~*~

Alastor looked seriously at Harry and the boy stopped smiling. So, there is a snag, Harry thought disappointedly.

"You will not meet the Headmaster alone. I will be present," Alastor said. The fact that he was using Albus' title was not a good sign. "And there is no way that we will be extracting the soul fragment tomorrow." Harry's smiled vanished from his face. He had hoped that he could get rid of it now. "We will talk about how it will be done, and you will listen carefully to all the risks. You will sleep on it, and when Poppy gives her okay, you can decide if you want to try it or not. That's the deal, Harry."

"Okay," Harry said, disappointed.

"It's not that easy, Harry," Severus said and laid a hand on Harry's leg. "Albus will explain it all to you, but Alastor is right. It is not a decision you should make lightly. You have to think about it for some time and ask any questions you have."

"So, when we have cleared this all, we can eat a bit. You all will need a lot of energy for the next few days," Poppy said and made her way to the kitchen. The three men followed her.

~*~

The next morning, Harry was very anxious about the examination. He wanted to see Albus to find out more about the Horcrux extraction.

"Harry, calm down. Your pulse is racing," Poppy said while feeling Harry's pulse at his wrist.

"I feel fine, Poppy. I want to see Albus," Harry pleaded.

"You will talk with him as soon as you are healthy enough, Harry. Stop overworking yourself all the time," Poppy scolded.

Harry sighed. "Don't you want it out of me?"

"You had this fragment of You-Know-Who's soul in you for fourteen years, so one or two more days won't make the situation worse." Poppy would never let Harry know about the intense shock she had felt when Albus told her about it.

"Yes, it will," Harry said sullenly in a low voice.

"Stop pouting and open up," Poppy instructed.

"Why don't you cast a spell to check my temperature?" Harry asked, annoyed. He hated this thermometer.

Poppy sighed. "I really have to be careful that I don't confuse you with Severus one day. I use the thermometer because it is much more effective than the spell. And it has a very good effect on patients like you and Severus."

"And what effect is that?" Harry asked the moment Poppy placed the business end of the thermometer in his mouth.

"It shuts up patients that demand to be released sooner than is good for them," Poppy said teasingly.

Harry glared at her, which looked a bit funny with the medical instrument in his mouth.

Finally, Poppy finished her examination and Harry looked hopefully at her. "You can go and see Albus, Harry, but I want you to come back and rest when you are tired."

"Yes," Harry said, excited, and jumped out of the bed. "Thank you," he said and hugged Poppy.

When Harry ran out of the room to find Alastor, Poppy sat down on the bed sadly. He should be happy playing with his friends or going on a date with a nice girl, not for being able to go to a meeting with an old man to plan the war, Poppy thought sadly. She looked at the moving photo of James and Lily on Harry's night table and let a silent tear run down her cheek. "You have such a brave son. You should be so proud of him. I fear I cannot protect him properly. That monster has to be dead before Harry can be a normal boy," Poppy said to the two people in the photo.

______________

"Poppy released me from being grounded. Can Severus come with us?" Harry asked Alastor when he found him in the kitchen.

"First," Alastor said and placed his empty cup in the sink, "you haven't been grounded. You were ill and needed to rest. Second, Severus hasn't had his examination yet, and we will see when we are back if he can join us for the spell training. Just the two of us will visit Albus."

"Okay," Harry said, resisting the urge to drag Alastor with him. He wanted to see Albus as soon as possible.

The tension between the two old wizards was palpable. Harry felt as if he had a bodyguard sitting beside him. A very pissed off bodyguard who glared daggers at Albus. Harry shifted nervously in his chair.

"I thought you wanted to speak with my charge about something, Headmaster?" Alastor said dangerously.

If that was the way he questioned suspects during his Auror years, Harry was sure that nobody dared to lie to Alastor. Harry thought he could feel a cold chill come from Alastor as he spoke with Albus.

"Of course, Alastor," Albus said cheerfully, ignoring Alastor's cool behavior completely. "Lemon drop?"

Alastor stood up in a swift movement. If Harry did not know better, he would have never guessed that Alastor had a wooden leg. In an instant, Alastor was in front of Albus' desk, leaning over to face him closely. "The only reason I'm here with Harry is because Poppy was able to calm me down, Albus. If you ever dare to draw a scheme like this behind my back again, I swear I will hex you. I know you well enough, and if you ever dare to endanger my...if you dare to place Harry in a dangerous situation, you will regret it."

Harry looked shocked from one wizard to the other, but Albus lifted his hand in Harry's direction to show him that everything is all right. Albus' gaze never left Alastor's, and he calmly said, "As I already told you during our last conversation, I have no intention of endangering Harry. I had no idea he was overdoing his training, and I'm sorry for keeping our plans a secret from you. This won't happen again. I swear." Albus looked seriously at Alastor and was relieved when he saw the old Auror relax a bit. "We agreed you will be with him when I meet him. So please calm down; you are scaring Harry, old friend."

"Old friend," Alastor snorted, but nevertheless let go of the desk and sat down again. "You were training Harry behind my back," Alastor said bitterly.

"I know that this is bothering you very much because you care for Harry as a son. I can only apologize again. I thought it would be better for you and Poppy to not know because you two are so worried about Harry. I know you only want the best for him, but he wants to fight, Alastor."

"I know," Alastor said loudly and tried hard to remain as calm as possible. "Nevertheless, we had the right to know it all from the beginning. I know who convinced you that this was the best way."

"I take the responsibility completely-" Albus started, but was interrupted by another outburst from Alastor.

"Severus is a stupid kid, and you listened to him!" Alastor shouted again.

Harry winced at the tone. Alastor was still the man in whose embrace he could lose himself, but he saw a different side of him today. Damn, this man was scary, and Harry really did not know who would win if these two were to fight. They were like fire and ice.

"Severus is thirty-five and hardly a child, Alastor, but I know that you see him as such. Nevertheless, I cannot do more than apologize," Albus said and sighed in resignation.

"Let's get this over with. Start talking," Alastor ordered the greatest wizard of the world.

Albus sighed again and faced Harry. "Lemon drop?"

"No," Harry croaked and cleared his throat while looking sidelong at Alastor. "No, thank you, Headmaster. I wanted to apologize for causing all this trouble. I didn't want to destroy you friendship with Alastor." Harry sadly looked at his hands in his lap.

"Harry, please look at me," Albus said. When Harry faced him, he went on. "Friends sometimes fight, and Alastor and I often fight about things. I'm sure you've had some queries with your friends. It's just a bit more forceful with two stubborn old men. You don't have to worry. The friendship between Alastor and myself will not end because of this, and even if it did, it wouldn't be your fault."

Harry looked fearfully at Alastor.

"He is right," Alastor grumbled while looking at Harry. "But if I ever have to choose between your safety and this friendship, I will choose you, Harry. You are more than just a guest in my quarters. I hope you know that."

"Yes, I do, but I feel guilty that you are angry with Albus and Severus. I don't always understand Severus, but I trust him, and he knows you better than me, so I believed it would be best not to tell you."

"Harry, I'm not angry with you or Severus. To me, Severus is a kid, like you. I know how he thinks and what he fears, Harry. I try hard to treat him like the adult he is. He is a very powerful and dangerous wizard. Don't think I don't know that. But in some ways he really is as inexperienced and insecure as you, and that leads him to make stupid decisions. You two don't know better, but this old fool here," Alastor pointed at Albus without averting his glance from Harry, "should have known better than to keep this all secret from Poppy and me."

Harry wanted to say something, but Albus interrupted him. "He is right, Harry. I was a fool not to trust my best friend with this."

Harry could see Alastor breath deeply and calm down.

"Maybe we should start now. What do you think?" Albus asked Harry.

Harry averted his gaze from Alastor and nodded.

Albus leaned back in his armchair and started to talk. "As I have already told you, all Horcruxes have been destroyed besides Nagini and yourself, Harry. For a long time, we had no idea what to do, but Severus discovered a solution. While you are in your Animagus form Voldmort's soul cannot combine with your soul. They are separated. That makes it possible for me to extract it. We have only heard of two cases in which this has been tried before. I won't lie to you, Harry. It is dangerous. The soul fragment will fight against me and will try to remain in your body. It will be physically and emotionally painful. Very painful, I fear. It is possible that you will start to fight me. As you have a very dangerous Animagus form, we will have to restrain you. That means we have to put you in chains. You have to trust us completely to undergo this procedure." Albus paused so that the information could sink in. "The soul fragment will try to cause emotional pain in you so that you will go mad or pass out. If you pass out, we will not be able to extract it. You must be fully awake."

"It will cause me emotionally pain?" Harry asked, worried.

"It will try to make you feel anger, sadness, despair, or similar thing in an intense amount. You have to think on something that makes you feel very happy or safe in this moment so that the soul cannot anchor itself to these emotions." Albus paused again for any questions. When no question came, he went on. "It will be very hard and painful, Harry. We cannot promise that we will be able to get it out. If we realize you are not able to fight it, we will stop."

Harry's mood sank to a degree which he had not believed possible. He felt dreadful and just wanted to crawl under a big stone and cry. He had had so much hope, and now it was destroyed again. "Please, I'm tired. I have to rest," Harry said, monotone, and stood up. Alastor was instantly at his side and steadied him when he felt dizzy.

"It's all right, Harry. We will go back and let Poppy give you something to sleep." With that, he led Harry out of the office without a backward glance at the old man.

"Again, I have to put too much on your shoulders, Harry," Albus said sadly into the empty room.

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