Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Torchwood. I make no profit from this writing.
Warnings: Character Death, Spoilers for Torchwood's Children of Earth and HP's Deathly Hallows
Steven Carter, unknowing grandson of Jack Harkness, watched the basketball freeze halfway into the net. The soldiers who were nice enough to play with him were also standing frozen in various positions.
The boy glanced around himself warily. The room was eerily quiet, no sound echoed through the large room or from behind the doors where he knew there was a crowd of people working on finding a solution to the alien problem.
Steven spun a full circle. There was no one here, except there was, right in front of him! The boy gave a startled gasp and stumbled backwards, falling on his butt.
There was a man in front of him. A short, dark haired man in some kind of long coat. It looked nothing like his Uncle Jack's. It was a silvery gray color and pooled around the man's feet. On second thought, it didn't look much like a coat at all. It fastened at the throat and seemed to have no holes for the man's arms.
"Who are you?" Steven asked in a quietly shaky voice. The man didn't look mean, but he certainly didn't look happy.
The man gave a sad sigh and a weary smile before he stooped down in front of Steven's seated form. "I'm Harry."
The name Harry didn't fit the man, Steven thought innocently before worry nagged at his mind. Something bad was going to happen. It was a feeling of such certainty that it startled the young boy. Fear grew and his heart raced.
"You feel it," Harry said, "but everything is going to be okay."
Steven watched the hand coming towards him and something inside him kept him still. Long fingers carded through his hair and reminded the boy of how his mum always ran her fingers through his hair when he was sick. His eyes grew heavy.
"Sleep, love, and I'll take care of everything."
)()(
Harry gathered the young boy up in his arms and disappeared from the room.
They appeared in a small bedroom and Harry placed the boy gently on the single bed. The man brushed the boy's hair from his closed eyes with a sigh. He didn't know why he was so attached to this boy, hundreds of children died every day. What made this one so special?
The was no suitable answer to this question. Harry turned from the bed, features changing and body shrinking as he turned.
)()(
When Harry arrived back at the still frozen gym he looked nothing like Harry Potter and everything like the nine-year-old Steven Carter.
It was just in time as the doors burst open, the world around him restarting, and armed soldiers stormed the gym. There was screaming and crying and lots of yelling voices all talking at once as Harry found himself picked up and carry from the gym.
Harry didn't fight. This is why he was here. This is what he was here to stop. Alice Carter's sobbing screams for her son broke his heart, reminded him of the way his mother pleaded for her son's life to her last breath. Maybe this is what made the difference, what made this child different than hundreds of others.
Harry found himself placed on a raised platform, round and lighted. Even though Harry knew where this would lead, he forced himself to ask the questions Steven would be sure to ask.
"What's happening? Uncle Jack?" He heard Alice screaming and pounding on the window unable to get in, saw the grim face of the soldiers, and the tears in Jack's eyes as he hit a button on the console.
The high pitched squeal started immediately and made Harry want to clamp his hands over his ears, but he couldn't. He had to stay focused, had to bridge the connection to the 456. He wasn't naturally connected to them like the children and it needed his entire focus.
Harry blocked out the noise, the pain in his head that was getting worse by the second, the shaking of his body, and the blood that seeped from his nose. He felt them, the children all over the world connecting to him and through them he felt the 456. He felt them convulse, and he felt them die.
With his last breath, Harry tied the Steven illusion to his core and gave into the darkness.
)()(
A sinister presence flew through the darkness towards him, slamming into him in an attempt to force him from Death's realm. The Master of Death was not allowed in Death's realm, but for the first time Harry fought back. It was too soon. He couldn't come back too quickly; no one but Alice could ever know.
The fight went on and on, neither gaining the upper hand, but that's not what harry was fighting for. In his own way, Harry was winning.
Finally, the feeling of rightness settled over Harry, and he let himself be ejected from the darkness.
)()(
Harry, Steven guise fully in place, gasped as life poured through his body. Coming back was never fun, especially from violent deaths. His brain was muzzy and swimming from the so called 'frying'.
Harry pushed the white sheet from his body, leaving a copy of Steven behind. Given the circumstances of the boy's death, his body likely belonged to Torchwood and it wouldn't do for it to just disappear.
With that done, Harry Apparated back to the small bedroom where he left Steven. Waking the boy was easy, explanations were a much harder thing. Harry decided to leave anything more than the basics up to the boy's mother. She could decide what else Steven could handle.
Another apparition and another explanation had Steven back with his mother. Both Steven and Harry found themselves smothered in hugs from the boy's mother. It seemed everything was back to normal.
Well, almost everything. Somehow, Harry found himself agreeing to take Alice on a date next Saturday. It was odd, but Harry couldn't stop the spark of pleasure and anticipation. He couldn't wait for Saturday.
Fin
Main Characters: Harry Potter & Steven Carter
Prompt: Trading Places
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