THERE AND BACK AGAIN (Chapter Six)

Back at Grimmauld Place, Voldemort's evil laughter ran through the room, only disturbed by Draco's confused cries of 'I killed him! I finally killed him!'

Voldemort raised his hands, as you would expect a god to do. "Yes!" he cried to the roof. "I can feel his power surging through me! I AM INVINCIBLE!"

With a wave of his hand, he and Draco were gone in a brilliant flash of green light. Where the spells had hit walls and couches was all repaired, and the only sign that there was ever a struggle was the bloody form of Peter Pettigrew lying on the floor in a corner, and the pale body of Harry Potter.

"I… I'll go get help." Lupin stammered, running out of the room. Hermione ran over to Harry's body, and with tears running down her cheeks, pulled Harry's head onto her lap. She gently stroked his face, as if there was the slightest chance that that action would revive him.

"Oh Harry, please don't be dead!" She sobbed. "Please! I need you here! Please…" Her tears fell, landing on Harry's face, but there was no response. Hermone's cries drowned out her words, all but one. To any who could hear her, they would have thought it was just hysterical sobbing, but they would be wrong.

"MUERTOS JURISPRUDENCIA!" Hermione screamed, calling the Judge of the Dead in it's native Spanish tongue. After a few seconds of looking towards the heavens, nothing happened, so Hermione yelled again.

"MUERTOS JURISPRUDENCIA! Que nostros tú! We need you!" she cried. When nothing happened, she bent over Harry's lifeless body and sobbed uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the dark and barren gorge called Death Valley, Harry met a man. Not just any man, either. He was a very interesting man, who looked no older than seventeen. When he saw Harry, he smiled.

"Yo, dude! Wassup?" Harry looked at him in astonishment. The man just took a long drag of his cigarette, guzzled some beer, and rearranged the noose that was hanging around his neck. Once you got over his first appearance, it was easy to see the man would be individually… individual. He had sandy blonde hair which reached down past his shoulders in thick matted dreadlocks, and tanned skin. He wore a black singlet and low-lying board-shorts. He was also surrounded by various drugs, alcohols, poisons, weapons, and as many implements of death you could think of.

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

"Well, duh dude! I'm, like, totally death!"

Harry looked at him, slightly dazed. "What happened to the guy in black robes, with the scythe? Where's the grim reaper?"

Death laughed. "That was my grandfather. Ever since I've taken over, things have changed. So, what d'ya think of my new threads?"

Suddenly the harsh sun was blocked out by a large, dark storm cloud. Lightning struck the ground at Death's feet, making him jump.

"God damn!" he said. "Looks like you got to go!"

While she was sobbing, unnoticed by Hermione, a dark cloud seemed to appear below the roof of the living room. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room for a mere second, drawing Hermione's eyes to the ghastly face imbedded in the storm.

"Who dares disturb my peace?" he demanded, in his Spanish tongue.

"I did, and I stand by my decision." Replied Hermione, boldly. "I want you to give him back his life." She stared upwards as the horrid face laughed.

"Give back his life? You must be mad! Once a life has been taken, it cannot be returned!" he laughed again. Hermione lost her temper.

"YES IT CAN! I KNOW… I know because it happened to me." She remembered. Once she was pulled into an alternate dimension by a demon wanting to prevent the future, a dimension full of the monsters created by people's nightmares. She was killed, but because it was not a natural death, her life was returned. The man who dragged her into the dimension lost his life, and in return, Hermione received hers.

"It happened to me before, now I want you to do it for him."

"Alright, I'll admit, it can be done." Continued the god-like voice. "But it is not just for free, you know. There is a price."

Hermione brightened. "What? I'll do anything."

The lower god's next words flew through Hermione like shards of glass. "I will need a human soul, and not just any soul. A soul to match his." He said, gesturing to Harry's motionless body.

A soul to match Harry's… thought Hermione, trying to figure out who it could be. But then it struck her. I'll find a soul that makes up from the bravery with intelligence. A soul like… mine.

"I'll do it." She stammered.

"What?" stammered the god.

"My soul and Harry's are equal, what one lacks the other exceeds. I'll do it. Just give him his life back."

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself in to…"

"I don't care. He's needed here. Too many lives depend on it. Just do it!"

"All right," said the god. "Here goes nothing."

The room filled with a pale blue light. Hermione gently kissed Harry on the forehead, and then collapsed.

Lupin entered the room followed by Snape,

When Harry came to, the first thing he saw was Hermione's pale face. Her eyes were shut. His head throbbed. He realised he was lying on the cold and bloody stone floor. He raised his hand and gently ran two fingers down her cheek. She didn't move.

"Hermonie?" he whispered.

"She's dead, Harry." Lupin said apologetically.

Snape walked over and grabbed one of Harry's shoulders with Lupin on the other, and they pulled him up to his feet. His knees collapsed, and he fell backwards, but Lupin caught him before he hit the floor.

"Hermione's…dead?"

"Yes."

To Harry, all went black. Lupin laid him on the floor, and magicked a white sheet over Hermione's body.

"He's probably just fainted," said Lupin, "Poor kid's been through a lot today." Harry's eyes opened, and rolled into the back of his head.

All of a sudden, Harry was with Hermione again. She was smiling.

"Hermione… I don't understand." Said Harry.

"All you need to know is that you're alive, and the world needs you."

"But… what about you?"

"Harry, I have to go. It's my time now, Heaven's calling."

"No! Don't leave me!" Harry grabbed her hand. "Please don't leave me!"

Hermione started to fade. "I have to go. I'll always watch over you. I'll be your guardian angel."

By then Hermione had faded to almost nothing. Harry couldn't even see her anymore.

"But Hermione! I love you Hermione Granger! I love you!"

Hermione appeared in front of a large wall of clouds. "I know, Harry," she sighed. "I wish you could've seen it when I was alive, but I know." She walked through the wall, and met James and Lily, Sirius, and even Ron was waiting for her.

"RON! What are you…. You're dead too?"

Harry wakes up. He goes to the kitchen, asks the house elves for a sandwich, and walks back into the room. Sitting down on the couch, while Snape and Lupin watch in confused amazement, Harry calmly turns on the television and eats while watching T.V.

"Harry, are you alright?" asks Lupin.

He doesn't speak. Doesn't even acknowledge someone has spoken.

Lupin walks over and clicks his fingers in front of Harry's face, and waves his arm up and down. He doesn't even flinch. Just keeps on eating and watching T.V.

When his sandwich is finished, he goes to the kitchen and asks for a Pizza. The elves magic it up for him, and he returns to the room, where he sits down and continues to watch T.V. By then, Snape had transported Hermione's body into a spare room. He's also cleaned up all the blood that was on the floor.

"Harry," Snape says sternly, "Dumbledore is on his way, but until then, you have to go see the doctor in the hospital wing. Lupin will take you. Now."

Ignoring him, Harry continues to eat his pizza and watch T.V.

"Come on, Harry." Lupin says.

Still no response.

"I'm sick of this!" Snape growls. "Imperio! Harry, go to the hospital wing, NOW!"

The spell doesn't work. Harry's fought this spell before. He just continues eating his pizza and watching T.V.

"I'll handle this, Severus." Lupin puts his hand on Harry's shoulder, and apparates them both, chair and all, to the Hospital Wing.