Chapter 27 – How Soon is Now?
Albus watched the fire settle down as Lucius and his new 'son' left. He knew what was planned for the boy but did not really care either way. It was Lucius' problem to find an heir to the Malfoy name not his.
Albus was out of breath. The past few weeks had taken their toll on his 150-year-old physique. It scared him; the tremors going through his body were really bad this time. Albus had been fighting off his gradual decline for some time now – it was only his connection to the Hogwarts wards and the ability to draw energy from him that kept the ravages of time at bay.
"A soon as I get rid of Potter and Riddle, I can reverse this miserable condition," thought Albus as he pulled energy direct from the castle. He frowned; the energy wasn't flowing very well lately. When he first came up with the idea of using the ambient energy of Hogwarts to prolong his life the energy flowed through him like drinking from a fire hose. However in the past five years it had become successively more difficult to the current state where the fire hose had been replace by a narrow straw which he was trying to drink a thick vanilla milkshake through. He had not had the time to investigate this and the current flow of energy required that he spend more and more time at the castle. "It's almost as if Hogwarts is fighting me."
Albus was very grateful for his ancestors and their work putting together the eventual age of Pureblood supremacy. However as a young man Albus eschewed such selfless devotion to an ideal. He knew it was either going to be himself or his heir who would lead the Purebloods to their rightful place in society. The day he realized this, young Albus decided that he would be the one to lead his people. He began – at first in secret until his father 'went to the next great adventure' – his quest for immortality.
Grindelwald was his first pawn. A few well-place memory and compulsion charms drove a political couch potato to turn into one of the most feared dark lords in history. Grindelwald tried rituals and potions to extend his life but go nowhere near immortal but Albus learned a lot from his mistakes and found a new pliable subject in the form of Tom Riddle. That Tom was the Heir of Slytherin just help him accelerate his overall plans.
Dumbledore had watched from afar as Tom created his first horcrux. Tom now had an anchor in the world but Albus planted some clues and used Slughorn to give Tom the idea to make seven.
Everything with the horcruxes seemed to be working to plan until that fateful Halloween in 1981. Yes, Tom was immortal, but being incorporeal was not what Albus had in mind. It was then that he went to his fallback plan.
Dumbledore had managed to go through life without alienating the man he considered his mentor in the fine art of Alchemy. Nicholas had the damn stone secured and any attempt to go for it would no doubt cause the stone and it's owners to disappear faster than a whole chicken in front of Ronald Malfoy. He began to work on the Flamel's paranoia. Subtle hints about Voldemort's obsession with immortality, his incorporeal state, and his ruthlessness mad it into the heads of the Flamels over a period of several years. It culminated in 1991 with 'sightings' of Voldemort – Albus had the Flamels to the point where they asked him to keep the stone safe.
Albus opened a hidden drawer in his desk and pulled out a blood red stone. The smile on his face told the story. The former owners of the stone finally died two years ago. There was no one else save Potter who knew for sure if the stone had ever been at Hogwarts. All the others had either his or Potter's word that they had seen the stone – even Hagrid had only handled a small package and never opened it.
No one would deny the manipulation skills of a certain Headmaster Dumbledore. The public was fickle and he needed to hold off using the Elixir of Life until he was securely installed at the head of the new Pureblood Order. Until then he had to live off the Hogwarts wards. The fight with Voldemort took a lot out of him and he even held back for 15 minutes after sending to Order in so that he could play the Heroic leader.
Since then he had not quite gotten back to normal in it didn't help that Bellatrix was stalking him. He was going to have to spend more time at Hogwarts fighting with the wards. He patted the stone gently and fought a certain urge to call it 'my precious' as he put it back into his desk.
//Scene Break//
He opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. "Oh, thank Merlin," he thought to himself, "it must have been a dream." He allowed himself to relax. "That was a weird dream. Must have been all the stress I've been under recently." He rolled his head to the side and immediately wished he hadn't.
"Hay Bro! 'Bout time you woke up."
"Weasel, what the hell are you doing here? I am certainly not your Bro."
Ron had been absentmindedly raiding Draco's chocolate Frog stash he bit into a frog as Draco finished and answered, "Our dad adopted me this morning."
"Why the hell would he do that?"
At this point Lucius walked in with a very familiar if not familial sneer on his face. The look was actually a Malfoy trademark – honed to perfection by Speculum Malfoy to show disdain for anything his father Scorpius had managed to get himself into. It was primarily disdain and disgust delivered with an air of superiority that the one wearing the look was above recipient and said recipient was fortunate to get any reaction at all – Speculum hated everything about his father especially the many things he got into and he never forgave his father for his name. Lucius chided his son, "Now now Draco, try and make your new brother feel comfortable."
"Why is this brain-damaged carrot my brother?"
"Ronald is your brother and I would advise you not insulting him so."
"Why not? His only real skills are eating, chess and an amazing flexibility which allows him to stick both feet into any given orifice."
Ron was oblivious to the insults. These were the best chocolate frogs he had ever eaten and his brain had shut down as his taste buds approached oral orgasm.
If anything, Lucius' smirk became even more pronounced, "Why Draco, you need protection at Hogwarts once word gets out your magic has left you. Some of your peers whose parents are fortunate enough to server the Dark Lord may even know the truth."
Draco paled to the point where his hair appeared to darken, "How is he going to protect me?"
Ron, his face flush as he came down from the taste bud stimulation high, looked offended as he responded, "Hey! I was part of the DA last year and held my own at the Ministry of Magic fighting Dad," Lucius winced at the oh so common term – he preferred Father – as Ron continued, "and his Death Eater buddies. I'm sure I can protect you Draco."
"Forgive me if I'm not feeling all warm and tingly here, but you don't have the best track record of sticking with your friends. How do I know you'll protect me and not rally everyone to finish me off?"
Lucius interrupted, "Draco, Ronald had been disowned by his family …" he was interrupted as Draco fell out of his be laughing.
"You mean to tell me that you weren't even good enough for your poor blood traitor family? That is just too much."
"DRACO!" Lucius snapped at his squib of a son, "Please do not interrupt. Ronald is now a Malfoy. He has made an oath on his magic before his blood adoption to protect and never betray the Malfoy Family which also includes you."
"You performed a blood adoption? Why? The family laws state that he can't be the heir from a blood adoption."
"Draco, I'm just improving my odds. There's a loophole in the family laws. If either of you manage to find a bride and have a magical male offspring then he will be the Malfoy heir."
Draco looked over at Ron who had a blank stare now that he finished the chocolate. He tried to picture Ron's son as the Malfoy heir and an involuntary shudder went through his body.
Ron noticed where Draco was and helped him off the floor. He looked at his new father and brother, "When's Lunch?"
Draco and Lucius just looked at each other and slowly shook their heads – the weeks leading up to September would be very long indeed.
//Scene Break//
Harry and Hermione were sitting on Harry's bed facing each other. Her brown eyes were locked in a fixed stare with his green ones. Controlling the access each had to the other's mind and thoughts was proving rather difficult. In fact, this staring contest was the result of multiple failed attempts to keep their thoughts hidden from each other. The blank staring contest gave them both the most peace they had all day.
Hermione groaned and broke eye contact. "Harry that works, but we can't just sit and stare at each other all day every day. How are we going to keep out of each other's minds?"
Harry closed his eyes and thought about their new bond and everything they had tried to keep the other out. Then it dawned on him – the bond was built on mutual trust and love. There was no way they would ever succeed in pushing the other out since it went against the whole idea of a soul bond. He smiled.
"Hermione, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Of course I am Harry. You know tha…" she broke off as she understood his thought. "Harry, you're brilliant sometimes. Of course, we can't force each other out. We should be able to withdraw from the other's mind to respect their privacy."
Ten minutes later they had successfully withdrawn – well, sort of. They could not read the other's thoughts, but could still sense the feelings and emotions emanating from the other.
The two looked into each other's eyes both smiling a goofy grin as the stress of the morning dissipated. Hermione spoke first, "Harry, you are brilliant. Please don't get me wrong – I'm not sorry we bonded last night, I just wasn't prepared with how connected we became. This feeling however is very, very nice." Harry's eyes nearly bugged out. Hermione was almost purring those last few words. She continued, "We need to practice more with the bond we have to see how deep the connection runs. This level of connection gives us a safe place to start and return to when we get overwhelmed."
Harry was still staring at her with wide eyes. His brain had not really processed anything past the 'purring'. Hermione looked into his eyes and felt the rush of emotions over the bond. When their lips met all ideas of intelligent conversation were shelved for the time being.
//Scene Break//
Tom Riddle and Severus Snape were working in their cottage preparing for the horcrux reintegration. Severus noted that the older wizard seemed distracted.
"Tom?"
He looked up at the potions master with an unfocussed look.
"You look distracted. Is there anything bothering you?"
"Is it that obvious?" Severus nodded. Tom sighed. "I keep thinking about the last reintegration and I'm worried about the next one. You see, I had expected to go up the stairs and just take care of Harry. I began the horcrux ritual as I climbed the stairs…"
Severus eyes opened in realization, "So that means…" Tom nodded. "And that's how…" Tom nodded again. "So when the reintegration takes place…"
Tom sighed, "Exactly. It could make these last couple of weeks a spectacular waste of time."
"But if the exorcism works beforehand…"
"The exorcism is a long shot. There's no guarantee it will work. We will most likely have to do the reintegration as is. He'll insist."
"I know."
"If he survives the reintegration he'll probably kill me."
There was nothing more to be said. They finished their preparations and walked back up to the main house.
//Scene Break//
Harry and Hermione had spent the afternoon exploring the bond. Once they had found their 'safe harbour' they started enjoying the feeling of the bond and the various levels they could achieve. Harry thought about how nice the feelings felt and playfully wondered why they hadn't done this earlier.
Hermione felt a change in the bond from Harry. He was starting to pale. She felt him withdraw. "Harry? What's wrong?" He was starting to hyperventilate and would not look at her. She cupped his face in both her hands and lifted it so she could see his eyes. "Harry," she said soothingly, "talk to me. What is going on?"
"I'm sorry." His voice was just above a whisper.
"Sorry? For what?"
"For pulling you into this. You see I was enjoying exploring this new part of our relationship and I just wished we had shared this before." Hermione smiled at him warmly as he continued, "then I realized why we have the bond to begin with. Hermione, I love you and now because of me, I've put you in danger. I'm scared Hermione. I'm not scared of dying. I'm scared of you dying."
Hermione pulled him into a hug. "Harry, I feel the same way. Can I tell you something?" She felt him nod against her neck. "I'm just as afraid of losing you. But we're doing this together. Harry, I agreed to do this because I know we can get through this together. "
"But …"
"Harry Potter you are not allowed to be noble right now. I'm just as happy as you are with the bond we share right now. I thought I knew what I was getting into but I was mistaken."
He pulled back and looked at her as she continued, "It's way better than I thought it would be. We'll get through this together." They hugged again.
Harry pulled back again, "Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"So am I. Let's get this over with."
They shared a brief heartfelt kiss and headed downstairs where they found a somber Tom and Severus. They looked at Harry who announced, "We're ready. Let's do it before any of us change our mind."
Harry called Jeeves and gave him instructions to get the people together who needed to be there and inform the rest of what was going on. The group of four headed down the path together.
//Scene Break//
Charlie Weasley had just finished his lunch and was on his way back out to check on Norbert. The young Dragon his friends had transported from Hogwarts had grown quickly and was almost ready to be let out on his own into the preserve. He was startled from his thoughts by a non-descript brown owl landing in front of him.
He took the letter from its leg and thanked it. As the owl flew off, Charlie unrolled the scroll and read the few lines written on it. His jaw dropped and he read the letter again.
Within an hour he had arranged for a leave of absence and was on his way to Bucharest to arrange for an international portkey to take him back to England.
His family needed him.
//Scene Break//
Hermione's parents met up with them at the cottage. They both hugged Hermione and Harry and saw the worry in both the teens' eyes. It was difficult for them to accept the possibilities of what was going to happen but at the same time they were enormously proud of their daughter and the woman she was becoming. They would be standing vigil in the cottage tonight with others, but it was felt to be too dangerous for them to observe the procedure directly – there were too many possible complications and being muggles they would be hard pressed to defend themselves.
They sat down in the main room and the elves brought them some tea. During the next hour they managed to pass the time with small talk and constantly glanced at the stairwell. They were disconcerted by the lack of noise coming from upstairs although Severus had told them that he would be casting silencing spells.
They were interrupted by the sound of Severus coming down the stairs. He came over to them and shook his head slowly. "The exorcism was not successful. The soul fragment has been in Harry's head so long that we can not cast it out."
Jane asked, "So what does this mean?'
"It means that we will have to try the horcrux reintegration before the fragment is removed from Harry. You daughter will need to help him anchor his own soul as the fragment heeds the call of its master. Both Harry and your daughter are at risk here. As you are no doubt aware, this has never been tried before as far as we can tell."
Dan spoke up, "Are you sure this is wise? Shouldn't you postponed this and try to find some other way?"
"Both Harry and Hermione have asked us to continue. They are readying themselves mentally for this and wanted me to come down and keep you apprised of the situation. I would recommend you make yourself comfortable, this may take several hours. I will remain in attendance and assist if I am capable."
"Thank you Severus," said Jane, "please take good care of them."
Severus nodded and went back upstairs.
//Scene Break//
There were two beds in the room. Tom was sitting on one and Harry and Hermione were lying on the other holding hands. They were working on opening their bond as far as they could and maintaining physical contact. Harry turned to look at her, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
She smiled at him, "Yes. Now stop asking. You've asked me a hundred times now. I think we are prepared. I'm ready to do this. Don't worry Mr. Potter – I've got your soul covered."
He leaned over and kissed her and then lay back down. He tightened his grip on Hermione's hand. "Severus," he began, "please do whatever you can to make sure Hermione's OK."
Severus can over to the pair, "I will be here the entire time. I won't let harm come to any of you if I can prevent it."
Harry nodded once. "OK, Tom. Its your show now."
Tom drank the potion and said the incantation. Harry and Hermione's eyes shut and their bodies stiffened. A dark silvery mist appeared to leach out of Harry's scar and slowly coalesced into a very small cumulonimbus cloud. Once the last of the fragment had left the scar it pulled an almost white tendril out of Harry's scar and another one coming out of Hermione's forehead attached itself to the white tendril just below the fragment. The dark silver cloud shot forward dragging the other tendrils with it and it slammed into Tom's head. For a spit second there was silence and then three heart-rending screams filled the air.
//Scene Break//
Throughout the evening members of the OE had been arriving to sit and wait with Dan and Jane. The look of worry on their pale faces answered everyone's first question as they came through the door. Neville and Luna sat close to Dan and Jane and talked quietly with him. Remus and Tonks sat over to the side with Andromeda and Narcissa. Wanting to be productive, Augusta and Xeno politely refused the elves' help and were making coffee and tea and a light snack in the kitchen. In their own way, all of them were trying not to consciously dwell on what was going on over their heads.
//Scene Break//
Harry's eyes opened. He looked around and saw he was standing in front of a door holding Hermione's hand. He looked at his girlfriend and she swung her head around to look at him. "Where are we?" she asked. "This doesn't look familiar to me."
Harry thought for a moment, "We may be in the horcrux. It must still be attached somehow." He moved to open the door and Hermione's grip tightened.
"Harry, I have a bad feeling about this. Let's just go. I think I know the way out."
Harry paused. He thought for a moment and said, "Hermione, he created this horcrux firing a killing curse at me. That may be my room on the other side. I just want to see it once. What bad can happen from that?"
"Do you want a list?"
"I figured you would have one." Harry opened the door and walked through.
The two teens took three steps into the room and stopped dead in their tracks.
//Scene Break//
Lucius Malfoy Warily opened the evening edition of the Daily Prophet. The past few days had held a number of surprises for the Malfoy head. He quickly scanned the News and Society sections and, not seeing his name anywhere, sat in his favourite chair to read the paper. When he got to the business section he choked.
Ministry Notice Number 1995-1769
Business License Application Notice
Pursuant to article 6669 subsection 42 paragraph 3 of the Hereditary Business Act of 1283, the Business Permit Office of the Ministry of Magic has received an application by Lord Lucius Malfoy for the reinstatement a license for an Animal Husbandry business. Said license would cover the exclusive rights in Magical Britain to breed magical bloodlines for domesticated herd animals for the following species:
Magical Guernsey Cattle
Magical Jersey Cattle
Magical Sheep
Magical Swine
Magical Goats
Crumple Horned Snorkacks
Erumpents
Magical Wolverines
The Ministry will post this notice in the Daily Prophet for a period of 10 days. Within this time period the Ministry will accept challenges to this license application. Any parties wishing to challenge this application must file the appropriate paperwork with the Ministry of Magic Business Permit Office referencing notice number 1995-1769.
Before the paper hit the floor, Lucius was kneeling in front of the fireplace calling out, "Albus Dumbledore!"
//Scene Break//
"Mum?"
Hermione wondered how one three-letter word from her boyfriend could convey such a range of emotion. In that one short word he heard shock, hope, sadness, and a bit of happiness. She looked at the woman sitting on the chair next to the crib. "There's no mistaking the eyes," she thought, "that's Lily Potter."
Harry was rooted to the spot. Sure, part of his brain knew that this was not the real world, but he could not recall anything about his mother other than the images he saw when faced with Dementors. Now, there she was sitting beside a crib. His eyes moved slowly over her face and he tried to take in every last detail. Her hair was gorgeous – calling her a redhead just didn't do it justice. Her eyes were truly like his. Looking into them he could understand what Hermione meant about staring into his – he could not break contact with them.
He stood transfixed. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. His mother turned to face him and seemed to study him just as intently as he did her. He saw a sudden look of realization in her eyes as her face broke into one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen.
"Harry?"
Tears started to run down his face as he found he was too choked up to speak. He just nodded. Lily got up and wrapped her son in a big hug as tears streamed down her face as well.
Hermione felt a tug on her back as Harry let go of her hand to return his mother's hug. She quickly figured out what it was and snaked two fingers through one of his belt loops before she got pulled away.
Harry stood relishing the hug he had wished for over the course of the past 14 years. He felt that something missing was once again there. The hug and the warm, comforting feeling of being held by his mother mad him realize that he had been missing the true, unconditional love that only a parent could give their child.
All the walls he had built over his incarceration with the Dursleys came down in that instant. Something in him realized that this was his Mum – she would love him regardless of anything he did or said. Part of him knew Hermione loved him in a similar way, but the was his Mum. All of his pent up emotions – all of the hurt, loneliness, fear, anger – were released as he clung on to his mother for fear that she would let go. His entire body shook as he let her soothe him and hold him. She just whispered into his ear and held him tight as he let everything out.
Hermione watched as her soul mate took comfort in his mother's arms. While she intellectually knew where she was, she also knew that, right now to Harry, this would be very very real. She looked up and caught Lily looking at her. A brief silent conversation ensued and ended with Lily breaking part of the hug and inviting Hermione into it.
After what seemed like hours the three broke apart – Hermione making sure that she always maintained some sort of physical contact with Harry. Lily led them over to a small sofa that James had put in Harry's room. The three of them sat down with Harry in the middle.
Harry asked the first question that came to his mind, "Are you really my Mum?"
Lily thought before she answered, "Yes and no. Before you arrived I was talking to Tom here," she gestured over to the other side of the room and Hermione and Harry saw Tom standing there for the first time, "and he explained that this is a horcrux. What he was able to piece together from his last reintegration is that the part of the ritual traps a fragment of not just the caster's soul but also the victim provided in the sacrifice."
Tom spoke up, "The incantation is slightly different based on whether you intend for one victim or multiple victims for the sacrifice. When I was climbing the stairs to this room on that night, I said the incantation for a single victim since I only had one in mind. So after I killed your mother, the spell I cast on you was supposed to really be cast on the deck of cards but I made a mistake. That's why the curse backfired since it contained the soul fragment, it could not destroy the host and so it rebounded back on me."
Harry turned back to his Mum. "So that means that you are what exactly?"
"I'm a small piece of Lily's soul – not big enough to prevent her death, but enough to hold the Horcrux together. I do have all my memories up to the moment the curse hit me. Before we go on son, could you please tell me who this pretty young lady is beside you?"
Harry smiled – she called him son – before what she said clicked in place, "Oh, sorry. Mum this is Hermione Granger. She's been my best friend for five years now and my girlfriend for the past two weeks. We … we have a soul bond and that is why she is here."
"Well," said Lily, "I'm glad you made such an excellent choice in a friend and girlfriend." She sighed. They didn't have much time but they all could see that Harry was oblivious to that. "Tell me about yourself son."
//Scene Break//
Hedwig had delivered the Daily Prophet to the group in the cottage. When they saw the notice everyone looked around and saw the evil grins on Narcissa and Tonks' faces. Neville smirked, "Round 2?"
Narcissa grinned evilly and nodded.
Neville continued, "But how did this get filed? Don't you have to file in person?"
Tonks spoke up, "You do." With that she morphed and Lucius Malfoy was suddenly sitting with his arms around Remus. Everyone laughed even harder when Remus shrieked and jumped up. He had just been about to kiss Tonks.
Luna was puzzled, "How is he going to breed Snorkacks?"
Narcissa answered, "We weren't sure. However the next time you and your father want to write about them you can always refer to this notice."
The smile on Luna and Xeno's faces created more laughter around the table. Luna spoke up, "Narcissa, how far would you like to go with this?" She said this with what was quickly becoming known as her 'evil' grin.
"Why, what do you have in mind?"
"Well, first we'll need Tonk's help again."
She explained her plan and got very enthusiastic nods from Narcissa and Tonks.
The playful banter helped cut the stressful atmosphere that had settled over the room while they worried about what was going on in the bedroom above them.
//Scene Break//
The scream had let up slightly – something Severus was most grateful for. He was worried though. The tendrils linking to Tom's head from Hermione and Harry's heads were getting stronger. It was not a rapid growth but a growth just the same.
"Not good." he muttered, "Just what is going on in there?"
//Scene Break//
Harry, with input eventually from Tom and Hermione, had caught Lily up to date with what had happened since that Halloween. Lily had provided comfort to her son as she heard about everything he had to go through in his life courtesy of one Albus Dumbledore. At the end of the conversation Lily had volunteered some more information about the Conspiracy that Sirius and her had uncovered shortly before she died. She even gave them her ideas of what the 'powers of the Lady' were.
Harry had felt better that he could ever remember. It was like a weight had been lifted off his chest and he was able to really breathe for the first time in his life. He was in between his Mum and the woman he loved. It was a dream come true. Unfortunately for Harry the whole experience of seeing his mother, talking to her and holding her had blinded him to the fact of where he really was.
"Mum, just wait till you meet the rest of my friends. We …" he stopped as he saw the look of concern on his mother's face. "What's wrong?"
Lily reached out and cupped her son's face, "Harry, I can't come with you. When the Horcrux is reintegrated I will be released and be able to join up with the rest of me."
"But …" then the reality hit Harry. He would have to leave his mother again. He would only just have memories of her hugs. This conversation was going to be the only one he would ever have with either of his parents.
"Harry. You will have to go soon. Remember that I love you and I know you will be successful in your life. Promise me that you will hang on to that wonderful woman beside you. The two of you seem perfect for each other."
"It sounds like you are sending me away." Tears were starting to fall from Harry's eyes. He grabbed on to his Mum. "I'm not leaving without you."
"Harry, you have no choice. If you stay all three of you could die. My fate has already been determined. It was set on October 31, 1981. You still have a long way to go." She kissed him on the forehead, "It's time son."
"Nooooo. I don't want to leave you again." Harry was getting desperate. Hermione was having a hard time hanging on.
Tom was silent as he watched the scene in front of him play out. He had been trying to remain emotionless the entire time to provide his new friend with the chance to spend time with his mother. Now as he watched Harry's heart breaking once again his emotions began to rise. He knew that he could not hold back much longer. "Harry, Lily," he began to say, "I'm sorry." Tears began to stream down his face, "I'm sorry for the monster I became. I'm sorry for being so weak minded that the meddling fool was able to set me on this path. I'm sorry I sunk so far that I got a perverse pleasure out of attacking young families. I regret I ever picked up a wand…." With that the pain inside of Tom increased and he screamed in anger and anguish as the room started to tear itself apart.
Hermione was trying to pull Harry toward the door but he was fighting her.
"NO! Mum, please!"
Lily quickly hugged her son one last time and kissed his forehead, "Harry you need to go with Hermione now. It's too dangerous for both of your to stay. Just don't forget that I love you more than anything. I'll be watching you and you had better give me some grandkids to look over." She smiled warmly as she added, "just not too soon OK."
"I love you mum."
"I love you too son. Now go."
Harry reluctantly allowed Hermione to back him slowly out of the disintegrating room. He paused at the door and gave one small wave to his Mum and saw her wave back just as the room completely vanished in a ball of bright white light. Harry felt one last tug on his back and then he and Hermione were falling through the darkness. Finally he felt nothing anymore as the blackness overwhelmed him and he lost consciousness.
//Scene Break//
Severus had been watching the links get stronger as the night progressed and he was worried that the souls of Harry and Hermione may be too strongly connected to the horcrux.
Suddenly Tom began to scream louder and after a moment where the links appeared to be strengthening, they started to retract back toward the two teens. After a very long ten minutes where Severus had to consciously remember to breathe the tendrils finally separated from Tom's forehead and snapped back to their owners. Tom was still screaming loudly but Hermione and Harry seemed to relax. Severus checked them over with a few diagnostic spells and found that they were only suffering from exhaustion – albeit mental, physical and magical. All they really needed right now was some rest. It took Tom another few hours to calm down as his soul fragment reintegrated with the rest of him. At three am Severus was finally able to go downstairs and tell an expectant room that the three of them appeared to be physically OK. They would have to wait until they regained consciousness in the morning before anyone would know how the experience affected them psychologically.
//Scene Break//
Algernon Fudge woke up his squad at 5:30 in the morning. He ran them through the same paces he did yesterday. Including the new portkey and apparation formations.
Algernon was smart enough to know that most Pureblood Death Eaters would arrive unarmed at a battle of wits so he purposefully kept the exercises uncomplicated and repetitious. Bella had instructed him that she wanted to see improvement as early as this morning. He was smart enough to know that you don't fail to do what Bellatrix Lestrange tells you to do.
//Scene Break//
Hermione woke up slowly her body was stiff and her throat felt like she had scraped it with coarse sandpaper and then drank some iodine. She managed to look around a bit and saw a haggard Severus approach her.
"Don't try to talk yet Hermione. Drink this potion first. It will soother and repair your throat and vocal cords. The other potion is for the pain you are probably feeling." He helped her drink both.
She immediately felt better and then realized where she was. She looked over at Harry thankful not to see the smoking pile of ash that had been the fate of the first horcrux vessel.
"How is Harry?" she whispered.
"Physically he is fine. The rest we won't know until he wakes up. Can you feel him through your bond?"
"Not entirely. But then we haven't experimented with the bond when one of us was asleep."
Severus nodded in understanding. "Perhaps he will awaken soon."
"How is Tom?" Hermione asked. Her voice was quickly regaining its full functionality.
"He is the same. Tell me if you are able, what went on? For a while it appeared that your souls were being drawn into Tom with the horcrux."
"Well," she began but was interrupted as Harry woke up. She helped feed him the potions.
"Are you OK?" he asked when he saw her.
"Still a bit sore. Are you alright?" she asked as she bent down and kissed him.
"Physically I think I will be. Emotionally, I'm not sure."
Both of them managed to sit up in the bed.
When Harry saw Tom he got angrier than Hermione had ever experienced from him.
"Look at him the murdering prick. He's lying there peacefully and good people like my Mum met their end by his wand. I need to get out of here. Jeeves!"
The head elf appeared.
"Please take me to my room." Harry and Jeeves disappeared.
Hermione was stunned by the viciousness of Harry's words. She looked at Severus.
He asked, "Was Lily there?" When Hermione nodded he continued, "Tom and I were afraid of that and Harry's possible reaction. You see, not remembering his parents allowed him to make their deaths and abstract thing in his mind. Now after what I assume is meeting his mother, it is fresh in his mind as though it happened yesterday. He has to learn how to reconcile that and the fact that Tom is no longer the same man who murdered his parents. I think you should go to him and not leave him alone for very long."
Hermione absorbed what Severus said and called for Jeeves. He appeared immediately. Hermione asked, "Can you take me to Harry's room?"
"I can Miss. You are the only one he will allow right now."
She took the elf's hand and they disappeared.
Severus just took a deep breath and sighed. Everything rested on the four heirs of the founders working together.
A/N – Well, it has been a long time in coming but here is chapter 27. Sorry for the long delay, but life got in the way. I considered a coupld of times to post notes, but I don't like posting anything that is not actually part of the story. From a reader's point of view there is nothing as disheartening to invest time into a story and then have it end with an Author's note. That's why Chapter 24 worked so well. ;-)
This chapter took a long time for me to write because of the interaction between Harry and Lily during the reintegration and his feelings afterward. Still not sure if I am happy with it, but at some point as an author you have to stop beating your head against the wall and just put it out there. Let me know what you think about how I finally wrote it.
Hopefully now updates for both my sotries will be a bit more frequent. But with fanfiction posting the story is much more fulfilling than saying you'll post it.
Addendum – After so many months I finally finish this chapter and fanfiction has a problem with posting today. How ironic is that?