Note: I do not own either Harry Potter or the universe in which he lives.
The only original thing here is my story idea. { } = Dream
Ch. 2: We are such things...
Harry slept deeply, not even stirring when two of his house elves gently carried him to his bed. The great wizard had always been kind to them and they were determined to make him as comfortable as possible in his old age. He rarely went out anymore, except when he visited master Ron's grave, and they worried about him. The only time when he truely seemed to come alive anymore was when one of the children was around. And then there was the issue of his health. He wasn't a young man anymore, and his health was slowly beginning to fail. It was fairly certain that one night he would close his eyes in sleep and fail to wake the next day. He'd refused to even consider an elderly care home however. When one of the children had tried talking him into it he'd been told that, "I've spent most of my life in this house and I don't intend to live anywhere else." Much as they worried about their father the children had been wise enough not to try forcing the matter. Even as old as he was their parent was still a force to be reckoned with. In the end all they'd been able to do was ask the house elves to keep an extra special eye on him. If the old wizard was aware of the "special" survailance he was under he never gave any sign of it.
* * *
{ He was running late again. For some reason the tempus spell that he'd cast the night before hadn't worked properly and he'd had just enough time to get dressed before his first class. He groaned. Potions with Snape was bad enough, but it was even worse on an empty stomach. When he reached the corridor he noticed it was empty. Perhaps he'd be lucky and get to class before everyone else for a change. It would be nice not being late for once. He opened the door and walked in.
"Mr. Potter, how nice of you to put in an appearance. 10 points from Gryffindor for your tardiness."
Harry sighed. Great, just great. What else could go wrong this morning? He found a seat next to Ron and looked at the black board. Hmm. Just his luck, a sleeping potion. If there was one thing he needed it was a way to wake up, not fall asleep. He could do that just fine on his own thank you very much. Only then the dreams would come.
Ch. 3: Voldemort
The battle had been raging for several hours, and Harry was near exhaustion. What had been intended as a relaxing visit to Hogsmeade had swiftly turned into a nightmare. One minute he'd been in Honeydukes selecting a box of every flavor beans and the next he'd found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Someone had obviously turned the box into a portkey. He'd just begun to recover from the surprise when an all to familiar voice had addressed him.
"We meet again Harry Potter."
He turned. Voldemort! Great, just great. He had just known when he got up that morning that he should have turned right around and gone back to bed, but he hadn't listened to himself, and now he was face to face with his old nemesis Voldemort. He sighed. What was with the man anyway. Didn't he have anything else better to do with his time than pick petty fights with Harry?
"What do you want Voldemort?"
"I should think that would be obvious. I want you dead. Crucio!"
Harry dodged at the last second and heard someone behind him scream in pain. No doubt several of the evil wizard's minions had been positioned to prevent his escape. It was shaping up to be a very long day.
Voldemort hurled curse after curse at Harry, all to no avail. He'd learned much from his earlier duels with the old snake and even had some private tutoring from Dumbledor as well. Moreover he was giving back just as good as he got. The air round the two wizards fairly crackled with magic as each tried desperatly to destroy the other. Neither seemed able to gain an advantage over the other. Then Harry remembered something Dumbledor had told him. "A wizard's duel takes intense concentration. If your opponent succeeds in rattling you you may be in serious trouble. Harry decided to try taunting the other. Certainly nothing else seemed to be working.
"What's the matter Tom is it time for your evening nap?"
The glare Voldemort gave him would have melted steel, but Harry kept on. "Do the attendants at the old wizard's home know you've left without permission? Your toupee is slipping a bit by the way." He could see the rage building in Voldemort's eyes. This was beginning to be fun. "Of course it must be embarrassing when they come in to change your diaper," Harry said knowingly. "After all it wouldn't do for the rest of the wizarding world to know that the dark lord wets...."
"Enough!" Voldemort hurled the most powerful curse he could imagine at his opponent. One that made the killing curse seem pleasant by comparison and felt what was left of his hair (as he really did wear a toupee) stand on end as he saw Harry deflect the spell back at him seemingly without effort. He turned to stone and began to swiftly crumble away to nothing. Harry barely noticed. The reboundus spell had taken more out of him than he thought it would. He stumbled over to the box of candy and fell across it. He heard a scream and then everything went black.
Ch. 2: We are such things...
Harry slept deeply, not even stirring when two of his house elves gently carried him to his bed. The great wizard had always been kind to them and they were determined to make him as comfortable as possible in his old age. He rarely went out anymore, except when he visited master Ron's grave, and they worried about him. The only time when he truely seemed to come alive anymore was when one of the children was around. And then there was the issue of his health. He wasn't a young man anymore, and his health was slowly beginning to fail. It was fairly certain that one night he would close his eyes in sleep and fail to wake the next day. He'd refused to even consider an elderly care home however. When one of the children had tried talking him into it he'd been told that, "I've spent most of my life in this house and I don't intend to live anywhere else." Much as they worried about their father the children had been wise enough not to try forcing the matter. Even as old as he was their parent was still a force to be reckoned with. In the end all they'd been able to do was ask the house elves to keep an extra special eye on him. If the old wizard was aware of the "special" survailance he was under he never gave any sign of it.
* * *
{ He was running late again. For some reason the tempus spell that he'd cast the night before hadn't worked properly and he'd had just enough time to get dressed before his first class. He groaned. Potions with Snape was bad enough, but it was even worse on an empty stomach. When he reached the corridor he noticed it was empty. Perhaps he'd be lucky and get to class before everyone else for a change. It would be nice not being late for once. He opened the door and walked in.
"Mr. Potter, how nice of you to put in an appearance. 10 points from Gryffindor for your tardiness."
Harry sighed. Great, just great. What else could go wrong this morning? He found a seat next to Ron and looked at the black board. Hmm. Just his luck, a sleeping potion. If there was one thing he needed it was a way to wake up, not fall asleep. He could do that just fine on his own thank you very much. Only then the dreams would come.
Ch. 3: Voldemort
The battle had been raging for several hours, and Harry was near exhaustion. What had been intended as a relaxing visit to Hogsmeade had swiftly turned into a nightmare. One minute he'd been in Honeydukes selecting a box of every flavor beans and the next he'd found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Someone had obviously turned the box into a portkey. He'd just begun to recover from the surprise when an all to familiar voice had addressed him.
"We meet again Harry Potter."
He turned. Voldemort! Great, just great. He had just known when he got up that morning that he should have turned right around and gone back to bed, but he hadn't listened to himself, and now he was face to face with his old nemesis Voldemort. He sighed. What was with the man anyway. Didn't he have anything else better to do with his time than pick petty fights with Harry?
"What do you want Voldemort?"
"I should think that would be obvious. I want you dead. Crucio!"
Harry dodged at the last second and heard someone behind him scream in pain. No doubt several of the evil wizard's minions had been positioned to prevent his escape. It was shaping up to be a very long day.
Voldemort hurled curse after curse at Harry, all to no avail. He'd learned much from his earlier duels with the old snake and even had some private tutoring from Dumbledor as well. Moreover he was giving back just as good as he got. The air round the two wizards fairly crackled with magic as each tried desperatly to destroy the other. Neither seemed able to gain an advantage over the other. Then Harry remembered something Dumbledor had told him. "A wizard's duel takes intense concentration. If your opponent succeeds in rattling you you may be in serious trouble. Harry decided to try taunting the other. Certainly nothing else seemed to be working.
"What's the matter Tom is it time for your evening nap?"
The glare Voldemort gave him would have melted steel, but Harry kept on. "Do the attendants at the old wizard's home know you've left without permission? Your toupee is slipping a bit by the way." He could see the rage building in Voldemort's eyes. This was beginning to be fun. "Of course it must be embarrassing when they come in to change your diaper," Harry said knowingly. "After all it wouldn't do for the rest of the wizarding world to know that the dark lord wets...."
"Enough!" Voldemort hurled the most powerful curse he could imagine at his opponent. One that made the killing curse seem pleasant by comparison and felt what was left of his hair (as he really did wear a toupee) stand on end as he saw Harry deflect the spell back at him seemingly without effort. He turned to stone and began to swiftly crumble away to nothing. Harry barely noticed. The reboundus spell had taken more out of him than he thought it would. He stumbled over to the box of candy and fell across it. He heard a scream and then everything went black.