatrix. He had tried to floo-call Lucius but there was no answer at Malfoy Manor. He needed inside information on why Bella seemed to be everywhere he was.
He looked out over the Great hall again and noticed everyone was finally gathered at the Gryffindor table. He walked down from the head table and sat down at the head of the House table.
"Welcome everyone," he looked around and saw he had everyone's attention, "I apologize for the short notice and moving the meeting up a day but there are a few items which require our attention tonight. The first item is Harry Potter."
"As you may all now know, Harry is no longer living at his relative's house in Little Whinging. He is undoubtedly living in one of his ancestral homes."
Moody spoke up, "How can he Albus? He's not seventeen. He can't claim his inheritance."
"Ah, that Alastor is the crux of the matter. Apparently the Goblins managed to get Harry to Gringotts for Sirius Black's will to be read. Sirius had arranged for the blood adoption of Harry Potter."
Gasps went up around the table as the realization of what this meant hit everyone who was not at Gringotts on Sunday. Albus then went on to explain the Black inheritance, emancipation and Potter inheritance. He finished with, "In short, the student who left here a few weeks ago as Mr. Potter is now Lord Potter-Black."
There was more silence around the table as everyone processed this information. Remus and Tonks were finding it hard to keep a straight face and Molly was making no attempt to hide her disgust.
Albus waited for everyone to settle down before continuing, I met with Lord Potter-Black at Grimmauld Place earlier today. He has had it renovated and redecorated. I'm pretty sure the Goblins were involved somehow. Harry has offered to allow us to continue to use Grimmauld Place as headquarters with two conditions."
Alastor asked, "Well cough it up Albus what are the conditions?"
"The first is that Harry be allowed to attend all Order meetings. He does not want to take an active part in the Order, however he wants to know what is going on in this conflict."
Molly jumped up red in the face, "ABSOLUTELY NOT! That little brat is too young and we can't trust him to keep the information secret. He's sure to share it with his friends, especially Granger!"
"His second condition is that Miss Granger be allowed the same courtesy."
Molly looked apoplectic. She was so angry she was incapable of coherent speech.
Remus looked at Albus and made him heard above the din, "I think you should agree." Everyone looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Well, everyone except Tonks. Her glance kept shifting from Remus to the Slytherin table and he knew exactly what she was thinking. He forced his concentration back to the meeting. "Think about it. We can't keep meeting here – the board of governors could kick us out and censure you Albus for using school facilities. Grimmauld is already set up as our headquarters. If there is information you don't want Harry to hear, just don't bring it up in the meetings. You need to regain Harry's trust to get him back under control, letting Hermione in will help rebuild that more quickly. Face it, he would only tell her anyway. If this is handled right Albus, it could be your quickest way back to having Harry in your camp. Besides, Molly's only upset since Lord Black – or was it Lord Potter – no, Lord Potter-Black cancelled the marriage contract."
Molly nearly dove across the table at the werewolf before Hestia and Emmeline grabbed her from either side and forced her back into her chair.
"Molly!" Albus snapped, "If you can't control your behaviour I will have to control it for you. Do I make myself clear?"
Molly nodded once – not trusting herself to speak.
Albus got the twinkle back in his eye. "Thank you Molly. Remus, you do make some very good points and I find your approach intriguing – it is very much along the same lines I was considering.
"Yeah right, you were considering it after I mentioned it," thought Remus as he said gratefully, "Thank you Albus."
"Let's take a vote then shall we? All in favour?" Albus noted about three quarters of the hands were raised, "All opposed?" He looked around, "Very well. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger will be allowed to attend Order of the Phoenix meeting when we move back into our old headquarters."
"Very good." Albus clasped his hands together and stood up in a manner that if a Muggle had been present he or she would have easily mistaken him as a preacher who was about to lead his congregation in song. He started speaking again, "The second order of business is Bellatrix Lestrange. Everywhere I went once I left the castle today Bellatrix arrived no more than a minute or two after I did."
Minerva looked shocked, "Albus how did she know where you were? Did someone else know your schedule?"
"That is the strangest part. I had no set schedule today I would think destinations up when I saw Bellatrix and her squad and each time they showed up at the new location within a minute or two. "
"Tracking spell!" exclaimed Moody.
"I checked myself over after I returned to the castle and they did not follow. Alastor, I would appreciate if you could do me the favour of checking following the meeting."
Moody nodded, "Yes, of course." Dumbledore knew his old friend was already using his magic eye to look for tracking spells on Albus.
The meeting went on for another half hour as miscellaneous items were taken care of. Albus dismissed the group and promised to inform them of the date of the next meeting that would be back at Headquarters.
Once everyone left except for him and Albus, Moody came up to him and ran a few scans for tracking charms. "I don't understand it Albus, I can't find any tracking spells but that is the only thing which makes sense of what you told us happened today."
"I have to agree Alastor, but I can't allow myself to be forced to stay here at Hogwarts. I'm far too visible to drop out of the public eye. I can't be seen to have bodyguards either."
"I could disillusion myself and follow you. Perhaps the spells or whatever they are only act outside of the Hogwarts wards? They may not even be detectable unless they are active."
"Very well Alastor. Let us try that. Can you return tomorrow at nine am? You are more than welcome to breakfast with us and then accompany me to my appointments tomorrow."
"Thank you for the invitation Albus. I will see you tomorrow."
/Scene Break/
He woke up suddenly. The first thing he noticed was his body was sore all over. The horcrux reintegration was one of the worst things he had ever experienced – and it wasn't even him. Harry had been forced to endure the entire episode through his connection with Tom.
For a brief moment he was disoriented and did not know where he was. He allowed his head and neck some movement. Even though this caused sore and tired muscles to complain very loudly he was able to determine he had somehow made it to bed. A glance at the window told him it was already night.
He sighed and murmured to him, "I wonder how long I was out." He winced. God that hurt, his throat felt raw. Just what happened?
There was movement beside him and a familiar voice said, "Harry? Are you awake?"
What was Hermione doing in his bed? Harry's thoughts were racing. Ignoring his protesting throat Harry whispered, "My throat is very sore. Do you have anything?"
Hermione lit some candles and looked at her boyfriend. She summoned Jeeves and asked him if there was something appropriate in the Manor for Harry's throat. Jeeves returned a moment later with a potion. Harry swallowed it and even as it went down it began to restore his voice. Hermione thanked Jeeves and the elf disappeared again.
Now that his voice was back, Harry asked the first thing on his mind, "Hermione, why are you in bed with me?"
"I was so scared Harry. When you collapsed and started screaming and wailing I didn't know what to do. We could not calm you or get you to wake up. It went on for four hours. After you stopped, you were still unconscious and your whole body had spasms running up and down it. I wasn't going to leave you like that. I had Jeeves transport us here and we put you to bed and then I stayed with you to make sure you were all right. Do you want me to leave?"
"No, of course not. I feel calm with you here. I'm just worried about what your father is going to do to me."
"Let me and my Mum handle Daddy. I kind of like it here with you. How are you feeling? You were screaming for 4 hours straight."
"I'm pretty sore, but the potion you got for Jeeves is helping with that as well. Hermione, it was horrible. The pain of reintegrating a Horcrux makes the Cruciatus curse feel like a tickle charm – and that's with me feeling it second-hand. Just thinking about it brings back the memory of the pain. I don't want to remember this right now, maybe tomorrow. I need to feel better first."
Hermione ran her hand through his hair and leaned over and kissed him. This was a slow sensual kiss that left both teenagers gasping for breath once it was over. They practiced that several more times before settling down to sleep.
As she extinguished the candles, Hermione settled her head on Harry's shoulder a with one arm over him and he slipped his arm around her. She had one more thing to say to Harry.
"Harry?"
"Yes 'Mione?"
"What do you think happened to the Horcrux?"
"No idea. We'll go visit Tom in the morning."
/Scene Break/
Tom riddle sat up strait in bed as if he was awoken from a coma by an ice-cold bucket of water. His muscles protested as he looked around the room. He was thankful when he saw Severus had placed a few potions close to his bed. He took all of them and immediately started to feel better.
Taking better stock of his surrounding he looked over the where the deck of cards had been.
There was nothing left but ash.
"Crap." Tom whispered to himself.
A/N – I went through several revisions and ideas on what I would write about the reintegration of a soul fragment from a Horcrux. I've never seen any stories that featured this. I went into it knowing that it had to include remorse, the person (in this case Tom) had to suffer not only physical by emotional pain, and that each death used to create a Horcrux had some meaning to Tom. I must have gone through at least a half dozen ideas and drafts that just didn't seem right. To me this one did. Let me know what you think and also if any other author has touched on this before.
I have a little confession to make. I know that quite of few of you who have left reviews said that you were concerned when Arthur was at the Ministry during the attack. Well, my original idea was to have the chapter end as Arthur was struck by a curse but I just didn't want to do that to him and changed the plot accordingly. In the end I'm glad I made the change and brought the true Weasleys on board.
I had a number of people point out to me that Geneva is in the French part of Switzerland and so the street should really have a French name. I choose to disagree. The Wizarding population of Europe is a fairly conservative lot and Switzerland is no exception. Most of the influential Wizards and Witches in Switzerland are descended from the old families in Germany and for centuries the official language of Switzerland's wizards is German.
Many of you are still asking about Charley. Well, there is no reason for him to be in England at the moment. Rest-assured, if that changes you will be the first to read about it.
For those of you reading my other story as well, I've got Chapter 4 well under way and hope to post it soon too.