Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Beta: LunaNotLoony

Chapter 1 Death

Very dark shadows took over the big black room. No light was shining, not even the moon which was hiding behind a dark cloud. If only there wasn't an angry nearly-dying voice whispering through the silent night, one would have thought the palace was a ghost house, empty and abandoned. "You... You betrayed... me, after all..." At that moment a small ray of the moon's light shone through the window, revealing a gory scene. A man -no- a boy, covered in pure red liquid was lying on the ground half-dead in his own blood. He didn't look scared for his life, no he wasn't a coward, instead he looked furiously, directing his death glare to the hooded man towering above him. The other man stared with his brown eyes merciless at the bloodied boy and pointed his wand at him.

"I am sorry, my lord." he said. Though his eyes looked merciless, his tone stated otherwise. "Farewell my friend... I know it's too much to ask for, but I hope you'll forgive us and will understand the reason why we did this."

The boy stared blankly at him, having no intention to forgive the man who would kill him. The other man sighed and readied himself. Behind him stood two figures hugging each other, looking whimpely at the scene. Although it could be bearly seen, tears came out and the sobbed quietly. The man tried to focus his attention on the boy and flickered his wand while whispering the incantation. "Avada Keda-" Suddenly the big wooden doors of the room opened with a loud bang. Beams of light from the hallways made its way into the room, letting half of the room bath in light. In the doorway stood a charming teen not older than sixteen breathing heavily as if he had run a marathon. He made his way to the half-dead boy on the ground and put his body like a shield in front of him so quickly that the three strange figures could barely blink.

"You, Riddle?" The man sounded surprised.

"You finally know after a few decades, blood traitor?" Tom Riddle said mockingly. Then he sneered: "So you betrayed him in the end? Was to be expected from you and Ginerva. But you too Mudblood?" Tom turned his head to the one left behind the man called Ron Weasley.

"I... I..." Hermoine tried to explain, but Ron interfered. "You knew that we would betray him, yet you wouldn't stop us?"

"Well, to be honest, I was anticipating it, but there was one thought that stopped me from concluding things, and that was the fact that he was your best friend."

"He still is." Ron muttered quietly.

"I doubt so. I'm sure Harry thinks the opposite. But you know, I won't blame this whole affair on you. If only I had taken better care of Harry and never let you so close this would have been avoided. And if only Harry hadn't been so naive to trust and underestimate you, you would have already been dead." Tom sighed and shook his head. "But we can't turn back time, can we?" Tom said sadly.

"Riddle, you talk nonsense. You should leave the past. What happened, happened already. You should focus on the present, since that's the only thing you, as therefore you won't have future. You'll both die here." Ron readied himself again.

Tom scowled. "You can't kill us. I still have my horcruxes, which you'll never find and Harry has -oh, no..." It then came to him something was very wrong. Tom panicked which he rarely did.

"Yes" Ron confirmed. "October 31st is today." Tom could have thrown his head against the wall, it was of course all planned that it would have happened today.

"Even though I can't kill you, you'll lose your body and we'll be free of you for a very long time I hope. Right now, let's continue. How long do I have left?" He asked not to anyone in particular.

"An hour, you'll have to worry." Ginny said quietly. Ron nodded understandingly.

"Are you ready for eternity?" In the moment he said that, Tom quickly took out a wristband from his robe pockets and put it in Harry's pale hands. "Hey! What are you doing?" Ron shouted. Tom didn't hear him anymore, his mind was focused on the boy. "Magis Universum." he muttered, while hoping the wristband with runes worked. He hadn't tested it before, neither was he finished, but he betted on it by praying to Fate.

"Avada Kedavra." A green spell flew through the air at topspeed and hit the target in the back. Tom fell with a stud lifeless on the ground, but not before swearing revenge. Harry who was looking at the whole scene, finally was aware of the things that were happening. He wanted to shout, to scream, to torture and bury the traitors but none of those things happened as he was roughly pulled by the wristband and disappeared into nothing.

Death sighed. He was really bored. He sat on a lone rock above a pool, staring down at the people's bodies whose souls he took. They thrashed around in the dark red water, emitting desperate screams that were muted as their death passed. Death was lonely. The dead were too terrified to speak to him, well, either that or they hated him.

He had a few friends: God, Satan, Magic, Life and Fate, but he didn't see them often. Once in a few millennia. Death wanted real company. He wanted someone who would stay with him more often than his friends. He wanted a master, a master who would live for eternity to never let him feel alone.

Also that way, he couldn't be blamed for the screams from the pool.

All of a sudden something heavy hit him. Knocked to the ground, he looked around for the thing that had fallen on him. He found himself staring into a pair of light pink eyes. It was a young girl, not older than thirteen.

"Hello Death. Sorry for my bad landing. Ouch..." The stood stood up and offered him a hand. Death took it gratefully and got up. The girl stared innocently at him and smiled brightly. "I missed you. Did you miss me too?" She put a stroke of her beautiful black hair behind her ear and then suddenly got on the back of Death, trying to pull of his hood.

"Yes, I did. Could you go off me?" Fate doubted, but got off his back in the end.

"The last time I saw your face was many millenniums ago, so can you take your hood off! I want to see your pretty face again," she smiled, while she conjured a table with hot tea on it and two chairs. She gestured Death to take a seat. Death sat on the nearest chair, while Fate flopped down in the opposite. Death sighed and took off his hood, when she mock-glared at him, her eyes turning momently into yellow slits. Fate's eye colors always changed to her mood. Taking off Death's hood revealed a nice looking boy who looked around 16. He too had black hair. Death would have been rather handsome, if it hadn't been for his crimson eyes, which scared all his 'clients'.

After blinking to adjust to the light, he asked sarcastically, "Better?"

"Yes,'' Fate said, not missing the sarcasm in his voice. She poured some tea in Death's cup and her own. Both cups were pink and decorated with hearts, which annoyed Death. It was too sweet and fluffy, which didn't suit Fate's other side, the sadistic and evil one.

"How are you doing?" He began.

"I'm fine. You, Death?'' she asked casually.

"I'm fine as well.," he smiled, though it didn't look convincing to Fate. Fate narrowed her eyes, and they became a deep blue. "I don't think so...you're still lonely." she concluded.

"Well, that's because fate wouldn't give me some company," he said mockingly.

"Well, I'm here now. So I, Fate, actually will give you some company. Here it is!" She said as if she was surprising him.

"Where?" he asked, looking at everything just to see something living. Fate's lip quivered, and she looked like she could cry every moment. "Me stupid. Am I not good company?"

"Well, no... I mean yes...well... ugh... You understand what I mean. I was just joking" Death thought Fate was just acting, but he was never sure. His stutters made Fate laugh. "You never change." Fate swung back on the chair, unable to stop laughing.

"You neither. Couldn't you just give me my master or at least tell me his name, please?" Death spat out the last word. He hated begging, but he was desperate. The please only made Fate laugh harder and she fell off her chair on the ground. Death watched, annoyed as she sat on the floor, sniggering. After a few minutes, Fate stood up and sat on her chair, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"I never thought you would say that, let alone begging. But if you really want to know, I can tell you in the near future you'll meet him." she said mysteriously as she always did when she was talking about the future. "Though." she added. "I can't be sure as it is your future we're talking about. But I can tell you that it will be interesting, like the surprising sweet futures of the other gods." Death sighed disappointed.

"Don't be sad, Death! You know, maybe I can help you to find him," Fate added. "Together, we're stronger as humans would say." Death looked suspiciously at Fate. Why would she help him? She was kind but she wouldn't mess with fates that can change easily like his. Before she knew their fate could have already changed when she offered this. Death knew Fate's help wasn't the right in lines of fate. He was sure there was something behind it.

''Why would you help me?'' he asked finally.

"Oh, come on. Don't you trust me? We're friends remember? I want to help you because your my friend!" she cried.

Death still didn't trust her, but he didn't say anything.

"You should appear before everyone, announcing that the one who will win the Triwizard Tournament of this year, will become the master of Death. You won't have to wait till someone finally gets the 3 hallows. That will happen when pig's fly, honestly. But good idea, yeah?" Fate said cheerfully, with a cocky grin. She jumped, but didn't fall to the ground like people normal did. She stood in the air looking cheekily with a hint of mystery which she had always around her.

Death thought about it. She was right; it was a good idea. The game would give him some entertainment and in the end a master and thus company. But he still doubted. "You're sure that the one who's destined to become my master will come?", he asked.

"Of course not. I already said I can't be sure about your fate. So neither the enviroment around you. But my instinct says that he will," she answered dreamily, smiling a little serenely, eyes unfocussed. Death squirmed, waiting for Fate to come out of her trance. "You know, I got the feeling you know my future master." Fate looked seriously at him, but then laughed. "No, I don't know him yet, I think. The chance is small since everything isn't pre-set. But when he is crowned as your master I'll be there too. Until then, not everything is sure." Fate smiled, flicking her dark hair over one shoulder.

"But what if it goes wrong. What if a bad person, or someone disgusting will become the winner?" he suggested.

"Then I'll take part in it." she said simply. Death dropped his mouth open. When Fate saw him surprised she huffed. "You'll catch flies. Why not? I'll try to make it to the finals and if you deem the person not worthy, I'll make sure to win, so no bad humans could give you company."

"That would mean you would be my master." Death shivered, even he was scared of something -no- someone. Even though he liked his friend, he couldn't and wouldn't want to imagine her and her scary side as his master.

"You're so mean." she rolled her eyes. "Fine. I promise to dump you as my servant. Better?"

"Yes, wait, no. Never mind, I'll take your promise." he slapped his cheeks. "What more are you planning?"

"Nothing, why?" she answered innocently.

"Cause you're always a mystery, you know. And I feel your up to something," Death sighed.

" Maybe... Well, hush. Announce it. I want some entertainment, too!" Fate smirked, and looked around. "It stinks here with these dead bodies. I'm going. I'm sure we will see each other soon. Bye!" Fate waved at him and disappeared.

"Let everything start now."

A few thousands kilometres away, the headmaster of the magic school, Hogwarts, announced the Triwizard Tournament.

Each house sat at long tables, covered in dishes, each person immersed in their activity, but the moment Dumbledore stood up, everyone fell silent. As he explained the Triwizard Tournament was a dangerous game played against two other schools, you could practically feel the tension as people glanced nervously at their neighbours- the ghosts too. Only one boy didn't pay attention to the headmaster. He sat on next to his friends at the Gryffindor table. This boy had his head in his arms and was almost asleep until he felt his friend's hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, you shouldn't sleep." Harry looked wearily up at the girl who said it. She had bushy hair, and looked miffed.

"Hmm... Oh, sorry, Hermoine," he mumbled. He turned his attention to Dumbledore and tried to concentrate, but after a few minutes his head was back on the table, and Dumbledore's speech was nothing more than a droning, rising and falling noise. He couldn't sleep for long, however, because after a minute or two there was a loud bang. Harry was immediately awake and alert.

Harry tried to search for the source the sound came from. Following the gazes of the other students, a man was standing by Dumbledore, who he didn't recognise. He was draped in pitch black robes, and his face was completely hidden under a hood. Funny, Harry thought, he looks exactly like how my image of how death looks. The man walked silently to the front of the stage, and began to speak, in a low, lazy voice. Behind him the teachers pointed their wands warily at him.

"Ladies and gentlemen. This year's Triwizard Tournament will be special. I, Death, will grand the winner of this Tournament the title of Master of Death, which also means the winner will gain immortality, power and fame. The rules are changed only this year's tournament... Everyone may try to enter, but only those who are chosen by the goblet of fire may participate. 24 people will be chosen and divided in pairs of 2. Your goal is to complete the 3 tasks and survive till the end... Only the one who is chosen by the flow of unexpectable fate will win and reveal himself as the master of death... Those who aren't the chosen... Just a tip... Befriend Fate's champion and survive... Today only you can enter the game... Only today... In order for everyone to have a chance to put his name in the goblet, I won't take your souls... So, no death's today... But only today... But let me warn you, it's better to not kill the enterers, therefore that person could be your partner and both have to survive to together reach the finals. May you get Fate's favour... Good luck..." Death slowly disappeared, leaving behind a stunned silence.

Soon everyone in Hogwarts, no, the whole world talked only about death's speech. It seemed like the voice of the so called Death was audible everywhere. All over the world people were coming to Hogwarts. The students of Hogwarts were eager to try to enter the tournament as well. A few didn't even think about the consequences of participating and threw the paper the conjured with their names in the goblet of fire as soon as possible.

The speech of Death also took Harry's and his friends attention. Harry frowned, like Dumbledore had frowned when Death came and went. "Wow, mate. So cool. Immortality. The title sounds cool too," Ron grinned, slightly awed.

"I think the title sounds ridiculous. But you're right, immortality would be good. And as Master of Death, you will be able to revive people," Hermione said earnestly. "That would be very worthwhile."

"Revive people? Why do you think that?" Harry asked, still frowning.

"Death said 'Befriend Fate's champion and survive' Fate's chosen is the one who will win. It sounded like Fate already chose a winner, but he also said she didn't with the unexpected flow part. And that survival part. I'm sure it's a killing game since there will be only 1 winner and he did say survive. If he hadn't intend to play a killing game he would have said something else instead of survive, like try to stay in the game. If you get close to the winner, the winner might consider to resurrect you. That's why the winner should be able to resurrect people out of death.", Hermoine answered.

"That sounds like a stupid theory. By the way, you don't know if that was really death. He could be an imposter," Ron snorted.

"Didn't you feel the cold aura around him? He also did not apparate. He just disappeared wandlessly and wordlessly!", Hermoine pointed out.

"Well, I admit it's a bit strange, but death has a scythe right?", Ron returned.

"Who has ever seen death? It could be made up by someone."

"Do you have any evidence of him being death. Something supernatural?!" Hermione thought about it. She smiled mischievously at Ron.

"He said no one will die today. Let's try it." Ron looked panicked. His face turning red.

"Harry wouldn't appreciate that, right mate?" Ron looked at Harry. He noticed his friend's strange expression. "Hey mate, what's wrong?", he asked caringly.

"Huh... Nothing. I'm going to get my books. I forgot them. You don't have to go with me. See you by Defense against the Dark Arts," Harry hurried out of the hall, leaving a confused and worried Hermione and Ron behind him.

Harry ran as fast as possible to his room, ignoring some students and paintings on his way. "Password?" The fat lady asked.

"The Great Lion," Harry answered.

The portrait let him pass. Harry climbed through the hole and ran towards the door of the boy's room. When he opened the door he heard a crack. He saw a man- no, a boy- lying on the ground. He looked pale, too pale. Harry slowly walked to him and knelt down to have a better look at him. He tried to get the man on his back, but before he could touch him, the man grabbed his wrist and stared with red eyes at him. Harry was horrified.

The man started to disappear. Harry didn't manage to bring out a word. The stranger looked softly at him and even smiled a sad smile. "Harry..." the man managed to say, before he disappeared leaving only a pool of blood and a bracelet behind.

You wouldn't expect it after I put this on hiatus, but I edited! I did it! I hope it's better now, there are some small changes in the plot and big ones in my writingstyle and grammar. I'm going to rewrite chapter 2 as well and hope chapter 3 will come soon, since I do have the inspirating for it now, but not the time.