)O(

Severus paced the floor of his office, one eye on the cauldron bubbling away in the corner and one eye on the clock. It was now 11.15 pm and Minerva had promised to inform him the moment that the headmaster checked in. Harry and Albus had been gone for exactly two hours and forty six minutes.

He knew he was being ridiculous. There would be a large number of wards and curses protecting the horcrux and there really was no better curse breaker in the world more skilled than Albus. The rational part of him knew the duo would be unlikely to return before daybreak.

The irrational part of him wanted to have Harry right here; in his pyjamas and ready for a normal nights sleep in Gryffindor tower. He also wanted to yell at the boy...quite loudly...for a long time. In one of those brief moments of clarity that can assault a person with no warning, he had a sliver of insight into his teaching style. Filing that nugget away for further examination at a later date, he sighed and looked longingly at the drinks cabinet.

Having not slept for close to forty hours, he knew that alcohol was a really bad idea just now. Especially as it had required three pepper-ups to get through the day.

A solid knock on the office door broke his reverie and he stormed over, ready to give Albus a piece of his mind, only to find Minerva on the other side of the door wearing a particularly fierce expression.

'What!' he threw out, recognising that the witch was not here to report the headmaster back safely and chomping on lemon drops.

The witch look pointedly at the room behind him which he had been blocking from view with his tall frame. With a huff, he moved aside allowing her access to his quarters.

She stormed in and seated herself on one of his navy chesterfield sofa's, leaving him no choice but to sit opposite her. He crossed his arms and gave her a pointed look as if to say 'Well?'

Minerva pursed her lips.

'I want to know what's going on Severus. It is now past curfew and one of my students is merlin knows where with a crackpot headmaster who should know better.'

Severus sat silently, watching the elderly witch brood and reflecting on how much stronger her highland accent was when she was pissed. He was saved from answering by another knock on his door. This was softer and one he was beginning to recognise.

He waved his hand and the door flew open with a bang.

'Come in Lupin,' he barked in a tone that made it clear this was a chore for him.

Remus padded in to the study and placed a brand new bottle of whiskey onto the low table before the fire, smiling a greeting at the deputy headmistress.

Severus sighed and giving up, strode over to his drinks cabinet, removing the wards that protected it from his more adventurous students with a wave of his hand. He removed a bottle of brandy and three glasses and levitated them back to the table.

'No offence Lupin, but another evening on that gut-rot will likely be the end of me.'

Minerva huffed in offence. 'That's a 15 years old single malt Severus. Honestly, where are your manners?'

'Yes well, another thirty years would not make it any gentler on my stomach. There is clearly a reason why the Scots are so bad tempered.'

The elderly woman scowled at him and pointedly poured herself and Remus large glasses of the amber liquid before sitting back and fixing them both with a deadly stare.

'I will ask you again now Remus has joined us; where are Harry and Albus?'

There were a few minutes silence as both men exchanged a considered look. Maybe it was the memories of being schoolchildren under the this formidable matriarch but it didn't take long for them to cave and Severus gave a curt nod to his colleague.

Remus quietly rose and started casting privacy and defensive wards around the room. When he then moved on to check for animagi, listening charms and hidden devices, Minerva's eyebrows disappeared under her hairline.

'What on earth is going on Severus?'

Severus waited for his colleague to join them again and then quietly outlined what Tom Riddle had done to make himself immortal. The elderly witches expression morphed from confusion to horror as the implications became clear.

'So he can't be destroyed until all of these things are gone?'

Remus picked up the story. 'His body can be destroyed, effectively returning him to wraith form again but as long as he has a single horcrux he can be resurrected.'

Minerva took a large gulp of her whiskey before returning the glass to the table with a shaky hand.

'Explain to me why Albus is dragging along a sixteen year old boy with him on this quest?'

The men exchanged glances again and Remus continued, tentatively picking his way through the minefield of information they had been given.

'You have seen all the stuff The Prophet has been spouting about the chosen one?'

Minerva nodded.

'Well, there is an element of truth to that. There is..' Remus sighed. 'There is a prophecy...' He trailed off looking helplessly at Severus. Both men were acutely aware that they weren't meant to be sharing this information.

'About Harry?' She questioned. 'Since when do any of us believe in prophecies?'

'Since the Department of Mysteries ratified it.' Severus answered quietly and Minerva took a deep shaky breath.

'That's what you were all guarding last year? Is Harry mentioned by name?'

Remus shook his head. 'No, but the scar that Voldemort gave him identifies him as the subject of the prophecy. It basically states that Harry is the one who will or should I say can beat Voldemort.'

Minerva's appalled expression flew between the two men.'He's just a boy!'

'This Prophecy was made before he was even born Minerva. It's the reason James and Lily went into hiding in the first place.'

Remus reached for his glass before continuing. 'Voldemort doesn't know all the details which is why he is so desperate to hear it. Thankfully Harry destroyed it last year but it makes anyone who knows the details a target.'

'Does Harry know?' She asked shakily and when Remus nodded she added a very colourful word to the discussion.

'He doesn't need that hanging over him,' she spat and Severus nodded in agreement.

'He doesn't but it became inevitable that he would hear the details. Had he been told earlier we might have avoided losing Black last year. Harry is at the centre of this whole mess whether he likes it or not. I think Albus has made the decision that involving him fully is the best course of action. Neither of us are very pleased about that.'

'..and this evening,' she asked, returning to her original question.

'Albus has a lead on one of the horcruxs'. They are both off treasure hunting!'

The last line was spat out and Minerva leant towards the potion master in concern.

'Why didn't you go too?'

Severus snorted. 'Albus felt it would leave the school too exposed if there were more than one key member of staff away at once. Of course what he meant is it would be too great a loss if more than one staff member was killed.'

Remus hissed in distress. He had missed that bit of nuance in the headmasters speech and was reminded again of how useful Severus was in a wartime scenario.

'If anything happens to that boy...,' Remus whispered hoarsely and Severus winced.

'We can't protect him from this Lupin. I don't like it any more than you do but Harry is at the heart of this war and nothing we do or say can change that. At least Albus is actually sharing the information now. That is certainly an improvement.'

'Not to all of us,' Minerva barked and Severus inclined his head in acknowledgement.

'Very few know the full details of the prophecy. I believe that Albus did not want to share it with anyone who is not able to occlude and even then most do not know the actual wording.'

'I have never been told all the details, although it was enough to scare the hell out of James and Lily,' Remus added quietly.

Minerva glanced up at the clock in distress. Would James have allowed this if it had been his decision, she wondered. She could not imagine either of the Potters sending their son into danger in this way.

Then again, she would never have imagined that Voldemort would gain access to Hogwarts and attack the boy on school grounds; on three separate occasions no less.

The clock moved past the midnight position and the three of them settled in for a long night.

)O(

Harry kicked the wall in frustration as his patronus stood and blinked at him with incomprehension.

'Go!' Harry commanded. 'Tell Professor Snape that we need help and are in 'the safehouse''.

The large stag moved closer and attempted to nuzzle Harry and he groaned loudly.

How on earth did the order use these to communicate? Harry knelt down beside the headmaster who was mumbling to himself, his eyes closed and a bead of sweat on his forehead.

'Professor? Please sir, I need you to help.'

The elderly man jerked in response but did not open his eyes. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Harry looked around the partially collapsed room and tried to get his brain to work.

Ok Harry, think. What do you need to do? Dumbledore is hurt and needs help. What can I do in the meantime?

Harry gently eased the man away from the wall until he was laid flat on the floor. He rolled up his extra jumper and placed it beneath the man's head as a pillow. He then tucked his cloak around the trembling figure, leaving the left arm out where he could see it. The flesh was blackened and stank of burnt flesh. Fluid oozed out of the cracks, leaving the arm glistening in the small amount of light.

Harry could vaguely remember a TV programme he had seen where they had said to wrap burns in cling film. He tipped his rucksack upside down, dumping everything on the floor looking for an alternative. The closest thing he could think of was the wrapping on his chocolate bar.

He opened up the chocolate and wrapped it in a piece of notepaper to keep clean before tentatively enlarging the wrapper. By the time it was long enough to cover the headmasters arm the paper was so thin it was transparent in places.

Harry carefully cast a cleaning charm on the inside of the now bag shaped wrapper and gently slid it over Dumbledores arm. He then filled the bag with air magically, mentally thanking Fred and George for their balloon filling lessons the year before.

He tied the bag at the elbow and then cast a floating charm, leaving the arm waving in a surreal way beside Dumbledore's prone figure, the large bag making it look like some kind of mutant attachment.

He checked the man's breathing which seemed to be steady. Harry then carefully laid out everything that had been in his bag. He had two large chocolate bars, a 500ml bottle of water that he could fill magically once it was empty. His spare jumper he had used and his robe was now draped over the older mans and Harry was starting to get cold.

He pulled out his invisibility cloak and cast a warming charm on it before draping it about his shoulders. It was a little unsettling to be wandering about without a body but at least it would stop him getting hypothermic.

He packed his remaining supplies back in the bag and secured the sword to the bottom so nothing would get left behind if they ended up leaving in a hurry. Harry glanced back to the mound of rubble in the centre of the room and sighed. He would have to dig out that blasted ring as well.

Whilst he was pretty sure its curse was broken now, he was nervous about just leaving it here. It took nearly an hour to find the shattered ring that was now in pieces. The stone lay next to a portion of the silver casing; a large crack evident down it's centre.

Harry prodded it cautiously with his boot and then reaching out with his sense, sought to see the energy around it. He glimpsed a few small wisps of dark purple around the silver but nothing around the stone. He spent a few minutes casting the very detection charms he had been teaching the first years the week before carefully lifting the stone from the floor.

When a few moments of stillness produced no searing pain or screaming, Harry sighed in relief and turned the stone over in his hands. A second later the stone was falling to the ground and Harry was falling backwards as a flash of white light startled him senseless.

He scurried away from the corner where the apparition had briefly appeared, until his back hit the far wall. He found himself sat beside the prone headmaster, his heart pounding in his ears.

What the hell had that been?

Once the initial fright had worn off, Harry reached out with his attunement, trying to pick up whatever new curse this was that Dumbledore had missed. He could see a tendril of gold magic still clinging to the wall where the white image had appeared. Thinking about it, he was sure he had seen the outline of a man.

Gold auras where usually indicative of light or protective magic so maybe that hadn't been something set up by Riddle. Harry was reminded of how Dumbledore had reacted when he had seen the stone.

'OK Harry,' he muttered to himself. 'So you know that Riddle liked to use objects that were significant in themselves. So the stone is something good maybe? Something that he cursed when he placed his horcrux on it. Now that is gone.'

Gathering his courage, he crept over to the fallen stone and slowly picked it from the floor. He sat for a long moment before turning the stone over in his hand, his eyes fixed on the far corner.

The white flash immediately bathed the room in light and a figure materialized; it's face slowly coming into focus. Harry felt his whole body begin trembling as recognition flooded through him and the figure slowly approached and knelt a few feet away.

'Hello there kid, how are you doing?' it asked kindly and Harry chocked back on a sob.

'Si..Sirius?' he whispered and the man nodded gently.

'I know this is a lot to take in Harry but yes, it's really me?'

'A ghost?' Harry asked in confusion and Sirius chuckled.

'Not exactly. I'm not really here in the way a ghost would be. That stone you have in your hand allows you to talk to me where I am. I feared I had scared you so much that you wouldn't pick it up again.'

Harry swallowed heavily, his throat tight and painful and tears starting to fall from his eyes.

'It's really you,' he sobbed and Sirius smiled gently, his own eyes glistening.

'I'm so sorry Harry. I never meant to leave you alone.'

'It's my fault,' Harry sobbed. 'I fell for Riddle's trap. You never would have died if it wasn't for me.'

Sirius shook his head and grimaced as if in pain. 'Please Harry, don't. You are not to blame for my stupidity. You were tricked kid, nothing more, nothing less. I am so, so sorry.'

Harry dropped his head into his hands, the stone pressing against his forehead and radiating a gentle warmth. His shoulders shook with the intensity of his sobs.

Sirius was here! Right in front of him.

Please, please let this be real, he pleaded to the universe. He lifted his head to find that Sirius had come to sit on the floor directly in front of him, his legs crossed in an almost lotus position. He was so close that Harry could feel the energy surrounding the spectre tickling his skin.

'How do I know this isn't another trick? The ring kept calling me to put it one. It promised just this! The chance to see you again.'

Sirius smiled. 'Had you done that, it would have cursed you the same way it did Albus. You destroyed the horcrux Harry, you don't have to worry about that now. Fortunately, Voldemort never realised what he had in the stone. You can literally resurrect the dead with that stone kid.'

Harry looked down in alarm at the small green pebble.

'I thought nothing could bring back the dead?'

'Not strictly true,' Sirius explained, laying his hand on Harry's knee. 'I'm not saying it is a good idea though. Any time the stone has been used in that way it has ended very, very badly for all concerned.'

The man paused, looking hungrily at his godson's stricken face.

'I think it is more accurate to say that nothing can bring back the dead unchanged. Right now, we are just communicating across the veil. The longer we talk, the more solid I will appear to you but I will still be dead. You would need to combine the stone with a rather dangerous ritual in order to bring me back properly and seeing as I wasn't exactly sane before, I imagine that would be an unwise idea.'

Harry laughed at the amused twinkle in Sirius's eyes.

'It's so good to see you,' he said tearfully, noting how the man was already looking less transparent. What's it like there?'

Sirius cocked his head to one side as he considered the question. 'It's hard to really explain. Nothing is really concrete here; not time or thoughts or even ourselves. Sometimes I'm not sure I exist.'

Sirius's voice had taken on a dreamy quality that strongly reminded Harry of Luna Lovegood. It made him feel slightly panicky, as though the man would just drift away from him.

'Did you see my mum and dad?' Harry asked, a note of desperation in his voice and Sirius grinned. For a moment, he looked exactly how Harry remembered him.

'Do you feel ready to see them Harry?' Sirius asked quietly and Harry's heart leapt into his throat.

'I...I..can,' Harry stuttered, the trembling beginning again. 'I..can't..I don't know if I can...'

'Shh, Harry, breathe.' Sirius's hand seemed to grow heavier on his knee. 'If you're not ready then it's fine. They will understand.'

Harry sat for long minutes trying to bring his hyperventilating lungs back under his command.

'Can they see me?' Harry whispered and Sirius frowned in thought.

'Well, yes and no. We are not really looking down on everything the way the poets say. It's more like there is a connection with those we care about and occasionally it pulls on us. It's a bit like popping in to see how you are doing every so often. We have been with you often over this last few months.'

Harry blushed and looked down, his eyes tearing up again as Sirius squeezed his knee.

'Why didn't you tell me about the Dursleys'?' Sirius asked, his voice full of anguish and Harry screwed up his face in distress.

'I didn't want you to get into trouble,' Harry muttered and the older man winced.

'I really made a mess of it didn't I kid?' Sirius watched the teenager in front of him fight with his emotions and wished with everything in him he could go back and start again. Somehow give this child the life he should have had.

'I'm glad you have someone to look out for you now.'

Harry's head snapped up at his godfather's words. 'You know? You know about Severus?'

Sirius smiled cheekily. 'Yep, trust you to get adopted by the creepiest man in the western world.'

Harry frowned. 'He didn't adopt me. I'm just his apprentice; his and Remus's.'

Sirius lightly traced the mark on Harry's wrist. 'Your bond mark say different kid. You know you are more than an apprentice to Snape. He is wearing a hole in his study floor as we speak you know. He's very worried for you.'

'Do you mean you approve?' Harry asked in surprise and the older man went to ruffle his hair, frowning as his hand went straight through Harry's locks.

'Mmm, interesting. I can touch you but not move you I think. Do I approve? Of course I do. The man cares for you. How on earth could I object to that. Just don't stop washing your hair, ok?'

Harry laughed and reached for his godfather, joy filling him as he realised Sirius was now solid enough to hug. It was a bit like holding water, he felt if he pushed too hard he would fall straight through.

The magical energy hummed along Harry's skin as he lay in Sirius's arms, tears falling happily down both of their faces. Sirius glanced about at the destroyed room and sighed.

'Well, you've gotten yourself into another pickle here haven't you?'

Harry leant back and glanced up at the frowning man.

'Can you help? Do you know how we can get out of here?'

Sirius shook his head and looked over at the slumbering figure that had controlled his life for so many years.

'No, but I'm betting Albus can get you both out if we can improve his condition. Your father can help with that.'

'Severus?' Harry asked with confusion. 'But I don't have any way to contact him.'

Sirius grinned at him again. 'Just his apprentice, eh?'

Harry blushed realizing he had just admitted that he thought of Snape as his father.

'I'm sure Snivellous can help once you get back to Hogwarts but on this occasion I was thinking of the original version. The mark one so to speak.'

Harry frowned in confusion making Sirius snigger.

'Your dad kid. He's desperate to talk to you. He keeps prodding me in the back. It's getting annoying actually.'

Harry paled as he realised that his father was actually somewhere near, maybe even listening to them talk. He bobbed his head nervously and Sirius's grin widened. He glanced over his shoulder and Harry found his breath hitch as a second figure slowly appeared from the gloom.

He stared in awe as James Potter's image sharpened in front of them and moved to sit in beside them.

James eyes roved up and down his son's body, a hint of desperate worry in his expression.

'Is he hurt?' He asked his friend and Harry felt his heart jump at the sound of his dad's voice

'He's fine Prongs. A few scrapes and bruises but nothing serious. He will need some more energy before he can do this though.'

Harry looked questioningly between them, trying not to blush under his father's stare.

'Harry,' James said softly. 'Go and get one of those chocolate bars and the water.'

Harry scurried out of his godfather's arms and crawled quickly over to his bag, fetching the requested items and hurrying back. He held the stone tightly the entire time.

One settled back on the floor beside Sirius, he turned back to his dad expectantly.

'Can you transfigure the wrapper into a length of string?' James asked and Harry hurriedly unwrapped the silver foil and did as requested. He grimaced at it's appearance which was still slightly silver. McGonagall would have deducted marks for that.

'Right then, if you tie that around the stone then you can wear it as a pendant. It will work as long it is in contact with your skin. Only you will be able to see us unless you concentrate your magic on allowing others in. I can teach you that another time.'

Harry felt the smile that spread across his face at the implications of that. He could talk to his parents and Sirius whenever he wanted! This was incredible!

He carefully tied the sting around the stone, wedging it into the crack the sword had made to secure it. He then tied a triple knot in the end and placed it over his head, being careful not to lose skin contact as he laid it against his throat.

The string was long enough to hide the stone well below his neckline.

'What if Dumbledore wants it back?' he asked in sudden panic, desperate not to lose this precious link.

'He can't have it,' James stated in a firm tone. 'The stone would be dangerous for him and I believe he knows that. You have my permission to pass on my warning if he asks though.'

Harry nodded numbly finding himself unable to look away from James eyes. They were the lightest brown he had ever seen. No one had ever really talked about his dad's looks before; other than the dreaded Potter hair anyway.

'Are you alright Harry?' James asked, seeing his son pale.

'It's just...to hear your voice... and see you...you have really light eyes,' Harry blurted out and James laughed, his rich voice echoing off the stone walls.

'Get comfortable little one and we can talk properly.'

Harry snuggled back into Sirius's side, both of them leaning back against the rubble in the room and James sat in front on him. Harry tentatively reached out to touch his fathers arm and found his hand when straight through the image.

'Give it ten minutes kid and then you can give the old man a hug,' Sirius teased as he watched the two Potter men staring at each other.

Harry wrapped his cloak tightly around himself and lay the chocolate and water in his lap.

'We need you to eat all of that in the next hour as you are going to have to do some pretty impressive magic to get out of this fix.' James explained before glancing over his shoulder at something Harry couldn't see. He and Sirius exchanged a look and Sirius's arm tightened around his waist.

'Have we completely overwhelmed you yet, Prongslet?'

Harry smiled softly. 'Yeah, but in a really good way.'

'Ready for some more company?' James asked and Harry paled.

'O..ok.'

Harry watched as a third figure came into view feeling his emotions finally falling away from his control. He buried his face into his hands and wept as his mum knelt in front of him and called his name.

'It's alright sweetheart, we're here,' Lily said softly as his father gripped his knee tightly.

It took some time for him to calm but by the time he had the three spirits looked as solid as him. In fact, as he was still wrapped in his invisibility cloak it strangely looked as if he was the ghost.

'Eat some chocolate Harry,' Sirius said rubbing his back and Harry shakily reached for a piece.

'We are so proud of you,' Lily whispered. 'You have survived so much and are still so pure. For you to be able to use the stone after everything you have been through is incredible.'

'It won't work for everyone,' Sirius explained. 'At least not like this. It's a mark of what a good kid you are that it has allowed us to come through like this.'

Harry smiled shyly, for once not upset at being out of the ordinary.

'Tell us about school Harry, 'James asked, smiling broadly at him. 'You are teaching some of Remus's classes?'

Harry grinned and went to launch into his term plan when a shout from the corner made them all jump.

Albus was staring wildly at the far wall and waving his wand about. He shouted something incomprehensible and Harry made to move but was stopped by Lily's hand on his knee.

'He's ok sweetheart; he has a fever and is hallucinating. You need to rest and eat and then your father is going to guide you through a spell that can help him.'

Harry relaxed back watching the older man with concern. Albus pointed his wand at the ceiling and looked about to cast a spell.

'Expelliamous!' Harry barked out by pure instinct and the headmasters wand flew into his hand.

Harry glanced at the ornate wand before laying it down in his lap beside his own.

'Probably best he isn't waving that around if he's hallucinating.'

Harry glanced up at the three incredulous expressions in confusion.

'What? What did I do?'

James's glance flew from the cloak Harry was wrapped in, the stone against his neck and the elder wand laid in his son's lap and grinned broadly.

'Nothing son, nothing at all. Now tell me about school.'

Harry smiled shyly and for the first time in his life started talking about his school life with his family. He spent the next two hours answering all their questions, while each of his parents held one of his hand and Sirius rubbed his back.

Against his skin the stone hummed happily, reunited with his two counterparts for the first time in nearly six centuries. The magic ran through the cloak, fixing and strengthening every stray thread or tear and renewing the charms.

The increasing glow was clearly seen by the three adults whilst Harry obliviously chatted on about study clubs and potions training.

)O(