Second chance

‘Are you serious?’ asked a bewildered Ron. ‘Are you sure you don't need to see Madam Pomfrey? What you told me sounds more like a sick delusion.’ ‘Ron, please believe me!’ pleaded Harry. ‘How can I prove it to you?’ ‘Fine. Tell me what I'm more afraid of than anything else in the world,’ the redhead offered with a cheeky smile. ‘That's easy - spiders!’ Harry thought he was going to have to dig into the very depths of his friend's character, but the question was so easy that he was able to answer it without even thinking. ‘How do you know that?’ wondered Ron. ‘It's not like I've never talked about it.’ ‘Why can't you just believe me?’ Potter was already desperate. ‘Maybe because what you're telling me is unrealistic?’ asked Ron with an obvious sneer. ‘Yeah? How about that then?’ fretted Harry. ‘Your name is Ronald Bilius Weasley. You were born on the 1st of March 1980, you have five older brothers and a younger sister. Your father's name is Arthur and your mother's name is Molly. Because she makes your older brothers your role models, you try to outdo them in at least some things because you feel inferior and unworthy of your family. You're jealous of Hermione's academic success and my popularity and you're looking for new ways to achieve your goals!’ ‘How can you know all that?’ gasped Ron. ‘I've already told you everything. Why can't you just believe me?’ sighed the brunet tiredly and a little senilely. ‘How else can I prove anything to you?’ ‘Okay. Okay. Let's say you're right. But what do you suggest we do?’ finally accepted Ron's friend. ‘I've already talked to Snape. He thinks we need to start doing a search for craystrakes.’ ‘What's that?’ didn't understand Ron. ‘Oh, right, you don't know!’ slammed Potter on his forehead. ‘They're parts of Voldemort's soul. If we destroy them all, he'll become mortal, and then we can kill him.’ ‘A bit confusing, I'll understand better if you explain it again,’ muttered Weasley with a nervous smile. Harry sighed. Who told him it was going to be easy? In principle, it really wasn't complicated with Snape, since he is an Occlumency and the rest of them have to explain everything on their fingers. But since Harry decided he would see it through to the end, he would. ‘Years ago Voldemort divided his soul into seven parts, well, he planned seven parts,’ Potter began. ‘They were Tom Riddle's Diary, Marvolo Mrax's Ring, Slytherin's Medallion, Penelope's Cup Puffendui, Candida Claw's Diadem, and his snake Nagaina. Well, there really is one more, unplanned. That's me. I stopped being a craystrike when Voldemort killed me in the Forbidden Forest during the Battle for Hogwarts. If we destroy all the planned ones and force him to fight me, he'll be dead forever. I know where some of them are hidden. The others, I think we can find them too. The only difficulty will be letting Voldemort have a body. In my memory, one of his supporters, Peter Pettigrew, did that. I remember the ingredients and the spell, so perhaps we can resurrect him ourselves.’ ‘Wow,’ was all Ron could manage to say. ‘Do we have to resurrect He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to kill him? That's kind of weird.’ ‘Voldemort has to actually kill me to make me a normal human. It's hard to understand, but that's how it works. It can't be any other way. Although, basically, I don't know exactly, but I just don't want to tell anyone. I've lost a lot of people very important to me. My parents, my godfather, their friend, their teacher and many others. They were very brave people. And kind. I don't want to lose them again,’ Harry finished somewhat aloofly. Such a prospect truly terrified him. The deaths of the people he cared about had left an indelible imprint on his heart. The years had done their work and the pain was gone, but a repeat of the events threatened to open the wound and cause him a new bout of suffering. There is no way that can be allowed to happen. ‘And I have to go through all this with you?’ gasped Ron. ‘It's not going to be... easy.’ ‘You picked the right word,’ smiled Harry sadly. ‘But will you be able to handle it?’ ‘Where am I going to go?’ grinned Weasley broadly.