A/N: Hey, Guys. This will be the last chapter in the first year. Hope you all had fun with the story so far.

A big thank you to my beta, who has had a lot of work with my writing.

This time you got the chapter a bit faster again. :-)

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from the plot and a character.

"You told me that you would tell me, tell me when you remembered who you were. You promised me on the first day, when we just had met."

John looked dumbfounded at the young girl. It took him a moment to remember the strange girl that had opened the door for him, all that time ago. She had immediately called him out on NOT being exactly who he claimed to be.

"Yes, you're right. I forgot... I have a lot on my mind right now. I… WE will tell you everything later, when all of us are assembled. That way we only have to recount the story once."

Luna wasn't happy about that, she hated to wait, but she could live with a little more waiting.

"Why is there so much tension between you and Harry right now?"

John gave a sad chuckle. "You felt that, didn't you?"

Luna nodded and so he continued. "I failed him. You will hear later how, but for now, know that I failed him. In the one moment he needed me the most. I was so focused on my past, I completely forgot about him. It breaks my heart. I promised him to be there, to help him along the way and I failed. There were reasons for it, but none can excuse my shortcomings. I feel so much pain right now and can't express any of it."

John started crying. Luna had never seen John cry before. It was a lot like when her daddy mourned her mommy. There was so little hope in his sobs. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Luna's next words could have been considered funny.

"Who did you lose?" She asked him the exact same question, he had asked her back at the rookery, more than a year ago.

The crying from the man intensified. He bit his answer out between sobs.

"My...wife and… son!"

Luna waited until his sobs quieted down. She felt a lot of sorrow had left him and a little of the pain as well. She gave him a hug.

"You don't have to be there for us all the time. Sometimes we can be there for you as well. We are a family. Families fight and laugh together, but they also share their pain with each other. You lost people important to you. That was probably a long time ago, but time doesn't heal all wounds. Some can only be healed by love."

He gave a sad smile. "When did you get so wise?"

She made a mock serious thinking face. "I probably was all along, but you never listen."

Unbeknownst to them, Harry had been lying in his bed, awake, and had heard the entire conversation.

'Maybe' He thought. 'Maybe Luna is right. John couldn't help it and he was tricked, too. Maybe I shouldn't hold it against him.'

As subtly and as quietly as he could, he wiped the tears from his face and tried to sleep again.

It was twenty minutes later, when both John and Harry had finally fallen asleep.

The next morning brought examinations, breakfast and diagnostic spells. Soon after, it brought Dumbledore.

"How are both of you this morning?" His grandfatherly persona was in full force.

John, who just wanted to have a quiet word with his son, sighed exasperatedly.

"We're fine, we just want to leave." He shot a medium glare between Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore.

"I just wanted to thank you for your quick intervention yesterday and to inform you that the stone was destroyed. Luckily for us, so Voldemort can never try this way again for his resurrection. Nicholas… confirmed the stones destruction on site. He wants to have a word with both of you before he leaves. He now has a lot of formalities to take care of."

He looked at Harry and awaited the flood of questions he expected from him, but none came. The boy just sat on his bed looking dejected and sad.

'Could I've been wrong all this time?'

It was an uncharacteristic thought for him and it confused him. Dumbledore left the infirmary without as much as another word.

Nicholas Flamel entered the small room. He took one long look at both of them.

"Should we have our talk later? You two look like you could do with one yourselves."

Harry spoke for them this time. "Yes, please? Soon though, I think, it's overdue."

Nicholas just chuckled and left.

Harry turned to John, but didn't manage to look him in the eye.

"I heard what you and Luna said last night. I guess I can't really hold it against you. I'd have probably done the same in your situation. I felt so lost though, so alone..." He looked up and locked his eyes on John's. "It was hard to come to terms with you just running out of sight, into what could have very well meant death for you."

John had to avert his eyes. "I would be lying, if I told you I hadn't thought of staying there..."

Harry interrupted him. "As did I, but we both came back. More importantly, you came back to me. You had no reason to, but you came."

John wiped away a few stray tears. "Of course I did."

"Dad, look at me."

John raised his eyes again. Hope fluttered in his chest.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're still my father. Am I still your son?"

John choked up. "You'll always be!"

They both stood and hugged the life from each other. Each shed tears of pain and sorrow.

After a long, cleansing cry, they dressed and, with the approval of Madame Pomfrey, left the infirmary. It was a quiet Saturday and so they went in search of Professor McGonagall. They asked for the use of the Antechamber, they had used before.

It was an hour later, when all of them had assembled in the small room of to the side from the Great Hall.

Around the table sat the Grangers, Xeno, Hermione, Luna and Nicholas Flamel. Most of the present stared in shock at the ancient wizard.

John cleared his throat and began their explanation.

"Friends, we have called you here to share some information with you. Yesterday we bested the soul fragment of Voldemort that, upon his demise, had still inhabited his body. This piece managed to flee and is still on the loose. The body of Quirinius Quirrell, who had served as a willing host, was destroyed."

He made a small pause to let the information sink in.

"Due to circumstances, that we ourselves can't fully explain, Harry and I transcended the mortal plane shortly afterwards."

Emma Granger interrupted him. "You DIED!?"

"No… our bodies were completely intact and working, awaiting the return of our souls. Merely our minds and magic made their way into the plane above this one. There we came face to face with Death."

Xeno interjected. "You mean to say, that you faced death there?"

"Yes, in a way, we came face to face with personified Death. Just like in the tale of the three brothers..."

Harry and John opened their eyes and found themselves standing in a meadow. A lazy little creek garbled past them. A heavy haze hung in the air.

"You've finally found your way to me!"

They both whipped around and came face to face with a tall being in a black cloak. The hood covered the face and the hands that held the giant scythe, were bonelike and thin.

Harry and John were shocked, had they died? Death gave a hearty laugh, well as hearty as he could.

"No, you are not dead. As of now, you..." He pointed at John. "...are very hard to kill, while you, young Mr. Potter, are almost immortal now. I had a hand in that of course."

Harry's mind needed a long second to grasp what Death had just told him.

"Does this mean, that I can't die?"

"Why, of course you CAN die, if you WANT to that is. My realm is open to you, both of you, at any time you wish, but once you pass on you can never return."

Death made a pause so they could understand.

"You can however visit with the dead, as long as it's within reason of course."

"I could see my parents? Talk to them? Touch them?" Harry felt as if he was going to faint.

"Yes, yes of course you can." Death switched his attention to John. "Your family is also here."

"My family?"

"Yes, but you locked your memory away. I will tell you the passphrase to it, but not yet. You both should anger me more than you actually do. This surprises me. I should both just keep you here, give balance to the world and all that crap, but there is one that angers me even more."

John shook the thought of his lost memories from his head. "Voldemort!"

Death nodded. "He actively circumvented his own death. You, both of you, are freaks of nature. Please excuse this figure of speech. But if I didn't misjudge you both, you'll one day become part of this realm, eventually you'll die. Not him though, he'd never die of his own choice. I want him destroyed and sent here. Your continued existence is small price to pay to get him here."

Both Harry and John could hear the anger in Death's rather lifeless voice.

"The raven is yours, right?" Harry wanted to know.

"Yes and yours now as well. What your Guardian didn't realize when he saved you, he made you the Master of Death, as you mortals call it. I gave you the tools for it. It was thought to be the other way around that, if you gather all the tools you would become the master. Makes no sense what so ever to me. I would also rather say, that you're my champion in the mortal realm. You can ask me for help, but never order me around."

Harry nodded, it made sense in a weird way.

"The tools are the stone and the cloak, right?"

"Yes, but there's more. Your staff and the book. You couldn't read it up until now, but now that the stone is a part of you, you should be able to."

"The staff?" John asked. "I thought it was supposed to be a wand."

Death nodded. "It has been in the past. But I thought you could use a better focus. The wand is still around, but it's just that, a wand, now. Now it's time for you to leave us!" He pointed in John's direction.

John shook his head. "Never, I swore to be by Harry's side till the end."

Death's laugh sounded threatening. "I thought you might say that, I would say that I'm sorry, but that would be lying. 'A crown made of thorns and thistles, sweet death let me rest my wary head.'

A stream of memories tore through his head and he was two people at once. Pain, so much pain and sorrow flooded his system. After a quick internal struggle he barked out a single word. "Where?"

Death pointed to a door behind him. John ran for it and was through before Harry's shout of "JOHN!" had stopped ringing in their ears.

"You simply left him there with Death? He could have DIED! You could have DIED!"

Emma Granger was enraged. She had jumped up and slammed her palms on the table.

"Yes, I did. It's nothing I'm proud of and luckily Harry has forgiven me, even if I myself haven't. I had just regained all my memories of my wife and son, and all of my emotions were so out of whack, that I couldn't control myself. It's no excuse, but it's what happened."

John was hanging his head in shame. Harry tried to placate the raging mother lion.

"I was very mad at John right after it had happened, but I have come to understand, that John simply had to go see his family. I would have done the same in his place and when I later got to see my parents, I thought about staying."

Shocked gasps were heard in the room.

"Now let me continue where John left of." Harry said.

Harry felt lost, extremely lost. He stood in a foreign place, with Death right beside him and the one person that was supposed to have his back, simply upped and ran away. He felt hurt and he felt anger.

"Now that he is out of the way. There are somethings we have to speak about."

Harry was wary of Death and very reluctant to agree. Death laughed.

"Now, you absorbed the sorcerers stone. This gives you some very special abilities. Probably some regenerative abilities and advanced healing powers. There will be more effects of this integration, but what exactly is not yet certain. The resurrection stone, which is now also a part of you, allows you access to the realm of the dead. You can talk to any deceased at any time you like to and gather information that way. Despite its name, you can NOT bring anyone back from the dead. It's a misnomer if you will."

Harry tried to absorb all this information, but had incredible difficulties to process everything.

"The cloak will make you invisible from anyone you wish. You can wear it and it will make you invisible at will or even only invisible or visible for selective people. It will never hide you from me!"

Harry nodded.

"The Staff is the most powerful focus in the mortal realm. It can however be destroyed and once gone, it's gone for good. The book is another special item, read it as soon as you can and come back to it every once in a while. It will give you new information as soon as it's available. In it there are spells and rituals of the necromantic arts. You'll find, you'll have a knack for it. There is more information in it, but you'll find that on your own."

The young boy's head was spinning.

"Now of course you're allowed to share these information with your family and friends, but I got rid of 'John' because I didn't want him interfering with this."

Death placed his bony hand on Harry's head and the boy suddenly felt all kinds of energies flowing through his soul. Kinks were removed and his magic straightened out. His soul and magic were now perfectly interwoven.

Harry fell to the ground and screamed while he dissolved and reformed at the same time. He gasped in pain, but it faded in the same moment it had started. It was more like a pain he had felt all the time and now it was gone.

"Better, isn't it?"

He didn't know what to say, so Harry just nodded. Death led him along a short path and showed him a door.

"Behind this are your parents and a few others of your family. They want to talk to you and share some knowledge they think you should have. Once you are done, simply tell the space around you that you want to return. A bit of time has passed in your world, about four hours, but no more time will pass now."

Harry nodded again went to the door, but before he opened it, he turned around.

"Thank you, I guess."

Death just waved his hand for him to go ahead.

Harry went through the door to see his family.

"We both met with our families there and we spoke long with them. They shared a lot of knowledge with us, that will help us end the unnatural creature that is Voldemort."

Nicholas, who had been silent the entire time, had a question for Harry.

"Am I right in my assumption, that you are now able to produce the elixir of life at will."

Harry nodded. "I think so."

He waved his hand over the water jug on the table and it immediately turned crimson.

Nicholas nodded and smiled. "Might I suggest, that every one of the assembled drink from this."

John smiled and after a wave of his hand a cup appeared in front of every one but him and Harry. To their shock Nicholas turned the cup over and refused the elixir.

"I have lived long enough and if your little tale taught me anything, then that our families wait on the other side. Perenell have outlived our own children, as they refused the elixir. It's time to move on. We will live long enough to make all the preparations and then I will greet Death as the old friend he is."

John looked a bit uneasy with the next bit he had to say.

"Actually Nicholas, we would like to ask a favor of you, before you pass on that is."

Nicholas laughed. "To teach Harry alchemy?" They nodded. "Oh, I can still do that from the afterlife. Have you forgotten what you just told us? I will be more than happy to set a few hours aside a day, just call for me."

Both Harry and John looked dumbfounded at the ancient wizard. Then they joined in with Nicholas and laughed. The ancient one rose.

"I have to leave you here. Time is not a unlimited resource now. It feels very exciting."

He bade them goodbye and left the small antechamber.

Luna got back to her question. "So who are you then John?"

The man in question chuckled.

"My name is actually Jonathan. I was born to a carpenter, so I was called John Carpenter. A bit later my magical abilities were discovered and an old mage took me on as child and apprentice. Else my parents would have probably killed me, they were very religious. I learned everything I knew from the old man, before he died one day. I was a fairly young wizard back then. I had a good bit of ability and a feel for my magic a lot of other magic users lacked. I discovered other ways of doing magic."

John paused to clear his throat and drink a sip of water.

"The King of France was looking for a magician. My name was told to him and after a few demonstrations, I was hired. I was paid good for the times and I found a companion in one of the maids. After asking for her hand, the king released her to me. We married and I got the title of Johnathan Magus. We had a child, a son."

A few tears escaped Johns eyes.

"My wife was pregnant again and the king came to me with a request. Even if he hadn't been the king, a man I couldn't refuse, I still would have done it. I was still young and my head was bigger than France. He wanted to be immortal. I of course knew of Nicholas and I wanted to best him. I wanted to produce the sorcerers stone inside of the king, so everything he would drink would turn into the elixir of life."

He gave a very sad laugh.

"I was so stupid. I had only the vaguest hint of alchemic knowledge. Needless to say, it failed. Spectacularly."

John rubbed his face with his palms.

"It killed everyone in the castle. Only my quick channeling of magic into myself and into my soul, stopped it from being everyone in France. After I had woken up again, I realized that my family was dead. My memories tortured me for a week, I couldn't eat, nor sleep. I needed to get on with my life and I knew that I wouldn't die anymore. Believe me I had tried to die. I did the only thing I knew to get on. I locked my memories away and left the castle and France. Some years later, my body was destroyed and I continued on without. I left this realm for higher dimensions and only returned after I felt Harry's magic about to self destruct."

John ended his tale and only now realized, how quiet the room had become. The girls were still wiping at their tears and the men were now trying to blame the dry air for their moist eyes.

Luna stood and went to him. She gave him a big hug and smile.

"Welcome John Magus, now John Potter. We like to have you here."

The hug soon became a group thing.

Their talk had left them very tired and so they retired to bed soon that day. They felt lighter and heavier at the same time. Harry took a look at the pendant, now that Quirrel was gone, it only gave of a much more subdued blue glow.

The red glow had seemingly come from the sentient soul piece that was Voldemort. They had taken a quick look through the seventh floor after their talk, thinking that they might find the hidden horcrux. The signals they got from the pendant were confusing and John concluded that it must have been hidden magically.

They decided to leave it there for now. If Voldemort had hidden the item there with magic, it was highly unlikely that a school child would accidentally find it. They would later come to regret that decision.

The rest of their last week at Hogwarts passed quietly. They all had top marks in their classes, with Neville, Susan and Hannah a close second to them. Hannah had joined their study sessions early in the year, but always had to do that extra bit of work to keep up.

Soon they were in the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast. The Headmaster's spot at the head table was empty, as it had been for the past few days. Professor McGonagall was in the middle of her speech, when the door behind her opened silently and Dumbledore quietly crept to his chair. She motioned for him to take the stage, but he just shook his head.

He didn't look good, hair and beard were unkempt and he constantly asked himself where he had gone wrong with his plans. There were some factors in his equations, that he either had miscalculated or left out altogether. He had planned on awarding the boy and his friends some last minute points, to make them indebted, but somehow they had managed to be on top anyway. Even with Severus, they had managed to make the House Cup,with Hufflepuff a close second. He would have to find out what he had done wrong and then correct the issue.

The next morning, the trio of friends boarded the train home. Neville, Susan and Hannah joined their compartment. The train ride was pleasant with the exception of two short visits.

They had barely made it half an hour into the ride when the door opened and Draco Malfoy came inside. He was flanked by his usual goons, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

"Well, well, well Potter." He drawled. "My father won't like what you have done down there you know. But now that we know that the Dark Lord isn't dead, it's time to rid the world of all kinds of scum."

The pointed look he threw into Hermione's direction, immediately put him onto first place of Harry's shit list. He stood and used his wand to push Crab and Goyle out of the compartment and slam the door shut.

"I would be very careful of what I say, Malfoy. I've already heard that you're quite the bully. I hate bullies." Harry took a deep breath. "Today, I am in a terribly good mood, okay? So I'm going to let you of easy. So run back to your own compartment and leave us alone, will you?"

Harry, who had started glowing, had his eyes fixed on Malfoy's. The other boy managed to give a strangled sound and went for the door. It took a moment for him to get it open and he then went straight down the corridor, giving his goons barely enough time to throw them a threatening glare.

Luna gave Harry hard look. "What did you do to him?"

Trying his best to look innocent, Harry tried. "Nothing?"

Luna just continued to give him the look and now Hermione joined in.

Harry sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay, you caught me. I cursed him."

"You did what!?" Two voices simultaneously screamed at him. Harry held up his hands to calm the irate witches down.

"Nothing bad, just something I read about, call it poetic justice. It's a time duration thing and only ever held 6 hours at the longest."

He was still getting the evil eye from Hermione and Luna. Neville, Susan and Hannah now looked on with interest. Since when did Harry curse someone?

"It only activates when he acts out of line, it's a parenting tool really. Much like giving naughty kids a clap on the fingers."

"What happens when it does activate?" Neville asked out of idle curiosity.

Harry went a bit red in the face. "He feels a pressing need to use the bathroom. It won't hurt him or force him to have accidents. It just forces him to stop what he's doing."

Neville had to laugh at that and Hannah, as well as Susan, joined in. Hermione and Luna managed to resist a bit longer, but soon gave up the fight and laughed as well.

Little did they know, just how powerful Harry was.

The second visit happened sometime into their fourth hour of the ride.

Ron Weasley entered their compartment. It seemed like he hadn't been sleeping well lately.

"Potter…. It's all your fault!" He bit out.

"What?" Harry had given little to no thought to the youngest Weasley boy in the last few months.

"Your fault I had all those detentions this year, because of that I couldn't learn properly, because of that I failed this year, because of that I'm going to have to go through first year again next year. And you broke the sorting hat...because of that I'm a Hufflepuff. I can't take it anymore and it's all your fault."

Six faces looked at him quizzically. Not one of them could make any sense of what the boy was saying. He drew his wand and tried to curse Harry… with a curse he had only ever heard of before… once at that.

A loud bang was heard and Ronald Weasely's wand, which was not well suited in the first place, had exploded with quite a bit of force. His hand was a mangled mess and thousands of splinters had embedded into his flesh. This led to Luna performing some basic first aid, something she had a knack for and they called the conductor.

An emergency portkey was used, to take him to St. Mungo's where he could be treated. Professor Sprout would later visit him and tell him that he would continue his detentions all of next year. He would have been expelled had the incident happened on the school grounds.

Once the Hogwarts Express had pulled into Kings Cross Station. Harry and the others got off and were happy to see their families waiting on them.

After some heartfelt hello's and goodbye's they all made their way to their respective homes.

It was going to be a great summer.

This Story will be continued in Harry Potter, Keeper of Life (previewed here):

….

Harry was nervous. The first week of the summer holidays was almost over.

Today they were guests of the Goblin nation and soon he and John would have to present their gifts to the leaders.

These gifts would decide over their standing in that nation and their support within it. Harry's hands were sweating and he recited the ritual words in the goblin tongue, over and over in his head.

He looked over to John, who looked to be at peace with himself. Then the drums started outside, signaling the beginning of the ceremony. Point of no return. He steeled himself and went outside.

A round million of torches lit the giant cavern. Seemingly all of the nation had assembled before them and the elders stood waiting at the end of a small path over the heads of everyone.

….

Hope to see you back for the next chapter in the Master of Death series.