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Chapter Fifty-Seven—A Conversation Between Brothers

Jonathan turned away from Cedric and wondered if ramming his head into the wall would help. Well, probably not. It would just give him a headache. But ramming Cedric's head into the wall might help.

"I just want to know, that's all," Cedric said from behind him. He might even sound reasonable if you didn't know that this was the twentieth time he was asking, Jonathan thought. "Everyone else in your group knows, right? I want to, too."

"Argh," Jonathan told the ceiling. They were in a pair of chairs tucked into a corner of the common room, chairs no one else wanted because they were so far from the fire. "I told you why I couldn't tell you." He kept his voice fierce but low. The last thing he needed was other Hufflepuffs wandering into the conversation, so that he would end up with half a dozen Cedrics.

"But as long as I don't look in the Headmaster's eyes, then everything should be fine, right?'

"No, there's more to it than that. And you might look at his eyes without meaning to." Jonathan himself was surprised at how long it had taken him to practice looking at someone's nose instead of their eyes. And he had only managed to keep things hidden so long because of the help Harry had given him, he thought.

"I looked in the library for books on Occlumency and Legilimency."

"And?"

"And the books said that only really experienced people can do them. People who are at least in their seventh year, and possibly higher." Cedric's jaw firmed. "I know myself. I know that I'm good at schoolwork, but not that good. There's no way I can learn them for years yet."

"Then you can wait years!"

"Jonathan. I want to know now. It must matter a lot. And Acanthus and Fred and George know!"

"The Headmaster doesn't pay as much attention to Fred and George because they're Weasleys, and their parents are on his side." Jonathan lowered his voice even further. "And Acanthus has some kind of protection she won't tell me about. But he pays attention to you. You're my best friend in my House. I saw him looking at you at breakfast just this morning."

"He doesn't pay that much attention to me," Cedric said confidently. "I'm sure that it'll be fine."

"And I'm sure it won't!"

Cedric opened his mouth to go on arguing, but Jonathan froze, because there was a shadow growing in the corner where there wasn't supposed to be one. In fact, there really shouldn't be any moving shadows this far from the fire. He put his hand on his wand, wondering if it was some trick of Headmaster Dumbledore's, a spell he had cast so he could spy on them.

Cedric saw it, too, but he glanced at Jonathan before he gripped his wand. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know," Jonathan breathed. Inwardly, he was cursing himself. He tried to avoid mentioning the Headmaster's name in conversations like these, but of course, the one time he forgot and was careless, the busybody was listening in.

The shadow lengthened and turned into a ball, and then Jonathan let out a loud huff of relief as he saw green eyes forming in it. At the same moment, all the sounds from the common room disappeared, and a thick grey mist encased him and Cedric.

"What is this? Who is that?" Cedric sounded like he might leap up and run screaming into the shadow at any point, and Jonathan gave him a guilty look. He was almost used to this, and he still sometimes forgot that not everyone was.

"Everything's fine, Cedric. This is my brother Harry. And he's part of the reason that I didn't want to tell you what was going on. Harry, can you protect his mind?"

"Of course I can." For an instant, there was a brilliant grey spiderweb where Harry had been before he materialized, sitting on a chair that hadn't existed a second before. Jonathan grinned. He loved trying to figure out exactly what his brother looked like he wasn't being human. The spiderweb wasn't something he'd seen before, but he'd put it in a puzzle box with all the other pieces.

"I—don't understand this." Cedric's eyes were still wide and darting back and forth between Harry and Jonathan in what seemed like panic. "I thought your brother was younger than you, Jonathan!"

"He is. But he's also older."

"Jonathan, this isn't helping."

"All right. Cedric Diggory, meet my little brother, who's also centuries old and the Master of Death." Jonathan gave a flourishing bow. "When he was born in other lives before this one, I mean. And he's also been a Kneazle and a girl and a Weasley."

"I like how you say that list as if they're all completely alien," Harry muttered, and rolled his eyes. "Girls aren't some alien species, you know."

"Weasleys are, though," Jonathan said, and then ducked with a laugh as Harry tried to swat him across the back of the head.

Cedric swallowed and said in a croaking voice, "Master of Death? You mean—like in the Tales of Beedle the Bard? You've got the Cloak and the Wand and the Stone and everything?" He was at least speaking to Harry this time, which Jonathan thought was an improvement.

"Not much more than that, although that's quite enough." For a second, Harry's mouth tightened in what looked like exasperation to Jonathan. Then he sighed. "But you're handling it well. Yes, I'm everything Jonathan said I am. And that's one reason that he didn't want to tell you the truth until you could protect your mind. Most of the other people who know the truth are allied to me."

"I," Cedric said, and left the word to hang in the air for a second. Then he took a long, deep breath, and held out his hand. "All right. Harry Potter, then? Or is there some other name you prefer. Er—Master of Death?"

"Please don't call me by title," Harry said. "Please. Harry will be fine." He shook Cedric's hand and turned to face Jonathan. "I need to talk to you about something, but it looks like you also need to talk to me, right?" He tilted his head, and Jonathan grinned at him.

"Yes. But if you protect Cedric's mind, then most of the problems I wanted to talk to you about are solved."

Harry's smile was fleeting. "Fine." He turned to face Cedric. "You should know that I don't require anyone to serve me. The main thing I want to do is either protect people or have them leave me alone. I'm happy to protect you because you're Jonathan's friend. Just don't—bow to me, or decide that I need special favors, or something."

Cedric looked like he was in the midst of working something out. "Is that who Acanthus was talking about, when she said that her family serves someone?" He stared at Jonathan. "It's impossible."

"No, Acanthus knows who I am," Harry said, and sat back with his hands around his knees. "And Fred and George know, too, although not as much as she does."

That got a scowl from Cedric. "And were you ever planning to tell me, Jonathan? Or not?"

"It's special circumstances on both sides!" Jonathan huffed at him. "Acanthus has some kind of special protection on her mind. Fred and George don't know enough to be dangerous. You just wanted me to tell you everything with your mind wide open!"

"Now it won't be. I mean, if your brother protects me." Cedric darted a nervous smile at Harry. "So tell me the rest of it?"

"Harry's the Master of Death, he's been reborn loads of times, and he wants to change the wizarding world so that Headmaster Dumbledore isn't so much in control." Jonathan shrugged when he saw Harry staring at him. "What? He already knew most of that, anyway."

"There's lots more," Harry said. "And some secrets that I honestly can't share with you, because they're not only mine. If the people they belong to give me permission, then I'll be happy to say something." He examined Cedric for a moment. "The other major relevant thing is that the war is honestly over. Voldemort isn't pretending to lull everyone the way that Dumbledore keeps saying."

"Oh." Cedric looked dazed. "How do you know that?"

"I talk to some of the former Death Eaters," Harry said vaguely, and Jonathan hid a grin. Well, of course Harry wasn't ready to tell someone he'd just met that he was best friends with the Dark Lord Voldemort and they owled each other all the time. "So you ought to know that if you work with me, you'll work with some Dark wizards, and not all of them are repentant. Some of them are only following me because to them, it makes the most sense."

Cedric took a deep breath and blinked. "I still want in."

"Why, though?" Harry was watching Cedric with a deep tinge of sadness to his expression that Jonathan was learning to watch for. It meant that Harry had known the person in a previous world, and he'd done something to them, or maybe he thought that he'd failed them in some way. Jonathan would have to annoy Harry into telling him exactly how he knew Cedric. "This isn't an adventure. It'll mean working with some people you find personally repugnant."

"I wouldn't be left out of this," Cedric said. "I always used to wish that I could live in stories, you know? That I could be a hero—"

"Be careful what you wish for."

Jonathan squeezed Harry's shoulder, and after a second, Harry seemed to remember that he was talking to someone who was really just a twelve-year-old Hufflepuff. "Sorry. But I was a hero in my first life, and it wasn't great."

Cedric paused, then nodded and said, "Or just that I could help a hero. Stories are so much more deep than our lives, you know? I'd be fighting for freedom for the unicorns in my head, and my mum would yell at me to clean up my room."

Jonathan saw Harry's lips twitch, but he said quietly, "Even that could be more dangerous than you bargain for. I don't necessarily want to discourage you, because I know how terrible it was when people were doing that to me, but it's not as simple as the stories, either. Here, you would be in danger from lots of people."

"The Headmaster?"

"And his allies. And some of the people who don't want to fight next to Dumbledore but want the war to keep going—the blood purists who were never Death Eaters, for example. And you might also have allies that you wouldn't like."

Like your best friend the Dark Lord, Jonathan thought, but he would leave that revelation up to Harry. He just wanted to be there to see Cedric's face when it happened.

"I know. I respect that. But there's a reason that I kept asking Jonathan to tell me about it, you know."

"Why?" Jonathan asked.

"Talking with you, studying with you, and learning new spells is one of the few times in my life that I haven't ever been bored." Cedric smiled. "The other times were playing Quidditch. My parents have always told me exactly what my life should be like. Go to Hogwarts, get the right amount of OWLS and NEWTS, get a good job in the Ministry, marry someone suitable, have exactly this many children, and take care of them in their old age. This is a surprise."

Harry smiled, and Jonathan kept silent, because there was a thoughtful edge to that smile which told him what his brother would probably say. "If you can accept the danger and you admit that avoiding boredom is a reason to do this—"

"Which I do."

"Then we'll try it. But I'm only going to give you a few details at first, and ask you to swear an oath to keep them secret and just go on not looking Dumbledore in the eye. Having me in your mind isn't something you should choose just because you want to avoid boredom."

"All right." Cedric leaned forwards. "What oath did you want me to swear?"

"What made you look at Cedric like that?"

Harry smiled at his brother as they walked along the battlements of the Astronomy Tower, unable not to. Jonathan was so smart. And he had still accepted the fact of Harry's immortality and multiple lives better than anyone, even Sirius.

What about Voldemort?

Harry carefully avoided the complex of his thoughts on that subject, and said quietly, "In my first lifetime, there was a Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts. My name was pulled from the Goblet that chose the champions even though I hadn't put it in. But Cedric did actually choose to be a champion. And he died. Right in front of me. I couldn't prevent it."

The memory still seared him all these years later, but then, every memory of a time he had failed someone did that. That was the curse of having perfect recollections. And, well, it also meant that he had stayed mortal in many respects, Harry thought. He wouldn't have been able to if he had forgotten what remorse and humiliation felt like.

"That won't happen this time," Jonathan said comfortable. "There's not going to be any Tournament at Hogwarts or anything like that."

"He could still get hurt."

"But he made the oath right away, and I know that he's going to ask you to put those protections in his mind sooner rather than later." Jonathan sounded as if he knew Cedric, which Harry supposed wasn't so unusual after almost two years in the same House together.

"Yes, I know. It's just something to keep in mind. He doesn't come from the kind of family that trained him like the Parkinsons did Acanthus, and he doesn't have the suspicious mindset Fred and George do."

Jonathan nodded, but then turned around and faced him. "I know you want to talk to me about something. What is it?"

"This will sound stupid," Harry said. Jonathan's face was still innocent and wise at once, the face of someone he trusted with his life, the face of someone he would die to protect. A grateful warmth squeezed Harry's insides. He was glad that he had been born here, in this time, with Jonathan as his brother.

"Tell me about it anyway."

"All right. I've met an immortal being who's a conglomeration of ghosts. She collects bodies that were abandoned, some of them the original bodies of the ghosts, and uses them to dwell in and communicate through. I brought her to meet Voldemort."

Jonathan blinked, then said, "Sure, why wouldn't you?"

Harry smiled. "Anyway. The being said that I could lose my immortality if I persuaded someone else to take up the Deathly Hallows. But she also said that the Resurrection Stone tells lies, and there's no guarantee that I would be able to enter an afterlife of the kind that it shows or meet the spirits of my loved ones." Harry swallowed. "And I worry about what would happen to this world if I left it early, too."

"You were thinking about leaving it early?"

Harry hesitated. "Not really. Just—as a choice. Just what would happen if I got killed. It's possible that could happen, if someone took me off-guard."

"I forbid you to leave it early."

Jonathan's feet were braced. His hands were on his hips, and his eyes were shining with power. Harry stared. He normally saw death, not life, but at the moment he was absolutely sure he was seeing Jonathan as he would be when he became an adult.

"Thank you," Harry whispered. "You just helped me decide."

"I don't understand why it was such a big decision. I don't know why you would want to leave here in the first place."

Harry hesitated again. Then he said, "I want to go to the afterlife at some point. I want to see all the mortal family and friends and children and spouses I had who died before me. And I keep feeling as though I'll make a mistake at some point that's unforgivable. Maybe I already have. I try to stay as human as I can, and question my own decisions and motives, but I'm still only one person, with one perspective."

"I think that you have all the different perspectives you ever need," Jonathan countered. "And in this life, you have people who know you are. Would you really want to leave us that soon?"

Smiling, Harry shook his head. "And another thing I want to do is make sure that Voldemort reabsorbs his Horcruxes and finds a different way to be immortal. For a moment, I thought about giving him the Hallows, but I don't think he would be a good Master of Death."

"It's sensible that you want to do that. And he wants you to extend your life even further and stay immortal with him, right? Could you do it?"

Harry blinked. "Of course I could do it. How did—how were you so certain of that?"

"Because I think about things and pay attention," Jonathan said. He looked smug. "Anyway, why not consider it? Be immortal with Voldemort, as long as he wants to live, and pass on the Hallows to someone else anyway."

Harry snorted. "Well, yes, it doesn't sound like a hard decision when you put it that way."

"How would you like me to put it?"

"I just—thought it was a harder decision than it was. Although I still haven't decided to be immortal with Voldemort." Merlin, that still sounded wrong to say, even though Harry knew where all the words came from and how he'd arrived at this particular place. "I suppose I wanted confirmation that helping him to be immortal is a good idea."

"He's not going to give it up. Without your guidance, maybe he would even choose something more destructive than Horcruxes next time."

Harry shuddered. He knew what some of those ways were, and Voldemort might be strong and clever enough to discover them if Harry denied him knowledge. "All right. I don't know if I can give the world an immortal overlord, but you're right that I could guide him a gentler direction."

"Stay alive with him, and he won't be an immortal overlord."

"I've always changed," Harry felt he had to say, the words ripping out of him. "I've always gone on."

"And this time, you won't." Jonathan grinned. "You keep telling me how different all your other lives were, because you knew people who were mostly slightly different from their own selves and nobody knew you. Now that's changed. Accept that we love you and we aren't going to let you go."

And he hugged Harry. With an effort, Harry wrapped his arms around his brother and hugged him back.

And the fear that he might be harming people too much by staying here, by going too far, by distorting their world with his presence, faded away for the last time.