This is the last part. There may or may not be an epilogue, depending on the feedback I get for this part. I figured that I should write this right away before I lost all motivation to do so. I'm going to try to finish up the other two fics I started next and after that I'm going to solely focus on one-part stories. Writing multiple-chaptered fics doesn't seem to be working.

This part is yet again written in a different style than its predecessors. I like how it came out and it gets to the point without any swearing. It is written in a much more mature fashion than parts 1-5.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter universe.

Alive

Or maybe it was. Maybe escape was the option. He'd treasured the idealistic view of the word for his entire life. If he didn't like a situation, then he'd just leave. Nobody could bother him anymore. Russia could be home for him. He could transfer to Durmstrang and spend the final year of school in an unknown place with unknown people who hopefully knew as little of his story as possible. Maybe this would give him a taste of the "normal" childhood that Dumbledore had sentenced him to many years ago.

Or maybe it wouldn't. Maybe it would just be another way for the inevitable to come and strike him where it hurt. No matter where he went or what he did, they were going to find him. They were going to haunt his every movement. He wasn't going to be able to push them from his head like he pushed an unwanted thought away. As much as he didn't want to admit it, they were as much a part of him as the scar that Voldemort had left him all those years ago.

Harry turned and looked back over the frost-bitten town that he'd spent the last several days in. After he'd gotten his wand back, he'd sat up in the rented room and only had come down for meals. There was so much to think about. There was so much to wonder about. Why had they chosen him, of all people, to conduct this experiment on? The scientists, magical or not, still should have asked his consent before bringing Lily and James back to life. But now it didn't matter. They were there. They were alive. It was a chance that most children had dreamed of. His conscience told him he should be there, but his heart told him he shouldn't. There were too many conflicting view points. Too many variables to consider.

He slowly picked up his trunk and attached it to his broomstick. The broom, a present from Sirius, his father's oldest friend. His godfather. The closest thing he had to a father. But now he had a father. Would it make his relationship with Sirius any different? Harry quickly grabbed his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt his entire body tense as tears started to well in his eyes.

"Why here? Why now? WHY ME?" he said, a whisper at first slowly loudening to a yell. He stamped his feet in the cold bits of snow. "I don't deserve this." He looked up and down the street in a quick glance. There wasn't anybody there. Nobody cared. Or maybe he'd scared them all off. He slowly mounted his broom and started to make his way back to England. Maybe Hermione would be willing to talk to him.

~~

I hope you rot in hell... her parting words to him started to play over and over again as he started his descent into the England. The ride had gone incredibly smoothly and he had managed to coax himself into a doze while he was flying. The world had passed him as quickly as he had flown through the clouds. There had been no thoughts and no emotions as he had flown. There were simply landmarks and several rain storms which had left him chilled, yet slightly happy.

He dismounted his broom in the alley way behind her house. Hermione's family was very well off. They were able to pay for all of her Hogwarts equipment and other necessities while still living in fairly comfortable quarters. She'd always been quiet about her situation, as not to upset Ron, but Harry could tell by the way that she was never asking for anything, that she wasn't begging either. He placed the broom and his trunk in the corner and walked the quarter mile to her house. The minute he rang the bell, she answered. Her face was incredibly distraught and she fell into his arms the minute she could tell who he was.

"Oh, Harry! I'm sorry. I really am." Harry nodded and tried to push her away from him, but she tightly held onto his neck. "Harry, I have so much to tell you."

"What's going on?" Harry asked. "Where are they? I don't want to speak to them quite yet." Hermione pulled away and motioned for Harry to enter the house. Once inside, the two took a seat on the couch and Hermione handed him a clipping from a newspaper. Harry unfolded it and read it, then put his head back into his hands.

Revived couple found dead

            Recently revived couple, Lily and James Potter, was found dead this morning in their temporary London residence. The two, who were killed by He-who-must-not-be-named, were brought back from the dead last week after being the subjects of Ministry experimental charms. The cause of death was unknown, but according to a Ministry official, "the charm obviously was meant for having a short amount of time with the deceased member of the family. I guess it will work for putting last minute affairs in order after death, but nothing more than that…it appears from further examinations that the charm will only work once."

            The Potters were staying with their longtime friend, known werewolf, Remus Lupin. When asked the details of their death, Lupin answered, "I got up this morning and they were gone. They were sitting at the table as if their souls had been sucked out of their bodies. It was horrible."

            The Potter's son, Harry, was not available for comment. However according to several sources, he has not been anywhere near the cottage for at least a week. Several eyewitnesses state that they saw him leaving the premises after having a loud shouting match with another one of Lupin's house guests.

            "I did this," he whispered. "It's all my fault." He looked at Hermione and then at the scrap of paper. "And I didn't even tell them…" he trailed off, his voice breaking into sobs. He hadn't wanted this to happen, no matter how many times he'd wished things would go back to normal. The pain of their first meeting washed over him. He crumpled the clipping into a ball and threw it. All of the meetings and the running away, had they known? They must have. They'd known that it would be over. They wanted to give him a chance and he'd thrown it back in their faces. He'd never get another one.

            Harry pulled his freshly fixed wand out of his pocket and stared at it. He'd broken it to make a statement to them. There wasn't anything left he could do. He had no way out of this mess. He would be accused of being irresponsible and unsympathetic for the rest of his life. He'd be pegged as the-boy-who-only-cared-about-himself. There was only one thing he could do to make this all go away. There was only one way to stop this from haunting him for the rest of his life.

            "Look," he whispered to a crying Hermione, "I was never here. You never showed this to me. Got it?" Hermione did a combination of shaking her head and nodding and looked away.

            "Where are you going?"

            "Don't ask me that."

            "But, I need to know. I'll come with you."

            "You can't."

            "I'll call Sirius. And Remus.  And Dumbledore!"

            "You can't. Leave me alone."

            "Don't go. I mean it. I won't let you."

            "Avada Kedavra."

And it was all over.

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