The Crow: Phoenix Rising

By: Belcris

Summary: What if "the power the Dark Lord knows not" had nothing to do with love? What if it had everything to do with justice? Crossover of Harry Potter and the Crow.

Harry Potter created by: JK Rowling

The Crow created by: James O'Barr

I do not own these characters and I do not seek to profit from this story. I only wish to pay tribute to two great authors.

WARNING: This story contains scenes of graphic violence, foul language, and death. Rape is implied. You have been warned.

Category: AU. Dark Fiction.

Chapter 4: Old Friends and Enemies

Sitting in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Severus Snape was not having a good day, not good at all. Over the last few days three of the top Death Eaters in the Dark Lord's ranks had been brutally murdered. Oh, and someone had killed Dolores Umbridge as well, but that was generally considered a good thing by the Wizarding community at large. Still, the fact that each of the bodies had been found with the symbol of the Crow had Severus very worried.

Severus had spent the better part of his life researching the darker aspects of magic. During that research he had stumbled across rumors of the Avatar of Death and Justice on more than one occasion. While not exactly considered Dark magic in itself, the means that the Avatars had often used to find Justice could be rather brutal. It was in the search for more information that Severus Snape had delved deeper and deeper into areas of magic best left forgotten. In the beginning he had rationalized it as a means of protecting himself from an abusive father, but later it had become a means to asserting his power over others. It was his need for ever greater power that had originally led to his joining the Death Eaters. The very idea that he, a mere half-blood, could stand beside the most powerful purebloods was a delicious irony. When he had finally taken his Master's mark, Severus Snape had felt he could finally have anything he truly wanted.

Anything, that is, except the woman he loved. A dire mistake in his fifth year at Hogwarts had ended any chance he would ever have to be with the woman he loved. Looking back on it now, his mistake had assured James Potter an unshakeable place in Lily Evans' heart. Severus was man enough now to admit that his foolish pride and unhealthy interest in Dark magic was what drove the wedge between himself and Lily Evans. It was also what led directly to her death at the hand of his Master.

"I might as well have cast the spell myself," whispered Severus, burying his face in his hands. "I was such a fool. I couldn't even uphold my promise to protect her son."

"What promise?" asked a familiar voice that shook Severus from his musings.

Looking up from his hands, Severus Snape saw something that he had never thought to see again: Harry Potter. It had been over a year since he had last seen the young man before him. The last time had been the night Severus had killed Dumbledore on the old Headmaster's orders. Now, here Harry sat with his pale skin and harlequin face paint. The horrible sense of power and determination that poured off Harry was enough to make Severus want to crawl under his desk and weep for every sin he had ever commited.

"How is this possible, Potter?"

"Oh, you know, magic," replied Harry with an exaggerated smirk. "Mighty handy little things it does too. Lets a person return from the dead to avenge their death and sneak through wards and such. It's actually really cool."

That moment was when Severus finally understood what he was seeing. Glancing over to the empty perch that Fawkes had once used, Severus saw the truth of it in the form of a crow. This was not the boy that Severus had tormented in a vain attempt to punish his dead rival. No, this was the Avatar of Death and Justice, and if he was here then it was a sure sign that Severus was only moments away from death.

"Are you here to kill me, Potter?"

"I haven't made up my mind yet, Snape. On the one hand, you killed Dumbledore and you were supposed to be there the night Ginny and I were killed. On the other hand," he continued with a negligent wave of his hand towards the crow, "she says I should hear you out before I use your guts as a jump rope. If I were you though, I would talk fast because I really liked jumping rope as a little boy."

"I understand," Severus said, quickly turning and pointing to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore that hung on the wall behind him. "I believe Albus can clear this up rather quickly."

"I don't think so," growled Harry.

Before Severus could even blink, the Sword of Gryffindor crashed through the glass of its display case and smacked into Harry's open hand. A second later and the blade was once again flying through the air. Severus nearly lost control of his bowels as he watched the blade fly past his head and bury itself into the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, right where the portrait's mouth was starting to open in a plea that would never be heard.

"I didn't ask for Albus' manipulations, Snape!" growled Harry. "As the Headmaster of Hogwarts, you have power over all the portraits. I don't want to hear lies from a hollow memory. I WANT THE TRUTH!"

"Oh shite," thought Severus as Harry leapt over his desk and grabbed him by the throat.

Severus knew what this was. This was the physical Legilimency of the Avatar. The ability to bypass any mental shields and see the absolute truth was what had encouraged Severus to master Legilimency and Occlumency, but even that mastery was useless now. Severus could feel his mind being ransacked, his every secret revealed. It seemed like hours that Harry Potter sifted through Severus' mind, but it was really only a matter of seconds. Finally done looking through his mind, Harry backed away with a look of rage in his eyes that made the former Potions Master pray that his death would at least be quick.

"You absolute bastard!" roared Harry, but it was not aimed at Severus.

Reaching out and grabbing the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor, Harry wrenched it from the portrait. With the sword removed, the image of Albus Dumbledore moved away from the tear and took on its most Grandfatherly pose. Severus watched as the image started to speak, but was totally unprepared when Harry began hacking at the portrait's frame.

"No!" shouted the portrait. "You cannot do this, Harry! I know you better than you know yourself. You cannot just ignore what I have to say to you."

"Would you tell me about the Horcruxes, old man?" asked Harry as he continued to hack away at the frame until the portrait fell free and landed on the ground at his feet. "Would you tell me where my death and the death of the woman I love played into your 'Greater Good'? Would you tell me how many mistakes you've made and how the ones involving me were the worst? No, Albus, you will tell me nothing!"

"Please, Harry," begged the portrait as Harry began dragging it towards the fireplace. "Don't do this! I had to do what I did!"

"And I have to do what I have to do, old man," replied Harry as Severus watched. "The Harry you know died and was replaced with the Avatar of Death and Justice. What I do now, I do in the name of Justice. You can't be allowed to continue manipulating people! Justice demands you be silenced, once and for all."

"No!" screamed the portrait as Harry tossed it into the fireplace. "You still need me! You can't do this to me!"

"It's already done," hissed Harry, pulling a wand from his robes and pointing it at the portrait. "INCENDIO!"

Severus watched in stunned silence as the portrait of Albus Dumbledore began screaming. He watched as the painting finally stopped moving and went silent. Then, with a few magical sparks, the portrait turned to ash and vanished into the flames. Much to his shock, the other portraits in the room began clapping and shouting their approval. One portrait could even be heard saying, "about time the manipulative old bastard got what was coming to him."

"Why?" asked Severus as Harry turned around to look at him.

Harry held up the wand he had used to light the fireplace and Severus recognized it as Albus' wand. "As the Avatar of Death and Justice, I was instructed to collect the wand while I was here. It's too powerful to remain in a crypt until some madman comes to claim it. Contrary to what that old fraud thought, it will never lose its power. Eventually some other fool would stumble across it and the cycle of death and violence would begin again. No, in my current state I am the ultimate representation of Death, so I'll be taking the Elder Wand with me when I leave and that will be the end of it. Unfortunately, as I removed it from its resting place I happened to brush my hand against the hand of the dearly departed former Headmaster."

Harry's anger was obvious as he walked over to stand next to the perch the Crow was resting on. "Albus was not an evil man, but he was a very manipulative man. When I touched his body, I knew his plans, his hopes, and his dreams. Even in death he hoped to continue controlling us, Snape."

"What do you mean?" asked the still shaken former Potions Master.

Harry sighed, stroking the feathers of the resting crow, before he looked up at his former teacher. "His death was to be the first part of a complex strategy aimed at ridding the world of Voldemort. His death would start the plan moving, and my death would have seen the end of it."

Snape already knew this, as the Headmaster had shared his theory that Harry was a Horcrux. Still, Severus had always held hope that Lily's son could be saved from the dark fate Albus had seen in store for him. Yet in the end, that fate had been unavoidable, and Harry had died at the hands of the Dark Lord. Harry's death had been the final straw for the Wizarding world and days after his body was put on display at the Ministry, Voldemort had been crowned absolute ruler of the British magical community.

That was when the Muggles had begun to fight back. As powerful as Voldemort was, the Muggle military was not something they could just ignore. Overconfident after killing numerous unarmed Muggles, Voldemort had assumed that he was unstoppable. One squadron of fast moving jets, a full load of air to ground missiles, and an extremely mad Prime Minister had disabused Voldemort of an easy victory. Not even Voldemort with all his power had been able to stop the Muggle military aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound from decimating his legions of giants as they approached London. In one horribly bloody afternoon, the giants of legend had been rendered extinct and Voldemort had learned the meaning of fear.

The following months had seen an increase of Muggle "terrorist" attacks in their news. It had also seen a rise in counterattacks by the Muggle military. So far the Magical world was still invisible to the average Muggle civilian, but the same could not be said for their governments and military. Witches and Wizards from around the world now lived in fear that a war being fought against one madman would destroy their way of life and expose them to unknown perils. No one knew when the final war between the Magical and Muggle world begin. It would not be a long war, but it would be the last war for the Magical world. That was, unless someone managed to stop Voldemort and his forces.

"The problem is," continued Harry, "he didn't take into account the fact that he could make a mistake. He made a mistake when he trusted my luck to last forever. It never occurred to him that I would put my love of Ginny, of anyone, before the mission he set for me. That was his mistake, not understanding that I was human. For his "Greater Good," everyone was expendable, including me in the end. You were as much a victim as I was."

"But why destroy his portrait?" asked Severus as he watched the flames in the fireplace.

"After my death he probably remained pretty quiet, right?"

Severus nodded and Harry continued. "That's because he had no use for you unless I was alive. Without me to fulfill the prophecy, he was content to sit back and watch the world fall apart. It never occurred to him to try to help you, or help the students. No, he was just going to wait until someone else came along to solve his little Dark Lord problem. With my return, he would have thrown your life away in an instant if it helped his precious 'Greater Good.'"

"But you are back," began Severus, turning to look at Harry once again. "You will stop the Dark Lord, won't you?"

"Oh, I'll stop him," growled Harry. "But it's going to be on my terms and for my own reasons. I'm going to stop him because he was the one that gave the order to kill Ginny. I'm going to stop him because he has sinned greatly against countless unnamed victims and their blood calls out for justice. Most of all, I'm going to stop him because he has just really fucking pissed me off!"

"So, couldn't he have helped us?"

"No," answered Harry with a firm shake of his head. "He would have continued to maneuver us until we were dead and his little plan was complete. Then, once Voldemort was dead and us along with him, he would have manipulated the next generation. It would have never stopped because with each passing year he would have become more convinced that only he knew what was right. That's why I destroyed his portrait. Not because I was angry with him, but because in his own way he was even more dangerous than dear old Tom. The world is better off without the immortal portrait of the Lightest Dark Lord in history."

"And what of me, Harry?" asked Severus, dreading the answer to his question. "Is the world better off without me as well?"

Harry looked up at his former professor with a humorless grin before turning and heading towards the door. "You, I'm letting you live. You've paid a far heavier price than I ever had to. I had to watch the woman I loved be raped and killed, then get stabbed in the heart with a knife. You, on the other hand, were responsible for the woman you love being murdered. I know that my love waits for me on the other side, but with the way you've led your life I think we both know that the only thing waiting for you is the silence of the grave. You can either fix your mistakes, or you're fucked. Justice served. Have a nice day!"

Severus watched as Harry stepped through his office door. He knew that what the boy had said was true. No matter what he did to atone for his past sins, he was damned to die alone and forgotten because of what he had done to the Potters. He had selfishly thought being a spy for the Order of the Phoenix would be enough to see him rewarded someday, but Harry had pointed out that he would still not be with Lily when it was time for his next great adventure. No, unless he truly and honestly tried to change his life, Severus would be damned no matter what he did.

"I will not fail you again, Lily," swore Severus. "Nor will I fail you, Harry."

Spinning around, Severus grabbed a pinch of Floo powder from the fireplace mantle and through it into the dying flames calling out, "Minerva McGonagall!"

While Severus Snape was setting in motion a series of events that would free Hogwarts from the clutches of Voldemort's minions, Harry Potter was entering a mysterious room on the seventh floor. It felt strange to be here again, but no matter the bad memories the place brought to the surface, he had a job to do. So, with memories of Ginny floating in front of his eyes, Harry stepped into the Room of Requirements to retrieve the last of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Oh quit your pouting and let's get this over with.

"I'm touched by the depth of your empathy," snapped Harry as he looked around the endless piles of forgotten items. "I mean it, you really know how to make a guy feel good about himself."

Boo hoo! I'm gonna start crying any moment. Really, I mean it.

"Sod off," groused Harry as he passed though the piles of junk.

Seriously though, you did a good thing back there. Snape would have continued to wallow in self hate, but you lit a fire under his ass that will hopefully motivate him to change his life.

"Yeah, well it's hard to hate a guy that feels that guilty about what he's done," replied Harry as he approached where the diadem of Ravenclaw rested. "He might be the world's biggest prat, but even he deserves a measure of Justice in his life. He made a mistake and he's paid for it over and over again. Maybe now he'll grow the fuck up and do something worthwhile with his life."

And burning Albus' portrait?

Harry laughed as he picked up the fabled diadem. "That was just a perk of the job. Dumbledore wasn't a bad man, but his time is past. If I hadn't gotten rid of his portrait he would have continued to meddle in the affairs of the living. It's time for a new start. He and his old guard need to leave the Magical World to their own devices. They'll either stand or fall on their own."

True enough. The real Albus Dumbledore would have realized that, but his portrait would have continued to coddle the old ways until it was too late to save them. You did the right thing, Harry.

"Whatever," mumbled Harry, wondering how it was possible to still blush now that he was dead. "Why don't you just do your thing and get rid of this stinking thing."

Throwing the diadem into the air, Harry watched as once again the Crow opened its mouth impossibly wide and swallowed the last Horcrux whole. Once again he listened to the far away sound of a soul screaming as it fell into the abyss. It felt good to know that they were only one Horcrux away from the end of Tom Riddle. Now they just needed to take care of Bellatrix and Lucius, Nagini the snake, and finally Tom himself. It was almost over with and then Harry and Ginny could be together again.

"Come on," whispered Harry, "let's get out of here."

A moment later and they were once again standing in 12 Grimmauld Place. However, unlike their previous arrivals, this time they were not alone. Harry instantly drew the Elder Wand and pointed it at the figure sitting on one of the chairs in the room. It took him a moment to realize the figure was asleep with their cloak wrapped tightly around them to keep them warm in the drafty old house.

"Oh shite," moaned Harry, recognizing the mass of bushy brown hair. "Why her? Why now?"

They will be drawn to you just as much as you will be drawn to them.

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better," replied Harry as he watched his friend's sleeping form. "They had to suffer through my death once, and now they'll have to suffer again when I leave. It would be better if I just took her home and she never had to see me like this."

It doesn't work that way, Harry, and you know it.

"Sod off," grumbled Harry.

Knowing what he had to do, Harry silently walked over to the sleeping young woman and reached out a hand to her. He knew that of all the people he had touched, Hermione's memories and feelings would hurt the most. If Ginny's love was the Sun that warmed his heart, Hermione was the Earth that supported him. Between the two of them, Hermione and Ginny had taught him what it meant to love. She was his sister in all but blood, and that love was going to burn hotter than anything he had seen yet.

As his hand made contact with her hair, Harry's world dissolved into pain. It was not physical pain, but pure and undiluted emotional pain. He saw her break down when she and Ron realized that he had not escaped with them from the Burrow. Then he watched as she found out the next morning that Ginny and he were murdered the night before. This was followed by memories of her sneaking to the Ministry building to see his body on display for all to see. If he had not already been returned from the dead, experiencing her pain would have surely killed Harry again.

Next were the memories of Hermione and Ron trying to find the remaining Horcruxes, but being unable to locate them. They had fought their way through numerous dangerous situations, but without Harry there to encourage them and lead them, their attempts were futile. Finally, Harry watched them make a run for France when the Ministry made it illegal to be a Muggle-born. Most heart breaking of all were the memories of how she and Ron had finally gone their separate ways because both felt too guilty about Harry's death to stay together any longer. Now, after a year in hiding with Ron in France, she had heard the rumors of someone killing Death Eaters and she had returned in the hopes that her best friend had returned though some vagary of magic.

"Oh God, Hermione," moaned Harry, his legs giving out and falling to the ground. "I swear, I never wanted to leave you and Ron to go through all that alone. This is all my fault. If I hadn't been such a fool, maybe none of this would have happened."

"If you hadn't tried to save her, you wouldn't be the man you are," answered Hermione, her eyes now wide open. "My best friend, no, my brother would never have forgiven himself if he hadn't at least tried to save the woman he loved."

"In other words," replied Harry with a dry chuckle, "I'm a big prat?"

"Yep!" agreed Hermione. "But we wouldn't have you any other way."

Holding his arms open to her, Hermione leapt into Harry's arms and buried her face in his shoulder. They remained like that for a long time, both holding tightly to the other as their tears fell. When they finally broke apart, Harry helped Hermione to her feet and they made their way over to the couch where they sat down next to each other. They huddled together as two lost and lonely children would in the face of the unknown. Eventually they fell asleep like that, each so emotionally drained that they could no longer keep their eyes open. It was morning by the time they opened their eyes again.

"Good morning, Harry," yawned Hermione as she hugged him tightly.

"Morning, Hermione," replied Harry. "Might I say, you've got horrendous morning breath? Coming from a dead guy, that's saying something."

"Prat!" swore Hermione, playfully punching his arm. "And you're not dead, so quit joking."

Harry turned to her and looked deeply into her eyes. "Yes I am, Hermione. You saw my body in the Ministry, the knife still buried in my heart. I died a year ago, and you know it. What I am now is just a tool of Justice."

"No," argued Hermione with a shake of her head. "That can't be true. You can't be dead because there is no magic to bring the dead back to life. The closest you can get is an Inferi, and that's just a magically animated corpse."

"That's what I am, Hermione," continued Harry. "I'm just a corpse brought back or a short amount of time in order to make sure that my killers get the Justice they deserve. Come on, you're the smartest witch of our age, so you must have heard about the Avatars of Death and Justice?"

Hermione gasped as Harry's words sank in. As she full grasped what he was saying, Hermione's tears began again. She grabbed hold of him so tightly that Mrs. Weasley would have been jealous. All Harry could do was gently rub her back and whisper soothingly until she calmed down enough to stop crying.

"It's not fair, Harry," she sniffled. "You didn't deserve this."

"No one deserves this, Hermione," asserted Harry. "My life was never fair, but at least I had people in it that loved me. Now I'm here to make the world a better place for the ones I loved in return."

"But then you'll leave me again," wailed the now sobbing girl. "I don't want to lose you again, Harry. You were my first real friend and the brother I always wanted. It's not fair!"

"I know it hurts, but you've got to realize that I'm so tired," Harry said, rocking Hermione in his arms as he spoke. "We're not meant to come back here once we're gone. As much as I will miss you and everyone else, I want to rest and I want to be with Ginny again. She's waiting for me when I'm done here, Hermione. Ginny is waiting for me in a place where we cannot be hurt anymore."

"But the things you have to do, Harry!" insisted Hermione, her head still buried in his chest. "It's not right! You're becoming just like them!"

"I tried it your way, Hermione," argued Harry, "and Ginny and I paid the ultimate price for it. Odd thing death, it really makes you rethink your life. They killed us for their own sick pleasure. I kill for Justice."

"It's still killing, Harry!" objected Hermione, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "You shouldn't have to be the one to do this!"

"Even if they hadn't killed me that night, it was always going to come down to me and Tom," replied Harry with a sad smile. "The only difference is that now I have a few more names on my list before I get to him. I may not like it, but that's the way things are now."

"Can you even stop him when the time comes?" asked Hermione, hope suddenly in her eyes. "I mean it could take years to find all his Horcruxes. You would have to stay until you found them all, right?"

Harry shook his head sadly, looking in her eyes. "Sorry, Hermione, but I've already recovered all of them except Nagini. After I visit Bellatrix and Lucius, I'll stop by to see Tommy Boy before I leave for good. At most we're talking about four days before I'm with Ginny again."

"No!" screamed Hermione, her fists pounding on Harry's chest. "You can't leave so soon! It's all my fault! I should have held onto you tighter that night. If I hadn't let go you wouldn't be forced to do this. You, me, and Ron would be…"

"It's not our fault," countered Harry. "It was just my time. Who's to say that if the three of us had escaped that night that things wouldn't have been worse? You did nothing wrong that night, so you don't need to feel guilty."

"But," began Hermione began only to be cut off by Harry again.

"No buts, Hermione," growled Harry. "You and Ron are my best friends in all the world. If anyone is to blame for what happened that night, it's me. You two have nothing to feel guilty about, I mean it!"

"It was never the same again once you were gone," whispered Hermione, burying her face in his chest again. "We tried, but we couldn't do the things you could. When we finally ran away, it killed us inside to leave your behind. It felt like we were betraying your memory. One day we just couldn't look each other in the eyes anymore. I knew then that whatever I might have had with Ron was gone. I packed up my things and took off after that. I wanted to go find my parents, but I knew it wasn't safe for them, so I just wandered alone through Europe. Then I heard about someone killing Death Eaters and I knew I had to come back."

"I know," whispered Harry, hugging his friend tightly. "I saw it all when I first touched you. It's the curse of the Avatars to experience the lives of those we touch."

"Then you know I can't lose my brother again," cried Hermione. "I don't want to be alone anymore, Harry! Not a night goes by that I'm not scared I'll be caught. I've been running for a year, and I just want to be safe again."

Harry did not know what to say, so he just held his friend tightly in his arms. Soon enough she was asleep again and he carried her upstairs to her old room. A few quick waves of the Elder Wand and the room was once again clean. Harry tucked the emotionally drained young woman into bed before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

That one has suffered a great deal since your death.

Harry felt the familiar weight of the Crow as it settled onto his shoulder. "I know. The question is, what can I do to help her in the time I have left?"

You can do what you always do, Harry.

"Oh yeah?" asked Harry looking up at the bird. "What's that?"

You can be a hero.