A Nice Lemon

Disclaimer : Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's. Still.

AN: We all know why you're excited about this chapter…

A Nice Lemon

Lines of text swam before Harry's eyes. He blinked, then squeezed them shut.

"I'm going to miss days like this." Salazar sighed. "How's the book?"

" The Time-Traveller's Life ?" Harry set it down on the desk beside the small golden hourglass. "Probably not as good as A Thousand Snake Puns, but it does explain how the mental load of using the time-turner builds and builds."

"Which might explain your nightmares."

"Yes." He grimaced. "Although any new nightmares are likely to feature another essay about wand legislature and goblin rebellions."

Salazar snorted. "Goblins. Greedy, stubborn, cunning, brutal creatures. One day, they will try to bite off more than they can chew again and someone will inflict another harrowing upon them."

"Someone has?" Harry squinted at the painting. "I thought they kept winning?"

"Winning?" Salazar laughed. "In the tunnels, in the dark, where they can bring all their gifts of enchanting, their numbers, and their cunning to bear, yes, they will win. But above ground? No. They tried. They lost. Rome drove them so deep underground and shed so much goblin blood they still mourned their shame when I lived half a millennia later."

"Well, good thing that wasn't in my exam." Harry closed The TimeTraveller's Life. "I think I've learnt all I need from that book. Definitely time to take a break from the spinning gold hourglass of impending insanity."

Salazar's eyes darkened. "Yes. It is."

Harry leant forward. "What is it, you senile old cave painting?"

"You're out of time, Harry." Salazar's serpent looped round his neck with a soft hiss. "This quiet, slow week of work and books is the deep breath before the storm breaks."

"Surely I still have a year or so?" Harry asked. "At least a summer?"

One more summer with Fleur.

"Why?" Salazar asked. "You have stripped the shadows from Voldemort and Dumbledore's plan to hurl you into his path looms closer with every second."

"Dumbledore implied he had things to do first," Harry said.

"Voldemort… I can hide from him. I can hide from him until I'm ready."

"Presumably Dumbledore also knows there's likely another horcrux or two," Salazar replied. "Their existence is the only thing, aside from any action you take, preventing Albus Dumbledore from, say, leaving you somewhere only his followers and Voldemort can enter due to blood magic based wards, then waiting for an inevitable conclusion."

"Well, when you say it like that…" Harry wrinkled his nose. "I'm not going back to endure Privet Drive. Never again. Never."

"I can see the sunset in your eyes, Harry," Salazar murmured. "You need a plan to reach it. A strong will and focus may make spells work, but it's not enough for life."

"I have to kill him." Harry's heart clenched. "If I don't, I'll lose everything."

"You'll lose her." Shadows rose in Salazar's eyes. "You mustn't lose her, Harry. You've tied so much of yourself to her that life will be unbearable without her, I would know."

I know.

Harry drew himself up. "What do I need to do?"

"Solve your own problems," Salazar griped. "You think I don't have anything better to do than fix your woes?"

He glanced "round the library. "I mean…"

"Brat," Salazar muttered. "But I suppose you've no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"I have to destroy a horcrux. I got the diadem and the diary, but there's one more." Harry offered the painting a wry grin. "Perhaps I'll be lucky enough that this one drops into my hands, too."

"I doubt it." Salazar jabbed his wand toward Harry. "The fool who used that diary as a weapon will beg for death when Voldemort realises what he did with it. The diadem was hidden here almost carelessly, but if there is anything left of Tom in Voldemort, then I suspect he meant to take this place as his seat of power upon his victory. He must have intended it to be safe within his own grasp."

Harry glanced up. "Hogwarts was important to him?"

"Very." Salazar sighed. "A new world for Tom to belong to, only, of course, it wasn't in the end."

"It has to be an object he was very attached to," Harry whispered. "His diary, that diadem, since you told him the story, and something else he treasured."

Salazar's lips twisted. "I don't remember, I'm afraid. I should, but I don't. I suspect Tom saw to that when he left."

"I'll find it. Maybe Dumbledore will find it for me."

"You need to get out from under that man's rule." Silver sparks sputtered from Salazar's wand. "He has draped a noose around your neck, Harry. Step away from the gallows as quickly as you can! You have a well-protected home and Voldemort has other enemies to think about in Dumbledore and the Ministry. Get out of Hogwarts as swiftly and subtly as possible."

"I can't let Dumbledore think I'm up to anything, in case he changes his plans."

"Exactly."

Harry clenched his fists until his nails bit into his palms. "I wish it would all just go away. Sometimes, when I wake up, I close my eyes, and hope that when I reopen them I'll be in France with Fleur again."

"It will not go away," Salazar murmured. "You will have to destroy the horcrux. You will have to face and kill Voldemort. You will have to convince or fool Dumbledore into believing you are no longer a horcrux." A small smile crossed his lips. "Then you can close your eyes and dream of France, Harry."

Harry sighed. "Whatever it takes, I suppose." He drummed his fingers on the desk. "My NEWTs will have to be taken early, then. I need those to be able to leave Hogwarts without causing a stir. And then there's that horcrux…"

Salazar stroked the blunt head of the snake entwined about his neck. "He entrusted an anchor to one of the members of his inner circle and had a second where he likely intended to be able to protect it. It's possible he gave the other to a different follower."

"Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, the Lestranges, and probably others I don't know about." Harry grimaced. "It won't be easy to prize anything out of them, Voldemort has all his servants hidden away somewhere." "Not for long. The storm will break soon. Study for your NEWTs over the summer while you wait for the war to begin, then get out of Dumbledore's noose." Salazar tapped a gentle staccato upon his serpent's spine with his fingertips. "When the war comes, you can hover in its shadow. Pick off the members of Voldemort's inner circle to find the horcrux, bleed his strength away, then face him and kill him however you can."

"And Dumbledore? He will still think I need to die."

"I do not know the man." Salazar's lip curled. "But I cannot say I like him, not from what you've told me, nor from what Tom did.

Sometimes, you have to do a little evil to serve a greater good. Albus Dumbledore seems to know this well, but he manipulates others into dirtying their hands to keep his clean. Trick him if you can, kill him if you must."

"Sounds great," Harry quipped. "Nice, cheerful summer holiday. Bit of studying, some time with Fleur, a small killing spree, destroying a horcrux, killing the wizard half the country thinks is the most powerful in the world, then tricking the one the other half of the country thinks is the most powerful."

"Men who don't aim high, don't reach very far." Salazar folded his arms. "You must also ward this chamber before you leave for the summer. Now Voldemort is revealed, he is much more likely to risk using it to attack the school and Dumbledore."

"That sounds like it would probably disturb me studying for my NEWTs." Harry frowned. "And while I'm pretty good at

Transfiguration, Defense and Charms, Potions and Advanced

Arithmancy will require a lot of study, especially if I ask to take them early."

Salazar's face remained sober. "When you come down here to leave for the summer, I'll show you how to ward the chamber. I've had all year to think of how best to do it."

"We both know you've spent most of the time napping like an old woman in her rocking chair," Harry muttered.

"Don't mumble, brat!" Salazar snapped. "Now shoo." He flapped his hands at Harry. "I wish to be alone to think."

Harry rolled his eyes and traipsed out, sliding his wand from his sleeve. I'll try out a new spell, then.

"Contusio," he murmured, compressing his magic into a small point just beyond the ebony tip of his wand.

A silver speck of light trailed through the air in front of him as he moved his wand from side to side.

Voldemort managed several, but one's a good start.

Harry flicked his wrist and sent it sailing across the chamber. The small spark drifted through the air like a glowing ember cast from a bonfire toward the chamber's wall. A violent flash of bright silver seared at his eyes and an explosion rippled back past him, sending his head spinning and ringing.

He pressed his hands over his ears until the high-pitched whine faded. Well, that's not what Voldemort did, but I quite like it.

A furious stream of parseltongue echoed from the study.

Time to vacate for a bit. Salazar hates loud distractions when he's thinking even more than I do. He beat a swift, tiptoed retreat back up the steps toward Myrtle's Bathroom.

The perpetual puddle spread from wall to wall. Harry sighed and splashed through it.

"I'm so sorry," Myrtle whispered from within her cubicle. "I'm so sorry."

Harry paused by the door and watched the puddle lap at his heels.

Myrtle's silver form drifted out of the cubicle and away into the wall.

No hello? Guess she's not in a good mood today. He headed through the corridors back to Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione and the other Fifth Years sat around one of the corner tables, reading and playing exploding snap. Katie sprawled across the sofa by the fire. She caught his eye and gave him a wave.

"Not packing?" Harry flopped into the cushions beside her.

"No." Katie beamed and pushed her cold feet under Harry's thigh. "I can't fit everything in my trunk and my shrinking charms won't last long enough for the journey back, so I've given up for now."

"You want me to help?" Harry offered. "Mine will last."

"If you want, it'll only take a second, then we can come back down here next to the fire. It's loud upstairs with everyone packing." She jumped up and grabbed his hand, towing him up toward the stairs.

Harry put one foot on the stairs and they shifted into a slide. Katie squeaked and jumped back onto his foot.

"How inconvenient." He slipped out his wand and tugged his foot out from under Katie. "If this doesn't work, you'll have to do your own packing."

Hermione huffed and poked her head up over the top of her book. "Boys can't-"

"Confundus," Harry said.

The stairs reverted back to their original form with Harry's foot still on the first step. A low murmur ran round the common room and Hermione's book thudded to the table.

"Someone make a note of how he did that," Seamus muttered. "That's got to be the most useful thing we've seen all year."

"That's against the rules!" Hermione cried.

"What's he going to do?" Ron asked. "Steal your underwear? Calm down, Hermione."

"Have you somehow not heard what his father was like from

Padfoot?" Hermione replied. "There won't be a pair of panties left in Gryffindor Tower by tomorrow."

Katie giggled and dragged Harry up the rest of the steps.

"Where is Hermione's spot?" Harry asked.

She laughed and led him up to her dormitory. Stacks of quidditch jerseys and other clothes filled her bed halfway from mattress to canopy. A strangled exclamation echoed from the far corner.

"Sorry, Leanne," Katie said. "But at least you're dressed for once."

Her roommate turned scarlet and fled toward the common room.

"Now I've got room to watch you pack," Katie said.

"I'm going to shrink things." Harry sat down in the window. " You're doing all the actual packing."

She fluttered her eyelashes at him. "What if I asked really nicely?"

"Not even then, Dark Mistress." Harry waved his wand at the stacks of clothes and watched them shrink down to about a third of their former height.

"Fine…" Katie scooped the piles off the bed and stuffed them into her battered trunk. "I hate packing."

"You're terrible at it." Harry laughed as something black and lacy fell out of one of the piles. "But you do have some nice clothes."

"Not one more word." Katie growled, flushing bright red and shoving it back out of sight.

"So who did you buy that for?" Harry teased.

"Katie!" Alicia gaped from the doorway. Two high spots of colour rose on her cheeks.

"Harry's helping me pack, Alicia," Katie said. "I needed him to shrink everything so the spell lasts all the way back to London."

"Oh." Alicia clapped her mouth shut. "I just wanted to ask if you had any room in your trunk for an extra pair of shoes?"

"Nope." Katie tried to force the lid of her trunk down with both hands; it didn't budge. "Couldn't you have shrunk them a little more, Harry?" she demanded.

"And miss out on this?" Harry grinned. "I don't think so."

Alicia glanced between them with pursed lips, then turned on her heel and stalked out.

She's still pissed, then.

Katie pouted. "Are you going to help?"

"I suppose I could." Harry got up and put one foot on the trunk so Katie could lock it shut.

"Thanks." She beamed up through a scatter of mahogany hair and sat back on her knees, flushed and panting. "Shall we go back down?" A wicked little glint appeared in her eyes. "Or is there something else you'd rather I do now you've got me on my knees in front of you, Harry."

He snorted. "I'd like to have my Firebolt back."

Katie laughed. "I'd rather you took the other option. That Firebolt's fantastic. "

"Well, in that case we might as well head back down." He mussed her hair as she pushed herself to her feet. "Don't look too dishevelled, Katie dearest, let's not have another article written about us."

She straightened her robes and smoothed her hair; a little of the pink faded from her cheeks. "If anyone believes that your reputation is going to suffer. We've only been up here alone for about a minute or two."

"You never did tell me who you had in mind when you bought that very fetching underwear?" Harry asked. "Maybe you should be propositioning them, instead of me?"

"And I'm not going to tell you." Katie stuck her tongue out. "So you can stop picturing me in them."

A brief flash of her passed through his mind. Snatches of Fleur's nude body muddled with Katie's darker hair and eyes, the little bundle of black lace slipping down past her knees. Fleur would look very nice in them. He swallowed down the little flare of desire before it curdled into frustration. It's going to be a good summer.

"Lost in thought, Harry?" Katie giggled. "Do I look good in them?"

"They don't match the seashell bra," Harry replied. "It's very disappointing."

Katie sighed and bit her lip. "I guess in that case I'd just have to take the bra off."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm immune to you now."

She pouted. "Only because Frenchie stole your innocence and ruined my fun." She folded her arms and stuck her lower lip out a little further. "You were supposed to be mine to tease."

A quiet cheer and a round of applause rose from the boys when they came back down the stairs. Harry laughed and settled back into the sofa with Katie beside him.

"I think that did more for altering your Dark Lord reputation than anything else," she said.

"No self-respecting Dark Lord spends his time sneaking into girls" dormitories and bathrooms," Harry said.

"Alicia's going to give me an earful about that later, though. She wasn't happy to see us up there together."

She needs to drop her silly grudge. It's not our fault Rita Skeeter wrote that stupid article.

"Want me to say something or do something?"

She waved a hand at him. "Don't worry about it. She's leaving this year, you won't have to worry about it anymore."

"You will," Harry said.

"It'll be fine. Now how was your History of Magic exam?"

"Tedious." Harry groaned. "I lost all feeling in my hand halfway through the essay. That's a subject I won't be missing next year."

"That's the best thing about going from OWLs to NEWTs," Katie said. "No more Binns. Not that you went to any of his lessons this year, anyway. Have you chosen which ones you want to take?"

"Similar to yours, actually. Transfiguration, Defense, Charms, Potions and Advanced Arithmancy."

"Five's a lot, especially with Advanced Arithmancy in there. The only thing I hate more than Arithmancy is Slytherin winning at quidditch."

"And getting through an entire conversation without some kind of innuendo or lewd comment," Harry quipped.

"You love it," Katie retorted. "I'm your best friend."

The portrait swung open and Dennis Creevey bounced across the room wearing a vast grin on his face.

"Looks like the raven didn't get him after all," Harry muttered. "Ah well, there's always next year."

"It got Pansy Parkinson's wand for a bit, though," she said. "And a few others, apparently."

The younger Creevey bounded across to their sofa and began babbling at Harry while staring at him in a rather starstruck manner.

"Once more please, Dennis?" Harry asked, ignoring Katie's giggling.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you," Dennis blurted. "Professor McGonagall said something about you both enjoying sherbet lemons, but I didn't really understand."

"Thanks, Dennis." Harry grimaced and exchanged a brief glance with Katie.

"He probably just wants to know why you aren't in the hospital wing this year," she suggested. "Want me to come, just in case?"

Harry shook his head. "I'd better go and find out by myself. If I come back quite late and don't see you guys before you leave tomorrow, then I hope you have a good summer, Katie dearest. I doubt we'll be able to exchange letters, but I'm sure we can try and meet up or something."

"Why won't we see you on the train?" Katie asked.

"I can apparate," Harry whispered.

She shot him a look of pure envy. "That means you have no excuse for not coming to see me in the summer. You'll be able to find me on Diagon Alley easily enough. My parents own one of the cafés on the South side of the alley and I'll be helping out."

"Helping out… in a café… with goblets or cups? " Harry asked.

She laughed. "My cup count is currently at twenty eight. Mum keeps

a tally."

"I better go, then." Harry heaved himself out of the sofa and hurried out through the passage.

Professor McGonagall stood outside with pursed lips and a sherbet lemon caught between her forefinger and thumb. "I believe this is for you, Mr. Potter."

"Thanks, Professor." Harry unwrapped the sweet and slipped it in his mouth.

Probably should've given it to Gabby. Ah well, I can buy her some from somewhere, I'm sure.

"You shouldn't encourage the headmaster to give you muggle sweets, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall chided. "They're very sickly and not at all good for you."

"This is the first year I've not ended up in the hospital wing." Harry grinned. "It's also the first year I've accepted a sherbet lemon. Coincidence? I think not, professor."

McGonagall gave him a long-suffering expression and led him toward the gargoyle. "Sometimes, Mr. Potter, you act a great deal like your father."

"So Snape tells me."

"Sherbet lemon." Professor McGonagall sighed and gestured at the stairs. "I will see you next year, Mr. Potter. I'm assured that there's a very good chance you will be in my class."

"I'll be there," Harry said.

But maybe not for as long as everyone else is. He crunched the sherbet lemon and swallowed it down. Not if I can help it.

Harry poked his head through the door to the office. Dumbledore leant back in his chair on the other side of the desk, holding his hand out in supplication to Fawkes, who held the bowl of sherbet lemons hostage in his talons.

"Harry." His eyes twinkled. "If you'd be so kind as to bear with me for a moment, Fawkes is experiencing a bout of adolescent rebellion. Sadly, being a phoenix, they come about more frequently than one might hope."

Fawkes trilled, tilting his head at Dumbledore, then hopped from his perch to replace the bowl on the wrong side of the desk, just out of reach of the seated headmaster.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I suppose that will have to do."

"What did you wish to speak with me about, sir?" Harry asked.

"About the summer." Dumbledore eased his chair a few inches closer to the desk.

"What about it, professor?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "Voldemort?"

"You know, of course, that you have to return to your relatives to be as safe as we can make you," Dumbledore said. "I've also asked that a couple of the members of the Order take turns making sure you're

still safe."

That's how he knew I was apparating around last year. Harry stifled a brief flare of heat. Ah well, let them try and find me. I'll be in and out before they can stop me.

"When can they first get there?" he asked.

"The day after tomorrow." Dumbledore smiled, inching his hand across the smooth desk surface towards the bowl of sherbet lemons.

So there'll be plenty of time for me to arrive and leave again. Excellent.

"Who will it be?" Harry stifled a laugh as Fawkes extended a foot in front of the bowl to impede Dumbledore's progress.

The old wizard sighed in defeat and looked away from his prized stash of sweets. "Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody and Hestia Jones are the three who'll spend the most time there, Harry. I must ask you to try and make things easy for us by not apparating off anywhere. Voldemort will be much more active now he's been exposed, and you remain, of course, in the forefront of his mind." "I promise, headmaster," Harry said. "I'll stay where I'm safest."

The Meadow. Behind my wards. Where Voldemort can't get me. And where you can't dangle me like a worm on a fishing hook.

"Excellent, Harry." Dumbledore's hand flashed forward and seized the bowl of sherbet lemons. "I know it must be trying for you to endure the company of your relatives. They are not the most affable of people."

Fawkes let out a low cry of mourning and hopped back onto his perch. Harry got the distinct impression the bird was now sulking.

"Was that all, Professor?" Harry asked.

"Not quite, my boy." Dumbledore adjusted several books on his desk, uncovering a familiar looking tome. "There're some more pleasant things I'd like to congratulate you on before you head back home."

The Secrets of the Darkest Arts. Harry glanced away from it and admired Fawkes" bright plumage. So he's been reading about horcruxes, too. Although his version probably doesn't come with helpful, how-to annotations.

"So!" Dumbledore beamed. "Professor Tofty, an old associate of mine, and some of his colleagues have been most impressed with your performance in your OWLs. I recall a long, interesting conversation about a large raven you transfigured from a desk stealing the wands of other students before eventually dispersing. Normally, of course, I would frown on such a thing during an exam, but since the fault largely lies with the examiners for not being able to bring themselves to vanish your remarkable piece of magic, I can only congratulate you on your accomplishments. That is well in advance of your studies, Harry. You're going to be remembered as a great wizard one day."

Remembered. Harry swallowed a lick of heat and pretended no cold fist clenched in his chest. Remembered for my noble sacrifice, no doubt.

"Thank you, sir."

"I remember performing a similar feat back in my youth. I transfigured a particularly attractive, Chippendale-style chair into a swan. My professor was very impressed, but only up until the moment my creation broke his arm. I had, of course, not accounted for the aggressive nature of the bird."

"Did you get full marks, sir?" Harry asked.

"I did. I also received a string of detentions with the Alchemy Professor. I imagine your raven's spate of wand theft will have equally little effect upon your grade, Harry." Professor Dumbledore steepled his fingers and peered over them at Harry with sharp, bright blue eyes. "My interest in your skill with Transfiguration is slightly selfish, I'm afraid. Professor McGonagall has been pressing me heavily to assist her with a personal project of hers for some years, but, alas, I never seem to have the time."

Harry laughed. "I don't think I'd be a suitable replacement for you, professor."

"Have faith in yourself, Harry," Dumbledore murmured. "You're a very powerful wizard. Professor McGonagall has requested my help in her study of her subject not because my skill is any greater than her own, but because she needs a wizard or witch capable of sustaining partial, human transfiguration for a long time that she can then study."

"I'm only an OWL student, sir." Harry shrugged. "Surely another professor or a seventh year student would be preferable to her."

"Your modesty is admirable, Harry, but you've already accomplished magic the vast majority of witches and wizards can only dream of. You performed an innovative feat of self-transfiguration last year for the Triwizard Tournament, something I understand Madam Pomfrey was quite horrified by, and I'm sure you would find Professor McGonagall's assistance with any interests in the field quite useful yourself." A twinkle appeared in Dumbledore's eyes. "No doubt the notion of following in your father's and Sirius" examples has occurred to you, my boy."

"Becoming an animagus," Harry mused.

That could be useful. That could be very useful. Harry allowed a flash of Fleur in the sun to pass before the eye of his mind. Even if it's just for afterward.

"It is quite the useful talent," Dumbledore said. "My brother, Aberforth, is more adept at it than I and takes the form of a quite spectacular billy goat."

"Do you have a form, professor?" Harry enquired.

"For all my skill at the subject, I've never found the inclination or need to master it. It is no small project, as those who have undertaken it will tell you." He selected a lemon sherbet, unwrapped it with a deft twist, and dropped it onto his tongue. The sweet clicked against his teeth as he wiggled his jaw around. "Would you be amenable to the idea, Harry?"

There's no good reason to refuse, not without raising suspicion. It doesn't seem like much of a trap, either. He weighed it up. And if I say yes, maybe it'll be a good moment to ask about my NEWTs.

"I suppose I might be," Harry said. "I have a request of my own, actually."

"Oh." Dumbledore leant forward. "Well, you're more than welcome to another sherbet lemon, Harry."

"I was actually hoping to be able to take some of my NEWTs early, professor," Harry said. "I find myself quite advanced already and still with a whole summer to spend studying."

"It's not unknown, but it does depend on your results, my boy. Anything less than an outstanding and it would not be encouraged by the faculty. Which subjects were you considering?"

"Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, Potions, and Advanced Arithmancy, sir."

"I have heard, from Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall, that you are casting and have been casting some NEWT level spells since your fourth year, non-verbally as well." Dumbledore ran a hand along the upper length of his beard, smoothing the silver hairs. "Defense Against the Dark Arts has always been your best subject, too, but Professor Snape has never intimated any precocious gift for potions, and Professor Vector rarely lets any student take an exam early."

"Is that a no, sir?" Harry asked.

"Quite the opposite." Dumbledore pulled his fingers from his beard. "I think it's a splendid idea, provided, of course, you can study hard over the summer, but you will need written permission from each teacher for their subject. How early would you like to take them?" "As early as possible," Harry said.

Fleur did it. I can do it. Maybe I'll even beat her. That ought to make her pout.

"Next January?" Dumbledore's fingers stilled. "That is an ambitious undertaking, Harry."

"The sorting hat did want to put me in Slytherin," Harry murmured.

"A test, then," Dumbledore declared. "I haven't done any teaching in some time and I daresay I could use the practice to keep in touch." He reached into the bowl and drew out another sherbet lemon, then placed it on the desk between them. "I would like you to transfigure this into the most complex thing you can think of."

Harry stared at the sweet. Small, inanimate, and technically food. He flicked his wand into his palm and transfigured the sherbet lemon into a real, smooth-skinned citrus fruit the size of his palm.

"Very good." Dumbledore transfigured it back into a sweet and dropped it into the bowl. "You chose something difficult, but obtainable. I shall assume you have put the same amount of thought into this choice to take your exams early and allow you to take them early, provided you have that written consent from the teacher of each subject I mentioned before."

Smart test. A chill trickled down Harry's spine. And I missed it completely.

"Was that all, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "It's getting late, and while I assume you will be making the most of your ability to apparate, you will still have to get up early to say goodbye to your friends."

Harry allowed himself a small smile and pictured Privet Drive fading into the distance. "I do have a fair few goodbyes to say, I suppose."

AN: But alas, the lemon was not quite the kind everyone on FFN gets excited about…

Discord is still a thing. Audiobooks are also still a thing. All the links are on my profile and on discord, including how to support me and read my original works!

But if you don't fancy hunting, there's always this one below.

discord. gg / 7D7dWjzKac

Every Portrait Painted With Feeling

Disclaimer : Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's. Still.

AN : Here we go, enjoy!

Every Portrait that is Painted with Feeling…

Something heavy draped itself across his stomach. Harry snapped his eyes open to blinding brightness and thrust his hand beneath his pillow, curling his fingers "round his wand. Warmth rushed up his arm.

"Morning Harry." Katie beamed up at him from his abdomen. A bright gleam hovered in her mahogany eyes and her hair spilt over the side of his bed. "Time to get up."

"Get off." He groaned and tensed his stomach, bouncing her head up and down. "I'm not even getting the train, remember?"

"Oh I know." Katie giggled, reaching out a hand and patting him on the head. "Did you know you've got the best bed hair I've ever seen?"

"How did you get in?" Harry squinted into the bright light shining through his curtains. "I put a sticking charm on the hangings."

"I noticed." She waved her wand in the air. "It took me almost five whole seconds to get in once I lost patience with trying to draw them."

"You wanted to say goodbye again this badly?" Harry sat up and scooped Katie's head out of his lap. "Does Alicia know you're in my bed with me?"

"Yes." Katie smirked. "I finally convinced her to see sense; it only took until the last hour of our school life together."

"Better late than never." Harry transfigured his pyjamas into school robes and undid his sticking charm. "So why did you decide to invite yourself into my bed?"

Katie peered around. "Where is all your stuff? There's literally nothing in your trunk. Is this even your trunk?"

"Around." Harry yawned. "And no, it's just a spare one for my pyjamas."

"Where's everyone else?" Katie asked.

You mean you didn't check before jumping in bed with me? Harry grimaced. I hope nobody noticed. That's one rumour I don't need cropping back up. Or getting back to Fleur, somehow. He shuddered. She wouldn't be happy at all.

He plastered a smile over the tight, cold knot in his gut. "Maybe they all left before they were forced to witness you being murdered for waking me early," he said. "What possessed you to come and disturb me?"

"I wanted to say goodbye." Katie bounced off the edge of his bed and gazed out at the grey, undecided Scottish sky, fogging the panes with her breath. "Breakfast?"

"Fine." He groaned and rolled onto his feet. "Why're you so cheerful? It's your last day of school with Angelina and Alicia, I expected you to be moping."

"I know." Katie beamed. "Angelina had to cast a handful of Cheering Charms on me when we woke up so I'd be less miserable and actually get out of bed. She cast a few too many." She giggled. "And then I thought I could come down here to see you and she went to argue with Alicia about something."

"That explains a lot." Harry grinned. "Though not why you thought waking me up was a good idea."

"You get to see me." She swiveled about. "I might not be the prettiest witch you've woken up in bed with recently, but I'm your best friend."

"Let's go to breakfast," Harry said. "Before someone sees you here, some terribly contrived scheme hatches, and we both get immolated by a very feathery Fleur."

"Feathery?" Katie swatted her brown hair out of her face. "She has feathers?"

"Sometimes." Harry chuckled. "Usually when she's angry at me." "And that happens a lot, does it?" She bit at her lip.

"I have to bribe her with cake." He shot her a grin. "It seems like all the girls I know need to be bribed with something."

Katie laughed. "She's cheaper than I am."

Harry rolled his eyes and headed down toward the Great Hall. "Don't let her hear you say that. She's very competitive and Paris has some very expensive sweets shops."

Katie bounced alongside him. "Does that mean I'll get to meet Frenchie?"

He froze. "Er-"

"Don't worry, Harry. I know that'd probably be super awkward for you." She laughed and placed one foot right into the trick step. "I'll keep all our secrets."

Harry concealed a smile and waited.

"Shit." Katie tugged at her leg, then reached for her wand. "Stupid step."

Harry plucked her wand out of her fingers. "Now you're stuck."

"I'm completely at your mercy," Katie breathed. A wicked glint appeared in her eyes and she tied her hair into a knot with a slow deliberate twist. "What do I have to do to get you to free me, Harry?"

He snorted. "I don't think we'd even have time for anything like that. Someone'll be coming soon."

She giggled. "I bet someone would be coming soon."

Harry rolled his eyes and freed her with a flick of her wand. "That was awful."

"You love me." Katie beamed and skipped down the stairs. "I am the light of your life."

Harry caught her at the tables and dropped her wand into her lap. "You might need this."

"Thanks." She stuffed it back into her robes. "You sure you don't want to ride the train with me?"

"It's a long ride," Harry replied. "But I'll come see you over the summer. Nev, too." He moved the goblets out of range of her elbow. "Are you going to see Alicia and Angelina?"

"At some point. They're helping Fred and George with some enterprise they're starting this summer, but I'm not supposed to tell you that." She scrunched up her face. "There's a lot of things they don't want me to tell you, really."

"You should probably listen to them," Harry said. "I'm sure I don't want to know whatever girly secrets the three of you have."

"I promised." Katie helped herself to half a plate of bacon and leant on his shoulder. "And promises have to be kept."

Yes, they do. Harry glanced down the table to where an irritated Alicia was hissing in Angelina's ear. I guess someone's realized too many cheering charms probably weren't a good idea.

"So what're you doing over the summer, Harry?" Katie asked.

"Not much," Harry replied. "Studying for NEWTs probably and meeting up with friends."

She twisted her lips around. "Not going to see Fleur?"

"Hopefully, I'll be seeing a lot of Fleur." Harry flushed at Katie's suggestive look. "And I'll probably be keeping my head down and staying safe. I'll be a target now."

"You've been a target every year." Katie patted him on the cheek, the tips of her fingers brushing the corner of his mouth. "I don't care."

"I'm still coming incognito when I meet up with you over the summer. Just in case."

"You should bring Frenchie, if she's alright with taking the risk," Katie said. "I'd actually like to meet her at some point. I have so many things to tell her about you." A spark of mischief gleamed in her eyes.

Harry chuckled. "Planning on embarrassing me?"

"If she's scared off, then you'll focus all your gifts on me." She beamed. "I'd love to be spoilt."

"I don't think there's much you could tell her that would be more embarrassing than what she already knows, but don't let me dissuade you."

"You won't." She grinned and took a large bite of her sandwich.

"Wonderful."

Harry watched the first, most eager students start to head towards the doors and the carriages back to Hogsmeade Station. Katie crammed her bacon sandwich into her mouth and choked, gulping water from Harry's cup to get it down.

"You good?" Harry asked.

She gave him a thumbs up, but her gaze drifted toward the leavers and the laughter faded from her eyes.

The Cheering Charms have worn off.

More and more students filtered out. Harry glimpsed Nev and Ron among them, the latter jostling with Malfoy when he strayed too close.

Katie threw a glance to where the other two chasers were lingering, then twisted about and pulled him into a tight, warm hug. "I'll see you in the summer, Harry. Any day's fine if you want to come visit. My parents own the third café on the left in the southern part of Diagon Alley. It's the one with red umbrellas."

"I'll come visit." He wrapped his arms back "round her and gave her a gentle pat on the back when her embrace lingered.

"You promise?" She leant back. "Don't let Frenchie drag you off to

France the whole time and forget your best friend."

"I promise."

"I'll be mad if you break it." Katie waved her fist under his nose and sighed. "Time to go… Bye, Harry."

"Bye, Katie." Harry watched her back drift out the door between Angelina and Alicia, waving when she glanced back at him.

And now it's time to get out of here and away from Privet Drive. A strange thrill seized him. Scattered flashes of half-desire on empty days amidst his aunt's roses and in the dark beneath the stairs crept up from the back of his mind. I did it. A ball of emotion burst with a hot rush strong enough to bring tears to his eyes. I'm really leaving that place forever.

He plucked one last slice of toast from the nearest rack and swept out of the hall, pirouetting around Argus Filch who mumbled warnings at him with what was almost a smile upon his lips, and bounding up the stairs three steps at a time.

Myrtle hovered before the taps, little more than a faint outline, as if formed from steam.

"Myrtle." Harry edged through the puddle. "Are you ok?"

She swiveled "round. "Harry." A small smile appeared on her lips. "For a moment, I thought you were someone else."

Tom. He held his tongue. You've called me Tom more than once. Was he a friend to you like he was to Ginny?

"I'm very glad I could help you, Harry." Myrtle drifted closer and brushed her cold fingertips down his cheek, leaving a trail of pins and needles tingling on his skin. "I think I'm about to fade."

"Fade?" He stared into her eyes. "That sounds very… final, Myrtle."

She offered him a trembling smile. "I - I'm not feeling so bad anymore. I did something wrong, before I died, and I couldn't let it go. Like a great weight…" She touched a finger to her heart. "Just here. Then you came, feeling so familiar, and I could help you. I feel all light. Free. "

Free to disappear. Harry smothered the prickle crawling down his spine.

Myrtle watched her fingers fade like smoke into the breeze. "Bye Harry," she whispered. "Bye Tom."

Gone. Harry watched her vanish. Just like that. Here one moment, then nothing forever. He stifled a ripple of revulsion and the soft wrench of horror in his heart. It's what she wanted. No regrets. "Open." He drifted down the stairs into the chamber, listening to the echo of his footsteps across the main hall, and opened the door into the study. "I'm back."

"So you are," Salazar murmured, petting his serpent as it buried its blunt nose into his neck. "I have a story for you today."

Harry settled himself down in front of the desk. "What's it about?"

"Death."

He twitched. "Are there ghosts?"

"Not of the sort you mean." Salazar's eyes swam with shadows. "You'll understand after you hear it."

Harry leant back in the chair and straightened the stacks of books on the desk. "Alright then."

"I heard several sensible variations, all millennia old by the time I was born," Salazar said. "They started with a witch and her younger brother. The witch, whose name has been lost to history, all but raised her younger brother after their parents died. She turned out to be quite a gifted witch, and, once her brother was old enough to remain at home alone, travelled the country crafting wands and other objects for the wealthy. Eventually, she was asked to create an artefact of incredible power, a mirror that would create a perfect, permanent copy of any object it reflected."

"That sounds like something that should not have been made lightly," Harry said.

"It's hard to resist the temptation to do something great with the gifts we're given," Salazar murmured. "It took the witch many attempts to craft the mirror, working in secret so as not to advertise her project, but when she was successful she left her brother behind and went to present it to the wizard who had commissioned it. This wizard was very pleased with her creation, but, fearing she might create another, ordered her killed, and the witch was executed."

Harry grimaced. "What happened to her brother?"

"That is the true story." A thin, cool smile curved Salazar's lips. "He grew up determined to have his revenge and find a way to bring his sister back."

"How could she be brought back?" Harry asked. "She's dead."

Can magic do that? He buried a surge of bright hope. Could I do that?

"Many things once considered impossible have become possible through magic," Salazar said. "He planned and studied for decades, hiding his vengeful ambition, for the wizard with the mirror had used it to become very powerful. The brother married, had and raised his children, but never forgot his goal. He crafted a wand to take his revenge, a wand more powerful than anything any other wielded. It was rumoured he was so bent on his revenge that he invoked the power of death itself to craft it, trading his own soul in return." "That sounds unbelievable," Harry said.

"I suspect he just crafted a very powerful wand," Salazar said. "Nonetheless, he was not satisfied, because one wand against all the power of the wizard's followers would not be enough. He went further, crafting a cloak to let him sneak into the wizard's castle undetected, a cloak supposedly powerful enough to hide him completely."

Like mine. Harry threw a glance at the folded silver surface of his own invisibility cloak.

"I see you have guessed at some of the relevance of this story." A small, proud smile turned the corners of Salazar's mouth up. "I knew you would." He tapped his wand against his palm, sending silver sparks showering down into the base of his frame. "The younger brother slipped into the castle under his cloak, killed the wizard, destroyed the mirror his sister made and left. However, his desire to bring her back had only grown over the years and his vengeance was no longer enough. At the advice of his wife and children he created a stone, one with the power to show him the dead, so that he could prove his quest was not impossible. It showed him his sister, drawing her from whatever comes after death, but her existence was not true enough and, determined to bring her back in full, he created one last artefact."

A faint, ominous chill fell upon Harry. "This doesn't sound like a happy story. Why're you telling it?"

"You'll understand soon. The last thing he made was a gate, a veiled archway into the realm of death itself. He intended to enter and return with his sister. The younger brother left the first three things he had made in the hands of his three children, the wand to the eldest, the cloak to his youngest, and the stone to the middle child, who'd lost his daughter to disease, then went to find his sister. His family waited for many years, his wife died, but their father never returned-"

"Is this a warning?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Or are you telling me I could use these artefacts to kill Voldemort?"

"Don't interrupt, brat," Salazar snapped. "Godric died trying to recover a wand for an old wizard by the name of Ignatius Peverell. Peverell claimed the wand was an heirloom that'd been stolen from him, but Godric believed the myth and wanted to remove such a dangerous weapon from the world. A decade later my wife died and I came across his notes on the three artefacts, deciding, against logic, to search for the stone that might let me see my wife once more. I never found it and the Peverells denied its existence. My daughter was certain they were lying."

"And the cloak?" Harry tugged his cloak onto his lap and ran his fingertips over the material.

Salazar stroked the side of his thumb along his serpent's spine. "I suspect the Peverell family somehow found the wand, the stone and the cloak, encouraging the belief of myths and legends to conceal the truth of their existence and to increase their own reputation. The more outlandish tales claimed the three sons earnt them from Death itself. The only shred of proof I have is that they changed their sigil from a thestral rampant to a curious symbol sometime after Rome's Emperor bestowed them with lands in Britain. Does your cloak have a mark on it?"

Harry unfolded the cloak, running his eyes over each inch. "What am I looking for?"

"A triangle, divided in half by a line, and encasing a circle."

Harry pored over the cloak until a faint gleam of silver a few shades darker than the rest caught his eye. He pulled it beneath the light. A triangle, circle, and line shone upon the garment. Ice trickled through his veins.

"It's true." Harry glanced up at Salazar and held up the marked cloak.

"The sigil's on here. It's Grindelwald's mark, I saw it on the graves at

Godric's Hollow, and I've seen the doorway, it's in the Department of Mysteries."

Salazar's forehead creased. "Then it's likely the other artefacts exist, too. I was confident, but never quite certain. I can't say how much truth is in old stories, Harry. The chance of finding them after all these years is next to nothing."

"Why are you telling me, then?" Harry demanded.

"Because it's time to reseal the Chamber of Secrets. If there are other descendants among your generations, they have not found me and nor does it seem likely they will. We will reseal the chamber so its wards are tied to your blood descendants."

Harry glanced at his cloak. "The sacrifice. I need to know how valuable the cloak is to use it."

"No," Salazar murmured. "In the end, the cloak means little to you. Useful, but the desperate affection you had for anything connected to lost parents has faded just like Tom's did."

Harry frowned. "So how do I seal it?"

"I tied the wards here to my bloodline and the sacrifice my wife and I had already made to aid them." Salazar sighed and cupped his serpent's head against his breast. "You have no such sacrifice to tie the wards to."

"Have I not given enough?" Harry clenched his fists. "What else is there for me to give?"

Salazar shook his head. "I have spent a long time considering this, it was necessary the moment Voldemort returned, and I have decided what has to happen."

"So what's the price? " Harry demanded.

His mind raced. Something to keep Voldemort out. A silver-haired, emerald-eyed little girl smiled at him from within her mother's embrace and his heart lurched. Something that will help my family forever.

"Something that feels almost invaluable," Salazar whispered. "Something so precious you might not survive without it."

Fleur. Harry's heart froze and his breath caught.

The world spun around him until he clawed back a gasp of air.

"I won't." He shook his head and his wand flashed ice cold against his skin. "I can't. I couldn't. Never. "

"Not her," Salazar murmured. "I would never ask you to do that. The answer is staring you in the face, Harry. I'm not, as you once so tactfully told me, Salazar Slytherin, just an imprint of him on canvas. No lives need be wasted when I will suffice."

"But I need you."

"Tom had me and it didn't stop him. No, there's no other choice, Harry. It must be me."

"I won't ever be able to speak to you again," Harry whispered. "Every time I come down here, it'll just be a hollow hall."

Salazar sighed. "Do you need me more than you need her, Harry? It must be me, because if it's not me…"

Harry wrestled with the cage of thorns around his heart. "It - it can't be her."

"Then it must be me." Salazar offered him a faint smile and studied his wand. "Perhaps, Harry, you'll be fortunate enough to stumble across a way to speak to me again. I may have other portraits still surviving somewhere, dormant, until those of my blood discover them."

He's lying. Harry swallowed a bitter lump. Cold, hollow talons clawed at him within. He knows this is the only one. I'll have to find that stone to ever speak with him again.

"What do I have to do?" he whispered.

"The runes for the wards are inscribed in the patterns of the snakes" scales in the main chamber, both the effigies and across the ceiling, you need only go over them with your magic and add your blood."

"Shall I carry you outside?" Harry offered.

Salazar smirked. "Just levitate me out."

A faint stab of humour pierced through the abyss. "I knew I should've actually tried. There never was any sort of charm, was there?"

"If it makes you feel better, Tom never realized either and he was carrying me around for twice as long as you were."

"I wouldn't have minded carrying you about a little longer," Harry murmured.

"The things that are necessary are not always easy," Salazar replied. "Besides, I've lingered in this chamber for long enough. My friends have left no imprints of themselves to keep me company."

Harry set him down at the centre of the chamber, using a sticking charm to keep the frame of the canvas upright, and traced over the runes within the pattern of the scales with purple flame. Eventually, he stood at the centre of a web of shimmering purple fire, bathed in a bright violet glow.

"You'll need a few extra ones now," Salazar said. "Make it yours."

Harry scanned the lines of twisting, shining runes, then, at the ceiling's centre, etched a few, simple glyphs with a shaking hand. "Are you sure there's no other way?"

"I am," Salazar whispered. "I would not leave you to face Voldemort without me if there were a better option. If we leave this entrance open, he will tear through this place without warning. We made this place to be a haven, and it must remain one, for you and for all children."

"Can I not just intend…? Somehow?"

"It would not be the same if you knew you might circumvent the price," Salazar murmured. "You know this."

"How?" Harry swallowed the hot lump in his throat and clenched his jaw. The tears prickling in his eyes persisted.

"Do it quickly. I will feel no pain, but it will be easier for you."

It has to be done. Harry wrestled with it. I can't leave or Dumbledore will come after me. It can't stay unprotected or Voldemort will come here.

He levelled his wand at the painting. Weak, pale, yellow flames burst from its tip and guttered out.

"It is hard, Harry," Salazar whispered. "But you endured before. You can endure again. You will not be alone so long as you have her."

Harry hardened his heart. It's the only way. He has to be destroyed.

Fiendfyre flooded from his wand, coiling into the shape of the basilisk; it lunged, closing its fangs over Salazar, then Harry squashed it from existence.

Hogwarts will be safe. I will be safe. He sliced open the ball of his thumb and spattered a few drops of blood onto the floor at his feet. Fleur will be safe.

The Chamber of Secrets lurched, trembling as if caught in an earthquake. The runes flared bright as sunlight, pulsing in time with the beat of Harry's heart until his head span; then he was plunged into the dark.

It's done. A faint hope rose up in the quiet blackness.

"Salazar?" Harry whispered.

The chamber echoed his voice back at him, over and over, until the murmurs faded into thick, dense silence. A thin, fragile bubble held a swirling vortex of emotion prisoner in his heart.

"Gone."

The bubble wavered, his wand flared hot and cold in his hand and the darkness curled "round him, deep and hollow as the emptiness within. Harry pictured the hall of the Meadow and wrenched the world back past him.

Fleur's soft humming drifted from the lounge.

He stumbled toward it, blinking back tears. Raw, hot, bitter feeling howled in his heart and Harry clamped his mouth shut before its scream spilt through his lips.

"Harry?" She reached out and drew him down onto the sofa next to her as his tears began to trickle down his cheeks. "What's wrong?"

Harry shook his head, wrapped his arms "round her and pulled her close until the soft warmth of her and the sweet scent of marzipan and burnt holly blotted out the world.

Fleur cradled his head in her lap. "You'll survive, mon Cœur." She ran her fingers through his hair and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "I'm still here. And I'm never going anywhere."

AN : Although, it's not really the most cheerful chapter, but still, it could be worse!

Discord is still a thing. Audiobooks are also still a thing. All the links are on my profile and on discord, including how to support me and read my original works!

But if you don't fancy hunting, there's always this one below.

discord. gg / 7D7dWjzKac