Summary: A darkness reborn and sinister secrets uncovered…years of suffering pass and a final battle ends in mystery. Waking up in a world not their own, three souls will tread a path where the evil remains the same but the future is uncertain.
A/N: This idea started as a joke between my one brother and me, became a challenge and eventually turned into a story that really has developed a mind and life of its own. I know Time travel/Alternate dimensions, is a theme that is quite popular, but I do hope I took a clichéd story idea and produced something original from it…Oh well, only time will tell.
Other Themes/Warnings: Violence (i.e. death, abuse, torture, graphic scenes etc.), possible implied sexual content, depression and implied self-abuse, other characters (Oc's), vast divergence from canon(parts of Half-blood Prince/Deathly Hallows ignored and epilogue thoroughly ignored). Canon characters acting OoC and dimension travel. Possible Yaoi and Yuri (Slash), but mostly Het.
This story is rated M for a reason. I shall reveal pairings as we progress, though there may be some that I ask your opinion. Anything that should constitute as a warning, you will most likely find it in here.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in relation to Harry Potter. This includes characters (unless they are Oc's), events (even if altered) and certain pieces taken directly from the book. Standard disclaimer will apply for every chapter.
Ghosts of Tomorrow
Prologue
January 12th 2003
Glazed green eyes stared up into a sky of dancing turmoil that rained black ash and shimmered with an unnatural emerald-gold gleam, almost as if the very heavens were alight with wild fire…
The young man felt disembodied and strangely detached; as if there was something important, something vital he had to remember… but the feeling was like oil in water, slipping through his fingers just as he tried to attain it, with no hope of ever succeeding.
"Harry!"
Amidst the loud ringing in his ears and the weary ache that had overtaken all understanding, he found himself wondering if there was really someone shouting his name-For that was his name if he remembered correctly, and if so, why did it feel as if he should know who the voice belonged to.
Need to remember. Why can't I remember?
On the other hand, maybe his mind had finally lost what sanity it had left, deciding to conjure vague, taunting hallucinations of familiarity as he slowly bled to death…and considering the hazardous events that had served to shape his whole life so far, he truly could not find it in himself to expect anything less.
Listening to strange voices…Watching flames eat the atmosphere…Letting random thoughts congest his mind while hazy memories floated around without direction…All these things happening as he surely died. Yes, Harry decided that he must have gone mad.
The quiet huff of laughter that followed that thought, was mocking and bitter.
What would the world think if they could see The-Boy-Who-Lived, now?
…
The formerly desolate village of Little Hangleton was drowning in clouds of black smoke and bright, vehement flames, the resulting aftermath of a wildly cast fiendfyre that had lost control, enveloping buildings, bodies and shrubbery for it knew no discrimination.
In the distance, a Manor that once presided on a hill like a sentinel was now nothing more than foundation littered with smoking rubble.
"Harry!"
It was here that a second young man was making his way through the endless destruction, silver eyes scanning each corner carefully while blond hair glinted almost white under the waning light of a half-moon. In his one hand, he held a wand that's tip was illuminated by a small glow while with his free arm he supported the body of a young child who clung to him in stiff silence.
The entire area was trembling with magic, swirling around without restraint as a feather did when thrown upon a wayward breeze.
It was an ill, ominous feeling that made the blond more than nervous.
Residue was something naturally expected whenever one used magic, but to sense it in this quantity, to feel its ethereal caress, made his hair stand on end. It hung around them like a stifling embrace, highly tangible yet inaccessible at the exact same time. Similar to the ever-growing cursed fire, it appeared to be almost alive.
Memories of a similar situation many years ago, assaulted the young man's mind…
Trapped in a room of towering walls and built from objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students. Fire mutating…Furious serpents, dragons and chimaera's rising and falling, then rising again, and the detritus of centuries on which they were feeding was thrown up in the air into their fanged mouths, tossed high on clawed feet, before being consumed by the inferno. The heat was a solid wall surrounding them…A thin, piteous human scream…
That very thought was daunting and bolstered all resolve to find his missing comrade as quickly as he could.
"Harry, can you hear me?"
The child sobbed quietly.
…
It should have ended five years ago, on the night Hogwarts turned into a battleground…Harry mused, his mind wandering over splintered images of the past. It was odd how reflections such as these, always seemed to occur in his moments of near-death.
On the night that students, teachers, friends and family fought to protect the school and everything that mattered most in their lives, it should have ended.
The strange orange sky continued to blaze before dull emerald orbs and Harry's thoughts tumbled on pointlessly. All the while, that constant nagging sensation of trying to recall something, clawed at the back of his mind insistently.
It was a night they fought for a better tomorrow. He mentally sighed. A night where multicolored streaks of light jetted and flashed in the sky, while blood pooled across stone floors, seeping into cracks and through the earth. The flagstones of the deserted Entrance Hall stained red.
The night fires raged roared and burned, devouring all within reach while the screams of the broken and dying cut through the air like a jagged knife.
The night they had lost so many…Fred, Remus, Tonks and little Colin Creevey being just a few. Heaps of bodies, both the enemy and allies…
Yet there was no end. What should have become the new era of peace, only turned into an extension of the world's everlasting nightmare.
...a nightmare where they soon lost everyone else.
…
"Please answer me Harry!"
Desperation and mild panic started to enter the blond figures tones, his thoughts predicting the worst possible situation and producing images of a blood-soaked body or mangled remains along with open, unseeing eyes.
It didn't help that his magic was useless due to the dregs cluttering the air, or that his animagus form could not pick up any scent, what with the acrid smell of smoke mingling with sulfur, rust and other stenches accumulated over the last few hours of fighting and bloodshed.
Ripples of icy fear coursed through him and he bit his lip, adamantly pushing these thoughts aside to concentrate on his task at hand, absolutely refusing to believe the worst unless he saw hard, substantial evidence.
He didn't have much left in this world, but the little he did, was not about to be taken away without a fight.
…
One final Horcrux…Hidden in a place that they should have expected. After all, had the dark lord not conquered the prison fortress?
A simple fact that allowed the darkness they had fought so hard to defeat, to once again, burst forth from the ashes, reborn and brimming with a malign hatred that transcended all limitations and a hunger unable to be sated.
The events that followed were unpredictable and devastating…Harry thought. Even when I had those vivid dreams…I merely brushed it off as post-war depression…Memories left to trouble his mind even though the darkness was seemingly gone…
He should have known that it was not the end. After everything he had been through, he should have known…
…
"Can you hear me Harry?" He called out as he cautiously climbed over the remains of what had once been a staircase. He was not going to give up, not when there was still a chance…not when there was still someone counting on him to be strong.
In the distance, the sun was starting to raise, barely a glow upon the horizon as it peeked from behind far-off mountains tops. Adjusting his arm slightly, he pulled the little boy a little closer.
"Please Harry, answer me...Please answer me..."
…
Now, he could honestly say it was over…Harry thought, his bizarre reflections ceasing and the reality of the situation hitting him hard.
After so many years of fighting, so many years of torment, it was truly over…and this time it was real. The sense of victory was hollow. Voldemort, Tom Riddle or the foul creature he had become in the recent years, would never return.
Harry found himself feeling dazed and numb while overhead, the golden-green blaze that decorated the sky continued to churn and swirl fiercely even as the world around him began to dim.
There were no more horcruxes, no more dark resurrections or ancient blood rituals.
He was simply gone.
Was the price worth it? A dark voice in the back of his head murmured and he found himself wanting to laugh bitterly while the world finally faded into obscurity. Of course the price wasn't fucking worth it. Losing everyone...losing everything, was not worth it…
…
"Harry, where are-"
The blond swore, coupled with the child's muffled cry as some loose debris shifted beneath his feet, causing him to stumble and drop his wand, dousing the light and throwing them into semi darkness. A second away from hitting the ground, he managed to angle his body just enough so that the child would not get hurt. Wincing at the new pain lancing through his entire left side, the figure sat up and turned to inspect his young companion.
…
However, the future was…Harry mused.
…
"Are you alright Teddy?"
The five year old nodded slightly while his fingers clenched tightly into the fabric of the blonde's worn shirt, turning white from the pressure.
"M'not hurt Draco." He murmured so softly that the older figure almost missed it.
Draco Black, who had disowned his own father in the recent years and taken on his mother's maiden name, attempted a small smile for the last remaining blood relation of his family.
"It's going to be okay Ted, I promise." He whispered gently, cupping the boy's bruised and dirt-streaked face. "Once we find Harry, we're going to get out of this hellhole."
The young boy nodded even though tears shone in his blue eyes. He wanted to scream and cry or climb under his bed and disappear for a week, but there was this need to be strong for his godfather, to be strong for Draco, despite the fear that didn't want to let him go. He understood sacrifice. He understood the world they lived in.
"I want to go home." The little boy found himself admitting quietly, regardless if that sounded selfish and knowing that his cousin would understand.
"I know." Draco whispered, latent fury bristling at the pain he could see in Teddy's face, as well the partly healed welts that were visible through ragged clothes, caused by iron-wrought silver-coated chains that had kept him prisoner before Draco could free him. A shocking testament to the cruelty that the dark lord and his servants had to offer. "I want to go home too."
A shrill cry all of a sudden echoed all around them.
…
It was worth all the suffering, all the hurting and sadness…
…
The blond tensed and wordlessly summoned his wand, but calmed down once he had created a light, finding a black falcon balanced upon a nearby wooden beam.
"Did you find him Sphinx?" He questioned his familiar, relief enveloping him when the bird trilled in a positive manner because they simply had that type of understanding between one another.
Immediately, Draco got to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily and gathered Teddy tenderly into his arms while keeping his wand aloft.
"Just a bit longer Ted." After receiving a timid nod, the blond turned towards his familiar with determination shining in his silver eyes. "Lead the way boy. Take us to Harry."
…
Even with the loss, the future deserved its freedom…Freedom from tyranny and destruction…Freedom from oppression and the evil of Voldemort, who had sought to rule everything…
…
After what felt like hours of walking, Draco felt his insides freeze over as Sphinx guided them over to a small hole, scorched and smouldering at the edges. The sickly orange blaze of magical residue shone brighter here as well, the portentous force suspended all around them in the sky, the very air and rippling across the ground.
It was intimidating.
The black falcon glided across the ruptured earth and perched himself near the smaller of two bodies.
"Oh Merlin, no…"
Draco rushed forward though still had enough sense to avoid the second body lying within an array of blasting, dark fire and containment runes, drawn from blood.
Burnt and warped beyond recognition, the once feared Dark Lord, was now only a charred corpse with a hunk of twisted metal protruding from its mass- that could only be Gryffindor's sword- while a tarnished gold crest engraved with an ornate 'R', lay beside it oozing black sludge.
…
Maybe the casualties had been too high, and maybe the sacrifices too many, but Harry figured if the next generation could live more than a decade in peace, then it was all certainly worth it.
…A bittersweet victory.
The price had been high, far too high, and there was no way they could ever change that, but now it was over and hopefully, the future would be brighter…
The future now had a chance.
…
Crouching beside Harry's prone form, Draco let his analytical reasoning overshadow his present fear as he set Teddy down carefully and took in the ravens' injuries.
Dark clothes were torn and stained with blood (both dry and fresh) while numerous scratches, scrapes and cuts adorned pale flesh. Bruises decorated every surface that was not abraded or bleeding, their colours ranging from yellow, purple and a deep bluish black.
These wounds were easily fixed and not in any way worrying or fatal. Harry's ebbing magical core, on the other hand, had him mentally cursing in every language he had ever been forced to learn.
Harry Potter was fading quickly.
…
"Harry, please answer me!"
It was cold and the lack of feeling was starting to spread, but the shadows seemed to be fading away slowly. It was odd because he was almost positive that he had been about to die just minutes ago.
The voice sounded worried, but for what reason, Harry could not understand. A new, prickling sensation washed over him, though instead of causing more damage it soothed the aches and pains, countering the chill that invaded every inch of his being.
The nagging sense at the back of his mind returned to an unusual extent.
"You need to snap out of it Harry!" The voice whispered urgently, filling Harry with a sense of familiarity and warmth.
As if waking from a trance, he suddenly wondered why he was hurting so much and why the voice filled him with happiness. Then he felt shame. Why was he simply lying here and not doing as they requested? Why was he going to allow himself to die?
You know why…The darkness surrounding him seemed to bristle and Harry shivered as the numb feeling made its return.
"Harry…Please…"
The darkness flickered but the numb sensation barely wavered. It would be so easy to let go, to let his conscious fade completely…
Had it come to this? Harry thought in slight wonder. After living through years of pain and suffering, was he really just going to give up? Was he just going to let himself die?
Maybe…He would.
The shadows coiled tauntingly and an image of Ginny appeared before him. She looked the same as when he had last seen her, dressed in her Hogwarts uniform and a gleaming head girls badge pinned on the front, her red hair forming a fiery halo around her and blazing brown eyes meeting his tenderly as she boarded the train for her final year at school.
The otherworldly likeness beckoned to him, smiling and Harry felt the dull pull tighten as his heart ached to join her.
If I let go…He mused. If I let go, I can see her again after all these years…I can see all my family again. Yet as soon as those thoughts made themselves known, another reflection sprung forward, this one of Ginny glaring at him with her hands on her hips, reminding him uncannily of Molly, the Weasley matriarch in the peak of her rage.
His heart stuttered at her blood-soaked clothes and tell-tale signs of torture.
Don't you dare! Her voice rang out around him in clear, sharp tones despite her apparent injuries. Don't just give up because you can! Don't just give up for me...
Harry wanted to protest, to demand the right to join her and the ones he loved, but that idea died seconds after it formed. There was still a chance for life. He could feel it pulsing in the corner of his mind, flickering like a candle about to wane…Faint, but still there.
There was a chance for him to go back and he was just going to give up? How could he do that when there were countless people who would give anything for that kind of chance? When he knew, that even though people were waiting for him in the afterlife, there were also people waiting for him in actual life.
Ginny's ghost smiled at him sadly, as he reached this conclusion and yet, she seemed to be urging him forward at the same time.
Go on…
Harry watched Ginny's form fade and allowed himself a moment of sorrow before steeling his nerves and embracing the wavering flicker of life that bordered his edge of thought.
No giving up now…It's time to live.
…
Draco had healed all the damage that he could find but Harry had yet to respond, and if it were not for the faint heartbeat beneath his fingertips, the blond would swear the person lying in front of him was dead.
"Harry, I don't want to apparate us out of here." The blond murmured, pulling on his last reserves of magic and whispering another healing spell over the raven, hoping the urgency would somehow reach through this catatonic state. "It's not safe."
Draco glanced at the sky that still gleamed menacingly before turning back towards Harry's limp body. Teddy was clutching the ravens hand tightly, his bottom lip tremulous as he held back the tears threatening to fall from anxious blue eyes. Sphinx let out a soft warbled note that seemed to voice his own sorrow and worry.
"Why won't he wake up?" The little boy questioned softly. Draco found he was unable to answer. Instead, he simply refocused upon healing his friend as much as he could, one hand tightly clasped around the silver pendant he wore around his neck-a gesture of habit and nothing else.
The remnants of magic that still clouded the air, bothered him more than he would like to admit…Add in the uncontrollable fiendfyre still decimating the town, Harry's unresponsive coma-like appearance and the frightened six year old who had experienced far more than he ever should, resulted in Draco thinking he was more than entitled to feeling absolutely scared shitless.
A few muffled sobs and the blond snapped slamming his fists into the raven's chest.
"Potter! Wake up!"
"W-wow, back to surnames are we?" Came the hoarse and sudden whispered response causing Draco to jerk in surprise. "And I thought we had finally grown past all that."
"Harry!" Teddy murmured quietly, furiously rubbing away tears.
"Half your fucking blood is staining the ground and you're making a damn joke!" The blond growled as anger and disbelief mixed with relief and he stared into mildly confused green eyes.
He honestly had not expected any results after that reckless move, but still didn't understand what exactly had been wrong with his friend.
"You going to help me up or stare at me all night?"
Rolling his eyes slightly, Draco helped the raven to his feet slowly, grabbing his friend's holly wand that lay beside him and saying with a smirk. "Technically, it's morning." He would have to remember to question the raven about his condition later, once they were truly home safe.
"Whatever."
"Is he really gone?" Teddy asked quietly, needing to know.
"Yes and so is the final Horcrux." Harry answered not needing to ask whom his godson was referring to, since there was only one other body close by. "He's never coming back Teddy."
"Good riddance." Draco muttered, throwing Harry's one arm over his shoulder in order to support him better, while Teddy nodded avoiding eye contact with the black remains as he took hold of his godfather's free hand, gripping it tightly as if he was suddenly going to disappear. "But before we think of celebrating, we should leave in case this excess magic decides to go feral."
"Yeah." Harry agreed eying the orange stain amongst murky clouds and casting one last regretful glance at the remains of Gryffindor's sword. "Let's get out of here."
They began the slow, arduous trek out the crevice and Sphinx once again took flight, though soared just above their heads, as if he too could sense the instability that shivered warningly around them.
A noise on his right, almost like a cannon going off, made Draco flinch. The orange haze was glowing brighter and buzzing with unbridled energy, which spun and vibrated continuously.
"Why hasn't it begun to die away yet?" Harry could only shrug in response to the question. "Maybe the area can't absorb the entire backlash?" He offered quietly.
"Then maybe you went a little overboard in your duel." Draco retorted squinting guardedly at the sky and then taking in the immediate area with a worried frown. "I know it wasn't me who used this much magic and I had to face the remaining dregs of dark lord fanatics."
"Be safe rather than sorry." Harry simply said quoting a phrase that had become one of their favorites over the years.
Draco smiled wryly despite the- I'm about to fall down a hole, feeling he now had. "I definitely can't argue with that one mate."
In the next instant, the world exploded and a white light dotted his vision. He heard Harry's' pained groan, Teddy's loud cry and Sphinx's surprised shriek, while heat seared his skin and everything seemed to spin. Draco felt himself be thrown back, slamming into the remnants of what used to be a wall. Then agonizingly, he fell face-first into the ground below.
What the f-
Draco blinked his eyes hurriedly, trying to restore his vision. His ears still rang from the unexpected blast that had just occurred and being half-blinded left the blond feeling close to helpless…He heard Harry call out and shakily answered.
"I'm here."
"You alright?" Harry asked as he reappeared in the blonde's line of sight, looking rather worse for wear and holding Teddy closely to his chest. Sphinx was seated upon Harry's shoulder; fine save for a few singed feathers and the fact that his talons were pressing rather tightly into the ravens shirt and skin.
"Other than the fact that I feel as if a giant just pummeled into me, I'm peachy." Draco muttered getting to his feet, wincing when his right leg protested to the movement. "And you two?"
"Fine." Harry reassured him though Draco still studied them carefully anyway. "Seems like my shield charm was still activated and we just got a little jostled from the impact."
Draco glanced at the small black runes upon Harry's right wrist that were visible and outlined by a faint silvery-white glow. Several rune tattoos that he also had and that were imbued with assorted enchantments and abilities.
"That's so unfair…" He grumbled wincing at the ache now spreading though his limbs. "I used up my shield earlier when trying to get Ted and myself out of the fiendfyre and up here to find you."
Teddy, despite his fear, couldn't help but giggle (somewhat hysterically, he might add) at his cousin's irritated tone.
"We really need to expand the amount of times we can use it." Harry said thinking over the embedded shield charm they had created to withstand almost anything (save the infamous killing curse, of course), and how it's only flaw was that you could not have it up for more than two hours per day, less you wished to drain your magical core and life force at the same time. "Obviously there are some situations where one just simply isn't enough."
"Tch, like we were expecting residual magic to detonate on us?" Draco deadpanned.
Another explosive sound drew their attention and the two older figures abandoned their conversation immediately.
"Let's leave before something irreversible happens."
The small explosions began to grow quickly, in size and number as they tried to leave, and then suddenly the runes upon the ground started pulsating violently while strands of luminescent light flickered, twisting and churning within the drafted arrays from the previous battle. All around them, the air lessened and the magic increased in overpowering folds of foul acidity, tearing at their skin, souls and every fiber.
Teddy whimpered and Harry pulled him closer while Draco cast the boy a worried glance, before looking Harry in the eye.
"I knew this was anything but good. At this rate, we're going to end up as some malformed substance locked up in the Department of Mysteries and experimented on." He declared furiously. "I know it's risky but I'm going to try apparate us out of here."
"I don't know…" Harry began unsure, thinking at once, of how badly the residue and apparition might react to one another, yet was cut off by another sudden burst of magic, too close for his comfort or liking. Teddy let out a startled sob that made up Harry's mind for him and without voicing the rest of his concerns; he nodded towards his blond comrade. "Alright."
Draco moved quickly, taking hold of Harry, while he tightened his grip upon Teddy, apparating just as a large explosive wave of energy washed over them.
There was a violent tug similar to the sensation of apparition, but then it was pulling harder and suddenly they were burning, freezing and melting all at once. Screams echoed, fusing together in their agonized cacophony. Pain followed, excruciating, harsh and cleaving through every nerve- and blood, so much blood that they surely could not be alive any longer…
Then absolute darkness.
What had once been Riddle Manor now only held the shell of a vanquished evil that would never rise again and the radiant vestiges of an effervescent flaming energy, which continued to dance through the air even as the sun fully rose and cast its golden rays across the smouldering village. It would dissipate slowly and no one would ever know about the wild magic that had torn the world's very fabric apart, effectively causing three people to vanish without a trace.
The black falcon circled the air slowly, letting out a long, sorrowful cry...All would mourn the souls departed.
June 15th 1996
A strong force rippled through the air and the entire world shuddered under the pressure of the foreign energy, other than that though, it went mostly unnoticed. However, there were those who felt the disturbance and one of them had bright blue eyes that shone with years of knowledge and wisdom, a feat acquired through age and experience.
From within his office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore went to stand by the window with a wary frown adorning his usually tranquil features. On his perch, Fawkes the phoenix chirruped softly as if to offer comfort to his concerned master.
"Something has happened Fawkes. Something has altered our world's balance." The elderly wizard murmured to himself. "Though what it is, I cannot be sure…but…"
"As if we need any new surprises in this day and age…" A voice commented sarcastically and Dumbledore turned around with a small smile. "…Because obviously an egomaniac certainly isn't enough for us."
"Hush now Phineas." The old man chided feeling mildly amused as he approached the portrait of a stern-looking man with refined features. "I didn't necessarily say it was a bad thing, did I now?"
Phineas Nigellus snorted while crossing his arms with an indignant huff. The dozen other portraits that decorated the walls remained silent during the exchange.
"Like that's supposed to comfort me." The most infamous Headmaster Hogwarts had ever known, retorted blandly.
Albus eyes twinkled, a rare occasion given the current dark times, while he took a seat once again behind his desk and clasped his wrinkled hands together thoughtfully.
"Though we live in dark times, Phineas…The future is never lost until we let it be."
A/N: This obviously takes place five years after the Deathly Hallows and as you all see, the epilogue never happened (or never happens?). Everything will be explained as the story progresses and the events that occurred (along with how Draco and Harry became friends), will all be revealed in due course.