After sitting down with Hermione and Lucius to talk about their findings in the Cartus Animarum, which were very few and not altogether helpful, Severus took Harry aside just before lunch.

“Harry, I don’t know exactly why Professor Dumbledore wanted you to keep the Horcruxes a secret from all but Ron and Hermione, although I have my suspicions, I think perhaps he may have had a point. There are more than enough people who know about them now; the information could be dangerous if anyone let it slip.”

Harry sighed heavily as he slumped into an armchair in the drawing room. This room, the one he had hated so much the summer before because of the Black Family tapestry, seemed to be the heart of the place now rather than the basement kitchen. “I know, but what am I supposed to do about it? I needed the help, Dad.”

“I understand that, Harry, and I’m not saying you’re wrong for asking for that help. What I’m saying is that perhaps we should think of way to rectify the situation,” the Potions Master said calmly as he sat on the ottoman in front of Harry’s chair. He was still a little weak and had slept entirely through breakfast, but he was glad to be back. Losing three days of your life was never a pleasant thing to go through.

Harry leaned forward, his face screwed up in confusion. His father couldn’t possibly be suggesting what he thought the man was. “I don’t think I understand, Dad. What do you mean, ‘rectify the situation’? I can’t un-tell people.”

Severus gave Harry and pointed look. He knew the Gryffindor wasn’t stupid; the boy had to know what he was getting at, but he would humour him. “After this is all over, after Voldemort is gone…I think we should obliviate some of the knowledge about the Horcruxes from those who know, including myself. You should be the only one left with all of the information in the end.”

Harry stood up immediately, glaring at his father. “Absolutely not! Not only is tampering with people’s memories just wrong, but it’ll be like removing months and months from their lives! Dad, I can’t do that to anyone, least of all you. Please don’t make me do this.”

Severus stood and grasped his son’s shoulder, cupping his cheek gently in his palm. “Harry, calm down. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do; I was just making a suggestion. We’ll worry about it when the times come, how about that?”

Harry took a few deep breaths and nodded his consent to that, at the least. He had enough on his plate to worry about; he didn’t need any more stress on his shoulders. He allowed his father to pull him into a hug, relaxing into the embrace.

Severus chuckled as Harry leaned against his chest, lingering in the hug for longer than necessary. He threaded a hand through the boy’s messy hair with a fond smile on his lips. “Is there any particular reason for this solicitous behaviour?” Severus drawled, content to hold his son close, despite his teasing tones.

Harry laughed and hugged his father tighter to himself. Merlin, how he’d missed him. “I was so scared that you’d never come back. I can’t lose you, Dad,” Harry whispered, trying to fight back his emotions. He had cried enough for his father; he was ok now, there was nothing to be upset over. But every time he thought about the fear and worry he felt while waiting to hear how Severus was doing, it felt like a hand was squeezing his heart.

“I’m sorry, Harry. I should have been more careful. I hesitated at the wrong second. Mr. Corner and Ms. Brown were there in front of me and I…I wanted to help,” Severus admitted for the first time. He had not even revealed that information to Remus, simply because the man had not asked.

Harry pulled slightly away from his father, his face etched in pain. “You saw them? It’s all my fault…they’d still be here if not for me, and then you almost died too. I’m like the plague; I just spread death and discord.”

“Harry, stop it! That is not true. You can’t keep blaming yourself for these things, son. I told you that I would die for you, and I meant it. If it was my time to go, then it was my time. You do not have control over fate.”

“Don’t I? ‘Neither can live while the other survives’. Sounds a lot like fate to me,” Harry said quietly, not meeting his father’s eye as the man gave a weary sigh.

“Oh Harry, please don’t let that Prophecy run your life. You are only in control of yourself; that’s it. Please stop taking on the weight of the world,” Severus insisted as he sat back down on the ottoman, pulling his son down beside him. He was feeling a bit lightheaded, but he did not want Harry worrying about him at the moment.

“I would if people would stop placing it there for me to carry,” Harry grumbled. He noticed how his father paled before they sat back down and frowned. “Are you feeling ok? Perhaps you should head back to bed, Dad. Don’t overdo it.”

Severus smiled at the young Gryffindor and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Aren’t I supposed to be the parent here?”

Harry grinned at his father and leaned his head on the older man’s shoulder. “You keep telling yourself that,” he teased, glad to hear the Potions Master chuckle beside him.

S~S~S~S

Though Harry had insisted that no one make a big deal out of his birthday, of course no one had listened to him. Mrs. Weasley had insisted on a small party at the least and had made plans to prepare a veritable feast and a cake large enough to feed the entire Order. That was just how Molly was.

Draco had been whispering with Ginny and Hermione the last couple of days, abruptly stopping any time Harry joined them. It was obvious they were plotting something, and the fact that his birthday was coming up made it obvious that it was something for him. He appreciated the excitement for his coming of age, but he really wasn’t all that concerned about celebrating; they had more important things to worry about.

“They just want to make sure you have a good birthday, Harry. You don’t have very many happy memories when it comes to your birthday; they’re trying to make some for you,” Ron tried to explain to Harry when he voiced his concerns while looking through Hermione’s and Lucius’ notes about Soul Magic.

“I know, and I’m glad they all care so much, but I don’t feel like my birthday is that important. We could being using this time to plan things with the Order about the Horcruxes or just what the hell we’re going to do when it comes time for me to face the bastard once and for all.”

Ron gripped Harry’s shoulder and shook his head with a sympathetic smile. “Harry, mate, just relax for a bit. No one is expecting you to get rid of Voldemort within the next week, so just loosen up and let Mum throw you a ridiculous coming of age party.”

Harry sighed, running his hand through his messy hair. Moony had told him the same thing, and he knew everyone was just trying to do something nice for him. Perhaps he should just get over it and let them. After all it was just one day, and you only come of age once.

“Yeah, alright. But it’s really weird to see Hermione and Ginny plotting anything with Draco, you have to admit,” Harry said with a grin as he traded a few pages of notes with Ron. It felt good to be able to talk to Ron like this again, like they were best friends again. Draco and Ron had gotten along fairly well the last week or so, especially while looking for the counter-curse to Sectumsempra. Harry was glad that he didn’t feel the need to choose between them anymore.

Ron shuddered playfully, his grin giving away that he was just joking. “Mate, it’s weird to see you and Draco Malfoy making eyes at each other all the time, seeing him just talking to the girls is pretty tame compared to that.”

Harry burst out laughing, earning a glare from Lucius, who was working at a table a ways behind them. Draco, Ginny and Hermione had run off to whisper together again, as Harry’s birthday was tomorrow. Remus and Severus had been conspicuously absent as well, and Harry just hoped they weren’t planning anything more extravagant than a little family party.

As if beckoned by his thoughts, Severus and Remus came into the library, talking amongst themselves. They seemed oblivious to anyone else, which was an interesting sight to see; they were always more open when it was just the two of them, like any close couple would be.

“…just like you at that age, I swear. He’s becoming more and more like you bloody Gryffindors every day, Rem.”

Remus wrapped an arm around the Potions Master and pulled him close for a smacking kiss, a cheeky grin on his face as he smiled at his husband. “You say that like it’s a bad thing, Sev. Let him have his fun, love.”

Severus rolled his eyes, a genuine smile on his face. He was about to respond when he finally realized there were other people in the library. “We have an audience, Remus,” he said in a stage whisper.

Remus turned and saw Harry smiling at them, Ron’s face red with embarrassment and Lucius pretending like he had heard nor seen anything out of the ordinary.

“Careful; you guys are scaring the normal folk amongst us,” Harry jibbed playfully at his parents. He was surprised to hear a chuckle from Lucius as Ron turned an even darker shade of red.

“There is nothing normal about a Weasley, a Malfoy and a Potter all sitting amiably together in one room. We’re leaps and bounds from normal, Mr. Potter,” Lucius corrected the young Gryffindor. Harry and Ron snorted in appreciative laughter.

“So, have you gotten over all of your misgivings about this little party Molly is insisting on?” Remus asked as he sat down beside Harry and across from Ron. He shifted a few of the stacks of notes, looking at how far the boys had gotten through them. The book on Soul Magic hadn’t really made any more sense to him than it had to Harry or Ron, and he was curious to know if they’d found anything useful.

Harry sighed heavily as he sat the parchment he had been reading back down on the stack it belonged to. Though he still felt it was a little silly to make such a big deal about his birthday, he stuck to his previous decision. “Yes, but I still don’t understand why everyone is so excited about it.”

“It’s your Coming of Age, Harry. Perhaps you’ve never really been around most Wizarding traditions, but turning seventeen is a big deal in the Wizarding world. It symbolizes that break away from childhood to adulthood, gives you freedoms you’ve been previously denied, like using your magic whenever you want. I think it is also an especially big deal when it comes to you because, quite frankly, it’s amazing that you’ve made it to seventeen. Each birthday should feel like a personal victory for you; proof that you’re stronger than those who are trying to take you down,” Severus explained to his son, who still didn’t look quite convinced.

Harry knew his father was trying to make him feel better, but he wasn’t sure it was working all that well. “I think it shows more how much my mum loved me, and how strong her protection was. I would’ve died the night she and my dad did if it weren’t for her sacrifice. That’s what I think about every time I have a birthday.”

Severus smiled sadly at his son, a pang in his heart as he realized he thought the same thing. Lily really had been an extraordinary woman. “That’s why you celebrate, Harry, to let them know you appreciate what they did for you. Lily and James would want you to be happy.”

Harry smiled at his second parents and felt like the luckiest person alive. Not only did he have parents who had loved him so much they gave their lives for him, but he had a second set of living parents who would do so as well. How many people could say that?

“I am, Dad.”

S~S~S~S

The next morning, Harry woke up to a deep kiss against his pliant lips, drawing him quickly out of his slumber and to very much awake. He smiled as Draco ran a hand through his especially messy hair and pulled the blonde closer.

“Good morning, birthday boy,” Draco drawled before kissing Harry again. It was another twenty minutes before they both showered and headed down to breakfast, where Molly made a fuss over Harry and served him way too much food.

The guests for Harry’s party started to arrive at noon, though there weren’t very many, which Harry was glad for. Charlie and Tonks arrived together, looking quite comfortable together, while Bill and Fleur took a little bit of the focus off of Harry himself and onto them as Fleur flashed around her gorgeous new engagement ring. Molly had burst into tears of happiness.

The twins, who had been gone for a couple of days doing Merlin knew what, showed up with a large crate that no amount of needling from their mother would they reveal the contents of. They both disappeared upstairs with it and didn’t come back down for nearly fifteen minutes.

A few other Order members showed up as well, such as Kingsley, Mad-Eye Moody, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, Percy (which nearly caused Molly to burst into tears once more), and a couple of guests Harry had not been expecting at all.

“Neville! What are you doing here?” Harry asked as he wrapped his friend in a warm hug before accepting a kiss on the cheek from his elderly grandmother, who still quite frankly gave him the creeps.

Neville accepted hugs from Ginny and Hermione and handshakes from Ron and Draco before turning back to Harry with his classic crooked smile. “Ginny’s been going on about it for a while now and invited me along. Gran even agreed to let me stay the night.”

Harry’s brow furrowed, not quite sure why Neville would need to stay the night, but glad to see his friend anyways. “Well, happy belated birthday. How was your coming of age?” Harry asked as everyone moved from the entrance hall down into the basement kitchen, where there was every kind of food you could think of lining the table, and a gigantic cake in the middle covered in chocolate icing.

Neville smiled as Molly kissed him on the cheek and pushed a plate of food into his hands before greeting his grandmother with another kiss and great cheer. Harry hadn’t seen Molly this happy since before Arthur had passed away, and he was glad he’d decided to let Molly throw him a party.

“It was alright, pretty quiet, actually. I think that’s why Gran let me come to your party; I didn’t really do anything for my own birthday. We went and saw Mum and Dad at Mungo’s, then Gran gave me this watch and we ate cake at the Leaky before going home,” Neville said, holding his wrist out to show a very nice golden watch with what looked like rubies inlaid in the face.

“Bloody hell, that’s a nice watch, Nev,” Ron said as he turned the other teen’s wrist this way and that to let the light shine off the gleaming metal and jewels.

“It was my dad’s coming of age gift from my Gran. She saved it for me,” Neville explained, obviously quite fond of the watch as he stroked it absently.

“It’s beautiful,” Ginny commented as she took Neville’s hand into her own, earning a faint blush from the teen. They were all saved any awkwardness as Molly announced that it was time to sing Happy Birthday and cut the cake before presents.

Harry blushed bright red throughout the whole ordeal and was glad to finally blow the candles out on the cake as everyone clapped and cheered. He was steered into a seat and then handed a box, first from Neville, which was a ton of chocolate from Honeydukes and a really nice wrist holster for his wand.

“It’s easy to hide in a normal shirt sleeve or a robe. I got one too. They’re standard order for Auror training.”

“Thanks, Neville!”

Harry of course received a book from Hermione about the history of Defensive Magic, which was actually quite interesting as Harry flipped quickly through it. A gift that had him nearly in tears, though, was the collective gift from the Weasley family.

The clock that showed every member of the Weasley family and their whereabouts had been altered, as Molly couldn’t stand to see Arthur’s hand listed as ‘deceased’ any longer. Instead, Arthur’s hand on the clock now read ‘on the next Great Adventure’, and there was an additional hand: a picture of Harry and his name in gleaming letters, his hand pointing at ‘home and well’.

The gift that did send him into tears was when Draco stepped forward and instead of handing him a wrapped gift, knelt in front of him, took off his Malfoy signet ring, and placed it carefully on Harry’s ring finger. He felt the metal contract a little to fit his finger perfectly. He looked up and caught Lucius’ eye, who gave a firm nod of approval.

There was one gift left, and that was the one from his parents. He unwrapped the slightly heavy box and opened the lid, surprised to see that he did not receive the traditional and expected wrist watch, but a beautiful silver pocket watch inlaid with emeralds and his initials carved into the inside of the door; HJPS.

Harry hugged his parents tightly as his emotions threatened to run away with him again. He couldn’t believe he had put up such a fuss over having a birthday party. He had needed this reminder that there were people around him who loved him, who thought of him as family. He needed the reminder that he wasn’t alone, and never would be alone again.

S~S~S~S

Later that night after most of the guests had left, Harry was led up to the drawing room by Draco, who wouldn’t answer his questions about where Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and the Twins had disappeared to earlier as the party had started to wind down.

“You are far too inquisitive, Harry. I think you’ve spent too much time with Granger for your own good,” Draco teased before opening the drawing room door and dragging Harry in with him.

“Surprise!”

Harry nearly stumbled back as lights suddenly flared into life, illuminating a small group of people. He saw a table laden with snacks, butterbeer and firewhiskey and instantly began to protest.

“I know it’s my Coming of Age, but I can’t afford to get pissed and risk the chance of being too smashed to move. What if something happens, an attack, and we’re all too drunk to help? No, we can’t.”

“Calm down, Harry me lad! We’ve taken the necessary precautions, we assure you,” Charlie said as he wrapped a heavily muscled arm around Harry’s shoulders and drug him over to one of the sofas.

“Since I’m not of age yet, I’m going to stay sober and make sure none of you drunken hooligans kill yourselves. Your dad also provided us with enough Sobering potions to sober everyone in the room up in less than a minute,” Ginny explained as she gestured to a small potions rack in the corner that held several small vials of violet liquid.

“You need to relax, Harry, and just let yourself be a kid for once! Everyone has to get pissed at their Coming of Age! And since there are no less than five of you who recently came of age and have yet to have the traditional drunken party, we thought it was long overdue. We have permission from all the parents, and grandparents, so long as we make sure you guys stay safe. So let your hair down and have a bloody butterbeer already!” Tonks said as she used her wand to pop open a bottle of alcoholic butterbeer and pushed it into Harry’s hand.

Harry looked around and realized that Tonks was right; he was the last of his friends, besides Ginny, to come of age, and none of the rest of them had done anything special for their birthdays. They’d all been under too much stress to bother and that was why Harry had been so reluctant to make a big deal about his own birthday. But Tonks was also right that they all deserved a chance to relax and feel like normal teens for just one night. They had the Sobering potion and permission; what was there to stop them?

Harry raised his butterbeer into the air, grinning as everyone else scrambled to claim their own bottle and open it, raising theirs along in the toast. “To finally being able to use magic outside of school…legally!” Harry yelled, earning many cheers and laughs from his friends.

Harry took a big swig of his butterbeer and smacked his lips, missing the taste after such a long time away from his favourite drink. He had to remind himself that this version had alcohol in it, and he’d need to pace himself or risk getting really pissed, really fast.

There were still quite a few people around for this second instalment of his Coming of Age. The twins were talking to Charlie and Tonks, who were now quite obviously together now that they were away from the prying eyes of Molly. Ginny was sitting beside Neville on the sofa, who had agreed to only drink a butterbeer or two and stay mostly sober so she’d have someone sane to talk to throughout the night. Ron was clinking his bottle against Draco’s, who sent a wink in Harry’s direction before taking another deep drink of his beer.

“So, are you glad you finally caved?” Hermione asked from beside Harry, who was still standing next to the table full of snacks and alcohol.

Harry grinned and clinked his bottle his Hermione’s throwing an arm around her shoulders in a half hug. “Yeah, I am. You guys have been planning this the whole time, haven’t you?”

Hermione smiled and nodded, swishing her wand at an old Wizarding Wireless and changing the station to one that played upbeat music. She tugged on Harry’s hand and dragged him to the middle of the room where she started to sway her hips and toss her head around.

“You needed a break, Harry; we all did. Now stop fretting and have some fun!” Hermione shouted over the music. Charlie and Tonks soon joined them, and Ginny dragged a reluctant Neville to the makeshift dance floor next.

An arm snaked around Harry from behind, pulling him flush against the body behind him and away from Hermione, who winked at the person over Harry’s shoulder. “May I have this dance?” Draco drawled, spinning Harry around to face him as Ron took up Harry’s post as Hermione’s dance partner.

The twins, who were the only ones left without a dance partner, started their own kind of strange interpretive dance in the middle of the group of dancing friends, causing them all to nearly fall over with laughter.

At some point, Harry’s empty bottle was replaced with another, and then all of the teens who had recently turned seventeen took a shot of firewhiskey together, steam pouring out their ears as they all grimaced with distaste. By the time Harry had his third butterbeer in hand, he was feeling quite warm around the edges and very happy indeed.

A slower but still upbeat song came on the Wireless and Harry dragged Draco back onto the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the drawing room. He pulled the blonde close as they swayed to the beat, wrapping his arms snugly around his boyfriend’s neck.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Draco asked, his arms wrapped securely around Harry’s waist as he allowed the brunette to move him around the dance floor, perhaps with more stumbling than either of the realized.

“Everything. This, the ring, just being here. I don’t know what I would do without you or my friends. I love you,” Harry whispered before leaning forward and catching Draco’s lips in a gentle kiss.

Draco smiled against Harry’s lips and deepened the kiss until a wolf whistle from one of the Weasley men reminded them that they weren’t alone. “I love you too, Harry, and you’re welcome. This part was mostly Hermione’s idea, actually.”

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. Diligent little Hermione, suggesting a night of drinking and wild dancing instead of more research was a little hard to imagine. “She’s got a wild streak, that one.”

“Almost makes me jealous of Weasley,” Draco drawled, causing Harry to burst out laughing as they both lost their balance and ended up sprawled out on the dance floor, still laughing at each other.

They both gasped in surprise as a loud explosion rent the air above them. Harry was glad for the vaulted ceilings as he watched Fred and George’s wet-start fireworks light up the room and reflect colourful patterns on Draco’s alabaster skin.

It was the perfect ending to the perfect night, but somehow Harry knew that this was the calm before the storm. He allowed himself to relax for one night because he knew there wouldn’t be another chance. He had no idea just how right he was.

S~S~S~S

A few days later, another Order meeting had come and gone, without very much productive or helpful information, but a bolstering of spirits as Mad-Eye Moody announced that a couple of unimportant Death Eaters had been caught trying to break-in to the Ministry’s Records Department.

This only raised more questions, however. Why would they want to break-in to the Records Department, what was Voldemort planning now? Was it just a decoy to distract the Order from bigger happenings?

Hermione and Lucius had come up with a possible theory on how to destroy the Horcruxes, but they weren’t absolutely sure if it would work and were a little reluctant to experiment with the one Horcrux they had at their disposal.

“It’s a variation of a dissolving potion that uses some very unique ingredients. The problem is, if the potion dissolves the object that houses the Horcrux and not the piece of soul itself, there’s the possibility of it escaping, which could be very bad indeed. It could try to house itself in the closest living thing.”

“You mean possession?” Harry asked, feeling slightly sick just at the idea. The one time Voldemort had tried to possess him at the Ministry was the single most painful moment of his entire life, and he had absolutely no desire to go through such a thing again.

“Not technically, but it’s close enough. Hence why we are reluctant to try without knowing for sure if it’s going to work,” Lucius explained, glaring at the offending griffin statuette in the centre of the table they had all gathered around in the library.

“So how do we find out for sure if we can’t test it?” Harry asked incredulously. This was getting them nowhere. He knew finding them was important, but if he couldn’t destroy the bloody things he was basically back at square one.

Hermione sighed gustily and shuffled through her notes before giving Harry an apologetic look. “We’re still working on that. I’m sorry, Harry; I wish we had better news.”

Everyone fell silent as they became lost in their own thoughts. Possible hiding places and ways to destroy the Horcruxes flitted through Harry’s mind, so repetitive that he was starting to get a headache.

“I still think he had to have made a Horcrux with the Potters. Their deaths would have been significant to him. We’ve got to check Godric’s Hollow,” Draco said as he checked the chart Hermione had made of possible locations and items.

“People have searched the wreckage of the Potters’ cottage; nothing of significance was found, besides Harry of course,” Remus said with a gentle smile towards the brunette in question.

“There was nothing Mum and Dad would have thought was important, something they would want to protect?” Harry asked curiously. The only things he had of his biological parents were the photo album Hagrid had given him and James’ invisibility cloak. He didn’t own anything of his mother’s, besides his legendary emerald green eyes.

Remus sighed heavily, knowing that of all the people in the room, he’d be the foremost expert on anything James and Lily would consider important. “Well there were many things they were fond of, but with the circumstances of their deaths, the only thing important they were trying to protect was you.”

“What about jewellery, Professor? Like Mrs. Potter’s wedding ring or a Potter signet ring?” Hermione asked as she created another chart on a piece of parchment. The girl was nothing if not thorough.

“Aaron, Harry’s grandfather, buried the Potter signet ring with Charlus, James’ uncle, who was the older Potter brother by about ten years. It was unintentional, but by the time Aaron remembered the ring, Charlie had been dead for three years. I’m actually not sure what happened to Lily’s ring. She may have been buried with it as well. James didn’t wear any jewellery, not even a wedding ring. The only thing he was always seen with was his glasses, which we also buried with him.”

“What if Mum’s ring or Dad’s glasses are a Horcrux? Oh Merlin, I don’t want to have to unbury them,” Harry groaned, his face going decidedly green as his stomach turned. He didn’t even want to think about what state his parents’ remains would be in after sixteen years.

“Wait; let’s think about this more carefully. If Voldemort made a Horcrux from either James or Lily, he had to have done it sometime between the death of James and his attempt on Harry. He couldn’t have done it after Harry, for obvious reasons,” Hermione said in her most logical voice, causing Ron and Harry to both roll their eyes.

Severus made a thoughtful sound, and Hermione gestured for him to voice whatever it was he was thinking. Any ideas at this point were more than welcome. “This leads me to believe that if he did make a Horcrux, it was with Lily’s death and not James’. He killed James and went directly after Lily; he wouldn’t have paused to make a Horcrux because that would have given Lily time to escape with Harry. However, Harry was a helpless baby; I could see the Dark Lord making a Horcrux after Lily died right – ”

“Right in front of me!” Harry gasped as he cut his father off, sitting up straight as something seemed to click in his brain. “It makes too much sense. Voldemort killed Dad and then went after Mum. He would have had time afterwards to make a Horcrux before going after me, and he wouldn’t care that he did it right in front of me because I was supposed to die. I saw it happen!”

“But how could you remember something that happened when you were only a year old? Most memories from that age are forgotten as you get older. You don’t actually remember seeing your Mum die, do you?” Draco asked, looking slightly ill at the thought. Having seen his own mother’s rather gruesome death, he did not wish the same experience on it anyone else, least of all Harry.

“Well, no, not really. The only knowledge I have of that night is nightmares from when I was little and whenever Dementors come around –”

“Harry, that’s it!” Hermione gasped as she spilled her ink well across the table. With a muttered oath, she whipped her wand out and siphoned the ink away, still looking directly at Harry with the familiar look of brilliant epiphany on her face.

“You hear your mother being killed any time a Dementor is near, which means you do remember it, because Dementors can’t bring up memories you don’t possess. Dementors bring suppressed memories forward, your worst memories. You always hear the same thing, right?”

Harry shivered at the very thought of being anywhere near Dementors again. He could remember perfectly the feeling of icy cold dread that wrapped around his heart and threatened to squeeze the very life from him whenever the damned creatures were near. “Yes, that’s all I really hear…and see.”

The table went very quiet as everyone fixed Harry with a horrified look. He had told everyone that he heard his mother’s death when the Dementors were near, but he hadn’t ever really told anyone that he could see the acid green light of the Killing curse jet from a bone-like wand and strike beautiful Lily Potter in the chest so hard that she spun around and crashed into the side of Harry’s crib, scaring the sobbing toddler into hiccoughing gasps as he screamed, “Mummy, Mummy! Hold, hold!”

“You see her, Harry?” the Potions Master asked in a strangled voice, his pallid skin so pale now it was slightly worrying. Remus reached for Severus’ hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Harry sighed heavily as Draco unwittingly did the same as Remus had done to Severus and grabbed Harry’s hand under the table. He really did not want to discuss this with a room full of people, but if it helped them possibly discover another Horcrux, then he would swallow his fear and do it.

“At first I would just hear her pleading and screaming, and see a flash of light, but after Sirius and I were swarmed in third year, I saw the entire thing. It was more like flashes at first, but it got clearer and clearer the more time I spent near the Dementors. But if Voldemort made a Horcrux from Mum, he’d have to have done it after she died, and I always blackout right as she dies when the Dementors are near. I don’t think I remember anything past that.”

“Not necessarily, but it’s worth a shot to try and find out,” Hermione said with an apologetic shrug. She knew Harry hated the creatures, but if it resulted in another Horcrux, then she was sure Harry would be willing to brave another experience with the soul-sucking guards of Azkaban.

Harry sent the bushy-haired girl a half-hearted glare. It was a good idea in theory, but considering it involved Harry confronting a Dementor, he wasn’t a huge fan of it. “Do you happen to have a Dementor stored somewhere amongst all of your books?”

“We won’t need a real Dementor, Harry. Remember how I taught you the Patronus Charm? A boggart creates the same affects when it takes the shape of a Dementor. This is all assuming your boggart would still be a Dementor, however,” Remus explained. He wished Harry didn’t have to go through reliving his worst fears in order to find the next Horcrux. It had been horrible enough to watch Harry pass out almost every time they worked with the boggart in Harry’s third year.

“I’m sure there’s one of those bloody things in this house somewhere. Moody helped us clean them out the summer before fifth year, but I’m sure a few more have moved in. We should ask Mad-Eye to find us one again,” Ron suggested from beside Hermione. He had been especially quiet throughout the discussion, and when Harry sent him a questioning look, Ron turned bright red and glanced at Hermione out of the corner of his eye. Interesting indeed…

“I’m fairly positive my boggart will still be a Dementor,” Harry said with a pronounced shudder. Just thinking about them so much in one night was sure to give Harry nightmares.

“As I’ve told you before, having a Dementor boggart is pretty unique. It suggests that what you fear most is fear itself,” explained Remus in a careful tone, almost as if he knew Harry was not fond of that fact.

“Forgive me for saying it, but I’m just a bit sick of being unique,” Harry grumbled as he twirled a quill between his fingers, slumped over the table with one arm under his chin.

“We don’t blame you, mate,” Ron said, clapping Harry supportively on the shoulder as the rest of the group assembled around the table nodded in agreement. Once again, Harry was glad to have such amazing friends.

S~S~S~S

Mad-Eye Moody showed up two days later to check in with the Order and agreed to Harry’s request to try to locate a boggart within Grimmauld Place. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t ask too many questions, which Harry was glad for since he couldn’t answer them even if he had asked them.

Moody found the boggart quickly enough, although its location wasn’t exactly ideal; it was in Sirius’ old bedroom. Remus volunteered to collect the boggart into an old trunk like he had done before, despite Severus’ insistence that he do it instead.

“It’s one more demon I need to face. I’ll be ok,” Remus assured his husband before summoning an empty trunk and climbing the stairs to Sirius’ room.

Fifteen minutes later, Remus returned to the drawing room with the trunk, banging and rattling from its occupant. His eyes were decidedly redder than they had been previously, and before Remus could assure everyone he was fine, he was pulled into Severus’ arms where he seemed to melt. It was another ten minutes of Severus murmuring words of comfort into his husband’s ear and stroking his hair affectionately before the werewolf could face the room once more.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Remus said as he pulled the young Gryffindor into a tight hug. He knew getting upset about Sirius again was likely to set off Harry’s own anxiety about his godfather’s memory.

Harry hugged his stepfather tight and allowed himself to take comfort in the warm embrace for a short time before pulling away. “Don’t be, Moony. I understand.”

“So, how exactly are we going to retrieve Harry’s memory?” Draco asked as he moved the coffee table and the sofa back with a flick of his wand to make room for the rather large trunk.

Severus sent Harry an apologetic look, which Harry interpreted correctly as he groaned into his hands. “The best way is going to be the use of Legilimency. As the Dementor starts to affect Harry and bring the memory forward, I’ll use Legilimency to enter Harry’s mind and retrieve the memory. After that, it can be placed in a pensieve and viewed there.”

“Wait a minute. I don’t want everyone jumping into the pensieve and watching that memory, Dad. I don’t…I don’t think you’d want to see it either.” Harry gulped as he tried not to think about the horrible memory he was going to have to live through once more. Only thinking of finding another Horcrux kept him from a full on panic attack.

“I don’t think a single person in this room wants to view the memory, Harry, but only one or two of us will be entering the pensieve. I think Remus and myself would suffice. Are you ready for this, Harry?” Severus asked as he grasped his son’s shoulders and looked directly into his emerald green eyes. With all of the pressure the world had put on the Gryffindor, Severus was surprised that his son hadn’t gone mad yet.

Hermione pulled a couple of bars of Honeydukes chocolate from her pocket and placed them on a side table, which also held a few vials of Calming Draught, an empty vial for the memory, and the stone pensieve that Dumbledore had bequeathed to Harry.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Harry sighed, unsheathing his wand from the wrist holster that Neville had gifted him and standing a few feet back from the trunk. In a parody of Harry’s third year, Remus stood at the lid, ready to lift it to release the boggart that would undoubtedly turn into a Dementor. Severus, Lucius, Draco, Ron and Hermione were all standing against the furthest wall from Harry, facing him so that when the time came Severus could make eye contact and Legilimize him.

“On the count of three, Harry. One…two…three!” Remus shouted as he wrenched the lid of the trunk open and stepped back so as not to affect the boggart himself.

The sound of rushing wind rose from the trunk as the black cloaked Dementor rose with a terrifying rattling, sucking in deep breaths as it searched for the closest soul to feed off of. It spread its wide arms as it floated down towards Harry, whose wand hand was shaking violently as he waited for the rushing in his ears to turn to the familiar screams of his mother.

Severus had his wand at the ready, waiting for the signal from Remus. His husband had seen Harry practice against a boggart-turned-Dementor many times and knew the precise moment when Harry started to become most affected. As he watched Harry tremble and then take a stumbling step backward, he looked to Remus who was still holding his hand up to signal to wait. As Harry’s eyes rolled in the back of his head, Remus drew is arm down in a sharp motion, and Severus cast Legilimens on Harry.

Once Severus located the memory, he quickly took hold of it and pulled with his subconscious, bringing it to the front of Harry’s mind. He took up the empty vial and popped the cork before placing his wand to Harry’s temple and drawing the silvery strand away from the boy, dropping it into the vial and replacing the cork. Harry went rigid and collapsed into Severus’ arms.

Remus stepped between Harry and the Dementor, which transformed grotesquely into the full moon coming from behind some clouds.

“Riddikulus!” Remus shouted and the full moon burst into a thousand pieced and turned to ash as they fell to the maroon carpet of the drawing room. He turned quickly and knelt down beside Harry, who had collapsed soon after Severus had removed the memory. The Potions Master was kneeling on the other side of the Gryffindor, brushing his unruly hair away from his eyes.

“Rennervate!”

Harry gasped as his eyes snapped open, his chest heaving as he expected to see the pale cloaked man before him once more. His heart was beating a mile a minute as he looked up into his father’s face, taking comfort from his murmured words of reassurance.

“You’re alright, Harry. We got the memory, the worst is over now.”

Harry sighed heavily and closed his eyes in relief, leaning into the hand that was running through his hair. He felt nauseous as he heard the echoes of his mother’s screams in his head. His eyes snapped open once more as he felt himself being lifted into a pair of strong arms and looked up into Remus’ face as the man moved him over to one of the sofas that had been pushed to the side.

“Just lay back and relax, Harry. We’ll do the rest, alright? You’re safe,” Remus said quietly as he gently placed the teen onto the sofa. Draco was instantly at his side, kneeling beside the sofa as he took Harry’s hand into his own.

“Are you ok, Harry? You’re dreadfully pale.”

Harry just grasped his boyfriend’s hand in his own as he closed his eyes against the nausea still plaguing him. He was shivering as the cold of the Dementor still shrouded him like an icy blanket. He opened his eyes as a vial of potion was pushed into his hand; a Calming Draught.

Harry sat up as best he could to down the potion, then accepted the chunk of chocolate Hermione was holding out to him with a sympathetic smile on her face. “Thanks,” he muttered as he bit off the corner and chewed slowly. Warmth suddenly engulfed him and he felt better, though not fantastic.

Remus and Severus were standing around the stone pensieve, watching the swirling silvery substance with looks of great distaste. Neither one of them were eager to view the memory, but neither were they willing to let the other go alone. It was too much for one person to bear, so they would go together and keep each other strong.

“Ready?” Severus asked as he grasped his husband’s hand in his own, his wand hovering over the surface of the swirling memory. Remus’ wand was raised similarly and he squeezed Severus’ hand in reassurance.

“Let’s get this over with, love.”

They shared a quick kiss before lowering both of their wands as one to touch the surface of the pensieve, the jerking behind their navels pulling them down into a room that was at once familiar to Remus; Harry’s nursery in Potter Cottage.

The back of a soft pink cardigan obscured his vision as Harry clung to the wooden bars of his crib, crying for his mummy to pick him up and comfort him. He was so confused; why wouldn’t she hold him?

“Mummy, hold!”

The woman with fiery red hair turned, her amazingly green eyes bright with emotion as she leaned down and placed a firm kiss of the toddler’s unblemished forehead. She brushed his unruly hair down and gave a sad smile. “I’m sorry Harry, but Mummy can’t hold you anymore. I love you; Daddy loves you too, baby. Stay brave, my son.”

There was a loud bang as the door swung almost off its hinges, startling Harry into falling hard on his bum, which started his crying up once more. The woman was standing in front of the crib, her wand held out before her as she shielded her only son from the cloaked figure that stalked into the room.

“Move aside.”

“No! Take me instead, please! Spare my son, kill me instead!”

“I said move aside, you silly girl. You are not the one I want.”

“Please, take me! He’s just a baby; he can’t cause you any harm!” Lily shouted at the man, whose red eyes shown from underneath the hood of his cloak ominously.

There was a high, cold laugh that seemed to suck the air out of the room as the man held up his bone-like wand and pointed it directly at the woman’s heart. “Perhaps not yet, no. Move aside and I shall spare you.”

“No, I will not!”

“Then you will both die. Avada Kedavra!”

A sickly green light lit the room up as a scream rent the air. The woman with the fiery red hair and emerald eyes spun around and hit the side of the crib before she thumped to the floor, and Harry screamed at the top of his small lungs.

“Mummy! Hold, hold!” he shrieked as his pudgy little fists grasped at the wooden bars of the crib. The scary man was kneeling beside his mummy now, reaching for her wrist. He stood up straight once more, a bracelet dangling from his hand as he raised his wand, muttering a spell.

An agonized scream rent the room as the same green light rose from the still body of the young woman and met with a cancerous black shadow that had burst forth from the screaming man’s chest. The hood of his cloak fell back and a pale, drawn face was twisted in pain and pleasure as the greenish, black mist coiled around the bracelet, then vanished.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself once more, the man turned to the bureau beside the door of the nursery and placed the bracelet in front of a picture of the Potter family, who were smiling and waving as baby Harry drooled and squirmed in Lily’s arms.

“Now, sweet Harry, it is your turn. It is unfortunate that your mother had to die. I gave her a choice, and she chose death. Severus cannot say I did not try to spare her life.”

As mad as talking to a Toddler seemed, the man was stalling. Though Harry was too busy screaming and too young to understand, it was obvious that the man was feeling decidedly unsteady after making his fifth Horcrux. He looked disoriented and stumbled as though he was dizzy.

The man raised his wand, his face twisted as he stared at the red and blotchy face of the screaming toddler, who was kneeling in the crib now with his stubby arms reaching through the wooden bars towards his dead mother.

“Mummy, hold!” the toddler screamed and cried as he strained his little arms towards his mummy, confused why she wouldn’t wake up and hold him and scared of the pale man who was moving towards him.

“She can’t save you now, little Harry. Avada Kedavra!”

The same green light that had put his mummy to sleep shot out of the man’s wand and hit the toddler squarely in the forehead, the screams stopping abruptly as everything turned to black.