Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. This is an amateur, non-profit work. I write for my own enjoyment.
Chapter 1: Dying
It wasn't his mistake, he kept yelling. He didn't mean to do it; he really doesn't know what had happened. How did he suddenly end up on the rooftop when trying to escape Dudley and his gang? He was so relieved to finally escape the beatings from the 'Harry Hunt'. Little did he know that the punishment from his little escapade was worse than the punches from Dudley and his gang.
Uncle Vernon was there waiting for him when he sneaked back home late in the evening. Dudley of course had told his Dad about his freaky occurrence. And told him that all his gang saw what had happened.
"It's true, Dad, we all saw him! We were chasing him but he was getting away so I told Perks and Mint to wait at the end of the hallway. We cornered him and I'm about to punch him and suddenly he went poof! He disappeared! We looked all around but then we saw him at the rooftop. He's so high up and about to fall, and the janitor had to climb and fetch him down and they all make a fuss…"
That was the final straw. A lot of people saw his freak occurrence. People will ask around and Vernon couldn't stand it anymore. Why did he have to take care of this freak? Why did life got so complicated? He didn't deserve this! He didn't want anything to do with those kind of people, isn't it enough he took the freak in?
Harry cowered. It was worse than he thought. Vernon had never used a golf club to hit Harry before. It was usually the belt, or his fists, or the saucepan, or things from the kitchen. But Harry found the golf club was worse. It was made of metal, and the club was very, very thick. Harry put his arm to cover his head from the onslaught. He thought he heard Aunt Petunia shouting something. It was like Vernon had totally lost control. Harry was yelling, apologizing, anything to stop the swing of the golf club. His back was still stinging, and suddenly he heard, feel, his right arm break, and while he was still numb from all the pain, suddenly the golf club make contact with his exposed forehead and he feel his skull crack and his vision went black. He blissfully didn't feel anything anymore.
From far away, he heard a voice.
{Potter, wake up! You've got to let me help you!} The voice was frantic.
Harry tried to open his eyes but winced. His head was throbbing in pain. Harry groaned. He was slumped on the floor, and by the feel of it, he most probably inside his cupboard... All his body was on fire, and his head feels like splitting into two. Harry guessed that it probably had. He felt like his consciousness was slipping again.
{For goodness sake! Dying at the hand of a muggle of all things... Just wake up, Potter!}
'Who is that?' Harry thought. 'Just let me sleep, I can't stand it anymore… It's too painful…'
{Look, Potter, I can help you, but you've got to let me. I don't want to die, believe me, we both don't want to die! I can make the pain go away. Just let me help, and keep talking to me!}
Harry jerked awake as the voice all but yelled the last sentence.
{Yes, you heard me. I can make the pain go away. Trust me. Just trust me. It will feel painful one last time, and the pain will slowly go away…}
The voice was inside his head. It kept repeating itself. It was hypnotic and soothing. Perhaps he was going insane. Perhaps he was dying and that was the voice that will guide him to the place where all dead people go. Where his parents were.
He let go. He trusted that voice.
The pain suddenly intensified. His head! It was like his head split open into thousands of pieces and all kinds of things were trying, forcing to get into his head… His whole, bloodied, broken body suddenly jerked and everything went black again…
He woke up. The pain was bearable now, but his head still feel on fire, but he didn't feel anything else…
He opened his eyes. He looked down at his bloodied arms.
{Look, I've interfered with the nerve signal a bit so you can't feel the pain. It's only temporary and I still need to heal you. Hold your head, yes, there...}
Harry touched his forehead where his head throbbed. The skin was torn opened and blood was trickling into his fingers. The voice asked him to repeat certain phrases, words that Harry's muddled mind couldn't understand and suddenly there was some kind of prick, an intense pain and just as suddenly the skin was sewn shut and the blood stop trickling. The voice kept repeating instructions, and Harry listened and followed faithfully, all the while thinking that he must still be dreaming.
Author's Note: More on the story
This is my first attempt at multi-chapter fic. This story is inspired from the 'Joined Souls Challenge' by ChAOtiC ReApEr. It explores the question "what would have happened if Harry's soul and the part of Voldemort in him merged?"
There were several fics that have answered this challenge and I'm trying to write my own version. However, I'm still not sure how much of the requirements that I'll follow. This will be a Grey!Harry, as well as student-mentor relationship between Harry and Voldemort. There will be NO slash. It will be a very slow-paced fic; you have been warned.