On top of a grassy hill, overseeing a vast meadow with a familiar house, laid a motionless body next to a gigantic tree. The boy stayed perfectly still, not unlike a statue; the only clue to his condition was the slow rising and falling of his chest. As time passed, the boy slowly awakened.
Harry felt the blades of grass touching his skin, the gentle breeze kissing his cheeks and blowing through his hair, the warmth sun blocked by the leaves of the aforementioned huge tree. For a moment, he laid there, his brain lagging a few steps behind.
Then he remembered.
'Professor Dumbledore!' Harry thought, panicking as he assessed his surroundings. Only then did he realize where he was, he definitely wasn't in the Death Chamber, he wasn't even sure he was in London anymore. Walking to the edge of the hill, he saw the house and immediately recognized where he was.
"The Moon's house, why am I at Lilith's place?" Harry wondered aloud to himself.
"Because you think of this place as your safe haven."
The voice behind him made Harry jump in surprise at the unexpected answer to his question. Turning around, he raised his hand instinctively, but his wand was not on his hand. He patted himself and he discovered that his wand wasn't at all anywhere on his person.
"Don't bother, not like I can do anything to hurt you here anyway."
Taking a better look at the person across from him, he did a double take as he took in the features of the man: It was like looking into a mirror, but a few things were out of place, his cheekbones were a tad higher, his nose a bit pointier, his smooth hair combed back, but the most defining feature was his eyes.
"You have red eyes." Harry said aloud. The man in front of him chuckled and willed his red eyes to Harry's green ones.
"Yes I do." The man then came closer to him, making Harry flinch and put up his arms, ready to fight. The man paid him no heed and walked past him to sit on the edge of the hill, turning around, he patted the spot next to him and watched Harry for his response. The strange situation confused Harry immensely, but the man didn't seem hostile, so he accepted the offer and sat next to the man, the view of the house and the meadow in front of them.
"I surmised you have figured out my identity?" The man inquired of him. Harry took a few moments to wonder if giving him confirmation would be a good idea but he was without a wand, and for all he knew he was probably in control of the situation.
"You're Voldemort, at least before he became that snake hybrid." Harry answered, and the man gave a laugh at his snake comment.
"Right on the money. Although it'd be best if you call me Tom, I don't want to be associated with that monster any more than I already am."
That last comment made Harry perk up in interest, then he had another revelation.
"Wait, if you're here, then does that mean Voldemort's dead as well?" Harry asked, hoping that Dumbledore managed to off Voldemort after blocking the killing curse.
Tom grimaced and tried to explain, "Not exactly. You see, Voldemort has had an obsession of immortality ever since he discovered magic existed. And in his research, Voldemort found one method, horcruxes."
At Harry's confused expression, Tom sighed and explained further, "Horcruxes, to put it succinctly, are items that hold a piece of your soul, and the only way you can create one is true cold blooded murder. Tearing a piece of your soul in the process and making it inhabit an object… Or in this case, a living subject."
Tom instinctively moved his eyes to Harry's scar and Harry caressed the jagged scar.
"So… I was a horcrux…" Harry mumbled in horror, then looked at Tom in fear, "You're the horcrux!"
"Woah woah, easy now. I mean you no harm and even if I did I wouldn't be able to." Tom reminded him, raising his hands in a placating gesture, which calmed Harry a smidge.
"Yes, you're correct, I am the horcrux in your scar, and right now we're currently in between life and death. Well, what your head interprets it to be anyway."
Harry looked around and was once again met with the property of the Moon's, "Why here?"
He was met with a shrug and a smile from Tom, "Dunno."
He looked forward and watched as the sun slowly went down over the horizon. Harry watched on as well, slowly coming to the fact that he had passed on and he probably wouldn't be able to meet any of them ever again; Sirius, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny…
Lilith.
"You can go back, you know."
Tom let out a small chuck yet again at Harry's shocked face, "Come with me."
Harry followed Tom as he stood up and walked down the hill to Lilith's home. As he neared the front entrance, he grasped the doorknob and gave a small twist to it and pushed the door open. What followed was a blinding light that caused Harry to shield his eyes with his arms. As his eyes got used to the light, he got a better look at the light.
"Just walk in there and you'll go back to the land of the living. You'll feel a bit sore though, that killing curse did a nasty bit on your body, blew you a couple meters." Tom said, scratching at his cheek as Harry stood in front of the entrance.
"Seriously, just like that?" Harry asked Tom, kind of put off of how easy it is to come back to life.
"Just like that." Tom grinned. A strange expression on his face that caused Harry further worry.
Harry gazed at the light, not seeing any end in his sight. As he mustered up the courage to walk in, he stopped to look at Tom once again, "What about you?"
Tom raised his eyebrow at him in confusion, "What about me?"
"What will happen to you after I go?"
Tom scratched his head as he hesitated to answer, "Well… You did get hit by the killing curse, therefore a soul has to go on…"
Harry stepped back and looked at Tom incredulously. Tom, for his part, awkwardly looked down, not meeting Harry's eyes.
"Come on, don't look at me like that." Tom said, trying to make light of the situation, "I mean, it'd be pretty weird if I possessed your body and had to explain to all of them what happened."
An unamused look came across Harry's face and Tom sighed, "I'm not the only Horcrux, you know? There are more that Voldemort created, and if even one of them stays intact, then he stays immortal. And that includes me."
"But there has to be some way we can get you out of my head-" Harry tried to start but Tom wasn't having any of it.
"Again, I'm a piece of Voldemort's soul. As long as I exist, you'll have no way of even killing him." Tom's hardened expression softened, "I have to go, Harry."
"But you aren't Voldemort, you're so nice. You're literally saving my life!" Harry gestured at the light-filled door.
"Yes, but that has more to do with you than anything else." Tom leaned on the wall and crossed his arms in a relaxed manner.
"When I first came into your head, I was Voldemort. I was looking at things through your eyes and had every intention to take over your body as soon as the opportunity arises. But somewhere along the way, I changed. I don't know what the catalyst was; perhaps it was watching you grow, or maybe it was your soul affecting me as I stayed in your head. Whatever it was, I have you to thank for my personality change. And if there's one way of repaying you then let it be this."
Tom smiled and held Harry's shoulder, "You're a good man, Harry. And Merlin knows the world needs you more than it needs me."
A bashful smile adorned Harry's face, before another question popped in his head, "How the hell am I supposed to fight Voldemort? I mean, if Dumbledore couldn't best him, how am I supposed to?"
Tom took on a mischievous glint in his eyes as he informed Harry, "Oh, I don't know. It's not like there's a giant veil of death that he can be pushed into, no sir, not at all."
He couldn't help himself, he let out a small snigger and nodded in understanding, "Right, push him into the veil, got it."
Tom looked back at the law in front of the Moon household and Harry took a look as well.
The land was gradually disappearing into nothingness.
"You stay here any longer and we'll both be going into the afterlife." Tom cracked at him and gave Harry a small push into the door. Harry caught himself and held on to the doorframe and met Tom's gaze.
"Thank you."
A mock salute was the reply Tom gave as Harry jumped into the light.
Voldemort held a cruel smile as he watched the limp body of Harry Potter being cradled by Dumbledore. He took a moment to survey the faces of the people inside the chamber; sadness, fear, shock, and… Anger.
The tears came pouring out of Lilith as she held a steady glare at Voldemort, "You… you bastard!"
Sirius held onto Lilith as she tried to charge at Voldemort, her cries echoed in the chamber "You bastard! I'll rip you to pieces!"
He paid her no mind as he then turned towards the order members holding his death eaters captive. He sneered at them as they held their wands up, as if they could ever hold him back.
"Don't fret. The wizards and witches inside that bubble are of no use to me anymore. They are either dead or squibs."
The Dark Lord turned his head to look at Dumbledore, who had changed his position to kneel over The-Boy-Who-Lived's lifeless corpse. The face of Albus Dumbledore was wrought with anger and despair, and as he stared down Voldemort, he wanted nothing less but to bring him down and kill him with his own two hands.
"Ah, that expression of your's is bliss to me. Now, will you actually give me a challenge, or shall I show the children another cadaver?"
Voldemort's taunt gave Dumbledore the strength to get back on his feet and hold his wand in a white-gripped fist.
"No more. I will not let you stand there and take another life." Dumbledore aimed his wand at him and made no hesitation, his mind was made up.
"Avada-"
But the spell died in his mouth as he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to look behind him…
And was met with a small smile from Harry Potter.
"H-Harry…" Dumbledore let out in a small, shocked voice.
Harry stepped around him and made his presence known to everyone in the chamber.
"Harry!" Lilith sagged down in relief. Her body being held up by Sirius, who also had a relieved and amazed face as well.
"H- But how!" Voldemort growled out in anger, his composure entirely out the window.
Harry had a taunting grin as he faced Voldemort, "Don't sound so surprised, Riddle. You have a track record of being unable to kill me. Had to give you some hope that you could actually finish me off."
That was the final straw. Voldemort let out a scream filled with pure rage as he used his final excess of magic into one spell. The bright green spell hurled itself towards Harry.
'Gotcha.' Harry mentally smirked as he aimed his wands towards the spell.
"Expelliarmus!"
The two spells hit and the inhabitants of the chamber witnessed the Priori Incantatem between Voldemort and Harry Potter. A bead of sweat rolled down Voldemort's head as he realized the error he made out of anger, while Harry only had one thing in mind.
Push.
Starting with one step, Harry moved forward. And then another, with each step the strand that connected both their wands grew shorter, and Voldemort could feel the strand forcing him backwards. He didn't need to guess what the brat was planning.
Voldemort held his ground well, standing firm as he glared down at Harry. Harry didn't deign to return the glare as he focused on pushing.
"A valiant attempt, but a futile one!" Voldemort taunted as he stepped forward, pushing Harry back, further than he pushed him in fact. Harry gritted his teeth and held his wand with both his hands as he tried to combat Voldemort's push.
As the ongoing battle continued, support came in an unexpected place.
Transparent bodies began coming out of the strand of magic and the familiar faces of Voldemort's past victims appeared.
"How ya' doing, son?" Harry heard someone say from his left, and from his peripheral vision the familiar Potter hair was all the evidence he needed to know who he was.
"Honey, not now! Help Harry push!" He heard the warmth filled voice coming from his right and he could feel the imprint of several ghosts on his body, helping him push.
"Come on, you're the Triwizard Champion. You can handle this!"
First step, Harry smiled at the voice behind him.
"Yeah, get that big jerk. I was enjoying Albania till' he came along!"
Second step, Voldemort had began to panic, trying to sidestep away but the sheer power of the connection made it nigh impossible to move to the side.
"Agh! I can't understand a lick of what's happenin', but if that no nose freak has anything to do with everything about this, then he's gonna get the reckoning of his life!"
Third step, he was almost a meter away from Voldemort, the string of magic connecting their wands was shaking out of the pure condensed magic.
"Harry, get ready to get down!"
That voice had him at a loss, that wasn't any of the ghosts. In fact, it was Lilith!
"Gahhh!" Harry screamed as he forced his wand downwards, disconnecting the Priori Incantatem. Voldemort was left vulnerable as he hadn't expected the connection to be cut.
Lilith wasted no time and brought out her wand.
"Depulso!"
The spell hit Voldemort square on his chest and banished him…
And made him enter the Veil.
The chamber once again fell into a tense silence as they half-expected Voldemort to come out of the other side unscathed. As the minutes flew by, they steadily realized they had finally won.
Voldemort was no more.
"What in Merlin's name is going on!?"
The outburst made everyone look towards the entrance of the Death Chamber. The Minister and several workers gasped in awe at the situation in front of them.
"You, hah, damn idiots finally appear when it's… already… o-" Harry couldn't finish his sentence as he blacked out.
Catching Harry, Lilith gently lowered him down to the ground and heard Sirius come closer to the both of them.
"Let's leave. Pretty sure there's still a death warrant on me." Sirius put his hand inside his pocket and handed out a piece of metal string. He put it on Harry's hand and gestured for Lilith to touch it.
"Wait, is that Sirius Black?! Seize him, now!"
The Minister, Cornelius Fudge and the aurors with him stopped at their tracks as Dumbledore stepped in front of them, the tell-tale sound of a small portkey pop letting them know they had missed their chance to capture Lord Black.
"Now, Cornelius, how about we first talk about the capture of the escaped death eaters and the slander the Daily Prophet has been printing about Mr. Potter and I."
Fudge gulped as he was stared down by a disheveled Albus Dumbledore, and the several death eaters stuck inside a pink bubble ward, some who were big supporters of his.
"Merlin, please help me."
Harry came into consciousness and the first thing he noticed was the smell.
'Ah, no place like the infirmary.' Harry thought happily, for the first time. He opened his eyes and he hissed as the lights above him blinded him.
"Well well well, look who's come back. I swear, it has become a yearly tradition for you to land here, Mr. Potter."
He chuckled as he heard the familiar voice of the infirmary nurse.
"Hiya, Madame Pomfrey." He weakly greeted her. Footsteps came closer to him and he could feel the familiar feeling of magic wash over him.
"Everything seems to be clear. Now, you better rest, Mr. Potter. Your body is still sore due to the excess amount of magic you used in such a short amount of time, after getting hit by an overcharged Killing Curse."
The sarcastic tone she had adopted was palpable and it made Harry grin.
"Harry!"
Harry had no time to prepare himself as a sudden mass had taken hold of him and hugged the living daylights out of him.
"Ms. Moon, a little decorum please! And don't be too rough with him!"
Lilith had a sheepish grin as she let go of him and smiled a toothy smile at him.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright. The others and I were so worried about you." Harry's eyebrow rose in confusion. How long had he been out?
Lilith read him like an open book and answered his silent question, "You've been out for two days now. The ministry is scrambling to save face for slandering both you and Dumbledore. Even Umbridge has been a bit subdued, although she's still her horrible self."
"Ugh, I completely forgot about her. It's about time we dealt with her." Harry then saw Lilith's face transformed into a bigger, more sinister smile.
"Er… Something tells me you've been busy the past two days…"
Lilith only giggled evilly, which further worried Harry immensely.
"We can talk about that later. Tell me, how's everyone?"
Lilith nodded and she began to recall several occurrences the past few days. Harry happily listened and relaxed as her voice had made him more comfortable.
The Great hall was filled with several students, amongst them, a few chosen students were getting ready for what was about to happen in a few minutes.
"Hermione, I'm fine, honest. I've already been coddled by Madame Pomfrey, I don't need you coddling me too." Harry informed Hermione as she tried to help him for the umpteenth time.
Hermione gave him a look and settled down "Fine, but you should try and take it easy, Harry."
As Harry was about to protest, the doors to the Great Hall were opened up, revealing several aurors, along with Amelia Bones and Gordon Moon.
As they all approached the teacher's table, Gordon tried to give both Harry and Lilith a thumbs up. Harry had reciprocated with one of his own, while Lilith attempted to ignore him with the best of her abilities.
As the aurors neared the teacher's table, they surrounded Umbridge and Amelia began to read off a piece of official looking parchment.
"Dolores Umbridge, you are under arrest for possessing a Grade A level dark magic artifact. Along with the use of said Grade A level dark magic artifact to several students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Umbridge puffed up in anger and her eyes immediately swerved to look at Harry, who only had a shit-eating grim and waves coyly at her.
"Ehem, I'm sure I do not need to inform someone of your position, Head Auror Bones, that such an accusation can be detrimental to someone of your stature and that I have the full support of the Minister behind me." Umbridge held a simpering smile as she tried to intimidate Amelia, who only rolled her eyes.
"Yes, well, this arrest was ordered by the Minister himself, actually. Now come along, we don't need to waste any more of their time." Amelia gestured towards the several teachers and students, the majority of which were looking on as if Santa Claus had given them the best present of their lives.
Gordon gave a subtle signal to both Harry and Lilith. They both stood up to leave the Great Hall, as the students began to murmur about Umbridge and her arrest.
"Nice job you two, a job well done indeed!" Gordon smiles at both of them.
Lilith donned a large smile and laughed, "Well, it's been a long time coming. Thank God, she wasn't able to escape this one."
"Oh trust me, it would have been impossible even with the Ministry's support. But thanks to Dumbledore and his machinations, the Ministry are bending over backwards to get back to Dumbledore's goodwill. Umbridge's arrest is one of those actions."
Harry and Lilith looked at each other. So many things happened, but everything has finally come into place; they have done it!
"Now, you both can just relax for now and enjoy your remaining time here. As for you Harry, you're probably the strongest witness we have, due to your reputation and being the one most often the victim of her little detention tortures. So we might need to be a witness when Umbridge gets in front of the court."
Harry nodded, "Of course, sir."
Gordon smiled and nodded as well, "Good man! Well, I best be off. Behave you two and enjoy the rest of your school year!"
He waved them goodbye and left to catch up with the aurors. Harry and Lilith used this chance to look back on their journey.
"So, this is it huh?" Lilith said quietly, as they got lost in the memories they both made with each other.
"You make it sound like we'll never meet again." Harry joked, causing Lilith to blush a bit.
"It's not like that! I guess I thought it would have been a bit more climactic than this."
Harry sighed and shrugged, "Well, I'm fine with this. If anything, this year has been way too climactic."
A laugh made its way out of Lilith's lips, "I guess you can say that."
Out of the blue, Lilith closed the distance and kissed Harry.
After a moment, they both looked at each other, identical red hues on both of their cheeks.
"Er… Mind telling me what was that for?" Harry asked bashfully.
Lilith looked down and didn't meet Harry's eyes, "I was afraid, you know. Even after you came back to life and we both came back to Hogwarts, I couldn't relax until after you woke up and I saw you talking and smiling."
A soft smile was held by Harry and he held Lilith's chin and lifted it, cleaning the tears that fell off her eyes and came down on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry. It was like my body had a mind of its own and I couldn't help but try and save Professor Dumbledore." Harry apologized, causing Lilith to nod and hold him even tighter.
They both stood like that for what seemed like forever, holding each other, a silent tableau of love and affection.
Finally, they released each other and smiled at each other.
"Best we go back, I'm famished." Lilith grinned and made a move to go back.
But she was stopped by a hand holding her own.
She looked back at Harry, who only had a small smile on his face.
He clasped her hand.
"Let's go then."
Lilith blinked and then laughed.
They both entered the Great Hall, ready to face any challenges…
Together.
A/N: Ohh boy, what a journey! Next chapter will be the epilogue and my thoughts of the future of this fanfic, or to be more specific, this particular set of characters. But that will be for the next chapter! Leave a review, get a review!