He should be afraid – he knew that – but he wasn't. He should be sad – he also knew that – yet again he was lacking that emotion. Indeed, there were quite a few things Harry Potter should have been feeling as he tramped intentionally through a nightmarish forest towards his death, yet he was quite happily free of those pesky emotions.
There was one – and only one – thing he felt with and intensity what-so-ever, and that was relief. Finally, after more than seven years (his time with the Dursleys didn't count), this was going to end. Perhaps not the way he'd wanted, but even in death Harry would be fighting, killing the piece of Voldemort within himself.
Surely, then, it was acceptable for him to feel this amazing relief at not having to run anymore. No more running, no more fighting, no more riddles and doors with danger hidden behind them. No more fame and loneliness – just peace. Hell, if someone had read Harry's mind right before the jet of green hit his chest they would have found a content boy hidden there, welcome and ready for Death to take him.
But Harry Potter didn't die – at least, he had the choice not to. And despite the fact that he was ready; despite the fact that life meant delving back into the shadowy world of false friends and undesired fame, he chose to live.
Since the minute he had entered the Wizarding world, Harry had done what he was expected to do. Sure, he raised hell and made a religion out of doing stupid things, but that was expected – he was a teenage boy, after all. Therefore, even in death – or whatever it was that came before the actual point of no return – Harry did what he knew the world expected of him: he lived.
He let go of heaven for eighty more years so that the world could have the hero it so desperately needed. Then when the time came for the great Harry Potter to depart this world for the final time, he – like his ancient ancestor Ignotus Peverell – greeted Death like an old friend.
A/N: A bit odd, I know, but I have to say that I'm actually quite proud of this. It turned out rather well for something written in the back of my Maths notebook ;P I'd love to hear what you thought of it!