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SIYE Time:11:41 on 29th March 2024
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Harry Potter and the Final Flame
By YelloWitchGrl

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Category: Post-HBP
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, General
Warnings: Death
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 235
Summary: COMPLETED!!! Following the events Harry Potter is focused and determined to fulfill a destiny that only he can fulfill. Simple isn't it? Track down and destroy piece by piece the Darkest Wizard to ever live. If only things were that simple for Harry. Watch as the his best friends come closer together, the Order crumbles with a traitor in their midst, and the people he cares about the most suffer through heartache and trial. Can Harry succeed and if he does will there be anything for him to come home to?
Hitcount: Story Total: 174952; Chapter Total: 5088





Author's Notes:
I'm traveling, on a long vacation, so no review responses just yet! They'll all get replied to some time though. Thank you David and James for beta'ing!




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They left early the next morning and headed back to Nick’s store. Hermione wasn’t sure that it would help, but there was something nagging at her that she couldn’t explain and Harry and Ron were willing to go along with it, if she’d stop complaining that she’d forgotten something.

Harry didn’t know that it would help, but he wouldn’t mind seeing the old man again and reconnecting with him. A lot had happened in the last few weeks and he thought it might be a good idea to pick the man’s brain again about the founders. Since it was Ravenclaw’s pendant, he would hopefully be helpful in their search for it.

Unfortunately, Nick’s store was locked up tight when they got there. Hermione knocked several times at the door as they called out his name, but there was no response.

“Well, now what?” Ron groused, crossing his arms.

“First we set up the tent so we can discuss this privately,” Harry said quietly so that only his friends could hear them. “Then we figure out where to search next.”

They walked away from the old man’s store, down the gravel road, and back out of town. When the last of the buildings was out of sight, around a bend in the road, they stopped with the tent and set it up as quickly as they could. At this point they had gotten it set up down to an art. As soon as the last stake was in place, Harry ducked in, followed quickly by Ron and Hermione.

“So now where?” Ron asked, just as he had at the shop’s door.

“I don’t know,” Hermione answered honestly as she dropped onto the couch. “I was hoping that we would get more information from Nick.”

Harry couldn’t sit still, so he began to pace. It was bad enough that he had to leave Ginny again, even though he knew she was safe, but now he had no idea where they were going. How had Dumbledore known where to look? The cave and his grandfather’s house had been pretty obvious. Hogwarts hadn’t been too difficult to figure out either, although finding it in the castle had taken forever. They had looked in Albania, but it was a large country and finding it there might be impossible.

They knew he’d made a Horcrux the night that he’d killed Harry’s mother, and he probably intended to make one from Harry’s death as well. What object was he going to use? Had he lost it? Was the pendant really the last Horcrux or was it something else? And if it was the last Horcrux, where was it now?

Where else would Voldemort hide a part of his soul?

“I think we can safely assume that the woman I read about in the paper is the one who had the pendant stolen, although how Nick found out it was there, we’ll never know.”

Harry was only half listening to Hermione talk. “What?”

“Remember when we were at Luna’s and we were attacked?” Hermione pushed her hair, which Harry saw was getting really long, out of her face. “We read that an antiques dealer was killed. I think that’s where Voldemort got it, but that’s not really relevant. We know he made that Horcrux when he killed your mother.”

“I was just thinking about that, actually.” Harry sat down across from her and folded his hands together. “Dumbledore said that he thought that Voldemort saved making Horcruxes for especially important kills. Did he intend to use the pendant for me or…”

Ron, who to this point had just watched them discuss it, jumped in. “I think he meant it for you, but it’s like he said when he killed Harry’s mum, ‘he couldn’t pass up the symbolism’.”

“I agree,” Hermione said succinctly.

“That just leaves its hiding spot,” Harry added. “Dumbledore didn’t have any more memories from him and we’ve looked everywhere that we can think of.”

“What about the other founder’s houses?” Ron asked, sitting down next to Hermione.

“I don’t think so,” Harry said slowly as several thoughts swirled through his mind. “He wanted founder’s things, but I can’t see any of the houses being important to him, except possibly Slytherin’s.”

Hermione sighed heavily. “Slytherin’s house, unfortunately, was lost long ago. No one knows where it was.”

“Nick might,” Ron persisted. “That bloke seems to know everything, or the Sorting Hat. It might know.”

Harry couldn’t shake the feeling that they were heading in the wrong direction. “I think it would have been somewhere else; somewhere important to him personally.”

“But we’ve tried everywhere we can think of,” Ron reminded him. “If we can’t think up another lead then I say we try Slytherin’s house.”

“I’m just surprised that there wasn’t anything at Harry’s parents’ house.” Hermione’s voice was low as she sunk futher into the couch. “I honestly expected for the pendant to be there.”

Ron nodded. “I thought that as well, what with the place so well protected still.”

“The problem, though, is that I was prophesied to kill him and I could still get into the house. That meant that I could retrieve the Horcrux, if I ever figured out what he was doing.” Harry snorted as another thought occurred to him. “I’ll bet he didn’t think I’d do it, though. I’ll be he still thinks all of his Horcruxes are safe.”

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes. “That is possible, and I hope you’re right. I’d hate to think of what would happen if he found out.”

Harry didn’t want to think about that either. “So we’ve got no where else to look, then? We’ve checked Albania, the orphanage, Hogwarts, The Riddle House, my parents’ house, Godric’s Hollow, and we’ve got no where else?”

“Yeah, that’s about right,” Ron grunted dejectedly. “We don’t know where else he was except Borgan and Burke’s and I can’t see him leaving a treasure there. It would be sold within a week.”

Hermione got up, rubbing at her neck. “Do we check Slytherin’s home, then?”

“Which one?”

All three spun on their heels, wands raised to find Nick standing in the door, his hands held up.

“Bloody hell!” Ron bellowed. “How did you get in here?”

“And are you really you?” Harry asked suspiciously, not lowering his wand.

Nick walked in slowly, and for the first time Harry saw that he was walking with a very pronounced limp. “I met you a few weeks ago and you were with me when you found out that the Minister had been assassinated.”

“So how did you get in?” Hermione asked.

“I watched you set up the wards so I knew how to take them down,” Nick answered simply. “It wasn’t really that difficult. The problem becomes that someone else might have seen you as well.”

Harry had several thoughts flash through his mind at once. “So we’re not protected now?”

“No, my boy, you are. I put up better ones, which I hope will actually keep you safe.” Nick sighed wearily and shook his head. “I’m afraid I am being followed, which is why I was not at home when you came to call.”

“So were you-” Ron began but Nick shook his head.

“I lost him about an hour ago. Something tells me that he was actually after you three.”

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other in alarm. “Voldemort?”

Nick chuckled softly. “No, it isn’t quite that bad. I don’t believe I know this man, but he’s certainly not Voldemort. No,” he mused, looking around the living part of the tent. “I do believe that this man is also much younger. While he’s skilled, he lacks the patience that old age often lends a man.”

“So,” Hermione now sounded very curious, and clearly wanted to get back on topic. “Slytherin had many houses?”

“Yes, of course. He was quite wealthy, actually. He was the main source of funds for the school in the beginning.” The old man’s expression was slightly amused. “Then when things started to go wrong, he pulled out much of his funding, leaving the other three to form the Board of Governors to oversee the raising of funds. But that is neither here nor there. What matters is this fellow that is after you three.”

Harry swallowed hard. “Should we run?”

Nick studied him thoughtfully. “No, I don’t think so. If you run then he’ll know that we’re on to him. No, I think it’s best to go about your business, but with more caution than you have previously lent to your travels.”

“We have been careful,” Hermione posited, wringing her hands together.

“I know, my dear,” Nick said reassuringly. “I merely want you to be even more on your guard. Where ever you go next, don’t make it the place that you actually want to go.”

Harry shook his head sadly. “We really don’t have time for that, though. We’re nearly done and we need just one more thing.”

Nick nodded. “I know,” and a warm shiver ran up Harry’s spine as he realized that Nick probably did, in fact, know.

But how?

“Don’t think too hard on it, Harry,” Nick warned with a smile. “I’m too old not to have figured out a thing or two in my time.”

Harry, Ron and Hermione all glanced nervously at each other but did not comment further. “When we leave here,” Ron said, changing the subject, “we should head to just one decoy location? Or should we try several?”

“That is up to you,” Nick answered simply. “I suggest you figure out who is watching you, because it might be someone reporting back to Voldemort on your activities. I would try to lose him. I know the Order has a spy in it, as well, and it would not be good for this person, whom you may know and trust, to have too much information on you.”

It was a chilling thought, to say the least. Harry couldn’t imagine any of the people he trusted most giving him up to Voldemort, but he didn’t think his parents suspected Wormtail either. “How do we figure it out, then?”

“I suggest setting a trap. The person following us is smart, I’ll give him that. The problem is that we don’t know what he’s after. If he’s after you, then he can get you at any point. If he’s following you to keep tabs on you, then you’ll need to lose him and fast, but he might be looking for what you know.”

“It could be a ‘she’,” Hermione suddenly said irritatedly. “I mean, a woman could be following us.”

Nick smiled amusedly. “I don’t think so, Hermione. The person behaves as a man does. When a woman is following you, it tends to be more subtle and you’re less likely to hear her walking after you. Unless it’s Tonks, of course.”

Hermione’s cheeks went pink. “Oh, right… of course. So you heard them walking after you?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. The man’s in an invisibility cloak. I thought for a moment it was Moody but he knows to put Cushioning Charms on that wooden leg of his.”

“I don’t know of anyone else with an invisibility cloak, and I thought they were rare,” Harry said.

“They are, which means-” Nick cut off as a loud ‘knock’ sounded at the flap of the tent. He looked between them before saying, “I do believe our visitor has come to call.”

Hermione’s eyes were wide. “Do we let him in?”

Harry wished desperately now that he had Mad-Eye’s magical eye. “I don’t know.”

“I must have tipped him off when I reinforced the wards on the tent,” Nick sighed. “I say we get this over with, but I’m willing to ignore the man if you are.”

It was a risk that Harry wasn’t sure he wanted to take. On the one hand, they could get it over with and possibly get rid of whoever was tailing them, but on the other they might end up dead. On the whole, it was a rather bleak choice either way. “Let’s vote,” Harry said finally.

“I say we ignore it,” Hermione said.

Ron shook his head. “Best to get it over with while we have Nick to help us.”

Great, Harry thought. He got to be the tie breaker. “Yeah, let’s get it over with.”

If Hermione disapproved, she kept it to herself. Nick moved over to the tent flap and took out his wand, unsealing it to allow the person to enter.

When the old man pulled back the flap, all three of them gasped in horror. It was Snape, snearing at them as if they were still in his Potions class.

“You!” Harry bit out, pulling out his wand. Ron and Hermione were close on his heals.

“Hold on,” Snape spat with barely concealed contempt. “I have an offer for you, and then I shall take my leave.”

Nick glanced between them curiously. “Him who?”

“Snape,” Harry and Ron growled together.

Nick’s eyes showed the slightest hint of recognition before it was gone. “So this is the Potions master I heard so much about. My boy,” the mirth was thick in his eyes, “you weren’t exactly subtle about following me. Did you mean to be?”

Snape’s brow furrowed. “Who are you, old man? I knew you had an in with Potter, but I couldn’t figure out why he would trust you.”

“Nick,” was the only reply he got. “Old friend of Dumbledore’s.”

Snape’s sallow face went even paler. “I see.”

Nick laughed hollowly. “I doubt you do, actually. Now, what do you want?”

“I need a word with Potter about the Dark Lord’s plan,” Snape said simply.

Harry snorted derisively. “Why should I believe anything you’ve got to say?”

“You shouldn’t,” Snape said, glaring at Nick who continued to smile as if the whole situation was one big joke. “But whether you like it, or not, I do have information that you need to defeat the Dark Lord.”

Harry felt his entire body stiffen in anger. “What do you know about anything?”

Snape’s expression became cold and distant. “I know a lot more than you think. As you know, I was the one who heard the prophecy and told him about it.”

If Nick hadn’t put out a restraining hand, Harry would have leapt on the man to gouge his eyes out. “You don’t know anything about it! You only heard half of the prophecy and-”

“I heard it all.” Snape’s voice was so quiet that it shouldn’t have halted Harry midsentence, but his face was such a bizarre expression, that he couldn’t seem to go on. It was an odd combination of pity, remorse and misery. “I told the Dark Lord the first half of it, because I knew what it would mean. Yes, I know that is the reason he went after your parents, but it also meant that we had a shot of someone being able to actually finish him off.”

The stunned silence that filled the tent was deafening. “You couldn’t have known!” Hermione protested. “If you’d known-”

“Then what, Granger? It would have given the Dark Lord the advantage. Even at that early of a stage, I knew that if I gave myself fully to him, he’d still think nothing of killing me if I did something to displease him.”

“You wanted power! Even back in school you were trying to call yourself ‘Prince’,” Harry retorted.

Snape merely shrugged. “It was never my intention to be beholden to a maniac. I have the ability to hide my true feelings from him, so I took the chance that Dumbledore gave me.”

“You had to answer to Dumbledore,” Hermione reminded him softly.

“Dumbledore did not order one around. He gave us the opportunity to do great things with him, if we chose to.” Snape shook his head. “I do not need to explain myself further to you or to anyone else.”

“You do to me,” Harry said. “I saw you kill Dumbledore.” Snape’s look of surprise was so funny that if the situation were different, Harry would have laughed. “I was up on that tower and I watched you kill him without a second thought.”

Snape’s face went red. “You didn’t see what you thought you saw.”

“Bullocks!” Harry bit out. “I knew you’d made a vow to Malfoy’s mother to protect him.” Now Snape’s face went white. “I saw you walk straight over to Dumbledore and kill him without any hesitation.”

Snape’s mouth set in a firm line. “I am not here to explain.”

“It seems to me,” Hermione began quietly. “That if you went to the trouble of setting up Voldemort’s downfall all those years ago, that it would be a shame to lose now, because you failed to explain something to Harry. If it is Harry that will finish him off, then you’re taking the risk that he won’t listen to you now. You’re not exactly someone he’s likely to turn to in a crisis.”

It looked as if the thought of actually telling Harry anything was costing him dearly. Finally he cleared his throat. “Dumbledore knew about the vow. I told him shortly after I made it and he told me that if ever he couldn’t be saved, that I should finish him off. Those were his words,” Snape spit out hastily.

“You’re lying!” Harry breathed out, feeling as if someone had hit him in the stomach.

“I’m not.”

“He’s not.”

Snape and Nick both spoke at the same time, but it was Nick that explained. “I knew Dumbledore better than you can possibly imagine and it is exactly what he would have done.”

Harry spoke before he could give the manner proper thought. “What do you have to tell me?”

Snape didn’t seem surprised, but Harry thought he might have seen a touch of relief in his dark eyes. “There is a spy in the Order, other than myself of course, and the Dark Lord is offering to make you a part of the Death Eaters since there is no way you will be able to hold out much longer. The Order will collapse in upon itself soon. I am to tell you this, and then kill you if you say ‘no’ to his offer.”

“Well that’s a brilliant choice, then,” Ron said sarcastically. “Say yes, then die, or say no and die.” He did not mention the fact that they knew about the spy.

“No,” Harry replied flatly. “So are you going to kill me, then?”

Snape shook his head slowly. “No.” Without another word, he turned and left the tent.
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