I do not own Harry Potter, never have never will. I just like to play in his sandbox.

Chapter Ninety-nine

Taylor's Letter

Harry sat on a chair in the kitchen of the Burrow. He was numb, the pain of seeing his sister… of being… People were talking around him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. His mind refused to work.

Ginny sat beside Harry, holding his hand, even though she wasn't sure if he registered if she was there or not. The kitchen was full of Weasleys and Order members. Hermione, her eyes puffy and red, sat on the other side of Harry. Ron sat beside her, with his arm around her shoulders. Neville, who was nursing a broken arm, and Luna, who was just recovering from a nasty jelly legs curse, sat across from the others. They were explaining what had just happened at the Ministry only an hour ago.

"So you lured Voldemort to the Ministry and down to the Department of Mysteries," Moody clarified as he looked from one young pale face to the other. "So what happened in the Revolving Room?"

In a hollow voice Harry told them briefly what had happened with Voldemort being pulled into the sealed room by the mist.

"So he is gone? Voldemort is really gone this time?" asked Tonks quietly.

Harry closed his eyes as he whispered, "Yes… all… The Horcruxes are all gone."

It was Hermione who, in a thick voice, explained to everyone who didn't already know what a Horcrux was and how they had to all be destroyed in order to make sure that Voldemort could never return again.

"So that is what you guys have been doing all this year? Looking for those Horcruxes?" Fred asked and he received a nod from his youngest brother.

Moody and Shacklebolt asked a few more questions which, between Ron, Hermione and Ginny, they were able to answer. All except what had happened to Taylor.

It wasn't long before Mrs. Weasley spoke up in a firm voice, "That is enough for now. It is late and these six need to get some rest. There will be time enough tomorrow to ask any more questions."

Mrs. Weasley then ushered the six Gryffindors up the stairs to a bedroom. It didn't matter to her that two of them were not hers, or even ones she considered hers, she just knew that they couldn't return to Hogwarts tonight and it was dangerous to try to return them to their homes this late at night.

A half hour later, up on the top floor in Ron's bedroom, the two couples sat. Ron sat on his bed with his arm around Hermione and Ginny sat beside Harry on the foldout bed holding his hand. No one seemed inclined to talk and the silence was broken only by the creaks of the house and the occasional bump from the ghoul in the attic.

Suddenly there was a tap on the small window and a white owl sat on the window sill looking in at them.

Giving his head a shake Harry whispered, "Hedwig?" and the owl hooted softly.

Ron stood up and opened the window and the snowy owl flew in and landed beside Harry, holding her leg out for him to remove the letter that was tied to it.

"Who's it from mate?" Ron asked curiously as the snowy owl flew over to Pigwidgeon's empty perch.

Harry stared at the letter. All that was written on it was his name, and with a wrench of his heart, he recognized the hand writing. His hand began to shake.

It was Hermione who bent down and with a quiet voice said, "It's from Taylor."

Harry felt his chest squeezing as pain pulsed through his heart. He didn't know when but he found his head resting against Ginny's shoulder as she hugged him tightly, her hands rubbing gently in soothing circles. Harry allowed himself to be comforted by his witch for a while, but soon he leaned back and wiping at the tears that were on his face, he opened the letter with the tip of his wand. With a shaking hand he looked down at the letter and his eyes filled with tears that dripped off his nose and down onto the parchment.

Hermione had to swallow the lump in her throat as she asked softly, "Do… do you want me to read it to you?" She had no idea what might be in the letter and wanted to give her best friend the option of whether he wanted it read aloud or not.

Harry looked up at Hermione and with a slight nod of his head gave her permission to read the letter from his sister. He knew it would be a while before he could get a good enough grip on his emotions to read it.

Hermione cleared her throat and, with a quick look at Ron, sat down beside him on his bed and began to read.

My Dearest brother,

Hermione gasped and looked wide eyed at Harry before she continued on…

Please forgive me. If you are reading this then everything went as planned. Voldemort has been destroyed and the last remaining Horcruxes have been destroyed. Please forgive me for deceiving you like I did. It was the only way I could think of to make sure he never came back. No one will have to suffer what we went through ever again. Mom and Dad's sacrifice will not have been in vain. Please do not blame yourself, it was I who planned it this way. And you are not allowed to blame Severus Snape either, the Unbreakable Vow that I made him take wasn't so much so that he didn't betray us but so that he would take the Polyjuice Potion when the time came. I needed to make sure he would not lose heart and change his mind. I needed him, unfortunately so I could use your hate of him. For that Harry I am truly sorry. The memories that Snape gave me are at Hogwarts in the Head Mistress' office with the other vials of memories there on the top shelf. You need to go see them, they will explain everything that I could not about Snape. Then you need to let McGonagall see them, as well as any Ministry official so that another innocent man can be allowed to be free. Brother I'm sorry.

For Harry, Hermione's voice disappeared and he could hear his sister's voice as she told him what she had done.

I pray that Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna are alright, please give them all my love. And Greg, he is going to be hurting too I know. Please help him through this.

I know you must be wondering when I found out I was a Horcrux as well, and how I could handle it when I couldn't handle when I found out about you. It was my last nightmare, I connected the dots and I knew. Just like my nightmares told me where to destroy Voldemort the last one made me realize I was a Horcrux too. I knew what I had to do, and I did it. It isn't your fault Harry, it was the only way. Please forgive me. I made a promise in my first year that I would do whatever it took to help you defeat Voldemort, and when I found out you were my brother, that just made the promise all that more important to me. I don't want you to feel guilty and blame yourself, just like you couldn't have gone on knowing that you had a piece of Voldemort in you that could be used to bring him back neither could I. I believe the night Voldemort came to kill you he had decided, like Dumbledore said, to make another Horcrux. He used the deaths of our parents to split his soul but when he tried to kill you and the protection that Mom gave you, by sacrificing herself, I believe when the spell rebounded it shattered his soul and you got one piece of his soul and I got another. You could see Voldemort and speak Parseltongue, I could use Dark Magic because Voldemort could use Dark Magic.

Harry you are the best brother anyone could ever hope to have and I love you so much. Please go on for me. Play Quidditch, become an auror and marry Ginny and above all else please be happy, because that is what Mom, Dad and I would want you to do.

I love you, I hope someday you can forgive me,

With all my love,

Taylor

Harry fought the terrible rolling in his stomach. His sister had been a Horcrux too. She had used his hate of Snape to make him kill her! His sister had gone into the Ministry tonight knowing that she would not come out. With an anguished cry Harry came to his feet and drove his fist into the wall.

"How could she! How could she even think of doing something like that!"

Ron glanced at Hermione and saw the shock on her face that he was sure was on his. Sure he had known Taylor was Harry's sister but the news that both Potters had been Horcruxes had come as a terrible shock.

Ginny was equally shocked. She had always wanted to know what Harry had kept from her, always had she wondered at the connection that he had with Taylor. To find out that she was his only sister now… Ginny felt her heart break all over again for the wizard she loved.

"You knew you were a Horcrux?" Hermione asked as her mind whirled with all the information she had just read, as the shock started to wear off. "I suppose that was what made Taylor have those anxiety attacks?" Hermione could see Harry nod his head ever so slightly. "And you didn't tell us because you knew that we would have…"

"Freaked. I would have probably have freaked." Ginny said with a shake of her head.

"That was the same reason Taylor never told you, I suppose." Hermione mused out loud. "And the reason you never told us that she was your sister? It would have been too dangerous. If Voldemort had found out…" Hermione answered her own questions as she continued to mull over everything.

Ron glanced at Harry and could see his best friend wasn't ready to talk, so he filled the two witches in on everything that he knew about the unknown Potter child.

It was nearly sunrise when Harry found himself sitting on his bed with Ginny curled up beside him and Ron softly snoring, as Hermione lay with her head on his chest and Ron's arm firmly around the bushy haired witch.

He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he could see his sister lying on the cold black floor in the Revolving Room. He was responsible for that, not Voldemort, not a Death Eater, but him and only him. She was a Horcrux. The very thought was enough to make him shake. Dear Merlin if he had known… Why couldn't she have just gone over to the mist like him? Why couldn't she have let the mist take the Horcrux out of her like it had him? That his Horcrux was indeed gone he knew, his scar for the first time in seven years, was completely silent, no more twinges, prickles or throbs. Oh sure he knew he still had the physical mark but the Horcrux was gone. On the day that the most evil wizard of all time was finally gone, he found he couldn't drudge up a smile to acknowledge that the wizarding world was again free. It was free because his sister had gone to great lengths to make sure that there was no possible way that Voldemort could return. Going so far as to use his hatred of a man against him.

To Be Continued...

AHHHHH I just HAVE to leave an A/N! :D Not much of this chapter was written before DH came out but Taylor's Letter... or the jist of Taylor's Letter was already written! I had to of course re-write it to fit this story now. There is a couple more chapters to come. Thank you for reading!