Chapter 2: Collecting the Fragments

"But- but how?" pouted Iris, looking at Harry with wide, green eyes. It was something they shared; both his eyes and hers had the same emerald color.

Harry looked towards the tree branch Iris was wiggling her hand towards. Last week, she couldn't do anything to it, but this week she managed make it move a little by just holding out her hand. It was surprising, as he had not expected any results from her to begin with.

He smiled at her. "Well, you're moving it. So, the next step would be to lift," Harry said, and he held out his hand. The branch floated up several feet, and hung there without shaking.

His little sister looked at it with longing eyes before turning back to him.

"I can't do it, can I? I'm not as good as you are," she said, her face sullen.

"Iris," he consoled. He went closer to her, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry over what you can't do right now. Everyone gets better, little by little. One day, you'll do much more than make a branch float."

She frowned, looking downwards. "Was it hard for you too?"

"It used to be, yes."

She still looked sad. That was no way for a little girl to live.

"How about we do something else then?" he said. "Let's go back inside, and I'll open my trunk, and you can take out whichever book you like."

She gasped, and her head snapped towards him. "Any book?" she whispered, excited.

"Yes," he chuckled, "any book."

She squealed and grabbed his hand, pulling him behind her. Harry could not stop his smile. Most children were insufferable brats, but this girl was actually somewhat joyful to be around.

Harry looked out of his bedroom window as Iris sat on the bed, reading.

They had been at their aunt Petunia's house for five years now. Harry had seen many things, but he had never seen muggles quite as irritating as them. Petunia Dursley did not seem to care that they were her sister's children. The woman constantly treated them like unwelcome visitors.

Harry had taken over Iris's care as soon as he was able to. Neither his aunt or uncle had an answer for why the boy acted so mature, but they were all too happy to leave both siblings alone, if it meant they could pretend they didn't exist.

He was going to enjoy dealing with them permanently sometime in the future.

For now, Harry and Iris had enough stability, but he was unsatisfied with the situation. He was still a just a boy stuck with some muggles. He needed to be free of the restrictions, and the perfect way to do that was to get emancipated. He would be free of the Dursleys and Dumbledore, and would become Iris's magical guardian.

The process would be near impossible were he on his own. Fortunately, however, there was a certain pureblood with significant political power and funds. With the help of Lucius Malfoy, the task would be made trivial.

Before he did that, however, there was something he needed to do.

He needed to put a horcrux inside of Iris.

When Voldemort first made a horcrux at sixteen years old, he found that he was extremely well bonded he was to it. Someone could steal his diary, take it to the Saharan Desert, bury it as deep as possible, and he would still be able to tell its exact location and apparate directly there, without having seen the place before.

This ability had decreased exponentially the more horcruxes he made. Upon making his last soul vessel, the fifth one, he could not sense any of them in the slightest- they could be in the same room as him, and he would not feel the slightest tug.

However, horcruxes were not restricted to objects; they could be put inside of living things, as well. If he reabsorbed each one he had, and put just one inside of Iris, theoretically, that manner of tracking would be on her at all times. He would know her precise location at any given moment.

He made a mental list of all his horcruxes. The diary was with the Malfoys, the locket was in the cave, and the ring was at the Gaunt house.

The other two were not obtainable at the moment. The diadem was in Hogwarts, and the cup was locked in the Lestrange's Gringotts vault, and neither location could be waltzed into without attracting attention.

Regardless, if he reduced the horcrux amount to two, that would give him some sensing ability on Iris. Even if the connection was weak, it would give him peace of mind. He would probably have done something similar to her in the future anyways, so the sooner, the better.

He closed his eyes, and used his magic to search for a specific follower's Dark Mark. It had been such a long time, that it took him a moment to adjust to it, but he soon opened the line of communication, and sent a message.

It was the dead of night, and in the Dursley's backyard, under a tree and a privacy ward, a boy with black hair and green eyes was fuming. In front of him was Barty Crouch Jr, and lying on the ground next to them was an unconscious muggle man.

"The locket. It was like this when you found it?" Harry said in a cold, emotionless voice.

"Y-Yes, my lord... It was like that when I found it," Barty stammered.

Looking into his eyes, Harry found no trace of deceit. He grit his teeth.

Regulus Black. He had killed the traitor long ago, but apparently the man had found and taken his locket... that meant that even if he absorbed the diary and ring, he would still have a total of three. That would likely not give him any sensing abilities on Iris.

Harry sighed, and shook his head. "You've done well, Barty. Give me those objects, and my wand."

Barty reached into his pocket, and pulled out a black diary and silver ring. He handed both over, and then the wand as well. Harry smiled, despite the setback with the locket. It was like reuniting with an old friend.

Taking it from his hands, Harry waved his hand at Barty, who bowed and disappeared with a crack. Before Crouch's privacy ward could fade away, Harry waved his wand and cast one of his own.

Even if putting a horcrux inside Iris didn't give him a strong sense on her, it would be most beneficial to put it into her now. Being so young, her magic would adapt to it much better.

He turned to the unconscious muggle man on the ground. Pointing his wand at him, he cast a rennervate.

The man barely had time to open his eyes before he was hit in the head with a Killing Curse.

When Harry went back to his and Iris's room, she was still on the bed, reading the book she'd pulled from his trunk. As she heard the door open, she looked up, and beamed at him.

"Harry! You've been gone so long. Why weren't you at dinner?"

"You should be asleep, Iris."

She frowned, and sat up.

"Where were you?"

Harry walked closer, his hands clasped behind his back, until he was standing directly in front of her.

"I was doing something which needed my attention."

"What were you doing?"

Harry reached down onto the bed, and closed her book. "Iris, it's too late. You should be sleeping."

"But I want to know what you were doing," she pouted.

He set the book at the beside table, and glared at her.

His sister whined, and laid down, complaining under her breath. Harry sat down next to her, and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Iris," he softly said. She did not look at him.

"Iris," he repeated.

She turned to him, still looking angry.

Harry smiled at her, and began stroking her hair. "Good night, Iris."

The anger in her face slowly faded. "Good night, Harry," she said quietly, and let out a yawn. She closed her eyes, and eventually, she drifted to sleep.

After waiting for a while, Harry took out his wand, and pointed it at his heart. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. This was going to hurt.