Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter 4: Revelations
It may have been the lighting, but Harry thought Sanguini looked a little pale when he first saw the vampire after the holidays during dinner. He had originally planned on waiting until the next day but he changed his mind. As soon as all the other sixth year Gryffindor boys were asleep, Harry sneaked out and to Sanguini's office. Sanguini wasn't in the office when he arrived, but it took the vampire less than quarter of a minute to arrive, alerted by the wards on the door.
"You look pale", Harry softly said as he took his usual seat and gestured to the vampire to feed. Sanguini nodded but said nothing. He sank his teeth into the smooth flesh of Harry's wrist and his eyes closed in bliss. Harry petted the man's hair in silence for a long moment after the feeding before asking: "How was your holiday?"
"Severus is suspicious of me", Sanguini replied standing up but instead of retreating behind the desk like he usually did, he sat on the edge of his desk. "I think he noticed something when he interrupted us before Christmas. He's been watching me like a hawk. I would even go as far to say he has guessed I'm a vampire and is simply looking for proof. He's paying the most attention to me when I'm eating or in direct sunlight. I think he too noticed my paling complexion. No doubt seeing me looking better tomorrow will be correctly interpreted as my blood supplier returning to the castle and feeding me."
Harry absentmindedly bit the tip of his thumb as he mulled over the situation and then said: "This could complicate things. It all depends on whether he chooses to confront one of us about it or goes to Dumbledore with his suspicions."
"Do you think we should tell him before he has the chance to go to the Headmaster?"
"How big of a loss would it be if Nigel Sandman was outed as a vampire?" Harry asked in return.
Sanguini shrugged in a very elegant manner, "I have several identities I use regularly. It wouldn't cause me much damage."
"Then I think we could wait until we see what Snape does. If he doesn't go to the old coot with this then we can probably trust him with other matters as well", Harry said.
"I agree", Sanguini smiled.
"I got a note from Dumbledore", Harry said changing the subject, "I've got another lesson tomorrow evening at eight." He wasn't too excited about it and it was made obvious by his tone.
"Perhaps this time he will tell you something we can use", Sanguini tried to be optimistic.
Harry smiled and said: "Thanks."
"For what?" The vampire asked tilting his head a little in confusion.
"For trying to cheer me up. For always listening to me whine with that incredible patience of yours", Harry explained and then sighed, "I need to get back. The longer I'm gone the more likely it is someone will notice. Good night, Sanguini." With a last smile goodbye he walked out.
O O O
The next day there was an announcement about the beginning of Apparition lessons and the sixth years were buzzing about it all day. It would be an useful ability yes, even Harry admitted that, but it was uncomfortable and didn't really warrant all the fuss. Harry was glad to escape the common room in the evening when the appointment with the Headmaster rolled around.
"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore", Harry greeted and gave the man his best fake friendly smile as he sat down.
"Good evening, my boy. I heard you met the Minister at the Burrow." He hid it well, but Harry could see that he was just a little worried about what Harry may have told him.
"Yes, he wanted me to play the Ministry's poster boy. I politely refused and told him I couldn't possibly act like I support what they are doing until they are doing something worth supporting." Harry said and added: "He was most displeased."
Dumbledore laughed lightly, "I'm sure he was. I'm sure he was." After clearing his throat he launched on to a description of Tom Riddle's years at Hogwarts. How the boy had been sorted into Slytherin and how he had been the model student, beautiful and smart, never gave any indication of being aware of his Slytherin heritage. He told Harry how Riddle had already back then attracted all kinds of people to him and had already then begun to form a group that would in the future become the first Death Eaters. Riddle had covered all the tracks of his wrong doings perfectly. Dumbledore told Harry how Riddle had found that his father had to have been a muggle and used his middle name, Marvolo, to track down his relatives from his mother's side, the Gaunts. Dumbledore then gestured to the Pensieve on the desk between them and they sank into a memory.
It was a memory of young Riddle meeting his Uncle Morfin in the Gaunts' shack and Harry noted the locket was mentioned again. Dumbledore told him his theory about what exactly had happened: Riddle had killed his father and his father's parents framing Morfin for their murders and he had taken the Gaunt ring.
Dumbledore showed him another memory, a memory of Horace Slughorn, in which Riddle was asking the professor about Horcruxes. It was obvious to Harry, and Dumbledore confirmed it as well, that the memory had been tampered with. "It is a shame we failed to persuade Horace to teach here this year", Dumbledore sighed, "I'm sure you, my boy, would have had much more success coaxing the true memory from him."
"And the missing information is important?" Harry asked.
"Vital", the man answered and then said thoughtfully: "Perhaps I'll be able to arrange a meeting for the two of you."
"I'm sure you will", but before that I'll be doing some arranging of my own.
O O O
The next day after classes Harry told Sanguini about his lesson with Dumbledore. When at the end of his recounting he mentioned the word 'horcrux', Sanguini went dead still and expressionless.
"Horcruxes?" The vampire weakly said, "Voldemort made Horcruxes?" He rose to his feet and did something he practically never did: He paced. "Not just one, but several? Of course, the Diary must have been one and judging by the memories the Headmaster has been showing I would bet the Gaunt ring and the Slytherin's locket are as well. Though I guess he would have taken care of the ring as soon as he got his hands on it. But if He made three of them, then who's to say there aren't more. That must be what the Headmaster thinks Slughorn knows. We really have to get our hands on – "
Harry cut him off by raising his voice, "Stop." The man stopped, both the speaking and the pacing, and turned to Harry. Once Harry knew he had his attention he asked: "What is a Horcrux?"
Sanguini sighed and sank into his chair, "A Horcrux is an object in which someone has hidden a piece of their soul to attain immortality."
A heavy silence fell and then Harry said: "Oh great! I don't need to kill him just once but Merlin knows how many times!" Sanguini couldn't help but chuckle despite the utter seriousness of the situation. "So we'll need to go and see Sluggie, then?" Sanguini nodded and Harry continued: "We better do that soon because things are bound to turn more complicated once the old coot has the chance to meddle."
"I believe you know a way or two to sneak out of Hogwarts undetected?"
"I believe I do, though the old coot may have put up some detection wards around the passageways", Harry said.
"Do you have your Cloak and Map with you?" Harry nodded and Sanguini said: "No time like the present."
They chose to use the passage that began from beneath the one-eyed witch statue nearby and ended in the cellar of Honeydukes. There were detection wards at both ends but the two of them were confident the Invisibility Cloak could fool those. Honeydukes was already closed so sneaking out was rather easy. Sanguini Apparated them both to where Harry remembered Slughorn living and lucky for them, the man hadn't moved.
Sanguini hid under the Cloak and Harry knocked the door. Slughorn was surprised to see him there, especially since it was the middle of the school year, "Harry! Come in, come in!" Sanguini wasn't visible but Harry knew he came in as well. Slughorn lead Harry to the living room and they sat down. "What are you doing here, my dear boy? And without supervision at that!"
"How many Horcruxes did Tom Riddle make?" Harry decided to just cut the chase.
Slughorn spluttered, "I-I didn't... I d-don't – !"
"That's what you hid from the memory you gave Dumbledore, right? You hid that you told Riddle exactly what Horcruxes are and I bet you're the only person who has a clue about how many Horcruxes Riddle was planning on making", Harry said in a cold and calm tone, "I don't blame you for telling him. He was very charming, wasn't he? You know the number he had on his mind and you know the knowledge is enough to get you killed. That's why you're so determined to remain out of Riddle's radar. You want him dead as much as I do, preferably before he has the chance to kill you. Tell me how many Horcruxes I need to look for and we're one step closer to that."
By the end of Harry's speech Slughorn was sobbing. It was a sorry sight. Eventually he stuttered: "Se-seven."
Harry rose from his seat and said: "Thank you. Dumbledore is planning on arranging a meeting between you and I. He thinks I can persuade you to give me the real memory. If it comes to that, I would greatly appreciate it if you refrained from mentioning this meeting to him."
"Albus doesn't know you're here?" Slughorn asked with wide-eyes.
"No. You know how he is. Getting information out of him is like pulling teeth. If he's not interested in sharing then I hardly have to do the same, right?" Harry chuckled.
"I hope you know what you're doing. This is no time to play games", Slughorn sighed.
"Oh no, I'm not the one playing around. I assure you, my every action is to bring the end to this war quicker. Dumbledore's meddling would hold me back. His need to control everyone's actions like puppeteer is nothing but a hindrance." Harry snarled and then blanked his face and tone out, "I'll be going now. Hopefully the next time we meet will be on less dire circumstances." He swept out of the house making sure to open the door wide enough to allow Sanguini easy passage.
The two of them returned to Hogwarts the same way they came out while discussing the meeting. "So, seven of them", Harry sighed.
"We already know of three and two of them have been destroyed", Sanguini pointed out.
"Yes, and Dumbledore might know of more of them but hasn't yet gotten to it", Harry said and then asked: "Where do you think Riddle would keep these slivers of his soul?"
"Somewhere separated, safe and significant, I imagine", Sanguini answered.
"Like maybe the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry grinned, "As the Slytherin's Heir and the only Parselmouth back then, that sounds safe and significant to me."
"Yes, and Hogwarts in itself must have been special to him. The first true home he had, as I'm sure he never saw the orphanage as such."
"So we're making a trip to the Chamber on Sunday, then?" Harry suggested, "We have an Apparition lesson on Saturday."
"You think it will take longer than an hour or two?" Surely they could make the trip on one of the evenings before then.
"The Chamber is rather sizable and if we want to be thorough, it's going to take a little longer than that."
"Sunday it is", Sanguini agreed. He was rather looking forward to seeing the Chamber of Secrets. He was a curious kind of person, after all.
O O O
"I can't believe there's nothing but bones left", Harry gaped at the skeleton of the Basilisk he killed less than four years previously.
"I suspect there's some kind of a spell in the Chamber's walls to speed up decomposition and vanish waste. I doubt Slytherin found the rotting bodies of the rodents killed by the Basilisk's stare very pleasing", Sanguini reasoned.
"You're probably right about that", Harry agreed and then walked towards the huge statue of Slytherin. He hissed to it: /Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!/ The statue's mouth opened and Harry stared at it blankly before turning to Sanguini, "How are we going to get up there?"
Sanguini smirked. He didn't smirk often so it was understandable that the expression scared the living daylight out of Harry, right? Right. Before Harry had the chance to defend himself, he was scooped up and then they were flying, or that's what it felt like, to the open mouth of the statue. The vampire set him down and Harry took a moment to calm his racing heart before asking: "Was that a jump or were we flying?" The vampire smirked, said nothing and began walking down the passage. "Sanguini? Hey! Can you fly!" No reply. "Sanguini~!" Harry whined and followed the sadistically pleased blood-sucker.
Three hours later and all they had found was the Basilisk's den, which was quite frankly disgusting with the sheer amount of tiny little bones it was littered with. "Okay, so maybe he didn't have the chance to bring a Horcrux here", Harry sighed, "I'm sure he would agree with me that this is the perfect place if only he could get in here now that he's no longer a student."
"Maybe there is a Horcrux in Hogwarts, just not in the Chamber", Sanguini muttered and asked: "Where would you hide something important? You know Hogwarts better than most, right?"
"Where would I hide something..." Harry stared into space for a while and then exclaimed: "The Room of Requirement! If Riddle knows of its existence then it would be the second most perfect place for him to hide something. Better than the Chamber when it comes to accessibility."
They used Harry's Firebolt to get back to the Myrtle's bathroom and from there they made their way to the RoR (after a couple of cleansing charms on their robes because no one could visit the Chamber without taking half a pound of dirt with them). Harry paced concentrating on the thought 'I need the room where Riddle hid his Horcrux'. He wasn't entirely convinced it would work but the door opening to a room full of junk was promising. Closer inspection showed that it was the same room where the Vanishing Cabinet was located.
"How are we going about this?" Harry asked. "I mean it could be anything..." He eyed the shelf-fulls of stuff warily.
"Give me a moment", Sanguini said and closed his eyes. He concentrated on sensing the magic around them and when he opened his eyes, he had locked on to the strongest and darkest magical signature in the room, "This way", he lead Harry to one of the shelves after a moment of staring at the objects on the shelf he pointed at a diadem, "I believe this is it."
"It looks kind of familiar", Harry mused tilting his head like another perspective would remind him where he'd seen it before.
"I believe it belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw", Sanguini said, "I remember seeing a picture of her portrait in Hogwarts, a History and she was wearing a diadem like this one."
"I can see why Riddle would find things owned by the Founders tempting", Harry smiled, "Perhaps he used something of Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's as well."
"Perhaps", Sanguini agreed.
"How do we destroy it?"
"I remember reading Horcruxes are very durable. I believe Fiendfyre would do the job and judging by your experience with the Diary, basilisk venom works as well", Sanguini answered and then added: "I can burn it but we'll need more space than this unless we want to burn all this other stuff as well."
Harry took off his robe and wrapped the Diadem into it avoiding touching it with bare hands. He didn't want to know what curses Riddle had placed on it because there were sure to be some.
"Grab that as well", Sanguini said pointing at a obsidian stone lying on the shelf next to the Diadem.
"What is it?" Harry asked but did as he was told and took the stone as well into his robe covered hands.
"I believe that is the curse on the DADA post", Sanguini answered.
"Seriously!"
"Yes. I did some research before asking for this job and I noticed no one has been able to hold this job longer than a year since one Tom Marvolo Riddle applied for it and was denied. As to why I believe that particular stone holds the curse... Obsidian is excellent for containing things like curses and charms and it was left there next to the Diadem and presumably at the same time." Sanguini explained with small smile on his lips. "I only ever planned on staying here for this one year but now since we're getting rid of the curse, perhaps I shall reconsider."
"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed with a wide grin. To be completely truthful, he had been feeling a little sad thinking Sanguini might not be teaching at Hogwarts the following year. This was a huge weight off his chest.
The walked out of the room then paced in front of it again, this time requesting a bare and spacious room. The Diadem was set on the floor in the middle and Harry retreated next to the doorway. Sanguini Fiendfyred the Diadem and the stone leaving behind nothing but melted pools of metal and obsidian. Sanguini made sure there was no feel of magic in them and they were done for the day.
O O O
It was few nights later that Harry brought up the Prophecy again: "We still have no clue about what 'the Power the Dark Lord knows not' might be referring to."
Sanguini stared into space for a moment and then asked: "Have you thought about searching the Black library for something you could use? I'm sure Tom Riddle went through Hogwarts' library when he was a student here. There might be some newer books he's unfamiliar with but I doubt they hold anything powerful enough. I'm guessing we need something old and powerful, obscure."
"I could have Kreacher bring the books here but going through all of them will take more time than we have", Harry replied.
"We'll need help then", Sanguini smiled.
"And who are we going to ask? I don't know if you've noticed but we are rather lacking in allies at the moment", Harry huffed.
"I happen to know of one young blond-haired man with both time and an excuse to spend time away from his friends."
"Malfoy?" Harry groaned, "Do I have to?"
"Ask him. It's for the Greater Good", Sanguini chuckled.
"I'm quitting the Greater Good as soon as Riddle is dead", Harry sighed.
"I don't think it's something one can quit just like that", The vampire pointed out with an amused smile, "It's not a job."
"Fine, I'll ask", Harry agreed and called for his house-elf: "Kreacher!" The elf popped into the room and Harry said to him: "Kreacher, I want a complete list of all the books in the Black library and I want it as soon as possible. After I have had a chance to review the list, I will be telling you what books to bring and when. You will not tell or in any other way communicate or even hint at anyone anything related to this. Am I understood?"
The house-elf crunched his face in thought, no doubt looking for loopholes, before answering, "Kreacher's mudblood-befriending filthy Master is understood, sir."
"Good. Go." Harry ordered and the elf popped away. Harry rubbed his forehead trying to will the approaching headache away.
"Might I suggest checking the Marauders' Map for young Malfoy's location..?"
"You're not letting me put this off, are you..." Harry grumbled.
"No time like the present", Sanguini quipped.
Harry dug out the Map and spend a good three minutes looking at it before announcing: "I can't find him." He put the Map back to his bag and added: "Which means he's probably in the Room of Requirement. I doubt the Room is letting anyone else in while he's there. I'll try to catch him tomorrow after dinner or something." Sanguini gave him a pointed look. "I'm not trying to weasel my way out of this!" When he got no reply other than a knowing smile he cracked and admitted: "Okay, fine, I'd be tempted but I won't. And I'm not doing this for the Greater Good. I'm doing this to safe my own ass." He got up and walked out.
Sanguini sighed. And what a fine ass it is...
O O O
The next day, Harry was in luck. He saw Malfoy leaving the Great Hall with his friends (*cough*sycophants*cough*) and heard them arguing. He correctly interpreted this as Malfoy's attempt at dumping his friends and taking alone time to "work" on the task assigned to him by the Dark Lord. Harry excused himself from the dinner table with the excuse of having to meet Nigel (who had conveniently already finished his dinner and left) and after donning his Cloak in a shadowed alcove, he followed Malfoy to the Room of Requirement revealing himself only seconds before pushing the blond through the newly appeared door.
Harry briefly noted that the room looked a lot like a smaller version of the Slytherins' common room before his attention was forcibly dragged to the blond who began shrieking: "What the Hell, Potter! Give a guy a little warning!" The boy was heaving. Harry hadn't meant to make the boy quite that freaked.
"Sorry about that", Harry said, though his tone held very little regret in it. He decided to cut the chitchat and get straight to the matter at hand: "I'm having Kreacher bring me books from the Black library in hopes of finding something useful in them."
"Something useful?" Malfoy asked.
"Something I can use to end Voldemort", Harry said ignoring the flinch the name caused, "There are still a few things needed to be done before I'm ready to confront the snake-bastard but when I do, I'd like to have some kind of a plan of action."
"Couldn't you just use the Killing Curse on him..?"
"No", Harry bluntly replied, "I'm uncertain I could successfully cast an Unforgivable and I'm 100% convinced it needs to be something other than the Killing Curse to kill Voldemort."
"Fine, whatever. Why are you telling me this?"
"As I was recently reminded, you have time and an excuse to be away from your friends. The time I can use to go through the books – and there are many – is limited and I could use the help."
"You're asking me to do research for you", Malfoy said and then sneered, "Where's your mudblood know-it-all? Isn't this right up her alley?"
Harry ignored the insult to Hermione and indirectly to his mother, muggleborn as she too had been, and replied: "Ron and Hermione are unaware of what I've been up to lately and I'd like to keep it that way." When Malfoy looked more than a little curious, he elaborated: "I don't want to put them in any more danger than they already are and to be perfectly honest, they would probably hinder me more than be of use. They would also run straight to Dumbledore when something I did or said didn't please them."
"Ah tragedy. The Golden Trio is breaking up!" Malfoy taunted.
Instead of rising to the bait, Harry calmly replied: "Yes, I guess you could say that." Malfoy blinked at him in surprise but before he had the chance to say anything, Harry continued: "Kreacher has yet to complete the list of books in Black library that I asked him to make. Once I have the list I'll be telling him what books to bring. I'll instruct him to brings some here for you. If you find something, anything I might be able to use I want you to come tell me. Or send a message with Kreacher."
"I haven't agreed to anything yet", Malfoy muttered but they both knew he had little choice but do it. The sooner the Dark Lord was dead and gone, the sooner he and his mother would be free.
O O O
It was another Monday night, a feeding night, as they both thought of it but never voiced it. Sanguini sank his fangs in Harry's wrist and three seconds later the door opened revealing Snape. The sudden intrusion in the middle of his meal made Sanguini hiss at the man like an angry snake, blood dripping down his chin. Snape had his wand out and pointed at the vampire in a split second but before the situation could get exponentially worse, Harry placed his non-bleeding hand on top of the vampire's head and said calmly: "Down boy." This made both the professors blink dumbly at him. Sanguini came to his senses and looked a little embarrassed. Harry ignored this and said: "Finish your meal."
The vampire nodded and complied continuing his feeding no longer paying any attention to Snape, who was now staring at the two of them in a mix of fascination and disgust.
"Close the door", Harry told the professor by the door, "and take a seat, Professor."
Said professor looked reluctant to take orders from a student but decided it was probably better not to aggravate matters before he knew exactly what was going on and so far it seemed like he might actually get some answers.
As soon as the professor was seated, Harry said: "I've known Nigel since before he began teaching here", He petted the vampire's hair fondly, "I've known from the very first time we met what he was, he never tried to hide it from me."
"You let a vampire into a school! I can't believe even you, Potter, could be that foolish", Snape berated, "A magical school is like a gourmet buffet for a vampire!"
"He doesn't drink from anyone here but me!" Harry snapped. Sanguini finished licking the puncture wounds closed but didn't look inclined to join the conversation.
"You expect me to believe that?" Snape huffed, "He's a goddamn vampire!"
"And a better man than most", Harry snarled and took a deep breath before continuing, "I spend most of my nights with him. I would know if he were dishonest about his feedings." Sanguini summoned him a Blood Replenisher and Harry drank it with a quiet 'Thank You'. "You've known, at the very least strongly suspected, Nigel's not entirely what he seems and yet you've told no one. You know he's not a danger to anyone here", Harry reasoned.
"Unless they are a danger to you, my sweet", Sanguini softly corrected and received a sweet smile for it. Snape looked at their interaction suspiciously. Sanguini caught the odd look on his face and gave his fellow professor a nasty look, "You better not voice whatever you're thinking for I would have to take offense on his behalf."
"What?" Harry had no idea what the vampire meant until he saw the narrow eyed look Snape was still giving the two of them. "Oh he thinks we're screwing", Harry said casually and added: "We're not. Not that it's any of your business."
"Mr Potter!" Snape exclaimed in near outrage.
"Harry, you could have worded that in a little less... crass manner", Sanguini coughed to hide the chuckle that was trying to escape.
"Duly noted", Harry smirked. He knew Sanguini's reprimand was anything but serious.
Snape cleared his throat and said: "You know I can't let this go on."
"Why?" Harry bluntly asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Why can't you let this go on? As far as I'm aware, we're not breaking any school rules."
"He's a vampire!" Snape growled. Refusing to acknowledge the puppy dog eyes said vampire was giving him.
"I assure you, all the evidence shows that Nigel Nergui Sandman is quite human", Harry said with his face carefully blank.
"This man is obviously a vampire!"
"Obviously? Have you seen him burn in direct sunlight? Refrain from eating solid food? Have you any proof at all that this man is anything but human?" Harry asked pointing at the man sitting comfortably at his feet and looking quite dignified for someone seated on the floor.
"He was drinking blood, for Merlin's sake!" Snape near shouted.
"Tell me, Professor, are you unable to drink blood?" Harry pointedly asked and then decided to end the game and with a sigh said: "Look, I'm neither confirming or denying that this man is vampire. I'm simply pointing out that you haven't any proof to support your claim that he is. Of course, were you to go to Dumbledore with your suspicions, he might believe you regardless. But I really see no reason why you should go to him. The man hired Nigel, after all. If he didn't check such a fundamental thing as Nigel's species then he obviously wasn't worried. And Nigel has done nothing illegal or even morally questionable during his stay here at Hogwarts. Really, I can't see what your problem with Nigel is."
"There's a vampire teaching at Hogwarts and keeping a student as a pet and a blood-bag", Snape snarled.
"A student?" Harry asked with a tilted head and wide-eyed expression.
"You!"
"Wait, you think I'm his pet?" Harry chuckled and then outright laughed for a good half a minute before asking a smiling Sanguini: "Did you hear that? I'm your pet." Snape was not amused but Harry ignored that and said: "Perhaps there's something wrong with your eyes and ears, Professor. Nigel has never treated me like a pet", Harry chuckled and added to Sanguini: "More like the other way around, isn't it?" He petted the vampire's hair again and explained to the frowning professor next to him: "I feed him and pet him and I don't believe he's ever ordered me to do anything while we're out of class, where of course, he's like any other professor to me." He then wiped the smile off his face and said: "You should know this, Professor, Nigel has never, not even once, asked to feed off me. I have always offered. He is teaching at Hogwarts as a favor to me and to help me, to protect me. Were I to ask, he would leave."
"I fail to see where your confidence in him comes from", Snape sniffed. Despite himself he felt a little reassured by the boy's speech.
"He's stronger than me and knows me better than perhaps anyone else dead or alive", Harry replied, "He's in the perfect position to hurt me, cause me irreparable damage and he's never once taken advantage of it. He has been more straight with me than anyone else I've ever met and that goes a long way in my books. He's teaching me, training me, helping me so that I can bring an end to this war as I'm supposed to. Unlike most the adults I know, he's helpful. Dead helpful."
Snape stared at the two of them long and hard before rising and walking to the door, "Fine, have it your way. If this blows to your face, Potter, I'm not helping you."
"Yes sir, Good night, sir!" Harry chirped and the man was gone. A short silence ensued. "That went well." And Sanguini chuckled.
O O O
The two of them were correcting the essays of the first year students in Sanguini's office when Harry said: "Hey, Sanguini..." The vampire hummed in response. "Do you think we should tell Snape about the Horcruxes now that he's aware of our bloody little secret and knows your helping me?"
Sanguini thought about the matter for two long minutes before answering, "You can tell him if you want, though I think there's something Severus is keeping from us."
Harry blinked at him, "How do you figure that?"
"He smells of guilt sometimes. When he's looking at you during mealtimes."
"Huh... That's interesting", Harry mused, "I'll have to ask him about that."
"He might not take such questions well." Sanguini warned.
"Oh I know", Harry chuckled, "You forget I've been dealing with the man for the past five and half years."
"He might bite your head off."
"He's all bark and no bite", Harry smirked, "The most he'll do is assign me a detention or few of scrubbing cauldrons and takes a point or hundred."
"It's your funeral", Sanguini turned his eyes back to the essays before him. The one on top of the pile had especially horrible handwriting. It was the essay of a muggleborn still a little new to writing with a quill despite the scary amount of written work the students were assigned.
"Oh come on! I know you're curious!" Harry laughed. "What in the name of Merlin's name could be making Snape of all people feel guilt when looking at me... Don't worry, I'll share once I get an answer out of him."
"If you're in any condition to do any sharing once he's done chewing you out."
Harry gathered the things he had spread on his side of the desk and cheerfully announced: "I'll emerge victorious, you'll see!" He practically ran from the room and made his way to the dungeons. It was still almost an hour away from the curfew so he made no effort to avoid attention.
When he knocked the Potion Master's office's door and it was opened, he was tempted to greet the man with a cheery 'Sevvie!' but refrained and instead chose a more proper but still friendly: "Professor Snape! I was hoping to have a word with you."
The professor looked at him like he had a few screws loose or completely missing, it wasn't normal for a student, especially a Gryffindor, to smile at him and the boy was practically glowing with cheer. He reluctantly let the boy in and closed, locked and silenced the door, just in case. Lately his discussions with the boy had been more than a little strange.
Without being prompted to, Harry took a seat in front of the desk and waited until the professor too was seated before he began: "I find myself in a very sharing mood and decided to offer you some information Dumbledore is no doubt keeping from you. Afterwards I'm hoping you'll agree to answer a question of mine, but that is irrelevant for now."
"Oh?" Snape decided it was better to refrain from insulting the boy right before he was about to be handed potentially significant information. As he had trouble talking to the boy without insults, he chose to avoid talking altogether.
"Have you ever heard of Horcruxes?" Snape shook his head. "Your Lord has made them. Essentially he broke off pieces of his own soul and put them in different objects making him immortal until all these objects have been destroyed." Snape's eyes were a little wider than normal, the only visible sign of his surprise. "As far as we know, he made seven of them and three have been destroyed. The first was the Diary of Tom Riddle, which I destroyed back in my second year. The second was a ring from Riddle's maternal side of the family, which I believe was taken care of by Dumbledore. The third was the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw scorched by Sanguini not long ago. We believe the fourth one is the Slytherin's locket but other than that we have nothing but a theory. We figure he probably used something else of one of the Founders' as well."
"How do you know all this?" Snape asked weakly. He had known for a long time now that the man he had let mark him in his youth had been less than human, but to split one's own soul...
"Some I was told by Dumbledore but he's giving me the facts so slowly that I'll be growing gray hairs before he's shared all the essentials. Sanguini knew some and other stuff we've put together ourselves." Harry answered. "I'm telling you all this because of your unique position. You're able to observe the snake bastard and you might be able to bring something new to the table. He's immortal until all the Horcruxes are destroyed..."
"And when he's mortal once again?" Snape asked looking away.
"I'll be killing him, of course", Harry easily replied, though the lightness of his tone was mostly fake, "I'm the Chosen One, after all."
"Are you even capable of casting the Killing Curse?" Snape asked without bothering to hide his doubts on the matter.
"No, I don't think I am. But there are other ways to kill and I rather consider the Prophecy to be clear on the fact that it will not be the Killing Curse I am to use but something else, something Riddle doesn't know about." Harry sighed and added: "We've already begun looking for something fitting. If you should find something, I would be most thankful, of course."
"My own collection of books is mostly of Dark magic and Potions", Snape admitted, "There might be some potion that could prove useful..."
"I'm not above using Dark magic if it comes to that", Harry huffed, ignored the slightly wide-eyed look and eagerly changed the subject to the mystery Sanguini had presented to him: "Now on to other matters. Professor, you're keeping secrets from me", Harry said with the most Slytherin smile he could muster, "A little birdy chirped into my ear that something's making you feel guilty and this feeling tends to emerge when you're looking at me. Care to enlighten me?"
By the end of Harry's speech Snape was stiff as a board and even paler than normal. Harry sat in silence and stared until the man lowered his eyes and eventually closed them. Suddenly he looked tired and years older as he slumped back in his seat. "Seventeen years ago I made a mistake, one that I regret to this day." His voice was hoarse and when he opened his eyes, he refused to meet the inquisitive green eyes staring at him. "I was a loyal Death Eater back then, eager to prove my worth, eager to please my Lord. I was eavesdropping on the job interview between Trelawney and the Headmaster and I heard the beginning of the Prophecy as Trelawney made it. I took the information to Him." Suddenly there was a desperate gleam in his eyes, he looked straight at Harry and leaned forward in his seat. "I didn't know! I swear I didn't know he'd go after Lily when I told him! The possibility never even crossed my mind. I would have rather died myself than tell him had I known! When he shared his plans of going after the Potters I pleaded with him! I begged him to spare Lily and he promised!" He realized what he was saying, stopped and pressed his lips together tightly.
"That's when you turned traitor to the Dark and went to Dumbledore", Harry muttered to himself and then asked: "Did you love my mother?" It was obvious Snape didn't want to answer so Harry answered for him: "Of course you did. Whether it was romantic or platonic love, I don't think I want to know. But you did and that's why you've been protecting me, her child, no matter how you hate me for being James' as well."
"I swore I'd protect you", Snape whispered, "I swore."
Harry stared at the wall tiles for a moment and then turned his eyes back to the broken man before him, "I'm sure she forgave you a long time ago, Professor", he rose and walked to the door and before leaving the office he added softly: "I forgive you too. Now you only need to forgive yourself."
Posted 07-24-2012