Epitome of a Soldier - What it is to be Necessary

Hi everyone :)

People liked the first chapter! Woo! *jiggles*
Now, you must all be thiking, "it hasn't been five days yet". Well, you're right, it's only been four. However, tomorrow is my update day for a lot of fics. So, I thought I have decided on flexible days for this story anyway, I'd just go ahead and post a day early.

Review replies!

Yami Bakura
Creepy was what I was going for or at least darkly mysterious XD I would update more frequently but I just really don't have the time ^_^; New part time job is currently sucking up a lot of my time.

Arcee1000
Ooo, virtual cookie :D *gobbles*

momoko
Glad you think so :)

snappy pants
More cookies! I love Drarry fans, they're so generous with the cookies :D (love your name by the way XD)

thrnbrooke
Brought it back? Ah, did you read it the first time round when I posted it on other sites?

paigeey07
That's good to hear ^_^

Kuromei
Yeah, I don't read as many as I used to...Hardly any now really. I just write a lot of 'em XD I'm pleased I've intrigued you and, although I'm pretty sure you will, I hope you stick around for the duration *hugs Kuromei-chan*

patrysza
Well, I've had nothing but good reviews in the past so I'm pretty confident people will enjoy it here as well :)

Dhalim
I hope the update came soon enough for you ^_^

Izzy
Glad to have caught your interest :D And although I'll never get so forgetful as to abandon you all, forgetting to update could very well happen XD

Kati-chan
Yes, new story. Was gonna wait until I'd finished Sacrifice but then I figured there wasn't much point considering this is already completely finished. What can I say, I guess I'm just seriously hungry for reviews XD

BlackVirgin17
I hope you find this chapter just as interesting :)

Nothing more to say for now, so on with the chapter :D

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Almost sixteen years.

For almost sixteen years, Harry Potter had slept within a crystal incubator and he had dreamed of what had been happening in the Wizarding world while he slept. He knew everything that had happened and he had never even seen any of it in person. He knew about the Philosopher's Stone being protected and subsequently destroyed in 1990, he knew about the trouble with the Chamber of Secrets in 1991, he knew Sirius Black was freed from Azkaban upon the arrest of Peter Pettigrew in 1992, the Triwizard Tournament in 1993 in which Lord Voldemort had been resurrected with the killing of Cedric Diggory, the events of 1994 and 1995, he knew about the Horcruxes.

But then, suddenly, the dreams had stopped and he had merely slept. Shortly after that, he had been woken.

And now there he was: his hair had been cut to a more sensible length, the ends coming to a stop just underneath his ears; he was dressed in a plain, black robe; he was sitting in a small bedroom and staring out of a window inside a hidden house with two people he knew had Dark Marks on their arms. He wasn't afraid though. To be completely honest, he wasn't sure he knew how to be afraid. He wasn't sure he knew how to be anything.

A knock on the bedroom door pulled him from his thoughts but he didn't move, didn't even flinch. "Enter." He invited in what was apparently his voice it seemed; it was low, it was soft, it held no emotion. The sound of the door opening reached his ears and still he did not turn his eyes away from the world outside of the house; such bright colours, even in the night, his dreams had always appeared so dull in comparrison.

"Have you settled?" The deep voice of the man who had identified himself as Professor Severus Snape enquired from behind him.

"Yes." Was the only answer he gave.

"You are aware of everything I assume?"

"Everything." He agreed before a pause. "Up until the death of Albus Dumbledore."

"I see." Snape replied, apparently not knowing what else to say.

"Only one Horcrux has been destroyed at the present time." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, Slytherin's ring." Snape confirmed.

"It was the curse attached to the ring which killed Albus Dumbledore."

"No." The older disagreed. "It would have killed him eventually if I had not done so first."

"You killed Albus Dumbledore."

"Yes, upon his instruction."

"Good, then you are honest enough to not lie to me, or at least smart enough to realise that I concluded as such myself." He stood then; a clean, precise movement, almost as though it had been programmed into him. "There is a study here?"

"Downstairs, I'll show you the way." Snape offered, watching carefully as the dark haired teenager walked across the room, heading for the open door he stood beside.

Instead of receiving a thank you as Snape half expected, he heard a the simple statement of: "Riddle's diary has made its way back into public circulation."

"Yes, no one knows where it is now." He told him, leaving the room, knowing that the strange young man would follow on behind.

"Then we will locate it." The teenager said simply. There was silence for a short time, a silence thick with the urge to speak hanging heavily in the air. "You may address me by my name." He assured the man, knowing that was what was bothering him.

"Potter it is then." The Potions Master decided.

"I remind you of my father." Harry spoke before then paused for a moment. "You cannot let go of the hatred which lingers over how he once treated you."

"That is neither here nor there." Snape replied tersely, obviously not eager to discuss such a thing.

"Indeed." It came out as more of an acknowledgement of speech rather than an agreement. "The boy who is with you; Draco Malfoy."

What about him?" Snape asked with a glance over his shoulder.

"It was his task to kill Albus Dumbledore."

"He's a mere child, he couldn't be expected to do such a thing."

"Of course." Again, it was more of an acknowledgement than an agreement.

Snape stopped walking outside of a door. He reached for the knob and turned it before putting a slight pressure on the door, causing it to swing inwards. "This is the study, as you requested." He clarified as the teenager walked into the room wordlessly. "Do you mind if I enquire as to why you need it now?"

"I will begin research on the locations of the remaining Horcruxes immediately." The boy answered, walking straight over to a bookshelf and stopping in front of it.

"That isn't really necessary for you to do immediately. There is enough time to allow yourself an adjustment period. After what you've experienced..."

"I have experienced nothing." He interrupted the man, reaching for a book and pulling it from the shelf. "My task is to locate, retrieve and destroy the remaining Horcruxes; it is why I am necessary. Therefore, it is what I shall do. I will pass on any advances." Not once did he turn and look to the Potions Master and it didn't really seem he was talking to the man either, simply speaking his plan out loud. As he finished speaking, the youth folded open the book in his hands and then focussed on it completely.

Snape stood at the open doorway for a moment, just looking at the back of the boy he had woken from an almost sixteen year sleep no more than two hours ago. His posture was perfect, his spine completely straight unlike the everyday teenager who slouched and slumped their shoulders. His feet were slightly apart, in the perfect position for balance and so he stood as still as a statue. None of his pale skin was visible from the man's position, the too-big robes covering his hands and the ends of his hair effectively covering the back of his neck. It struck Snape that he looked like a shadow, something that had no will of its own and was forced to face an eternity of following another in everything.

"I'll leave you to it then." Snape said eventually. He waited a moment for the reply he knew he wouldn't get before stepping backwards, out of the room, shutting the door after himself with a light click.

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For several minutes, Draco stood outside the study, looking through the key-hole at the person whose was apparently the Boy-Who-Lived. It was hard to believe that the young man was really in that study, sitting in an arm chair and reading a book. All children at Hogwarts were taught the modern history of the Boy-Who-Lived but now Draco had learnt that they left out one very important detail; never, in any of his lessons, had he heard about the Boy-Who-Lived being imprisoned in a mass of strange, green crystal. As far the Wizarding youth knew, the boy known as Harry Potter had been sent to live with his Muggle relatives in order to live out a life of peace. What a load of rubbish that turned out to be.

Now, staring at the enigmatic Harry Potter, Draco could tell that the teenager wasn't a normal boy. Harry Potter wasn't doing anything in particular, just sitting and reading, but it wasn't natural, or relaxed. The dark haired boy's posture was perfect, back completely straight, and the newly cut hair was hanging right in front of those impossibly green eyes and surely should've been annoying and hard to read through. Soon after the wakening, it became apparent that Harry Potter and inherited James Potter's bad eyesight so Severus had transfigured some glasses to make do until they could get something more permanent done, but despite the spectacles that covered the shocking green eyes, there was still something about them that Draco couldn't put his finger on that just made the Boy-Who-Lived seem empty, void, un-feeling.

Draco took in a deep breath to steel himself before he straightened up and reached for the door knob. He turned it and opened the door in quick succession, as though afraid if he took his time he would change his mind. Harry Potter didn't lift those famous eyes upon the blond's entry and made no sign of even being aware of the new presence in the room. Undeterred though, Draco moved further in, carefully approaching the one and only Harry Potter, the Wizarding world's only hope again the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Coming to a stop right in front of the dark haired boy, Draco cleared his throat quietly before speaking: "Erm, hi." He greeted before pausing, waiting for a reply.

Nothing.

"We haven't really had the chance to be properly introduced. I'm Draco Malfoy." The blond said, holding out his hand for the boy in front of him to shake.

Still the dark haired boy made no move to acknowledge the young aristocrat.

After a few seconds, Draco lowered his hand and bit back a scathing remark; he would not ruin the chance of becoming the friend of Harry Potter by being harsh even if the saviour was being a snooty prat at that moment. "I, erm, I learnt about what you did in History of Magic but we were never told what actually happened to you afterwards. Have you really spent the entire time asleep in that chamber?"

"Is there something you need?" The question was spoken softly as everything Harry Potter said was.

"What? Oh, erm, no, not really, I just thought we should get to know each other." Draco stammered nervously, completely unsure how to handle this strange icon of Wizard courage.

"To do so is unnecessary and I have a task to complete." Harry Potter said without emotion, closing the book slowly and standing effortlessly. Draco was passed by without word, speech abandoning him completely as he watched Harry Potter leave the room. "If you are asked, you may tell Professor Severus Snape that I have located a Horcrux and have left to retrieve it." And with those parting words, Harry Potter disappeared with a crack.

Draco stared after the dark haired boy in pure disbelief; Harry Potter had just wandlessly Apparated out of the house as if the Apparation wards surrounding it didn't even exist!

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It was appalling really, how painfully easy it was for him to break into Hogwarts. The wards had been pitiful in the ease of which they had been countered for long enough to allow him to slip in undetected. True, he'd had a little trouble with a rather shaggy looking cat at one point but a simple sleeping spell had dealt with that issue. Now, he was standing in front of a statue he recognised despite the fact he had never been standing in the position he was at that moment. No doubt the last password he had been aware of had been changed by whoever it was who had replaced Albus Dumbledore as the headmaster of Hogwarts and so, to play safe and save time, he used the one way he knew who definitely give him access without even speaking.

He stepped up to the statue and placed his hand on it lightly. There was a grinding sound somewhere deep inside and he removed his hand, stepping back. Moments later, the statue had come to life, stepping to the side before settling into its stillness again. He moved forward and began to climb the stairs with the same ease and grace he carried everything out in, his arms remaining at his side. At the top of the stairs he found the familiar door he had never seen before and he pushed it open. Behind was the headmaster's office, empty of people or creatures. Slowly, he entered.

"Is that you Harry?"

The young man in question whipped around in the fastest movement he had made since he had been woken earlier that morning, and arm held out in preparation to cast a spell to defend himself. However, instead of finding a person behind him, he found a wall of portraits and his eyes instantly fell to the one he was the most familiar with.

"You are Albus Dumbledore." Harry said as he lowered his arm and relaxed somewhat.

"Oh good, so you do recognise me." The portrait of the elderly wizard smiled happily. "I was hoping that my visits would get through to you to some extent. I'm supposing I wasn't the one who woke you considering I am now hanging on this wall as a picture?"

The young man said nothing.

"Who was it that woke you, my dear boy?" The old wizard enquired kindly.

"Professor Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy." Harry answered softly.

"Really? Together you say? How interesting. Do you mind me asking...How it was I went?"

"Professor Severus Snape cast the Killing curse on you when it became apparent that Draco Malfoy could not. You were dying before that however; by the curse on a Horcrux you located and destroyed." The young man explained.

"You are all in hiding then?"

"Yes."

"That's probably for the best for you right now; ease you into being awake. How are you dealing with it?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"Living is...Strange." Harry answered, pausing for a moment as he decided on the right word to describe it.

"For someone from your unique background I imagine it is. How long have to been awake now?"

"Nineteen hours and thirteen minutes."

"Not even a day? And you're already searching for Horcruxes? Surely you need more time to adjust than that?" The deceased Headmaster asked, concerned.

"More time is unnecessary." Harry replied. "You believe there is a Horcrux hidden in the school."

"Yes, down in the dungeons I suspect. Why I never dealt with it before I don't know," a sigh, "I suppose we never will know now."

"Indeed." Was all Harry said to that as he went to move forward to leave the office.

"Do say hello to Professor Snape for me, Harry, and try and live a little; your life is your own again." Dumbledore told him sadly.

"My life belongs to Voldemort." Was the only answer that statement got before the young man was striding forwards, leaving the room and the portrait of the only man he knew to any extent behind him.

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"There you are!"

Harry ignored the sharp greeting as he popped into the living room, a wand gripped lightly in his right hand and hanging by his side.

"Did you not think it prudent to tell me that you were going before you left?" Snape demanded of the young man as he stalked up to him.

"I did not think it was necessary, no. There was little need to delay in order to seek you out." The dark haired boy replied before lifting the wand in his hand. "Ravenclaw's Wand, found in a disused classroom in the dungeons of Hogwarts, no curses or hexes in place, it can be destroyed immediately."

Snape's eyes flickered from the blank face to the wand a few times before he sighed somewhat wearily. "Very well, come down to the basement and we shall take care of it immediately." He turned and walked away without word and he didn't need to speak or look to know he was being followed by the boy.

The boy, Harry Potter, son of Lily and James Potter. On the one hand, the boy, because the teenager was still a child in Snape's opinion, looked just like the late James Potter with the exception of those wonderfully green eyes. But on the other hand, that face held no emotion, completely different from what James Potter had been like. At first, when Harry Potter had initially woke up, Snape had felt an instant swell of dislike for the boy who resembled the once bane of the Potion Master's life. Then, having experienced some time with the boy, Snape realised that Harry Potter was nothing like either of his parents. Harry Potter wasn't really like anyone; being asleep for sixteen years straight no doubt made you different from other people.

Entering the basement, Snape flicked the light-switch on with his finger, making a sickly, yellow light fill the room. It was hardly an ideal light source but he couldn't use his magic for fear that it be traced to that point and Aurors would come. There was little evidence to support the truth of the agreement that he and Dumbledore had made and no doubt any evidence that was given, no matter how strong, would be ignored. The Wizarding world wanted Dumbledore's killer Kissed and as soon as he was caught, it would be over for him.

The two wizards reached the bottom of the stone steps that led down into the basement and moved over to the large table in the middle of the room on which rested all manner of jars and bottles with a cauldron and a Bunsen burner settled in the middle of it all. Just to the left of the Bunsen burner was the lump of green crystal that Snape had removed from the chamber Harry had slept in for the majority of his life.

"If you could light the fire for me, Potter, while I retrieve the potion." Snape instructed as he went over to a wooden cupboard on the right-hand side of the room.

The teenager said nothing but did as he was asked, turning on the gas tap and then clicking his fingers a few dozen centimetres above the Bunsen burner. The gas caught light instantly and the bright orange flame flickered and danced as he prepared a second Bunsen burner. A few minutes later and there were ten lit Bunsen burners arranged wide enough so that they would evenly heat a large enough cauldron to accommodate the length of Ravenclaw's Wand. The dark haired boy transfigured a small tripod into a larger one that they could use to support the cauldron over the flames. Snape came back to the table then, carefully carrying a large cauldron filled three quarters of the way up with some sort of clear liquid. The young man helped the older support the cauldron as soon as he came within reach and, together, they lifted it onto the magically enlarged tripod.

The time it took for the liquid to heat was passed in silence, green eyes and black eyes never leaving the liquid, watching through the moments as it slowly went from a simmer to a boil. It was when it started bubbling that Snape seized the green crystal in his right hand and Ravenclaw's Wand in his left. They were held above the cauldron for a moment before dropped, hitting the surface of the clear liquid simultaneously. A loud hiss rose once the two objects had submerged completely and the liquid immediately began to turn a sickening green and thicken. Reaching to the side, Snape turned off the gas taps in turn, the flame of each Bunsen burner going out when its supply was cut off.

After a long moment of waiting, the hissing stopped as did the bubbling. Cautiously, Snape reached forward tentatively and pressed his hand to the edge of the cauldron; it was stone cold. Wordlessly, he signalled for the teenager beside him to help him remove the cauldron. They did so carefully, taking it over to a group of cheap, plastic, Muggle trays that Snape had set up before they started, while Harry had been lighting the Bunsen burners. Slowly, the contents were tipped into each tray in turn, moving onto the next one once one had been completely covered, the once watery consistency now more like a thick soup. It was only when a solid lump fell out onto the fifth tray that they pulled it back. With a wave of Harry's hand, the green stuff, the cauldron and the four trays which were covered in the green stuff vanished without a trace, leaving only the tray that held the lump.

The dark haired boy lifted the gooey lump into the air with a gesture of his hand and then set it down on the floor away from himself and Snape before he banished the last used tray. While he did that, Snape took a large bottle off of the table and pulled the cork out of it. He slowly tipped the contents over the lump, washing away the goo and revealing the orb of green crystal which was now a shade darker than before and possessed a lower degree of clarity. Once the orb had been completely washed of the green liquid, the teenager banished the mess just as easily as the rest. He then bent down and picked up the crystal before handing it to Snape. The sour man said nothing and took the crystal. After, Harry turned and left the basement without a word.

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Rain. Never before had Harry ever seen rain. Never before had he felt rain. He couldn't feel it then, he was inside, but he could see it. He tracked a single raindrop from where it hit the window at the top and then slid all the way down the glass to the bottom. Then, he would watch another one. The glass no doubt radiated a coolness but he could feel nothing against his face. He leaned forward and pressed his left cheek against the window and still he felt nothing. It was not surprising, it was what he had been expecting so he moved back again, his skin leaving the smoothness of the glass.

The click of the door opening caught his attention but he didn't react, just continued to stare at the pouring rain. Through the reflection on the window pane he saw the head of now familiar blond hair standing at the open doorway. He soon turned his attention back onto the rain.

"Sev and I have to go for a little while; the Dark Lord's calling. We shouldn't be too long, no longer than an hour at the most." Draco told him in a sort of earnest, reassuring way.

Harry made no answer.

"Did you hear me?" The blond checked uncertainly.

Still he said nothing.

Draco glared at Harry in annoyance. He wasn't used to not getting a reply when he spoke to someone and it was incredibly frustrating that it was happening now. And what made it worse was that Draco didn't feel he could even snap at the dark haired boy. After all, Harry Potter saved the Wizarding world from the Dark Lord the first time round and was going to save them all from him again; certain exceptions had to be made for such a person who was going to help so many. There was also the strange way the boy acted, as though there was no real awareness of anything and that the dark haired teenager wasn't part of anything, simply existing while the rest of the world lived around him. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Draco, what is taking so long?" Snape's voice called from downstairs.

"Harry Potter isn't saying anything." Draco called back, turning to face the open doorway.

"Have you told him everything?"

"Yes."

"Then let him be, he doesn't need to answer. Come along; the Dark Lord is no doubt unhappy with us already and we don't want to make it worse by being late." Snape instructed before his voice didn't come again.

Draco gave a small sigh before turning to look at Harry Potter again. He was still sitting there, his back to the door, just staring out at the rain. "We'll see you in an hour or two then."

Still no reply.

The blond gave a frustrated huff before leaving, almost in a flounce but not quite, slamming the door shut behind himself. Still the dark haired boy did nothing. He just continued to watch the rain sliding down the window pane.