Sirius and Harry told them everything. Well, everything except the fact that Harry was a time-traveling soon-to-be avatar of death. Not ever Sirius knew that, and Harry had no intention on ever telling him. Or anyone for that matter.
The evening was willed with raised voices, tears, quite a bit of cursing, and finally settled into an expanded alliance. The Tonks family were going to take extra care to prevent mental manipulation. They didn't have near as much exposure to Dumbledore, but it didn't hurt to be safe. Andi, Ted, and Nym had thoughts on who they could trust. It wasn't until Tonks mentioned Moody that Harry realized how quickly things were moving.
Harry excused himself after a long discussion. The fun night had turned into an impromptu club meeting. He knew that it was just a matter of time before someone came up with a name for the group. Magical folk loved naming things.
As much as Harry wanted to simply pass out after such a tiring day, he found he couldn't sleep. Sirius had shown Harry to his room in the castle tent. The interior was ridiculous, but he expected nothing less from Sirius. There was something else that was bothering. A little idea he had that wasn't quite in focus, but it wouldn't leave him alone.
Tonks had mentioned Moody. This year Barty would capture the old man and take over his life via Polyjuice potion. Doing so would allow him access to setting Harry up for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He could stop all of it simply by killing Barty. It wasn't just that. There was something else. The changes were already making things hard to figure out. Last time around he'd be having the dream about Tom killing the old man about now.
Would they still be at the mansion?
"Death. Do you have a moment?" Harry said.
"What's up?" She asked plopping onto the bed near him.
"Am I interrupting?" Harry asked.
"Nope." Death held out a hand, wiggling her fingers. A few coins she had hung in the air where her hand had been. "We're talking on Dream Time right now."
"Explain please." Harry watched as the coins didn't shift at all.
"Dream time, how time moves in dreams." She snatched the coins as she hopped to her feet. "Death uses a variation of it as well. You know." Her casual clothes swapped out to those of an elaborate classical dress. "To sleep! To dream! No more! And in that sleep of death what dreams may come!"
Her clothes changed back into her previous casual outfit.
"I'm sure that will make sense when I'm not so fucking tired." Harry grumbled.
"Mental fatigue sucks." Death nodded. "What did you need?"
"I need to find Nagini, she's the last horcrux." Harry said. "Last time, she was with Voldermort at the old Riddle Manor. With everything that has changed I don't know if they are still there. There's no guarantee that she's with him right now."
"Then just pop over to where she is." Death shrugged. "Just like you did with Bellatrix."
"Would that work with Nagini?" Harry asked.
"Death isn't limited to humans." She paused. "Or witches. Wizards. Whatever. They're basically still human."
"Thanks." Harry smiled and shook his head at her. "Looks like I've got some work to do."
Harry shifted off his bed and stood. He summoned Excalibur, closed his eyes, and concentrated on Nagini. The world around him shifted in an instant. It was colder, the air had a musty smell to it, and the creaking of wood surrounded him.
He opened his eyes to find that he wasn't in the mansion at all. Harry was standing on the deck of a rickety old boat. One that was sailing along the clouds. Nagini was curled up around a bundle of clothe that tucked against the side of the boat. She appeared to be sleeping. Harry scanned the immediate area. Nothing looked familiar. The only other person was a glassy-eyed witch that was holding onto the rudder. She didn't appear to even know Harry was there.
Harry spun the sword blade down and stabbed it through the top of Nagini's head. She was dead before she knew what had happened. A thin wisp of smoke bubbled in the air before fading away with hardly a scream.
"I'm sorry." Harry whispered.
"Who is there?" A shaky, thin voice spoke from nearby.
Harry felt himself tense. He held Excalibur up at the ready, waiting for an attack. That voice. He knew it well. It was the very same one that the abomination that was Voldermort had used in his dreams.
ŞNagini! Where are you?Ş
Movement near the dead snake caught his attention. The bundle was moving. Harry hooked the edge of the clothe with the blade and tugged it free. The twisted thing that looked up at him was none other than Voldermort.
"Tom." Harry blinked. "I didn't expect to find you here."
"Potter?" Potato-mort hissed. "What are you doing here? Where is Nagini?"
"Funny story." Harry squatted down to get a closer look at the creature. "I've been destroying the horcrux you had created, and she was the last one. Now that she's dead, you are a sad sack of whatever you are."
"Lies!" Riddle cried.
"You know, I've always wanted to ask." Harry uncovered Riddle completely and propped him up so they could see each other. "Are you an idiot?"
"You will not speak to me in such a way. I am Lord Voldermort!"
"You are Tom Riddle. I would say junior, or the second, but we both know that's not true." Harry dismissed Excalibur. "You're what, sixty or seventy years old? You've been chasing immortality since you were a kid and a horcrux was the best you could come up with? A squib could live until they're over a hundred with hardly any effort. A wizard of your supposed caliber should have been able to hit at least one-fifty. That's before potions regimens to improve your health, charms, magical artifacts, and creature magic brought into the picture."
"You know nothing of me and my goals!" The Dark Lord Potato Head screamed.
"It's a shame, really." Harry sighed. "You probably would have inadvertently saved the world if you'd managed to kill Dumbledore."
"What?"
"Old twinkle-eyes has been playing the long game." Harry summoned Excalibur as he stood. "He's set you up to be the next dark lord he vanquishes. I, sadly, die while fighting you. He steps in, saves the day, and once again is the next Merlin. Hell, they might even start calling Merlin the first Dumbledore."
"We can work together to stop him." Voldermort hissed.
"He would never see that coming." Harry nodded. "But there's one problem with that plan."
"What?"
"I really want to kill you." Harry brought the blade down.
Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldermort, had just enough time to understand the words before Excalibur sliced through his warped form. An expression of sheer terror was forever etched into its visage. Harry felt the boat under him lurch. The witch that had been guiding the boat had slumped over. She was dead, he could see that now. The magic that was keeping her animated had stopped once Riddle died. Now, the rickety old boat was rushing toward the ground.
Harry wasn't sure how far, or how long, the fall was going to take. He thought of the room in the tent and appeared there a moment later. Harry dismissed Excalibur. He needed a shower, some fire whiskey, and a couple days of sleep. Not in that order.
He trudged through the hallway in search of the bathroom. It took a couple of tries, but eventually he found a gently lit room with a claw-foot tub. Harry gave a short chuckle as the tub began to fill with water. He stripped off his clothes and settled in.
It was done. The last horcrux had been destroyed. Voldermort was dead. The future life that he had known was completely and utterly gone. There were still a few people that needed to pay for their past-future-current sins, but they were scattered without Voldermort to rally behind.
Fenrir Greyback couldn't be left alive. Not to mention a smattering of Death Eaters. Umbridge. There was no way that he was letting her live.
Harry took a deep breath. He let the hot water loosen his muscles. Killing them wasn't just about revenge. Revenge did play a big part, but there was more to it than that. Removing them from the equation meant that he could focus on Dumbledore. The old man knew how to stack the deck in his favor. If Dumbledore was using Voldermort and the Death Eaters as a way to keep the focus away from him, then it only made sense to get rid of them.
Voldermort was dead.
This was just the beginning.