"Stop there, asshole." He heard someone say.
He didn't stop. Because, his name was not asshole. He kept walking in the dark alley way.
Suddenly, he felt a fist contacting hardly with the back of his head, knocking the glasses off his face. He saw stars as he fell forward on to his knees. His hand instinctually went to the spot he was hit.
"Urgh." He groaned as he rubbed the spot.
The guy who hit him, turned him around and pushed him on to his back. He put his arm on his chest and pressed him to the ground to prevent him from raising.
He removed his knife from his pocket with the other hand and pointed it at his throat.
Harry Potter opened his eyes wider and took a good look at his attacker. He was very bulky, with dark skin and a scar on his cheek. Harry immediately recognized him. He saw his wanted posters many times. That guy was quite notorious.
There were two other men behind him whom Harry presumed, were his team. He couldn't see their faces due to the darkness.
"Give me all the money you've got."
He had to stop himself from snorting out loud.
"I don't have any money." He croaked out.
The man punched his nose in response. Harry was sure, the he started bleeding.
"Give us what we want, we'll leave you alone." The man said.
"But I don't have anything." He said in a hoarse voice.
One of the two men standing behind him came to him and kicked on his face.
"Search him." He ordered with a tone that broke no arguments that he was the leader.
Harry felt the man checking his jacket pockets for anything of value. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other man approaching him too.
He knew their search will be futile. He had nothing of value with him. Well, nothing of value for them at least.
The only precious thing he had was, her photo, in his jeans pocket. That was the only memory, he had of her. He hoped that these men won't take it.
"Fuck! He has nothing." The man who hit him on his head said. He felt someone kick on his ribs. He couldn't figure out who it was due to the blurry vision. He thought it was the leader, but he was not sure.
"Search his jeans." The third man spoke for the first time.
Uh-Oh He thought. He tensed up at it. The dark-skinned man noticed it and grinned at him. He immediately put his hands in his jeans pockets. Harry tried to resist. But he had no strength for it.
"Oh, there is something here." The dark skinned man said as he touched the photo.
He tried to kick the man away. But he was too weak and couldn't do anything.
"What is it?" The leader asked, as the dark skinned man brought the folded photo out.
"Some photo." He said. He gave the photo to his leader and resumed his search in other pockets.
"Give that back." He whimpered as the leader opened the folds of photo to look at it. The third guy approached him from behind to look at the photo.
The dark man who was searching him, got angry after finding nothing in his pockets. He punched him on the side of his jaw and got up from him.
"There is nothing else." The dark skinned man said at the same time the leader let out a low whistle.
"Here Brian, take a look." The leader said as he handed the photo to the dark man.
"The chick's hot, isn't she? ." The third guy asked.
"Give that back..." Harry whimpered again. "Please.." He moaned.
"You want this back?" The dark man asked with a sadistic smile on his face. "Then come on, take it." He said, handing the photo to him.
He eagerly reached for the photo, but the man pulled it back when he reached over and touched it.
"Take it, take it." The man said, as he thrust the pic into his hand again. He pulled it back again when he touched it. The man did it again. The three of them laughed, as he once again failed to reach the photo.
"Please... Give that back... Please." Harry sobbed.
"You want it?" The man asked. "But I don't feel like giving it to you. I..." The man paused. "I feel like tearing it and throw it away."
"Don't!" He gasped. "Please don't.."
But the man paid no mind. He slowly began to tear it.
With a sudden surge of power, Harry lunged at the man with photo. He managed to land a punch on his jaw and plucked the photo away from his hands.
Harry immediately screamed as the leader kicked him on his knees and made him fell down.
"You bastard!" The third guy growled as he began to kick him. All three of them stood up and began kicking him. Harry shielded his face with his hands and curled up on the ground, clutching the half torn photo to his chest. He didn't even care about the blows he was receiving. He was not new to the physical pain. He only hoped that they leave the photo to him.
Alas, they didn't. The leader plucked the photo from his hands and tore it into pieces. He gave him one last punch and threw the pieces of photo at him before they left.
Harry sobbed as he held the torn pieces of photo. It was the only thing he had as her memory.
Suddenly a cool wind hit his face, which also took a few pieces of photo flying away from him.
"NO!" He yelled to catch those pieces, losing a few of the remaining in his hands to the wind in the process.
He sobbed over it. He hoped he still had magic, so that he could cast a simple reparo and stick the pieces back together.
He lost all his magic due to the sick ritual performed by Malfoy and Ginny to transfer his magic from him to their squib of a child. His blood boiled as he remembered two of the main causes for his misery.
He thought he loved her back then. He thought, she was his life.
No.
He didn't just thought he loved her. He believed it.
No, that was wrong too. She made him think that he believed, that he loved her.
By the time he understood that it was all a lie, everything was over. They killed her first. Then went on to kill everyone who tried to help him. Made him watch everything helplessly.
He could still remember the night she was killed. Ronald Weasley, her fiancé, along with Draco Malfoy, Arthur Weasley and William Weasley, raped her repeatedly in front of him. Tortured her. He could still remember her asking him to help. He remembered how he begged them to leave her and take him instead. They didn't. Ron ended her life by levitating her to the window and dropping her from the top floor. He then mocked at him by incanting the levitation charm.
They didn't stop with that. They had him imprisoned there, in his own manor and then killed Fleur in the same way. They then killed George and Angelina, who after knowing the truth tried to help him.
He wondered just how easily the family he trusted so much cheated him.
Well, the first reason they were able to cheat him was because he trusted them so much.
They set their plans into motion the moment he announced to the world that he carried a soul shard of Tom Riddle inside him. It was a mistake.
He made another mistake by pointing out the mistakes done by Dumbledore, to the world. His intentions were to show people that they should not trust someone so blindly, because everyone was a human and everyone does mistakes.
But no one cared about his intentions. No one received his message. They only received the rumours spread by them.
They started spreading rumours that he was going dark, due to hosting soul shard for sixteen years. The fact that he tried to defame Dumbledore added fuel to the fire.
He made another mistake by ignoring the rumours, not making any statements on it. The Weasleys also covered their tracks perfectly. While they were the ones who started the rumours, they made sure that they pretended like they were supporting him. He trusted them.
Even Hermione was not there during that time to help him. She went to Australia to find her parents. He couldn't go with her as his presence was required in Britain.
He later fell for the love potions to Ginny and proposed her, during the same time Ron proposed Hermione. They agreed for a joint wedding back then.
He thought, for the first time in his life, things were going perfectly well. But, he was wrong. Things were going perfectly well. But, not for him.
The Weasleys, joined hands with the Malfoys, who escaped prison because of bribes and his support to an extent.
That was another mistake from him. He felt pity when he was told that Draco was forced to be a death eater. Added to the fact that his mother saved his ,made him help them.
Together, the Weasleys and Malfoys trapped him. With Malfoys' political power and Weasleys' new found fame as heroes, they effectively convinced people that he became a criminal.
They held him as a prisoner in his own house and spread rumours that he ran away, in the ambition of gaining his own army to conquer Magical Britain.
Harry won't be surprised if the people are still in a belief that he is out there some where, building his own army right now.
The Weasleys and Malfoys ruthlessly killed everyone that tried to help him. The fact that they didn't even spare their own family member, shows that how much cold blooded they've become.
Ginny then married Draco and gave birth to Malfoy's child. However, due to their misfortune,the child was a squib.
Since, they still held him as a prisoner during that time they used him to to help their child. They performed a dark ritual and transferred his magic into the baby, turning him into a squib now.
He hoped that they kill him too. But they didn't. Instead, they just released him into the muggle world. They knew he won't possess any threat to them due to lack of magic.
Harry later found out that the Grangers were also killed sometime during his imprisonment. After Hermione retrieved their memories, she introduced them to him and he became increasingly attached to them. He mourned at their deaths.
He desperately wanted to die, so that he can meet everyone he loved again. However, he didn't want to force it. He wanted it to occur naturally. He was trying his best to live, all the while, hoping that death comes as soon possible to him.
He slowly got up. Every part in his body, hurt like hell. He felt tiny droplets of rain falling. He heard in weather report that there was a going to be a storm. He looked around and found his glasses lying just beside him. He picked them and put them on. He looked down at the pieces of her photo, lying at his feet. Tears brimmed at the sight of it.
Suddenly his eye found something as he bent over and picked one particular piece.
His heart leapt with sudden joy as he looked at that piece. It was her face. That guy tore it such a way, that her face was still in one piece in the photo. He thanked his lucky stars for at least having it remaining. He kissed the photo and pocketed it.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, every second. He started sprinting so that he can reach his place sooner. Wind speed increased drastically within minutes. It was now getting harder to move forward.
He was already soaking wet. The rain was not helping his glasses as well. His vision was getting blurrier and he couldn't see anything clearly beyond a few feet.
He sped up to get home as soon as possible. But, his injuries began to ache a lot.
"Ouch." He said as he hit the water pump on the road side. He fell down and clutched at his knee. He hit it pretty badly and it was hurting a lot.
He slowly got up and tried to walk. But, his knee didn't support him. He instantly fell down.
He looked around and found a long stick near a tree. He reached for it and grabbed it. Using it as a leverage, he slowly stood up and started walking.
He cursed himself for not finding a home in the town itself. The shed he was living was at the outskirts of the town almost into the woods. He picked that place, even if it was not that much habitable, because it was peaceful. There were trees around the place and he couldn't find a place like that within the town.
He let out a sigh of relief as he approached the familiar bungalow, which was only at a short distance from his shed. The density of the trees increased signalling that he was close to his destination. But, he didn't notice how violently the trees were swinging.
Harry breathed out a relief as he finally reached his shed. He put his hand into his back pocket and searched for the key. He couldn't find it. He searched all the other pockets of his dress and the key was nowhere.
"Shite!" He said. He looked around and found a stone at the base of an alder tree. He moved towards the tree, to get the stone.
Suddenly he heard a crack sound behind him. He quickly turned around, which set him off balance and he fell down. He saw a huge oak tree slowly falling down in his direction.
His eyes widened at it. He immediately tried to get out of that spot. But, his bad knee didn't support him. He raised a little to only fall back into the mud.
Suddenly, everything seemed to freeze around him. Not exactly freeze, but everything was like slow motion. He found that even his own body was in slow motion, except his mind. It was going at a normal speed.
Or else it was the other way around? His mind was working super fast while everything else was going normally?
Harry understood that this was the moment. He was going to die. He wasn't afraid of it. It was what he hoped, wasn't it? Within a blink of a second, everything that happened in his life flashed in front of him. The next second, he felt the tree crashing down on his frail and scrawny body. He felt a sharp branches dig through his abdomen, while a heavy branch fell on his chest, crushing his whole ribcage, and ending his life at the spot.
"Oh my poor baby," Harry heard a feminine was whisper. It was awfully familiar. "What have they done to you?" The voice was filled with affection and love. He knew, he heard the voice somewhere, but couldn't bring himself to recognize it.
He felt himself lying on an impossibly soft mattress. His eyes were closed and he didn't want to open them. He felt a soft hand stroking his forehead. It felt so good for him. He leaned into the touch. It was so warm and affectionate.
"Wake up Harry." The same voice whispered to him. He felt the hand which stroked his forehead, shaking him a little.
But he didn't want to wake up. Instead, he snuggled more into the mattress.
"Come son, wake up." Another voice said. This one was masculine, yet it too was equally, affectionate as the previous one and this voice also seemed very familiar to him.
He slowly opened his eyes. The place was lit brightly and he had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the light. He slowly took a good look at surroundings.
His jaw instantly dropped open at the sight in front of him. It was his parents. Both of them were dressed in pure white clothes. They were looking at him with so much affection and love. Their eyes were glistening with ushering tears. He felt his own vision getting blurry due to the tears, that were threatening to fall. He quickly wiped his tears and looked at them again, as he drank in their sight.
His voice croaked, when he tried to say something. His mum put a finger on his lips and pulled him into a hug.
It felt so good. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, with the same tightness she was hugging him. This was what he dreamed of, since his childhood. He let the tearsa fall, as the emotions overwhelmed him. He ignored everything around him. He felt her, rubbing soothing circles on his back as he sobbed out his heart on her shoulder.
"Shhh... Baby, its okay." She whispered into his ears. Her voice was melodic to him. He didn't want this feeling to end.
He reluctantly pulled back, when his emotions settled after a minute of hugging. He turned to his left and found his dad standing there with open arms. He immediately went to his dad and hugged him as tightly as he hugged his mum.
He desperately hoped that this was all real and not some stupid dream.
He pulled back when he heard someone clearing their throats. He looked in that direction to see an extremely handsome man standing there with two equally beautiful women.
His parents stood on each side of him, holding him protectively.
Harry wondered who those people were. Then he began wonder where he was. Slowly things started clicking into his mind. He remembered getting beaten by those thugs, going to home in rain, and then the tree falling on him.
His eyes bulged out when the realization dawned upon him. He was dead.
Is this afterlife?, He thought. It should be. That's why he was able to see his parents. Then where were others then? Where was his Hermione and who were these three good looking people?
"Why don't you take a seat?" The man said. The Potters sat down. Harry found the bed he was lying on till now, became a couch. Chairs appeared behind the three unknown people, as they sat down.
"Hello Harry, my name is Hades." The man said.
"Hello." Harry replied.
"This is Venus," The man said, gesturing the woman on his right, "and this is Miranda." he said showing the woman on his left.
Harry nodded at them. He was getting more confused every second.
"You must be wondering where you are?" Hades asked.
"Isn't this afterlife?" Harry asked.
"Not exactly." The man said. "To be precise, you are in between life and afterlife."
This confused Harry even more.
"Pardon?" Harry asked the man.
"I said, you are between life and afterlife." The man said again. Harry blinked at him.
"Oh, shut up Hades. You are confusing him more and more." The woman named Venus spoke.
"You know I'm not good at this. You explain to him. I'm not as good as you in these sort of things." Hades said. Venus rolled her eyes and looked at Harry.
"Okay Harry, now I'll explain everything to you. Please don't ask any questions until I complete my explanation, okay?" Venus asked Harry. Harry nodded.
"I am Goddess of love. Hades here is god of death while Miranda is Goddess of fate." Harry was shocked at it. But, he immediately recovered from shock. He has seen many strange things in his life. So, it is hard to surprise him. He nodded at her in acknowledgement. He was curious at what she was trying to tell him.
"We have watched your whole life Harry. You are the purest soul we have seen in centuries. The life you lived, was not we expected when we marked you and fated you to destroy Voldemort. Of all the possible futures we predicted, this was never expected." She said. Harry gave a slow nod at her.
"You do not deserve the pain and sorrow you've suffered through your life. So, we propose something for you." She said. Harry was now listening with atmost attention.
"We are going to let you and your soulmate, Hermions to go back in time to your past selves, with all your present memories intact. You have chance to redo everything that has happened in your life and lead a happy life this time. You can have everyone you lost, back in your life." She said. Harry froze in spot. Was this a dream? But, this felt too much real to be a dream. This was what he always hoped for. One chance to redo everything that has happened in his life. However, he believed it was not possible. But now, these three were giving him a chance to do it.
He can have his Hermione back. He can have his parents and Sirius back. He can save, Cedric, Remus, Tonks, Fred, George, Angelina and many more.
"Ho long?" He asked. "How long you are going to send me back?" He thought that, if he were to save his parents, he should go back to '81. But, what could he do as a toddler, even if has memories of future.
"We send you back to the day, your name came out of Goblet of fire. We can't send you back, later than that." She said.
"That means, I still can't have my parents back." Harry said. James and Lily squeezed his shoulders on either side of him.
"You are right son. But, we died too much early, for you to save us." James said.
"Wait, why can't I just go on with afterlife. Everyone will be there too and I don't have to face Voldemort too. Why do I have to back, if I can get everyone back again here only?" Harry asked. "Moreover, mum and dad will be with me too, if I stay here."
"You are wrong Harry." Hades spoke up. "Afterlife is different than being alive. We can't explain that clearly to you, but only thing we can tell you is that, you will have them back in afterlife, but you can't enjoy like you can while you are alive. Its completely different." Hades spoke.
"So, Hermione will also have her memories back with me?" Harry asked. The three of them nodded.
"I can do whatever I want?" Harry asked. They nodded again.
"I can run off to some place with Hermione, instead of facing that snake faced shit?" Harry asked.
"Oh no young man. If you have that kind of intentions, then forget about the proposal completely." Miranda spoke for the first time. "You are fated to destroy him and you only can do it. If you don't, he is not only a threat to the mortal world, but also the immortal world, that we are in, right now."
"Well, shite." Harry said. "I think I can live with that sacrifice, if I can have Hermione back." The three gods smiled at him.
Miranda turned serious, before she spoke. "There are some rules, you have to know." She said. Harry nodded.
"Firstly, neither you nor Hermione cannot tell anyone about this." She said. "We'll give you Occlumency abilities to protect the information." Harry nodded.
"You must and should defeat Voldemort." She said, "And for your information, you won't be a horcrux." Harry breathed out a sigh of relief at it.
"You should control your anger at Weasleys. Because they were not that cruel, during that time. I know that you desperately want revenge on them. But, you can't just go and punish the. They haven't committed those crimes yet in the timeline." She said. Harry grimaced at it but nodded.
"However, you can have your revenge for what they've already done and also whatever they're planning to do." She said. Harry nodded. He could live with that.
"Also remember that, even if you go back, you may not be able to save everyone. Some may still die, despite your best tries. Just don't blame yourself for that. Some times, people who lived in last time line, may die in this timeline. That's not your fault because you can't save each and everyone." She said. Harry grimaced again, but nodded.
"I am telling you again and again. Make sure that Voldemort dies. We are already doing so much, and we can't do anything more than what we are doing now. So, if anything wrong happens, we can't manipulate it for your favor. All our powers are used to send all the souls back to life. Using so much power, restricts us from doing further. However, we'll be able to warn you of any forthcoming danger." She said. Harry nodded.
"You're also going to get some gifts." Venus said.
"Gifts?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Yes, gifts." Venus said. He looked at the other two gods and they too seemed to be confused.
"Your first gift is, you and Hermione are going to share a soul bond." Venus said. Harry heard Hades and Miranda gasp at it.
"That means, your souls are connected with each other. It is normally formed between the couples with purest form of love." Miranda said.
"Oh." Harry said.
"All you have to do is, French kiss her." Miranda said. Harry blushed and nodded.
"You'll find your other gift in your school trunk. It is a magical bracelet." Venus said. "When you vanquished Voldemort back in '81.. No, it was you who vanquished him, not your mother. Your mother only protected you. It was you who sent the killing curse back towards him." Venus said, when Harry started object, when she said it was him who vanquished Voldemort.
"It was me?" Harry asked. Everyone in the room nodded.
"Back to the topic. That night Dumbledore found heavy concentration of dark magic around your scar." Venus said.
"The Horcrux." Harry said, rubbing his scar.
"Yes, the Horcrux. However, he didn't know what it was. He thought it was some kind of curse by Voldemort, so that he can possess you. Dumbledore immediately casted a magical bind on you, if at all Voldemort tried to possess you." Venus said. Harry was surprised by it. He nodded at her to continue.
"When he found out that you were a Horcrux, he made the bind permanent." Venus said.
"Bastard." James muttered. Harry agreed with his dad.
"He should have left it like that. Your magic would have soon overpowered the Horcrux and eliminated it from your head." She said.
"The magical bracelet in your trunk, helps you remove the bind slowly. It will take at least a month to unlock your magic completely. With your complete magic, your power will be twice that of Voldemort." Venus said. Harry was shocked at it. Was he really that powerful? Miranda chuckled at his befuddled expression.
"What? Did you think we fated you to destroy the most feared dark lord, without any powers?" She asked. It made sense to Harry. He nodded at her again.
"I want you to go to room of requirements everyday and practice, controlling your exceeding magic. Such a heavy magic, uncontrolled will be dangerous." Venus said. Harry nodded again.
"And one more thing." Hades said, "You may not like Dumbledore, but I suggest to work with him. He made some mistakes in your life, but that doesn't make him evil. Make him realize his mistakes. He'll be of great help. Rebelling against him will make matters worse."
Harry nodded.
"Your power may be twice that of Voldemort, but your knowledge is nothing in front of his. I want you and Hermione to train in all branches of magic, extensively. You may not be able to defeat him in Graveyard. But, you should be able to plant some fear in him and his minions." Hades said. Harry gave him a curt nod.
"Well, that's all from my part. Do you both have anything else to add?" Hades asked Venus and Miranda. Both of them shook their heads.
"Well, Harry time to bid farewell to your parents." Hades said raising from his seat and making his way to the door behind them. Miranda and Venus followed him. They stood at the door and waited for him.
Harry grimaced at it. He didn't want to leave them. He hardly spoke anything with them at all. He reluctantly got up. Both his parents got up behind him as well.
Lily cupped his cheeks and raised to kiss his forehead. She hugged him and said, "Take care Harry. Remember, that we always love you." She said.
"I love you too mum." Harry said. He let go of his mum and turned to hug his dad. His dad slapped on his back as they hugged.
"All the best, son." James said.
"I'll make you proud of me dad." He said.
"Oh, We're already proud of you." James said. Harry smiled at him.
"I love you dad." Harry said.
"I love you too son." James said.
"Oh and don't forget to send Hermione our wishes." Lily said. Harry nodded.
"I'll miss you both." He said.
"We're always with you." Lily said. Harry gave her a nod and gave one more hug to both of them. He watched as they slowly faded from the view.
"Right then." He heard Hades behind him. He turned to look at him.
"Ready?" He asked.
"As ready I can be." Harry said with a determined expression.
"Grab this." Hades said as he handed over a quill to him. Harry took it.
"This is a kind of Portkey." Hades said. Harry groaned at it. He hated portkeys. The three gods chuckled at it.
"Don't worry. It's not like normal Portkeys. You won't fall." Hades said. Harry nodded as he took the quill.
"All the best, and farewell for now, Harry James Potter." Hades said with a smile. Harry smiled back at the three gods.
Hades snapped his fingers and Harry felt a yank at his navel as he disappeared from, err... whatever the place was called.
A/N:
So that was the first chapter guys. Please review and point out my mistakes.
