Apologies and thanks to Lutheyl. Apologies because I forgot to thank you last chapter for beta'ing, and thanks for beta'ing and discussion on this chapter.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are the greatest!

Weapon (Possession Chapter LXIII)
Chapter XII - Between Light and Dark

Harry suppressed a yawn as he walked into the Common Room. The shadows had roused him early today and he was slightly curious as to why, but not so curious that he wanted to wake everyone in the dormitory.

-It's the first OWL today,- they murmured to him as he sat in one of the chairs.

-Oh?-

-And Blaise and Millicent's gifts will arrive.-

-Heh!- He was careful to keep the amusement from the portion of Fawkes he could feel. -I'm looking forward to it.-

-We have also removed the bond with Virginia Weasley, as ordered.-

-So you have,- Harry said as he felt the place she had been in his mind. There was still a slight link but the blue power was absent... Or rather, the connection to her was now in his favour. He could feel her, she could not feel him, and he could draw from her energy if that's what it took. He shrugged. For now, it would be enough and he would tell her what Fawkes and Dumbledore believed soon and then that game would be fully in motion.

He undid a few buttons on his shirt, keeping an ear out for the other students as he looked down at the now revealed phoenix tattoo. It was still a charcoal colour, the bird beautifully defined. -Can you get rid of this?- He asked.

-No.-

For a brief moment Harry felt nothing but rage and as he was gathering his power to lash the shadows - if they couldn't get rid of it, why had they allowed him to go through with it, without even warning him? - they spoke again.

-You can get rid of it yourself.-

-What?- Harry held back his strike.

-When Fawkes is destroyed, the Order as held together by him will cease to be. There will be a new phoenix, never doubt, but they will have to make their own Order, if they can.-

-So it will fade then?-

-Yes. Fawkes' Order of the Phoenix will be destroyed and we will finally have justice for one thousand years of pain.-

-Justice?- Harry raised one eye brow, questioning, but the shadows were silent. He smiled slightly. It was okay. Something had happened one thousand years ago, something they still remembered. Even if they didn't tell him, it would eventually reveal itself to him. It just added to the interest. -How do I kill a phoenix?-

-You can't. They just burst into fire and are reborn. Even if you then kill the fledgling, it just happens again.-

-How do you destroy a phoenix then?- Harry reworded his question, remembering what the shadows had said. They could be so finicky sometimes! Destroy, kill - was there really a difference?

-There is a very large difference. You corrupt the light, turn it to dark, and then we will adsorb the being known as Fawkes into us. It is only then that the physical body of a phoenix will die.-

-He will become a shadow?-

-Yes,- the echoing whispered voice that Harry heard changed as it seemed to become a single voice rather than the whole.

-Master, when I was alive, my name was Kali. I was the phoenix who communed with Merlin. My Light was corrupted by a being summoned by Morgiana, and thus I am eternally now a shadow, your servant.-

-How?- Harry asked again. -You have told me that Light and Dark must both exist because without Light there is no Dark and without Dark there is no Light. So how can one become so fully the other?-

-Light and Dark aren't that different from each other Master,- the echoing voice of the whole returned. -In our case we could become Light, if we consumed your whole. Of course we don't want to, so we won't but there is a balance Master. We, Dark can become Light, and creatures such as Fawkes, who are Light, can become Dark.-

-I know about the balance,- Harry said, -but how do you corrupt Light? Kali said it was a creature summoned by Morgiana. What creature was it?-

-There are two things that can corrupt Light, Master. The individual, and a being of the type who corrupted Kali. For the individual, species does not matter, human, phoenix, basilisk, dementor, animal, anything is both Light and Dark, and anything can chose to forsake either side. This is what happens when we seduce something, we encourage them to forsake the Light, only after they have forsaken it may we consume it, unless of course we have your permission. The Dark Lord Voldemort, for example Master, has forsaken the parts of himself that are Light. Humans don't need as much as they have really, if they are prepared to be ruthless. Not many are though. He admits the necessity of Light, but he also recognises that he only needs a very limited amount of Light. In this case, that Light is you Master. You are actually a unique individual Master. You cannot forsake your Light, because we have taken your darkness.- They seemed to grin before they continued. -The alternative, Master, is for an external force to corrupt the Light within someone but that can only be done by something that understands both Light and Dark, and who could be the two extremes.-

-What is it?- Harry snapped.

-There is a level of magic above that which you know Master. Spiritual magic and energies. Wizards don't use these. In fact it's been theorised that what you call magic is simply an overflow, the excess as it were from this spiritual magic...-

-What is it?-

-A tenshi, Master, a being of pure spiritual energy,- the shadows said.

-Where am I meant to find any spiritual being, let alone a tenshi to corrupt Fawkes?- Harry growled, as he pulled his shirt closed, buttoning it back up. He couldn't afford to have the other students know, not yet.

-With the battles that will be fought, we rather imagine some will be attracted since they find the atmosphere of fear to be quite pleasurable.-

-So I just walk up to one and ask?- He asked sarcastically. -Even with the last war, there was no mention of anything on the battle fields.-

-They aren't interested in you humans until you become spiritual energy, that's why not even you wizards see them. We will ask if we sense one though, failing that, Kali does know the spell to summon one and you can... or rather, the Dark Lord can perform it for us.-

-Why can't I perform it?-

-Because you'd automatically kill the tenshi you summoned, Master. You are going to need a dark tenshi master and all that Light we find so delicious is very poisonous to those creatures of Dark, and a dark tenshi, while also a spiritual being, is Dark. They aren't completely and only dark like us, but they are dark enough and your spiritual energy is powerful enough now, that they would be affected by your light.-

-Couldn't the dark tenshi just corrupt it?-

-In your case, no. Master, you are unique. You are a being who can exist solely as Light, while we exist solely as Dark. But Master, as you well know, Light is not a definition of good, and Dark is not a definition of evil. They are something else.-

Harry nodded. He knew he was one half of the shadows. They were Darkness. He was Light. One single individual to serve as the Light for all of them, to keep the balance. That's why he was Master. He was the Head of their collective, the only individual the whole could not sacrifice. -You don't seem to dislike them the way you do other dark creatures,- Harry said, knowing they would understand the question.

-Not all dark creatures have forgotten that we are the masters, and while it is true the dark tenshi have not forgotten, as spiritual beings they are also not subject to our rules, not completely anyway. We are very generous to those who haven't forgotten but they don't need our generosity.-

-I understand the balance, but is there anyone or anything balanced within themselves? Equally Light and Dark?-

-There is one. We aren't sure what species they are. We weren't paying attention when he was created so we don't know if he was always balanced or if he forsook either Light or Dark until balance was created. He has been alive for centuries.-

-Powerful?-

-And how.-

-Vampire?-

-No. But they are also not any of the other eternal creatures. We don't know what they are, and we have been trying to find out for a while. He can see us. We suspect he could speak with us but he has refrained since he knows we are yours... well, he knows we are someone's. Do not concern yourself Master, he is, and has been for the last several centuries, studiedly neutral and he will remain that way. And before you argue that either side could force him, neither will do so, because they both need him too much.-

-Keep watch please, though. I don't really want to find out the hard way that he has picked the wrong side.-

-We will, Master, we will. We have our own interest in him.-

-All right,- he sighed. -We'll find a way, somehow, for everything,- he added. -Now, you've been putting this off for too long, since Blaise and Millicent are about to get a surprise today, show me Draco's response to seeing me.-

-Heh! You're going to talk with him today, aren't you?-

He nodded. -What ever delusion he's spun for himself, don't you think I should give him to opportunity to test it? Unless... you want me to stay away from him?- Harry recalled that he had given Draco to them.

-No, no, no,- they said quickly. -We're going to torture him slowly. A whisper here, a nudge there... It should be amusing to see what he will plan. Then... well, we will see how well he has entertained us before we decide how to finish him.-

-Mercy?-

-No, more customisation. We don't want to decide on a course of action when a different one would prove more entertaining.-

-Ah,- Harry nodded. -Now show me.-

-Close your eyes.-

Harry complied and suddenly he wasn't sitting in the Common Room but he was once again in the Great Hall, sitting at the Gryffindor table, surrounded by the Weasley's chatting amicably. He looked around as Ron and Hermione kept talking, not noticing his in attention.

Dumbledore was watching on with an indulgent smile. Snape looked somewhat surprised. For a spy, if you knew what to look for the Potions Master was amazingly easy to read. But then, Harry mused, not many people knew what to look for. The other Professors just seemed relieved. Most of the other students were ignoring him except for...

-Patius Gibels,- the shadows identified the Ravenclaw fourth year who was glaring at him.

-Death Eater?-

-Parents are.-

-Lucius' or Voldemort's?-

-The Dark Lord's.-

Harry smiled. -I gather he hasn't told everyone about the change of attitude towards me?-

-You gather correctly.-

-I will be careful then.-

-Gibels will wear the Dark Mark before the summer is over.-

Harry nodded as he continued to look around. There were a few more students who were watching him. They were just hiding it better than Gibels. Obviously most of the Slytherins were but he was surprised by some of the others. There was more interest from the Hufflepuffs than he had been expecting and he mentally noted a few of them who could be pursued later. No one ever suspected the Hufflepuffs... If they ever learnt to use that advantage... well... It would be an interesting battle.

There were two Aurors at the door who were glancing towards him now and then but as he continued to talk with the Weasleys, they seemed to relax. Their ease was a ruse. It was reassuring. He would have been disappointed if he could deceive combat Auror's so quickly.

Finally he turned towards the door, where a flicker of movement told him that Draco was about to appear. The blond Slytherin was surrounded by several toadies, Crabbe, Goyle and a few others of little importance. He seemed puffed up, confident and, Harry looked closer, he was slightly amused at something. Draco paused at the entrance, looking around the Great Hall, and Harry could see the exact instant that the blond saw him.

It had been gradual up until that point. The blond had noticed that the Gryffindor table was not depressed and that the other students were talking happily. He'd seen that the teachers seemed relieved and that had caused him some worry, a slight fading in the arrogant confidence but then when he'd seen one black head surrounded by red and one brown, he'd known.

The arrogance seemed to drain out of him and his face became slack. He stopped talking mid sentence, his lackeys giving him an odd look before they too saw the truth. Grey eyes opened wide and there was a quick intake of breath, the blond hyperventilating as his mind tried to deny everything. His small hands were clenched into fists that trembled slightly.

Harry laughed. Oh, yes, it was amusing to see someone's beliefs so totally destroyed.

Then between one breath and the next, Draco straightened, blinking carefully as he tried to assume a more normal expression but Harry could see the strain in the Slytherin. Whatever he had thought, the belief that he knew he had killed Potter was gone and beneath the practiced gaze of arrogance Harry could see the doubt. If something he knew he'd done could be undone so easily, what else did he not know? What else had changed?

After a long moment, Draco began moving towards his table, his strut showing only his usual arrogance, his lackeys trailing after him, slack jawed and disbelieving as they cast almost continual glances in the direction of the Gryffindor table.

Ah, that was funny. Not as dramatic as he'd thought it would be but then in public, where his image and reputation depended on it, Draco could think quickly. He wondered what story the Slytherin had concocted for himself.

-We're not telling,- the shadows said smugly as the image faded.

-Why not?-

-Because that would be telling. You'll find out soon enough.-

-I guess I will.-

-Get to breakfast, Master, you don't want to miss the other surprise.-

Harry snickered mentally and stretched, opening his eyes slowly, blinking in the sudden light as he made it seem he'd been asleep for a little while. Ron and Hermione were both watching him, sorta... They were also reading their notes as fast as they could.

"'morning!" He said easily.

"Good morning Harry," Hermione returned the greeting. "Please tell me you didn't sleep there?" she asked, barely looking up from her notes.

"Nah, I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep! I didn't seem to have that problem here."

"Why didn't you wake me?" Ron moaned.

"Because before this OWL you need two things Ron, lots of sleep and a good breakfast," Harry said. "So, shall we go and attend to the second one?"

"We should," Hermione answered for them both, snapping Ron's book closed as they rose.

"I still say you have all the luck," Ron muttered as he followed the others out of the common room.

"I've got to do them soon," Harry countered with a smile, closing the portrait behind them.

Breakfast was going to be interesting.

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