As might have been expected, the people around Harry remained deathly silent as they processed the news. At first, there were glimpses of uncertainty on their faces, of pure disbelief, as if they could only assume that he was making a particularly distasteful joke. But, as Harry's expression remained still and stoic, the group seemingly came to the conclusion that he wasn't messing around, and that he'd been keeping what was a massive secret from them.

As a result, Harry waited for the backlash. He waited for the shouting and the yelling, for the indignant cries that came about through his silence up to that point. They'd surely be furious at him. They'd feel hurt and disgusted at being lied to. Maybe they would start crying as they came to terms with what the development meant for him and his future. They would be tears that he'd already shed, just in the privacy of his own bed, when he'd presumed he could keep this close to his chest for much, much longer.

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"A…horcrux?"

Harry nodded his head. "Sadly."

He should have known that his friend would collect her thoughts more quickly than the others. Sirius was too strongly dictated by his emotions, by his so-called duty to protect Harry from harm's way. If Harry was a horcrux, then he was ultimately going to fail in that goal. Lupin was too busy running through the new information, approaching the problem as if it were one of his lessons. In truth, if Harry was worried about any of their reactions, then it was Matthew, whose face was currently scarred with an uneasy frown.

"How long have you known?"

That was the question he'd been hoping to avoid, so it only seemed right that it was one of the first he was presented with. Because the answer was going to prove just how regularly and easily he'd lied to them all. As soon as he uttered the response, he would see their looks of concern mould into something else. Perhaps anger, but mostly a sense of hurt at the obvious betrayal. Would they understand why he'd kept it to himself?

"Since I was captured at Malfoy Manor. Voldemort figured it out. Well, one of his lackeys did. The magical aura of the horcrux could be sensed. It's…it's the only reason why I'm still alive, because it stopped Voldemort from cutting me down as soon as he saw me. He didn't want to risk exposing himself."

"It's been months since we saved you."

"I know."

"And you never said anything. Not a word."

"I know."

"When we had that discussion after Enola's first letter, I asked you if there was anything else you needed to tell me. I gave you the opportunity to reveal all of this, and then we could have figured it out together. Instead, you must have been wallowing in this grief all on your own, which won't have been healthy in the slightest. You cut yourself off when you had the chance to open up."

"Hermione…please don't hate me…it's just…"

She silenced him with a hug. It was one of the more effective tactics in her arsenal, one she deployed whenever the situation was suitably dire. Harry could hear her sniffing as she fought back tears, as if she believed that he needed to be strong on his behalf. The show of support, when he'd been so worried about what their reaction would be, was enough to break through his own defences and he found himself crying into her shoulder. So much so that he wanted to apologise for how damp her cloak must have been as a result.

"Oh, Harry," she murmured. "I could never hate you. I might not like the way you've approached this, but I can still understand why you made that choice."

"You can?"

"Of course. You were scared. You were presented with information that will rightly change the entire perspective you have on your life. And, most of all, you didn't want us to worry, especially when we'd been through so much. I'm not…angry with you, Harry. You need to know that."

"Thank you, 'Mione. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that."

He turned to face the others, knowing he couldn't carry on until he knew their perspectives as well. Sirius' eyes were alarmingly wet, and Harry grew worried that he'd damaged the relationship they'd built. Unless it was a sign of the strength in that very relationship, with Sirius so worried about his safety. Lupin wasn't giving much away, although he would hopefully approach the situation from a similarly academic standpoint as Hermione. It was Matthew who presented the biggest quandary, with that scowl still not leaving his face.

"Are you sure about this?" Sirius asked.

"Trust me, I've had plenty of time to think about everything. It…it makes sense. The clues have been there from the beginning. My scar…the horcrux entering my body when Voldemort used the killing cause might be responsible for the mark. I'm able to speak in Parseltongue, which suggests that Voldemort inadvertently passed on some of his skills thanks to the horcrux. It's all stuff that we've commented on in the past, but I never put the pieces together until it was properly spelled out for me."

"I don't want to question or second guess you, Harry. It's just…I really don't want to believe any of this."

"I know. Me too."

"Although I wish you could have come to us sooner. Like Hermione said, we could have been using this time to figure out a way around the problem. It makes me think…well, it makes me think that you still don't trust me enough to confide in me when it comes to the most important things."

"No! It has nothing to do with that. Please don't believe that. I didn't tell anyone, so it isn't about how I view you. And I'm talking about it now. You're the first to know. I haven't even brought it up with Dumbledore."

Sirius scowled. "It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the old goat already knew about this, or at least had his suspicions."

"Now, now, Sirius," Lupin said in warning. "There's no need to be making unfounded accusations. That isn't going to help anyone."

"So you don't believe me?"

"I'm not going to pass judgement on Albus for something we don't know he's done."

"Guys," Harry butted in. "Please. One of the main reasons I haven't brought this up is because I didn't want things to descend into an argument."

Sirius quickly bowed his head. "Sorry."

"Me too," Lupin added.

"It's just…I'm panicking right now. It'd do me the world of good to have someone to blame for this mess."

"The only person you can rightfully blame is Voldemort," Harry argued. "He's the one who did this to me."

"Why did he tell you about it though?"

"He didn't. He didn't even know that I was a horcrux. I'm pretty sure that it was accidental. Although that's a good thing, right?"

"I'm looking forward to seeing how you spin this…"

"Well…it's not a good thing for me, obviously. But it gives us another avenue to explore with the others, doesn't it? It's entirely possible that he created at least one another horcrux by accident. We'd just have to…match things up with the times he's killed someone. That'd work, yeah?"

Harry knew that he was clutching at straws. He also knew that he must have sounded rather manic from the others' perspectives, not helped by his wild eyes and messy hair. He was just trying to find any sort of positive amidst the madness. If there was a benefit to be found, then his fate served a purpose. He wasn't going to die pointlessly if his sacrifice helped them find another piece of Voldemort's soul.

"He's killed a lot of people, Harry," Hermione pointed out softly.

"I know but…it's a lead. It's all I've got to offer."

"How did one of Voldemort's followers figure it out before he did?"

"It wasn't just any of his minions…"

"Oh."

"Oh?" Sirius echoed. "What does that mean? Who are you talking about?"

Harry was still looking at Hermione. "That's how I was first introduced to Enola. Her intervention saved my life, which is why I've been so quick to defend her up to now. Voldemort was going to use the Killing Curse, but she told him in the nick of time about what the consequences would be. From that point on, she was the person I spoke to the most whilst I was imprisoned. Besides Draco, which proves how dire my options truly were."

"That's the second time this name has cropped up. Who's Enola? A Death Eater?"

"It's…complicated."

"Nothing about this conversation is simple. I was under the impression that you were giving us answers, so why does it feel as if I've got more questions than ever?"

Harry had known that there would come a time when he'd have to tell Sirius and plenty of others about Enola's existence. A part of him had wanted the secret to go on for longer, as if she were something special that only he could experience and appreciate. But he understood that avoiding the topic was only going to make Sirius more annoyed, at a time when it was crucial for all their emotions to be kept in check.

The other issue to take care of was the close connection Enola shared with Matthew, a person who still hadn't said anything since Harry's unexpected revelation. How was he supposed to tiptoe around that factor when he didn't even know if his friend currently hated his guts? Was he meant to be keeping Enola's identity a secret to protect her? Did he need to speak to Matthew in private before he raced headfirst into more trouble?

In the end, it was the boy he was most worried about who came to his rescue. In a sense.

"Enola Karstark," Matthew said monotonously. "She's working for Voldemort but…she's from my time. We were friends at one stage, though that's long in the past. All you need to know is that she's now in the present day and decided to help Harry escape, which I'm obviously grateful for. My thoughts about everything else to do with her aren't as pleasant."

"I…wasn't expecting that," Sirius admitted.

"Neither was I when she showed up," Harry told them. "Or when she explained who she was. But it's because of her connection to pure magic that she was able to detect the horcrux within me."

"Like I did!" Hermione exclaimed. "The power of a horcrux is so potent that those in tune with their own magic can't help but sense it. She must be remarkably powerful, because she was apparently able to spend a lot of time with you. I could barely stand being in the presence of one of those horcruxes for a few minutes."

"I witnessed her power first hand and I can safely say that it's impressive."

He shuddered involuntarily at the memory, remembering how she'd pinned him up against the wall. That was definitely something he wasn't going to reveal at that precise moment in time, only because it was going to colour their judgement of Enola. Matthew was already suspicious of her enough so there was no need to add fuel to the fire. Harry kept telling himself that Enola had been playing a role, that that was the only reason for her harsh behaviour, and that Matthew's concerns were unfounded.

Complimenting her in such a fashion was also a way of steering the conversation away from anything awkward. Hermione had made it clear that he and Enola had been together quite a lot during his time at Malfoy Manor, and he didn't need to deal with any of those implications. If Sirius started teasing him about a new girl now being in his life, then that was going to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. He'd almost prefer them to be angry at him.

"But even then, her power wasn't enough," he added.

"Meaning?" Lupin asked.

"Originally, Enola argued that a sufficient enough wave of pure magic could be used to remove the horcrux from me. I mean, we've shown that to be the case in the past. I destroyed the locket by bombarding it with magic."

"It'd be too dangerous," Matthew reasoned.

Sirius perked up immediately. "Why?"

"Because look at the state the horcrux was in once Harry was finished with it. I didn't get to see it happen myself, but I can imagine what it looked like afterwards."

"And…the risk would be that Harry would end up looking the same."

"Exactly. Theoretically, it could work in principle. But the power involved to be precise, to extract the horcrux without harming Harry…well, there's no one person who contains that amount of magic."

"I…I was hoping that you'd be able to do it," Harry admitted quietly.

"Whilst I appreciate the level of belief you have in my abilities, even I wouldn't be able to do it safely."

"Enola came to the same conclusion. In the end, I think she always knew that that would be the case. She was trying to give me a false sense of hope, to make sure my spirits were as high as could be expected. Not to mention that she was protecting me from Voldemort. The only reason she got to be alone with me is because she told him that she was trying to figure out the mechanics."

"Because Voldemort was hoping to take the horcrux from you and then put it into something else?" Hermione theorised. "Then he would have been able to do whatever he liked to you."

"Yeah, so it was a good thing that Enola got involved, even if she wasn't able to help me out completely."

"To be fair, I'd argue she's done enough," Sirius said. "At least in my eyes. Though it'd seem that some of us are still to be convinced."

Harry's godfather was looking directly at Matthew, but it would have been obvious regardless as to who he was referring to. The boy's jaw was clenched, as was often the case whenever Enola's name had cropped up in the past. Harry wanted him to view the girl through his own perspective, but he knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. There was too much history to contend with.

"We're not talking about Enola," Matthew remarked as casually as he could manage. "We should be focusing on Harry. We should be concentrating on helping him survive this mess."

Harry clenched his fists. "That's what I need to speak to you all about…"

"...I don't think I like where this is heading."

"We've been banging on about doing this safely, about trying to attack the horcrux without damaging the casing, so to speak. I…I've accepted that that's not possible and, in the long run, you know what we're going to have to do. We can't defeat Voldemort, not entirely, whilst there's even one horcrux out in the world."

"You better not be suggesting what I think you are, mister," Hermione said in warning.

"What other option do we have?" he asked helplessly. "And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. That's what the prophecy said. What if it didn't mean that one of us ends up winning? What if it was suggesting that we'll both die in the process?"

"I think that's a rather negative way of interpreting it," Lupin countered.

"It's not the most positive thing to begin with. I'm just being realistic."

"You're being defeatist," Matthew interjected, stepping closer to him. "And you're not acting like the Harry I know. We're not going to kill you just because it might help us stop Voldemort."

"It will help to stop him. There's no ignoring that."

"Then we'll find another way!"

Matthew was now gripping onto Harry's shoulders with fierce determination. His eyes were ablaze, as if he hoped that the strength of his own emotions would make Harry see sense. It was such an honest display of affection that it took Harry by surprise, especially because Matthew's opinions on the matter had been kept under wraps until that point. He'd been so worried about what his friend was thinking, only for the other boy to prove that nothing had changed.

"There has to be another way," Matthew reiterated.

"And…if there isn't?"

"I'm not even going to consider that reality."

"It's a reckless way of looking at things."

"When have we ever done things by the book? I'm not about to start now. For now, we don't even have to worry about your particular horcrux. There's still three out there, potentially linked to more of Voldemort's followers. If we get rid of them, then we can think about you."

"But we have a horcrux in our grasp. Shouldn't we focus on dealing with that rather than going on a number of wild goose chases."

"Let's look at it this way - if we come up with a solution, then we'll cross that bridge. Give us some thinking time. I would have liked a bit more, but someone had to deal with this information on his own."

Harry grimaced. "I knew you were annoyed about that."

Matthew sighed, still clutching him. "I'm taking the same stance as Hermione. I understand why you did it, though I can still not like it. I'm not going to take that out on you. Right now, you need as much support as you can get. You need as many allies as you can get your hands on. To be honest, you've already built a fairly loyal fanbase. You're not doing this on your own. How many times do we have to say that?"

"At least once more, just for good luck."

xxxxxxxxxx

Harry might have thought that, once that ordeal was over with, the awkward conversations would come to an end. But, as he wandered into Gryffindor Common Room a couple nights later, he got a sense of anticipation for absolutely no reason at all. There was just something in the air, an element of foreboding that he should have been running away from. And, as he slid past the portrait of the Fat Lady, he got his answer as to what he was heading for.

Matthew.

There were other people in the communal space, of course, but his friend cut a solitary figure, perched by a table in the far corner. Harry didn't know what was coming, but he could still feel the dread washing over him. A chat was long overdue, in truth, but he'd imagined it'd come on his own terms, not with his friend metaphorically pouncing on him when he was caught unawares. Even though all Matthew was doing was sitting innocuously enough.

The rest of the school, by now, had been decorated in the spirit of Christmas, which strangely didn't sit well with Harry. He could appreciate the tinsel, the trees and the baubles, but they didn't have the same effect as they once had done. He idly wondered how people could enjoy the festive season with so much gloom hanging over them, before he reminded himself that he'd be doing exactly the same thing during his return to Grimmauld Place.

As it was, the only other person in the vicinity who wasn't getting into the Christmas swing of things was the person he was walking towards.

"I thought I was going to find you in the Tardis," Harry said in greeting once he was close enough.

Matthew had had his back to the portrait hole, which meant he jumped slightly at the sound of Harry's voice. Given how nervous he'd been about the interaction, it did Harry some good to see his friend acting his usual, normal, goofy self. Although it was fairly clear to see that Matthew was so jumpy because he was just as apprehensive about what was about to happen.

"Gosh, Harry!" he yelped. "Give a man some warning next time."

"I thought it'd be more entertaining to do that."

"Yes, well, I'm glad you got some fun out of it. As for the Tardis…there's been this infernal beeping in the console room that won't stop, and I have no idea where it's coming from. If I stayed in there any longer, I'm sure I would have taken a hammer to the whole thing. And I can't be dealing with one of her famous temper tantrums."

"How long do you plan on staying away?"

"Oh, she'll get her act together in no time. To be honest, I reckon she's doing it on purpose so that I don't hide myself in there. She was giving me a shove in her own frustrating way."

"Why do you need a shove?"

"...because I need to speak to you, Harry."

"Ah. I got that impression. I was just hoping that I might have picked up on the wrong signals or something."

"I realised that, since I came back, we haven't spoken properly. Just the two of us. And I feel as if there's a lot to unpack, particularly around a certain person."

"If you're just going to give me the same spiel about Enola…"

Matthew held up a hand. "Hey, at least give me the chance to explain myself. I don't want this to be an argument. Things haven't been the same since I came back, not truly, and I really want to do as much as I can to rectify that."

"Is that why Hermione isn't here?"

"Who do you think talked me into this in the first place? If the Tardis was giving me a nudge, then Hermione was frogmarching me towards this chat. She's hunkered down in her dorm at the moment, giving us the space to do…whatever we have to do."

"I thought she might have gone to the library or something."

"Perhaps she feels as if she needs to be close by, just in case something drastic happens."

"Do you think that's a possibility?"

"I certainly hope not."

Matthew gestured towards a spare seat and, resisting the urge to run, Harry joined him at the table. Harry's fight or flight response was truly being put to the test, but he kept telling himself that there was no need to be worried. This was still the same boy he'd known for six years and any sort of disagreement wasn't going to bring that to an end. If they'd managed to get through one of them literally dying, then they could surely deal with anything that was thrown their way.

"How are you feeling?" Matthew asked.

"...fine. Why?"

"I'm just trying to ease into this. And, to be honest, you've been keeping a pretty big secret for quite a long while. That's bound to eat away at you."

"I'll admit that it's nice to have it off my chest, that's for sure. I…I don't think I planned to avoid it for so long. It just happened that way. Whenever I thought of bringing it up, something else would get in the way. And then…well, I suppose it grew easy to just push it to one side."

"I know how that feels. If anything good has come out of this, then it's that you've learnt first hand what I was going through with my secrets. You want to tell the people you care about, but you're worried it'll ruin everything."

"I forgave you for that, didn't I? Surely that means I get the same favour in return."

"I've already forgiven you, don't worry."

"Oh."

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"I am. Of course I am. I…don't know. It's like I feel I deserve a bit more pushback, more anger. You've all been so understanding, when I thought you were going to chew my head off."

"If I ask Hermione, I'm sure she'd be willing to take on that role. You know what she gets like whenever one of us shows self sacrificial tendencies."

"You'd think we would have learnt by now."

"I reckon she'd miss it if we suddenly changed our ways."

They shared a soft laugh and everything felt strangely normal. Harry didn't really know why he'd expected anything else. He supposed it shouldn't have made sense. They shouldn't have been able to act as normal with what they were dealing with. One of them was facing their own mortality, whilst the other was contending with a face from their tragic past. And yet they still laughed. Because their lives had already been too crazy to start complaining now.

"I'm going to ask you a question and you're not going to like it."

"That's the whole point of this conversation," Matthew reminded him.

"You said that you've been able to forgive me straight away, yeah? So why doesn't the same principle apply to Enola?"

Matthew leaned back in his chair. "You're right. I didn't like that question."

"Come on."

He puffed out his cheeks, a gust of air escaping from his lips. "Well, first of all, if I'm right about her, then what she's done is about a thousand times worse than you keeping a secret. Let's get that straight. She might have been nice to you. She might have smiled prettily at you. She might have even saved your life. But the only reason she was able to do any of that is because of what happened to my family. She's reaping the benefits of their deaths."

"You don't know whether she was involved in what happened to them."

"She's still benefiting from what they did."

"Don't you think that's why she's here? Why she's gone to the effort of coming here? She wants to make amends."

Matthew's laugh was colder this time around. "Good luck with that."

"You at least need to hear her out."

"Do I, now?"

Harry was suddenly well aware of how he was massively overstepping the mark. He was giving advice on a topic, on a relationship, on a shared history that he didn't have much of a clue about. What right did he have to tell Matthew what to do? Why was he so readily siding with Enola when she'd only been in his life for a few months? Wasn't his default setting meant to be backing his friend, not some stranger?

"I think it'd do you a lot of good. It could provide you with a bit of closure."

"The issue I have is that Hermione basically said the exact same thing."

"And she's the smartest person we know so she must be right."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"Can I…give my perspective on things? On how I view Enola? Because that might help you understand where I'm coming from."

Matthew waved a hand. "Go ahead."

"To be honest, when I think about her, I'm confused. At times, I think she made the easy decision by standing with Voldemort, though that's probably because I've seen what happens when people flock to his side out of fear. But then, it could also be seen as the most dangerous decision, because her life is constantly on the line. And she's willing to work as a spy, which is putting her even more at risk. If she was so evil, would she be doing that for my sake?"

"People can have ulterior motives."

"All I can talk about is the person I met. She was nice…and funny…charming too. She was very similar to you, actually."

"Nice attempt at flattery."

"Thank you. But she was also deathly frightening at times and…angry. She was angry. And I think that anger was more directed at what she's been through and what she's lost. Maybe the two of you have gone through more of the same experiences than you realise."

"And the only way I'll find that out is by talking to her, I know." Matthew shook his head. "I just don't want to do precisely that."

"The way I see it, it's easier for you to view her as some sort of villain, because that means whatever happened to your family makes sense. It was a bunch of bad people doing something awful. But if she turns out to be more nuanced than that, then what you've come to accept over the years gets thrown in the bin. You were close friends once upon a time. I think you need to remember her in that light, rather than the creation you've made in your head."

"When was the last time you heard from her?"

"The letter. And then the strange chat that happened through the letter. There's been nothing since."

"And you're not just saying that because you're worried about how I'll react?"

"I'm tired of lying after recent events."
"Are you worried about her?"

"I though her updates would come more frequently. The more time that passes without hearing from her…the more I think that Voldemort has figured out what she's up to. Enola claimed that she could hold him off if push came to shove, but it's easier said than done."

"I don't want you to get your hopes up, but I think she might be onto something with the pure magic angle when it comes to saving your life."
"Really?"

"And I was right when I said that there's no person around who contains enough of that magic to do the job. But…if people were to unite…then maybe they'd generate enough of a force."

"So if you and Enola teamed up…"

"Hang on a minute. Let's not go with the nuclear option right away."

"I thought the nuclear option was killing me stone dead."

Matthew paused. "Good point. But there's a chance that myself and Hermione might be enough. She's shown an abundance of power recently, and she seems to have the Tardis on her side. We can at least test the waters without putting your life on the line."

"Is that going to be your Christmas present for me, then?"

"It'll allow me to send back the stuff I've already bought you."

"Let's not make any drastic decisions, right now."

"That's exactly what I've been trying to say from the beginning. I'm just worried that we might be forced to make one or two in the very near future. Which is why it might be a good thing to track Enola down once and for all…so that we can bring her to Hogwarts if we need to."