Heart of Darkness

Chapter Twenty-Four

1996

Horace Slughorn was at Hogwarts the next time I went.
"Oh, my! If it isn't Angelica Black!" He said when he saw me.
"P-Professor." I stammered out.
"How are you? Good, I hope?" He asked amiably.
"Yes sir. I'm okay. And yourself?"
"As good as can be." He smiled and ambled off.
On the bright side, Minerva was back. Severus had finally gotten what he wanted: he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. On the down side (I didn't mind it so much, but I'd pretend I did until I died), Hagrid's spider, Aragog died. I'd attended the funeral he'd had for it, along with Harry and Professor Slughorn.
Dumbledore and Harry had been having regular meetings, and I didn't know what they were about until Dumbledore asked me to join them.
"Hello, Professor." Harry said when he saw me, then gave Dumbledore a questioning look.
"Hey, Harry." I responded.
"Professor Black, would you mind sharing anything about Tom that might be useful?" Dumbledore asked me.
"Useful for what?"
Dumbledore gestured that Harry should speak.
Was his hand black?
"Voldemort has Horcruxes." Harry explained.
"What?" I raised my eyebrows.
"They're--"
"She knows what it is, my dear boy." Dumbledore said.
"That's why nobody can kill him. If we destroy all the Horcruxes, I'll be able to kill him." Harry continued.
"Are you asking if I might know of any?" I asked.
"Yes." Dumbledore said.
"Have you located his mother's locket?" I asked.
"I'm working on it."
"And you have the diary."
"Yes. As well as a ring."
"His grandfather's?"
"Yes."
What would Tom Riddle want to put a piece of his soul in?
"What about Ravenclaw's diadem?" I suggested.
When he used to tell me he would make me "queen," he would mention the crown and say he would get it for me, and I would laugh it off.
"That might be difficult to find." Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"What about his snake? Nagini?"
"She must be last." Dumbledore nodded.
"I'm not sure of anything else. I'll let you know if I think of anything."
"Thank you." They both said.
"Anything else?" I asked, looking around and noting Dumbledore's Pensieve was out.
"What can you tell us about Lord Voldemort?"
"Nothing you don't already know, I'm sure."
"What about when he was at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
I stared at him for a second before registering what he said. "Oh. Well... I think he was just lonely.... and scared. He's scared of what will happen when he dies." I explained, to the best of my ability. "Harry, would you mind giving me a minute with Professor Dumbledore?" I asked.
"No ma'am." He said, and left.
I rounded on Dumbledore. "What happened to your hand?"
"I made a grave mistake." He admitted. "But it's nothing to worry about, my dear. I assure you, all will work out."
"Harry's a child, Albus." I reminded him.
He let out a long sigh. "Yes... I know."
"Professor, is Harry a Horcrux?"
Dumbledore said nothing, only glanced away.
"This can't--"
"It must." He said emphatically. "It's... for the greater good."
"You can't quote your former lover and expect that to make things better. You don't see me quoting Tom every chance I get."
He gave me a surprised look, but didn't look particularly angry about my accusing outburst.
"What about Harry?" I asked quietly.
"He'll know when the time is right."
I got up and left, finding Harry in the hall.
"You may go in." I said.
"Thank you."
"Are you okay, Harry?"
"Yes. Are you?"
"Yes."
When I returned to my office, Severus was waiting outside.
"What a lovely surprise." I said, not at all meaning it, but hopefully sounding like I did. Just like at Aragog's funeral, except even then I had had at least a bit empathy, if not grief.
"I came to talk about Dumbledore."
"Come in." I said, opening the door.
He followed me inside and took a seat. "He's requested I do something." Severus began.
"Yes?"
"I'm to kill him."
"What?"
"Voldemort has asked Draco Malfoy to kill Dumbledore, but Narcissa and Albus have both asked me to do it instead, and so I shall."
I said nothing for a minute, trying to figure out what on earth one was to say to something like that. "Okay... um... When will this happen?"
"I don't know. When it's time."
"Are you all right, Severus?" I asked quietly.
"Yes." He obviously lied, standing abruptly. "I just wanted to make the plans known to you so that you would still trust me--And, I'd like you to keep in mind that I only want that for my own good, and nothing else."
"Of course." I agreed.
Maybe he is a good man.
"Hey, Severus?" I asked.
He turned around in the doorway.
I was going to say that he was brave, but I changed my mind. "Shut the door on your way out, please." I said instead.
"Of course." He nodded, and shut the door.
I went to my Pensieve and took a memory off of my shelf at random. It ended up being the one of that batter-fight in the kitchen all those years ago.

There's a knock on my door one night, the same kind of knock there had been the day Sirius died.
I opened it to see Severus.
"It's time." He said, and left. "Harry's there, if you want to come."
I followed him, too anxious to keep track of where we were going. When he gestured for me to veer off, I did so, and got to Harry. He was under the Invisibility Cloak, but I'd had years of James and Sirius scaring the shit out of me from under that thing and had learned how to find it, so I found him with relative ease. He was frozen in place, though, so I assumed Dumbledore had done it. Dumbledore looked in my direction and gave an almost imperceptible nod and smile. I thought I would pass out. He was, after all, the closest I had to a father figure, and I was about to watch him die.
But if I could watch my child die, I could watch him die.
And I did.
I watched Severus kill him. Harry moved, so I knew Dumbledore was dead before he even fell over the wall. I slapped my hand over Harry's mouth (or where I thought his mouth was), and when he didn't scream, I slipped under the Cloak to hide from the descending Death Eaters. I pulled him into a hug, and when the Death Eaters had gone, we both started running as fast as we could to get to the bottom of the Astronomy Tower.
Harry, though, kept running. He was chasing Snape.
I ran after him. I'm sure Harry thought I was chasing Snape as well, but I was only there to keep Harry from doing harm.
I had been distracted by Dumbledore, though, so it took a while for me to catch up.
"You fool! I'm the Half-Blood Prince!" Snape snaps. He looked at me.
I grabbed Harry's arm. "Let's go back, Harry. Following him won't do anything." I said gently.
He nodded and turned around.
I cast a last look at Severus, and he gave a wave before disappearing.
He really was one of the bravest men I'd ever known.
I followed Harry.
When we got back, there was already a crowd gathering. Harry pushed his way through, and I followed in his wake. He went all the way up to Dumbledore's body, but I stopped beside Minerva. She looked at me as Ginny Weasley went up to Harry. I gave Minnie a sad little smile.
She raised her wand. I joined. So did everybody else.

Harry found me in my office a couple days after Dumbledore's funeral.
"Aunt Angie, do you know who R.A.B. could be?" He asked.
"Who?" I asked.
R.A.B.? As in Regulus Arcturus Black?
"Dumbledore and I went to get a Horcrux, and this note was in the locket signed 'R.A.B.'"
"May I see the note?" I asked, my voice shaking. I cleared my throat.
He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. I unfolded it:
To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
It was definitely Regulus.
"Regulus Arcturus Black. He's.. my nephew." I said, staring at the note for a moment longer before handing it back.
Regulus had been just a kid too.
And he hadn't been scared.
He'd died trying to defeat Voldemort.
Sirius would have been thrilled.
I was going to cry.
"Oh." Harry said.
"Yes." My voice was tight.
"Aunt Angie?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"I won't be coming back to Hogwarts. I'm going to hunt Horcruxes."
"Be safe. Contact me if you need anything." I said.
There was nothing I could do about it. It had to be done.
"Yes ma'am. Thank you."
He left, and I cried.