Author's note:
This is the final chapter, followed by the Epilogue (Yes, I noticed that I got the Epilogues and Prologues turned around and as I read my other stories I also noticed A LOT of spelling mistakes that I need to correct, but for now I am first trying to finish the stories that I have not finished yet.)
I hope you enjoy it, though I have to be honest, this chapter went in a completely different direction to what I had planned, but I am very happy with the results.
Chapter 10
…Harry's POV…
Someone apparated into the room and Hadrian almost hexed them. Luckily, he recognized the signatures immediately and he sent Severus a pleading look, to which the man nodded and immediately started pulling out potions.
Draco stayed where he was as he watched as Hadrian and Severus worked to heal the Dark Lord. The elf popped in with the requested supplies before it disappeared once more. Hadrian glanced at Draco after a few minutes, not quite knowing why the blonde still stood frozen in place.
He knew he had to leave the rest in Severus' hands as the man nodded at him, it still hurt to acknowledge it though so he promised himself that he would learn anything and everything to be able to deal with such a situation in the future. Not that he would allow it to happen again.
"Draco, can you tell me what happened after we apparated?" The blonde seemed to steel himself before nodding.
"Some of the attackers died while the other half seemed to wake up from some sort of trance after being blinded. That…eh…being that appeared wiped the attackers in mere seconds and the Grindelwald look-a-like moved to kill those that he seemed to have a personal grudge with…"
Hadrian laughed, but there was no amusement in his voice, only the sound of pain tinged with slight hysteria, but he pulled himself together. "Believe it or not, that was not a Grindelwald look-a-like. I saved him myself, told him secrets I told no one else…but it seems the friendship was one-sided…"
Draco suddenly glared at him and Hadrian was surprised at the anger in his gaze. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't be bringing this up now, but you are speaking about one-sided friendships…did you ever think what it would do to me when I found out?"
Hadrian felt confused as he looked at the blond until the blond send a pointed look towards his forehead.
The world seemed to freeze as Hadrian realized that Draco had seen his scar and he looked helplessly at Severus, but the man was too busy trying to close the wound in the Dark Lord's side. A part of him realized that the spell that had been cast at the Dark Lord must have been modified in some way, otherwise, the wound would have closed already, and he felt his anger flare again before he forced it down and refocused on Draco.
He would get his revenge on the two interfering beings later. They didn't have the right to take his revenge, on the one that hurt Marvolo, away from him.
"Know that I did not keep my previous identity from you on purpose." The blonde frowned at the words before realization dawned hard and Draco looked like he wanted to throw up.
Hadrian nodded with a grimace. "I did go through with it, though I really and dearly wished I hadn't as the Potter magic was burning me up alive from the inside out. I really do not recommend that by the way."
Draco's eyes lost their anger as the depth of what 'Harry Potter' had done to become someone else, to escape his so-called 'cleverly laid-out' fate, churned in his mind. "Did you ever think of telling me?"
Hadrian nodded. "Every single day that I helped you and every day after when you proved that you could have been one of my true friends during Hogwarts, and in the years after that."
The last of Draco's anger seemed to leave him and he laid a comforting hand on Hadrian's shoulder. "I will go check up on everything, you and Severus just focus on the Dark Lord for now. Please make sure that you get some rest in though."
Hadrian nodded, though both knew that neither of them had specified a time for that. Hadrian gave a slight grimace as Draco gave him a sad smile.
Severus finally stood up and cast a sleeping spell over the Dark Lord. Hadrian didn't stop him however because he was sure that Marvolo would try and move around once he woke up. Severus then discreetly left the room with Draco trailing behind him. Once the door closed, however, Hadrian couldn't resist the urge to be close to the Dark Lord anymore.
He carefully climbed onto the bed at Marvolo's uninjured side and snuggled up to him. His chest had been bandaged and yet Hadrian could still feel a taint that Severus hadn't been able to get rid of. "You better have a good reason for suddenly trying to play Hero, Marvolo, or I promise you that you might find that I can be just as possessive and protective of you…as you can be with me."
There was no response, not that he had expected any.
The taint suddenly seemed to grow and it took Hadrian a moment to realize that even though the wound had closed, the spell had been particularly modified to attack the target's soul and magic as well.
He could feel the magic being siphoned off, but with the castor being dead, it had nowhere to go but to the closest magical being in the room. At the same time, Marvolo's soul seemed to be disintegrating and Harry let out a panicked shout as the soul-shard in his mind started to disappear as well.
"SEVERUS!"
He called out again but then realized that the rest of the house felt empty. It wasn't normal for the Potions Master to stray away from someone in his care, unless it was to get more potions, but Hadrian seriously doubted it.
He was about to rush to the Floo as another chunk of magic was absorbed into him but there was a pop and even though he still felt betrayed by Gellert, he quickly pushed it aside.
"Gellert! The curse is siphoning off his magic and his soul is disintegrating…please…HELP HIM!"
The man only watched him with sad eyes before shaking his head and Hadrian felt a red-hot pain sear through his heart.
The room suddenly grew cold and he watched in anguish as Death appeared.
"You can't take him! Please don't take him from me as well."
Death moved to place a comforting hand on his shoulder but Hadrian didn't have time for empty gestures. "Please, I will do anything if you can just make him whole again…use my magic as payment if necessary, just help him!
Death glanced at the rapidly paling man in Hadrian's arms. "I can help him, but then you must take my place, as was the intended fate of the Master of Death."
Hadrian froze. "Will I still be able to live out my life here?"
Death sadly shook her head. "The realm of Death will be your true home, and though you may be able to indefinitely return here at any time, the moment you take up the title of Death, Harry James Potter will disappear from this world."
Hadrian bit back the urge to rage, but half of Marvolo's magic had already been added to his and time was running out.
"Do…it"
All strength left him as he finally just gave in. Maybe he wasn't meant to have a happy ending.
He glanced at Marvolo and lightly kissed him on his lips before slowly letting go and stepping back. The fire that usually burnt bright within him, had died, and he felt broken as Death's shadows crept towards him and engulfed him.
Still, he couldn't find it in himself to regret his decision as he felt Marvolo's magic return, along with his soul.
He fought back the feeling of total loss as the soul-piece left him completely and he didn't doubt that Marvolo was probably mortal and whole once more.
The shadows receded, draping themselves around his form and he could feel an overwhelming power running through his body.
He looked at Death, only to find a young woman in a white summer dress standing in her place. She smiled at him, even as her body rapidly started to turn transparent and only her ghost remained.
She held out her hand, and after giving in to the urge to run his hand through Marvolo's hair one last time, Harry moved forward and took it.
He glanced back at Marvolo as the shadows engulfed them, just in time to see his eyes slowly open.
Traveling with shadows didn't feel like apparation. There was no cracking sound that heralded their arrival at their destination, merely the sense of stepping through a doorway from one room to another.
Death's dimension felt gigantic and Hadrian glanced at the huge castle that had been built on a giant, floating piece of rock. The space around it had trillions of small glowing stars and he could see small reaper-like beings floating in between the luminous orbs.
One of the stars floated towards him and Hadrian was shocked to find that each star seemed to hold a dimension.
The young woman next to him smiled. "Each dimension has its own version of life after death, most of the versions tend to imitate the world they lived in before, and so there are multiple areas to ensure that the souls rest peacefully before they are called upon once more."
Harry turned to the woman and his jaw dropped in shock as he noticed that Gellert had rapidly de-aged during their jump between dimensions and his body had also turned transparent during the journey.
The young man in his place had his arms thrown around the young woman and she gave him a small smile before she stepped out of the embrace and pulled both him and Gellert towards the castle.
Once they were settled in and sitting down in one of the largest tea rooms that Hadrian had ever seen, she turned towards him.
"I want to tell you a story…may I?"
Hadrian bit back the impulse to ask her why she would ask his permission now when she had simply just taken everything from him before without a backward glance. His entire being ached to return to Marvolo, but he couldn't bear the thought of the man looking at him without recognizing him.
Finally, he nodded and the woman gave him another one of her sad smiles.
"My name is Ariana Grindelwald…formerly known as Ariana Dumbledore, and I wasn't meant to become Death in the first place."
Hadrian froze in place as he put the pieces together, but he didn't know how to react to that.
"The day I died at the hands of my brother, the previous incarnation of Death approached me with a deal. He had been chosen as a place-holder until the true heir of Death's title appeared, but his soulmate had already died when he'd taken up the title and so he was unable to join her as her soul fell into the circle of reincarnation."
Hadrian felt a little confused at this. Surely the man could have simply stopped it?
Ariana seemed to sense his silent question as she shook her head. "As a place-holder of Death, he couldn't interfere with the circle of reincarnation, and he would have been forced to meet her over and over again as she would forget him every time she reincarnated once more. The only reason I was able to stay with Gellert was that he hadn't died yet."
"And so I took up the title, but I was unable to appear to Gellert, who I learned was my soulmate, unless he held one of the Hallows. As you know, he kind of went over the edge once that happened because he forced himself to believe that he might be the true heir and that we would then be together. As it was, I was only able to appear to him as a ghostly form until today. Now that you have taken up the title of Death, I can finally touch him."
Hadrian glanced to the side but Gellert had slipped away while Ariana told him her story.
He turned his attention back to her. "Who is the true heir and how will I be able to find them? How long will I have to carry the title, and why did everyone remember you, when you said that I would disappear from the world?"
Ariana tilted her head. "You are the true heir and the final incarnation of Death. Even the first version of Death, who created the Hallows, had merely been a place-holder for the true heir because every single place-holder had one thing in common, their soul-mate didn't carry the same bloodline and so they couldn't become immortal. The true heir of Death would be the only one that carried the title until the end of time because he would be whole instead of living half a life."
Hadrian felt as if a shard was being twisted inside his heart as he stared at his hands. "But I am not whole, not without Marvolo, but as you said, all memories of me disappeared the moment I made my choice."
Ariana suddenly wrung her hands awkwardly. "Well, that isn't exactly true…"
Hadrian's head shot up and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Ariana seemed to become even more uncomfortable as she glanced around the room before finally meeting his eyes. "Harry James Potter was already declared dead, so technically you already disappeared from the world. The ritual you did, killed that part of you, and you were reborn as someone else. I didn't realize that you would misinterpret my words."
Hadrian tried to squash the little feeling of hope that flared in his chest. "But if the memories of me disappeared then Marvolo, Severus, Draco, and the rest of my friends won't remember that part of me."
Ariana grinned. "But that's just it, they remember that you died and that you were reborn and so they will still remember everything."
Hadrian abruptly stood. "So I can go back? Why didn't you tell me?! Why the deception?"
Ariana nodded before smiling sadly. "The title of Death can't be passed on unless the person taking up the title is willing to sacrifice everything for the one they truly love. They have to have a reason to be able to endure the responsibilities of the title. I couldn't save your soulmate, but if you took up the title, as the true heir, and with the fact that your soulmate also carries the blood of Death's heirs inside himself, you would be able to save him instead."
Hadrian took a step towards Ariana in shocked excitement. Marvolo would still remember him! But a singular thought still troubled him. "But Marvolo isn't immortal anymore, he will die long before I do if he doesn't create another Horcrux and I don't want him to destroy his soul again."
Ariana gave a broad smile. "But that's just it, he is one of the first Death's heirs and also your soulmate, meaning that he became immortal the moment you took up the title as Death."
Familiar arms wrapped around him from behind and Harry stiffened before a familiar scent assaulted his senses and he abruptly turned around.
Marvolo gave him just enough room to be able to turn around before his arms crushed their bodies together and Hadrian wrapped his arms around Marvolo in return. At first, he did so lightly, but Marvolo assured him that he was fully healed and so Hadrian tightened his hold.
He glanced to the side and Ariana gave him a soft smile from where she stood in Gellert's arms. The man had gone to fetch Marvolo.
The previous Dark Lord smiled at him. "Just so you know, the friend thing wasn't an act. I just couldn't tell you about everything because it could have ruined everything if things didn't happen as it was supposed to."
Hadrian felt something inside him relax. "Will I see you around?"
Gellert nodded sadly. "We have decided to spend some time in the afterlife, but after that, our souls will be entering the reincarnation circle."
Hadrian knew what that meant. Gellert and Adriana would forget him once they reincarnated. He glanced at Marvolo and the man kissed his forehead lightly. "You owe me a pretty decent explanation after disappearing like that." He nodded then turned his gaze back to Gellert with a smile. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He would still be able to see them and they would have each other…it would be enough.
The End…almost…Epilogue coming up
