Chapter 13: Fuck! We Need Snape.

Thanks for all the reviews.

Okay, well, it's been a while. I'm not back, per se, my schedule and my muse are still conflicting. I work the midnight shift at a truck stop. I write at night, so…

Anyway, my muse just isn't there. I've tried writing on my days off, but it's been a no-go. Believe me I have tried, but you can't force things like this. This chapter was mostly written so I thought I'd finish it.

Harry is a bit darker than normal; I wonder where my mental state is right now.

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Harry looked around the Room of Requirements, trying to figure out how he was going to keep Rita Skeeter from disappearing. He needed to keep her tied up. Then he had a positively wicked idea and just looked for a chair. He found one that was only slightly broken and went towards it. He set it up in a corner, dumped the bug onto the chair and told her to change back.

"Isobel, when she changes back, I want you to wrap yourself around her and keep her tied to the chair," he said, noting that the bug froze in fear. Yeah, it was evil, but it would do to keep her there and he knew that Isobel wouldn't do anything without his say so.

"My fucking pleasure," said Isobel as she slithered down Harry's body. She made her way to the chair and curled around the legs waiting for Rita to change.

Rita Skeeter changed back into her human form and Isobel immediately wrapped around her. She tightened her coils just tight enough to keep the woman from squirming too much.

"Don't bother going back into a bug or she'll just eat you," said Harry, calmly. He really didn't want to hurt the woman, he just wanted to scare her.

"Why are you doing this?" said Skeeter, her eyes were wide with fear. They never left the snake wrapped around her. She knew what the snake was, and that it was very poisonous and could kill her with just a look. She had been following Potter for quite a while and she'd been keeping his secrets. Mostly for the fear of his familiar.

"I wanna know why you're following me around," said Harry, tapping his finger to his lips. He had been wondering now for quite some time now. She was quite an interesting character. She was going against everything he thought he knew about her. She had been a gossip monger for quite some time now. But she had not written anything vile against him since his confession with Amelia Bones. She had kept it all clean and neat, and he wanted to know why. She could have outed him and made him out to be the next Dark Lord, it is what she did best.

"You give me really good stories," said Rita, finally taking her eyes off the snake and towards Harry and giving him a vicious smile. "I don't even have to make anything up," she said, giving him a winning smile. "All I have to do is quote the truth and you give me award winning stories." Her eyes were gleaming with the money she had made from his stories.

"Is there any particular reason as to why you didn't spill all my secrets?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Blackmail, and I'm scared of your snake," she confessed with as much of a shrug as her confined shoulders would allow.

"Well, at least you're honest," said Harry. "Now we have blackmail on each other. What are we gonna do about it? You must know that I have more pull over you, then you have over me." He wanted her to know that he had much more power over her than she did him. He could care less if she wrote about him, his reputation could weather the storm. It always did. He usually only had to kill Voldy, and it came clean in the end.

"Oh, how so?" she asked, squinting at him through her glasses.

"Well, if you ever print any of my secrets, I'll just have Isobel here kill you," he said in a pragmatic manner. It seemed common sense to him. He did wonder if she knew whether he killed Umbridge or not. That didn't seem likely, or she would be more scared than she was now. She didn't seem to be holding that over his head.

"There is that," said Skeeter with a sigh. She eyeballed the snake again and noted it had tightened its coils just that much tighter in some form of warning. She squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

"So, let's see if we can come to an accord. You don't print any of my secrets, and I don't have Isobel kill you," Harry stated, motioning for Isobel to let her go.

"Must I?" the snake hissed.

"Yes," Harry hissed back, making Rita shiver.

"Fucking hell," Isobel stated, slithering down the body as slowly as she could, just to make a point. "You are such a fucking pussy," she said to Harry. "You are always letting them fucking go and never letting me have my damn meals," she stated. She went to Harry and climbed his body.

"You get your fill of ferrets, so quit complaining, you big baby," he chastised.

"I like human flesh," she whined.

"You are turning into a psychopath," Harry warned.

"I like being a fucking psycho," she said, resting her head on his shoulder and glaring at Rita.

"You would really do that just to keep your secrets?" Rita asked, interrupting their conversation and shaking out her sore limbs. That snake squeezed just a bit too tightly. She got the warning though. The snake could kill her in many ways, squeezing, look, and bite.

"Yes, in a heartbeat," the man/teen said with a nod of his head. He was very rational like that. However, she didn't need to know that he really didn't care. He wanted control over the information that the public got, and this was the way to have it. Rita was the best source of control there was. Everyone believed every word she wrote.

"You're not the little boy that everybody thinks you are, are you? Then again, you are a time traveler," she mused to herself. She kept forgetting that, looking at the teenager in front of her. She shook her head and looked at him. "Did you really kill Umbridge?" she inquired, not knowing if he did or not, she had only heard rumors. The Aurors thought he did but didn't have any evidence.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't kill anybody," he answered in all honesty. His face was the picture of innocence. There wasn't a trace of guilt or lie there.

"You're snake then?" she reflected. She looked at Isobel who was still staring at her, though how could you really tell with a snake, they didn't blink.

"Isabel didn't kill anybody either," he lied, still stone-faced, though this time there was a telltale wrinkle around his eyes.

"Somehow I seriously doubt that, but I have no proof," she stated, but let it drop. She knew it was a story that would never happen. Even if she did get him to confess, he'd never let her write it. She'd be dead before the ink dried.

"And you're never going to because we didn't kill anybody," he stated as if it were fact. He started petting Isobel, who was threatening Rita again.

"Just try and print anything different, bitch. I'll gut you something nice," the snake hissed, weaving her head back and forth in the special manner of hers.

"So, we've come to an accord. I'll keep your secrets. You don't kill me," Rita said, still shaking over the fact that she was threatened by a time traveler and his basilisk. She wanted to get out of this room and go home and get really drunk and then write what she could. She might just write a secret diary that could be found when she died, that would expose this man. That was a thought, but a deadly one. If she was found out beforehand, then…

"I want a vow from you. An unbreakable one," Harry stated, pulling his wand out.

"We don't have a bonder," Skeeter pointed out. 'There went the diary idea,' she thought.

"I'll call my house elf. He can bind it," Harry said, and with that he called Dobby, and they bonded the vow between Skeeter and Potter. That she would not reveal any of Harry's secrets in any form of communication, on her life or her magic.

"Hey, what about my secrets? I don't think it's fair that I have to take a vow not to reveal yours. But you don't have to take a vow not to reveal mine," Rita stated, getting angry over that unfairness.

"Where, in all of your experience, did you think that life was fair?" Harry asked her, pulling her chain a bit. He wasn't going to tell anyone about her being an illegal Animagus. He was still going to keep it as blackmail though.

Rita grumbled under her breath about evil teenage time travelers. "Do you want me to do this story about Snape using Legilimency on you?" she asked, wondering if she was even going to be able to use this juicy bit of gossip. It would finally get the man out of the castle, something she had been wanting to do for years.

"Nah, I'm still having fun with Snape. I plan on petrifying him quite a few more times this year. If I don't out and out kill him," Harry said, smiling an evil smile. He got a dreamy look on his face over all the things he was planning for the unhappy man. Well, him and Isobel. His snake absolutely hated the man.

"How can you be so blasé about killing people?" she asked, shivering at the grin on his face. She never met someone who talked about killing so openly to her. Usually, they were too afraid of her publishing what they said.

"Well, he is an evil git. He's a Death Eater, after all," Harry said, with a shrug.

"Is he really? That would make a juicy story," she stated, reaching for her purse to jot that down. She was going to remember this bit of information for future reference. Even if the boy didn't let her run with it now.

"No, he's on our side. He's just a greasy old bastard," he said, ruining her fun once again.

"Damn. Is there anything you can give me?" she sighed, dropping her hand.

"Sorry, I'm fresh out of stories for you right now. Uh, you could do the one about Sirius suing the ministry," he tried to give her something for wasting her time. Not that he felt too bad about it, but…

"That's old news," she huffed.

"Then I don't know what to tell you. You're going to have to pick up something else on somebody else. But if you stick around me long enough, I'm sure something else will come up. But if it's about me, I want you to get my permission first," he added, giving her the hairy eyeball.

"I think I'll stick around the Ministry for a while and see what I can come up with there. You are too dangerous to stick around. That and your snake wants to eat me. I can see it in her eyes," she said, side-glancing the snake.

"That's right, you conniving little bitch. I do want to eat you," said Isabel, looking the woman in the face.

Rita didn't have to understand what Isabel said. She could read the syntax and recoiled in fear. She really wanted to go home and get wasted and perhaps drink some Dreamless Sleep.

"May I leave now?" Skeeter asked, shivering from the look on the snake's face, which was normal, but she didn't like it anyway.

"Sure, go ahead. I've got your vow," Harry said, waving her to leave.

Rita turned into a bug and flew towards the door of the Room of Requirements. Harry obligingly opened it for her. She went to the nearest window and flew out.

"Well, that was fun," said Harry in parseltongue, petting Isobel on the head as he watched the door where Rita left. He wasn't worried that she would betray them. They had her vow.

"I don't know why you won't just let me kill these people," said Isabel, fussing at her empty tummy. "I want two fucking ferrets," she demanded.

"Because they can be useful tools later," said Harry. "That and she's not really an enemy and neither is Snape. He is on our side," he pointed out. "I'll get you two ferrets, and I'll even make sure they are alive." He knew she preferred to hunt her food.

"He's an asshole," said Isabel.

"He may be an asshole, but he is an important member of the war effort. He's the only one of the Order of the Phoenix that's actually doing anything. I mean, the rest of them just sit around and gather information. He's gathering information from the enemy side," Harry said, leaving the RoR and heading to the common room. He'd had enough espionage for the night.

"I guess," said Isabel.

"Anyway, perhaps when the war is over, maybe then you can eat them," Harry offered. He really didn't like either Snape or Skeeter, and he was sure both of them would fuck up in the future. If they didn't get themselves killed in the war. That's if he didn't stop it before it even happened. Which it looked like he could. Speaking of which. He turned and headed back to the RoR.

"Hot damn," she said in a tone that stated she would be rubbing her hands together, if she had hands.

He called up a room for research and spent a while looking at spells that would help rid him of the Horcrux in his head. He might find something before his godfather did. Even if he didn't at least he felt like he was doing something helpful.

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"Harry, I need you to come to Grimmauld Place," Sirius said one evening. They had just got in contact with each other over the mirrors and his godfather seemed excited. There was a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Oh, why?" Harry asked, looking at Sirius questioningly. He had to wonder what had the man so hyper.

"We've got the ritual figured out to get the Horcrux out of your scar," the other man said, all but jumping in place.

"Really?" said Harry. "That's great," he stated, getting excited as well. This was wonderful news. He had found a few things as well, but if they had a ritual that would work, he'd go with that. The sooner the better.

"Yes, we're going to do a ritual to get the Horcrux out of your scar, and then we're going to destroy all of the Horcruxes at the same time," the older in body man stated, his eyes were lit with excitement.

"Shouldn't we wait on that until we can figure out how to kill the Dark Lord?" Harry asked, not wanting to deflate the joy, but not wanting to accept it either. He wanted to make sure this was the right thing to do. He didn't want to mess it all up by jumping the gun too soon. They didn't even have all the Horcruxes yet.

"We deal with them all at once, then that'll make him mortal, then anybody can kill him," Sirius said, looking at him like he was crazy. He wanted this done now. His godson would be free from the prophecy and could finally lead a normal life. Well, as normal as a time traveling, snake talking man could.

"But we don't have Nagini," Harry pointed out, his head hanging a bit in disappointment. He really wanted it to be over too.

"Damn, that's right," Sirius said, slumping his shoulders in defeat. He was so happy about it too.

"So, we'll get the one out of my scar and then we'll store it with the rest of them. Then we'll figure out a way to either kill Nagini or capture her," the man/teen stated, putting his thinking cap on and tapping his chin in thought. There had to be a way to get the snake, maybe they could send Isobel after her, but they had to find out where Voldy was first.

"That sounds like a better plan," Sirius said, also coming up with scenarios. He was thinking of using the Order. They had to be more useful than just information gathering. Perhaps the information they gathered could finally be put to good use.

"Is there any way we can use Snape?" Harry asked, looking at Isobel, who was sleeping. He really didn't want to put her in danger, but she was the deadliest snake in the world. She would come out on top in a fight between her and Nagini. Then he could fight Voldy. It would be epic. Snape could tell them were the Dark Lord was and they could sneak in.

"That greasy git. Why would we use him?" his dogfather wanted to know. The man was still so childish.

"He is the resident spy. It would make sense to use him," the older in mind man stated, giving him a 'do grow up' look. "He can give us the Dark Lord's location," Harry said, still going over his plan in his mind.

"I suppose you're right, but we'd have to talk it over with Dumbledore," Sirius stated, knowing it was not a task Harry wanted.

Harry sighed. The last person he wanted to talk to his Dumbledore. "I suppose I could go have a conversation with him," he said. "But I don't know if he'll listen to me. He thinks I'm just a kid. Perhaps, you should." He deferred the task to his godfather.

"No, he thinks I'm just an overgrown kid in an adult body. Maybe we should have Croaker talk to him," Sirius suggested, looking at a sheet of parchment with the man's name on it. It was a list of people in the know. It was a short list.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know Croaker knows anything about the Horcruxes," the man/teen pointed out.

"Maybe keeping him out of the loop was a bad idea," the dogman said, rubbing his forehead.

"Maybe all five of us in the know should go talk to him at one time," Harry said, thinking that was the best idea.

"Five?"

"You, Amelia, Croaker, me, Isobel," Harry said, counting them off on his fingers.

"I keep forgetting you count that snake as sentient," the dogman said, rubbing his forehead.

"She thinks and is smarter than half the people I know," Harry said, defending his snake. "So, we should all five of us go and talk to him?" he reiterated.

"That might be an idea. Christmas break is coming up, which we can go then," Sirius said, looking around the room for any other ideas. "We can use the Shrieking Shack for your ritual. We have to use it, I just thought of that. Croaker can't get in here," he said as if he just remembered he can't invite people to his own home. And didn't that irk him. It was his house.

"The Shrieking Shack it is. However, I would like to get it done sooner than that. I think we should just go up there next weekend," Harry stated, looking around his bed for some clue as to what to say. He was getting sleepy and needed to rest.

"Let me talk to Amelia and she can talk to Croaker, and we'll see if we can't get it arranged," Sirius said, seeing his godson was tired.

"You do that, and let me know," Harry said, yawning and stretching.

"Alright, Harry, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sirius."

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Before they confronted Dumbledore, they got the Horcrux out of Harry's head. They snuck him out of Hogwarts to the Shrieking Shack and performed the ritual on him, which was much easier than they thought it was going to be. It was simply sucking the soul out of the scar and putting it in a piece of amber.

Sirius took it back to Grimmauld Place and put that amber into the safe with the rest of the Horcruxes. Now only Nagini was left, and then they would have them all. Everyone was ecstatic. No one more so than Sirius for some reason. Harry was happy to be sure, but Sirius was overjoyed with this outcome.

Harry snuck back into his dorm with no one being wiser. Neville had covered for him, again, and Isobel had stayed behind in the bed to keep his cover of going to the loo.

The whole operation took less than half an hour.

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The five of them decided to confront the headmaster in his office. It was a week before Yule Break, they were hopeful that the whole thing would be over during the break.

Amelia and Croaker took the lead. Sirius, and Harry lagged behind with Isobel wrapped around Harry's shoulders. They were going to tell Dumbledore everything except about Harry's time travel. That was a can of flubberworms that no one wanted to open.

At the door they were asked to enter by name. Dumbledore was alone in the office. He wished them in and asked them to be seated. A few seats had to be conjured, but there were plenty of adults that could handle it.

"What can I do for you today?" the old man asked as they took their seats. "I was not expecting such auspicious company." He looked to Croaker and Amelia when he said that.

"We have something we need to discuss with you. Have the headmaster portraits go elsewhere," said Croaker, waving his hand to said portraits. He knew their function and that many of them had empty frames in the Ministry. He didn't want them gossiping about this to anyone.

"They are my most trusted advisers," said Dumbledore, his brow furrowing in disapproval.

"This is not school related, this is government related and they need to leave," said Croaker firmly. He wasn't going to change his mind or stance.

"Gentlemen, ladies, I must ask you to either go to sleep or leave your portraits at this time," said the headmaster to the paintings.

The portraits grumbled and fussed, and some of them even yelled and shook their fists. But eventually they did yield and leave their frames or went to sleep. Croaker did a few spells to make sure that they were actually asleep; they were. Just to be safe, he put a few spells on them to keep them that way.

"Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?" asked Dumbledore, placing his hands on his desk and giving them an askance smile.

"We came across the information that Voldemort has created Horcruxes. We have all the Horcruxes except one. And we are ready to confront him. We need the services of your spy to get the last Horcrux," Croaker said, not blunting their request one bit.

"How did you come by this information?" inquired Dumbledore, his face paling. He glanced over at Harry and noted that the scar on his forehead was faded. He was concerned that this might interfere with some of his plans.

"Yes, we know about that one too, and I've already taken care of it," said Croaker, taking the role of spokesperson.

Dumbledore paled even further. "How did you get rid of it?" Yes, this would indeed interfere with his plans. Harry didn't have the protection from death that he needed to confront Tom. There was no way the boy was capable of fighting the Dark Lord and only by coming back from death could he win.

"Don't worry, we got rid of it. That's all you need to know. Now may we have the services of your spy?" was the question that brought the headmaster out of his musings.

"I believe that would be up to my spy. I would not endeavor to press his services onto anybody without his permission," the old man said, his eyes were shifty, like he didn't like were this conversation was headed.

"Well, let's ask him then," said Harry as if that were the simplest thing and the most common sense one.

"Why are you even here, child?" the headmaster asked, peering over his half-moon spectacles at the boy. He really didn't like what this implicated. It meant Harry had far too much knowledge of what was going on.

"I'm part of the War Party," said Harry, acting like a teenager.

"This is no place for somebody your age," said Dumbledore, looking at the adults with grave disappointment. They all ignored him.

"I was part of this when I became part of the prophecy," said Harry, his tone and face became hard.

"You know of the prophecy?" the old man asked, there was a dawning horror in his voice. It was as he feared, the boy was far too knowledgeable.

"We all know the prophecy," said Sirius, cheerfully as if it were a great thing to be shared. "It was in the papers," he added, looking at him strangely. Was the old man going senile?

"Ah, but the full prophecy was not printed, only that there was one," the headmaster pointed out, looking at them fully.

"Yeah, but still, we've still known it for ages," Sirius stated, laughing at the man. Well, he didn't know the wording, the rest did. He didn't care. He knew the gist, and thought, like Harry, that it was hooey.

"This is not good. This is not good at all," said Dumbledore, getting up and pacing behind his desk. This ruined even more of his plans.

"Yeah, we've known the prophecy for quite some time," said Harry, smirking at seeing the man so agitated.

"But what if Voldemort gets that knowledge from your head?" said Dumbledore, stopping his pacing and looking at the boy with tension on his face.

"You learn from Snape that my defenses are airtight," said Harry, tilting his head to the side, like the man was senile. "Not to mention the one time you, yourself, tried," he added.

"Ah, yes," said the headmaster, relief flooding his face. "I had forgotten." He retook his seat and looked at the group and wondered if they all knew Occlumency. He knew Croaker and Bones did, but did Sirius? He tried to peek in the man's mind and found himself blocked and sighed in relief.

"Nobody's getting anything out of my head," said Harry, tapping the side of his head and then rubbing Isobel, who was keeping silent during the meeting. She was just watching and keeping track of who was saying what.

"We are getting greatly off subject here," said Amelia. "We need the services of Snape to get the last Horcrux. Are you going to ask him or not?" She didn't want Harry to be here, but she had been outvoted.

"I will endeavor to ask him if he is willing to risk his life to get the last Horcrux. Do you know what it is?" Dumbledore asked, taking up a quill and ink.

"It's Nagini, his snake," Croaker said, his voice grave.

"That is unfortunate," the old man stated, not even jotting it down. He'd indeed remember that.

"Yes, we thought so too."

"That would make life very much more difficult for my spy," Albus stated, rubbing his forehead and trying to think of any way that Snape could carryout such a mission.

"There's no help for it. We have to get that snake, either capture it or kill it. We've preferred to kill it. Capturing it would give up the game too soon," the head Unspeakable said, thinking that if they coordinated it correctly, they could make the Dark Lord mortal and kill him the same day.

"If you know the prophecy, then you know only Harry can do this," the old man pointed out like it was a given.

"Don't be a daft bugger. It says only Harry can kill him. It doesn't say anything about only Harry can do everything," said Sirius, standing and putting his fists on the overcrowded desk.

"It says that only Harry's hand could kill Voldemort," the headmaster started only to be interrupted by Croaker.

"But it didn't say only Harry's hand could get the Horcruxes," the head Unspeakable stated, going over the words of the prophecy in his head. "Besides we retrieved two of them without Harry's help," he added.

"Well, when you put it that way," Albus said, looking at a smirking Harry. The boy seemed to be enjoying this.

"Then can we use your spy?" asked Amelia, once again getting back to the reason they were there.

"I already said I would ask him," Dumbledore said, ready to call Severus and ask him to do what was needed to end the war.

"Very well," said Amelia. "We will take our leave and wait for your word. You may contact me or Croaker. Do not tell Harry." That made Harry look at her. That would put a crimp in his plans. He was going to have to see about how to change that order. Perhaps, he'd have Dobby spy on them or Rita, or something. He'd think of something, he was sure.

"Whyever not?" asked Albus, knowing that Harry was vital to ending the war. Voldemort had to die by his hand.

"As you said, he is just a child," she stated, cutting a look to Harry. He didn't look happy. "We would prefer to have the news come straight to us. We are the ones who are doing the planning. We need to coordinate with your spy, so we know what's going on."

"I will have either myself or Severus contact you or Croaker," he spouted the words, but there was a gleam in his eyes that Harry knew from experience that said the clues would be there for Harry to follow.

"Thank you," she said. With that, the five of them got up and left the office.