Harry Potter was sitting on a comfy recliner in the living room of number 12, Grimmauld Place, watching the multitude of people around him whispering among themselves. He had honestly never seen so many of the Order in one place, as it appeared everybody was present, stood or sat in various locations around the room. Such was the number of people in the room that they even had to remove the Christmas tree he'd built with the Weasleys for more space.

"This is bloody insane." Commented Ron from his side, the redhead squeezed into the chair beside him.

"I wonder what this is all about? Dumbledore didn't mention anything special in our last lesson." Harry replied shrugging, his eyes tracking the various people present. The entire assortment of redheads was present, with the obvious exception of Percy and Ginny. There was McGonagall speaking with Hagrid, Kingsley and Tonks, while Moody spoke with a few wizards and witches Harry didn't even know the names off

"Well, it probably has something to do with You-Know-Who signing that truce with the Ministry." Ron said in a whisper, his tone just as disbelieving as it was a few days ago when the Prophet delivered the bombshell. Harry still couldn't quite believe it, there was no way Voldemort would just call it quits now, after everything he'd done to get back to power. He must have had a plan, and the Ministry had seemingly played straight into it again.

"Probably." He answered distractedly, watching with a frown as Snape entered the room, moving to stand in the corner furthest away from him. He was yet to share with Ron what he'd overheard of Snape's conversation with Draco on the day of Slughorn's party, his spy work overshadowed and drowned by the news of the truce with Lord Voldemort. He was about to finally share his suspicions with Ron, when the room went quiet.

The reason for the immediate silence was the entrance of an old and wise-looking wizard, who greeted the gathered before moving to the chair at the head of the room, sitting down slowly. His blue eyes twinkled as he skimmed through the people watching him, pausing slightly as he got to Harry.

"Is everybody present?" Dumbledore asked after a short pause, his blackened hand held tightly to his side.

"Not yet, Remus is yet to return with Miss Granger." McGonagall answered from the side, causing Harry to share a look with Ron.

"Hermione's coming here too?" Ron whispered to him, sounding just as surprised as Harry was feeling. He had no time to reply as at that moment Remus appeared in the doorway, a familiar brunette witch in tow. She gave him a quick wave and a warm smile that he returned, before moving to stand at the side of the room next to Remus, pointedly ignoring Ron all the while.

"Excellent, let's begin, we have much to discuss." Dumbledore said jovially, before his eyes flew to where McGonagall was standing with Kingsley, Hagrid and Tonks. It was only now that Harry caught the thin-lipped look of anger on McGonagall's face, Tonks not looking any more cheerful beside her. What had happened for his head of house to look at the headmaster in what was almost fury, he questioned.

"I have already shared the following news with a few of the gathered, but I believe with the New Year behind us it is now time to share it with the rest too." Dumbledore didn't seem too perturbed, so Harry figured it couldn't actually be anything too bad. But the worried face of his transfiguration professor was giving him a weird feeling, as if he really wasn't going to like what the headmaster had to share.

"As you might have already seen in the papers, Lord Voldemort has signed a temporary cease-fire with the Ministry." There was a lot of grumbling around the room at that, most seemingly in agreeance with Harry that it was a catastrophically bad move. Harry thus waited patiently for Dumbledore to agree with the general consensus, but his next words silenced the room.

"I happened to agree with this proposal, and was there with the Minister when we agreed to the details with Lord Voldemort himself." This seemed to confuse a great deal of people, but Harry trusted Dumbledore had some sort of a plan to explain this. His confidence in the wise old wizard was so high his conviction didn't even waver as he saw McGonagall's glare at the headmaster intensify.

"The Ministry is low on trained aurors and hit-wizards, they need time to recover and this gives them that time. Additionally, there is one other major piece that most of you don't yet know about." Dumbledore had the full attention of the room, everybody listening closely to his reasoning.

"I have long battled with myself on whether to reveal this information, and if, to whom." He said severely, sighing heavily as his gaze went around the room, "In the end, it came down to whether I trust the people in this room or not, and I do trust each and every one of you." Harry felt a distinct feeling of proudness that he held the headmaster's trust, his feelings seemingly mirrored by most of the people in the room.

"You see, Lord Voldemort is at this moment unkillable…" The headmaster dropped the bombshell, and it didn't get any better as he continued speaking. Harry's feelings of optimism were slowly turned into pure uncertainty as the headmaster explained why Voldemort didn't fully die that Halloween night, and how far he'd gone to assure his immortality. To make matters worse, he didn't just make a single Horcrux, but several, Dumbledore didn't yet know exactly how many. And they would have to find and destroy them all before dealing with Voldemort.

He shared a brief look with Ron, the redhead looking as pale as most of the adults in the room, before his eyes met Hermione's. She too looked shaken, but there was a hint of resolve present in her eyes too. Harry felt his own resolve grow. Yes, this was bad, but with Dumbledore's leadership they could surely manage it.

"But… we don't even know what the remaining Horcruxes are, how are we supposed to find them?" Asked Bill Weasley, many of the others murmuring in agreement.

"I do have some ideas, and I might have a good lead on the first one too, but that isn't a discussion for here and for now. Voldemort has unknowingly bought us plenty of time to find them, and we must take this opportunity with both hands." Most of the people in the room nodded determinedly, a few already seemingly discussing this development between them. But Dumbledore didn't seem finished, raising a hand to quiet everybody down.

"There is one last thing I have to share with you, and I'm afraid it is even less pleasant than the topic I just shared." The mood once again plummeted significantly, and Harry felt his breath catch as Dumbledore briefly glanced his way, his shoulders hunching the slightest amount.

"Voldemort had one rather large demand for this cease-fire to go through…" He trailed off as if preparing himself to continue, and Harry couldn't help but swallow a sudden lump in his throat. His red alarms were blaring at full blast, and he knew whatever the headmaster was about to say wouldn't be good news.

"Voldemort has demanded we give him Harry Potter in return for him sparing the muggles during the truce." The silence that descended at that was total, two dozen sets of eyes shifting to look at him. Harry felt glued to the chair, his eyes staring unseeingly at the far wall as he tried to process what this meant.

"You refused, of course." He heard a female voice say, Mrs Weasley's if he wasn't mistaken, but the silence from Dumbledore spoke volumes. It took less than 5 seconds after that for pandemonium to erupt, several people beginning to shout across each other, all towards Dumbledore. Harry was still sitting as if petrified, and he could see Ron had frozen up completely next to him as well.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's sudden shout cut off the shouting, but the headmaster was now facing a decidedly hostile crowd. Harry tore his eyes from the wall, taking in the scene in front of him. Dumbledore had risen from his chair, his hands held placatingly in front of him. Remus, Mrs and Mr Weasley glared at the headmaster; their disgust evident. Hermione was white in her face, looking at the floor with unseeing eyes. Snape looked bored by the far wall. Lastly, McGonagall, Tonks and Kingsley seemed resigned. They had known.

"I will explain everything to you, worry not. But first I'd like to speak to Harry." Dumbledore's words didn't relax the hostile crowd, and Remus moved to stand in front of him.

"I am not letting you-"

"It's fine Remus. I'm sure the headmaster has a plan." Harry spoke up, his voice noticeably shaky, but he was beyond certain Dumbledore had a plan. He wasn't just going to give him up to Voldemort to die, was he? Most certainly not, the very idea was preposterous. He stood up on shaky legs, walking past a furious Remus and towards the headmaster, feeling the two dozen gazes following him as he went. The headmaster grabbed him by the shoulder gently, leading him out of the living room and down the hallway.

They eventually reached the room that Harry and Ron were staying in, the headmaster beckoning him inside and closing the door. Harry felt his fear and apprehension lessen as he watched the headmaster, knowing there was no way he was just sending him to his death. He thus waited patiently for the wizard to explain.

"I…I'm sorry, Harry." That…that certainly wasn't what he'd expected, his eyes widening and his breathing once again speeding up.

"W-what do you mean, sir?"

"I have failed you." Dumbledore wasn't even looking at him as he spoke, his tone sounding as severe as he'd ever heard it. Harry was afraid his heart was going to jump out of his chest, such was his fear.

"Y-you i-intend to give me up to V-Voldemort, sir?" He asked shakily, his tone high and squealy. He was trying very hard not to cry.

"I'm afraid there is no other way." The headmaster looked complexly defeated as he said it, and Harry stumbled backwards as if punched. T-this wasn't happening. It just wasn't.

"B-but why?" His voice came out as a mere whisper, his throat constricting to the point where he was having real trouble breathing. Dumbledore looked at the floor, before meeting his gaze, his blue eyes decidedly not twinkling.

"I said I don't know what the remaining Horcruxes are. I lied." He looked at his scar as he said it, a hint of wetness visible in the corner of his eye.

"What is that suppo-" He connected the dots then, his ability to speak parseltongue, the connection he seemed to share with the dark lord. His breath left him all at once, and he collapsed to the floor, back against his bed, his breathing erratic and his heart pounding inside his chest.

"I'm sorry Harry, you're a Horcrux. I am not entirely sure what exactly happened that Halloween night, but Voldemort left a piece of himself in you." Harry was barely listening by this point, instead trying to avoid breaking down completely. He would not cry in front of the headmaster, but damn it if he wanted to.

"I was always going to have to die?" He managed to get out, a hint of anger now accompanying his feelings of fear and sorrow. He was a Horcrux, and Dumbledore never said anything. He was going to die. Dumbledore looked away at his comment, shaking his head sadly.

"I'm so sorry Harry. It wasn't meant to happen for a long time, but you now also have an opportunity to protect the muggle world with your sacrifice." He knew he should be cursing the man standing in front of him, but Harry couldn't hate him despite what he'd done. If he really had to die, then dying to protect the muggles seemed like a good final deed. If he was honest with himself, he never really expected to survive, what with the prophecy and all, but he thought he still had at least some time…

"I…I…fine. W-when…" He said in a whisper, all fight leaving him as he accepted the inevitable fact. It wasn't like death was a stranger to him either, having gotten close to meeting with it multiple times over the past six years. He seemed to lose everybody close to him, his parents, Sirius, and now he would be joining them. At least he would see them all again.

"Tomorrow evening." Harry felt a new wave of fear and horror wash over him at this. He had only one day left. 24 hours. He gulped down the bile as he met Dumbledore's shining eyes.

"I'd l-like to be alone now, please." He said, only barely keeping his composure intact. He was beyond scared, and he couldn't help but think of all the people he would be leaving behind. Ron and Hermione… Merlin, what was he going to say to them? They'll be devastated, but at least he would no longer put them in harm. They'd be safer without him.

"Of course, Harry. I'll see you in the morning." He barely heard Dumbledore leave the room, too busy in his thoughts. He was going to die. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore then. They came thick and fast, and soon he was fully sobbing into his hands, all his hopes and dreams disappearing into a puff of smoke. He would never have a family, kids…

Everybody seemed to be shouting at somebody, but Hermione Granger stood silently by the wall, her mind tuning out the background noise. She was still in complete shock over what had transpired not 5 minutes ago. She desperately tried to convince herself that she was dreaming, or that she misheard, but minute by minute she was losing hope. There had to be an explanation. There simply had to be.

She took a quick glance around the room, spotting Remus and the two elder Weasleys arguing hotly with Kingsley, before her eyes sought out Ron. After their fight before the Christmas break, she felt like throttling him, and she had spent the entire break thinking of ways to take her revenge, but all that felt inconsequential now. As she looked at him, she felt no anger or annoyance, only a dogged determination washing over her.

Before she could walk over and talk to him, the headmaster reappeared, his eyes suspiciously misty. Conversations around the room immediately stopped, everybody waiting impatiently for an explanation.

"I know you all want me to explain…" Dumbledore began tentatively, flinching at the hatred-filled look Remus was giving him.

"I lied when I told you I don't know where any of the remaining Horcruxes are located." This didn't help his position, but Hermione was aware he was about to reveal something truly horrible. And he did, explaining what he thought happened when the Avada Kedavra found baby Harry on that fateful day. But all that paled to the information that followed. Harry was a Horcrux.

Logically it made a ton of sense, Hermione thought with growing panic. It made perfect sense. But surely, surely there was a way to get the Horcrux out, wasn't there? Dumbledore wouldn't just let Voldemort kill Harry, would he? Would he? Hermione belatedly realized she was shaking like a leaf on a stormy day.

"And so you'll just send Harry to his death?! I am not letting you do this!" She heard Remus shout, their former defence professor being restrained by Tonks.

"No, I will not. I have a plan. A convoluted one I admit, but one I am confident will work." Hermione perked up at that, as did most of the rest, Remus calming down somewhat although his glare remained.

"I believe that when Lord Voldemort hits Harry with the killing curse, the spell will hit the piece of Voldemort's fractured soul instead of Harry's, leaving Harry alive and destroying the Horcrux inside him. But that can happen only if Voldemort himself casts it." Dumbledore said confidently, the twinkle in his eyes returning, albeit weaker than usual.

"Even if this works, then what? They'd check if he was alive, and kill him again." The anger in Remus' voice was evident, but Dumbledore waited patiently for him to finish.

"Not if Harry drinks the Draught of the Living Death just before meeting Voldemort. If he hides a pill with the fluid in his mouth and bites through it just before Voldemort casts his curse, he would appear completely dead despite that not being the case. They would never suspect a thing." Many of the people in the room seemed to be coming around to Dumbledore's idea, but Hermione only felt her terror increase.

"Then what? Wait for him to get thrown into a shallow grave?" Remus asked sceptically, but Hermione noticed the lack of anger in his tone. He was being convinced, and that sent a fresh bout of unease through Hermione's body.

"Exactly. But Severus will be there, he is one of Voldemort's closest servants after all. He'll see where they dump his 'body', and then inform us. Under the effect of the Draught Harry will be safely asleep, he doesn't even need air as long as the effects last. We then simply dig him out, and give him an antidote." Dumbledore's plan sounded so simple, so easily done. He made it sound like there weren't a million things that could go wrong.

"This is insane." Remus said letting out a laugh that was stuck somewhere between hysteria and disbelief.

"It is the only chance of survival Harry has. Additionally, he buys us five years of time to find the remaining Horcruxes. And, now presumed dead, he would be perfectly positioned to search for them." Hermione silently begged Remus to argue, to put up a fight. When that didn't seem to be happening, she looked towards Mrs Weasley, but while she was crying openly, she didn't seem ready to say anything either. Ron too, seemed too overwhelmed to speak, and she cursed them all.

"Have you told Harry this plan?" Remus eventually asked, Dumbledore shaking his head sadly in response.

"For this to work, Harry must think he is sacrificing himself for the muggles. He must think he is really about to die."

"That is-" Remus was about to say something, when Hermione decided to break her silence.

"Are you 100 percent certain this will work?" Her question rang throughout the room, her voice strong and steady. If nobody else wanted to object to this madness, then she would do it herself.

"Miss Granger, I know-"

"Are you certain he won't die?!" She half shouted, lifting her chin high and glaring at her headmaster, not caring one bit that she was behaving very unlike her usual self at the moment. Her reputation, her grades, everything could go straight to hell as far as she cared. It was Dumbledore who broke their stare-off, looking at the ground and shuffling his feet awkwardly.

"No. I am not. But this is the best chance he has. As long as Harry lives Voldemort will be immortal." Hermione nodded softly at that, filling the information into the back of her mind. Dumbledore seemed to take this as her agreeing with him, turning back towards Remus, but she wasn't done yet.

"You can't do this." She was trying her hardest not to show any emotions, knowing she had to be calm and collected if she wanted to convince anybody she was right. Dumbledore sighed.

"Miss Granger, I know you and Mister Potter are good friends, but there is nothing else we can do. You must believe everything will go as planned. I'm certain it will." She could feel her anger at the headmaster rising. She wasn't about to risk Harry's life on hopes. And the worst part was, she knew Harry, and she was certain that kind moron would go through with it without question. He would follow Dumbledore's pla… no, not even that, he would willingly sacrifice himself just because he would pay any price to save somebody. But Hermione wasn't willing to pay that price. Not in the slightest.

It was evident Dumbledore wasn't to be deterred, and the rest of the cowards had all decided to trust the headmaster. And Harry was never going to go against the headmaster, especially when baited with the promise of saving innocent lives. Hemione knew she was thus left with only one option, an option she dreaded to take, knowing the consequences it would bring with it. Was she willing to throw away her future, her entire life to save Harry? Yes. Yes, she was. It was frankly a bit worrying how quickly that answer came to her.

Dumbledore, having assumed she had nothing further to add, resumed his debate with Remus, while Hermione was already thinking miles ahead. She needed to talk with Ron first, the boy in question still sitting motionlessly in his chair. Then she needed to talk to Harry.

"When can I visit him?" She heard Remus ask, perking up to hear what the headmaster would reply.

"In the morning. Harry wanted some space for the moment." Hermione did her best not to curse the old wizard. Of course he said he wanted some space, you just told him he'd die tomorrow, she raged in her thoughts. He should absolutely not be left alone though, of that she was certain. Her thoughts turned fully to her best friend then, and her heart stuttered as she imagined the pain he must be in. He was probably so confused and afraid… This could not stand. It would not stand. Not as long she had anything to do about it.

But she knew acting right away was foolish, so she instead waited until the conversation died down. Remus and the Weasleys still didn't look happy with the outcome, but their belief in Dumbledore had seemingly won out. As the aforementioned people left the room, she finally jumped into action, walking over and plopping herself down next to Ron, the redhead still appearing frozen. His head snapped up at her arrival, and she could see his hands shaking in his lap.

"We can't let this happen, Ron." She said quietly but with determination audible in every syllable of her sentence. Her past displeasure with Ron was by now forgotten completely, pushed away by the urgency of this new situation.

"B-but Dumbledore said-"

"I don't care what Dumbledore said. I'm not letting him send Harry to his death. Too much can go wrong with his plan and… and… I can't lose him." She would have normally felt embarrassed by her disjointed and stuttered speech, but she was way beyond caring. Plus, despite their recent falling out, she trusted Ron implicitly. She trusted him with her life.

"But what can we do, Hermione? You heard Dumbledore, this plan is the only way for him to survive." She was getting angry now, but not so much at Ron as at her headmaster.

"Dumbledore has been wrong plenty of times in the past. Hell, he's been making wrong decisions almost every year." She ranted, lowering her voice as she saw Kingsley and Tonks look over, "I don't trust him with Harry's life. I don't."

"What do you intend to do?" Ron asked, and this was it. This was the time to put her theoretical plan into words. This was the time to decide whether she really wanted to throw everything away for her best friend. It was again frightening how little she hesitated.

"We can get him, and run away." Ron's eyes widened comically at that, his gaze flickering towards the conversing adults, before returning to her.

"A-are you out of your mind?" He whispered incredulously, "Take him and go where? Me and Harry aren't even 17 yet, we still have the trace." Hermione obviously knew that, ploughing on despite Ron's initial reluctance.

"I can do magic no problem. And we can hide in the muggle world. They'd never find us there." She whispered hurriedly, desperate for him to agree. She could… she would do it alone, but having Ron helping her would make everything so much easier. They weren't called the Golden Trio for nought after all, they stuck together, through thick and thin. Had their situations been reversed, Hermione was certain Harry would have never just stood by and watched.

Ron though, might, at least that was what she gathered from his pensive, uncertain expression.

"Ron. Will you help me? Will you help Harry?" She asked, her tone turning desperate, her hopes falling with every second of silence.

"You do realize we'd be throwing our entire lives away if we do this, right? We are supposed to return to school in two days, you intend to just…"

"Yes and yes." Her heart was beating in her chest like crazy, willing Ron to be brave. "His life is more important than all that. And Harry would do the same for you, you know that."

"I-I can't do that Hermione. I can't just leave my family… my mum would kill me." Her face crumpled at that, and she had to try her very hardest not to show just how badly this rejection had affected her. Everything now became infinitesimally harder. She rose to leave, already thinking over plan B's and C's, but before she could even take a step, she felt Ron's fingers wrap around her wrist, tugging her back.

"What?" She snapped rather unkindly, and Ron immediately released her, bringing his arms to his lap.

"Please, the headmaster has a plan. Don't throw your life away needlessly." This was enough to finally breach the weakened and battered wall that held her emotions in. She exploded.

"Needlessly!? Needlessly." She jabbed a finger at him, her entire form shaking from the emotions, "This is your best friend we're speaking about, one that has saved both our lives on several occasions already. And what was Dumbledore, the person who should have been watching us, doing, huh? Absolutely nothing!" She was aware the remaining members of the Order were watching her, probably thinking she had lost it, but she didn't much care.

"Fine, stay here Ron." She dropped her voice to a whisper, her tone ice cold, "I'll just do it myself as I did in fourth year when you abandoned him." She just about saw the hurt flash across his features before she turned, storming out of the room and ignoring the pitying looks she was getting from Tonks and Professor McGonagall. Her anger not yet subsided, she stopped in the doorway, turning to look at her transfiguration professor.

"And you should be ashamed." And then she was gone, running to one of the bathrooms and closing the door. Tears ran unbidden down her cheeks, but she mindlessly wiped them away into the sleeve of her hoodie. This wasn't the time to cry. She had a friend to rescue.