Chapter One:

It Takes Patience

This is the sequel to It Takes A Village. Some parts of this story will follow the original story plot line (Half Blood Prince) while many other parts will be twisted and flipped to fit ITAV plot.

Warnings: CP, language, sexual relations (much more than the first story), OOC, AU, death of a character, and angst.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (if I did I could afford college without going in debt).

A/N: I hope you enjoy this new journey with me.

Savoren.

Minerva smiled as she entered Harry's bedroom and saw his sleeping form. At some point in the night Harry had managed to turn his body horizontally on the bed and all of his pillows and blankets fell off and were now a heap on the floor.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Minerva patted his leg. "Come on, Harry. Last day of summer school!" Her smile grew and she began attacking him with tickles. "Come on, come on, come on! The faster you go to school, the faster your summer will start!"

Harry groaned softly and opened one eye to look at her. "Why are you so peppy?"

Minerva laughed softly. "Because it is a beautiful day and I received some exciting news this morning."

Harry sat up, a curious look on his face. "And that is?"

Pulling his blankets back, she stood from the edge of his bed and headed toward the doorway. "The twins signed the lease for their joke-shop this morning." She turned around just in time to see Harry's face light up with excitement.

"Truly?!" He jumped out of bed and hurried to his wardrobe to grab his school robes. "May I go see the shop this weekend?"

"Well, I'm sure Fred and George would show you it but the shop isn't even close to opening yet," Minerva explained softly.

Harry shrugged, "That's okay. I still can't believe Mrs. Weasley allowed them to actually drop out of school."

Minerva nodded in agreement. "Don't get any ideas, Harry."

Harry smirked and pulled on a shirt. "I'd lose my hide."

Minerva smiled and nodded her head. She opened the door and just before she closed it behind her to give him privacy, she said, "So long as you know." And with that, the door closed.

Harry laughed and hurried to finish getting dressed.

The summer has gone by quite quickly, much to Harry's relief. Summer school really isn't that bad - it's nice to have one-on-one time with his professors and he found himself enjoying every single one of his classes (even History of Magic!).

As assumed, Remus is, once again, the perfect Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and has even been giving Harry harder work than fifth years learn. DADA has quickly become Harry's favorite summer class.

The death of Sirius still gets him down but he has come to the acceptance of his passing. Even therapy has been going well for Harry - there has even been talk of stopping. Harry's therapy sessions are no longer every single day. Instead, Harry sees Charles once a week.

The only negative part of his summer so far is Olivia. Ever since they had sex a few months ago she has been writing him every day, not understanding that Harry wants nothing to do with her anymore. He has fully accepted his crush on Hermione and he doesn't want Olivia in the way. Unfortunately though, Olivia has been acting like a creepy stalker. The other night he even saw her outside his bedroom window in the forest! He recognizes that he needs to have a conversation with her to stop this nonsense but every time he tries to talk to her, she tries to shove her tongue down his throat.

"Harry hurry up!" Minerva called from the bottom of the staircase.

Harry sighed and adjusted his school tie. After one last attempt at taming his hair, he hurried downstairs to the kitchen.

Severus pushed the plate toward him, "Eat your breakfast." Once Harry started to eat, he said, "Your grandfather and I have some important matters to discuss with you after your classes are over."

Harry looked up at that, curious. "About what?"

"We will tell you later." Severus gave him an annoyed look, hoping he wouldn't press the matter.

Seeing his mother's concerned face, Harry's heart skipped a beat. This can't be good.

Minerva pushed a letter over to Harry, "You received this in the mail while you were sleeping. Before you open it though, we have even better news to tell you than the twins' joke-shop."

Severus looked disgusted with the reminder of the joke-shop but didn't comment.

Harry's frown from curiosity quickly turned into a smile at the thought of the twins' dream coming true. "What could possibly be better than that?"

Severus rolled his eyes, "Anything."

Minerva threw him a glare, "Mind yourself, Severus." Giving Harry a smile, she told him the good news. "Remus and Nymph found out the gender of the twins yesterday."

Harry's eyes shone, "Boys, right?"

She laughed and gave a shake of her head. "One boy and one girl. They even named them already. They are going to name the girl Lexy and the boy Teddy."

Harry's smile grew. "That's brilliant. This day just keeps getting better and better!"

Minerva nodded in agreement. "While you are in school today your father will be with your grandfather and I will be with Nymph. Today is the day that she is going dress shopping."

Severus forced the disgust to not show on his face. Who would think of weddings during a time like this? Who would want to bring children into this world?

Harry nodded. "Okay. Will you be home for supper?"

"I will try to be," she told him softly.

Harry nodded and opened the envelope. He immediately noticed the letter was from Ron.

Mate,

Do you remember my concerns with Ginny? I think Dean did it again. We need to do something, she won't listen to any of us. If you have any ideas, tell me.

~Ron.

Harry sighed and refolded the letter. Ron is convinced that Dean is being rough with Ginny but she has no marks and she hasn't said a word about any of it. The only ground Ron actually has for this belief is brother intuition and the fact that every single time Ginny returns home from seeing him, she locks herself in her bedroom and cries.

Severus frowned, "What is troubling you?" He pointed to the letter.

Harry's sigh deepened. "Ron is convinced Ginny is in a bad relationship."

Minerva furrowed her brow. "She is dating Dean Thomas, correct?" At Harry's nod, she looked thoughtful.

"He has no grounds though but he wants to look in to it."

"Are Molly and Arthur concerned or just Ron? You know Ron's imagination runs wild," Severus pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "I have no clue."

Glancing at the clock, Minerva stood, "Alright, you need to get to Uncle Filius before he comes looking for you. We can continue this later. I'm sure everything is fine."

"Okay. I will see you later," Harry told them before heading for the front door.

"Don't forget to go to your grandfather's after classes!" He didn't hear a reply, all he heard was the front door closing.

Minerva sighed, "How do you think he is going to take the news?"

Severus shrugged, "We won't know until he is told."

"Ah, Pansy, you are quite the beautiful flower, aren't you?" Voldemort's voice floated around his new chamber room. He reached out and gently stroked her pale face. "While others have their doubts, I, on the other hand, have the complete faith that you are the one that I need."

She closed her eyes and leaned into his cold touch. "Anything, my Lord. I will do anything for you."

Voldemort leaned forward and pressed a small, soft kiss to her trembling lips. As he pulled away, he stared at her closed eyes and whispered, "Look at me."

Immediately she opened her eyes and stared into his. "Yes, my Lord?" She could feel Bellatrix's livid stare burrowing into the back of her head. Everyone knows Bella loves Voldemort and yet, Voldemort just kissed her.

"You need to kill Dumbledore."

Staring into his eyes, she felt numb and lost. She gave a small nod of her head, "Anything for you, my Lord."

His last day of classes went smoothly, he barely did any work. Instead, his professors went over his progress and expressed their pride for his hard work. Many of them repeatedly told him that they expect his hard work the following school year as well, now that they know how hard he can study.

He found himself standing in front of the griffin as the staircase spun him upwards.

Before he even got to the door to the Headmaster's office, Albus called him in. He did as he was told and entered the poorly lit office. He moved to sit in the chair next to his fathers. He could feel the tension in the air and this only made his worries grow.

Staring at his grandfather, he asked, "What is it that you needed to tell me?"

Albus glanced at Severus before answering Harry's question. "Your father and I have quite a lot to explain to you. This past year I had come upon a great discovery. A discovery that is at the utmost importance in the fight against the Dark Lord."

Curious, Harry sat straighter in the chair. "What was the discovery, sir?"

Severus took over. "Have you ever heard of a horcrux, Harry?"

Harry frowned and shook his head.

"A horcrux is dark magic. A dark witch or wizard rips about their soul and puts this fragment in an object," Severus explained. He watched Harry's expressions closely.

Harry furrowed his brow, "Wouldn't that be painful?"

Severus sighed, thinking that pain is nothing for Voldemort. "I imagine it is. With a horcrux, dying is impossible."

Harry sighed, "What does this have to do with Voldemort?"

Severus flinched at the name but answered his question anyway. "The Dark Lord has seven horcruxes."

Harry frowned deeply at that. "So I can't kill him?"

Albus shook his head. "You can. We just have to locate and destroy all the horcruxes. You have already destroyed one." With that, he pulled out Tom Riddle's diary.

Seeing the diary, Harry immediately placed his hand where his scar is located.

Seeing this, Severus pushed away his paternal feelings and moved on with the conversation. "Once all the horcruxes are destroyed the Dark Lord will be mortal again. Your grandfather and I will be doing most of the searching and destroying."

Harry frowned, "But it's my job."

Severus shook his head, "No. Your job is be fifteen and get your training. You must be prepared to face the Dark Lord. We will use your help when we need to."

Harry forced himself not to cross his arms over his chest in a pout. "Fine."

Severus knows Harry does not like this situation but as his father, he doesn't care. I will not put him in more danger unless it is unstoppable. "I will be taking leave from my position as the Potions Professor for this following year."

Harry frowned, "What? Why? Who is taking over?"

Severus held up a hand to stop Harry's questions. "I need to find these horcruxes. I do not have time to be a professor as well. These horcruxes are more important than teaching dunderhead students that could care less about the magic of brewing."

Harry's frown deepened, "These horcruxes should be my top priority. Why am I even going back to school?"

"Did you not listen to a word I said?" Severus' tone was dangerous and he leveled him with an angry look.

Harry forced himself to stay courageous. "This is my job. I am the Boy-Who-Lived. This is what I was destined for."

"No. You were destined to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You were not destined to destroy the fragments. You must finish your education and training if you want to succeed in killing Him," Severus snapped back.

Albus raised his hand to stop the argument from continuing. "I agree with your father, Harry. Your training is important. We will keep you updated and use your help when needed. Now, to answer your question, Horace Slughorn will be filling in for your father."

"He is a brilliant Potions Master. He was my professor when I was in school," Severus explained softly.

Harry gave a small shake of his head, "Will you be gone for long?"

"No. I will be living at home and will go searching when I get lead. I will still be brewing potions for the Infirmary and will be considered a Brewer for the castle. As such, I will still be sitting at my seat at the Head Table and will be in charge of detentions (like Mr. Filch) when they are necessary."

"Does mum know?" Harry asked. He forced his worry to not appear in his voice.

Severus nodded, "Yes."

Not liking the conclusion of this conversation, Harry felt it unfair that he wasn't allowed to destroy Voldemort's soul. He understands their point on training but he still sees this situation as unfair. Standing, he looked at his grandfather, "Is there anything else you need, Headmaster?"

Albus forced himself not to feel hurt by the fact that Harry didn't call him "grandfather." He shook his head and waved to the door, "No. Do you have some place to be?"

Instead of answering, Harry turned and left the office.

Severus sighed and watched his son walk away. Raising his son to be all that he needs to be not only takes an entire village but it also takes patience. Sometimes patience is hard to come by when it comes to Harry James Potter-McGongall-Snape.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know this chapter was short but I wanted to give an explanation on what his summer has been like, introduce evil Pansy, crazy Olivia, and the horcruxes. Next chapter will be much longer, I promise.

Please leave a review and let me know how you liked it :)

Savoren.