One second, Harry was punching Regulus, the next, she was down on her knees with both hands on her head.

It all happened fast, pain like she'd never felt before spreading over her skull like boiling oil. It burned as if the blood vessels of her brain were bursting one by one. Potter screamed, her nails digging into her scalp as if that would end the hellish sensation.

It didn't.

" Tsk , keep your hands off him, Harry. I'm being lenient with you, but my patience only goes so far." Riddle's snooty voice reached the girl's ears.

He could hurt her through the locket, which meant she had become too involved.

"She understood. Enough," Regulus muttered quietly. His eyes held certain perplexity, but he also didn't look very merciful, which was ironic considering Harriet was the only one to get hurt.

Riddle frowned, crossing his legs elegantly. "Ungrateful brat."

As quickly as it had begun, that agony ceased.

Harry remained on the floor, panting for a few more seconds until her body got used to the loss of pain. She had been so stupid! The signs of what was happening were right before her eyes the entire time.

What she'd been feeling for the past few days wasn't tiredness or sadness. They were slowly draining her.

Tom antagonized her until the girl had no choice but to lean on Regulus. Confide in him.

Riddle pushed Harry from everyone with the monstrosities he'd whisper in her ears, and the isolation made her vulnerable enough that she believed everything Regulus said.

They wanted to kill her to get out of the locket to do god knows what.

Harriet thought she learned her lesson from Ginny, but she didn't. Tom and Regulus only allowed her to see what they wanted, and the girl walked straight into a trap.

Furious, she raised her face to face Regulus' cold gaze. " How could you? ". Her legs were still shaking as she got up from the ground. Blood was trickling from her nose.

"I'm a Slytherin and a Black. If you had an ounce of common sense, you wouldn't trust a single word that came out of my mouth. I won't apologize for your mistakes." He replied indifferently. He wasn't even trying to defend himself.

Harry flushed with rage.

"You're just like him. I hate you both." She hissed, moving her chin towards Tom. He watched them with both hands behind his head, a lazy smile on his mouth.

"Ouch, you're breaking my heart here, love."

"Enjoy these last few minutes. The moment I get out of here, I'm destroying this damn locket ''.

And she didn't mind burning the entire forest with Fiendfyre in the process.

Regulus made a scolding sound. "Your problems won't be solved when you destroy the locket. How many pieces of his soul are still out there, 5, 6?".

Harry didn't answer. Riddle's smile got impossibly wider. "Admit it. You can't defeat him alone. Regulus had a chance, but you? You're no savior. You're nothing. "

Tom made her feel like a useless insect with a single glance, but she didn't back down. Harriet had grown up with people who considered her trash. A few insults in that fake posh accent of his wouldn't break her. She felt an icy rage, though.

"Maybe I can't. Maybe the only way to keep my people safe is if I go to him willingly and ask for a truce."

"You and Voldemort? I don't think so." Regulus replied flatly, but his eyes were suspicious. It was Harriet's turn to smile.

She wanted to hurt him as his lies had hurt her.

"Why not? I have Black blood. He'll want me. Isn't that what he needs, two Blacks by his side? Maybe I'll take your position, Regulus. Maybe I'll ask him to teach me just enough so that I can put you two in a much less pleasant place than this. He won't mind."

Regulus paled. Tom was clearly studying her with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You wouldn't do that, not to your parents' killer."

"You don't know me, Regulus. Don't you dare say what I would or wouldn't do."

"You're right. We don't know each other. So why do my lies affect you so much? I'm a marked Death Eater. What did you expect from me?"

"I hoped the boy who sacrificed himself to save thousands of lives was decent! Your note inside the locket was my only source of strength for a long time. I grieved for you."

She could have lied, pretended to be superior, but Harry wasn't like that. She was always too honest, and she was tired. Her answer left Regulus speechless and pale. Tom, on the other hand, didn't seem moved.

"You want him dead, and so do we. I can help you track down the other Horcruxes."

"You are him, am I supposed to believe you want to help? Help me? "

"I don't want to help, but as you said yourself, Voldemort doesn't give a damn what happens to us as long as the locket's Horcrux remains intact."

Of course, Riddle only cared about his own skin. "And why do you think I'm going to be any different? I'm tired of making bargains with your kind."

"You are Dumbledore's golden girl. You have morals ." He snapped, uttering the last word as if it had particularly offended him.

I wouldn't count on it . Harry thinks, remembering Antonin. She is trying very hard not to look at Regulus. She needs to be rational and analytical now. "And what will your help cost me?".

"I only want you to keep visiting us. It's boring here."

"If you think I'm going to give you another chance to drain me, you're wrong. I'm going to squash you both like bugs the first chance I get."

"Don't talk to me like that, my love. I might get attached."

Without answering, the girl turned away to leave. Regulus stopped her. "Harry, I'm sorry."

"Let go of me, and it's Potter for you now, you liar." She whispered, tugging on her wrist to free herself from his touch. She felt her heart breaking all over again.

"Harry...".

"Regulus, let her go. If she hurts you again, I will kill her." Riddle said, not moving from where he was. Black finally gave up.

Harry wanted to throw the locket across the forest when she got back. Her entire body trembled, her breathing ragged from the painful pressure in her chest.

The jewel almost glowed in the dark as if it were mocking her. Potter buried her face in her hands, taking a deep breath.

She wanted to cry, but she didn't. She wished to scream, but she didn't. In the end, she had to content herself with wiping the blood from her nose.

She was angrier with herself than with Regulus for lying to her. After all, that was the nature of Horcruxes. They were treacherous little things, designed to survive at any cost. Potter would be lost if she ended up clinging to one.

With a rueful sigh that helped her compose herself, the girl removed the locket around her neck to put it in her pocket. The instant her skin came into contact with the pendant, his voice filled her head. Harry, Harry, Harry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

"Shut up! I've heard enough from you for a lifetime." She hissed through clenched teeth, tucking the necklace awkwardly into one of her pockets before heading off in search of the bottle of vodka that Moody kept for the hard days.

Armed with her invisibility cloak and wand, she set off, crossing the camp's borders without a care.

The alcohol burned her throat as she swallowed it, but Harriet ignored the bitter taste. She made a pathetic figure, throwing rocks into the river, with the Invisibility Cloak over her shoulders, but she needed the numbing before she went crazy.

She felt hopeless and alone. Harry was so alone and so angry all the time. She just wanted it all to stop.

Potter had taken two long swigs when the doe Patronus found her, Severus Snape next. The potions master was the only Order spy who had access to the camp's new location.

"Professor, you look awful."

And he did. The skin under his eyes had a gray tinge. Snape scowled at her, or maybe that was just his face.

They had a strange relationship, she and Snape.

He had tormented her for years but taught her to use Occlumency.

Harry was terrible at hiding what she thought, but Severus made her develop a very efficient technique, taught her to conceal the crucial parts of her mind, and keep the remains in disarray. To the rest of the world, Harriet had no Occlumency shields.

Snape also threatened the Dursleys to feed and treat her better. He'd saved her so many times she'd lost count, but he wasn't nice, and Harry wasn't respectful.

Their relationship improved significantly during her sixth year at Hogwarts when she learned to hide her secrets so well that even Dumbledore couldn't read her. That same year, the Headmaster told Harry about his plan for Snape to gain Voldemort's absolute trust.

"Charming as always, Potter."

"What can I say? I'm the soul of the party". She exclaimed bitterly, taking another sip of her drink.

Snape didn't find it funny. " Idiotic girl! You have to stop this militia crusade. The moment he gets his hands on you, it's over."

"I don't have a Horcrux tracker, so forgive the eighteen-year-old witch for taking too long to kill the immortal Dark Lord you joined of your own free will."

She thought he would hex her, and maybe she deserved it, but he didn't, just threw Gryffindor's sword at her feet. "Don't test my patience. Do you think I have nothing to do but run after you and make sure you complete your task before you end up killing yourself? You can destroy his Horcruxes with this, a souvenir of your little adventure in the chamber of secrets and proof that you wasted six years of education on foolishness."

Harriet blinked a few times, looking from the sword to him. Snape appeared exhausted and sad, and angry. She didn't know what to say.

"I'm trying. If I knew an easier way to kill him, I would have done it already." She muttered, even as the prospect of destroying the locket made her stomach clench with discomfort. The pendent even felt heavier in the pocket of her old jeans.

Severus' face softened, and Harriet knew it was Lily he saw in her face. Harry looked more like the Black's side of his father's family, having inherited the untamed dark hair and aristocratic traits that gave her a perpetual air of arrogance. But her eyes were Lily's, and he would love Lily as long as he breathed.

The man was no saint, but still, Harry could sympathize.

He was doomed to see the eyes of the woman he loved in the face of people who had despised him his entire life.

Sirius told her about Snape's strained relationship with her mother. He also said that if the potions master ever looked at her funny, she should go straight to Dumbledore. But Severus never did, never mistook her for her mother. In the rare moments when he lost himself in the illusion of Lily in her eyes, there was only sadness on his face, regret.

"There's one more thing. Dumbledore forbade me to tell you until the last moment, but I won't spare you the choice."

Harriet stared at him, looking for an explanation.

"The prophecy, Harry. He needs to kill you. He needs to kill the piece of his soul he put in you."

The bottle fell from Potter's hand, her legs lost strength, and she collapsed to the earth like an empty potato sack. The reality of her situation hit her like a tornado, making her dizzy. "I'm… Are you saying I'm a Horcrux? That I'm his Horcrux? Oh my god ."

She wanted to scream and throw up, but she didn't do any of those things. Deep down, she'd always known, but even so, hearing the truth made her feel dirty like she was a parasite living on someone else's skin.

"Listen to me, your foolish child. He doesn't know yet. If you willingly go to him and tell him, you can join him and live . Lily wanted you to live, and if you choose to do so, I promise I will keep you safe. You owe this world nothing, Harriet. Wizards have been fighting each other for centuries. This war doesn't have to be yours."

She just curled herself around herself and covered her ears. If she stayed still long enough, maybe everything would disappear. Did Regulus and Tom know?.

Snape was still trying to coerce her out of that bubble of dissociation, but Harriet couldn't handle the reality. It took several minutes for her to unwind and sit down again.

"I can hear her, you know? Every time a dementor gets too close, I hear her begging. But she's not begging for herself. She's begging him to spare me . He could have stunned her, could have stunned them both but chose to kill them. Sometimes I wish he'd knocked them out and killed me."

Snape was very still.

"I won't join him. It'll end up with both of us dead, and that's okay. I always knew I wouldn't make it, but I'll make sure I take him with me. I'll kill him for my mom. She died begging for my life. I won't repay her sacrifice acting cowardly."

Harriet didn't expect any reaction. It wasn't like Snape would hug her, cry and give in to sentimentality. But he nodded, and she realized how young he still was. Severus spent a good part of his life fighting other people's wars, lying, manipulating, much of it because he loved Lily Evans so much . The weight of his mistakes makes him look older, but Harry doesn't feel in a position to judge, grudge won't change what's already happened, and she's not in a position to reject allies.

The two had more in common than she ever imagined. Both are liars. Both are slowly poisoning themselves.

"The last time I spoke to her, she said she hated me." He confides, several seconds later. Harry reaches for the man's hand in the dark and does her best to smile.

"Well, when I die and find her again, I'll tell her that you're a decent guy and that you're very sorry."

Harry thinks he'll scold her, but the man only closes his eyes, looking even more exhausted. "You still can change your mind."

"I won't, but he doesn't need to know that. I know how to find the other Horcruxes, but I need time."

" What are you saying? ".

Harriet shrugged. She would die soon, so she would have to work out a plan to end Voldemort for good. "I'll look for him and tell him I want a truce."