Spoilers: all the HP books and Sword Art Online anime

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies, they belong to J. K. Rowling. I do not own SAO, nor any of the characters from the anime, they belong to Reki Kawahara. I also do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Beta: Artemis_HNR

Pairing/s in this chapter: RJL/NT

Warnings in this chapter: Time Travel, Crossover, Alternate Universe, S.A.D. Attack, Hagrid's Speech

Nr words in this chapter: 2,620

"Talking"

'Thinking'

–Private Message–

Dream/Memory/Letter/Journal/Book/Newspaper

Time change/date of time

Chapter III

–Roman God & Dark Lord–

Friday, December 02, 2022

A whole month passed, the game still had yet to be cleared. No one has even been able to find the first floor boss. Because of that a meeting was going to be held to see how they would go about defeating the first floor boss.

Harry made his way to the auditorium where the meeting was taking place. When he glanced around at the other players as they gathered outside. Good. No familiar faces… Harry tensed when he bumped into a huge man and fell on his bottom.

"'M sorry, boy. Yea're not hurt are yeh?" the tall bearded man asked, leaning down and pulling Harry up. "I'm Grawp."

"Plu… Pluto."

Hagrid smiled, his black eyes twinkling. Harry's heart tightened.

"Didn't scare yeh, did I?"

Harry shook his head. Hagrid… Harry hugged the tall man as high as he got, as tight as he could. Hagrid! If there was ever a person he wanted to see it was his first real friend. The giant pat the boy on the back.

"Yeh a friendleh fella aren't yeh."

"Gather around."

Harry stepped back and Hagrid picked him up, pulling him up unto his shoulders. Embarrassed at being treated like a little kid, Harry let his old friend take him to the gathering. At least from here he wasn't as short as usually. Hagrid sat at the front of the auditorium stage with Harry by his side.

"Hey, Grawp. What's with the little kid? We're here for a boss meeting, not babysitting."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the group. Hagrid limited to put a hand on Harry's shoulder, making his knees tremble under his weight - even in this game self Hagrid was too strong.

"He's here fer the boss."

That made the men laugh. Harry rolled his eyes and looked to the atrium, only to gasp. Another person who had been long dead… another person who wasn't supposed to have been revived…

"Hi, everyone. I'm Mad-Eye." Professor Moody… Harry almost had to catch himself when he saw the old man. He had both of his eyes and legs though and his eyes seemed to dance as he called the auditorium to attention. "We're all here gathered because we want to fight and defeat the first floor boss." Harry sighed. It was good seeing him, hearing him… still a natural leader. "We're here because last few days my guild found the boss room."

Harry closed his eyes. Finally… Hagrid's hand grabbed Harry's small one and he noticed he'd been trembling. He opened his eyes and glanced at the tall bearded man.

"It's all right." Hagrid promised in a whisper.

Harry smiled back.

"To make sure we can get through this boss we will need multiple teams. I want everyone to gather up into groups of 4 or 6. In order to fight against the boss."

Harry tensed and turned slowly towards Moody.

"And who fights solo?" he asked loudly, standing and approaching.

"It is too dangerous to fight solo, girl." Moody reprimanded. "You would be wiped out in an instant."

""First; I'm a male." Moody raised his brow at him not even apologizing for his statement. "Second; players slow me down. No one can keep up with me." Harry argued, making several players laugh.

Harry narrowed his eyes, looking around the auditorium at the faces.

"It's still required." Moody argued. "Specially for a child! Principally one so effeminate such as yourself. If anything all you'll manage to do is attract the men's attention on yourself with those tight trousers. We all must have Constant Vigilance!"

With narrowed eyes, Harry opened his menu list, the friend list, clicked one and invited for partnership.

"If I have to partner up to do it, I'll only team up with someone who I know can keep up with me. There is only one person I know who is capable of that."

"Don't be absurd, girly. No one in their right mind will fight alone with yo…" a person in the stands started to argue.

"I accept." The man who Harry had invited stated, as he put his staff on the floor and used it to stand, using it to walk as limped all the way down into the arena. "Last time I saw you were this high." Voldemort added to Harry, signalling a place 1 feet and about 5 inches above his head, when he arrived Harry's side. "If it wasn't the name, I wouldn't have recognised you."

"Last time I saw you you were white and bald, yourself." Harry argued to the Dark Lord, who limited to smile back. "Don't die on me tomorrow." He added, before returning to Hagrid's side.

"Don't worry, Pluto. We still have a duel to finish."

Harry glanced back to the man's red eyes. Sure the NerveGear scanned our heads and shaped our avatar to what they should look like… but colours wasn't part of the deal, so Voldemort's red eyes had stayed.

"Wanna lose again?" he asked back, taking his hand over his shoulder to his sword on his back.

Voldemort grabbed his spear with both hands.

"Easy there. No killing, remember? This isn't just a game." Moody interrupted, stepping in between.

"Besides he's just a kid… can't believe you are parting with him on fighting against the boss. He should just go back to the Town of Beginnings."

Harry closed his eyes at that, only to hear this 'humanized' Voldemort laugh.

"Just a kid? Pluto was known in the Beta Game as 'Roman God'. The second most powerful gamer in the whole Beta Tester players."

"Second?" Harry asked, turning towards Voldemort with a raised eyebrow. "Are you certain?"

Voldemort nodded with a smirk.

"Second!"

Harry shrugged.

"Whatever lets you sleep at night… my Lord." Harry curtsied with a fake 'you're above me' persona. "If I do recall… I was a God, but you were just a Lord."

"Wait a moment!" Harry glanced back as a blond teen appeared on the auditorium and joined them on it. "You're telling me you two are one of the Betas who took off after the announcement and just worried more about themselves than help the beginners to adapt to this world? That if you stayed then people wouldn't have died?"

"Yes." Voldemort agreed, shamelessly.

"You should've pay a fine then. A contribution for compensation of those who died!"

Harry tensed, lowering his head. A hand appeared on his shoulder, a huge one.

"Le' me ge' this straight. Are yeh blamin' these two fer the deaths o' all those people who died durin' the last month?"

"Yes!"

"Did yeh get this when yeh entered the game?" Harry glanced at the book Hagrid was showing, as the blond teen nodded. "If yeh would've read it yeh would'be know that All Betas shared All their intels into the formation o' this book." Hagrid opened the book to the last page. "Special thank yeh to the Dark Lord and to the Roman God, the two Betas who got higher and stronger than any other and gave more resumes abou' their in game data that any other player."

Harry blushed deep red as Hagrid stored the book and leant down, picking him up again.

"But…"

"You all read the book. You had as much chance as we did." Voldemort hissed. "Now shut yourself up, Zack." Zack… Zacharias Smith, Harry knew the blond was familiar! "And stop making a fool of yourself." Voldemort turned towards Hagrid and Harry. "If I see that you dared to give your money, Pluto, I will locate you and finish you off… before the game is cleared."

Harry shrugged, letting his head fall on Hagrid's shoulder.

"Don't treat me like a child." Harry argued.

"Then don't act like one." Voldemort retorted, turning to Moody. "You said the boss was found. Which one?"

"Illfang the Kobold Lord"

Voldemort hummed as Hagrid sat again with Harry on his lap.

"Three levels of HP bar. When enters last bar he changes weapons, if I'm not mistaken, and has a special attack. Not to mention the sentinels he has around himself."

"Have you fighten him?" Zacharias asked.

"I go to the 8th Floor. What do you think?" Voldemort hissed. "When I wasn't fighting bosses, I was fighting him!"

"How powerful is he?" someone in the audience wondered.

"For our current level? Powerful enough that we need a strategy!"

Everyone started whispering between themselves.

–P–

"Here." Harry glanced up as Voldemort handed him a bread. "It was your favourite."

Harry nodded, thankfully as the man sat at his side, coming from the convo with the other players. Harry picked a small jar and put between the two of them. Voldemort accepted and used it to put cream on his bread after Harry had done so.

"It's been a while." Voldemort nodded back. "What do you think of them?"

"The pawns? They'll do their job. They'll tire him up enough for him to turn red and enough for them to survive. But they don't have what it takes to kill the boss… I think the extra weapons changed." Harry glanced at Voldemort. "I remember Gellert say something about that. I told it to Mad-Eye, he had already suspected it as well."

"So, he's a Beta as well?"

Voldemort nodded, eating his bread.

"He commented on my old face, so yes, he was."

Harry glanced to the others where Moody was reprimanding Zacharias.

"What's the plan?"

"Don't get killed." Harry glared at Voldemort. "We'll fight the boss' sentinels. Keep them busy. The pawns want to fight the boss themselves."

"Why?"

"Because you're a child and I'm handicapped." Voldemort replied, opening his menu list and going to his storage list, taking a bottle of red wine. "And because we're only two."

"So they think we can't handle it."

Voldemort nodded, sipping from the bottle, before handling it towards Harry. Harry accepted the wine and drank.

"Do they even sell you wine?" Harry shook his head, returning the bottle. "Keep it."

"But…"

"It's not like it gets you drunk. Besides… I've seen you drink worse than one bottle."

Harry sighed and nodded, keeping the bottle.

"Where will you be staying?" Voldemort pointed to an inn down the road. "Grawp invited me into his room."

"He treats you like a child."

"The inn man was refusing to rent me a room. Children stay at Town of Beginnings and all that."

Voldemort rolled his eyes.

"If you're mature enough to play they need to let you play. Not make you sleep on the street. Tell Grawp you'll staying with me… for prep reasons."

"I never said I accepted his proposal."

"You never refused it also." Voldemort argued. "He will just come here later, pick you up and take you to his room."

Harry snorted.

"If you were anyone else I would've taken that into a dirty way."

Voldemort choked on the drink he was drinking, by he turned towards Harry.

"Had forgotten how much of a dirty mouth you have." The Dark Lord hissed, storing his second bottle of wine.

Harry limited to grin back.

"Is that wine?"

Harry stored the wine at once and turned towards the approaching Hagrid.

"No…"

"Pluto…"

"Stop treating him like a child, Grawp." Voldemort hissed, standing. "I expect you at my inn in less than half an hour. We have our way of fighting to discuss."

Harry watched him limp away. Old habits die hard… then again it was good it didn't, so if Voldemort survived the game then when he would return he would still know how to walk with a walking stick.

"Are yeh certain yeh want to partner with 'im?"

Harry smiled up at Hagrid.

"He's only one on my level."

"Bu'…"

"Don't worry. Like you said; me and him were one of the bests in the Beta Game… we know how to fight. I'm hardly a child."

Hagrid passed a hand through his head.

"Still don't like yeh alone with 'im. He's cold and feelingless."

"Hence why his nickname was Dark Lord." Harry agreed. "But yeah. He is a bastard who doesn't care about anyone but himself."

Hagrid sighed and sat by Harry's side.

"Be careful tomorrow."

"I never am." Harry argued, looking at the darkening sky.

"Why not?"

"I'm already dead. Hence why I choose the God of the Underworld as my name."

Hagrid's eyes grew and Harry stood, following Voldemort who had stayed at the entrance of the inn waiting for him. They climbed to Voldemort's room and Harry sat on an one-person couch Voldemort had there. He laid on his side, as Voldemort got himself ready for bed. Harry opened his eyes from his laying position with the head on the couch-arm to see Voldemort put a blanket over him.

"If I'll wake you with my nightmares, you're welcome to throw me out."

Voldemort nodded and Harry closed his eyes again.

–P–

Saturday, December 03, 2022

Harry opened his eyes. It's been a long time since he'd slept so well… Harry frowned when he realized that he was on the bed with Voldemort. He stood at once and put on his shoes, which were at the bottom of the bed. He glanced at Voldemort, mortified. Only to see him awakening.

"Wha…?"

"You were having a nightmare. Every time I grabbed you you calmed down. I ended up deciding that only way we'd both sleep was sharing the bed."

"I…"

Voldemort shrugged, standing.

"It's good practice."

"Practice?"

Voldemort looked back as he changed his clothes again.

"It will take at the least a year to return. Probably more. When we return my baby child will be a toddler."

"You have a child? You're married?"

"Divorced… actually, I asked for the divorce after the Beta Game."

"Why?… sorry, I shouldn't ask about Real World."

Voldemort shrugged again, making breakfast appear and giving some to Harry.

"Arranged marriage. Dealing with you made me realize that wasn't what I wanted for my life. It's either someone who can keep me on my feet or no one at all."

"An equal."

Voldemort nodded, before chuckling.

"I know it's strange, but I had wanted to ask you - when I reentered the game - to became his godfather."

Harry laughed at that. Ironies of life… godfather of his own parent murderer' baby child.

"What's his name?"

"Edward."

Harry froze midway to bite, then slowly turned towards Voldemort.

"Te… Teddy?"

Voldemort nodded, standing.

"Ready?"

Voldemort is Teddy's father? But then what about Tonks? Lupin?

"S.A.D. again?" Harry tensed and looked at the red eyes right before his green ones. "Are you back?" Harry nodded. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm all right."

Voldemort nodded and stepped back, releasing Harry's shoulders.

"Try to control yourself today. It's not just your life at risk today."

Harry nodded.

"I will."

"How many times does this happens?"

"Every time a déjà vu appears… Don't worry, I've already seen all the players. It won't happen in the boss."

Narrowing his eyes, Voldemort nodded. Harry had had to tell him about the 'reason' he'd gotten the Beta Game after one time they were duelling and in the stands a familiar face appeared making him have a panic attack, mid-fighting. Although he'd only told Voldemort because Voldemort wouldn't leave him alone…

"Let's go. The others must be waiting."

Harry stood, following him out and eating as he walked.

Not that he had S.A.D.. No, it wasn't socializing that he had problems with… it was with those people dying. Strangely enough, seeing people from the past life tended to leave him in a déjà vu while he 'froze' that Voldemort had taken to call S.A.D. attacks. Harry preferred PTSD attack… but then again, both had disorder in it, so which is worse.

(TBC)

Hi everyone just a friendly reminder to deter flame comments from any of you. Hagrid's speech is intended to be written the way it is… do remember that he is not all that literate so he will write and speak poorly (My Beta and I are doing our greatest effort to keep him in character)

Next chapter: Boss & Date

~Isys