Roses and Riots | f. weasley

Chapter 57: Swan Song

"They're called Horcruxes," Harry informed Emilia one summer evening in a quiet corner of the library.

She'd been sitting and reading some first-year Transfiguration essays when Harry had all but ran in and found her, narrowly avoiding the wrath of the librarian who despised people running in the library.

"Horcruxes?" she repeated warily.

Harry nodded, "he wanted to know how he could split his soul into these objects, to basically make himself immortal."

"And did he find out how to do it?" she asked him, pushing away her work to look at him fully.

Harry swallowed, "it's dark magic that is performed after killing someone."

Emilia let out a long breath, "alright, so he split his soul - we just find the object he put it in and destroy it, right?"

"I wish it were that easy," Harry said, "Dumbledore and I discovered that he...he made seven of them."

"Seven!" she gasped aloud, and Madam Pince's furious shushing echoed across the library.

Harry nodded gravely, "one is already destroyed, the diary that I stabbed with a Basilisk fang in the Chamber of Secrets four years ago. And Dumbledore has another, a ring belonging to You-Know-Who's mother, but he hasn't destroyed it yet."

Emilia sat back in her chair, trying to take all of this information in, "and how do we know what these objects are?"

Harry shook his head, "we don't, but Dumbledore is working on it."

Emilia didn't like how Harry was being dragged even further into this mess by the headmaster, when he'd barely escaped with his life last summer.

"Just be careful, Harry," she said worriedly.

Harry nodded, "I will."

—

Emilia was helping to collect the parchment from the OWL exams later that June, and she bid goodbye to the first years who had eagerly come up to tell her their summer plans before getting the train back that afternoon.

By the evening, the school was empty of all students apart from fifth, sixth, and seventh years, and Emilia was walking through one of the upper floors on her way to McGonagall's office to get the Floo Network home for the summer.

She had just climbed the stairs when a fiery piece of parchment materialised in front of her.

She frowned, since she'd only seen that particular charm performed by Dumbledore perform, but she plucked it from the air and fanned out its singed edges before unfolding it.

"Astronomy Tower, now. - Harry"

She felt uneasy as she read it, a sick feeling growing in her stomach, but she made her way up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower, wondering what kind of trouble Harry had gotten into this time.

She quickly climbed the stairs, thankful that she was only a floor away, and she hurried up the spiral staircase to find Harry lowering a weak Dumbledore down into a seated position on the steps of the astronomy viewing platform.

She felt her stomach drop when she saw how shaken and haggard they both looked, as if they'd just been in battle, but before she could say a word, Dumbledore weakly beckoned her closer, spotting her as soon as she stepped up into the room.

Harry turned and sighed in relief when he saw her, "Emilia, thank god."

"I need both of you to listen to me very carefully," Dumbledore said urgently, "it is imperative that you keep each other safe, and-"