Harry woke up, which is interesting considering one does not generally wake up when one has died. He looked around. Finally, he said, "Where am I?"
YOU ARE HERE, said Death. Harry replied with, "Well, yeah, but where is here?"
WHO KNOWS? IN ANY CASE, I AM HERE TO ESCORT YOU, MR. POTTER.
"Where to?"
WHY, TO YOUR FINAL RESTING PLACE OF COURSE. YOU ARE DEAD, MR. POTTER.
"Oh," was all Harry said. He had been doing a lot of thinking lately, and he (and apparently Dumbledore as well) had come to the conclusion that he was a horcrux. Or rather, his body was. He was slightly disappointed to find out that by letting Voldemort kill him, Voldemort had actually killed him. Harry knew there was some irony in there, but he didn't feel like finding it. It was, after all, rather depressing to find yourself dead after so many years of being alive.
Of course, Harry knew that it was a slim chance that he would come out of this whole ordeal alive, but he had really been hoping that Voldemort's killing curse would have killed only the piece of soul residing in his body. Then, he could go on about finishing the Dark Lord off once and for all. Alas, it appeared somebody else would have to do it.
Harry suddenly realized how very tired he was.
"That's odd," Harry said to himself. Death heard, and asked, WHAT'S ODD? Harry replied, "If I'm dead, how can I be tired? I thought that stuff wasn't supposed to happen here."
YES, IT IS RATHER ODD, Death concurred. He continued, TELL ME, DID YOU PERCHANCE HAPPEN TO RETRIEVE THOSE LITTLE TRINKETS I GAVE THOSE BROTHERS SO LONG AGO?
"The Deathly Hallows?" Harry asked.
MMM, QUITE.
"Yeah, I had 'em for all of two minutes."
Death appeared to study Harry for a little while and then said, THE LENGTH OF TIME ONE OWNS THEM DOES NOT MATTER. WHAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU EVEN HAD THEM. YOU SEE, HARRY, YOU ARE THE MASTER OF DEATH. I OBEY YOU.
This revelation completely floored Harry. The implications of what he'd been told were astounding to believe. Finally, Harry slowly said, "So, since the time you gave the Peverell brothers the Hallows, there hasn't been a Master of Death at all, right?"
INDEED, Death replied. YOU ARE THE VERY FIRST MASTER OF DEATH, HARRY. WHAT YOU DO WITH THAT POWER IS UP TO YOU.
Harry waited for Death to continue, but Death wasn't saying anything.
"What? That's It?" Harry asked, shocked. "No warnings for me to be careful with it?"
I REITERATE: WHAT YOU DO WITH THAT POWER IS UP TO YOU. THERE IS NO 'LIGHT' OR 'DARK' HERE. IT IS ONLY DEATH. WHO YOU CHOOSE TO KILL IS YOUR CHOICE, AND YOURS ALONE.
"So wait," Harry began. "I can choose to have anyone on the planet killed? And you'll do it?"
PRECISELY. HOWEVER, ONCE THEY'RE DEAD, THEY'RE DEAD. THERE'S NOBODY GOING BACK BECAUSE YOU DECIDED YOU DIDN'T WANT THEM DEAD. WE'RE NOT GODS, ALTHOUGH WE ARE CLOSE.
"Whoa," was all Harry could manage. Suddenly he remembered what even brought up this whole conversation.
"So, what's this whole 'tiredness' thing, then?" He asked.
YOU ARE TIRED BECAUSE YOU HAD A LONG DAY. DYING CAN DO THAT TO A PERSON. HOWEVER, YOU ARE NOT STRICTLY DEAD. At Harry's confused look, Death elaborated.
YOU ARE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ALIVE AND DEAD. YOU ARE BOTH, BUT YOU ARE NEITHER, ALSO. Harry was still confused so Death expounded some more.
YOU HAVE ASPECTS OF BOTH WORLDS-THE BEST OF BOTH, IF YOU WILL. YOU REQUIRE ENERGY, BUT NOT A LOT. BECAUSE OF THAT, YOU MUST SLEEP FROM TIME TO TIME. HOWEVER, YOU DON'T NEED TO EAT. THIS IS BECAUSE YOUR BODY IS, BY ALL DEFINITIONS, DEAD. IT'S MORE LIKE YOU'RE IN STASIS AND YET NOT. IT'S RATHER HARD TO EXPLAIN, AND I'VE NEVER HAD TO EXPLAIN IT BEFORE. I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE I EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT I AM EXPLAINING, MYSELF.
Harry looked at Death for a little while. He was deep in thought about what he should do. Should he just order Death to take Voldemort? Could he even do it with the snake still down there? Maybe Ron or Hermione could complete our task, he thought. They could kill the snake and then I could send Death to get Riddle. Yes, that could work.
Harry finally said, "So, Death."
Death looked over at Harry and replied, HMM?
"Would you be able to get Voldemort right now?"
NO. HE IS STILL ANCHORED. I CANNOT RETRIEVE HIM.
Then Harry had an epiphany. He smiled as he said, "What about Nagini?"
I KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING WITH THIS. UNFORTUNATELY, I CANNOT TAKE NAGINI, EITHER. SHE IS THE ANCHOR AND THUS PART OF VOLDEMORT. I CANNOT TAKE A PART OF VOLDEMORT JUST AS I CANNOT TAKE ALL OF HIM.
Harry's face fell. "Oh," he said lamely. "Hey, Death?"
YES?
"Can I see my parents?" He was getting excited. He hoped that this, at least, was something he could do. He continued with more names. "And Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, and Cedric as well?"
YES. THAT IS SOMETHING I CAN DO FOR YOU.
Then, Harry thought of how he was probably on a different plane than the 'regular dead.' What if it hurt them to bring them here? Harry must have said the last sentence aloud because Death replied, IT WON'T HURT THEM, HARRY. ALL I DO IS CREATE A BODY LIKE YOURS FOR THEM AND PUT THEM IN IT. IT'S VERY SIMPLE AND QUITE PAINLESS, I ASSURE YOU. THEN, ALL I HAVE TO DO IS GIVE THEM A SLIGHT 'PUSH' AND THEY LEAVE THE BODY AND GO BACK TO THEIR PLANE.
"If you say so," Harry replied. "Let's get started, please."
VERY WELL, THEN. All of a sudden, seven somewhat nondescript bodies appeared. They slumped over with a slight 'flump.' Next, all the bodies started changing. Non-existent features became cheekbones, jaw-lines, and noses. Hair grew on the bald scalps. There was a head of flame-red hair. Fred! Harry thought. Next he noticed Sirius's long black hair, and then Remus's Shorter, brown hair. Then he saw Cedric's well-kempt hair, then Tonks's familiar bubblegum-pink hair, then he saw the two people he wanted to see most. His mom and dad were standing already while everyone else was still forming. He rushed over to them and swept them into huge hugs. His father chuckled while his mother was in tears seeing her son again. Harry, himself, had a few tears pooling in his eyes as he looked upon the two people he had known the least and yet missed the most.
While Harry was catching up with his parents, Death spoke up saying, I HATE TO BUTT IN ON THIS REUNION, BUT IT WOULD SEEM THAT NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM IS RUSHING ONTO THE FIELD TOWARDS THE SNAKE. YOU MAY WANT TO SEE THIS.
They did want to see it, so they all headed towards Death to watch with him. They saw Neville charge up to Nagini with the sword of Godric Gryffindor and behead her in one stroke. Harry looked at Death and said, "You know what to do." Death replied with, INDEED, I DO.
With that, Death was gone. Lily looked at her son and asked him, "Honey, what was that about? Did you just give Death an order?" Harry looked sheepish.
"Um…yes, mum. I did just give Death an order." He looked up into his mother's eyes. My eyes. "I'm sort of the Master of Death."
"…So, you mean to tell me," Lily was saying, "that, because you had all three Hallows, you became the Master of Death?"
Harry adopted a matter-of-fact tone and said, "That's the long and the short of it."
It was at this time that Death made his reappearance and reported, IT HAS BEEN DONE. TOM RIDDLE IS NO LONGER IN THE MORTAL REALM OR EVEN THE IMMORTAL REALM. HE IS NO MORE.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He might not be able to go back, but at least he could save his remaining friends. Peace had been restored to Great Britain and thus the wizarding world. He could finally move on. Harry suddenly realized that his entire life, he'd virtually been a ghost. There, but not really there. Always focused on one thing: the destruction of Voldemort. Now that he was gone, Harry could finally move on. There was but one thing left to do.
"Death?" Harry asked.
YES, was Death's reply.
"Would you send me on, now?"
OF COURSE.