A/n: Well hello, before people freak out, no I'm not stealing this story, nor has it been adopted. I'm Addicted-to-the-madness, now under the name SlashyJazz.
Summary: Alfred Pennyworth had believed that he would remain alone for the rest of his natural life. No wife, no child to call his own, but by chance he receives an anonymous tip that he has a grandson. A grandson named Harry Evans. AU, Slash Bruce/Harry
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Batman.
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"A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me."
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
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Chapter One
Harry was floating. That was the only explanation of what he was currently experiencing. The feeling of nothingness, the sight of nothing for miles, everything was just… empty. And surprisingly he felt calmer than he had in years. Just floating in the black abyss, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, touching nothing. Just… existing.
He hadn't been so calm maybe since birth, he sure as hell didn't have any peace with the Dursleys, he had none when he entered Hogwarts; with all the fighting-for-his-life bit. He had felt a small feeling of peace when the constant presence of Voldemort had left his head, the Horcrux finally destroyed and giving him a moment, just a moment of serenity before he knew nothing.
He assumed he got hit by a killing curse or something just as fatal, and while he knew he should be furious, should be screaming about the unfairness of it all. Honestly? He didn't mind. To be dead meant free of responsibilities. No one knew his name in death, no one was going to try to murder him for simply being alive, no old bastard to manipulate him, no friends to abandon then choose to side with him for glory, no persistent girls just wanting him because of his name. Nothing of the sort. And he loved it.
That nothingness. That relief of being no one. He craved it like a hunger.
Harry snorted because he didn't know if it was funny or quite sad that the only time he got peace was when he was dead. The saying never ran so true. Harry sighed and closed his eyes and simply let his body be. He didn't know how long he had been floating but the urge to open his eyes became an itch and soon he looked and nearly jumped out of his corporal skin. Hovering, because suddenly the floating had seemingly stopped and he now stood directly before whom he assumed was Death.
Neither man, nor woman, the person? Because that was the face it was sporting. The face of an androgynous person, and he couldn't tell any further because it wore a cloak that was too baggy to identify the sex. As abruptly as the figure appeared, the shape changed to that of what he had always guessed what Death had looked like. A hooded figure with a scythe and skeletal hands.
"Does this please you Master?" The voice asked, once again not gender identifiable. Harry raised an eyebrow at the… being/creature/thing who had just called him Master, and for once he just let it be. Not questioning anything just accepting.
"You can change into whatever shape you please, it doesn't bother me" Death tilted its head and a giggle echoed in the black space.
"I am what you want me to be Master, a female" the figure changed again to a beautiful redhead with green eyes and a sweet smile, her voice soft "A male" this time it changed to a man with curly black hair, high cheekbones and a wide grin with warm grey eyes before it morphed back into the hooded figure. "Anything you please Master"
Harry simply stared before he shrugged. "What happens now? Do I pass on? Isn't there supposed to be a light.. Or maybe flames or something? Or is this it?" Because really, he may not have been religious despite his aunt trying to wring it in his ears - literally, but he expected something well… more.
"You are my Master. You have power over Death. If you choose you can return to the moment you died and change its outcome, or you could return to a moment in your life, perhaps your birth and relive your life once more, or you could pass on as you said, and be reincarnated as someone else"
Harry perked up at that, the first two options hardly appealed to him, but the final one. "How so?"
Death leaned forward, and the skeletal hand brushed his hair aside and caressed his cheek. "Another Harry, another life, another outcome, another chance. If you choose this, you will lose all memories of this Harry Potter, all memories of friends, family, tragedy, hurt… sadness. You will be new once more, a new Harry." The voice was soft and a bit raspy but he sensed the gentleness in it.
"The final option" he didn't hesitate. To go back would be to lose his peace, to go back would mean more hurt, more deception, more disappointment. But to go forward would be another adventure. Death never said it would be easy, and he wouldn't delude himself in thinking so, his life, his past life seeing as he was dead wasn't easy so why should his future one be?
"Are you sure Master? To give up your past life would be to give up yourself. Once you say yes, there is no going backwards. No changing the clock, with your confirmation, a new you would restart the clock, and the old you will die, and with the old you I shall also pass, your mark shall be removed from my being and you shall no longer be my Master. Is this what you truly want?"
Harry looked up at the hooded figure and he smiled, a true smile that he meant with his very core.
"Then I thank you for having me as your Master for these past few minutes Death. It was an honor, but I will have to say yes"
He got the impression that Death was smiling, a feeling of happiness or was it smugness radiated from the figure before the hand that was on his cheek slid up to his forehead. The skinless fingers tapped his forehead once, then twice and Harry felt the floating sensation again.
"I thank you Master, for your service to Death."
Harry could only close his eyes as he felt his body shrink. It was like watching his life backwards, moment flashed by behind his eyelids, or was it his mind?
The battle with Voldemort, finding out Severus was the half blood prince, Sirius' death, his first time seeing Hogwarts, Hedwig, his first cake, meeting Hagrid, his first letter, the cupboard, the sound of a soft voice and then… a green light.
Death watched as her Master aged backwards until only a small baby floated in the space and then that child too vanished. Death giggled again and looked down in it's hand where all three Deathly Hallows were; the cloak, the stone and the wand.
"Goodbye Harry Potter… Master of Death" and with that the Hallows ignited and burned until only ash remained and soon Death disappeared just as her Master did.
BH
A/n: As stated before, I'm Addicted-to-the-madness and by some unfortunate circumstances I lost my user info to that old account and such, so my new name is SlashyJazz. Anyone who is familiar with His Guardian, His Guide - I won't change up the chapters too much, though I may edit and add something extra. Anyone now reading this for the first time, thanks for reading and please leave a review~!