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The Nothing I've Become (Areas of Expertise II)	By : SickPuppy Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 18635 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Hi, I couldn't quite remember all the ways a Horcrux can be destroyed, so, if I forgot one, please let me know and I'll edit the chapter!

As ever, thank you to my delightful reviewers. SP

Chapter Twenty-Six - Wake Me Up Inside

Harry, Ron and Hermione were back in their version of the Room of Requirement and were staring at the tarnished tiara in confusion. Well, Ron and Harry were confused, Hermione was enraptured.

'Ravenclaw's diadem!' she breathed, eyes gone wide and misty.

'Oh, give it a rest!' Ron muttered, as she reverently picked it up. 'It's a dirty old crown. Whoppee!'

'It belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw herself!' Hermione snapped. 'But I wonder what You-Know-Who wanted with it.' She looked puzzled and intrigued.

Harry's eyes had gone abruptly out of focus, and a soft smile spread across his face. 'Severus is on his way up here,' he said warmly. He turned his head on one side, as if listening, before going on, 'He has something important to tell us.'

The black haired boy went to the door and waited until he heard the familiar tread of Snape approach. He tugged on the handle and opened it before Severus had even lifted his hand to knock. He looked surprised.

'How did you know?' he asked, startled.

'I felt you.' Harry said, still smiling. Then his smile faded, 'Can't you feel me?'

Snape pressed closer and a hand curved around Harry's buttocks. 'I can feel you all right.' He breathed, mouth close to Harry's neck. 'I can feel you very well.'

The Gryffindor let his head fall back and moaned softly as the older man nibbled on his skin.

A loud and obviously false cough broke them apart.

Ron called from the sitting room, 'Harry! We have more important things to worry about!'

The Slytherin sighed, 'For once, Weasley is correct. I have two items with me, and some explaining to do.' He dipped his head and kissed Harry thoroughly before he lead the way into the sitting room. His eyes widened when he saw the rusty piece of jewellery.

Hermione burst out proudly, 'It's Ravenclaw's diadem! Voldemort was hiding it, but we found it!'

Snape looked impressed. 'I had no idea you knew about the horcruxes.' He admitted. 'That makes my task now somewhat shorter.'

'Horcruxes?' the three children asked as one.

The professor sat down and sighing heavily, began to talk. 'Last year, Harry, you had a number of private sessions with Albus, and he explained some of the Dark Lord's past to you. He sadly, did not find time to relay the most important information he had discovered: namely that the Dark Lord, as quite a young man, decided that the best way to ensure immortality for himself would be to split his soul into seven pieces and hide six of them. The seventh resides within the Dark Lord himself.

'The items he placed the parts of his soul in were important to him: perhaps linking him to his famous fore father, or linking him to this school, which is, so Albus says, the closest thing he had to a home. Albus guessed what some of the items were and even managed to destroy one ' causing himself a dreadful injury in the process. A second was destroyed by Harry in his second year.'

'Eh?'

'Riddle's diary.' Snape said shortly. 'Apparently that was one of the horcruxes. Albus believed the others would be in items that had belonged to the Hogwarts' founders.' He nodded as Hermione gasped and looked at the tiara.

'Yes, Ravenclaw's diadem, Hufflepuff's cup, and Slytherin's locket. We know that the Dark Lord knew about all of these, and we have all of them in our possession.'

'We do?' Harry was incredulous.

Snape reached into his robes and pulled out a cup, and a locket. He placed them next to the dirty tiara, a satisfied smile on his face. 'One item Albus demolished, a ring belonging to Riddle's magical family. Which, once these are destroyed, leaves only one more horcrux. And Albus believed that Nagini, the snake, is the final one. With all of these horcruxes obliterated, the Dark Lord will, finally, be capable of being beaten.' He paused before adding, 'For good.'

Harry felt cold all of a sudden. Would it really be over soon?

It was Hermione who asked the key question. 'But, having these doesn't make them 'dead' does it? How do we destroy them?'

Snape winced slightly. 'That's actually rather difficult. Harry happened upon one method: Basilisk venom. Others include the Sword of Gryffindor and fiend fyre. But Horcruxes are very powerful magical items. Ruining them is not simple. We can 'break' them with one of the methods I've stated, but I am wary, as I am unsure how connected the Dark Lord is to these pieces of his soul. If three are destroyed at once, might he not feel it?'

Harry considered. It was certainly a worry. Another point was slowly occurring to him, however. 'Hang on,' he began, 'how come you have those Horcuxes? Did Voldemort entrust them to you?'

Severus smiled. 'No, of course not. However, I knew where one of them was hidden, and I happened upon the other during the course of a conversation with Albus' picture. He has, you see, a portrait at the Ministry of Magic, In Arthur Weasley's office, and he recognised the locket of Slytherin and told me where it was. I retrieved it with minimal fuss, not being a complete fool!'

Severus neglected to mention finding Mad-Eye Moody's eyes in the door and removing it out of respect. Nor did he feel the need to explain where he had found the locket, nor the pleasure he had had in obliviating Dolores Umbridge's memory.

'The other item I took from a vault at Gringotts', by the simple expedience of telling them the Dark Lord had sent me to check on it. Of course, I retrieved the item and at the same time raised the alarm that it had been stolen. The poor Gringotts' goblins were quite at a loss to explain it, and feared telling the Dark Lord. I agreed to keep their secret - that their vault had been broken in to - and to tell the Dark Lord myself.'

Harry smiled. 'That was pretty clever, Sev.'

Using the hated nickname earned him a glare, but he ignored it. Instead he fixed his green eyes on the black ones and soon the two men were lost in a world of their own.

'Yes, well,' Hermione said, seeking to gain the couple's attention, 'that's all well and good, but how do we destroy these, and how do we kill Nagini?'

Harry looked thoughtful. 'Could we '' he said slowly, eyes fixed on the ground as he worked it out, 'could we, maybe, leave the items in here, and use the fiend fyre to destroy the Horcruxes? The Room wouldn't be damaged, not really. Would it?'

'If we asked the Room to become somewhere where we could destroy Horcruxes, no doubt we could.' Severus agreed.

Hermione looked at Harry. 'That was clever,' she said, surprised.

Ron piped up, 'Ok, we can get rid of those'' he shuddered, pointing at the items that enclosed parts of Voldemort's soul, 'but we still need to kill the snake. How do we do that without You-Know-Who noticing?'

'We can't.' Severus said. 'That's why I should do it.'

Harry understood a moment before Ron and Hermione. 'NO!' he bellowed, surprising them all, 'NO! Not now! Not now I remember! You can't go! You can't leave me! I won't allow you to. Voldemort's always wanted me dead, I'll do it.' His chest heaved as Harry struggled to restrain his sobs.

Hermione signalled Ron and they left the room. Severus moved to Harry's side and spoke softly, 'Harry, this war is about more than two people, whatever the depth of their feelings for one another. We have to stop him. You know this. And you have to be the one to do it. I'm truly sorry, Harry, but it does have to be you. Albus knew that the Dark Lord made a mistake. The night he killed...' Severus gulped before continuing, 'your parents he created another Horcrux. The murders he committed fractured his soul further. His soul is not broken into seven pieces Harry, but eight. You must face him when all of the other horcruxes are gone. Then, and only then, can you stand against him.'

Harry felt tears running down his face. 'Me?' he said in horror, quietly. 'I'm the last Horcrux? I'm the last thing that has to be destroyed before he can be defeated? I ' ' he turned anguish filled eyes to Severus. 'I was never meant to survive this war, was I?'

A broken sob escaped him. 'This isn't fair, Severus,' he whimpered, 'It isn't fair.'

Snape pulled the other into his arms and held him as the boy broke down. After long minutes, Harry's cries became snuffles, and he gasped out, 'Please, be with me one more time. Please.'

Severus kissed his lover passionately, regretfully. 'We don't have time. The Dark Lord, when I left him, spoke of contacting his followers to attack Hogwarts. The final battle could begin at any moment.' He rocked Harry, his back eyes painful. 'Will you be ok?' he whispered.

'Yes.' Harry responded, just as quietly. 'Severus, I'I love you.' He blushed. 'I just wanted you to know that, before ... before'' he stopped, throat working.

'I know.' Snape answered. 'And you deserve so much more love than this man can give you. I wish, truly I wish, that this was not how it must be.' He kissed Harry gently again.

'I'll make you proud,' Harry almost mouthed, his voice struggling past his tears.

'You always do.'
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The Nothing I've Become (Areas of Expertise II)