Bonds of Affection

Author\'s Note: Well, this is the pivotal chapter, so to speak. The one I have been waiting to write and post for so long... the discussion that changes everything. Please let me know what you think! (I hope it was worth the wait.)



Philosophical Impossibilities





When Severus arrived to Hogwarts with Hermione and Ron in tow, it did not take them long to find Albus and Minerva. They met in Albus\' quarters, and sat down at a large table together.



“Can you tell me what happened?” Albus offered gently.



Severus nodded and briefly recounted Harry\'s sudden disappearance, and his futile attempts to locate him. Albus listened, nodding thoughtfully.



“It\'s because he\'s a Horcrux, isn\'t it?” Hermione asked. “They found out. And they decided to kill him, before Voldemort has a chance to come back...”



“I am afraid it appears to be so,” Albus conceded.



Severus sighed deeply. “And I just filed a missing person\'s report with the Ministry... I hope it doesn\'t force their hand to... act sooner than they would otherwise.”



“Let\'s hope not,” Albus murmured. “Well.. shall we... think about the different options we have?”



“We can fight this legally,” Hermione said quickly. “We could demonstrate that there hasn\'t been due process...”



“Yeah, that\'ll work,” Ron said sardonically. “I say we assemble the Order and Dumbledore\'s Army, and storm Azkaban. Break him out of there.”



Albus nodded thoughtfully. “Well, if it comes to that – I could break him out. But then what? Will he be content to spend the rest of his life on the run, glued to myself and Minerva? And what happens once the two of us pass away?”



“We need to find a way to destroy the Horcrux, without killing Harry,” Minerva said softly. “It really is the only lasting solution. Albus...”



Albus sighed deeply. “I have been reading and re-reading the last prophecy of Sybill Trelawney,” he said. “I still cannot understand so many things. So many things are a mystery about this situation.” He glanced at Severus. “Can you tell me exactly what happened on the night of October 31st, when ...Voldemort raided Godric\'s Hollow?”



Severus nodded his head. “I was called to go with Voldemort that day. We found the place without incident. Voldemort opened the door to the house, and we entered. James Potter was the first one we saw. Lily stood behind him, with Harry in her arms. James drew his wand and aimed at Voldemort. He shielded Lily and Harry with his body, and cast the Killing Curse on Voldemort, but it had no effect. Voldemort then cast Avada Kedavra, and killed him. By that time, Lily already made it upstairs. We followed her.” Severus paused slightly, as the horrifying memories flooded him once more, but he pushed his emotions aside. “Lily was there, holding Harry in her arms. She looked at me... I am confident she wanted me to save her son. Then, Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on Harry, but she turned away, and shielded him with her body. She died a moment later. And another a moment later, Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on Harry... that\'s when the Curse rebounded off him, and struck Voldemort. And he vanished... And ... you know the rest.”



Albus nodded thoughtfully. “Severus... is there anything else you are not telling me?” he asked gently. “Anything at all? Anything... even if it is trivial, or seems unimportant... but anything that I don\'t know?”



Severus lowered his eyes, and took a deep breath. He had hidden that secret for sixteen years, but now, there was no longer any reason to hide it. The only thing that mattered was Harry - and whether he could be rescued.



“Albus... I was the one who had cast the Horcrux spell.”



The silence in the room was deafening. You could hear a pin drop. Minerva McGonagall froze in her chair. Albus rose his eyebrows and then pressed his lips into a thin line.



“Why?” Minerva demanded coldly.



“The Master\'s interactions with his Horcruxes are unpredictable. I had thought... I had hoped, that... the Killing Curse would rebound off Harry, if he were Voldemort\'s Horcrux,” Severus said very quietly. “I was right. It had.”



A deep sigh followed from Albus.



“You never saw fit to tell me this until now? It\'s been sixteen years, Severus. In the last sixteen years, you never thought it might be important to mention that little detail?”



“I am truly sorry,” Severus said in a quiet voice.



Albus regarded him thoughtfully. “Idiot,” he said finally, but without a trace of accusation in his voice.



“I know,” Severus agreed. “I just ... couldn\'t think of anything else at the time.”



Albus chuckled unhappily. “Oh, I am not talking about casting the spell. That was absolutely... brilliant. But – not telling me? For sixteen years? That was idiotic beyond words. You could have saved us a great deal of torment.”



Severus looked at him with a glimmer of hope. “What do you mean?”



“What I mean, Severus,” the Headmaster intoned patiently, “Is that, while the chances of a Horcrux being created accidentally are ... astronomical, at best; it is, in fact a philosophical impossibility to create a Horcrux on behalf of another person. You realize that you cannot magically manipulate the soul of another... do you not?”



Severus stared at him in disbelief. “But it worked. I did it. I cast the spell just before he attacked Harry – and he curse rebounded. Are you trying to tell me now that Harry is not a Horcrux?”



“Of course he is,” Albus murmured. “We\'ve known that for years. And now we finally found out whose Horcrux he is.”



“Mine?” Severus whispered in amazement. “Impossible. I hadn\'t killed anyone that night.”



Albus gazed at him sternly. “I am not so sure of that, Severus. You had hated James Potter – hated him enough to kill him. And while you hadn\'t cast the killing curse yourself, you became an instrument of his death, by conveying the prophecy of Sybill Trelawney to Voldemort. Your soul splintered at the moment of his death... but by that time, you already saw Harry in Lily\'s arms, and wanted nothing better than to rescue that child. Yes?”



Severus nodded. “Then...what happened? How...”



Albus regarded him thoughtfully. “Difficult to tell, Severus. The magic of the three is a matter of great mystery. I can only guess that the moment you had a genuine and complete change of heart, you were reunited with the other two of your triad. The three became one again. It did not matter that you had hated each other for years, or that the two of you still hated each other, or that one of you was about to die due to the actions of another. The only thing that mattered was that now you three had a joint goal, a common purpose - to save what could still be saved, and set things right. And when the destined three work as one... anything becomes possible.”



“Even...”



“Yes. Even for the fragment of your soul, supported by Lily\'s love, and James\' courage, to repel Voldemort\'s deadly curse.”



Severus sat in absolute silence, not daring to believe what Albus had just said. But then Hermione and Ron, started talking excitedly, interrupting each other, completely abandoning any vestiges of good manners the two of them may have had:



“You know, that explains so much!”



“Like – why Harry imprinted on Snape – it\'s because the fragment of Snape\'s soul was already in Harry... there\'s your predisposition, Hermione.”



“And why Voldemort died when he killed Nagini – if Harry was his Horcrux, Voldemort wouldn\'t have died from that wound!”



“And why Snape didn\'t die when Lucius struck him with the Killing Curse – he couldn\'t die! He had a Horcrux!”



“And how they could find each other without actually knowing how....”



“Like, Snape could always find Harry when Harry was up to no good – like he just KNEW when Harry was roaming the school after dark, or sneaking into the Shrieking Shack, or whatever...”



“... and the Hat wanting to put Harry in Slytherin...”



“But what about Parseltongue- Professor do you speak...”



“Of course he does, stupid, he\'s the Head of Slytherin!”



While they were still talking excitedly, Minerva stood up and walked over to the Foo, to open the connection to the Ministry of Magic. “Looks like we have finally figured it out, after all these years,” she murmured with deep satisfaction. “And resolved the crisis without having to do anything illegal, for once – now that is a miracle, if I have ever observed one.”



“Wait a second,” Ron said suddenly. “What about the connection that Voldemort had with Harry\'s mind? The dreams... and...”



“Well,” Severus mused, still slightly shell-shocked, “That is easy enough to explain. My bond to Voldemort gave him an ownership of my soul. Including the fragment that was inside Harry. My Occlumency skills ensured that no involuntary flow of information occurred between my mind, and Voldemort\'s, but the fragment within Harry was unprotected... and Voldemort had a rightful claim on it. That I believe accounts for the nightmares, the visions.. and some of Harry\'s more dramatic abilities – including his ability to speak Parseltongue... “



“You do not speak Parseltongue?” Hermione asked, sounding a little disappointed.



“No, Miss Granger.”



She sulked for a few moments while Ron smirked a little. “Well,” she said finally, “I think this gives us the opportunity to provide empirical proof for the Ministry that our theory is accurate. If Harry is your Horcrux, and not Voldemort\'s, then he should no longer be able to speak Parseltongue.... now that Voldemort is gone.”



Albus laughed, very softly. “There truly is no limit to my foolishness, young people. I have trusted Sybill Trelawney enough to hire her, to keep her as a Professor all these years. I should have trusted her third prophecy implicitly. If only I had...” his voice trailed off slightly.



“What do you mean?” Hermione asked curiously.



“Seven times born,” Albus said quietly. “You see, had Voldemort created the full seven Horcruxes, he would have been born eight times, and not seven. Once, by his natural, physical birth, and once, each time a new Horcrux was created. But the prophecy said, Seven times born. Meaning, that there were only six Horcruxes of Voldemort\'s, all along.”



Minerva was still talking to someone in the Ministry via a Firecall, when suddenly, deep unspeakable terror overtook Severus, and he stood up abruptly.



“There\'s no more time,” he said simply. “Something is about to happen.”



Albus rose to his feet instantly and extended his hand to Severus. Before any of the others could react, the two of them Disapparated in a burst of fire, with the flames taking the form of the wings of the Phoenix.



To Be Continued...