The last days of term were… awkward, to say the least. Moody had vanished into thin air, then turned up again a few days later, spouting something about being trapped in a chest. It was pretty low on the scale of batshit-crazy-thing-that-happen-at-Hogwarts, so it wasn't given much attention.
The Ilvermorny crowd had visited her in the infirmary to say their goodbyes. They'd each given Hari a letter and Emily passed over the booklet of spells, even though Hari hadn't beaten her in a duel yet. The letters were filled praise, advice, and promises to stay in touch.
Even though Hari and Cedric had grabbed the cup at the same time, he was the only one who came back with it, so he was pronounced the winner, and he was very upset about it. It was way worse than their quidditch match the year before. The school was informed of Voldemort's return, and Hari and Cedric were mostly left alone. Which worked out well for them; it gave them ample time to talk. There was so much to discuss.
In the last days before the official end of his sixth year and her fourth year, Hari told Cedric every grewsome detail of her first three years at Hogwarts. It had taken a long time, and Cedric hadn't taken all of it very well, but he was still by her side. He'd asked her for everything, and he'd never asked before, so she thought it was finally time to share.
Sirius, Remus, and Hermione were brought in on the secret of them being soulmates on their first day at Grimmauld place. There were tears and hugs and a surprising amount of alcohol.
The Weasley's were finishing up things at the Burrow, planning to arrive in three weeks' time, after the eldest Weasley combed the place over for curses.
Currently, the only permanent residents of number twelve Grimmauld Place were Sirius, Remus, Hari, Hermione, and Cedric. His parents had put up quite the fight against the idea, and only relented when they were told that Dumbledore himself was the secret keeper. Hermione's parents hadn't really understood, but she had always been convincing.
The first few weeks were spent healing. Hari was forced to be bedbound for the first full week and Sirius had become some sort of mother hen, checking in on the hour, every hour. She spent most of her time reading. A few different healers had been brought in to look at her arm, but none of them could say if she would ever regain function.
Three days before the Weasley's were set to move in, Hermione cornered Hari in the library.
"I've found it, Hari," she said gravely, gesturing to a stack of books besides her. The girl had barely slept since the library had been declared fit for browsing.
"The thing that came out of my head?" she asked.
"Yeah. It's the darkest magic I've ever come across, Hari. Truly awful," Hermione looked away guiltily.
"Spit it out," Hari laughed, finding herself annoyed at the anticipation.
"It's called a horcrux," Hermione said quietly. "It's a bit of someone's soul that they've removed. It makes you functionally immortal."
The dust settled around the room as Hermione waited for the inevitable explosion. She'd even closed her eyes to prepare for it, but opened them again after several seconds of silence. She found that Hari had conjured a chair and was now sitting down.
"How do you make one?" she asked calmly.
"Well, the books don't give specifics, but it starts with a sacrifice – a person's death. Then there's a ritual and a potion to sever the soul, and finally a spell to contain it in your… chosen object," Hermione finished.
Hari had been nodding along absentmindedly, staring out of the library's arched windows. "They aren't meant to be contained in living things," Hari guessed.
"All the books reference an object to contain the soul fragment in. None of them mention a living host," Hermione confirmed.
"I need to think," Hari said. Her eyes had lost their spark, and Hermione moved to leave when Hari grabbed her arm gently. "Will you stay?"
"Of course," Hermione said.
She conjured her own chair, and settled in.
"I don't mind if you read," Hari whispered about five minutes into their silence. She smiled at the sound of Hermione's relief.
The two sat there in silence, other than the occasional turning of a page and the occasional pulse of Hari's angry magic, for three hours before Hari spoke again.
"Dumbledore knows," she said. "That's why he stayed away all these years. Why he never checked on me. Why he kept me as uneducated as possible. Gave me just enough information to sate my curiosity without giving up anything vital…" Hari trailed off, getting that far off look in her eye for a brief second before coming back down to reality, "How do you destroy a horcrux, Hermione?"
"The object must be completely destroyed. Completely destroyed. Beyond all means of repair," Hermione answered quietly.
"He raised me to die," Hari replied evenly.
"I think… I think he wanted you to do it willingly. I think that everything, all of our 'adventures,'" she said, laughing with self-pity, "were ways for you to die heroically. So he wouldn't have to do it himself." By the time she was finished, her voice was almost too quiet to hear at all.
"I'm sure Tom would have done it eventually."
"But why?" Hermione asked, falling hard into study mode. "Why would he want to kill you when you carried a piece of his soul?"
"I remember that night, Hermione. After the horde… I remember it all. It actually starts with laughter. Dad did something ridiculous and made me laugh, which made Mum come in to check on us. Then she's laughing, and they settle onto the couch. Dad perks up after a minute, probably feeling the wards, and tells Mum to take me and go. Tom blasts in the door while Mum is with me on the stairs. He and Dad share some words, but… Tom is only toying with him, and kills him in nothing more than annoyance. Me and Mum are in the nursery by this time, and Mum is chanting.
"There's a flash of gold, and Mum stops chanting. Then Tom comes in and tells Mum to stand aside. Three times, he told her. Three chances. And she refused each time. So Tom laughs, then kills her too, because she's blocking his view of me." Hari looked away then, and continued on quietly. "And then he told me that he was sorry. Sorry because I had to die. Because nothing could stand in the way of the good he planned to do for wizard kind. He stood back, promised I wouldn't feel anything, then fired the killing curse at me. There was a flash of green, then of gold and the spell rebounded, hitting him in the chest, and his body fell to the ground."
Tears were streaming down both of their faces, and Hermione sent a few tissues Hari's way.
"There wasn't any time for Tom to perform a ritual," Hari finally said.
"The books advise against creating more than one horcrux. One book in particular, the one that spits out chloroform when you open it," she rolled her eyes, "says that splitting the soul even once destabilizes it."
"What are the risks of an unstable soul?" Hari asked, turning back to face her friend.
"I hadn't gotten that far," she admitted. "Though I doubt there's much literature on the topic."
"I think it's safe to assume that it could have been an accident," Hari reasoned. "He probably wouldn't be trying to kill me if he knew."
"That makes the most sense," Hermione agreed. "Hey, how has no one found us by now?"
"I control the wards," Hari replied casually. "I can keep them out."
"We should probably get something to eat," she suggested.
Convincing Sirius to let Cedric stay in Hari's room that night took way too little effort. Hari knew it was because Remus was away on a mission, but that didn't stop her from taking advantage. As soon as dinner was done, she dragged him up to the fourth floor, what they were calling the family floor. Sirius was in the master bedroom, Remus was in what used to be a study, and Hari was in Sirius' old room.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Hari's magic went wild. Cedric was thrown a few feet backwards from the sheer force of it, and Hari crumpled to the floor as the damn burst. Her face was soaked with tears before Cedric crawled over. He picked her up carefully and got both of them into bed, offering no words of comfort until she had calmed down.
"I need you to get the mini's," she whispered. "They're in my trunk and you're already keyed into the wards."
He was gone too fast and Hari shivered from the lack of his warmth. As soon as they were released, all four dragons flew to her side and lined up in front of her.
"~Mother, I need you,~" she said to them. Each dragon froze in place before shuddering slightly and turning to face her.
"~What has happened, my Ashka?~" Asha asked. 'Ashka' was their name for Hari, her dragon name. The name she was to tell others if and when she encountered them.
"~Will you understand if I say it in English?~"
"~Yes.~"
Hari turned to Cedric, who had joined her on the bed again and wrapped his arms around her.
"You don't have to tell me," he said. "I'm here either way."
"It was a bit of his soul," she choked out. "A bit of his soul lived in me for fourteen years."
Cedric blinked at her while he processed. "It's gone now?" he asked.
"It's what came out of my scar," she confirmed.
"It doesn't change who you are," he whispered and held her tightly. "It doesn't change how I feel about you."
Hari nodded as more tears streamed down her face. Cedric offered few words of comfort, knowing Hari preferred to be held as she tried to organize her thoughts and emotions. Every so often she'd grip him tighter and he would respond in turn, whispering something sweet before letting comfortable silence surround them again.
"What are they saying?" Cedric asked. All four mini's had been hissing.
"Mostly swears," Hari laughed and wiped away some of her tears while Cedric grabbed a tissue. She blew her nose and vanished it. They came to a silent agreement that the talking portion of the evening was over. Cedric helped Hari out of her muggle clothes and into her pajamas. She'd nonverbally insisted she could do it herself, but her left arm was still numb and she was exhausted, so Cedric's will won out. The dragons settled in as well, the horntail taking up residence on Hari's pillow, while the others curled up next to her stomach. Hari fell asleep quickly, but Cedric stayed awake for hours. He listened to her breaths and her heartbeat. Just to confirm that she was really there, really alive. Just to be sure.