AN: This is a look at how my other story "Harry's War" could have gone had Dumbledore and Harry been on the same page, Harry Potter/Susan Bones. WARNING this is NOT a rewrite it is just another look at how that story could have gone.

It is time I told you everything

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..."

'The slowly revolving Professor Trelawney sank back into the silver mass below and vanished. The silence within the office was absolute. Neither Dumbledore nor Harry nor any of the portraits made a sound. Even Fawkes had fallen silent.

'Professor Dumbledore?' Harry said very quietly, for Dumbledore, still staring at the pensieve, seemed completely lost in thought. "Did that mean: what did that mean?"

"It meant," said Dumbledore. "That the person who has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times." Harry felt as though something was closing in on him. His breathing seemed difficult again.

"It means me." Harry said in a thick voice as he tried to gulp back his fear at the thought of being the only wizard capable of destroying Voldemort for good.

"The odd thing, Harry." He said softly, "Is that it may not have meant you at all. Sybill's prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys, both born at the end of July that year, both of whom had parents in the Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One, of course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom."

"But then: but then, why was it my name on the prophecy and not Neville's?" Harry asked with confusion in his eyes and voice.

"The official record was re-labelled after Voldemort's attack on you as a child, ' said Dumbledore. "It seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy that Voldemort could only have tried to kill you because he knew you to be the one to whom Sybill was referring."

"Then - it might not be me?" said Harry slight hope entering his voice.

"I am afraid" said Dumbledore slowly, looking as though every word cost him a great effort. "That there is no doubt that it is you."

"But you said - Neville was born at the end of July, too - and his mum and dad …"

"You are forgetting the next part of the prophecy, the final identifying feature of the boy who could vanquish Voldemort: Voldemort himself would mark him as his equal. And so he did, Harry. He chose you, not Neville. He gave you the scar that has proved both blessing and curse." Dumbledore explained sadly as though just telling Harry this caused him great pain.

"He might have marked the wrong person." Harry said desperation in his voice but even he knew he was grasping at straws.

"He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him" said Dumbledore. "And notice this, Harry: he chose, not the pureblood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing) but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you, and in marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as he intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have fitted you to escape him not once, but four times so far - something that neither your parents, nor Neville's parents, ever achieved."

"Why did he do it, then?' said Harry, who felt numb and cold."Why did he try and kill me as a baby? He should have waited to see whether Neville or I looked more dangerous when we were older and tried to kill whoever it was then."

"That might, indeed, have been the more practical course, ' said Dumbledore."Except that Voldemort's information about the prophecy was incomplete. The Hog's Head inn, which Sybill chose for its cheapness, has long attracted, shall we say, a more interesting clientele than the Three Broomsticks. As you and your friends found out to your cost, and I to mine that night, it is a place where it is never safe to assume you are not being overheard. Of course, I had not dreamed, when I set out to meet Sybill Trelawney, that I would hear anything worth overhearing."

"My - our - one stroke of good fortune was that the eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the prophecy and thrown from the building." Dumbledore finished before conjuring them both a glass of ice-cold water and taking a long gulp after passing a glass to Harry.

"And that's why he tricked me into going to the Ministry tonight; he only heard the first half and wanted me to retrieve the full prophecy so he could hear it in full."Harry concluded after a pause in which he finished half of his water.

"Yes." Replied Dumbledore simply before the two once more fell into silence.

"It is getting very late and if I'm to tell you everything then we best move on to another, yet similar topic." Dumbledore spoke up after glancing at his grandfather clock in one corner of his office witch read half past midnight.

"Have you ever heard of a Horcrux?" Dumbledore asked Harry when the lad looked back to him.

"No sir." Harry answered with a shake of his head.

"I didn't really think you had but I thought it best to ask just in-case." Dumbledore said. "A Horcrux is an object used to store part of a person's soul so that in the event that the body of the user who creates the Horcrux is destroyed, the user still has a means of surviving, this method was chosen by Voldemort to attain immortality." He finished quietly.

"Immortality? You mean to tell me that Voldemort is in fact immortal?" Harry asked in shock as he stared at the Headmaster wide-eyed.

"Yes but all is not lost." Dumbledore said with confidence in his voice.

"All is not lost he says. The bitch is immortal." Harry said looking at Dumbledore as if he was senile.

"The Bitch? I don't think anyone has ever referred to the Dark Lord Voldemort as a bitch." Dumbledore chuckled as some of the twinkle ignited in his eyes once more.

"Well he is a bitch." Harry replied with a slight smirk as he pushed the nights events to the back of his mind for the time been.

"Anyway, that aside, the good thing about Horcruxes is that they can be destroyed." Dumbledore explained to the visible relief of Harry.

"I see what you meant when you said all is not lost." Harry nodded as Dumbledore gave a slight smile.

"So, any idea how many he made?" Harry asked after a moment's silence.

"I am not one hundred percent sure but I believe Voldemort to have created a total of six Horcruxes." Dumbledore answered with a light smile wondering how long it would take Harry to figure it out.

"Tom Riddle's diary was one wasn't it?" Harry asked almost immediately surprising the old headmaster.

"Very good, the diary was indeed a Horcrux and thanks to you bringing it to me is what confirmed to me that Voldemort had in-fact used the method of Horcruxes to gain immortality." Dumbledore explained with a smile.

"Good job I thought to bring it with me that night then." Harry chuckled slightly.

"Indeed my boy, very good." Dumbledore smiled. "And I also have more good news on that front; I'm very close to discovering another hiding place that I believe contains a Horcrux inside."

"Good, good, do you know what they are; I'm assuming they aren't empty pop cans." Harry asked a moment later.

"I have I few ideas as to what they are that I shall share with you over the summer but we have a few more things to discuss before the sun rises." Dumbledore explained with a glance towards the clock.

"Fair enough." Agreed Harry after also looking at the clock and seeing that it was five past one in the morning.

"Now moving on. During the last year Sirius managed to write out a will at Gringott's." Dumbledore spoke softly and he noticed that Harry's eyes misted over slightly as he tried to hold back his emotions.

"Go on." Harry spoke in a thick voice once more.

"I witnessed the will and agreed to one of the things he put into his will." Dumbledore began before pausing for a moment. "In his will, Sirius, as your magical guardian made arrangements for you to become an emancipated minor should he die before you reached your 17th birthday."

"Emancipated minor, so that I'm legally considered an adult now?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes or you will be once Sirius's will has been read and you have signed the necessary paperwork." Dumbledore informed him with a slight smile knowing that Harry would figure out the best thing that that meant for him very quickly.

"That means I can leave the Dursley's and perform magic during the summer." Harry smiled a shark's smile at the thought.

"Yes, however, we will need to find a suitable place for you to stay at over the summer." Dumbledore replied with a smile. "I think I'm correct in saying you do not wish to return to Grimmauld Place."

"Yes sir, I would rather not return there if at all possible." Harry replied softly.

"Since there is another eight days of term left I will have to get looking for some place soon then." Dumbledore smiled.

"Why not just buy a house out in the middle of nowhere and put as many wards over the place as possible." Harry suggested after a moment's thought. "If we split the cost of the property, I could use it during the summer and the Order could use it as a safe house while I'm at school if need be."

"An excellent idea Harry." Dumbledore smiled at him. "Having an extra safe house ready will be most welcome should the first safe house become unsafe."

"Yes and it does not need to be huge, three or four bedrooms with bunk beds could easily house up to sixteen people." Harry said with excitement at the fact that he had just contributed a useful idea to the Order.

"Yes and putting a few of those wonderful Muggle sofa-beds in the longue could accommodate a few more persons." Dumbledore smiled at successfully distracting Harry from the night's events for a little while longer.

"We'll need a bloody big kitchen then." Harry laughed as Dumbledore chuckled and nodded in agreement with him.

"We will use a few expansion charms to enlarge the kitchen and put in a few more bathrooms" Dumbledore said a moment later.

"Can I Join?" Harry asked after a moment in which he plucked up the courage to ask.

"Join What?" Dumbledore asked knowing exactly what Harry was asking but wanting the lad to ask him properly as shyness and hesitating would not get you very far in the Order.

"Can I join the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry asked without missing a beat.

"Yes I believe so; you have after-all done much in the struggle against Voldemort." Dumbledore replied without hesitation.

"Thank you sir." Harry said to which Dumbledore just tilted his head. "And will you help me get stronger and ready for my final fight with Tom?" He asked quietly finally acknowledging he could not win this fight alone.

"Yes I shall begin helping you at the start of your sixth year." Dumbledore began slowly. "However, over the summer I want you to at least double your offensive and defensive spell arsenal."

"Yes sir." Harry replied with a small smile knowing he would have his work cut out for him this summer as he already knew a lot of spells in combat as it is.

"Spells every duellist needs in his/her arsenal is a good book to start with." Dumbledore said with a smile to which Harry nodded his understanding.

"Now it really is very late so off to bed with you." Dumbledore said with a smile as he handed Harry a small veil of purple potion.

"Dreamless Sleep Potion." Harry said with a grateful smile as he stood up and took the potion from his headmaster.

"Yes, enough for a good solid 12 hours sleep." Dumbledore nodded knowing that Harry needed it after every that had happened and everything they had discussed.

"Thank you sir, goodnight." Harry said before he turned and left the office for a well deserved and overdue sleep.

"What are your thoughts Severus?" Dumbledore asked the seemingly empty office when he was sure Harry was gone. Out of seemingly thin air, potions master Severus Snape appeared sat in a chair besides the fireplace.

"I think that if he keeps the attitude he showed after you told him about the Prophecy then yes we may stand a chance of winning this war." Snape replied as he got up from his chair and went to the cabinet that housed the headmaster's pensieve.

"I'll have a double." Dumbledore said as Snape opened his liquor side of the cabinet. "And what makes you say that?" He asked referring to Snape's thoughts.

"Well I did a few surface scans of his mind and the one thing that stood out to me is that he thought and I quote `if the bastard is going to take me down then I'm going to do everything in my power to take him with me." Snape explained as he walked over to the headmaster's desk and handed him a double brandy before taking a seat in the chair Harry had just vacated moments before.

"Well hopefully it will not come to that." Dumbledore said as he took a gulp of his drink.

"I think we are going to see a real change in Potter in the coming months." Snape mused as he took a swig of his own drink.

"Yes I believe you may be correct there." Dumbledore nodded as he finished off his drink. "How did Voldemort take tonight's latest setback?" he asked once Snape had also finished his drink.

"His usual shouting and throwing Crucio's around like sweets." Snape scoffed as he put his glass down. "The idiot seemed to forget that the whole thing was his big idea."

"And what of his thoughts on Harry?" Dumbledore asked with a slight chuckle at the Dark Lord's predictable reaction.

"He seems to think that Potter is becoming far too powerful." Snape answered simply as he relaxed back into his chair.

"Becoming too powerful, Harry has hardly even scratched the surface of his power yet, he'll be coming into his magical maturity this summer." Dumbledore mused quietly.

"That's what he means, beating him in a struggle at age 11, killing a basilisk at age 12, driving off a hundred plus Dementors with a full corporal Patronus at 13, winning the tri-wizard at 14 and escaping from him and thirty Death Eaters on the same night and now he's just walked into battle against twelve of his best Death Eaters and walked away almost unharmed and he has not even reached his magical maturity yet. So yes the Dark Lord is a little concerned about Potter." Snape explained all this with a huge smirk on his face as he thought about all the problems the Dark Lord was going to have and all the problems he'd already had with Potter.

"Ah well when you put it like that I see your point or rather Voldemort's" Dumbledore smiled as he too relaxed back into his chair. "I wonder what his reaction would be if he were to learn that Harry was learning duelling from Alastor over the summer and then been trained by me in his sixth year." He mused with his own smirk on his face.

"He'll probably develop a twitch of his eye or something." Snorted Snape with a real actual smile on his face that would have sent the students into a state of shock had they seen it.

"Ah then I must ask Harry and Alastor their thoughts on a little duelling training over the summer months." Dumbledore smiled knowing that not only would Mad-eye be able to help prepare Harry but it would also annoy and maybe even make Voldemort weary about facing Harry.

"Why just Potter, why not the whole Order?" Snape asked after a minute's silence. "A little duelling practice can't hurt us and may give us the edge in the long run in this war." He finished with a nod at his idea.

"A most excellent idea Severus." Dumbledore nodded back with a smile. I shall bring it up at the next meeting but for now I shall bid you goodnight as I'm rather tired." He said while stifling a yawn.

"Very well headmaster, goodnight." Snape said with a nod of his head as he rose from his chair and made his way towards the fireplace.

"Oh and Severus." Dumbledore called as Snape took a pinch of Floo-powder.

"Headmaster?" Snape asked without turning round.

"If Voldemort should develop a twitch when you inform him about Harry's possible duelling training with Alastor I want to see a copy of your memory in my pensieve." Dumbledore informed him as he stood from his desk.

"Of course headmaster." Snape replied with a snort before he vanished into the bright green flames back to his office.

End of chapter

AN: what do you think so far? Please review.