Ever watch Black Butler? Know who Sebastian is and what he looks like? Keep that in mind.
Once again, special thanks to Lady Lily Anne for being my cohort, cowriter, and beta reader, things wouldn't get done nearly as often without her help.
As always, please review!
As the children shuffled about uncomfortably under the scrutiny of those sitting at the various tables Professor Dumbledore made his way to the center of the room with a tatty old hat in hand, he turned to face the newcomers with a smile beaming through his auburn beard.
"Now my dear first years it is time for the sorting ceremony, I shall call for you and you will sit before us and the Sorting Hat shall decide which house you will reside in during your time with us at Hogwarts."
Minerva scoffed lightly while leaning in to whisper to her friends, "That's it? Was hop'in we was be'in made to wrestle a troll or som'thin, ah well."
Iris had to hold back a choking laugh and resist the urge to sob as she remembered a flash of ginger hair, laughter, and...no...no no no no. The Weasleys weren't dead, they weren't born yet, stop it. They'd all survive this time... She was knocked out of her reverie as Al was called upon first.
"Black, Alphard!" Dumbledore announced cheerfully, and as her brother in all but name stood Iris grasped Tom and Min's reassuring hands as he strutted out into the middle of the hall and sat upon the offered stool with practiced grace. The tatty hat was placed on his head and remained motionless for well over a minute, then two minutes, then three, eventually the students and even the teachers began shuffling a bit before a voice cracked through the hall.
"Ravenclaw!" Alphard removed the hat and handed it to Professor Dumbledore while he stroked his chin in contemplation, Iris herself was rather gobsmacked at this turn of events but had to keep it to herself. Hadn't Professor Slughorn told Harry how he had every Black in his house aside from Sirius? Had she really changed things so much that Al's plans for the future had shifted alongside her own? She didn't know, and she couldn't ever really know. The past was, as they say, in the past.
So many bloody unanswered questions.
"Black, Iris!" Releasing Tom and Min's hand she stood tall and proud as she strolled out into the middle of the hall mirroring her cousins easy gait while ignoring the whispers and snickers of the surrounding crowds. The supposed squib, the undesirable, the abandoned, she heard all of this, and in a moment of spite she let her true power flex out. Just enough to be noticed, just enough to not be underestimated.
Just enough to be feared.
She relished the feeling of power as all the children reeled back while she stopped before the stool. As they damn well better, she was, after all, a Black, and deserved to be respected, Dorea had told her just as much and she wouldn't lie to Iris.
As she sat upon the stool and the hat was placed on her head the entire room seemed to stop as if it were caught in a freeze frame. After several moments of silence she lifted the brim of the enormous tatty hat and met the gaze of a grim man standing before her.
He was undeniably tall, bearing a regal aura that draped about him like a heavy cloak in winter. His pitch black hair verged on the edge of respectable and ever so slightly too long, neatly combed and styled to look roguishly attractive. His glistening silver eyes gleamed with amusement and unfathomable darkness, which was a bit unsettling coming from someone nearly two metres in height. Wearing a well-tailored and discreetly elegant suit he emitted an aura of proper British aristocracy, much like the Lords of the Victorian era.
She was surprised when he bowed and took her hand to kiss her knuckles lightly.
"Mistress, it is a pleasure to meet you, finally."
"Mi-Mistress?!" She stammered out in horrified confusion, the tall man released her hand and returned to his imposing full height while nodding slowly.
"You collected or claimed all my Hallows through conquest and inheritance Mistress, in Days Gone By, and it was with your Mastery over them that you find yourself in your current position."
Iris felt like her brain was going to breakdown as she whimpered out, "Your Hallows? My current position?"
The tall man sighed as he offered his hand to her again and gently grasped her tiny digits before he began guiding her along the slowly growing path of destruction in a sedate manner. Even in her shock she could tell the previously static Great Hall was shifting from the welcoming feast to a fire scorched debris scattered battlefield.
"You, as Harry Potter held claim over the Cloak of Invisibility, an artifact that Dumbledore had tried to steal for himself to complete the full set. It didn't work, it would never work for one without Peverell blood, he was a stubborn old goat about it regardless. Some people cannot take 'No' for an answer, especially uppity little twats who think they know better than entities older than Creation, oh apologies on the language dear."
"No problem," Iris squeaked out as the man continued talking.
"The Stone of Resurrection, you claimed through the voided Gaunt line through blood and conquest, it mattered not that you left it behind, it was yours and that is that."
They continued on while the center of the hall shifted to the final moments of Harry Potter's life as he summoned a sharp edged bit of broken masonry to collide with Voldemort's skull as the Dark Lord cast the Killing Curse towards him. As the moments passed by slowly Iris could clearly see Voldemort's skull rupture in a wave of gore a bare second before the green curse struck Harry.
"A bare second indeed Mistress...oh how much the slivers of moments count. The Elder wand acknowledged young Mister Potter as its master yes, but it was wielded by a different wizard altogether, it did not know who to follow. Harry solved that problem by killing Voldemort just before his own death, and would you like to know something about wands my dear little Miss Black?"
Iris shivered uncontrollably as she glanced up at the smirking gaunt figure, "What is that...Death?"
Death grinned as he tilted his head to the side, "A wizard's wand unclaimed by conquest cannot kill its master. Do you remember your last thoughts as Harry little one? Do you remember the last wish that passed through your mind as you were struck down by Voldemort's killing curse?"
Iris stood in silence as she watched Harry and Tom kill each other before whispering her response, "I wish I could have saved everyone..."
Death's smile turned indulgent as he released her hand and folded his arms behind his back nodding once, "You wished you could save everyone. Not just your friends and family, not just those you knew personally, but in one selfless moment you wished you could save everyone. Even your enemies, those who tortured and murdered your friends, even the lead psychopath that had led the campaign that left you an orphan and little more than a tool of an old meddler who thought too highly of himself.
"Harry Potter, was, even at his death, a bloody hero. That I could work with."
Iris whimpered lightly as she met his ethereal gaze, "What did you do?"
Flicking a finger in a clear indication he wanted her to follow him Death began walking past the stacks of dead bodies, her friends, her family. Hermione, Ginny and Luna, all dead as they took the insane Bellatrix Lestrange down with them, Ron who had died as he held the dead girls in his arms as he tried to protect their broken mortal shells from the necromancers. Neville, taking Nagini, Rookwood, and Goyle down with him as he roared in defiance covered in the blood of his enemies, rage coloring his eyes while his hands clenched sword and wand.
Fred and George, back to back with Charlie, all three bantering to each other as they took down the last of Voldemort's vampires with them, Daphne and Draco standing over the bodies of their executed parents, refusing to leave their remains behind as they died at the hands of Fenrir Greyback.
It went on and on, and suddenly Iris knew the point Death was trying to make, he noticed she'd finally caught on and smirked as he nodded once before speaking again.
"You died here, in a miasma of magic, at the heart of a Ley Line, at the crescendo of one of the most brutal battles in Magical history while being the Master of the Deathly Hallows, which is why, with a powerful focei upon your head we may finally speak. What I did, was...play with some loopholes.
"Entities such as myself are only allowed limited interaction with the physical world, which trust me, is good for you people and your ongoing existence. I however have a little more leeway due to the simple fact that eventually everything dies and I need to do my job, souls are souls after all and must be collected.
"But, you were the Master over a fraction of my power and hadn't claimed it, and you died without ever claiming it, with a wish upon your thoughts. Now, how was I supposed to help you save everyone without being able to truly interact with the real world, hmm?"
Iris stood there a moment before paling visibly, "No."
Death grinned, "Oh yes. You see, I have direct control over your bloodline, the Peverells had always been my favorites you see, clever lot. But their descendants the Potters had so few left in your time period, and even in the periods proceeding it really, so I had to look at your other bloodines, and wouldn't you know it, I found myself an in to play with."
The Great Hall shifted to sooty snowed in alley and an emaciated slip of a girl huddled against the wall, clearly suffering from a fever and malnutrition, Death gestured to the dying girl with a flourish.
"May I present one Iris Alya Black, abandoned daughter of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, who incidentally died a mere day after one Tom Marvolo Riddle's eleventh birthday. When I came to her she was...resigned, and wished for her 'shame' to die with her, but as they say, I had work to do. So I struck a bargain with her, and thanks to some judicious bending of the rules she passed on and a moment later I snatched your soul and placed it in her body while activating its magic.
"I admit I cheated a little healing the meatsack but thankfully none of the Powers That Be actually care about that sort of thing unless it interferes with their own work, plus I followed the rules of equivalent exchange regardless. A soul for a soul, a body for a body, memories for memories, it isn't my fault that the Black Family Magic unlocked the latter after all."
Death's smirk made it very clear he had quite intended that to happen and Iris knew it, "Regardless, my job was now done. I completed my Master's final wish, the Hallows were now reset, and all was well with the world."
Iris remained silent for a time before turning to meet Death's gaze evenly, "So...we're done? I don't have any other duties, prophecies, none of that? I'm just in place to try to change the future, to save everyone I can?"
Death shrugged, "More or less, I basically pulled you out of that bastard Fate's meat grinder and handed you off to the much more lenient, and if I am to be honest, kind, Destiny. Wonderful girl, if she ever reveals herself to you offer her strawberries they're her absolute favorite."
Not really processing that Iris rubbed he temples slowly as she met Death's gaze evenly, "So it's over? It's all in my hands now?"
Death nodded, "You are no longer the Master of the Hallows, for now anyway, reclaiming them is your choice, and after this we'll never speak again. That is if you don't reclaim ownership, aside from that, we're done."
Iris remained silent for a time before tentatively asking, "What about Iris? The real...err...original one? The one who I took place of?"
Death smirked at that while shrugging, "Harry Potter is going to need a soul isn't he? And as I said, equivalent exchange. Now, enjoy the feast Miss Black, I dare say you have an amazing future ahead of you."
"SLYTHERIN!" The hat yelled and Iris blinked in confusion as the hat was removed from her head and the Great Hall was clapping politely as she hopped off the stool and made her way to the table of green and silver. Dazed, perplexed, and trying to process what had just happened she sat in silence only clapping when Minerva ended up in Gryffindor and making space for Tom when he was placed in Slytherin with her.
As Tom sat at her side, and discretely took her hand they eventually got through the rest of the sorting and tucked into the offered feast all while she operated on auto-pilot. She'd met Death, and while being absolutely gentlemanly and very cute, was utterly terrifying in the shear power he represented. She shivered and couldn't help but hope his words were true and she'd never have to deal with a being like him again.
The feast ended, and they were soon escorted to the dungeons, and for the first time since she arrived in this timeline she was separated from her Tomcat, and led to the girls dorms while being told proper house introductions would wait till the morning. Thank Morgana for that. Her roommate was a Nott, a brunette with blue eyes named Amanda who seemed alright, but aside from that Iris ignored all else as she tiredly crawled into bed.
Staring at the ceiling she couldn't help the tears that collected in the corners of her eyes, she was stuck here, in the past, because of Harry's dying wish, and it hurt how happy that made her. She was here to make a difference, to save everyone, to save Tom's soul, just like she had thought she was supposed to, and couldn't help snorting a bit remembering Hermione's admonishment that Harry had a saving people thing.
Slipping into slumber she remembered one last tidbit Death had left her with, and fell asleep smiling.
Harry Potter needed a soul, which meant Iris Black would finally have the family she deserved.
For once, being the chew toy of Fate finally played in their favor.
Hope I answered some questions with this, please review!