Chapter Text
Tom was pacing in his office, Harry and Severus were due home soon. He knew he shouldn't be nervous but he was. He hadn't seen Harry since Ron Weasley almost killed him. Severus had been able to sneak away but Dumbledore had been watching Harry to closely. Severus had used potions ingredients gathering to visit Tom and attending any meetings.
"He is fine." Sirius said from the doorway, they were nervous about how Harry had been doing. They knew Harry wasn't happy with how Dumbledore was watching him. Granger and the youngest Weasley were still following him around. Ron Weasley had taken to glaring and saying things to his year mates. Sadly, for Ron, none of his year mates wanted to listen to him or be his friend when he returned. Most were still trying to figure out how Dumbledore got him off. They all believed that Dumbledore pressured Harry into letting Ron get away with attempted murder, and of course, it was his brother in law. They all believed that if it had been anyone else they would be in Azkaban. No one blamed Harry and supported him.
Dumbledore was dealing with the students not supporting him, the Ministry, and Wizengamot didn't trust him any longer and the staff was losing faith in him. Flitwick, Poppy, and Severus informing the rest of the staff of the true events. They had all heard McGonagall telling Dumbledore off in a staff meeting when he tried to get them to watch Harry closely. That he was up to something. Minerva McGonagall told the man that the ones they should be watching his own wife, brother in law, and Granger. She was tired of the lies and stormed out. Severus had to show them the memory because none of them could believe McGonagall wouldn't support Dumbledore in everything. They knew when it came to the final battle Dumbledore wouldn't have the support of the school or students when the truth was fully revealed.
"I know, but he was hurt. That Weasley brat hurt him." Tom snarled. Tom really wanted to hurt the boy badly. He accepted that Harry wanted Ron Weasley at the final battle, and he knew that boy would be punished after the final battle for his other crimes but he wanted to personally punish the boy now.
"Yes, he did. I am fine, they all will pay for what they have done to all of us." Harry said as he entered the room, with Severus following behind him. Severus gave Tom a slight smile.
"Harry." Tom's voice was soft and filled with concern as he pulled Harry into his arms. After several minutes of just holding Harry, he held Harry out at arm's length, looking Harry up and down. "He still needs to pay." He knew Harry would make them pay, but he wanted Weasley personally.
"He will. I just wanted him at the final battle. He and Granger will give a lot away. I bet they will spill some secrets." Harry answered. "You also know that Severus made sure I was fine. This is also making Dumbledore look very bad. Everyone believes that Dumbledore is at fault for him not being in Azkaban, and letting him know how they feel about the Weasleys, Granger, and him."
"I am not taking that bet." Was heard around the room.
"Yes, Uncle Tom, you should hear the gossip in the school." Draco added. "No one believes anything Weasley says and all hold Dumbledore responsible. A huge change in school unity. Slytherin isn't the evil house anymore, the Weasley family is since Dumbledore is technically named Weasley."
Severus moved to them, giving Harry and Tom a small smile. "Poppy sends her regards to everyone." Tom pulled Severus into his arms. "Dumbledore is going crazy with trying to regain control over Hogwarts and the Ministry."
"I am so glad you are home." Tom told them. "I have been worried." He quietly told Harry. "Having you there and without any protection but Severus, I have been very worried about both of you."
"I have been worried for him Tom, but he can handle Dumbledore you have seen it." Severus quietly reassured Tom.
"I am glad to be home. It's time to end this." Harry said as pulled away and sat down on the couch. "The end of year event is going to be the final battle, not that there will be much of one."
"We have some minor stuff to get lined up. Poppy will help us." Severus stated as he was pulled by Tom to sit on the couch with Harry and him.
"I still can't believe you got her to help." Sirius responded. "The Wolf was with Dumdum looking around my house, think they have it being watched. I think they want to use me to get to Harry." Sirius had been so disgusted by Remus' actions, he couldn't even call him by name any longer.
"I can't either, I always thought Poppy would support Dumby." Lucius said. "Harry, Dawlish stopped by. He said they won't be releasing Weasley from the terms until at least the end of the school term. He wrote up a basic idea of what Ron has been spewing. Most of it is the usual Slytherins are evil, you must be dark type of stuff. No matter how many times Dawlish and others have told him you are in Ravenclaw, he was spewing the Slytherin is evil crap."
"Weasley is an idiot. We need to watch Dumbles, he is still wanting to get me married to the Weaslette." Harry reminded them. "Granger and Weaselette have been following me too closely."
"I read the report." Sirius said sitting down on the couch. "Ginny is really set on marrying you. She has an obsession with you, that is frankly, scary. Dawlish is looking to see if a magical restraining order can work on Granger and her, but since they haven't done anything he isn't sure it will work."
"There isn't any law that prohibits them from following him in school, outside of school, we can get a restraining order." Lucius answered. "Get some of the children to watch them?"
"I will let Dawlish know to keep her under watch. I will mention to our followers to have their children keep an eye on those three. Do we want Weasley released by the end of the year from the weekly chats with Dawlish?" Tom said. "I will also make sure Ironclaw knows."
"No, it's a good way to know what is going on, Weasley can't keep his mouth shut. So he will spew out his plots by accident to Dawlish. What have I missed?" Harry asked.
Narcissa entered the room, after hearing them speaking. "Harry you haven't even been home for ten minutes and you are already making plans. How about you relax and have some dinner before you start planning the demise of that senile old fool."
Harry smiled at her. "Excellent idea, I am sure Tom and Severus would love to join me." Harry got up, gave Narcissa a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you at dinner." He headed out the door.
Severus and Tom got up and followed Harry to their bedroom.
___________________________________________________________________________
Severus was laying down on the bed, cuddled into Harry when Tom finally woke up, stretched a bit and looked at his husbands. "I missed being us."
"He has too. I think if that old coot had tried to keep Harry at the school for the holidays, Harry would have killed him." Severus said. "I know he came close a few times to it when the old fool tried to speak to him about Ron Weasley's punishment. We have had to endure hours in reviewing memories of you. He usually hounds Harry during them, Filius had to warn him, again, before we left. Harry had to finally place a call to the Aurors to get the old fool to stop talking to him about Weasley last week."
"Why is he is set on freeing Weasley from this?" Tom asked. "I am worried about that aspect, he has to have something planned regarding him."
"No, he doesn't, it's more of the image. Molly Weasley is still in Azkaban until the end of the school year, she gets out at the end of June. He needs them to be seen as an example of a good light family. It's why he has been pushing how successful everyone else is. He doesn't know that the Twins, Bill, and Charlie support us. Between the gossip at school, Rita's articles, and the trouble Molly and Ron have created it's a mess." Harry quietly told them. "What time is it?"
Tom cast a quick Tempus. "A hour before dinner."
"We have things to plan. Dumbles is going to want to start us on hunting the Horcruxes. I know he went to ROR to see if he could find one, he didn't. Totally missed it." Harry stated.
"He did? I thought you left it so that anyone could find it if they looked." Tom stated.
"We did." Severus laughed.
Harry reached for Tom. "Join me in the shower."
____________________________________________________________________________
Harry was sitting in his office reading the reports from various Death Eater. "Can I use the life debt Ginny owes me for making her provide bogus information to Dumbles?" He looked up at Severus and Sirius. Severus was reading through Harry's potion's journal.
"No, it doesn't work that way, however, to give her bogus information I would suggest sitting with the map opened and chat with Draco or someone to get the information to them." Sirius suggested. "Tom, Lucius, and I worked on improving the map. We have it expanded to outside of Hogwarts, and if you tap a room, you can listen to whatever is happening. We are working on one for Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley."
"I am hoping we won't need them. I want this to be a nice quiet battle, hopefully, no one will get hurt." Harry answered.
"We are going to keep having the articles out. If we do this right, he will barely be hanging onto the Headmaster position." Severus said.
"Lucius will have to work with the Wizengamot and Ministry. Keep the pressure on Dumbles. We keep it on him in regards to Hogwarts and the Horcruxes." Harry said. "Sirius, can you work with Tom and make sure the Horcruxes are safe?"
"I have alarm wards set up in. Proximity wards I set up a bit further out than normal so Dumdum won't find them." Tom said as he sat down in the chair opposite Harry. "I also have Nagini watching Gaunt house. She has some of her hatchlings watching some of the other spots."
"He might notice the snakes." Severus warned. "If he spots a lot of snakes, he will believe that Tom is back."
"We can work with that." Harry replied. "If he believes Tom is back, he will spread that rumor and make everyone think he is senile."
"I can push the crazy issue." Lucius replied.
"What Horcrux do you think is next?" Severus asked.
"I am going to have him do the Gaunt house next, Nagini can tell when he goes. He won't bring us, as he thinks he will be able to get it easy." Harry responded. "The rest of them, he is going to expect Severus and me to get them."
"I agree, he has been hinting about them enough and yet not leaving Hogwarts." Severus added. "Harry this potion, do you think we can mortify it to work as a type of darkness gas?"
Harry looked at Severus, got up and summoned his boards. "Harry?" Sirius asked he didn't a response. "Severus? Tom?"
"It's not a potion." Severus answered. "It's not a spell either."
"It looks like a battle plan stats?" Tom guessed. They watched Harry work for a few more minutes. "He is working on the battle plan but using potions in the battle in places where Dumbles might put some of his stronger casters."
Harry turned, looked surprised there were people in the room with him. "I don't think there will be a battle, battle but I do think that we will have a final confrontation. Dumbles is going to pretend to die."
"Sounds like something he will do." Sirius commented.
"When?" Lucius asked.
"Close to the end of the year, he won't want to leave until he thinks we have most of the Horcruxes." Harry answered. "He is going to use the curse on one of the Horcruxes."
"That Gaunt ring, since he wants to go for that one alone." Severus stated.
"Yes. Nagini will let us know when he gets it." Tom added.
Narcissa walked into Harry's office with Draco behind her, he was trying to warn them. "No more talking about plans and plots. It's Yule tomorrow and I have a lot of plans for all of you."
Harry grinned at her. "Of course, Narcissa, no more plans or plots until after the new year starts."
_____________________________________________________________________
"He wants to come with us to the cave, this weekend I believe." Harry told Severus as they sat down in Severus' office. "He also offered me the job of being the potion professor. He wants to keep you as the defense position, he cornered me when I was with Filius and Minerva working on our new project."
"He can plan all he wants, he won't be around much longer." Severus remarked, giving Harry a quick kiss.
"I need you to talk to Poppy, get her to keep him here all weekend. We can pretend to go and get it and visit Tom instead." Harry smirked as an idea popped into his mind. "Can you give Granger some detentions? She is back to following me again."
"Of course I can. Weaselette is joining her brother tonight in detention." Severus informed Harry. "I am going to have them prepare ingredients." Severus paused "Granger?"
"She was following me again, which I am used to, but she cornered me and gave me a speech on obeying Dumbles again, followed by a punch to my arm when I said I wasn't listening to him. She actually tried to drag me to his office. If Flitwick hadn't shown up when he did, I would have hexed her badly."
"I am sure I can come up with something for her to do." Severus grinned.
"Target practice?" Harry asked.
"I have some first years who need to have someone to test their spells on." Severus stated.
"Can I watch?" Harry asked.
"Of course."
_______________________________________________________________________
Lucius walked into Tom's office. "We have a minor problem." He wasn't exactly happy about the news and knew Harry and Tom wouldn't be.
"What problem?" Tom asked.
"Dumbles has used his limit influence and got Molly released today, Cornelius signed off on it, despite Amelia being against it." Lucius told him, he waited to see how Tom would react to that.
"Harry is going to be furious. It's only the end of January." Tom finally answered. "He isn't going to want to hear this."
"No, but she will be there for the final confrontation this way." Lucius answered.
"I will let him know this weekend when they arrive." Tom informed Lucius.
"Do you think Dumbles will let Harry leave?"
"Yes, Severus is going to use potion ingredient gathering for them. They tried it before the holiday break but now that Slughorn is working on telling Dumbles that they need ingredients, Severus is going to use needing more to get Harry out." Tom answered.
__________________________________________________________________________
"What do you mean he got her out early?" Harry demanded. "I am going to kill that man slowly." Harry's magic was flowing around him, his anger was causing it to flair.
Severus and Tom stayed away from Harry as he paced around the room causing some of the glasses to break, the windows were rattling. "Tom?"
"I am not moving." Tom replied. "He is going to vent for a bit longer."
"It's not the venting I am worried about, it's the breaking of things." Severus responded as he began to cast Reparo.
Harry stopped moving, he looked at them. "We can use this." He left the room and started to head for his office.
"What is he thinking?" Severus asked Tom.
"SEVERUS!" They heard.
"Coming, Master." Severus answered.
"You know he does that because he thinks it's hot when you call him Master."
"I know, why do you think I respond that way?" Severus replied as they started towards Harry's office.
"Harry?" Tom asked.
Harry turned and looked at them. "He had to get Molly out for a reason. We already know he wants the Weasley family to be viewed in a good light, he needs Molly to be out to improve that image. She is his mother in law and they need to improve his image also, so what better way to promote a family image, a light family image then having Molly out and about."
"Can we use it?" Severus asked.
Harry began to think and finally grinned. "We are going to use it. We are going to use Rita, she is going to make sure the public hears about this. I want her to publish his crazy ideas about Horcruxes. He has no prove about them, so we can use that to make him look even crazier."
"I will speak to Rita." Tom said. "We can make sure he is viewed as being senile."
"Now, let's head up to the bedroom." Harry grinned. "I have missed you, Tom."
______________________________________________________________________
Tom, Severus and Harry stood outside of the cave. "Should we gather all of them except for the Gaunt House?" Severus asked.
"No, he is going to look at the spots, he did look here already." Harry pointed into the cave "See, he tripped my wards, I set them up to read just him." Harry had set up wires to let them know if Dumbles had been around. They started walking into the cave.
"Do we need to check the other spots?" Tom asked, looking around. "Why did you pick this spot?"
"The orphanage is down the road, and I thought he would enjoy the trip." Harry answered. He leaned into Severus and Tom smirked at them. "When we get back to the Manor, Tom." Harry grinned. "Though in a cave would be interesting."
"Yes, I think he will check the other spots. He has been pushing us looking for in certain areas." Severus answered. "If he has been in there to check we should know. Maybe in the water?"
"I agree." Tom touched the water surrounding the island inside the cave. "Get the fake Horcrux and we can use the water."
______________________________________________________________________
Harry turned the corner, Severus grabbed him and pulled him down the hall and into his quarters. "He got the Gaunt ring last night, I just spent the night trying to cure his curse hand. So he is going to go with his death next month. I can keep the curse back for a few weeks, but I know he is planning on dying at the beginning of next month. He asked me if I can cure it. I told him, no, but he does know the cure. I saw it clearly in his mind."
"We did say he would play dead." Harry said. "A month for us to pretend to cure him, a month to pretend to be dead then we do the final confrontation."
"I will head over to the Manor and let them know." Severus told him.
"Granger and Weaslette will be a pain." Harry stated. "Granger is getting a bigger head."
"Yes, Granger is and so is Weaslette. You are correct about them being a pain. I heard her tell some of the younger years she was in charge and they needed to obey her. I gave her a month of detention with a point loss of fifty points." Severus told him.
"Good, who with?"
"Filch."
Harry smiled at that. "We need to make sure he plays dead." Severus said.
"He will, he has some rooms set up behind his quarters to live in during the time." Harry responded. "The elves set it up last night."
"So he has it all planned already." Severus said.
"Yes, and I am going to make sure everyone knows about it during the final confrontation." Harry replied. Harry looked at Severus. "Do you think we can do this?"
"Harry, it's coming together and you have everything covered." Severus moved over to him. He pulled him into his arms. "We are close, it's going to work."
"We are going to the Manor tomorrow." Harry stated.
_________________________________________________________________
"I can't believe he is dead." Harry heard. He kept on walking. The school was in mourning over the death of Dumbledore. That was all he had been hearing all morning, most of the school didn't seem to upset about it, except for the Gryffindor House. Harry walked quickly into Severus quarters and waited for his husband to arrive. He sat down in his favorite chair.
Severus grinned at his sleeping husband curled into what he knew was Harry's favorite chair. He gently touched him. "Harry, let me take you to the Manor. We need to get away from here. I know you will blow a gasket if someone mentions Dumbles to you in a good light."
Harry opened his eyes, looked at him, nodded his head in agreement and got up and headed to the floo. Severus tossed in some floo powder and they headed the Manor, they were standing now in the entrance foyer. "School is off for the week. No classes, so you can stay here. I will let you know when you need to attend anything." Severus said as they stood in the foyer. He looked at his husband. "When will you reveal the true you?"
Harry smiled at him, gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you, Severus. I was thinking of making the grand appearance during the final battle. It will make him wonder what else he missed."
"Let's go and find Tom." Severus responded. "I love you, you know."
"I know, and I love you too." Harry grinned. "Let's go and find our husband, drag him to bed and show him how much we missed him."
"That was my idea." Tom said from the doorway to the entrance foyer that lead the formal sitting room. "So he did it?"
"Yes, last night. Had me assist him in setting up a golem for him."
"Merlin." Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch of coins and handed it to Harry.
"You bet on his death?" Severus asked.
"No, we bet when and what he would do. Harry nailed it. He said he would have you make a golem and it would be last night. He has a lot of our followers to collect from to." Tom answered. "Think he made his school fees back from them."
"How? I didn't even know he was going to ask me to make the golem until last night." Severus answered. He had been surprised when Dumbledore had asked him to make the golem. He wasn't expecting it. He looked at Harry.
"I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't want to know and you also needed to be able to truly act surprised when he presented it to you." Harry answered. He leaned into him. "Why do you think I left those books around, so you would know how to make a golem."
"The golem?" Tom asked.
"He imbued it with some of his magic. He is hiding behind those rooms like Harry said he would. No one but us knows about it." Severus answered. "I know I shouldn't be surprised but how did you figure out the golem part?"
"He needed a way to convince everyone he was dead, he couldn't pretend to be dead for fear of the wizarding society burning his body or even burying in the ground. So that left a golem." Harry answered.
"Merlin, he was right." Lucius stated from next to Tom. "I am not betting against him again."
"I have been saying that for years." Severus retorted. "You are taking us out to dinner." He told Harry.
"Come on, let's see what is for lunch, then we are putting you to bed, you have been up all night." Harry stated.
_________________________________________________________________________________
The final battle was set to start. Harry looked out the window and watched as Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were marching up to Hogwarts. He glanced back and commented, "they are coming." He then turned and walked down the halls and stairs until he exited the huge wooden doors and walked out to meet the Dark Lord, ignoring the people calling his name, people asking what to do and what did they need to do. He could feel everyone behind him watching him as they slowly followed him out, wondering how he was going to kill Voldemort. He could feel the students, teachers, and Order members spreading out behind him, he stopped about half way across what was meant to be the battlefield. He began to wait for Voldemort to reach him.
"Hi Tom, a great day for a little bloodshed don't you think?" He smirked at the Dark wizards gathered. He felt like waving to Severus, just to throw him off.