Title: The Boys Who Lived

Author: Shara Lunison

Beta: Batsutousai

Rating for this Chapter: T

Pairings: Harry/Henry (OMC), several others—none of them canon XD
Warnings: SLASH, eventual twincest, slightly manipulative!Dumbledore, grey Harry/Henry, OoC-ness, others as I think of them.

Summary: The Potter twins are attacked by Voldemort and somehow defeat him. Now the Dark Lord has returned and they have to choose between light and dark. SLASH, Twincest, rated M for later chapters.

Disclaim Her: 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.

A/N: A little late, but hey, you all are probably busy with Thanksgiving anyway. It's even extra long to make up for the lateness. ^_~

Chapter Nineteen: The Worst Summer

Harry led his brother through Hogsmeade and the pair entered the Hog's Head wearily. He glanced briefly at Abe, who raised his eyebrows at their dirty and somewhat the worse for wear appearance, but said nothing to the man and instead walked up the old wooden stairs and entered the room they had occupied the summer before.

Once they were inside, he heard Henry close the door with a soft snap. Harry turned, his hands clenching into fists. "Snape has to go," he snarled.

Henry inhaled sharply at his tone of voice and took an involuntary step backwards. He had never seen Harry so enraged. "But…" he started to argue.

"No, Henry. I know he's your head of house and up until now I've never had a real reason to dislike him. He's done good by us, and I had even started to like his snarky attitude. But that—" he paused, searching for words, "He's with the Dark Lord of all people, and he obliviated us!"

Henry sat on the edge of the bed and mulled things over. It was true that he still felt like Snape was trustworthy. He even wondered if the Tom who had merged with Voldemort might be the same as that Slytherin boy he had made friends with in the diary. He shook his head at himself. No, not friends. Tom had been using him from the beginning of that relationship, twisting his words and the truth to make Henry trust him. And as for Snape—could he really trust a man could and would do anything to bring back his mass-murdering lover for a repeat attempt at world domination?

He gestured helplessly at his brother, who was waiting patiently for him to share his opinion, "I think I might be too close to this issue to decide anything," he admitted.

Harry nodded. He knew he was asking a lot of his brother, but they needed to decide where they stood now, before the Dark Lord got hold of them—for he had no doubt that if they did not come willingly to hear what the newly reborn man had to say, they would be brought forcefully.

"A part of me wants to know if this Tom is the same as the one I knew from the diary," Henry continued, "But I know that that Tom was fake, for the most part. And I still feel like I should trust Snape, but at the same time I know that I can't afford to. Things have gotten high-stake a little too fast for me to keep up."

Harry sat beside his brother on the bed. "Then we compromise," he decided. "I may want Snape dead, but you aren't able to decide whether that is just or not. And I don't want to do anything at this stage that will drive us apart. I'm getting the feeling that we're all each other is going to have for a long, long time."

Henry leaned against his twin's shoulder and sighed. "What do you have in mind, then?"

"We get rid of him," Harry said promptly. "Having someone so close to the Dark Lord in the school near us is a really bad idea. So if we can't kill him, let's get him sacked. It shouldn't be too hard to convince Dumbledore that it's in his best interest to get rid of him, not once we lay out all the evidence."

"Okay," Henry said softly, sadness creeping into his voice. His house wouldn't be the same without the dour man—he had worked hard over the years to ensure that Slytherin remained united. "What are we going to do about Voldemort?"

"Snape mentioned something about a prophecy before he obliviated us," Harry mused. His memories were still a little fuzzy, making it hard to remember the conversation.

"He also said that neither we nor the Dark Lord could live while the other survived," Henry stated. "But what does that even mean?"

"It might be something from the prophecy," Harry said. "So it seems we have another reason to talk to Dumbledore. The real question is, whose side are we on?"

Henry lifted his head to look at his brother. "Surely you aren't suggesting we join Voldemort? He killed our parents, Harry!"

Harry shook his head. "What I'm saying, Hen, is that whichever side you choose will be the one I join. No matter which side that is. I refuse to fight against you."

"So you're making me choose?"

"No, Hen," Harry hugged his brother tightly, "but you're the one who is tied to the Dark Lord. It may be that you can't fight against him. We don't really know what you being a horcrux will mean."

Henry started a bit. "I didn't think you knew…"

"I'm not that dense, idiot," Harry laughed. "Besides, after Snape mentioned it, I immediately connected the dots to what Hermione said about you being the one who can speak parseltongue because of your connection to Voldemort."

Henry nodded. "It makes me feel dirty, having a piece of his soul inside of me."

"But you have a piece of me as well," Harry reminded him. "Just focus on that."

Henry breathed in deeply and felt for that connection to his other half. The bond was warm and inviting and he sank his subconscious self into it, relishing in the gentle heat and love he felt Harry projecting across to him. He gave himself up to his brother's love and returned the favor whole-heartedly.

Harry breathed in sharply as he felt the return of Henry's feelings. A strange heat seemed to settle in the deepest depths of his stomach, and he suddenly felt short of breath, his throat dry as his stomach flopped twice. Henry cuddled closer into the circle of his arms, his eyes closed and his face tilted upwards to him where he rested on Harry's shoulder. The older boys' lips were smiling gently, an utterly happy expression suffusing across his features as Harry watched.

His hand seemed to rise of its own volition to caress the other boy's face, and his eyes riveted to those lips. Harry leaned in and pressed his forehead to Henry's, closing his eyes as he gulped shakily. What was wrong with him? He felt so strange.

Henry could feel Harry's soft breath feathering across his own lips and opened his eyes slowly. His brother's face was twisted slightly as though he were in pain. "What's wrong?"

Harry gasped and sat back abruptly. "Nothing!"

Henry sat up as the warm body that had been supporting him pulled away. Harry was…blushing? An image of he and his brother in the Mirror of Erised rose unbidden in his memory and his chest began to feel very tight as he tried to breathe.

Harry stood and bent over his trunk on the floor in the middle of the room, undoing the latches and pulling out parchment, quill and ink.

Henry averted his eyes from his brother's upturned arse and clenched both eyes and fists firmly closed. He tried to focus on what Harry was saying.

"I'll write a letter to Dumbledore telling him we need to speak with him privately at the first opportunity."

"Okay," Henry said.

"And then we should probably get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"Yeah." Henry stood and pulled some pajamas out of his own trunk, and started changing in front of his brother as he always had, only to feel that same strange tightness in his chest at the thought of Harry watching him. Without a word, he scuttled out of their room and changed quickly in the bathroom across the way, then returned and settled into his side of the bed as Harry was handing the letter to Hedwig to deliver.

Harry did change in the same room, and Henry found it quite difficult to tear his eyes away, wondering if his spine was just as bumpy and bony as Harry's or if his hamstrings in the back of his legs were just as prominent.

Harry crawled into bed beside him, but kept his back turned to the other boy to hide his blush. Things were awkward for several minutes as Henry turned to face the opposite direction.

For the first time in a long time, they slept at opposite edges of the mattress with their backs to one another.

-o-0-o-

Dumbledore's reply arrived the next morning:

Dear boys,

Due to the premature ending of the school

year, there is quite a bit of paperwork that

I need to handle before I can meet with you.

I believe my schedule should be free by

Friday—how about we meet for lunch that

day in the Hog's Head? I'm afraid that no

student is allowed back into the school

until we can prove that the basilisk will not

be emerging any longer, so we cannot meet

in my office as I would like. I appreciate

your discretion in asking for a private

meeting, however, so be assured that I will

be able to handle the matter effectively even

in the Hog's Head.

Cheers,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"It's hard to believe that he's a halfblood, with a name like that," Harry commented absently. The awkwardness he had felt towards his brother had faded over the night and now he was relieved to be able to act normally.

"Write him a note back saying that the time and day is fine," Henry said, marking his place in the book he had been reading.

Harry did so and sent Hedwig on the brief flight up to the castle. "A whole week," he lamented as he watched her wing away.

"I know." Henry sighed and stood, stretching his stiff limbs. "Cross your fingers that Voldemort won't request his 'audience' before we get a chance to speak to Dumbledore."

Their worries were for nothing, of course, for Friday came and lunch with the Headmaster with it and no word yet from the Dark Lord.

Abe took their orders for lunch with great disgruntlement, but the food was hot and delicious when he brought it out. The Headmaster made small talk with them until they had their food, and when Abe turned and walked away, he cast a strange privacy ward that the twins had never seen before.

"What spell is that?" Henry asked, ever curious.

Dumbledore chuckled, "Muffliato combined with a disillusion ward—makes you hard to hear and hard to see, which rather discourages eavesdroppers, as you might imagine." He cut into his steak and kidney pie—Abe's best cooking was the simpler things that a more prestigious inn would never think of serving—and then asked, "So, what did you need to talk to me about? Something to do with Voldemort's return and your adventure in the Chamber?"

Harry decided that since he was more sure about this, he would take the lead. "Sort of, Professor. It's more about Snape."

"Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore chided him.

Harry shook his head firmly. "He no longer deserves my respect." The Headmaster raised an eyebrow and paused with a bite of pie halfway to his mouth. "I'm afraid there may be some things you don't know about Snape, Professor. For one, he's madly in love with a certain Dark Lord and allowed Colin to die so that he could return."

Dumbledore lowered the bite back to his plate uneaten. "I see," he said sadly. "Love makes fools of us all, I'm afraid."

"There's more," Harry said. "After we first realized what the monster in the Chamber was, he talked to us about the Dark Lord, spouting off about his ideals and how he had changed. He believed that Voldemort could be returned to his former self—which I assume now is because he knew about the horcruxes and thought that recombining them would bring Tom Riddle back."

The Headmaster's gaze riveted on Harry's when the word 'horcruxes' was mentioned. "So you remembered that bit of information?" he directed the question at Henry.

The boy frowned. "How did you know…?"

"I was not spying on you, so do not fear." Dumbledore sighed. "It was an agreement I made with Madam Pince after I became Headmaster. During his time here as a student, Tom Riddle also investigated for knowledge of soul magic and soul bonds—including the creation of horcruxes. I asked her to let me know anytime a student asked for such information so I could keep an eye on them. You didn't worry me, because I know it was the bond between you and your brother that caused your search. At the end of your first year, I began to suspect more firmly that Tom had created a horcrux—perhaps more than one. I have been pursuing the matter ever since, but I'm afraid I have yet to discover any of them or even how many there might have been."

"Back to Snape…?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Dumbledore waved him on.

"He also mentioned a prophecy to us…" he got no further, because Dumbledore suddenly stood and an enraged look passed across his features.

"He told you the prophecy!?"

Harry shrunk away, now realizing that the man he was speaking to was quite powerful. An almost invisible aura of magic was making the air around him shimmer. "N-no…"

Dumbledore calmed immediately and sat again, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "Forgive me," he said finally. "That is one piece of information I would have liked to keep from you."

"Why? What does the prophecy say?" Henry asked, his eyes narrowing.

The Headmaster ignored the question. "He shouldn't even have been able to tell you about the prophecy—I made him take an unbreakable vow…ah, of course." He shook his head sadly to himself.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I tend to forget that Severus is a Slytherin at times. I fear my affection for him blinded me. You see, the vow stated that he could not tell anyone the prophecy, but not that he couldn't speak of the prophecy. How very short-sighted of me."

Harry made a small noise of impatience in the back of his throat. "So to summarize, he told us about the Dark Lord's former goals, how he could change, and about the prophecy and then he obliviated us."

Dumbledore stared at them in surprise. "Then how…?"

"He must have put a condition in the spell," Henry offered. "I was wondering how we could have remembered right when we confronted Voldemort again, but I did some reading, and that seems the most plausible explanation."

"Ah. I cannot believe that he would risk such a thing with students…" Dumbledore shook his head in confusion and sadness.

"Which brings me to my point," Harry said, leaning forward to impart the importance of his words. "Snape cannot be allowed to remain in Hogwarts. He is completely loyal to the Dark Lord, despite any affection he might feel towards you or his students. What's more, Voldemort has requested that we meet with him sometime this summer. If Snape is in the school next year, I don't know what will happen if the Dark Lord suddenly decides he wants to kill us or see us or whatever."

Bright blue eyes closed slowly as though in pain. "You are right, of course. I think I will be able to find a suitable replacement for both the Potions position and the Slytherin Head of House, especially now that Voldemort has returned. I have already filled the DADA position for next year as well."

"Good," Harry said firmly. "Now, tell us about this prophecy."

The Headmaster's eyes popped open in surprise. "I cannot."

"Can't or won't?" Henry asked stubbornly.

The old man's lips thinned. "Won't."

"Why?" both twins asked together.

Dumbledore sighed. "It was my wish that you have as normal a childhood as possible. I would keep the prophecy from you until you graduate if I could."

"But things have changed, Professor," Harry argued. "Voldemort is back and is interested in us. We don't just want to know, we need to know."

Those blue eyes darted between their determined faces for several moments before he sighed again. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal and he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."

Twin green eyes became puzzled as they mulled over the words of the prophecy.

"So…" Henry said slowly, "You think that the prophecy means that one of us has to kill the Dark Lord or be killed ourselves?"

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded, "And I haven't a clue which of you it means. You were both marked—those scars on your cheeks—but the prophecy specifically states that only one of you will be the one to finish the job."

"Have you ever considered," Harry said drily, "That the prophecy does not speak of either of us, but someone else?"

The Headmaster blinked, then inexplicably started laughing. "Wouldn't that just show me?" he crowed. "There was another boy born at the end of July that year, Neville Longbottom. I assumed that it would be the child Tom attacked who would end up vanquishing him, but perhaps you are right and I am wrong—again, I might add." He continued to chuckle. "But I think it is more likely that one of you was the Dark Lord's true target, and the other was marked either because of the nature of your bond or because of residual power from the Killing Curse."

"Then it would be Henry," Harry stated with quiet assurance. Both his brother and Dumbledore looked at him curiously, so he elaborated. "I've been thinking about it—Henry is the one connected to the Dark Lord by their traded souls. And yes, Professor, we have already realized that Henry is a horcrux, we just aren't sure what that will do to him. Anyway…" He picked up the salt and pepper shaker from their table and reached over to the one next to them to grab a second pepper shaker. "If you think of Hen and I as the pepper, and Voldemort as the salt..." He positioned the peppers next to each other, and the salt across from it. He plucked the toothpick from his sandwich and gave it to the salt shaker in place of a wand. "The Dark Lord aimed his spell at Henry, and hit me as well." A small pea sailed across the short distance between the salt and the pepper. "But from what I have gathered about the creation of horcruxes, they're intended to be inanimate objects. So what happens when you use a living being as a vessel for part of your soul?"

Henry and Dumbledore both shook their heads—they didn't know either.

"I think, and this is pure theory based on what I know, that no one can have more than a full soul in their body at any one time. So if you use a living being to hold your horcrux, by necessity, they would have to lose a piece of their soul to hold on to yours. So not only does Voldemort's soul reside in Henry, part of Henry's soul is in Voldemort as well."

"Dear Merlin!" Dumbledore gasped, looking at the tableau in horror.

"But there's also the bond that was created between Henry and I at the same moment," Harry continued, and prepared the pea to make the journey from the salt to the pepper again. "So, Henry was the primary target and bore the brunt of the curse, but I was hit in the same moment. Now, and this is more conjecture, theoretically when you are hit with the Killing Curse your entire soul is separated from your body instantly. So both my soul and Henry's were out of our bodies for a moment. And because he was trying to create a horcrux at the time, so was Voldemort's. So in the instant that Voldemort's soul was being split for whatever vessel he had in mind, the spell on us backfired and smashed him into vapor, but he survived because of his horcruxes. But the bit of split soul had to go somewhere, and without direction it tried to find the thing most similar to where it should have been—Henry's body. But Henry didn't have room for it, so his own soul split and a bit the same size as the bit from Voldemort went to the Dark Lord as he was vaporizing, and probably is the reason he didn't instantly die and was trapped as a spirit—because Henry was still alive."

The salt shaker was toppled over and returned to its spot on the table. Harry took a deep breath. "By all rights, we still should have died. After all, our souls were outside of our bodies. But whatever it was that rebounded the curse also did something else. After all, the Dark Lord and Henry had traded souls, but I don't think that the Killing Curse is responsible for our soul bond. As far as I know, that spell does not split the soul of the victim; else this sort of thing would happen all the time. So somehow, whatever protected us bound us together and I got the half of Henry's soul that was not connected to Voldemort, and he got half of mine."

Dumbledore was nodding with excitement, "Of course! Your mother's love!"

The twins blinked at him.

"The thing that I believe protected you was your mother's sacrifice. From what I understand of that night, she refused to back down from the Dark Lord and offered up her own life to save both of you. Love, despite what you might think, is a powerful thing. Not only did it deflect the Dark Lord's curse, it also continued to protect you when you might have died. I don't really know why that meant your souls should be bound together, but it's the only explanation I can give you."

Henry gripped Harry's hand with his own.

"Well done, Harry," the Headmaster said, a proud twinkle returning to his eyes. "I would give you a large number of points for that brilliant deduction, but I'm afraid school is not in session. Perhaps I will think of some reason at the beginning of next term." He winked.

"So I have to defeat the Dark Lord?" Henry asked, stunned as he realized the gist of everything Harry had said.

"So it would seem," Dumbledore agreed.

"Well…" Harry paused and studied the nearly empty plates before them. "Lunch is over, Professor. You've agreed that Snape has to go, and we've discussed the prophecy and my theory. I think all of us have some thinking to do. Perhaps we can meet again after Henry and I have spoken to the Dark Lord?"

Dumbledore frowned. "I do wish that I could prevent that meeting, you know." He sighed. "But alas, I cannot do much of anything, can I? Do let me know when the meeting is if he gives you warning, and be sure to let me know the moment you return."

The twins nodded. The Headmaster stood and smoothed down his robes, brushing a few crumbs of pastry from his beard as well. He wiggled his fingers at the boys, nodded to Abe standing behind the counter, and left.

Abe looked at the twins curiously. He hadn't been able to hear or see anything of their conversation behind the ward, but he had been able to tell that Albus had gotten very angry at some point, and that a deeply simmered bubble of anxiety still lay tensed under the grandfatherly demeanor that his brother favored.

The twins smiled tiredly at him and then retired back upstairs to their room. Henry returned to the book he had been reading and Harry pulled out some of his summer work—the professors had owled it out after the students returned home early—to complete it now, so he had the rest of the long summer to relax and go flying.

-o-0-o-

Time passed from late spring into true summer before the Dark Lord's summons came. A jet black owl arrived on the morning of the day before their birthday, 'requesting' that they join Voldemort that afternoon. There was no mention of how they were to get there or who would be coming for them. Henry strongly suspected it would be Snape, and watched worriedly as his brother paced the small confines of their room as they waited. An owl had already been sent off to Dumbledore letting him know of the meeting time.

Harry was having reservations about the meeting with the Dark Lord. Neither of them really wanted to go, but they were resigned to the fact that they had little choice. They couldn't even realistically stop the man from killing them, since they were forbidden to do magic over the summer. And then there was the fact that Snape would quickly be within easy attack range. The wand he held clenched in his right hand emitted sparks as he thought of all the spells he'd like to use on the man. The idea of seeing both of his most hated enemies in the same room again made his fingers twitch on the thin length of wood.

The murmur of voices downstairs caught his attention, and he turned towards the door just as Abe called out, "Time to go, boys!"

They trooped cautiously down the back stairs into the kitchen and peered around the doorframe to look at the bar. There was Snape, looking strange without his teaching robes on. He was still dressed in the same high-collared black frock coat, but his pants were a little tighter and interrupted by knee-high black boots that laced up the front. His robes were the kind that Harry associated with aurors—designed for battle and made of a very light and spell-resistant fabric. These, too, were black, and slitted up both legs and in the back with no sleeves.

Dumbledore had agreed not to inform the man of his enforced resignation until after the twins were safely returned from their meeting with Voldemort. Snape merely raised an eyebrow at Harry's wand and turned to lead the way outside, nodding to Abe.

Outside, the dark man grabbed one of each twins' arms and made a short spin in place, pulling them with him. They experienced the strange sensation of being squeezed through a tube that was entirely too small for them and then appeared quite suddenly in what appeared to be an elaborately decorated foyer to a mansion.

Henry immediately recognized the peacock crest hanging above the front door and asked Snape, "How is Draco?"

Snape frowned slightly, looking up and to his left as though he could see through the wall to find the boy. "He is…fine. Lucius has kept him largely confined to his room after certain events that occurred earlier this summer. But he will return to Hogwarts in the fall with the rest of his year mates."

Henry grimaced worriedly, but fell into step with the older man and his brother as they were led through Malfoy Manor.

The room they ended up in was a small sitting room close to the entrance hall where they had arrived. The Dark Lord was already within, sitting in a wing-backed chair in one corner and sipping a cup of tea as though he were a perfectly normal human being.

Even Harry found it hard to equate this man with the mass-murdering megalomaniac they had heard so much about from their elders.

"Ah, the Potters." Voldemort somehow managed to smirk pleasantly at them. "Welcome, please have a seat." He waved to the chairs across from him, and the twins sat with some trepidation.

Their fear was rewarded a moment later when ropes sprang into existence and tied them tightly to the chairs. Snape smirked, putting away his wand and sitting in the remaining chair beside Voldemort.

"Severus, really," Tom chided him softly, "you could have at least let me offer them some tea first."

"They would have thought it poisoned and refused to drink," Snape countered, settling comfortably into his chair and pouring himself a cup of the hot brew.

"True," the other man said thoughtfully. He studied the twins over the brim of his cup, smirking slightly as Harry bristled and struggled against his bonds. Henry had immediately decided that resisting would be futile and might enrage their 'host'.

"A Slytherin and a Gryffindor, through and through," he murmured, one long white finger caressing the delicate china of his cup. "Well, I won't waste time with pleasantries, since you appear to be a bit tied up. You both probably have an inkling why I requested you, so I'll fulfill any lingering curiosity before I release you. One of you is my horcrux. And because of this, I suddenly find myself more than a little reluctant to kill you. Added to this is the nature of your own soul bond, which Severus has informed me of. So, while I could kill one of you to get you out of the way, that would be counter-productive to my own goal of self-preservation. After all, killing one of you will kill both of you. So." He settled his cup back on the saucer with a soft click and elegantly placed them back on the table. "Which of you is it?"

The twins remained stubbornly silent, and the Dark Lord sighed. "Very well." He summoned up all of the hatred and anger he could manage and watched the two boys closely to see who reacted. Henry tried to restrain his urge to wince, but could not hide the slight pinching of his eyes as his scar twinged painfully.

"Ah, the elder twin, as I thought," Tom said with satisfaction. "You were my true target that night so long ago, after all. Excellent."

He stood and pulled a bone-white wand from his robes. It was almost abnormally long, at least thirteen inches, and thin as a whisper. The grip had been covered by a hollowed out bone that exactly matched the color of the wood. The tip was pressed to Henry's cheek, on the side opposite that scar that now screamed with pain. Harry began to feel the pain across their bond and watched with trepidation as the Dark Lord leered down at his brother. What was he doing?

"Morsmordre," Voldemort murmured, almost gently. But the pain that radiated from his wand tip across Henry's skin was nearly unbearable as it reacted with the pain from the scar on the opposite side. His entire head throbbed with the pain, and he could not hold back a sharp scream as the feelings peaked and then began to fade away.

Beside him, Harry was whimpering as he felt the echoes of the pain travel across their bond. Voldemort leaned down to study the younger twins' face and smirked in satisfaction. "Excellent," he said again, to himself.

As the Dark Lord backed away, Snape stood and studied the twins himself. He also smirked.

"You may return them to that old fool now, Severus," Tom said, waving his hand carelessly in their direction before he walked out of the room through a door in the back wall.

The ropes disappeared and Harry jumped up to hug his brother, studying his face with true horror on his own features. On Henry's right cheek was the black pitted mark of a skull and snake, the symbol of Voldemort's followers. Henry looked up at him in shock and touched Harry's left cheek. A faint outline of the same mark was there, red now as though it were newly healed, and raised and white like the scar on the opposite side of his face.

Snape escorted them, unresisting, back to the foyer and apparated them back in front of the Hog's Head. "Have fun at Hogwarts next year." He smirked, and then disappeared with a sharp pop.

Inside the Hog's Head, the Headmaster rushed forward to ensure that they were all right and gasped as he saw their faces. "No…" he whispered.

Abe came over to check on them and inhaled sharply as he saw the Dark Marks. "Merlin…" he breathed.

Something stung the newly made mark on Henry's cheek and he realized belatedly that he was crying. That was his last thought before darkness claimed him for the rest of the night.

-o-0-o-

A/N: Hopefully this satisfies some of the reviews I've been getting. The twins haven't picked a side yet, so please be patient with them. A third path has not yet become available to them.

~Shara