Chapter 15

Summary: An unexpected 'friend' appears. Sorry for it being so short, I am trying to finish the overload of work atm.

Notes: Weeeellll, all I can say is that it sucks to be a grown-up. The bonus I was hoping for (and which we actually worked for in the rain and from which I actually got really sick), wasn't given to me because of the skewed 'written warning' that I received a while ago. As a result, I had to try and do some extra work because Christmas is expensive and my daughter's bday is also between Christmas and New-years and I refuse to give her anything half-assed just because my boss is being stingy and generally being a female imitation of Scrooge. I also have to finish a newspaper for the school during the holidays, which I also won't be paid for, so generally, even though the school is a Christian school, I hate it there and the fact that 5 of her staff have left in the last year alone hasn't clued her into the fact that she is hated at all.

Ok, sorry, I am now done with my rant and I promise to upload another one-shot story as soon as I can after this chapter as payment for those who actually bother to listen to my rants (seriously though, writing keeps me calm so I would upload it even if no one bothers to read my rants, still, thank you, the end 2022 gave a solid reason for wanting to leave that school).

Harry

Harry spent a moment waiting for the bomb to burst, and another as no one seemed to react other than to gape at him. He thought it a good thing that no one freaked out until Rosalee put up her hand in a universal stop sign, jumped up, poured each of them a bit from a bottle of firewhisky that he'd gifted to her from the vault, and before he could warn her she gulped it down and steam came from her ears as she coughed and glared at him, "What the hell was in that whisky?!"

Harry laughed, "Honestly? I don't know but I am sure that it had matured after all these years."

The four people in the room looked at him strangely as he bravely took his glass and gulped it down before setting his glass down with a thud to mostly hide his own cough, "Yeah, that was way stronger than I am used to." It seemed no one was going to address the elephant in the room.

His face suddenly became serious and he sighed as he glanced toward Nick, "You still have that key with you?" The man nodded in confusion and removed it from his shirt and then his neck as Harry held out his hand. The fact that the man gave it to him without a second thought made Harry feel strangely warm inside and he grasped hold of that feeling to calm his nerves as he opened the key and set it on the table.

With a resigned sigh, he allowed some of his magic to flow through the key and into the table, which allowed a map to carve itself into the wood as the people around him watched wide-eyed.

It didn't take long before he removed the key, revealing a complete map, but before Sean could lean forward with his phone to take a photo, Harry stopped him, causing the man to protest, "Harry, we have to find the vault before anyone else, if it's used against us it will…"

Harry shook his head and the man became quiet, "Do you remember what you told me about the vault? You said, "No one knows what it unlocks. Only that it holds something of immense power…something that would allow the seven families to rule the world. Some think it's the prophet Muhammad's sword, a secret of alchemy, a secret of immortality, or the nails or pieces of the Cross.' Do you remember those words?"

Sean's eyes widened as his gaze jumped from Harry to the map and Harry nodded, "You won't find anything left in that vault but a sheer drop to your death once you dig through the ground."

Nick watched him with wide eyes as his gaze fell onto the items that had appeared on Harry earlier, "You can't die…how long were you in there? Why would you do that to yourself?"

Harry scoffed before a sad smile graced his features, "Well, my story doesn't stop the moment I gained the items. Sure, I woke up and defeated the Dark Lord, and sure I snapped the wand in two and lost the stone, but they came back to me time and time again. We won the war, and I was naïve to think that I would finally be able to live my life the way I wanted to live it."

Monroe frowned at him, "What happened?"

Harry sighed and took a deep breath as he finally breached the wall of memories that he'd been trying to avoid, "Well, the 'light side' became divided once it was revealed that Dumbledore was still alive. Unfortunately, many people were all too ready to believe that he had to fake his death to ensure that I didn't go dark and they forced me through a ritual that would set things right. But what they didn't know is that he'd 'tweaked' it a bit so that it would definitely go wrong and I was in pain for hours as it tried to tear through me. Still, I survived and for a time it was quiet because he hadn't been able to make me go mad, but the attacks began and those from our group gathered to try and find a way to end the new threat, only to find that the threat came from those that once fought at our side."

The group glanced at each other in confusion before Rosalee turned to Harry, "Why would they start another war if you just ended one? Wouldn't people rather want a time of peace?"

Harry shook his head with a sad smile, "You can't blame everyone, but for most, it is easier to simply choose a side and to accuse the other. You will always find people whose opinions differ from your own no matter where you go, but in some cases you find people that believe they are destined for greatness and they end up stepping over many to get where they want to be, even if it is never enough."

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself as images flashed behind his eyes, quickly trying to blink them away before he continued his tale, "In Dumbledore's case, his father had been a muggle hater and he believed himself to be better than them. Such constant exposure to such hate and belief easily takes root in one's mind, though some manage to break free from it as they grow older and it is those people that come out far stronger than those that hadn't gone through such a trial."

He glanced down at his hands, "Dumbledore believed himself to be unaffected by everything that had happened, and after defeating a previous Dark Lord, who had been his friend in the past and whose beliefs he had fully followed, he molded himself into the image of a leader that could do no wrong and instead of becoming minister, he was appointed headmaster of a school full of impressionable children."

Rosalee gasped, "But surely not everyone stood for it?"

Harry sighed and shook his head, "Of course not. Voldemort didn't just decide to appear one day if that's what you are thinking. He was an orphan, the product of a witch using a love potion on the man she had a crush on so that she could escape the horrid abusive family she had. The Gaunt family was the last of the proud Slytherin line, one of the founders of Hogwarts, but only an abusive father and son as well as a magically-weak daughter remained. She wanted out, and because she probably knew Tom Riddle Senior wouldn't give her the time of day, she made sure that it still happened."

Harry didn't give anyone time to talk as he forged on, "Once she became pregnant, she stopped using the potions, thinking that Tom Riddle Senior would stay with her and love her, but he reacted like anyone in his shoes would have, he was scared. She was left to fend for herself, seeing as her brother and father would kill her if she returned and she only lived long enough to give birth to Tom before she died, leaving him at an orphanage."

Monroe looked at him strangely, "You don't seem to be as angry as I thought you'd be."

Harry gave a wry grin, "I hated him at first for what he'd done, but I soon realized that I loved the idea of having loving parents more than I actually loved them, given that you cannot love what you don't know. I didn't learn anything about them until after I became eleven, and even then it was bits and pieces. So when I learned about how he grew up and how Dumbledore seemed to force him into a role he never intended on taking at first, well, I couldn't really stay mad at him. I didn't even want to take his life, but many people were dying and I didn't want the people I saw as family to meet the same fate, I might have even told him I was his Horc…"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence as there was suddenly a brutal tug on his ear and he yelped in pain before glaring at the culprit, only to find himself looking into a slightly familiar form. For a moment he didn't recognize the man in his miniaturized state, but then he focused on the red eyes and yelped before diving over the table and glaring at the figure that hadn't moved from his previous position.

"W-what the hell are you doing here!" Harry glared at the man, but couldn't really put much heat into it, seeing as he truly felt the way he'd just revealed.

The smirk didn't leave Tom Riddle's face, as he seemed to delight in Harry's nervousness, "I would think it's obvious, I'm here to help."

Harry glared at the man in doubt and then he looked toward Hermione, who seemed to have tied Sirius to his animagus form before putting a leash on him as his godfather tried to attack, instead, she shrugged, "None of us have that kind of power to fully restore a soul, Master Death said that you unconsciously wished it and he made it so."

Harry warily turned his attention back to Tom Riddle who had floated over even closer in his miniature form, "You know, I've always wanted a little sibling that I could confide in, who knew me and still accepted me."

Harry noted that the words seemed truthful, even if the smirk never left the man's lips and he was about to deny it, but then he paused even as he tilted his head slightly to the side, "The soul-piece within me…"

Tom Riddle grumpily crossed his arms and the expression slipped from his face, "Was a right nuisance from the very moment you unconsciously decided to merge my soul into one again." He gave a long-suffering sigh before the smirk returned once more, "But then again, you will need my expertise when the battle arrives."