A small part of Harry always knew it wouldn't work.
Now, as the camp collapsed around her, with Wards falling apart as dozens of Death Eaters burned tents and killed anyone who didn't flee fast enough, the girl was sure she should have trusted her instincts.
Voldemort had granted her a truce for his own obscure reasons, but Potter's people used that to attack him behind her back. While Harriet was withdrawing money from her Gringottes account to send people to another country, the Order organized a massive mission against the Dark Lord's forces.
The attack failed in the end.
Voldemort was no longer interested in prisoners or in listening to Harry.
'' I told you. Said we were better off without these people's dead weight, but no, you had to be stubborn and insist on playing your Saint Potter role. Tom Riddle muttered into her ear irritably, causing her to huff aloud.
Harriet is annoyed, but she knows she was only hanging on because she had them.
''There won't be us anymore if you keep distracting me''. Harry warned, dodging before the Killing Curse's sickening green glow passed so close to her head that her hair moved from the force behind the spell.
Their surroundings were a chaotic mess of wild flames, screams, and the heavy smell of Black Magic. Whatever mercy the girl had managed to wring from Voldemort during that brief meeting had clearly run out, but for the first time in her life, she wasn't taking responsibility. Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the rest of the small council that ran the camp died for their own stupid mistakes.
Potter deflects another errant spell, nearly being crushed by a tree that got hit instead. The girl is shaking with exhaustion, her shields getting weaker with each cast. The boys in her head realize this. Harriet can feel Regulus' apprehension.
"I can deal with them and get us out of here. You only have to give me the control." He finally intervenes, the edge in his voice making it clear that the situation is critical.
''My body is not a bloody car! ''.
"And thanks to Merlin for that, I've seen second-years duel faster than you."
''Oh, I'm sorry if I'm not up to the standards of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, maybe I'll hand you over to your dear cousin Bellatrix. She sure doesn't duel like a second-year ''. Potter complains, casting Sectumsempra at a pair of Death Eaters who attacked a woman and her child.
''Don't threaten him. If you keep this up, we'll fall into Bellatrix's hands anyway. Your spell repertoire is ridiculous''. Tom sounds bored, and Harriet wants to punch him for it.
''Yeah, don't threaten me''.
Emmeline Vance finds her before the girl can offer a proper answer, and the two of them exchange codes to prove they aren't Death Eaters in disguise. There's a bloody gash that runs from the older woman's forehead to the chin, yet she looks focused. ''You need to come with me, Harry. We cannot allow them to capture you ''.
''I don't remember all this worry when you guys betrayed me''. She snapped petulantly.
Something like guilt filled Emmeline's features. Potter remained resolute, using the spells Regulus whispered in her ear to keep Voldemort's soldiers away, but there were too many of them, and she was tired. ''We can't go. We need to help others''.
''It's too late for them, I'm sorry''.
Harriet had never wanted to punch a person so much before. It wouldn't be too late if the Order had trusted her. None of the people in the camp deserved to die this way, slaughtered like animals, with no chance of defense. The little place has been her safe haven for months, and the girl feels tears running down her grimy cheeks as she looks around and notices the pile of debris the clearing became.
She doesn't even know where Ron and Hermione are.
I did this, me and my stupidity.
''Harry, you won't be able to avenge them if you're dead. Emmeline will take you to a safe place''. Regulus tries to persuade her, his voice undeniably gentle and overlaying the threats Tom makes in the background about taking control of her body if she continues to act like an idiot.
Vance can't hear them but gives the girl a pitying look before using a portkey to get them both out of there as Harriet nods.
The travel to the safe house was a blur. Harry didn't know the place. She was only aware that it was one of the Longbottom family's many properties.
Grates of moss-colored metal opened as the two women landed on the soft grass. A mansion of sinister Gothic architecture awaited her with its imposing structures and curtained windows. There were very few people in the living room, but a joint murmur of ''Potter'' & ''Thank Merlin'' filled the room as the girl's exhausted figure walked through the door.
Immediately she recognized some members of the council, who had somehow managed to escape the massacre.
Before, this effortlessly earned adoration made her uncomfortable, but now the only thing Harriet could feel was anger.
For a long, sweet moment, the girl allowed herself to imagine what it would be like if she punished them for their foolishness. She imagined all that anguish enveloping her, imagined the screams and the way they would look at her, not with blind adoration, but with fear.
When she came back to herself, Potter was horrified. She wasn't like that.
''You should kill them. These people are nothing but useless insects''. Riddle suggested, peeking at the edges of her mind. Harry could feel his emotions too. The almost desperate greed with which he clung to those violent impulses that snaked through her thoughts.
'' Thomas ''. Regulus' voice was a warning, but even so, Harriet was able to pick up the '' Not Yet '' hidden in his tone. When had she gotten so good at reading them?.
Like a puppet, Potter allowed Emmeline to escort her to a room on the top floor of that huge house. She didn't like people treating her like a child they had put to sleep, but she was afraid of what she would do if Emmeline forced her to interact with the people responsible for the camp's fall. Vance said something she didn't hear before she left to talk to the few Order members in the house.
Harry lay down on the bed but was unable to sleep. Her body hummed with tired energy after that fight.
With her fingers around the locket, she closed her eyes.
Regulus was standing in his pretentious living room, devastatingly handsome with the flames of the fireplace accentuating the arrogant curve of his lips. One look was enough for Harry to start crying. Her chest ached, the humiliation of having gone to Voldemort only to have her own people betray her. Black didn't say anything, but his features softened, and he opened his arms to wrap her as she approached.
Hugging him felt good. He smelled divine, like incense and expensive cologne. Potter pressed her face against the side of his neck and closed her eyes, allowing the sobs to shake her body. She could still scent the smoke, hear the screams.
Nothing Harry did was enough to end this war.
''It wasn't your fault. Our people were never the most rational''. Regulus assured her in a whisper, his lips touching the girl's temple tenderly. Potter didn't want to let go. More tears came.
How many had died that night? How many innocent people? How many children? And those who got captured?. Ron and Hermione were alive?. She just wanted it to stop . She would make as many deals as necessary. ''Tom?''.
" I'm here. '' Riddle replied almost immediately, and then Harriet was passed from one pair of arms to the other, like a child. It felt different from the Order condescension, though. It felt like caring .
"Aren't you going to call me an idiot?". She questioned, her face buried in the front of his shirt. She could hear Regulus sighing behind her back. Riddle's fingers slid over her spine calmly. Hugging him was awkward as if he didn't quite know what he was doing, but that was okay. Potter didn't either.
"You are an idiot. I don't need to point this out."
Regulus muttered something Harry couldn't understand. She could almost feel Riddle rolling his eyes.
"Okay, it wasn't your fault." He retracted, patting the girl on the head as if she were a well-behaved dog.
Potter started to laugh between sobs. There she was, being comforted by two dead boys. One of them is a death eater, the other the indirect responsible for that whole mess. The strangest part was how relaxing it all was.
Harry snapped back to the bedroom the instant Ron and Hermione appeared there. They were both wearing equally exhausted expressions.
''We didn't know, I swear''. It was the first thing Weasley said. The girl was so relieved to see them alive that she forced herself to get out of the mattress, throwing her arms around one and then the other.
'' Your family? Is everyone okay? ''.
'' Our family, Harry. They're fine. Mum disagreed with this bloody plan for not wanting to put you at risk. She tried to warn us, but she wasn't quick enough''.
Harriet nodded, pulling away to examine them in the dim light inside the room. The Weasleys would never betray her. That was the only certainty the girl had.
''Ginny and Neville escaped from Hogwarts''. Ron informs as the silence becomes too much. The girl hates that her interactions with her friends feel robotic, but she's too drained, too hurt, to make some effort.
Please be with Ravenclaw's Diadem . Potter thinks, her eyes inevitably turning to Hermione, who remains silent. '' Are you okay? ''.
''Yes, Draco took me out of there in the middle of the confusion''. Despite the answer, the girl seems distant. She's staring at the locket that Harriet unconsciously squeezes between her fingers. ''Harry, should you sleep with this thing? ''.
Potter shrugs, defensive. ''It has no effect on me''.
Ginny and Neville arrived the next day, but Harry wasn't there to greet them right away.
She'd spent the day inside the locket, walking with the two boys through their ghost town. She and Regulus threw rocks at Hepzibah Smith's house, taunting Tom about sleeping with the woman until he lost his temper. After that, they went back to the apartment, where the boys worked on something complex involving the Dark Mark in the lab while Harriet watched, sitting on one of the high stools.
It was so much easier to be with them than in the chaotic world outside. Sometimes Harry wanted to switch places.
When Hermione woke her up, the girl felt a little disappointed.
"Ginny is here. She brought the Horcrux."
That bit of information motivated Potter to get out of bed faster, and in an instant, she was already in the living room with everyone else. Ginny was the center of attention, making vivid hand gestures as she narrated how she, Neville, and a few other members of Dumbledore's Army escaped the Death Eaters at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall apparently stayed there to protect the other students that couldn't flee.
The instant the girl saw Harry standing near the stairs, her entire face lit up.
Ginny immediately approached her, and Potter found herself smiling back despite it all. Weasley was taller and prettier than she remembered. Her hair shone like a dazzling fire, her face sincere and clearly happy to see Harry.
The hint of attraction Harriet always felt towards the other girl spread through her.
''I'm told you're a general or something now. Impressive, but don't think I'm going to let you order me around."
''You're terrible at following orders, anyway. Giving you orders never worked in Quidditch. I doubt a simple war will change things. '' Potter replies, and then they are laughing.
It's easy to like Ginny. It would be easy to like Ginny. However, staring at her, Harry could only compare her warm gaze to Regulus's cold one, the soft angles of her handsome face to Tom's sharp features. Ginevra was energetic and full of life. Choosing her meant embracing things Harriet no longer wanted for herself.
Oblivious to her inner conflicts, Weasley flashed another smile and hugged the girl, only to recoil half a second later, looking hurt and surprised. ''Harry? You gave me a shock! ''.
Potter remains staring at her, completely confused, then a laugh full of delight fills her head. "Let it serve as a reminder for her to learn to keep those hands to herself," Tom says, without a shred of remorse.
He gave Ginny a shock for touching her. Harriet is too stunned to want to punch him. The girl's surprise seems to amuse him. "Don't be like that, my love. The idea came from your precious Regulus."
Ginny is still looking at her for an explanation.
''Sorry, I still have yesterday's attack in my head. It must be residual magic.''
Understanding practically emanates from the other girl. Harry mumbles an intelligible apology before heading back to the bedroom, utterly furious.
"You can't use the locket as a… shock collar . What the hell is your problem?". She says, slamming the door behind her hard. Tom remains unshakable inside her head.
''Weasley had contact with the diary. She could recognize that the locket is active and hand us over to your idiot friends."
He didn't even bother to come up with a convincing lie. Regulus' silence only proved that.
''Stop shocking my friends''. Harriet demands, too exhausted to deal with whatever was on their bright but troubled minds.
''Is that what she is? A friend? ''. Black asks, causing the girl to rub her face, grunting audibly.
''What's the matter with you two? ''.
For the first time in months, they were quiet. Harry raised her head, trying to think of something that would explain that odd behavior. ''I won't do something stupid because of Ginny. I'm not going to destroy the locket, so the two of you can stop whatever this is ''.
''Merlin, you are absurd sometimes''.
Before Potter had a chance to tell Tom to go fuck himself, a knock on the bedroom door stopped her.
Ginny was on the other side, carrying a bag, and with a strange expression on her face. "Were you talking to yourself?".
Harriet shrugged. ''It's the only safe option. When I talk to others, I often get stabbed in the back''.
Weasley soughed. "Ron told me. That was a shitty move from the Order."
It wasn't fair to talk to her like that, though. Harry gestured for the girl to enter the room as if trying to redeem herself.
" Was it too bad, at Hogwarts?". She asked, crossing her arms. She didn't get a chance to hear everything cause Riddle distracted her by encouraging her to kill the remaining council members.
When Ginevra hesitated to respond, Potter felt frustrated. "What? What's the matter?"
The other girl's eyes were no longer on her face. They were on the chain she had around her throat, just like Hermione had done the night before. ''The Diadem you asked me to take and this locket... Are they like his diary? ''.
'' No ''. Harriet lies almost too quickly and swallows hard. As petty as that attitude is, she doesn't want to face the fact that at sixteen, Tom was already a monster.
''And even then, you don't resent it as much as you should...''. It's Regulus whispering in her ears, in an understanding resonance. They are really in the same boat, she and Black.
"So? Hogwarts? Why don't you want to tell me?". The girl presses on, more out of a desire to distract herself than out of interest. Ginny's cheeks turn red with embarrassment.
"It's just that... What's left of the council asked me to give you a break."
''I wish I had been given a break before going to the Dark Lord to beg for a truce''. Potter replied dryly, moving her eyes to Ginevra's bag.
Harriet didn't need anyone to tell her what was inside. She could feel the Horcrux calling to her.
"Keep thinking like that, and I'll be jealous." Tom mocks.
" Shut up. " The girl scolds him, tired of the lack of privacy. Spending nineteen years in a locket left them both bored, eager for whatever gossip they might hear, and their only source of news was Harriet.
''Harry? ''. Ginny questions. She has that weird look on her face again. Potter realizes she's spoken to Tom aloud and curses in her mind.
"I'm just going... I need some air. Thanks for bringing the Diadem for me."
Ignoring Ginevra's questions about how she knew what was in the bag, Harriet grabbed the Horcrux and her backpack from the corner, slipping under the Invisibility Cloak before the girl could stop her.
''Is this one like you? ''. Potter asks, already far from the Longbottom estate.
There's a dense forest surrounding the land. The trees are so tall that they almost completely block out the sunlight.
The dark doesn't scare Harriet. She keeps walking and is grateful to be out of the house.
'' Why? Do you intend to trade us? ''. Regulus teases, his mood seems to have improved.
Harry grins. ''Perhaps I intend to''.
''The diary and locket were the only conscious Horcruxes. I'm sorry to disappoint you, my love." Riddle responds, and she shakes her head as if he can see her. ''What about the ring?''.
"Conscious enough to kill Dumbledore, Thomas almost cried with emotion when you told us."
Harriet thought they could have choked her to death with the locket. Tom seemed to enjoy this.
"Stop reading my mind." She requested, annoyed.
"I can't. It's automatic."
Dropping her backpack, the girl removed first Godric Gryffindor's sword, then the Diadem. Her hands were trembling, the object's dark magic practically screaming at her. The two boys were quiet, but Potter could feel their support, and that was enough.
There are no screams, smoke, or threats when Harriet brings the blade down on the Horcrux, just a viscous black liquid that melts the leaves and the tip of her worn shoe.
Harriet stares at the ruined piece of jewelry with disgust and a shiver of fear as she thinks of someone else doing the same thing to the locket.
More deaths had to happen for Harry to open her eyes about the status of the war. Even with the betrayal she suffered from her own people, she did what the new council asked. She stepped back from the front lines and focused on defeating Voldemort once and for all.
However, people were still dying by the dozen. The Dark Lord's soldiers were no longer playing games. They had express orders to kill.
The Order's precarious training didn't cover the kind of magic they used. Harry tried once to talk about using dark spells as they did, but Ron and Hermione immediately looked at the locket hidden inside her blouse as if thinking that she was possessed.
She wasn't. Harriet wasn't a child or something broken. She was very capable of forming her own opinions, especially about something so obvious.
The girl was lucky they didn't know she had the sword of Gryffindor because if they found out, she'd run out of excuses for not destroying the locket. For this, Potter was being more careful.
The boys gave her some privacy as people on the new camp began to notice her weird behavior, the fact that she was constantly talking to herself and isolating herself from other people to spend time with them.
Ever since Tom had told her about Helga Hufflepuff's cup being a Horcrux and being in the Lestrange vault, Harry hadn't focused on anything but a plan to get it out. However, Fred and George's deaths force her out of her stagnated state.
When the truce with Voldemort went into space and, the first camp fell, most of the Order's supporters abandoned their homes and establishments to join the rebellion. The twins were no different. Now they were dead.
And if the Order didn't intend to do something about it, Harriet decided to take the matter into her own hands. Otherwise, she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to look Molly Weasley in the face again.
Tom and Regulus are in the lab as she enters the locket's little world, poring over dozens of notes and magic equations. Harriet clears her throat. They stare at her.
''I want you two to teach me how to fight. The Order's shitty training isn't enough anymore," she demands, rubbing a hand over her face nervously as the boys exchange glances with each other.
It's Riddle who reacts first, a long, predatory smile shaping his perfect mouth. Harry feels his emotions in her chest, the eagerness to turn her into a lethal weapon, the ''finally'' he almost whispers. "Of course, Harry."
Regulus remains more restrained, but his eyes have the same dark glow as Tom's face when he completes. "We thought you would never ask."