Harry walked up the stairs to the dormitory. It was late and he was tired. He was still upset over what had happened that day, with Sirius and Snape, but he would just have to live with it. They had one horcrux destroyed, and four more to go. Then Voldemort would be dead, and he would be free of the lunatic who had hunted him since his first birthday. And Snape would be free too. Harry could understand how terrible the feeling was for Snape that someday Voldemort might come back.

His uncle was dead! Harry could hardly believe it. He was relieved beyond words at this news. What would happen to Aunt Petunia and Dudley now? Well, it wasn't like they'd ever worried about him, Harry shrugged. If they had worried, maybe they could have figured out what was happening. Maybe they had, he suddenly realized. Maybe they had seen the way his uncle looked at him, and the way he shrunk away, and maybe they hadn't cared. The thought felt like a stone in his stomach.

The only person who cared was Snape. Well, that wasn't quite true either. Sirius had gone to the trouble of killing his uncle, hadn't he? For that, Harry was very grateful to his godfather. And apparently Sirius didn't hate him. Harry was both impressed and relieved at that as well. Maybe the man still loved him too. Harry could understand if Sirius didn't though. He did understand that Snape didn't. What Snape did, he did out of duty. What Snape did, he did for the good of wizards in general, not for Harry. He really didn't mind though. Snape was still good to him, even if it wasn't for his own sake.

Harry smiled wanly as he opened the door to the dormitory. At some level, he realized, he was fond of Snape. It was difficult to not feel a certain loyalty to Snape. After all, the man had been his immediate savior from a desperate situation. Snape kept him sane and healthy too, Harry realized. It wasn't that Snape had saved him and abandoned him. Snape continued to look after him, saw to it that he ate a sufficient amount and actually offered him comfort through flashbacks and panic attacks.

Like he told Sirius, he knew Snape didn't love him, but it was nice to pretend. Harry sighed as he closed the door silently behind him.

"Hey, mate," Ron called softly. Harry jumped.

"Hey," Harry whispered back.

"That took you all day," Ron commented, careful not to wake the others who seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"Yeah, sorry," Harry apologized.

"What happened?"

"Well, we got one," Harry said.

"One of the horcruxes?" Ron asked. "Did you destroy it?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "One less piece of him we have to worry about."

"Good," Ron said.

"And we have a lead on another one too."

"Excellent!" Ron said. "How are you doing? You look tired."

"I'm fine," Harry said.

"Mmm," Ron acknowledged. "Something happened."

"Sirius dropped by," Harry shrugged.

"And how did that sit with Snape?" Ron asked, suddenly interested.

"It was...eventful. They seem to have settled whatever the problem was though," Harry concluded. "My - uncle - Sirius said he killed him."

"Oh," Ron said, unsure how to react. "That's a good thing, right?"

"I think so," Harry said, puzzled. "Is it right that I should be happy he's dead?" Harry slumped down on his bed, let his bag slide to the floor with a quiet thump, and buried his face in his hands. "I just don't know, Ron," Harry muttered.

"It's okay," Ron said, not daring to touch his friend. "It's just a fact. You don't have to be happy or not happy. You can accept it."

"Yeah," Harry said, beginning to unbutton his shirt a bit. It was dark; Ron couldn't see his scars. "Good night."

"Night, Harry."

.oO-Oo.

"I don't care if he's dead!" Bellatrix screamed manically. "He came back once, he can come back again. He has horcruxes." There was a gasp among her audience. "Oh, you didn't know? Well at least the intelligent ones among you suspected. How else can someone come back from the dead?"

"But he came back once," Lucius began. "That means he's used his horcrux."

"One, yes," Bellatrix said, and the room became absolutely silent.

"You mean he has more?" Nott murmured.

"This is the Dark Lord of whom we speak," Bellatrix reminded them. "Those who were close to him even know certain ones. Nagini," Bellatrix called as she crouched low to the ground. The serpent wound her way to Bellatrix.

"In a living animal?" Lucius questioned, puzzled. "But that's extremely dangerous."

"I'm sure the Dark Lord knew what he was doing," Bellatrix said coldly. "I don't believe you have ever made even one horcrux, Lucius?"

"Absolutely not!" Lucius exclaimed. "I fancy the dark arts, yes, but not that."

"I can take the horcrux from Nagini and place it into someone," Bellatrix continued. "Are there any volunteers?" Everyone looked around hesitantly.

"How about that traitor, Snape?" Avery suggested hopefully. "He was the last one of us to see the Dark Lord alive."

"The host must consent," Bellatrix said.

"Does duress qualify?" Lucius suggested.

"Absolutely," Bellatrix purred.

"Rumor has it Snape has adopted the Potter boy," Lucius continued. "If he has, in fact, conducted an adoption, no matter how he has hated the boy in the past, the magic will see to it he has a fatherly affection now. He will do anything to save his son."

"So you suggest we hold Potter hostage to convince Snape to be the Dark Lord's host?" Bellatrix licked her lips anxiously. "A very interesting idea, Lucius. A very interesting idea. The only hole is that we've been trying to get our hands on Potter for years. That's the only hole, the crux of the plan." She was sneering by the end.

"We've never had Sirius Black in our midst before," Lucius pointed out, and one of the men in the back pulled back his hood. Bellatrix began to laugh manically.

"Sirius Black, Sirius Black!" she sang out in a mocking tone. "Finally come to please your old dead mother?" She put on an exaggerated pouting face and pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, before returning to the look that would have made almost anyone lock her up in the insane asylum.

"I'm not sure anymore, Malfoy," Sirius growled at the blond man.

"Too late," Lucius said. "You started a ball rolling when you walked in and called Snape out for who he was. You can't turn back, not now." Sirius looked slightly panicked.

"I don't want to do this!" he said. "Can't we just go back to the way things were?"

"Well," Bellatrix threatened softly, "we could always kill the Potter boy outright. I mean, we were planning on keeping him alive for the Dark Lord, but we could just kill him ourselves. We would make sure he had a long proper death. The Dark Lord would likely kill him without ceremony."

"Last time he tried that, it didn't go so well," Sirius taunted back.

"And he doesn't make the same mistake twice," Bellatrix contradicted.

"How do you propose to get at the boy if I refuse to cooperate?" Sirius pressed.

"I'm sure Potter would be more than happy to exchange his life for yours, wouldn't he?" Bellatrix said sweetly as she stepped closer to Sirius.

"Harry wouldn't be that stupid," he said between gritted teeth, though he knew it to be untrue. Harry wasn't in Gryffindor for no reason. Bellatrix laughed. She might not be a skilled legillimens, but one didn't have to be in order to see that Sirius didn't believe his own words. Snape would just have to protect Harry, Sirius realized. He wasn't going to turn the boy over, not yet. That afternoon had made him at least question his opposition to Snape. Okay, he still didn't trust the man, not by a long shot. He still wanted to look after Harry himself. But maybe, in some twisted way, Snape did care for Harry. Sirius couldn't imagine why. He hoped Snape wouldn't be bad for the boy in the meantime, if he got out of this mess alive. First he failed to protect James and Lily, and now he was failing to protect their son. One time, he was protecting them from Snape, now this time he was praying that Snape would help him protect Harry. How odd fate was sometimes.

"So will you hand him over to us?" Bellatrix prompted when Sirius failed to elaborate on his previous comment.

"No," Sirius said after a deep breath. "I won't help you, not anymore." He turned on his heel, intending to leave. At least, intending to make an attempt. As he expected, he was assaulted by a group of Death Eaters. Wand drawn, he hexed them back, but one against a dozen wasn't a fair fight no matter how good a fighter Sirius had become. His assailants took him down, and disarmed him easily enough.

"You could have done this the easy way," Bellatrix continued, playing with his wand. "But since when has Sirius Black ever done anything the easy way?" She laughed.

.oO-Oo.

A small package fell in front of Harry next morning at breakfast. He was confused. Who would be sending him a package? It wasn't Christmas, and it certainly wasn't his birthday. Ron and Hermione were sitting with him. They wouldn't have needed to send him anything. Perhaps Snape? But then he could have easily handed out a detention and given him the thing then. Shrugging, Harry opened it. There was a bottle with a cloudy liquid inside. Harry knew it to be a memory. He opened the paper that came with it.

Mr. Potter,

You are being informed that the Death Eaters have your godfather, Sirius Black. The memory is proof. Surrender yourself and your wand, and we will set Black free, on our honor. In all honesty, we can't care less about him. For this reason you have 24 hours to meet us just outside the school wards or we will kill your godfather, no questions asked. Someone will be waiting for you. Don't bring anyone with you. No need to reply.

Lucius Malfoy

Harry's lips became a hard line as he read the note. He wanted to view the memory just to be sure it wasn't a bluff. There wasn't any choice though, if it weren't. He couldn't let them kill Sirius. Voldemort was dead; he had completed his mission. Snape could hunt horcruxes without him. Then Snape wouldn't have to be burdened with him anymore.

"What's that, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Just something from Snape," Harry lied. "I'll be right back." Harry quickly got up and left the Great Hall. A certain potions master saw his son's hasty retreat and followed. Just outside the doors of the Great Hall, Snape intercepted Harry.

"What is it you have there?" Snape asked. Always direct and to the point.

"Oh, this?" Harry said innocently, holding up the memory and the folded slip of paper. "It's just something from one of the girls from the French school," he explained. Snape gave him a skeptical look. "Really!" Harry said. Then he looked at the floor and mumbled, "Look, I like her, kind of. She sent me a memory from her birthday party." Snape still looked skeptical but stepped aside to let him pass.

"And how were you planning to view this memory?" Snape inquired.

"In...in your pensieve?" Harry asked rather than stated. Snape gave one curt nod.

"Alright," Snape agreed reluctantly. "I expect you to eat more for your midday meal though."

"Yes, sir," Harry said readily. At the rate things were going, it wouldn't matter. He wouldn't have a midday meal. He might even be dead by lunch time. It was a sobering thought. Quickly, Harry shuffled away from Snape and walked to the man's office where he found the pensieve. Harry poured the memory and dived in.

He saw a perfectly intact, unaltered memory of Sirius' capture. They tied him to a chair, and Belltrix was reiterating the ultimatum as she poked his godfather with a knife. The memory was short. Apparently the Death Eaters didn't want to mess around with a longer than necessary memory. When it ended, Harry was transported out of the pensieve. His face grim, Harry suddenly realized he didn't know how to take a memory out of the basin.

"Accio memory," he murmured, and it worked. The silvery thread wound itself back into the bottle. There. Snape couldn't view the memory. Snape wouldn't know what had happened. Snape wouldn't have to worry. Stuffing both memory and bottle into his pocket, Harry used one of the secret passages out of the school to get to the grounds. He might as well get this over as soon as possible, he reasoned.

The moment he was past the wards, Harry reached for his wand and threw it on the ground and put his hands behind his head. He knelt on the ground. Harry didn't want there to be any accusation that he didn't follow the terms and conditions. After a moment Harry wondered what had happened. No one was coming. Then there was a soft rustling in the bushes, and a masked and hooded Death Eater stepped out, grabbing Harry by the arm. Harry shivered at the touch, but didn't fight.

"Is Sirius alright?" he asked the hooded figure.

"Alive," the man replied. "Silence. No more questions." The Death Eater summoned Harry's wand and pocketed it. The the two of them disapparated. Harry had no idea where they were, except the building was large. A manor of some sort. Perhaps Malfoy manor? Harry didn't know. He didn't really care either. He was a dead man, he knew. The thought scared Harry, of course, the thought of dying, but it was a relief too. The pain would end.

At the other end of the room, Harry saw Sirius tied to a chair, undoubtedly supported with magical bonds as well.

"Let him go now," Harry began pleading. "You promised, if I came, alone and unarmed, you'd let him go, you promised."

"Yes, of course," the Death Eater replied. He took out his own wand and released Sirius. Sirius rushed over to his godson.

"Harry, Harry," he began, "what are you doing? You shouldn't have come. It's a trap."

"I know," Harry replied, not able to look Sirius in the eyes. "I couldn't let them kill you. Go."

"You don't understand," Sirius tried again. "They're not just trying to get you."

"That's enough," the Death Eater interrupted. "Unless you want to be silenced permanently."

"It's fine," Harry assured his godfather sadly. "I don't mind."

"I'm sorry, Harry," Sirius said. Harry looked up. The note of sorrow in Sirius' voice was alarming. "It's all my fault, Harry, I was trying to protect you. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Harry said again. "It's probably better this way. Like you said, Snape doesn't love me."

"He does, Harry," Sirius contradicted. "In some way, he does." Harry shook his head sadly.

"He doesn't, he can't. Bye." Harry embraced his godfather fiercely.

"Good-bye, Harry," Sirius said, unable to voice any of this other thoughts. After a moment, the Death Eater grabbed Harry by back of his shirt and broke the moment.

"Leave now," he told Sirius. "You have 10 minutes, or our bargain is off."

"Harry," Sirius tried one last time.

"Go!" Harry insisted, in such a tone that Sirius wouldn't want to respect Harry's last wish. With a nod, Sirius turn and ran. Harry turned to the Death Eater and realized the helplessness of his situation. They could literally do anything they wanted to him and he didn't have the power to stop them. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself protectively. The silence was deafening.

Momentarily, Bellatrix and the others came in. Harry backed away from all of them. There were no dementors, but it still felt like the temperature in the room dropped.

"Please just kill me," he whimpered. "It'll make it easier on everyone." Harry's eyes darted from one face to another. Some he recognized, others he didn't.

"It seems like it's time to contact Severus," Bellatrix told Lucius.

"What?" Harry asked, his face blank. "Leave Snape out of this! Just kill me."

"Tut, tut," Bellatrix said, coming over to Harry. He backed away further until his back was to the wall. "Snape is the reason we wanted you. We have no intention of killing you, at least not yet, and certainly not quickly. That is the Dark Lord's prerogative. He has reserved you for himself."

"Voldemort is dead!" Harry screamed. Several of the Death Eaters hissed angrily as pain shot up their arms.

"We will bring him back," Bellatrix said, grabbing Harry by the throat and holding him against the wall. Harry whimpered. He was remembering the graveyard, not even a year ago. Harry wasn't stupid and he knew begging wouldn't get him anywhere with Bellatrix. Still, he had to try.

"Why do you need Snape then? Just use my blood like last time and kill me. Leave Snape alone."

"Ignorant, silly little boy," Bellatrix spat as her grip tightened on Harry's throat and she brought him up to eye level. Harry's toes just barely brushed the hard stone floor. "I don't have to justify my actions to you. Need I remind you of how powerless you are?" She tightened her grip again as if for emphasis. Harry began to fight for air and pulled at her hand, his eyes wide with fear.

"Please," he mouthed to her, tears beginning to form in eyes, whether from fear or lack of air, he didn't know. She suddenly released him and he fell to a crumpled ball on the floor, gasping for air.

"You'll do as you're told, no questions," Bellatrix said coldly. Harry nodded, massaging his bruised throat. She pulled out a knife and quickly knelt beside Harry who froze, terrified. She grabbed Harry by his unruly mop and cut a tuft of it. Getting up she handed it to Lucius.

"Owl Severus," she ordered. "That should be proof enough we have his son. He'll come running, you can be sure of that." She smiled cruelly at Harry.