Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Everything begins with his death.
Harry stands at the outskirts of Hogwarts. All around him, the battle rages, and he catches sight of his friends fighting the Death Eaters.
Suddenly, his friends begin to fall as the onslaught becomes too much. First he sees Percy taken down by three Death Eaters, then Ginny is hit by a jet of light, then Ron falls, and finally, Hermione is brought down by the Lestrange brothers.
"How do you feel now, Harry Potter?" Voldemort spits out at him, circling him as Harry's friends continue to die.
"I can still defeat you," he bluffs.
Voldemort looks at him condescendingly and indulgently. "You foolish little boy," he whispers almost sadly. "Avada Kedavra."
His body slumps limply to the ground.
But he is more clever than most, and he manages to escape from the Underworld and cheat Death.
For now.
He opens his eyes, and finds himself on the outskirts of Hogwarts again. Shocked, he rubs his eyes, expecting to see, well hopefully heaven, at the very least something else, but there's nothing but the battle.
He stands stunned.
This is a second chance.
He can fix things, fix everything.
Quickly, he springs into action and begins taking out the Death Eaters that killed his friends.
Flash after flash of red light hits the Death Eaters, but still his friends die.
He sees Ginny's still face frozen in a snarl of defiance, Tonks' bubblegum pink hair entangled with Lupin's arms, and Ron's lifeless body on the stairs.
Off in the distance, he spots Hermione, holding her own against a half dozen Death Eaters, and he runs to her, thinking he can at least save her.
There's a flash of green light, and the last thing he hears is "You foolish little boy."
Death holds him again, but, no matter, he'll be able to escape.
He always can.
He wakes up again, and he runs towards the battle determined to set things right.
This time he knows exactly what to do.
But it's the same: dead bodies everywhere, that flash of green, and those words "You foolish little boy."
He strains against the boulder and pushes it ever closer to the top of the hill.
He's so close he can taste it.
Again, he's back at the outskirts of Hogwarts.
Now he doesn't even bother stunning the Death Eaters; he just kills them, but it doesn't matter.
His friends die anyway, and so does he.
The boulder rolls down the hill, but he knows he can get it next time.
Again and again, he comes back.
He's seen his friends die so many times that he's almost immune to the sight of their cold dead faces.
He almost wishes he could join them in peaceful death.
He pushes the boulder up again and again. He can't stop, not now, not when there's still the tiniest bit of hope he could succeed.
There's always a next time, and he always thinks he has it, that he's hit upon the solution to finally defeat Lord Voldemort.
That this time, there's a happy ending.
But there's only death, and all happy endings are gone.
He begs Death to release him, and even tries to run.
There's no use.
He's stuck here forever.
When he closes his eyes, he sees their faces always, still and cold, and this time he'll do it, this time it'll work.
Except it never does.
He's thought about running, but he knows he never could.
Because even if there are infinite universes where they die, he will spend eternity finding the one where they live.
Panting, he shoves the boulder up the hill. Maybe this time he'll finally make it.
He comes back again and again, but he can't save them, and they always die.
They always die.
A/N: This was inspired by "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," a great fanfic by liesymth about the Game of Thrones universe. Check them out and please review!