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Harry Potter and Death's Incarnate

"From the records of the merpeople, it can be speculated that the downfall of Atlantis was caused by experimentation into a much forbidden subject: the Void. There are various magical legends and theories ranging from the muggle Bible's traditional tale of creation taking place of a 'void,' formless and desolate to the controversial theory of Albert Schlauer stating that the Void contained the very essence of death, the center of that universal force. However, we cannot turn time back that far to the beginning, and Albert was drawn to the side of Grindelwald only to be consumed by that which he sought. Atlantis shall remain hidden and the mystery of the Void forever out of our reach." – notes by Nicholas Flamel

Harry followed his teacher up the many steps to the Astronomy Tower, feeling very uneasy.

He was pretty sure it was his imagination but on every step it seemed like the snake bracelet on his arm would constrict. It was already uncomfortably warm, he really didn't need to be thinking that it moved as well but it still scared the crap out of him. Several times he had glanced down at it, as if trying to catch it moving, and he even peered at it once without his glasses on.

Only once, because seeing that face staring at him intently from the back of Quirrel's head was even scarier than a moving bracelet.

"I-I'm th-thinking of s-s-some Leithfolds for the o-older classes," Quirrel was rambling. "S-so a secure roo-room would b-b-be b-best."

Harry tilted his head to the side. "Wouldn't the dungeons be better than a one-exit room?"

Quirrel flushed as he pushed open the creaking wooden trap door. "I d-didn't w-want them t-to get l-lost in the c-c-castle." Harry conceded the point; chasing little shadow demons throughout the maze that was the Hogwarts dungeons would have been a pain. But if not the dungeons than any other easily closed off room would have worked, there were plenty of empty classrooms after all.

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry followed the professor up the ladder into the top room of the tower.

The Tower was nothing particularly impressive, just a circular room with many old and faded cushions lying around. There was a large telescope sticking out of one slit window that Harry caught sight of as he walked to the center of the room. I wonder what Thana would think of this, he thought with a small smile. Probably throw the pillows at me.

The smile disappeared as his scar began to tingle again.

Turning, he watched Quirrel innocently checking the windows and muttering in his stunted way about covers. Uncaring, and a bit bored, Harry wandered over to the telescope. "Are we going to move this thing?" It was quite large but had this strange hollow look to it that he never noticed before. Figuring that it was magic and unlikely to be as heavy as it looked, he crouched, preparing to give it an experimental shove.

"P-potter! Don't!" Harry turned and time slowed down. Quirrel was running towards him, a look of concern on his face before the man's foot caught on a pillow. He's headed straight for me, Harry had time to think before Quirrel's out of control fall collided with him. Instead of feeling a wall against his back, there was air. And a window behind me. Harry tilted his head as he took in Quirrel's horrified face…and the triumphant gleam in his blue eyes. What does a quorxat want echoed through the boy's mind before everything dropped out of his sight.

Harry plummeted off the tower like a stone, wondering how much this death was going to hurt him. It was quite a long fall, after all. Nothing like the jump off the roof.

Harry didn't feel his body smash into the ground but he did hear the ominous crack as his neck broke.

Ouch.

He opened his eyes to a familiar nothingness but he couldn't recall when he had last seen it. Why would he have been here? There was nothing, absolutely nothing. There was no light, no objects, there was even no way to tell which way he was facing. Nothing…wait…a darkness...

Harry twisted back and forth, green eyes sweeping the expanse of darkness. He had felt something here, something alive and moving. Standing there, not knowing where he was, made the boy nervous. This place wasn't as empty as he had first thought…whatever it was that he had felt...it was hungry.

Sweating, Harry reached out blindly-

-A sudden burning pain made him yelp, hand flying up to his forehead in agony. His scar was burning like it was being branded into his brain, a hot searing pain that was threatening to spill over.

A voice as equally familiar as the void was rasping harshly, You presume to claim the Void? You far overstep your bounds, boy, I will not be leashed! The pain doubled and then tripled, no longer limited to his forehead. It hurt far too much to even scream; it was if he was being torn apart cell by cell. Nerves on fire, skin felt as if it was melting, he was squeezing his eyes tight enough to burst several blood vessels in them. Thanatos will have to start over.

Harry wanted to die as he curled into a ball, silent red tears streaming down his face. He needed to die because dying meant he wouldn't hurt anymore. He wanted to die, needed to, had to. He wasn't thinking anymore, just a primal desire to simply stop existing. Harry's mind detached itself from his body, unwilling to deal with the pain anymore. He was aware of his fetal position, of his face contorted, of the fact that he was hurting but it didn't matter anymore. Let me die...

As his consciousness floated, images started to flash in his mind's eye: asteroids, planets, nebulas, stars, galaxies…each picture got bigger in scope until finally, for several seconds, Harry saw Everything. A vast expanse of twinkling lights, too vast for him to really comprehend what he was seeing. Green eyes blinked open as his mind began to tentatively filter in that exactly how trivial his many worries were.

Harry himself, in the face of the universe, was nothing.

The next thing he knew, he was slapped in the face hard enough to whip it into the black sand. Sand? Harry thought confusedly, struggling to even remember the word. His thoughts were running around on derailed trains, crashing into each other and refusing to organise themselves, still stuck on what he had just seen. Sand? A comforting weight, ice cold, was on his wrist. Sand? Thana? He opened his eyes and focused on an amused smirk and the comforting feel of her nearby. Thana? Sand? Where...

Harry tried to say "How'd you get here?" but it came out more like "mmmraaagh cough groan..."His vision swam and a sudden warmth flooded into his shoulder.

"Yeah," the woman began, looking amused. "I felt like that when Always touched me too."

Thanatos was wandering through the Mists, uncaring of where she would end up. She wasn't mortal and therefore didn't have to fear being lost forever in the white smoke. Out in the literal Nowhere was a good place to simply think.

"You will die." Pale blue eyes blinked at the voice. She knew who it was but was unable to believe that it actually sounded concerned. "You don't believe me? I can feel it. Continue this and you will die, Thana."

Thanatos lazily turned, derisive smirk on her face causing the morose Palquenta to fade into a scowling one. An angry Pal was much easier to deal with in Thana's opinion, not to mention that it made much more sense. The Incarnate of Life was the very one she suspected would actually celebrate her death because they really hated each other that much. Opposites attract was absolute bullshit from Death's point of view, just another thing mortals got horribly wrong.

"In a way, 'dying' is the point." Thana admitted and watched in glee as Pal gaped in shock. "Let's just say that what I want, only Eternity can give me."

"You're a fool!" Palquenta hissed, tiny fists bunching. Thana just rolled her eyes and turned back around.

"Whatever." she muttered and began walking again but not fast enough to miss Pal's low warning.

"They must follow you, but there is no rule that says all must help you, Thanatos." Her footsteps paused. They? Come to think of it...when was the last time I heard Life speak? A sinking suspicion made her turn around again, but the angelic figure of Life Incarnate was already gone. The immortal frowned slightly before deciding that she was over thinking it. It wasn't as if they talked much, after all, it was probably nothing. Besides, it was Pal she was almost worried about.

Grimacing, she prepared to start wandering again when a tug in the back of her mind changed her plans. Harry died, where'd he end up this time? An inarticulate roar of fury from deep within her answered that question and her eyes widened. Shit.

Thana's form vanished from the Mists and reappered at the entrance to her Void.

The dark nothingness was twisting in anger and she could see, there in the center, the curled up body of one Harry Potter. Sighing, she marched in ignoring the roars from Death, grabbed the back of his robes and hauled him out. The boy let out a small whimper and a strange feeling in her chest blossomed, making her feel almost -- thankful? -- at the sign of life.

Trust the boy to end up in the one place that could kill Incarnates and yet still not die.

A small Jump later and she was dumping him out onto the sand of Tartarus. He looked awful. Blood vessels were showing up painfully under his skin, many of them had burst creating hundreds of small bruises. His body twitched constantly and blood tears streaked his contorted face, green eyes staring blanking ahead, unfocused, at everything and nothing.

Thana frowned. Staring at everything... She knelt and began to awkwardly pat his face. "Boy? Potter...you should probably wake up now..." Nothing. "Boy, I'm serious." Harry twitched and Thana's eyes narrowed. She really didn't have the patience for this and proved it by simply slapping him across the face, hard. There was a rough jerk of his chest and his breathing evened as his eyes began to slowly focus. Emerald eyes immediately saught her out and she watched them widen.

"Mmmmraaagh?" He coughed then let out a loud groan as his body protested.

Smirking, Thana placed her hand on his shoulder. The sharp tingle of a presence leaving confirmed a suspicion. "Yeah," she told him. "I felt like that when Always touched me too."

Voldemort heard the sickening crack through Quirrel's ear and couldn't help the smug satisfaction that he felt. Revenge had been sweet, but it would be even sweeter if he could look, with his own eyes, upon the crushed body of his enemy. That suggestion was the one that sent the professor skipping two steps at a time as he rushed down and then out to the base of the Astronomy tower, shaking with anticipation. The boy was dead, either that or far too paralysed to be any real threat.

As he got close, the small body groaned and then sat up. Quirrel stopped cold. Impossible. He had heard the neck breaking, seen the head twisted at an odd angle, there was no way!

Voldemort seethed, sending tendrils of pain through his host's body at the impossibility. If there had been any doubt before, it was gone. The boy was a threat, the very one in that thrice damned prophecy! And he had immortality...or something close to it while he himself was stuck as a floating spirit, too weak to do anything on his own. The very thought of someone else suceeding where he hadn't...he promptly forgot the thought.

It couldn't be immortality. Voldemort's ego wouldn't allow it.

He retreated when Harry twisted his head to look at his frozen professor.

"That hurt, you bastard." And for a moment, those green eyes turned gold...

Alright, we have about four...five chapters left of the first book...maybe more. I know you all hate the vagueness...or do you? But giving away everything just isn't fun at all!

And really, what kind of scheming mastermind would just tell their whole plan when they don't want to be stopped?

Anyway, Review please!