Andromeda nearly faltered when she saw what the Horcrux had become. The shattered pieces had gathered together in one corner of Henry's mind, or soulscape, and were launching a concerted attack on Henry's soul. It was like watching an image of a disease in a Pensieve with snippets of memories at different times, so fast were they eating him.
Andromeda shook her head and rejected the notion of their eating him a moment after she thought it. She would not allow it to happen.
She slashed her wand down and gave of her strength the only way she could, as a Healer, pouring her magic into the spells and gathering and plucking out the combined pieces of the Horcrux, one by one by one.
Tonks could feel the ritual tugging, taking more from her than she was prepared to give.
Or, well, more than she had originally been prepared to give.
But that was her little cousin Henry over there. A kid when he'd been stolen from his family, a kid when he'd been marked by a Dark Lord, a kid when he'd been raised by abusive Muggles and had to face down an insane professor and kill the man who'd been partially responsible for him being raised by abusive Muggles.
There were times that Tonks had thought she would never have any cousins, with Mum exiled from her family. And suddenly she had two, and they were kind of prats sometimes, but they were her cousins.
She clenched her fists and closed her eyes and poured her strength into the ritual.
The Shield Charm and the light from the stars collided.
Riddle screamed as the darkness around them grew brighter. Harry found that he wasn't blinded, though, no matter how radiant the light grew. He stood taller and stronger, and suddenly the effort to muster a silent Shield Charm was no effort at all.
When the light cleared, he could see that he was standing in the middle of a field of silver grass, by a lake of dark water. There seemed to be an island in the middle of the water, containing a raised silver platform, but Harry couldn't pay that much attention, because Riddle immediately tried to kill him again.
Harry swayed aside from the Killing Curse. It seemed easy to dodge now. And when he turned around, there were plenty of silver rocks and trees forming around him, some of them streaked with red runnels that might have come from dried blood. Harry smiled and ducked behind a tree as Riddle flung the green spell at him again.
"Aren't you getting tired of that?" Harry called, crouching to make sure that as little of his body showed as possible. "It doesn't seem to be working that well for you, does it?"
Riddle screamed aloud, and rushed straight at him.
Harry scrambled backwards, stumbling for a second, but retaining his balance better than Riddle, who had come barreling around the tree and tripped over a stone. Harry was almost sure the stone hadn't been there a moment ago. He was more than sure that the trees and rocks were trying to help him.
Riddle rolled on the ground and sprang back to his feet, as quick as a cat. This time, when he aimed his wand at Harry, he looked deranged, his lips peeled back from his teeth and spittle flecking them.
"Crucio!"
"No!"
A figure with flying black hair, clad in tattered robes and with something gold glittering around his neck, collided with Riddle. They went down in a rolling heap, and then the figure turned into an enormous black dog and grabbed and shook Riddle like a rat.
Harry gaped at them, not doing anything to defend himself for a second because he was so stunned. He did know that dog. What in the world was Sirius Black doing here, and how had he got here in the first place?
But then he remembered those chanting voices, the voices of members of the Black family, and the stars overhead. He supposed the ritual might call on the strength of all members of the Black family, and not take into account little things like whether they were sane or had once kidnapped Harry from his family.
The dog dodged away from Riddle, who was back on his feet. Sirius got in between Harry and Riddle and snarled, what seemed to be every bit of his fur standing on end.
Harry said nothing about it. He really could use all the help he could get fighting against this mad Horcrux, and if that meant that Sirius was acting like a real godfather, well, fine. It was about time.
Besides, for the moment, Riddle seemed to have lost all interest in Harry.
"Where did you get that?" he whispered, his eyes locked on Sirius. No, on the golden thing around his neck. Harry leaned to the side and saw what looked like the chain of a locket, twined tightly into Sirius's fur.
The locket glinted and pulsed with the light of the stars. Mockingly? Harry had the distinct impression that it was mockingly.
"I want to know where you got it!" Riddle's voice rose, and Harry had the idea he was trying to make it thunder, but it only fell rather flat. Harry grinned. Even the air in this space was unfriendly to someone attacking a son of the House of Black.
Sirius only snarled again, and nudged Harry with his left hind paw. He wanted him to move towards the lake, Harry saw. Well, Harry thought he might be able to hide beneath the water from the Horcrux, so he willingly moved.
Riddle twisted his head to the side, his neck moving oddly like a snake's. Harry shuddered when his next words came out in Parseltongue, but that wasn't really a surprise.
"What has he offered you? What can he possibly offer you that is as good as what I can?"
"You weren't offering me anything, you were trying to kill me!" Harry snapped.
"I wasn't talking to you!"
Harry blinked, and then tilted backwards with a gasp and a cry as they reached the shore of the lake. He surfaced immediately, spluttering, and then Sirius leaped into the water beside him. He turned his head towards Harry, panting, and Harry felt a distant flutter of memory across his mind.
He did that once when I was a baby. At least once. He played with me when I was in the Potters' house and he was in dog form.
....
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