FIC: Broken -- Chapter Three -- LVHP -- PG-13

[batsutousai]

Title: Broken
Author: batsutousai
Betas: tsuki_no_suzu & magickmaker17
Rating: T
Pairings: HPLV, others
Warnings: Dumbledore bashing
Summary: Dumbledore knew before Harry Potter came to Hogwarts what he needed the boy to do, and he knew exactly how to make him do it. A twist on the normal manipulative!Dumbledore story.

Disclaim Her: I don't remember if Harry took Herbology in the sixth book, and I'm in class while writing this...


-~/\~-
Chapter Three - Confrontation
-~\/~-

Harry opened his eyes to find Voldemort sitting at his desk. "How the hell did I end up here?" he demanded of the working figure.

The Voldemort working at the desk pointed to the sign telling Harry to not touch anything.

Harry tried to go back to his own mindscape, but found himself trapped by the dark lord's mind. So he did the only thing he could think of – he took his anger out on the bookcases.

Arms encircled Harry's upper arms and chest and held him tight, causing Harry to squeeze his eyes shut at the pain. When he stopped struggling, Voldemort said, "Don't attack my shelves, unless you want me destroying your spheres."

"I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. To. You."

"Yes, I'd gathered that much myself, thank you," Voldemort replied dryly. "If I let you go, will you sit in your chair and behave? Or will I have to restrain you?"

Harry ground his teeth together. "I'll sit like a good boy," he agreed grudgingly.

Voldemort let him go and Harry walked over to his chair with a scowl. Voldemort quickly repaired all the damage Harry had caused and sat in his own chair.

There was a long silence, during which Voldemort stared tiredly at Harry and Harry glared angrily back.

Finally, Voldemort broke the silence, "I think I know what Dumbledore is working to teach you, and I don't think it will do you much good."

Harry's glare softened and he glanced at the fire. "No? Then why is he telling me at all?"

"If he's teaching you what I think he is – and there's a chance he isn't, though slim – it's about my horcruxes, and he's telling you about them because they're keeping me alive."

Harry glanced over suspiciously. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're a nosey little brat and you'll find out anyway."

Harry shot him a disbelieving look.

Voldemort pointed at the shelves of books, which he'd just repaired. "Harry, any other wizard who touched those shelves would be dead right now. I can't keep you out of my memories any more than you can keep me out of yours. It's so much easier to just tell you these things than have you digging for them yourself." Voldemort smiled grimly. "At any rate, telling you the truth is so much more satisfying than not telling it to you. After all, it hurts so much more."

Remembering the prophecy, Harry had to agree. "Okay, fine," Harry allowed, "so, what are 'horcruxes', then? Sounds like someone you'd sleep with."

Voldemort grimaced. "Teenagers," he muttered, then said, "They're parts of my soul–"

"Wait! What? Your soul?"

"Yes, Potter, my soul. Because my soul is in multiple pieces, I cannot die, because a part of me is still anchored to this earth."

"Didn't it hurt?" Harry asked, rather appalled by the idea of splitting one's soul.

"Of course not–"

"You're lying."

Voldemort scowled at Harry. "What does it matter? I won't die."

"You know," Harry snapped, "your fear of death is almost comical, considering how many people you kill."

Voldemort looked ready to kill Harry at that, though it was nothing new.

"And, really, is death all that bad, when the alternative is another thirteen years as a parasite?"

Voldemort took a deep breath. "Potter..."

Harry shook his head. "Alright, how many times did you tear your soul, then? You said horcruxes. Plural. How many times have you hurt yourself for the chance at immortality?"

"Seven," Voldemort answered. "One was unintentional."

"Seven?" Harry almost squeaked. "Seven? Are you mad? Okay, fine! Which one was unintentional, and why?"

"You."

"Me? Me what? Oh. Oh no. No!"

"Harry, exactly how did you think the connection formed?" Voldemort inquired tiredly.

"I'm carrying around a piece of your soul?" Harry replied, still stuck on the horrible truth.

"Yes, and I've got a piece of yours. Or did. Nagini might have it now."

"Wait, what? Nagini? The snake? Why would she have my.... you made her into a horcrux," Harry realized dully. "You made your snake into a horcrux, and because you've got so little soul left, some of which is mine by the way, you think it's possible that my soul is in the snake. Some of it."

"A not unreasonable deduction," Voldemort agreed.

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed angrily at his eyes. "So I can't keep you out of my memories because you've got a little bit of me with what's left of your soul, and you can't keep me out because I've got a little bit of you with my soul?"

"Exactly," Voldemort agreed, sounding rather proud that Harry had figured it out.

"Can we, I don't know, trade back? Or something? Pretend this never happened?" Harry half-pleaded.

"I don't know how," Voldemort replied.

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that." Harry put his glasses back on. "So, if I'm going to kill you, I need to destroy six horcruxes and kill myself? Basically?"

"Five," Voldemort corrected.

Harry blinked. "You said there were six."

"You've already destroyed my diary. And, actually, I think Dumbledore may have destroyed my grandfather's ring..." Voldemort trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Brilliant. So, destroy four horcruxes, then kill myself. Much more doable. Thanks," Harry amended drily.

Voldemort laughed.

"So, wait, have you looked for the prophecy yet in my head?"

Voldemort abruptly stopped laughing and stared at Harry intently. "Should I be?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, then said, "Should I be looking for your horcruxes?"

Voldemort's red eyes glinted. "Does it say how you're supposed to destroy me?"

"I know Nagini, tell me one more."

The two had a minor staring contest.

"Slytherin's locket. I believe you saw my mother with it."

"A power you know not."

Voldemort frowned. "Descriptive. What does Dumbledore think it means?"

"Another horcrux, first."

Voldemort sighed. "Hufflepuff's cup."

Harry frowned thoughtfully and firmly wrote that into his memory. "He thinks it's love."

Voldemort sneered. "He would." He leaned back in his chair and eyed Harry thoughtfully. "The last is Ravenclaw's diadem. What do you think it is? And be honest."

Harry mentally noted the last horcrux and rubbed at his face. "I don't know, but I don't think it's love anymore than you do. It's not like I know any magic that you don't or anything, Merlin knows you've had longer to learn things. I almost thought it was the prophecy, but that just seems silly."

"Might as well tell me the whole thing, then," Voldemort said, trying very hard to seem blasé about the whole thing.

But Harry smiled knowingly. "I know what they are, but where might I find them?"

Voldemort ground his teeth together. "The cup is in Bellatrix's vault."

"That wasn't that hard, now was it?"

"You're only getting one, Potter."

"I'm sure the whole prophecy is worth more than just one horcrux."

Voldemort debated between hunting for the prophecy himself.

Harry smiled, seeming to know what the elder wizard was thinking. "I've locked it into a room and keyed it to Dumbledore. Even I can't get in there."

Voldemort let out a couple of choice curses in Parseltongue, which made Harry smile, then said, "In a cave along the coast, guarded by inferi. And it's only worth two."

Harry shrugged and told him the entire prophecy.

Voldemort was silent for a long time, deep in contemplation. Just as Harry was considering going back to his dorm or trying Voldemort's bookshelves again, the man said, "If only I'd heard that next part... No matter. So, if neither of us can live while the other survives, let's just agree to both live and stop surviving."

"Because it's that easy," Harry replied sarcastically.

Voldemort hissed angrily. "No, I suppose not. Okay, well, let's just kill you and be done with it." He smiled nastily.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't intend to spend however many years as a floating half-dead thing, thanks."

"Hm, that's right. Well, we could just agree to stop trying to kill each other."

"Voldemort, I'm not trying to kill you, I'm trying to avoid you. I'd love it if the whole world decided I wasn't important and left me well-enough alone," Harry snapped back.

Voldemort blinked. "Well, Potter, I can't help you with the rest of the world, but I suppose I can stop trying to kill you."

"I sense a 'but' in there," Harry muttered.

Voldemort smiled cruelly. "I want a Wizard's Oath that you'll leave my horcruxes alone."

Harry winced – how would he explain that one to Dumbledore?

Voldemort seemed to notice his indecision, because he added, "I will include your friends in this safety net for so long as they don't actively try and stop me."

"Which of my friends?" Harry demanded.

Voldemort cocked his head to one side. "The ones that came with you to the Ministry."

Harry considered the group he'd gotten into such danger the previous year. Finally, he nodded. "Deal."

"Swear your Oath. And if I see any loopholes, you're doing it again," Voldemort demanded.

Harry frowned and thought about what he could say. Finally, after almost four minutes had passed, he said, "I, Harry James Potter, hereby swear upon the names of my parents and upon my magic that I will never go actively seeking Voldemort's horcruxes, nor will I knowingly destroy one, or have another person destroy it in my stead. So mote it be."

Voldemort thought Harry's Oath through for another minute, then nodded. "So mote it be. Actively seeking?"

"If I find one accidentally, or it comes into my hands through the doing of someone else, I don't want to lose my magic," Harry replied firmly.

Voldemort hummed a bit, then nodded, completely agreeing with the sentiment. "Ronald Weasley, Ginevra Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom will be left alone by my people, unless they start hostilities. You may wish to warn them."

Harry swallowed and nodded, not looking forward to that discussion. "Right. Thanks." After a brief moment, he added, "No Oath?"

Voldemort smiled nastily. "I can promise that I won't attack your friends, and I can tell my people to leave them alone unless they attack first, but I won't chance losing my magic because someone got a little curse happy."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, okay."

Voldemort nodded, and Harry suddenly found himself in a bed in the hospital wing, Ron and Hermione standing over him worriedly.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered, then leaned down and hugged him tightly, face wet with tears.

Harry blinked up at Ron in confusion. "What...?"

"We couldn't wake you," Ron said, voice tight. "Your scar started bleeding at one point. The Headmaster had you moved down here." He paused, then pointed just behind Harry and said, "The bird followed you."

Harry glanced over at the owl Voldemort had sent and sighed. "We've spoken," he told the bird, which then flew off and out one of the windows.

"Oh, Harry..." Hermione whispered, clearly upset. "We were so scared."

Harry swallowed again and hugged Hermione back. "I'm fine now. It's okay. He didn't do anything to me."

"But, your scar," Hermione replied.

Harry closed his eyes. "I ruined some of his things. He stopped me before I could ruin more. It hurt a bit. That's all," he reassured her. "All we really did was talk."

"About what, my dear boy?" Dumbledore asked, walking up beside Harry's bed.

Harry narrowed his eyes briefly, before sighing. "Horcruxes, sir."

Dumbledore's eyes widened.

"What are those?" Hermione asked, pulling back so she could see Harry's face properly.

Harry blinked. "Containers for pieces of a person's soul. Voldemort made them, so he wouldn't die."

Hermione looked horrified, while Ron looked a bit confused.

Dumbledore looked resigned. "You know about them, then. Do you know how many?"

Harry frowned. "I know what they all are, sir."

Dumbledore looked absolutely gobsmacked.

"But he knows the prophecy. And I've given an Oath that I won't touch the horcruxes," Harry added, watching the man's face carefully.

Dumbledore didn't seem to care all that much at the mention of Voldemort knowing the prophecy, which seemed odd, and he seemed mostly resigned at the knowledge of Harry's Oath.

Hermione shook her head. "Oh, Harry. Don't you want to get rid of Voldemort?"

Harry swallowed. "Not at the cost of your life. Or yours, Ron. Or Neville's, or Ginny's, or Luna's. I can't."

"You didn't. Oh, Harry," Hermione looked like she might cry again. "Harry, our lives aren't worth the fate of the world."

"Your lives are worth everything," Harry hissed, eyes bright. "And so is my freedom." He turned to Dumbledore. "I refuse to be the wizarding world's scapegoat. If they want rid of Voldemort, they can bloody-well do it themselves."

"My dear boy," Dumbledore said, with such sorrow and hurt in his sparkling blue eyes. "I don't think you have a choice."

Harry sat up in bed angrily. "Too bad. I've practically sworn that I won't defeat Voldemort. They can deal."

"But, Harry," Ron pleaded. "If someone else destroys these nasty soul things, couldn't you kill him anyway?"

Harry stood and looked coolly at Ron. "Are you asking me to let someone else kill me, Ron? Because I'm a Horcrux too." And, with that, Harry turned and walked from the hospital wing, leaving Ron and Hermione to stare on in horror, and Dumbledore in resignation.

-0-0-0-

Luna found him sitting in the Room of Requirement, which looked like his mental sitting room. She quietly took the open chair and turned her eyes to the same fire Harry was staring at. After a long silence, she commented, "They've been looking for you. Worried, I think. It seems strange, them worrying so much about you. Doesn't it?"

Harry turned to look at Luna and smiled at her absent-minded expression. "Do you think I'm mad for refusing to fight Voldemort?"

Luna cocked her head to one side and glanced over at Harry. "Should I?"

"Everyone else seems to."

"Well, it's your choice, isn't it? Everyone should get a choice. Especially the Chosen One."

Harry smiled sadly. "You believe it, then? That I'm the only one who can defeat him?"

"Perhaps you are, and perhaps you aren't," Luna commented softly. "We make our own fate, not someone else. Listen to your heart; you don't do enough of it."

Harry swallowed and turned back to the flames. "Thanks, Luna."

Luna smiled. "You're most welcome, Harry. I'll leave you to your fire." Then she got up and wandered back out, looking as calm and untouchable as ever.

Harry smiled. "If only everyone else were like you, Luna," he murmured to the flames.

The door opened again and a brown head poked in. "Harry? Luna said you were in here."

Harry glanced over at Neville and waved him in. Once the door was closed, he said, "I've decided not to fight Voldemort."

Neville blinked. "Okay. Any particular reason?" He sat in the open chair Luna had just vacated.

Harry eyed Neville curiously. "It's not worth the lives of my friends. And it's not worth the knowledge that I won't survive it."

Neville turned to the fire. "Before last year, I didn't have any friends. I don't think, back then, I would have understood your reasoning. But, now..." Neville looked back at Harry. "You know about my parents. They went mad because of Voldemort. I love them, and I hate Voldemort, but is it worth it to get a bed next to them? Or, worse, to know that, by fighting him, I may start visiting my friends with my parents?"

Harry swallowed. "It could have been you," he whispered. "You could have been the Boy Who Lived."

Neville grimaced. "In all honesty, Harry, I'd rather you have it."

Harry laughed and smiled at his friend. "Thanks, Neville."

Neville smiled. "Sure thing. But you might want to come out of here, eventually. I'm surprised Ron and Hermione haven't found you yet."

"Perhaps..."

Neville stood and paused a moment to look around. "Just Slytherin?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Harry looked up at where Neville was pointing at the Slytherin pennant. "Oh. I guess."

"But you're a Gryffindor."

Harry blinked and realised what Neville was getting at. Almost immediately, the other three house pennants took up spaces on the wall in the room, as well as in his mind. "Thanks, Neville," Harry said again.

Neville smiled brightly. "Sure thing. You coming?"

Harry stood. "Yeah."

-0-0-0-

Hermione and Ron found Harry sitting with Neville over their books for Herbology three hours later.

"There you are," Ron said, then proceeded to throw himself into the chair next to Harry. "We've been looking for you everywhere."

"I know," Harry replied, pausing in his writing to look up at his two best friends. "Are you still cross with me?"

"Oh, Harry..." Hermione shook her head. "We were never cross with you. Worried, but not cross."

"Well..."

"Shut up, Ronald," Hermione hissed, kicking Ron's ankle.

Harry frowned at them. "Go ahead, Ron."

Ron glanced between Hermione's warning look and Harry's curious frown and swallowed. "Erm, nothing, mate. Nothing important."

Harry eyed Neville, who rolled his eyes, and looked back at his two friends neutrally. "Very well. If you'll excuse us, then, Neville and I are finishing our homework."

"Oh, well, we'll join you!" Hermione decided.

Harry eyed Hermione oddly. "Hermione, you're not taking Herbology."

Hermione blinked. "Oh..."

Harry and Neville traded looks again, then returned to their work, leaving Hermione and Ron to figure out something to do with the time left until dinner on their own.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A/N: I think next chapter we'll have a bit of a time jump. To the end of the year. The rest of Harry's sixth year is very much like it was in the books, except without Harry's unnatural brilliance with Potions or his stalking of Draco or the Horcrux lessons. So, nothing exciting, really.
And, he isn't really in contact with Voldie. Voldie's got better things to do, and Harry has no reason to contact him.

And if you skipped my author's note and ask me questions next chapter, I'm going to laugh.
XD

~Bats ^.^x

Chapters:
Pro - The Real Prophecy / 1 - The Summer of Change
2 - A New Term ||| 3 - Confrontation ||| 4 - Betrayal
5 - The Wedding ||| 6 - The Light ||| 7 - The Dark
8 - Magic's Story ||| 9 - Ghosts ||| 10 - A Lifetime Mended

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