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Harry Potter and Death's Incarnate

"Of all the people to have such a great power at their fingertips, it had to be the one least likely to use it! The Weave is cruel to deny me such but placed it right in front of my nose. That fool of a woman knows not what her blood and magic can do; I suspect that she would even refuse to find out. Everything she touches has potential, Godric that bastard! There is no need to fear the taint of her magic! The spells that could be created, the rituals, the possibilities! I can only hope that in the future, one of my own can weild the same gift and use it to its fullest." - Memoirs of Salazar Agracius Slytherin in regards to Helga Sarah Hufflepuff

Harry had been a bit intimidated by supper and breakfast was no different.

The room they were to eat in was massive and very open since there were no solid walls but instead pillars to hold up the roof. The table was in a vaguely rectangular shape but had rounded edges and lay squat. Harry had to sit on a cushion to eat and his small build, young age and the fact that no one but the ruler of Sparta and Thana ate with him made him feel very insignificant.

It wasn't a nice feeling but he grinned and bore it. Besides, he was getting fed at the same time.

As he stuffed a blood pastry in his mouth (he tried not to think about the name) an escort marched into the dining hall; there were four guards forming a square around a man Harry was a bit hesitant to call old. He had wrinkles, sure, but the way his eyes reminded him of a hawk and quick movements led the boy to believe that it was either a young old man or an old young man. Thana was a bit too far away at the head of the table and, not to mention, barely paying any attention so he couldn't really ask her which was it.

"My Lord," the man in question rasped as he knelt on the floor along with the guards, right fist slamming into the ground. "I have come as requested."

The huge man that Thana called 'Kring' inclined his head in response. "You are to teach the boy how to control his ability to raise the dead." Harry suddenly found himself without air as he choked on his pastry. He thumped his chest hard, blushing something fierce as he coughed out a half digested red biscuit.

He took a few deep breaths to center himself. "Ok...What!?"

His new teacher merely punched the ground again. "It shall be done." Harry opened his mouth to protest but a sudden thought stopped him in his tracks. Can I bring back my parents? He began to get a heady feeling as he stood up from the table, unaware of Thana's calculating blue eyed gaze. If I learn, can I really do that? He jumped as a callous hand gripped his shoulder tightly, wondering how he got over there before he was pushed along outside.

If Harry were to describe the city of Sparta in one word it would be: red. Red stone made up everything, red dust swirled underfoot, the people had the reddish tan of burnt skin and wore red toga like things. The sky was red, the grass was stiff, brittle, the colour of dried blood and it felt red. It felt savage, angry, wounded and fierce, at times it was almost like a ghost town in which invisible people all around were tearing into each other. That's what Sparta felt like to Harry and red was the only way he could put it.

His teacher steered him towards an example of that red.

Two young men, three or four years older than him were circling around each other on the balls of their feet, showing teeth. On some unseen signal, they leapt. At first it was punches, kicks and the occasional head butt, the short powerful blows making Harry a bit uncomfortable but when he tried to look away, the grip on his shoulder tightened, so he watched. They hit with their knuckles, maximising damage and uncaring of their own hands. They hit anything in reach. One of them, slightly bigger with longer arms, managed to get a hold on the other's toga and the fight degenerated. Punches became clawing, kicks became brutal knee jabs and foot grinding, and the headbutts became bites. They didn't stop at first blood but they did when one made a fatal mistake.

The larger one shifted his foot wrong and overbalanced himself allowing the smaller to land a devestating hit in the solar plexus. He doubled over and was put into a head lock. A sharp twist, a loud crack and the fight was over. The body dropped to the ground and the victor raised his right fist. "HRRAAARRR!" he screamed out and everyone watching copied him.

"HRRRAAARRR!"

The crowd dispersed slowly and the English boy was left staring. The mouth was open, eyes glazed and the head was bent at an extreme angle...Harry felt sick.

"And this is where our lesson begins." He heard a rasp. "If you wish to address me with concerns, my title to you is 'Father' and nothing else. You are to bring that boy back to life." Harry was shoved forwards, making him stumble and drop to his knees by his 'assignment.'

Harry licked his suddenly dry lips. "H-how...?"

"How what."

The Boy-Who-Lived found it in him to frown. "How, father?"

"Use your will. Focus on your reaction to this death and will its reversal." And Harry tried. He focused on the nausea, on his horror, on his unease...he shuffled through his feelings but not one of them worked. Nothing. Zilch. Nada.

Ten minutes later, Harry was no longer horrified, but frustrated. "It's not working!"

"Focus!" was the only thing his teacher snapped out as he had for the past six minutes. Harry's face was slowly forming into a thundercloud of anger as his temper frayed but he obediently went back to work this time using that anger. When there was no progress he impatiently tried to feel nothing at all.

Feeling nothing was much harder than it sounded, random thoughts kept flitting into his mind to distract him but he kept at it until he was suddenly aware of the necklace Thana gave him.

It was cold.

I wonder...He lifted it out of his shirt, over his head and pressed it against the rapidly cooling body. Focus. Harry imagined that strange emotion he felt at Halloween flowing out of his heart, down his arm and into the pendant of the necklace. In his mind's eye, a glow traveled slowly in a spiral from the tail and coiling around and around until it reached the head at the center. Outside of his mind, something was happening.

The snake was beginning to glow a soft blue, spiraling inwards. It reached the head and the snake struck, jutting its head out further to sink tiny obsidian fangs into the body. The unknown young man convulsed, took a breath, and faded from sight.

Else where...

"You shouldn't underestimate the bo-" Thana jerked suddenly, stopping in her tracks with a lost and confused look on her face. She turned towards Kring and raised a finger. "I-" Before her eyes rolled upwards and she collapsed.

"Father, I did it!" Harry cried out happily, opening his eyes but his face became confused when there was nothing in front of him anymore. He heard the man breathe, what happened? He turned to ask what the big idea was but froze as he caught sight of his teacher's face.

Clearly seen among the wrinkles and scars, was fear.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed down the sudden anger that welled in him. He was still a freak. Jumping to his feet, fully intending on running away from everything until he calmed down Harry made only two steps.

On the third, he blacked out.

He was...somewhere strange. It was a void. There was no floor, no walls and no roof. When he thought about it, there were no directions to determine where he was either. He was just there.

Hmm? There was a light. With nothing better to do, Harry began to float towards it. It called to him, somehow, and he responded.

Floating closer the light began to form a shape and then a body. The person was familiar but with her back to him he couldn't tell how he knew her. Her shoulders were shaking.

"Are you ok?" he asked because he should. She gasped, spinning around and Harry's heart sank. He didn't know her. She was pretty but her hair was white and the right eye was like molten gold with a strangely shaped pupil. Sickle... The left was a pale blue that sparked some neurons but that was the only thing he recognized. From where, he still could not say.

"You!" she snapped harshly. "You should not be here!"

Harry was confused. Why not? "I..."

Her voice changed, becoming multi-toned and an ugly snarl formed on her face. You. Should. Not. Be. Here!

"Look, lady-"

OUT!

The void obeyed and Harry found himself spiraling off into nowhere, screaming.

Kring watched them both nervously.

His Goddess was invincible, omniscient and omnipotent and unfortunately, unattainable or at least, that was how Kring saw her just an hour ago. But then she passed out for no reason and his belief was shaken. The boy was her weakness. Why she allowed it -- did she? -- he did not know but the fact remained that this Ha-ree was able to free a soul completely from the Mists before fainting. Neither Thana nor himself had a claim on Pysus anymore and that was impossible.

Or improbable now.

He still couldn't quite bring himself to believe-

Both pairs of eyes, one green and one blue, snapped open as the owners of those eyes took one desperate breath simultaneously. Thanatos came to herself first and without allowing the boy to realize what she was about to do, reached over between cots, ripped the necklace she gave him off and shattered it against the wall. Harry snapped fully awake.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" He screamed, hot anger urging him to do something, to make her pay for that, to hurt her. He balled up his fist and felt his arm raise-

All of it evaporated.

Thana's eyes were wide, breathing shallowly in short gasping breaths and trembling as she stared at the black pieces of rock on the floor. She was scared.

"Thana...I'm sorry..."Harry felt tears drip down his face as he lowered his arm and cringed away. Thana shouldn't be scared of anything, it was Thana for crying out loud! It just wasn't...right...it wasn't right at all!

Sadness turned to worry as the woman began to sway on her feet.

"Tha-" she fell. "Thana!" Kring got there first, hefting her easily and without a word carried her out of the room. Harry jumped out of bed but was held back by one of the guards whose hand was as big as his head. He struggled anyway. "Let me go! Thana!" he called after her. "Than-" he was backhanded roughly, toppling him back onto the bed. Thana!

She awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling. She knew she should remember it, but when she grasped at the memory it danced just out of her reach.

"So you're awake, my Goddess." Someone rumbled and she blinked slowly. Goddess...was that what she was? A sudden headache. She tried to raise her hand, attempting to rub her temples but it was caught in a smaller one belonging to a sleeping black-haired boy. She sat up and in her new vantage point, she could see an ugly bruise forming on his face.

"The one who did that has been punished severely." That voice said again but she ignored it. Why should she care?

There was a tiny groan and brilliant green eyes opened groggily. He blinked and then sat up quickly. "Thana! You're awake!" he crowed happily. "Don't scare me like that!" She stared at him. Who was he to her? Her eyes came upon a strange scar on his forehead and she remembered.

Reaching out slowly, as if unsure of herself, she tousled his already messy hair. "I'll make you another, alright?" He grinned, leaving her to wonder. Did he always forgive her so easily? And with a rush, her mind once again split into three, allowing a familiar smirk that was her and yet not to appear on her face. "I would apologize but..."

He shoved her playfully and, to Harry, all was right with the world.

To Thana, something was wrong.

And once, just once, a heartbeat echoed throughout the emptiness...

Be sure to tell me what you think of this chapter. It might be very mysterious (ok, it is mysterious) but its important. Please review!