Here is chapter 127! Enjoy!
A whiff of aroma hit Ron's nostrils and he looked up. The more he focused on it, the better he could smell it. It felt like pure heaven.
Ron walked out of the room and ran downstairs. "Are you baking?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen and his eyes fell on Daisy.
Daisy glanced at him, smiling and nodded in response.
"Sticky toffee pudding, right?" he remarked. "It smells so good," he whispered into her ear and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you," blushed Daisy and glanced back at her dessert in preparation.
"It is your favourite..." sighed Ron and had a surprised look on his face.
"It is, and I wanted to share it with you before you went back to Hogwarts," replied Daisy.
…
After a while, Daisy and Ron were seated at the table, having just completed their warm dessert. Ron had been overflowing with compliments, about how well she had made the pudding, and Daisy had been enjoying every minute of it.
"I just made this a couple of weeks back," said Daisy.
"When you were with your parents?" asked Ron.
"I had to make it for Jacob first," smiled Daisy in response. Daisy had just returned back from visiting her parents a few days back.
Ron smiled in response. As the couple sat in silence for a few minutes, Ron's mind went back to something. He remembered something and almost immediately a smile appeared on his face.
"What happened?" asked Daisy, smiling.
"Your father loves sticky toffee pudding, and so do you," replied Ron. "I... just remembered someone else who told me once that he too loved sticky toffee pudding," he remarked.
"Who?" asked Daisy, curiously.
"John, he loved it too," replied Ron, chuckling. "Father... Mother... Son..." he thought to himself.
"Oh, right... I remember, he even made it for me once," replied Daisy, smiling. "I mean, he was making it for himself. I just also happened to be there," she added.
The couple spent another few minutes in silence, all the while Daisy continued to look at Ron.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Ron, breaking the silence.
"I'm just trying to read you, trying to understand what you are thinking about," replied Daisy, smiling.
"What did you find out?" asked Ron.
"You look worried! You are happy now, but you don't know how long this will last," replied Daisy, calmly. "How close was I?" she asked.
"Pretty close," chuckled Ron in response.
"This will last for as long as we are alive, Ronald Weasley," replied Daisy, dragging her chair closer to his. She pulled him into a hug and rested his head on her shoulder. "You are not getting rid of me that easily," she added.
"A war is coming, and I may not make it," replied Ron, cautiously.
"Is the war starting today?" asked Daisy, instantly. Ron shook his head in response. "Is it starting tomorrow, the next week, the next month?" she added.
"I don't know, Daisy," replied Ron. "But very soon, it will come," he sighed.
"Whenever it does, you will fight in it! And you will do your best, you will protect everyone you can," retorted Daisy.
"What if I don't? What if I can't?" asked Ron, staring directly at her.
"Don't worry about things that haven't happened yet," suggested Daisy. "When something happens, just be ready to face it," she added.
Ron glanced away from her. He didn't have any words to express what he was feeling.
After a moment, Daisy spoke up, "What is it?" she asked. Ron just glanced back at her, looking confused. "There is something else, I can see it in your face," she remarked. "Talk to me," she added in a pleading tone.
Ron's mind was muddled with questions, many of them, answers to which he didn't have. Having knowledge of the future was getting to him, it had been getting to him from the moment he learned of them.
After a few moments of silence, Ron spoke up. Daisy was staring at him patiently. "Harry betrayed my trust," he remarked. He waited for Daisy to respond, but she didn't. Instead, she continued looking at him. So, Ron continued, "He kept many secrets from me, things he shouldn't have kept a secret," he added.
"Did you ask him about it?" asked Daisy, calmly.
"Eventually, when the secret was all but out, he told me," replied Ron. "If not for that, he may have never told me," he added.
"And?" asked Daisy.
"What are you asking me?" retorted Ron.
"This is why you haven't been talking to him, isn't it?" replied Daisy. "You never talked to me about it... Till now," she added. "So, why tell me now?" she asked.
"Would you forgive him?" asked Ron.
"Does it matter?" retorted Daisy, calmly.
"I just want to know, if you would forgive him, if he kept a big secret about you, or someone close to you, from you," replied Ron.
"I trust Harry with my life. If he keeps a secret from me, it must be for a reason," began Daisy. "But when I do find out the truth... I would wonder if it was all worth it," she added.
"And then, what would you do?" asked Ron.
"I think this hypothetical has reached its end... Is Harry keeping a secret from me?" retorted Daisy.
Ron remained silent in response.
"Are you?" asked Daisy, immediately.
Ron continued with his silence.
"When are you planning to tell me?" continued Daisy. As Ron's silence continued, Daisy got up from her seat and said, "Truth can't be hidden for long, Ron. Don't take too long to reveal it, otherwise, someone else with," she remarked. "I'm guessing that's what happened to Harry. And look where it has ended him at," she finished.
"I'll tell you soon," replied Ron, glancing up at her. Daisy nodded in response. Just as she was walking away, Ron spoke up, "Are you mad at me?" he asked.
"Not yet," replied Daisy, smiling.
Ron got up from his seat smiling and excited. He followed Daisy up the staircase when Daisy stopped.
"Hold on," she remarked and turned around. "If I find out you have been cosying up with someone else behind my back, you are a dead man, Weasley," she exclaimed. Almost immediately, she started laughing.
"If you saw those French girls, believe me, even I would think that I have competition," chuckled Ron as he reached up to her and pulled her closer to him.
"So, you admit that you were flirting with other girls?" asked Daisy, staring at him.
"No, I did not admit to that," retorted Ron and grabbed her into a kiss.
…
Ron and Daisy kissed their way up the stairs, stumbled into their room and were about to shed each other's clothes when they saw something. Their entire room had lit up brightly, red in colour. Ron immediately looked out the window and saw that someone had sent red flares into the sky.
"Daisy," he called out.
"What happened?" asked Daisy, worried.
"Trouble's here," replied Ron and took out his wand. "Don't get out of this room, I'm going to go out and make sure everything's alright," he instructed.
Daisy nodded quickly in response. Ron quickly took one final glance of Daisy and dashed out of the room, closing the door behind him, and safeguarding the room with a few protective spells.
The moment Ron hit the stairs, the entire house vibrated, like it had just been hit by a massive force.
Ron swiftly swung his wand around, thinking, "Expecto Patronum", and muttered, "Someone's after Daisy, need help!"
As Ron neared the entrance of the house, he pointed his wand at the door, opening it instantly. He ran out and closed the entrance as well, safeguarding it with protective spells. The moment he got to the street, his eyes fell on Voldemort striking an Auror with the killing curse.
Right then, he felt something behind him and instantly he ducked and moved away. He swung his head around to notice two death eaters with their wands pointed at him. Ron slashed his wands at the pair of them in a swift motion and a strong force hit them and they flew away to hit one of the trees each.
Meanwhile, Voldemort had finished another Auror and there just remained one, except Ron.
Ron ran at the death eaters he had struck, pointed his wand at them and bound them immediately. The next moment, he took their wands away and turned his attention towards Voldemort.
The one Auror left protecting Daisy was taking one hit after another. Voldemort was just about to use the killing curse when Ron slashed his wand at him.
However, Voldemort was quick to notice and blocked Ron's attack away.
Ron ran at Voldemort as Voldemort decided to attack Ron. Fireworks began between the pair instantly. Voldemort struck Ron again and again, relentlessly, without a break. Ron, initially ran after Voldemort, the momentum of his body speed helping him to block or dodge Voldemort's attacks. Once he reached near, only a few feet away, he came to a halt and continued to shield himself from Voldemort's attacks.
…
Every attack Voldemort sent at Ron, he saw Ron defending it quite effortlessly. Moving away from curses and hexes, he shifted to dark magic against the 7th year.
He breathed fire and managed to create multiple duplicates of it, attacking Ron from many fronts. However, Ron seemed to be ready to tackle it easily. He swung his wand a few times, struck the fire with his bare wand and vanquished it. The next moment, before Voldemort could attack, Ron took charge.
Ron began a series of attacks aimed at Voldemort, each of them, the Dark Lord managed to defend against.
And right then, the pair of them heard multiple cracking sounds. The Order of the Phoenix had arrived, led by Moody. Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Arthur Weasley, all of them apparated behind Voldemort one by one. The duel had stopped momentarily as Ron stared at the Order in relief. The next moment, they heard a few more cracking sounds. This time it was Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom arriving, and they all apparated right behind Ron.
Voldemort was surrounded.
"Now," exclaimed Kingsley.
Instantly, every single member of the Order had their wands pointed at Voldemort and sent hexes, curses and everything they had at him.
Harry, however, was the only one who hadn't engaged with Voldemort. Fearing "Priori Incantatem", he refrained from attacking Voldemort. Instead, he made a run towards the house, to check on Daisy.
…
Voldemort acted instantly, creating an invisible shield around himself, deflecting every single one of their attacks. The attacks poured in from every front and he managed to deflect away every single one of them.
The battle commenced, 10 vs 1, and the 1 started proving himself equal to the 10. After a few seconds, Voldemort swung his idle arm at the juniors. Neville and Draco got pushed back a few steps, Neville even fell backwards. Hermione felt the same force, but she managed to block the attack and only pushed back a step.
For a moment, Voldemort let go of his shield and produced a fireball, shaped like a snake at the seniors. Moody and Kingsley quickly started to battle the fiery snake away. The rest of the seniors kept their attacks at Voldemort, along with Ron from the other side.
However, Moody and Kingsley were struggling to keep the fire at bay, Voldemort continued to breathe fire, managing to shield himself at the same time. The rest of the seniors jumped to destroy the fiery snake. For a few seconds, Ron found himself in an individual duel against Voldemort.
The pair went at each other's throats. And both of them were managing to cancel each other. However, quickly, Hermione and Draco joined in on the attacks, eventually followed by Neville.
Voldemort was duelling the juniors and immediately found himself, once again, on the back foot. As the juniors held their own, the seniors managed to destroy the fiery snake and turned their attention towards Voldemort.
Voldemort found himself shielding against all the attackers, however, this time, the 10 was starting to prove more potent than the 1. In one vulnerable moment of Voldemort's, Hermione used her recent invention, the illusion, "Procidat Incipio", managing to create duplicate versions of herself around him.
The distraction helped Ron as he apparated away and reappeared on the other side of the attack. And the very next moment, Ron slashed his wand at Voldemort, striking him successfully.
Voldemort stumbled and dropped down. He was now standing on foot and a knee, clutching his torso. Ron stormed at Voldemort and continued to strike at him. He managed to create a few more gushes.
However, to Ron's shock, Voldemort disappeared into thin air momentarily. The next moment, everyone could see a dark cloud flying away.
There was a huge sigh of relief across the group, however, Ron and Hermione were the only ones who looked disappointed. They thought they had Voldemort there.
Quickly, the seniors made their way towards the collapsed bodies of the Aurors, all of whom had unfortunately died. They then checked up on the death eaters, who were still bound. The juniors made their way towards Ron, as the group hugged together. They took a few moments to check on each other's bruises and immediately dashed away, towards the house to check on Daisy and Harry.
…
Harry rushed into the house and ran up the stairs. The moment he came in front of the closed door, he pointed his wand at it and flung it open. Before he could enter, a series of items flung at him, one by one. Starting with some stationery and then a couple of pillows. A pencil hit Harry's forehead and a pillow struck him on his chest, while the rest missed him.
"Daisy," exclaimed Harry, hastily. "Stop... Stop... It's me," he added, yelling.
"Oh my God! HP!" exclaimed Daisy and ran towards him. The moment she was near enough, she flung herself at him and hugged him tightly. She was shivering in fear.
"It is me... You are good... Safe... You are alright," muttered Harry into her ear as he hugged her back.
Harry released the hug a moment later and Daisy followed. "Where's Ron? What happened?" she asked, hastily, worry written all over her face.
"He is fine, everyone is here. They are taking care of... the bad guy," replied Harry, holding her hands with his.
"I don't know what happened... We were here, coming up, and then there was this red light... He went looking for them and asked me to stay... I didn't know what to do..." mumbled Daisy rapidly. She was still shivering.
"Daisy... Daisy..." called Harry, trying to calm her. He placed his hands on her face confidently. "You are with me... And Ron has a lot of backup, he is fine... And you are fine, you are safe now," he muttered and helped her take a seat. Harry took a couple of steps and stood in front of her. He was now holding her hands once again.
Daisy hugged Harry once again, this time his body. "You are shivering... Just listen to my voice... You are safe... I'm here... No one is coming to get you..." whispered Harry as Daisy continued to cling to him tightly.
The pair stayed that way for a few minutes as Harry continued to comfort her.
And then it happened suddenly. Daisy had just released the hug. She began wiping her tears away and straightened her hair. Harry, on the other hand, did not have a clear view of the outside battle. He had just taken a few steps towards the window when he felt a shooting pain in his torso.
Harry fell to the ground.
"Harry," exclaimed Daisy, taken aback. "Harry, what happened?" she exclaimed. Harry was conscious, but he was clutching his torso. Within the next few seconds, he yelped in pain a few times. And then almost immediately, he fell unconscious.
"No... No, Harry... Come one, wake up," exclaimed Daisy as she held his head.
As a few moments passed, Daisy continued trying to wake Harry up. And just then, just like that, Harry's eyes opened. He woke up and clutched his body, his torso, but felt nothing. There was no pain.
"Are you alright?" asked Daisy, tears streaming down her face.
"I... am... fine," replied Harry, perplexed. "I don't know what happened," he added, sounding perfectly fine.
"What? You were there... spasming... What happened?" asked Daisy.
Harry got up to his feet and looked around. "I don't know what happened, Daisy..." he replied. "Keep this to yourself," he added.
"What do you mean?" asked Daisy.
"Don't tell anyone what happened here," replied Harry.
Just then, they both heard the entrance door open and rushing footsteps.
"Please," whispered Harry and turned around.
…
A moment later, the door flung open and Ron dashed in, followed by Draco, Hermione and Neville.
Ron and Daisy rushed towards each other, the moment their eyes fell on each other. Harry rushed towards the rest and hugged them all at the same time.
Eventually, the seniors made it into the house. Harry was filled in on the events, how they almost had Voldemort, but he escaped. And when Daisy filled Ron in on what had happened, she left out Harry's collapse.
As the days closed in on Christmas, unrest grew in the country. The country was close to tearing itself apart. Actually, one man was actively working on tearing the country apart. Voldemort had taken a limited number of death eaters to attack and kill the muggle.
He wanted to kill Daisy. He did not want anyone else to get to her. However, he had not anticipated stiff resistance from anyone, let alone a child in his final year at Hogwarts, especially since his name was not Harry Potter.
In many ways, Voldemort had tasted his first-ever defeat.
…
Ever since the 2nd Battle of the Ministry, the country's subjects, the citizens had started losing trust, respect and a sense of security. The very government that they had started placing their faith in, was making political decisions against the wishes of the many, and for the few. Many of the existing laws were being enforced a lot more strictly and partially. Half-blood wizards and witches were being hunted for fun. Muggleborn wizards and witches were being treated to a fate far worse than death.
Slowly, all the progress Voldemort had made, he was undoing himself.
…
Hogwarts's political move to throw Grindelwald and Jane under the bus was working for them. Harry's interview touched many people's hearts. They were reminded of all the cruelty Voldemort had done to them in the past, how Harry had ended it once before, as an infant, and how he needed everyone's support to do it again.
The Ministry and the School went shot for shot against each other. And in this political battle, Hogwarts was coming out on top. The Ministry only managed to turn its supporters against themselves. The School, the "Victim of a Power Struggle" had started gaining backing and support.
…
In the month that followed Voldemort's failed attack on Daisy, things went worse for him, politically.
Voldemort was enraged and he wanted one thing now, only one. He wanted to completely wipe out Hogwarts and everyone associated with it.
He had a smaller army, yet comfortably larger than the one Hogwarts currently boasted. Voldemort decided to destroy Hogwarts.
In one of the bloodiest interviews recorded in Wizarding history, Voldemort informed the country of his plan to destroy Hogwarts. He was going to do it by the close of the year. He also threw an open warning to everyone.
"Hogwarts will be destroyed. If you choose to stay, you will too!"
It was the day before Christmas. McGonagall had just gathered the entire school at the Great Hall. She had spoken to all of them, about the oncoming war. Hogwarts was the target. And she planned on defending it with anyone and everyone who wished to stay back. Nobody was forced to stay at Hogwarts, in fact, she sent all the students younger than 5th year home. The rest, she gave an option, to stay back and fight or go home. However, if they wished to go home and protect themselves and their loved ones, they wouldn't be critiqued. They would continue to have a place at the school if the school remained standing.
The entire Order of the Phoenix had also gathered at Hogwarts by the evening, including all the Weasleys. And just a while later, they all received a surprise.
Having heard the warning to Hogwarts, many of Hogwarts's old students arrived back to the school, to fight for their school. The list included many of the recent graduates from Hogwarts.
Harry got a surprise in the form of his old Gryffindor quidditch team reassembling, including their old caption, Oliver Wood. Oliver had also brought many of Gryffindor's older players with him.
Many of the students that had left Hogwarts at the beginning of the previous year like Parvathi and Padma also arrived at Hogwarts by nightfall.
Suddenly, the school started to look fuller, almost as full as it used to be.
The following afternoon, Hogwarts was brimming with Holiday spirits, even if only for a short time.
Despite all the new arrivals to the castle, Hogwarts boasted meek numbers in front of the army that Voldemort possessed. The scales were heavily tipped in favour of the Dark Lord.
However, that was about to change in the evening.
It was late in the evening. Everyone inside the castle was gearing up for the war. It was almost upon them. Voldemort could decide to attack the castle at any moment. That's when McGonagall received a call, from none other than Augusta Longbottom, asking her to open one of the floo networks.
Within the following couple of hours, many of the most influential wizarding families along with countless other witches and wizards from all over the country arrived at Hogwarts. They were also accompanied by many Aurors who had escaped out of the Ministry, right after Voldemort's announcement.
All of them had gathered at Hogwarts for one purpose, to protect the school against Voldemort.
Hermione and Harry had left Hogwarts early in the morning after Christmas day. They took a train to Paris to speak with Cedric and Fleur.
"Hi, Cedric," greeted Hermione as the pair embraced each other briefly.
"Hi, Cedric," greeted Harry and fist-pumped with him.
Harry glanced at Fleur as she greeted Hermione. Just before he could ask, Hermione spoke up, "When is the due date?" she asked.
"March," replied Cedric, smiling.
"We are having a girl," replied Fleur, smiling.
"Oh, that's wonderful," replied Harry. "Congratulations," he wished. Harry quickly glanced at Hermione. "… Couldn't you have told me earlier that she's pregnant? …" asked Harry, telepathically as he glared at Hermione.
"… I'm sorry, it slipped my mind …" replied Hermione, telepathically.
"Before you say anything," began Cedric, glancing at the pair. "I'll be there at Hogwarts by tomorrow morning," he remarked.
"Oh, Cedric, you shouldn't," retorted Hermione, instantly. "That's not why we are here. You should not be anywhere near a war, not with..." she added and glanced at Fleur's pregnant belly.
"He should fight for his school, his people. I'll be here, waiting for his return," remarked Fleur.
"Hermione, that's my school too, remember?" replied Cedric, smiling.
Hermione smiled in response. "Thanks, that's great. The more the better," she remarked.
"We are here because we need your help," said Harry.
"Uh... Harry, if you are here asking for the French Ministry's help with the war..." began Cedric and paused uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, they won't step in, not right now..." he added.
"We don't need help with the war," replied Hermione, quickly. "But we need their assistance with something else," she remarked.
Cedric and Fleur stared at Hermione and Harry, a confused expression on their face.
"We need some of your Aurors to protect a friend of mine," said Harry. "She is a muggle and You-know-who has already tried to kill her a few times now," he added. "We need protection for her if You-know-who comes after her during the war," he finished.
"Oh," gasped Cedric.
"Who is this friend and why is You-know-who interested in her?" asked Fleur, intrigued.
"She is my best friend," replied Harry. "You-know-who is interested in her... because..." he began in response, but paused.
"She has something... that You-know-who wants," replied Hermione. "We are not at liberty to say anything more about it," she added.
"Do you believe that he will attack your muggle friend, in the middle of the war?" asked Fleur, surprised.
"We can't say for sure, but it is likely that he will," replied Hermione.
"Every single one of us will be at Hogwarts. Whoever is against him, will be there," replied Harry. "And there will be no one to protect Daisy. We need skilled Aurors protecting her, at all times, during the war," he added.
"If she is a muggle, she cannot know about the magic," remarked Fleur. "Does she know about magic?" she asked.
"Darling," sighed Cedric. "They are friends..." he added, in a gentle whisper.
"They can't break the statute of secrecy, it is there for a reason, darling," retorted Fleur, calmly. "I'm just trying to understand," she added.
"The statute of secrecy does not apply to her," replied Hermione. "She is related by blood to wizards," she remarked.
"But, you said she is a muggle?" asked Fleur, confused.
"Yes, she is... I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to say any more," replied Hermione.
"Hermione, Harry," began Cedric. "Your friend will have all the protection she needs," he replied.
"I'm counting on you, Cedric," replied Hermione, smiling.
"Thank you so much, Cedric, Fleur," replied Harry.
With that, the pair left Paris and headed back home, to meet Daisy.
"What they are doing is wrong," remarked Fleur.
"They are in the middle of a war. I think they can be excused, don't you think?" he asked, smiling. "If the statute is indeed broken, I don't think their friend poses any threat. Let's not make enemies out of people we are friends with," he remarked, calmly.
"I'm just covering all our bases," retorted Fleur, smiling.
"We can trust them," replied Cedric, confidently.
Harry and Hermione made it to Daisy's home directly from there. She had already been informed of the war the day before. This visit did not have much of an agenda behind it, except to catch up with a friend.
"Stock up for a week or two," suggested Harry.
"Harry's not wrong, Daisy. It is best if you stay home," remarked Hermione.
"All of you want to keep me caged up inside my house," sighed Daisy, unhappily.
"Drama queen," teased Harry.
"All of you will have all the fun, while I'll sit here doing absolutely nothing," retorted Daisy.
"Do you have a death wish?" chuckled Harry. "I can arrange for it, you know?" he added.
"Go on, do it, Potter," smirked Daisy.
"Hermione, let's give Cedric a call. I don't think she needs any protection," remarked Harry.
"Yeah, I don't need any protection. I have 3 bodyguards already, I don't need more," retorted Daisy.
"Your bodyguards will be fighting You-know-who, not saving your butt," chuckled Harry.
"If you let me die, Potter, I'll ruin your sleep forever," teased Daisy.
"I wish he would kill me. I would no longer have to listen to you whine about everything," retorted Harry.
"Let's not talk about death and dying now, please?" remarked Hermione.
After lazying around for a few hours, Harry and Hermione decided to make it back to Hogwarts.
"Take care of yourself and him, please," muttered Daisy, smiling at Hermione as the girls hugged each other.
"And you..." exclaimed Daisy and glanced at Harry. "You are coming back to me, right away," she muttered.
"I think I'll take a rain check on that," smirked Harry.
Daisy immediately punched him. "I'm being serious right now... Take care of yourself, you don't have to be the hero," she whispered, almost on the verge of tearing up. Daisy and Harry hugged each other.
"See you soon," greeted Harry.
The pair was about to leave when Daisy stopped Harry. "Did you and Ron make up?" she asked.
Harry shook his head in response.
"He wants to forgive you, you know?" remarked Daisy. "I'm surprised he hasn't," she added.
"I have said my piece to him, Daisy. The ball's in his court now," replied Harry.
"Don't do that... He is your best friend, you can't be like this before a war," remarked Daisy.
"Bye, Daisy," greeted Harry hugging her once again.
"Bye, HP," greeted Daisy.
Harry and Hermione made it back to Hogwarts.
Hogwarts was brimming with people as everyone geared up for the war. A couple of days had passed since everyone had gathered at the school.
It was early in the afternoon. Harry was loitering around the castle. He had just been a participant in a battle strategy meeting. Everybody around him was training rigorously. But he was in the mood to train. Instead, he was bothered by the thoughts conjured up by his mind.
He had many questions inside his head. He had been having these questions and more for many years now. He always believed that, when the time was right, when the final moment was there, he would have answers to his questions.
However, the war was almost upon them. This was the end, he could sense it. But he did not have his answers yet.
He found himself suddenly surrounded by so many people. He was growing increasingly uneasy and decided to head up to the Room of Requirement to give his mind some peace to think through.
After a few minutes, Harry found himself standing inside the room of requirement. There was no one around him. Harry took the only seat available in the room and looked around. He had spent inside this secret room of Hogwarts, it didn't even feel like a secret. When he was outside the room, he wanted to enter a room that would help him get to his answers. Now that he was inside, he didn't it particularly different from any ordinary room.
Disappointed, Harry did what he could. He decided to think over the different things that overwhelmed him.
"Voldemort can not win against us, we can't let that happen," he thought to himself.
"Voldemort doesn't have as big an army as he used to," told Harry to himself.
"We are going to lose many friends in this war," he thought to himself, next. The thought made him visibly shiver. He tried to remember everyone he considered a friend. There were many. The thought of losing any one of them felt gut-wrenching. He couldn't even comprehend the idea of losing more than one.
"Ron still hasn't spoken with me," he sighed. "I don't think I'm going to be forgiven anytime soon," he thought and chuckled.
"Ron is not dying in this war," he told himself. "He will grow up, get married to Daisy, and they will have John and Jane," he wondered, confidently. "Unless time has changed," he wondered. "John and Jane travelled back in time to protect me. They changed time, didn't they?"
And quickly, his thoughts shifted to his mother. "Jane told me she knew my mother. How did my mother end up in the future? Does that mean she's alive there?" wondered Harry. The thought of his mother reminded him of the nightmares he used to get, the one with the flash of green light and the faint screaming voice of a woman.
Harry's thoughts shifted the prophecy. "All of this because of a prophecy," he sighed.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...
Born as the seventh month dies...
He will have power the Dark Lord knows not...
Trapped with him in an unendless cycle, the Dark Lord will mark him his equal...
Everything will be lost...
Neither can live while the other survives...
And it will begin once again..."
"This prophecy was about me and him. Neither can live while the other survives!" wondered Harry.
"He no longer has any Horcrux, and I'm going to kill him," said Harry to himself, confidently. "He will pay for what he has done to so many people!"
Harry's mind wandered around. He was thinking about his friends, Ron, Hermione, the Phoenix juniors and Daisy for one moment, the next, he was thinking about John and Jane. It still felt strange and crazy that they were from the future, that they were Ron & Daisy's kids.
Slowly, Harry turned back the memories of all the moments he had spent with, the quidditch games, all their time spent at the library, and John's quick-witted responses in classes. John had given Harry his mother's wand. John knew his mother, but Harry never knew about it, not until Jane let it slip.
It felt like a lifetime had passed since Jane had killed Dumbledore and kidnapped him. Harry missed Dumbledore in such moments. The man had answers to all the questions. Even from beyond, from the grave, Dumbledore had helped Harry. By leaving the Sword of Gryffindor for him to use, he had directly helped Harry kill Nagini, and destroy another Horcrux.
Harry sat up straight in his chair, instantly.
…
How had Harry missed it?
Harry could not believe it. It had been weeks since the incident and somehow, he had completely forgotten about it. It had happened so quickly, within a few seconds, that Harry completely forgot about it.
The evening Harry and the Order had come to Ron and Daisy's rescue, for a brief moment, he had felt this intense pain. But within seconds, he was perfectly fine. The pain he had felt on that day was very different. It was so sudden and felt so real.
The only other time he had felt pain suddenly, unexplained, from which he recovered quite easily were the times the Horcruxes were being destroyed. He shared an interesting relationship with Voldemort and his Horcruxes.
But, did this relationship go any further?
"The pain that I felt... It felt like someone had actually cursed me," wondered Harry. "Voldemort was cursed at the same time, he got hurt by Ron's curse"
The prophecy replayed in his head, "Trapped with him in an unendless cycle, the Dark Lord will mark him his equal..."
"I am a Parselmouth... On my first day at Hogwarts, the sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin... I was able to read Voldemort's mind... He was able to easily read mine, through Hogwarts' defences... It should have been impossible..."
Harry's heart rate increased, he was breathing heavily as he started pacing. "Every time a Horcrux was destroyed... I felt the pain. Why?"
"Why did I feel such an intense pain when Voldemort was hurt by Ron?"
Harry's thoughts took him back to the Monastery. "How were they able to locate Voldemort's Horcruxes, every piece of his soul, using me?" he wondered.
"Why does my scar still hurt, whenever I'm near Voldemort?"
"His curse on my mother had backfired, it hit him," said Harry to himself. That was the story he had heard all his life. He had even seen it in his nightmare.
"What if..." he wondered. And then thought remained stuck with him. "What if there is a piece of Voldemort's soul in me?" he asked himself.
…
Harry's head was spinning. He couldn't believe the thought that had just occurred to him. However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
But there was one piece of the puzzle that still didn't.
The prophecy.
Harry had to vanquish the dark lord, that's what the prophecy said.
"How can I vanquish him, if I'm a Horcrux?" wondered Harry.
But a bigger thought occupied his head at the moment. "I'm a Horcrux... Voldemort cannot be killed if I'm alive," he told himself.
…
Tears streamed down Harry's cheek.
"Is this it?" he wondered. "Did anyone know?"
"Did Jane know about this, why didn't she tell me? Was she planning on killing me in the end?"
Harry couldn't believe anything he thought about.
"Grindelwald must have known. I'm sure he planned on killing me at the Ministry after I destroyed Nagini"
Just then, Harry felt something. "… Harry, please come out! He is here …"
Hmm... The war is here!