Declaration: I write for my own pleasure and not for profit. I do not own Harry Potter Universe.

Chapter Two: Resurrection

Harry woke up with a feeling of euphoria which was missing for a long time in his life. Making love to Hermione was an exquisite experience which he was willing to repeat as long as they both lived and as often as Hermione was willing. On the very short list of pleasant experiences in his life, last night rated high enough to even surpass the feeling he got every time he flew on his broom. He was now sure that they would get married soon after they graduate if not immediately. He stretched himself relaxing the kinks in his muscles and looked to his side for Hermione, but found that he was alone on the bed, a bed which was suspiciously familiar.

'Maybe she woke up early and went to her dorm room to face the day' Harry thought looking for the window before he realized that he was in the Room of Requirement and he could not see outside the room. Glancing down at himself he saw that he was fully clothed in his pyjamas, that he did not remember putting on and he was in a younger body. Realization struck him that time has been turned back, he was in the Gryffindor dorm room and he was now the re-incarnation of 'death' as fate revealed to him. The self-updating clock on his bedside table glowing in the dark proclaimed that it was 6 AM on Friday, November 1st 1991.

'The day after Halloween' Harry breathed in amazement. 'Yesterday was the day when Hermione was attacked by the Troll in the bathroom. The day our friendship started.' He looked around the dorm room to see his year mates sleeping peacefully and Ron was in his bed next to him. He lent back onto his pillow and began thinking about the chance to set things right. He realized that he was feeling better, actually much better than ever, he corrected himself. He remembered the dream, where he as death, confronted the soul piece belonging to Voldemort that was lodged in him and sent it on to the afterlife. He now understood that it was not a dream at all.

He was not worried at being the one who has to 'kill' people in order to restore balance; he was after all just an instrument of fate. He just hoped that Hermione was not going to freak out and want nothing to do with him, without her he could not survive a life time of solitude.

Thinking about Hermione, his thoughts turned to the appalling behavior of Ron and to some extent even his own, towards her. He vowed to be a better friend to her and hoped that she will consent to be his girlfriend even after hearing his tale. 'I wonder if she would still want to be Ron's friend after the way his comments drove her away crying. I am not going to worry about it. I am not going to sit back and let another guy get a first chance at the best that Hogwarts has on its roll. I should in fact improve my scores in class tests and do better. I am now given a second chance and should take full advantage of it. Most of the things will be easy for me but that does not excuse my tardiness when it comes to school performance.'

His musings kept him busy most of the next hour which he spent in the shower and at getting ready for the day. Seeing that it is now time to head down to meet Hermione, as she is usually down in the common room by 7, he shook Ron awake and rushed out of the dorm.

As Harry predicted, Hermione was in the common room sitting on the couch and fidgeting nervously throwing occasional glances at the stairs to the boy's dorms. She hoped that she found two people who were willing to be her friends now. She saw Harry racing down the steps and come to a halt in front of her.

With a bright smile she greeted him, "Good Morning Harry."

"Morning Hermione, How are you feeling today? I hope that you were not hurt by the Troll?"

"No I am fine, no injuries at all. Thanks for asking Harry" she replied with a shy smile, glad that someone was looking out for her.

"I am sorry Hermione; I should have stopped Ron from saying hurtful things to you. I promise that I will be a better friend to you from now on." Hermione was shocked hearing the sincere apology from Harry. She did not consider it to be Harry's fault even for one bit, but was still thankful for his apology.

"No need for the apology Harry, it was not you that drove me to tears. I should be thanking you for saving my life" she gave him a quick hug which left her blushing madly.

Recovering from the awkward silence that followed, Harry asked if she wanted to head down for breakfast. Giving her a negative shake of his head regarding Ron, Harry remarked, "I just woke Ron up before coming down. I seriously doubt that he will make it in time for breakfast. I should not keep you waiting for him, if you want we can wait but I am hungry and I can guess that you are too. If he wants breakfast, Ron should be getting ready earlier." With that he led the way down to the great hall and breakfast.

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It was very difficult for Harry to pay attention to the classes as he was bursting with nervous energy. He could not wait to talk to Hermione, and at the same time he was worried about her reaction. He so desperately wanted her to accept his tale and still be willing to get close to him. His only relief was the knowledge that 'fate' specifically told him that he would be spending his life with his love beside him. Judging by fate's assurance, he was sure that Hermione would accept being his girlfriend but that still did not give him any peace of mind.

The whole day Harry was attentive to Hermione, sitting with her during the classes and accompanying her to the library. He hovered around her without being obvious or obnoxious. Harry was also careful to shield her from Ron's casual comments which though have lost most of the sting, were still hurtful to her. Hermione was thankful for Harry's efforts and managed to voice it a couple of times through the day. Thankfully for Harry, it was only one day before the weekend when he could get everything off his chest and really begin his relationship with Hermione.

The next day Harry and Hermione headed off for breakfast together again by mutual arrangement, and since it was a Saturday Ron was not the only one who was still in bed. Filling their stomachs Harry led her to the unused seventh floor corridor and despite Hermione's incessant questions managed to evade explaining his motives for the trek. A bemused Hermione entered the same room that Harry used for his final talk with Hermione in the previous timeline; 'it has worked for him once why not again?' Sitting on the couch which materialized in front of her, Hermione was spoilt for choice of questions but she settled for one regarding the room.

Hearing Harry's explanation, she was led into the next question, "How do you know about this room Harry? Nothing like this was written in 'Hogwarts: a History'."

This was the perfect opening for Harry, "That question is one of the many ones that you will have by the end of the day. Hermione, what I am going to tell you may seem to be totally preposterous but I swear that I am telling the truth."

With an opening statement like that any judge would have wanted to either throw the lawyer out of the court or give him his chance to explain the statement. Suitably intrigued Hermione waited for the explanation.

"There is a prophecy in effect Hermione, which pits me against Lord Voldemort. The prophecy states that Voldemort can only be killed by my hand and even though I banished him from this world ten years ago, he is not dead yet. He still survives albeit without a body either by possessing people or animals." Hermione was nodding at suitable places but was horrified by the prospect that her friend had to kill the vilest person alive on earth. She was not sure if Harry could do it, or 'is he a highly trained killing machine and is now going to tell me about it' she mused.

Harry's thoughts were more about selling the part he was going to say next to Hermione, "Seven years from now, you and I along with some help managed to kill Voldemort. The price however was too high, a lot of people died, people who were good and had a part to play in the war, people who were no more than innocent by standers."

Hermione was more than confused especially by the play of the words 'seven years from now'; 'managed to kill' were only some that had her mind spinning. It was good that Harry gave her some time to process what she heard otherwise she would not have understood anything that he would have said after that. "Are you some kind of a seer Harry?"

"No Hermione, I am no seer, but I have already lived the seven years that finally led to Voldemort's death."

This was even murkier than mud for Hermione, "So you are from the future?" she managed to get the words, which somehow were lodged in her throat, out of her mouth.

Harry frowned briefly, "Not really, the time that I came from no longer exists now. The moment I came back, that world, its people and that time ceased to exist. We can only say that I lived an extra seven years and have a general idea of what happens in those years."

"Only a general idea?" all her reading has not prepared her for the idea of time travel. Oh there are lots of books for sure, that talk about it but she did not deign herself to read fiction! Even the few facts she knew talked about two different people running about, not one. She was sure that there is only one Harry in existence inside Hogwarts and now he says that he lived the future and was not sure about the future. Talk about a contradiction.

"Yeah! Coming back in time itself has changed the timeline and even my small actions now will have a ripple effect to make the future that I know unrecognizable."

This she could understand. Cause and effect was all logical and could see the truth in the statement.

With that Harry began the tale of their friendship and the six years spent at Hogwarts learning things which were still woefully inadequate to survive the year they spent hunting for Voldemort's horcruxes. He did not try to blemish the events giving credit due where it was but only tried to downplay her insecurities regarding her love life which almost led her to settle for Ron as a boyfriend. He wanted her to be his girlfriend and highlighting her failures was definitely the way to go about it.

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The task took up most of the morning and Harry was hungry again by the time it ended. The room provided their lunch on his request and so they continued to talk through it without a break.

"I want to believe you Harry. I really do but even you have to admit that it is quite a tale."

Harry chuckled softly, the first time since he started the grim tale, "You gave me a couple of examples that you said will convince you. You decided to leave Hogwarts and go back home because you were as alone here as you were at your primary school and for that I am sorry. You felt that at least at your old school you have your parents to go back to, here you are left to cry alone." Hermione could see the genuine regret in his words while he was talking about it.

Taking Hermione's small hands in his he continued in a voice laced with emotion, "It was only my actions to save you from the Troll that convinced you to stay and help me out; you wanted to stay with me and help with my troubles. I have to say that you did a splendid job and it is only because of you that I survived through the years and for that only I am indebted to you." He raised her hand and kissed the back of her hand causing Hermione to blush prettily.

"The other thing you told me is that your first incident of accidental magic was not summoning a book like you told Professor McGonagall but changing the colour of your dress to lime green from a shocking pink." He gave her a broad smile at the self-conscious look Hermione had now. His voice faltered and he took a deep breath debating about saying the next thing that he knew would convince her but was also going to embarrass her at the same time.

Hermione caught his reluctance and was intrigued about what he wanted to say. She was almost convinced that what he said about his future knowledge was true, after all not even her parents know about her changing the colour of her dress. She assured him that she would not be offended by whatever he was going to say and so Harry reluctantly dropped the bomb shell, "you have a birthmark the size and shape of a rice grain on your right hip."

Hermione was not sure how to react to that statement though mortification was near the top. Harry's answer to her unasked question took it to a new height, "I know because the night that I was sent back in time was the night we made love, the first time for both of us." Now even Harry's face resembled that of a tomato.

"Made… Love" Hermione managed to squeak out.

To cover his red face Harry vigorously nodded his head, "we wanted to wait till we get married 'though we never thought that it will be with each other' he thought, but after learning that you may not live any long, you wanted to experience it. It was only two nights ago for me" he concluded while muttering "and we enjoyed it a lot" under his breath too low for Hermione to hear. That revelation brought some heavy silence to the discussion.

Regaining some measure of composure Hermione stated, "So you were my boyfriend."

Harry started to pour tea into two cups and began mixing sugar and milk for Hermione just the way she liked, an action that was not lost on Hermione. Taking a sip, she tried to get things back on track and so Hermione asked, "Tell me about you being the re-incarnation of death."

Thankful for the change in topic Harry started with the tale of the three brothers. "There is a legend about three brothers, the Peverell brothers, who encountered 'death' during their journeys many centuries ago. They wanted to cheat death and be immortal. The first brother asked for an unbeatable wand and death transfigures a stick to give him. The second brother lost his wife and so wanted to be with her always, death gave him a stone that can call spirits back from the afterlife. The third brother was the cleverest of all, he asked that death should not be able to see him and death grudgingly gives his own cloak to him, the cloak of invisibility."

Hermione was an avid listener nodding at all the right places and gasping at the audacity of the brothers who wanted to cheat death. Getting her nod of understanding Harry continued, "This is told as a fairy tale to kids about how not to live your life and that it is impossible to cheat death. What is not known however is the nature of the articles that death gave the three brothers, called the 'Deathly Hallows'. The unbeatable wand was death's own wand, the 'Elder wand' or the 'wand of destiny'. The stone that he gave the second brother is the 'resurrection stone' with which death can call all the souls for judgment and the cloak is the true cloak of invisibility which allows him to move undetected."

"So the Deathly Hallows really exists?"

"Yes and since death lost the Hallows to humans, he lost his job, so to speak. They were never to be separated, if only one of the brothers had all the three Hallows he would have been the next 'death'. Not having 'death' around to do his job threw the balance between good and bad in jeopardy. 'Bad' souls began to evade death and cause destruction and death of 'good' souls. From that time onwards a lot of good people lost their lives before their due time and a lot of bad guys survived causing destruction."

Seeing that Hermione was not totally convinced Harry said, "Think about all the dark lords throughout history, they were more frequent during the last few centuries. What about the wars in the non-magical world? The perpetuators would have been dealt with swiftly by 'death' if he was in existence, but he was not there for the last few centuries because of the Peverell brothers."

Hermione took a while to process the information and had to admit that Harry's words were true. "Alright I can agree to what you are saying and since you were able to reunite the Hallows you were given the mantle of death?"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief at Hermione's acceptance, "Yes, not only that there were a few other factors as well. You remember the prophecy I told you?" Hermione nodded at that and so Harry continued, "When Voldemort tried to kill me that Halloween night, fate intervened to ensure that the 'prophesied one' stayed alive to end the reign of terror forever. Fate told me that bearing the responsibility of 'death' was the payment for that action and also I am the last of the Peverell line. I am here to atone for my forefathers."

"Oh! I am sorry about that" Hermione said sympathetically. "Do you know what happened to the three brothers?" she asked unable to contain her curiosity.

"The wand is unbeatable so his enemy stabbed the first brother in the back. The second brother's wife was not really alive even when she was summoned back. She was after all a spirit so the second brother was consumed by guilt and became insane before killing himself. The third brother lived the longest and when he was finally tired of his life he gave the cloak of invisibility to his son and embraced his death with a smile. The cloak was thus passed from father to son and now belongs to me."

Hermione was excited, "Can I see it?"

"Unfortunately not right now, Dumbledore wants to control all the three Hallows so he has the cloak with him. He will give it to me as a Christmas present only because he was forced to give a vow to my father to return the cloak back to him or to his children. He won the wand from Grindelwald and is actively looking for the stone. The stone was what led to his death in the previous timeline something which I want to prevent this time."

"I can call them to me whenever I want but right now since Dumbledore has two of the three, I want to wait till he gives me the cloak. I do not want to alert him or for that matter anyone else to the fact that I am now in control of the three Hallows."

It was a pensive Hermione who asked, "Can you live with the knowledge that you are essentially taking the lives of many people? Besides what gives you the right to decide who lives and who does not?"

Harry chuckled softly, "Even your older self asked me the same question, though I think it was more to see if I understood the implications of being the master of death rather than challenge me." He gently chided her.

Hermione was embarrassed at assuming the worst about Harry but he assured her, "Don't be sorry for asking Hermione, it is what I love about you. You have to only loosen up just a little bit, just remember that you cannot assume that you are the only one who knows everything" he gave her a disarming grin and squeezed her hand. Sufficiently placated Hermione gave him a dazzling smile.

Unmindful of the interruption, Harry continued "I am not the one who decides the lifespan of people and who lives and who does not. I am just a facilitator for fate and a dispenser of justice."

Giving a mirthless chuckle, Harry continued "They say your actions speak louder than words, your actions and more importantly the reasons behind those actions are the 'judge'. The 'jury' is what your role in the world is, is your continued living of consequence to the world? It does not matter if your family benefits, but what does the whole world get out of your existence, that is the important factor. I have the power or ability to call up the souls whose existence has been cut short and give them a chance either to continue in the land of living or head on to the afterlife."

"So there is some sort of judgment then and what about the people who do harm to the others? If any judgment happens only after they are dead then people will continue to harm others and not change at all" Hermione wanted to know, allowing a bit of passion into her voice.

Harry gave her a warm smile, this was the Hermione who he knew and who he fell in love with. One who came out of the books and was willing to show her emotions, one who was openly compassionate to others. "Oh, there is much more than that for sure. My job is to ensure that such people have a very short life. I cannot openly influence people's actions or thoughts but can definitely make sure that people who make it a point to kill or deliberately harm others suffer from a case of early death. Removing them for the general population makes wonders for the others who tend to follow their less than sterling examples."

"What about the afterlife?"

"There is reward and then there is punishment. Good people or those who have been affected by others find a pleasant existence there, what we metaphorically call heaven, or a chance to come back, albeit as a totally different life without any of the previous memories. The others will have no chance for life and are condemned to a pitiful existence or hell."

They both fell silent after that as it was a lot for Hermione to take in. Most of the concepts of afterlife and judging you after your death by your actions when you live were suspiciously like what were written in many mythologies and what most muggles base their lives upon. The concept of someone judging you for your actions was also quite common; she was also comfortable with the idea of a man in charge of a few destinies. She was very well used to the bible and the son of god roaming the earth correcting the mistakes of people. She had a sudden realization that the power Harry has almost makes him god like and the idea sent a thrill down her spine.

The silent contemplation occurring in Hermione's mind however was throwing Harry into a myriad of emotions nervousness being the foremost with fear a close second. By now he accepted the destiny thrown at him by fate and was actually looking forward for it, but what he was not looking for was spending that time without Hermione's constant presence and support. He feared that Hermione would be revolted by his being 'death'. 'What if she does not want anything to do with me? How do I survive an eternity without my love?' were the questions driving his anxious emotions.

Hermione however did not even allude to his destiny as a point to be worried about. Harry was very much relieved when she took it her stride, "In the short time that I have known you and from you r tale, you are the most unselfish, moral, and kind hearted person that I know, heck probably anywhere. You put others before yourself, your actions in saving me from the Troll says that. Your moral values will not allow you to tread the wrong path. That is why this responsibility has been given to you, 'fate' is certain that you will not be corrupted by the power."

All this was delivered with a passion that was not new for that Hermione whom he knew in the future, who was ready to fight for House elf rights and opposed pureblood bigotry, the one he loved. The ringing endorsement left any fears he had about losing his love unfound.

"You obviously knew me or probably know me well, well enough that we were lovers." Harry let out a chuckle at that statement, but it was more in relief than mirth. Hermione still not used to Harry's mannerisms where she could identify each and every emotion correctly without words, it would still take her some time to get to that point yet, shot him a glare which silenced him immediately.

"As I was saying, I would like to get to know you, again, before we take it any further. Let's try at being friends" she continued with a smile, "good friends before we get to the point of being lovers later" she said with a small blush, an embarrassed smile gracing her face.

"I can live with that and I promise you that I will treat you like you deserve this time around" Harry immediately stood and grabbed her in a bear hug lifting her out of the couch, relief pouring out of him drowning the tension and fear of rejection.

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Settling down again this time with Hermione leaning into him and Harry's arm around her waist pulling her into him, he began outlining the plan to take Voldemort and his horcruxes down along with his minions. Hermione much to her chagrin could not find any fault in the plan before Harry reminded her that it was a much more experienced Hermione who refined his basic plan.

"Hermione, there are people like Snape and Dumbledore who can read your thoughts and probe your thoughts and memories in depth if they want to." Hermione gasped at feeling violated, her most intimate thoughts lying bare to 'old men' killed any reprimand she was going to voice at Harry's lack of use of any honorifics. Hearing how the 'old coot' left them both in the lurch and their struggles to get all the horcruxes left little respect for the headmaster, with this inside information even that crashed and left to burn.

Thoughts of perverted old men doing it to hormonal teenagers in their care left her seething. Harry's question of "do you trust me?" jolted her out of such uncharacteristic thoughts. "You are probably the only one that I trust in this castle Harry" was all the encouragement he needed.

Holding her head steady in his hands, he was tempted to run feel her soft cheeks but instead concentrating on the task ahead stared into her eyes. Hermione felt something 'click' in place and left her a little disoriented. Harry steadied her by grabbing her in his arms, "I put up a protection on your mind which will not allow anyone to access your thoughts and memories without your express permission. If someone tried to read you, they will be left dizzy with all the facts and snippets of information racing through your beautiful mind" Harry could not help dropping such lavish compliments, he so liked to see Hermione blush, it brought a wonderful colour to her cheeks and he loved it.

Getting a hold on her thoughts which seemed to run away with Harry's hands on her cheeks and being in his arms, Hermione wanted to know, "What about Ron?" she could sense that Harry was not particularly happy with him. How can he be, in retrospection, Harry gave him more than a few chances to correct his behavior, certainly more than Ron deserved. Hermione felt that Ron abandoning them at the height of their troubles in the tent was a capital offense. She was not sure if she would have forgiven him that easily as her other self and Harry did, but then they spent six years together with him.

"I am not going to influence you Hermione. You have as much chance of liking him as hexing him to next week. You would be happy making your own decision based on your interactions with him. I will not go actively seeking his friendship this time around but I will support you in whatever you want" Harry's answer brought a smile to her face; this is how a relationship should work. With a quick peck on his cheek, Hermione raised herself form the couch laughing and pulled a slightly groggy Harry who had a goofy grin on his face, along with her.

They exited the wonderful room in remarkably high spirits and began walking towards the great hall. It was nearly time for dinner and they have been missing for a very long time.

Walking down one of the empty corridors on their way, Hermione could no longer contain her curiosity, "So how was the experience Harry?" she paused and at Harry's questioning look she stuttered with a rising blush colouring her face, "Our love making, how was it?"

A huge smile lit up Harry's face and he immediately gushed, "It was brilliant. I cannot wait to do it again with you." Hermione was mortified and seeing this Harry amended, "maybe we will wait till we get married this time."

Hermione could only nod her head in relief.