After a Hundred and One chapters do you really think I own Harry?... No but I can keep wishing! ;)

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Chapter One Hundred One

The Soul of a Horcrux

It was Wednesday before Taylor started to feel stronger.

When she had woken up again Monday night, her brother and the others had still been there but she could sense the shift in mood from the previous one. She wasn't surprised that the Hufflepuff had filled them in on what was the matter with her. Her brother and friends were there for her and any arguments that they were going to have would be put off until she was feeling better.

Last night, Greg's aunt Carol had been back to check on her. The Advanced Healer had performed a few regular tests and then passed Taylor her wand. It was then that the magnitude of what had happened to her set in.

Gone was the familiar tingle in her fingers when she held her wand. Taylor had even turned the wand, so she could look at it closely to make sure that it was hers and that it wasn't damaged. The dark brown yew wand was undamaged. With a horrible foreboding she tried to do the simplest of spells… and nothing happened. Not even a wisp of magic came out of the end of the wand, like even a ten year old could make happen. Her magic was gone.

It was Harry who had asked in a fearful tone if it was permanent.

Greg's aunt's voice had been sad when she explained that as she had never heard of anything like this happening before, she had no idea if Taylor's magic would return. That was why Taylor was feeling so weak and easily became tired. Her body was learning to adjust to the absence of the magic that flowed through all witches and wizards. It was that magic that made them who they were and without it… they weren't magical. With a sad shake of her head she had added that she had never heard of an unmagical person becoming magical, if they weren't born that way.

Professor McGonagall had been in to see Taylor after the Healer had gone, to wish her well. Taylor suspected that the Head Mistress knew what the Advanced Healer had told her earlier. Plus, McGonagall had wanted to talk to the two Heads and ask them if they would oversee the planning of a huge party that the students seemed determined to have Wednesday night.

Taylor looked at the sun pouring in the high windows of the Hospital Wing. She had been happy when Hermione had found her spare pair of glasses and brought them to her. At least now she could see. It was late Wednesday morning and her friends from Hufflepuff were just leaving. It had been good to see Hannah, Sally-Anne, Connor and Ernie. They had been by yesterday too for a while. There had been others who had stopped in to see her and she was always glad to say hi to them and chat for a short time. The young werewolf never left. The moon was approaching, less than a week away, and his symptoms were stronger than ever. Harry left only to go sleep and eat. Ginny, Ron and Hermione were about the same. Without classes, they had no responsibility to be elsewhere or so they said. Regardless, Taylor truly appreciated their company.

Finding herself alone with her best friends once again, Taylor knew there were things that they needed to talk about. Her brother had been very patient yesterday and she suspected that he would wait some more, but she wanted to talk to him about it. Maybe they could figure out what had happened to her magic.

"So… what happened in the Atrium on Sunday night? I was quite worried when I saw that Ole Voldy brought twenty-one of his slackers with him." Taylor said to break the ice, as it were. None of her friends had mentioned Sunday at all.

Hermione glanced at Harry and then told the shorthaired redhead everything that had happened. Ron had put up a silencing charm so that they couldn't be overheard. The other three who had been there added their view and, from the lack of any comment from her brother, Taylor knew they had already discussed this, which didn't surprise her.

When they were finished Taylor nodded. She was thankful none of them had been seriously hurt.

"Taylor… there is something that we need to talk about." Harry spoke up for the first time since the discussion began.

Taylor met the green eyes of her brother and could see emotions warring in them. Anger and fear were the most prevalent.

"I know. You want to know when I found out I was a Horcrux and why I used Snape like I did."

Harry's voice turned to ice when he said, "I want to know how you could use me like that!"

Taylor dropped her eyes away from her brother's. She had wanted to protect her brother from getting killed and she had ended up hurting him, by making sure that Voldemort couldn't come back. She could almost feel the Hufflepuff bristling and knew he was about to snap at her brother, so she reached out a hand and took a hold of his, squeezing it to let him know she was okay.

"I didn't know what else to do. I suspected that the ancient magic in the Room of Love would sense Voldemort, like a Patronus will go after a Dementor, and it did. Just like we had planned together." Taylor paused. She didn't look at her brother, as she continued with her explanation. "I was going to take out the other two Death Eaters like we had planned, but once I opened the sealed door I had to keep it open. If I hadn't have planned with Snape… and he wasn't there to take out the other Death Eater for me… our original plan wouldn't have worked anyway…"

"Taylor! So help me!" Harry ground out, as he glared at his sister. He knew then that she had planned with Snape that he would be in the Revolving Room with them. Something else that she had conveniently forgotten to mention.

"Harry! Look, we needed him okay! Regardless of your feelings for the man, we needed him! This would not have been possible without him!" Taylor snapped, as anger coursed through her.

Hermione interrupted before the two siblings could get started on one another. "So you knew Snape was going to be in the Revolving Room but you didn't know the door would try to close again… What happened next?"

Taylor sent her friend a grateful look and continued. "Once Snape stunned the other Death Eater he simply lay down to make it look like he was stunned too, if Voldemort should happen to look around. The mist… from the Room of Love… it closed in around Harry and Voldemort. Though more seemed to be going for old Voldy. It made the Cruciatus he was using on Harry go away… I yelled at Harry and he got up and… Voldemort, he yelled the killing curse. Harry's and Voldemort's spells met and then I lost sight of them. The mist had become too thick to see. The screams… I realized they were the screams from the broken soul… Voldemort's soul was split so many times that it was like a Horcrux, evil cold and twisted. When the mist took the Horcrux from Harry and there was that scream again… I knew then that it was safe to let the door close. I was shaking, not only from holding the door open but because I realized the true power of the ancient magic. When Lily…" Taylor looked up from where she had been staring at the floor, seeing the events unfold once more, and she saw Hermione smile. She knew that her friends knew at last. "When my Mom died to protect Harry, she called forth magic that didn't know anything but love. That love is pure and unconditional. It was Mom's sacrifice that gave me the idea that Harry could destroy the Horcrux in me… the screams from the evil of them that gave me the idea that it could be separated from my soul and I had a chance."

"You went in there planning on dying." Greg's voice was strangled as he stared at Taylor.

"It was the only way to make sure he couldn't come back. What else could I have done?" Taylor whispered as she prayed they would understand.

"You could have told me!" Harry yelled as he threw his arms up in the air in frustration. "We would have come up with something! Damn you Taylor! You should have told me!"

"How would you have handled that Harry? You didn't tell Ginny about your Horcrux! Or Ron and Hermione! Why? Because YOU were prepared to DIE so Voldemort couldn't come back! So don't tell me I should have done any different!" Taylor yelled as she pointed her finger at her brother.

"Yes I did! But it was always ME who had to face Voldemort! It was my responsibility!" Harry roared back.

Greg growled but Taylor squeezed his hand tightly. "And you did! You took Voldemort down! Voldemort is no more because of you!"

"I killed you!" Harry bellowed furiously.

Taylor looked away from the hurt and anger in her brother's eyes. "I would have died to save you. I was willing to die so you would never have to worry about that… about Voldemort ever coming back. How could I tell you Harry? How could I tell you that I had to die?"

"There had to be another way than changing into that traitor and getting me to kill you! God Taylor! Do you have any idea how that made me feel when I saw it was you and not Snape?"

A long tense silence followed Harry's last statement before Hermione spoke up softly, "You thought that you had to die… but what changed? You said that you realized something from the screams of the Horcruxes?"

Swallowing hard, Taylor nodded. "Mom's sacrifice was selfless and it protected Harry for fourteen years, completely. By willingly dying, I would have destroyed the Horcrux so it couldn't attach on to anyone or anything else. But when I heard the screams… there was a different feel in the magic. I can't really explain it… but a glimmer of hope coursed through me. Dumbledore once told Harry that his magic was so strong because he had such a capacity to love. What if that power… that magic to love was because Mom died for Harry? For us?"

"In my nightmares… there is always a snake. A snake who always wraps around me… It is after my soul…" Taylor felt her body begin to tremble as she tried to explain her nightmare to the others. "It wants my soul and when I start to scream…. Then it goes into my mouth… after it… its tail… it wraps around my heart." Taylor locked eyes with her brother's green ones, as she struggled to finish telling. "…You once asked me what part of me I put into the binding spell I used on Snape in Grimmauld Place last summer… well it was the snake from my nightmare. When Moody opened that door and I saw him lying in that bed… I could see the snake… about to go after his soul. It was like I could feel it… I had no choice but to save Snape from it." Taking a deep breath she forced herself to go on, to make her brother realize that there had been nothing else she could have done, then or at the Ministry. "My last nightmare… when I heard Voldemort laughing… I could hear Mom for the first time…screaming… begging for Voldemort to leave you alone. Then there was the green light… and then the snake as it crawled up over me…" The silence was complete in the Hospital Wing. "I knew… I knew that I was a Horcrux too. My scar is less visible… unlike yours on your forehead, so you could hear Voldemort. Mine is over my heart… where the snake's tail curls around." Taylor could hear the low rumble coming from the Hufflepuff as he growled holding her hand in his. She knew that this had to be difficult on him as well. "When Mom died to protect you, Harry… and me. Well that was selfless. She called forth ancient magic, pure magic… the power of love."

"Avada Kedavra strips the life essence out of a body along with the soul…"

"What if I could use that power for something good? The Killing curse is unstoppable. So I had to give it something to kill and that was the Horcrux. But how do I separate it from me? By summoning it. I know now that the reason my magic was drained when I summoned a Horcrux, was because I was one, or a part of one anyway. So when I summoned it… well it took all my magic to separate it from my soul."

"As soon as the door sealed, I rushed over to make sure you were okay and then I went over to Snape. He pulled the two vials of Polyjuice Potion out of his robes, added the last ingredient and we drank it. Snape even argued with me about it but he had made his promise with an Unbreakable Vow. By the time Harry came around, I had Snape's cloak on. I provoked Harry and… when I saw him starting to cast, I lowered my wand and summoned the Horcrux… I was still sacrificing myself, the summoning charm is not defensive… I felt my magic drain and then everything went black."

"When I woke up in St. Mongo's, I had Greg check to make sure the Horcrux was gone…" Taylor trailed off as she looked at the floor. She could feel the Hufflepuff's hand shaking a little and she squeezed it once more.

Silently the others processed all that they had just learned and it was a few minutes before Hermione spoke.

"Where did you get the Polyjuice Potion, if you just found out you were a… on Friday?"

It only took a few minutes to explain about finding Parkinson on Saturday morning and questioning her about some illegal potions that had been floating around the school in the past couple of years. How she had then gone to the hidden room the Slytherins had been using, taking the Polyjuice Potion and destroying the rest of the potions in the room.

Taylor glanced over at her brother but he was staring at the floor. She caught her bottom lip with her teeth and began to chew on it. Maybe she shouldn't have told them everything…

"Excuse me, I need to…" Harry said as he stood abruptly and walked out around the curtain.

Ginny glanced at her friend in the bed and then left as well. Hermione and Ron stayed for a few more minutes but Taylor decided that she was going to take the coward's way out and she lay back down in her bed and closed her eyes, as if she were tired like she had been for the last two days. When the last two of her friends left, she rolled on her side away from the Hufflepuff and the tears she had been able to keep away until now, ran down her face.

Greg waded through the things he had just found out. He had guessed at some of it but to hear his witch talk so calmly about planning how she was going to die… It wasn't long before he could hear her crying and as the werewolf began to whine at the pain in his mate, Greg reached over and, picking up the blankets and all, sat her on his lap and held her tight.

The stress from the last few weeks, not just from the last week, came crashing down on Taylor and she cried. She cried because she had hurt her brother and even her friends with her actions. She cried because the Hufflepuff that held her had been hurt too with her rash decisions. She cried as well because suddenly the world was free of Voldemort, and she had no magic left.

Greg held the girl in his arms until her sobs slowly died down and she fell asleep. Even when Madame Pomfrey came to check on her, the werewolf didn't put her down, only growling quietly at the nurse when she said he should.

Harry had slipped out of the castle and out across the grounds, wanting to be alone for a while. When Ginny joined him a short while later, the two sat in silence for a long time. It was Ginny who finally spoke.

"I don't know what I would have done if you told me that you were a Horcrux before we went to the Ministry… I don't think I could have let you go in there knowing that you had to die… Knowing you had to face Voldemort was bad enough… but knowing you were the Horcrux…" Ginny's voice was strained as she spoke softly, her eyes staring out across the lake as gentle waves rippled against the rocks. "I'm not saying I agree with what Taylor did… but knowing how she feels about you, and now understanding why she feels that way… I can at least understand why she did it."

Harry stared at the water not really seeing it. "She made me use the killing curse on her Ginny! How could she think that was alright? Dear Merlin! She is my sister and I killed her!"

Ginny heard the pain in her wizard's voice and her heart constricted painfully knowing how much that hurt him. "I know." She was quiet for a long time before she said quietly. "What would you have done in her place?"

Pain filled Harry's chest. That was the one question he kept asking himself. The reason why he didn't completely lose it. What would he have done if he knew he could save his sister and sacrifice himself to make sure Voldemort didn't come back. He knew the answer. "But why did she have to use him? Why did she have to use my hate of that traitor to…" He knew the answer to that as well. He couldn't have knowingly killed his sister, even to save the world from Voldemort's rule. In his heart he knew there hadn't been another way. However painful it was for him, logic told him that it was likely the only way that he would have been able to destroy the Horcrux that had taken refuge in his little sister nearly seventeen years ago. That she had somehow figured out a way to live through it… maybe that was the miracle he needed to make himself dwell on.

The two sat for a long while before Harry spoke again. "She trusted him… How could she trust Snape, when I saw him kill Dumbledore?"

"Maybe the answer is in the memories that she said she saw. There must be something in them to make her trust Snape like that." Ginny said quietly.

Harry only nodded but soon he stood and, after helping his witch up, he set off across the grounds heading for the Head Mistress's office and answers he hoped he could get from the memories in a vial there.

When Taylor woke up, the setting sun shone in through the hospital windows just before it dipped behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Her head rested against the Hufflepuff's chest as she watched the sun disappear.

"I was beginning to think you were going to sleep for the rest of the evening." The deep voice rumbled in the chest by her ear.

Taking a deep breath, she sat up to look into the deep blue eyes of her wizard. She could see the hurt that remained in his eyes, even as the dangerous look of the werewolf shone in them as well. "I'm sorry. If there had been another way… Maybe if we had more time… I don't know. All I know is that the Horcruxes all had to be destroyed, so that Voldemort could never come back."

The young werewolf looked off towards the last of the setting sun shining through the high glass windows for a long while before he spoke. "I can understand your desire to make sure that evil wizard never comes back… but what I can't understand is why… Why couldn't you have just gone into the mist from the Room of Love… like Harry."

Taylor sighed. How could she explain something she barely understood? "You have to understand that when I went into the Department of Mysteries, I had no idea what I was going to find when I opened that door. Yes I knew that it contained the power of love but not what that meant… not really anyway. I wasn't even sure if we would somehow have to get Ole Voldy inside the room or not. Nor if Harry went in, if I would be able to get him back out… it was an unknown. Whatever the magic in that room is… it felt… almost like my Dark Magic. It was powerful! I think somehow I knew that I couldn't go into the mist… I'm not sure how to explain it… even though in my nightmare I knew that there was safety in that room, I knew if I entered I'd never get out…" Taylor was silent for a few moments as she remembered that particular nightmare. "That was why… when I realized I was a… well that I was a Horcrux… I immediately started to think of how I could destroy it…" She heard the snarl from the werewolf's chest at the mere mention of the Horcrux and she rubbed her hand soothingly on his chest and waited for the growls to stop. "When I was able to get the door to the Room of Love open and I realized that I had to keep it open... I knew then that there was no way I would ever be able to get into the room myself… somehow I had known that… that was why I had needed to come up with the other plan to get rid of the Horcrux… right or wrong… live or die… I couldn't let Voldemort have a chance of ever coming back! You know, it was you who saved me… when I heard the screams from the Horcruxes, the hope that there might be a way to kill it and live to see you again made my heart swell!" Taylor looked up at the wizard who still held her in his arms, the arms that she felt so safe in. "I had something to live for… someone to live for… my mother sacrificed herself calling forth that powerful magic… she only had one soul to give so she gave it up for Harry and me. The snake that I saw in my nightmares… it was the Horcrux that latched itself onto me that night. Voldemort's soul… so weakened by his killing and the creation of other Horcruxes shattered that night into three pieces… one went into Harry, one went into me and the bit of soul that was left flew out the window too broken to support life and unable to die. I knew what I had set out to do and that was to destroy the Horcrux in me... but hope suddenly burst into me as I heard the Horcruxes die… I had something to live for… what did I have to lose by trying what I did? The rest you know."

Twilight turned to darkness as the Hufflepuff thought about what his witch had said. There was still some of it he didn't understand… he wondered if even the witch in his arms truly understood it and maybe it didn't truly matter if he did. What mattered was that his witch had planned on dying to rid the world of Voldemort and at the last minute came up with a way to live… to be with him. As the faint pound of music from the dance in the Great Hall reached his very sensitive ears, his arms tightened around his witch whispering his thanks to any god that might be listening.

The next morning, long before most of the students were up, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid paid her a visit. The Hufflepuff had refused to leave her side and none of her friends were back after the talk from the day before. Though in all fairness, with the celebration dance last night and the early hour, she didn't expect them for a while.

"Miss Porter… I am glad to see you awake. I was hoping I could have a word with you… One that maybe is long overdue."

Taylor looked up at the Head Mistress surprised and suddenly a little wary… her meetings with the Professor in the past tended to end with her in detention!

McGonagall hadn't missed the shifting of the Head Boy as she addressed the young witch. In a way he reminded her very much of the way James Potter had always been ready to defend and protect Lily Evans. She didn't doubt for a moment that James would indeed be pleased with his daughter's choice in boyfriends. However, she wanted to talk to the young witch alone.

"Mr. Hunter, would you please excuse us for a little while? I am sure Miss Porter will fill you in on everything after I leave."

Taylor's eyes widened and she felt, more then heard, the Hufflepuff's refusal even before he said anything, so she beat him to it. "Maybe you could go grab a bite to eat and a shower… you are starting to smell like a dog!"

Greg was about to argue, but he saw the soft smile on his witch's face, even if her eyes held a bit of mischief. He hadn't left her side for more than a half hour at a time all week, and while he could feel the werewolf protesting, he reluctantly agreed to go. He did need a shower and a change of clothes and if he went now he would be back before his witch's brother and friends came… and he planned on being there when… or if they did.

Taylor watched as the Head Boy walked out around the screen and she listened until she couldn't hear his footsteps any longer, before she looked up at the Head Mistress and Hagrid who had been unusually quiet.

"How r'ye feelin'?" Hagrid asked, as soon as McGonagall put up a silencing spell. He had heard what had happened to James and Lily's daughter and while he had never known for sure, he had always suspected that Taylor was their daughter. Minerva had come to see him last night, telling him who she was and asked if he would like to go see the young witch in the morning with her. He had readily agreed.

McGonagall drew up a soft chair for herself and a very sturdy chair for Hagrid. When they were seated she began. "I suppose you are wondering why I wished to speak with you Miss Porter… Or I should say Miss Potter…" (Taylor gasped and stared at the grey haired witch) "Yes Taylor I know who you are. I was there the night when Hagrid brought you with your brother to the Dursley's. I was also privy to the fact that it was an underage Miss Potter who was starting Hogwarts with her older brother. Though I doubt that anyone else other than those sitting here know this. Albus did a very good job of hiding who you were. Though now I feel it is time that you know… at least what Hagrid and I know." McGonagall's voice was kind and warm, as she told the young witch about the night that she was found. When she finished, Hagrid began.

He told of how he had gone into the ruined house and up the stairs, finding first Harry and then hearing another child cry. How he had to move debris out of the way before he could get to the spot where the crying was coming from and how he had picked up the invisibility cloak off of the tiny baby. "An there ya were… no bigger than me hand. Wrap'd all up in eh' tiny pink blanket. An holdin' the blanket in place was a necklace wi' a red pendant…"

Taylor slowly sat up in bed as she stared at the huge man… the necklace with the red pendant… but she had always thought that had come from her Aunt Helen and Uncle Herbert… With a slightly shaking hand she reached inside her pajama top and pulled the broken pendant out. "You mean this pendant?"

Hagrid squinted at the broken, blackened pendant but he soon nodded, "Yeah, tha looks like the one. Tho' it wasn't brokin' then."

McGonagall's eyes narrowed as she leaned forward staring at the necklace, "Miss Potter may I see that?"

With a nod Taylor took off the necklace and handed it to the Head Mistress who looked at it carefully and then handed it back to the witch in the bed.

They talked for some time until McGonagall said "You have to make some hard decisions Taylor… first I would like to know if you have thought about making known who your parents are… and the ramifications of such, especially now, given what has happened to you…"

"You mean my loss of magic?" The Head Mistress nodded. Taylor was silent a moment before she said slowly, "There was a time when I would have leapt at the idea that everyone know who I am… That I am James and Lily's daughter… but now…" Taylor thought about who did know. Her brother, Greg, her friends, Lupin and a couple of her professors, the people who knew her, the people who really mattered. "I am proud that James and Lily are my parents… but those who really matter already know. In a month or so I am going to marry and my last name will change anyway… I will always know who I am… I guess I will go from being a muggleborn to a squib…" Taylor laughed a little as she shook her head.

"Taylor, you have already sat your NEWTS and I believe your parents would be proud of your marks!" McGonagall gave one of her rare smiles before she continued, "so you can graduate from this school with the rest of the seventh years… and no one need to know that you have lost your magic… unless you want to tell them."

Taylor nodded slowly. She could go to the graduation ceremony that was scheduled for tomorrow morning. She would complete her schooling… just like her parents. The idea of going in front of the whole school and the parents who gathered to see their children graduate was a little scary… but she knew deep down that she wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world! She would see her brother graduate! She had come to this school not knowing anything about magic, now she would leave knowing all the good and bad things magic could do… and she would return to being a muggle. She had come full circle.

"Professor, I will go to the graduation ceremony… as Taylor Porter because that is who I am. I may be leaving Hogwarts without any magic but something my uncle said long ago suddenly makes sense…" Taylor could see her uncle and the prairie grass that stretched out behind him as he had spoken to her on that day so long ago. "My little Taylor, if you don't remember anything else I have taught you, remember this… It is not what we are that matters, nor what we can do. What matters is how we chose to use our skills, no matter what they are. Great or small, strong or weak. In the end, everyone is just a sum of their fears and how we choose to overcome them. When you stay true to your heart, nothing is impossible…" Taylor's voice trailed off as she looked out the high windows in the Hospital Wing. Sure she had lost her magic but she had gained a fiancé, a brother and the best friends anyone could ask for in the world. She was James and Lily Potter's daughter and she would face this challenge as she had faced all the others… head on!

"Besides Professor… what is another secret in my life?"

McGonagall could feel a swelling of pride in her as she watched the young witch come to a decision… a true Gryffindor in every sense of the word. She had a feeling that the magic-less witch would make the most of what she had been dealt. Her voice held some of that pride as she continued. "I also wanted to let you know that I have seen the memories that Severus gave you and I have set about to make sure his name is cleared of all charges…"

Taylor nodded, glad that the wizard who had suffered greatly for doing what he was asked, would finally be free. She knew too that her brother had seen the memories… what would he think now? Would it help? Or just upset him even more for accusing an innocent man?

A/N Hopefully this chapter explains what happened in the Revolving Room... and why Taylor lost her magic. I wrote and re-wrote this chapter several times... I hope that it is believable and answers some of your questions!

Thank you to those who reviewed! As well those who have alerted and Favorited this story! And if you have read this far... well :D here have a cyber cookie cause you deserve it for sticking with this story this long! A HUGE thank you to my wonderful beta barbc who has made this story readable! Well until next time, cytpotter.