Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters.
The voice hit Harry like a wave, rushing through him and making him shiver. At the same time the pull on his arm grew tighter and gave a small jerk.
A moment later Harry could see again – not that there was much to see.
He lay in a world of pure whiteness. There was nothing around him at all, he wasn't even sure what he was laying on.
Cautiously Harry sat up. His hands rested on something solid, even though the "ground" didn't look any different than the "air" in front of his face.
As he sat there, looking around, he slowly came to the realization that he was naked. There weren't even glasses on his face or contacts in his eyes – though he thought he could see perfectly despite this. It was hard to tell if his vision was good when there was nothing to see but himself.
A little shiver went up Harry's spine and he looked around again, hoping that something might have appeared that he could use to cover himself.
As if on cue, a glass box appeared a little ways away from him. Harry stood up and walked over it, not noticing that the ground lost it's whiteness and become dull concrete wherever he took a step.
The box had no latch or hinges, but when Harry touched the lid it opened, as if it was just waiting for his touch.
Inside lay three objects that continually changed shape. It took Harry a moment to realize what the shapes were.
One object appeared to be his Snitch cufflinks, an instant later it was his lightning bolt necklace, then it became the watch from his Police Memories, before, finally, it turned into his Invisibility Cloak. Then it started the cycle again.
Confused, Harry turned his attention to the next object. There lay the ring of memories that Snape had given him, then it became the engagement ring he'd found in his parent's security box, then the old pearl ring he'd given Ginny in his Police Memories, and then, finally, it turned into the Resurrection Stone.
Something niggled at the back of Harry's mind, trying to emerge from under all the memories it was buried under. Harry stopped to think, trying to draw it out, but it wouldn't come, so he turned his attention to the last object.
Their lay the Grindle, looking clean and new – as if it hadn't just been used in a rebellion. Then it turned into a familiar looking football with his signature on it. Next came a familiar looking pen-like object with a needle on one end – his insulin shot from his days as a diabetic. The last object was a wand, and not just any wand, but the Elder Wand.
Something clicked in Harry's head when he saw the wand.
These weren't just random objects, these were the Deathly Hallows.
What were they doing here? Why were they changing forms?
"Haven't figured it out, have you?"
Harry jumped and turned around to face the source of the hard, cold voice.
Not far from him stood a figure cloaked in dark robs and leaning on a scythe. Harry couldn't see inside the robes to the face, but he had the feeling that he wasn't looking at a dementor.
"Who are you?" Harry asked as he cautiously stood up, his nakedness forgotten for the moment.
There was a little rush of wind that sounded like a sigh from the figure. "You really are dense, aren't you? It's amazing that you got away from me for this long, you've been a lot of trouble Harry Potter. If you hadn't gone about changing so much in this last world I probably never would have found you."
The figure moved a little and Harry's eyes caught on the scythe. Again, something clicked. At his feet lay the three Deathly Hallows and across from him stood a dark figure in a robe. How could he have not seen it?
"You're Death, aren't you?"
The figure gave a hard, cold chuckle, "I see you're finally putting two and two together. Now, can you figure out why you and I are here? Talking in – well, where are we?"
It was then that Harry realized that the blinding whiteness was gone. He was now standing in a rather familiar building filled with rails, plastic chairs, and concrete.
"I think we're in King's Cross Station."
"Ah, it must mean something to you. I suppose it's because you've reached a crossroads in your life, or rather, lives. Now, can you tell me why we're here?"
Harry looked around, then down at the Hallows again, then back up at Death. As he did this he dug through memories long buried under many lives. Finally, he found what he was looking for.
"I'm the Master of Death? That's it, isn't it? That's why I won't stay dead."
Death gave a little shrug, "You're partly correct. If it was just that you were the Master of Death we'd be in a different situation. You'd still be in your little Magic World, but you'd be a sort of zombie. Never really living, but unable to die. You'd eventually go crazy as you watched your loved ones grow old and die. Until, one day, you'd plead with me to take back the Deathly Hallows and just let you die. This is what I wanted to happen. It even almost happened with Albus Dumbledore, but, alas, fate put her hand into the mix and stopped that from happening."
Harry frowned, "Why didn't that happen to me? Why did I keep switching worlds?"
Death let out another one of those sigh-like breezes. "That's because every single time you died you did it willingly so as to save another. I never counted on a willing sacrifice becoming the Master of Death. It never seemed possible that the Elder Wand would fall into a selfless person's hands, but, it did. Your first sacrifice was for the world, your second was for Ginny, your third was for Hermione, and your final one was for Ron. Because of that your body died, but your soul remained pure. It went in search of a new body that fit it, which just happened to be occupied by another version of your soul. You've become the opposite of a Horcrux. Instead of splitting your soul up, you now contain four different versions of your soul. If I don't stop you from acquiring more you'll become truly immortal – like a god."
"Would that be so bad? Couldn't I protect those I love better that way?"
"No, you'd become like me – unable to truly interact with anyone. Even now, I can only interact with you because you've cheated me – just like I could interact with the Peverell Brothers. It's a very lonely existence. Looking at you I think you'd bestow the ability to protect on people. You'd grant others the strength to do what you've done, but you'd be alone. Completely alone."
Harry shuddered at the thought of being alone. His friends were the reason he lived, but, despite this, some part of him liked the idea of being able to help people protect their loved ones. True, it would be lonely, but it would help people.
"Is that the only choice left to me?"
"No, you can give me back the Hallows and return to one of your worlds. I'd promise you and your loved ones a long and happy life in that world. You'd retain control of the Elder Wand, but, eventually, when you die in your bed, surrounded by your loved ones, it would return to me."
"Only one world?"
"Yes, your souls are too merged together to split up without murdering people and I don't think that's in you. Whichever world you pick you'd return to the day of your death."
"How can I pick a world? I have loved ones and memories in each one."
"Would it help if I told you what happens to each world if you stay dead there?"
Harry nodded.
"Alright," Death gave a tap of his scythe and Harry was clothed in black wizard's robes as the concrete floor between him and Death shimmered and became a picture.
Death began to speak then, and as he spoke the corresponding images were shown to Harry. He watched as Hagrid carried his lifeless body towards Hogwarts. As Neville killed Nagini. As reinforcements arrived and the Death Eaters found themselves unable to kill or permanently stop any of the defenders. Eventually Voldemort grew frustrated and found himself cornered by Neville. Every spell he cast hit Neville as if it was nothing, and they only stopped when Neville drove Gryffindor's Sword into Voldemort's chest.
Then there were more images – flashes of his friends mourning him and burying him, along with everyone else that lost their lives. Then there was Hermione and Ron's wedding. Harry watched as Ginny graduated and became a professional Quidditch player. One day she married an American Quidditch player and had three little ones that drove her crazy. Everyone moved on with their lives and grew up, but he watched them visit his grave every May and leave flowers and tears.
Tears sprang to Harry's eyes as he watched his friends, now approaching a century; visit his grave with all of their children.
"Have you seen enough?" Death asked softly.
Harry nodded, not trusting his voice.
"Alright, next one."
Death tapped his scythe and Harry found himself wearing his old football uniform.
The images on the floor changed and Harry watched as Ginny cried for days, dipping into depression, and eventually settling into it. His heart lurched into his throat as he saw her visit St. Paul's Cathedral and climb up to the Whisper Gallery. She stood on the edge, holding onto the railing, looking down, and Harry could see the hopelessness in her eyes. As he watched her muscles tensed as she prepared to jump.
Harry screamed out a "NO!" just as a familiar looking man put his hand on Ginny's arm. He had a dark face and a guitar strapped to his back. He said something to Ginny and she nodded slowly before letting him lead her away from the railing. They took a seat on one of the benches and talked softly for awhile. As Harry watched them he realized why the man looked so familiar – Harry had seen him the day he first ate dinner with Hermione and Ron. Harry knew he should recognize him from somewhere else. It took a moment, but he realized that the man was Dean Thomas, Harry's old classmate.
Then the scene changed and Harry watched Ginny come out of her depression and befriend Dean. Eventually they got married and had a couple children.
One of them she named Harry.
After Harry saw his namesake get married he asked Death to show him the next one. Harry's outfit switched to his detective uniform.
Harry watched with bated breath until someone realized that Ginny was kidnapped. It took them almost two full days to find her and by then the damage was done. She was alive, but barely so. She was scarred – mentally and physically. While she recuperated in the hospital Fenrir Greyback was interrogated until he spilled it all.
Certain parties had disagreed with current policies and so had wanted to kill Hermione and her child so that Snape would go a little crazy and lose the support of the Queen. When this was unearthed Snape gained even more popularity and supported. Thus allowing him to lead the government into a new era of success as the United Kingdom became one of the strongest countries in the world.
Eventually Ginny was released from the hospital. She used Harry's insurance money to buy a small house in the countryside near Harry's parents. It was there that she raised AJ and wrote book and movie reviews instead of theatre reviews. Harry watched as she eventually fell in love again when she was past sixty. He was also a widower and the two of them settled into a quiet life of companionship in the countryside until the day they died.
But Ginny never made it through the night without a nightmare.
The images changed, as did Harry's outfit, and Harry was watching the scene he'd so recently left, now in his Fuhrer's Guard uniform.
As his body slumped to the ground the Fuhrer turned to Ron just as Hermione, Ginny, and Luna came racing around the corner. Ginny let out a scream when she saw Harry's body and opened fire on Voldemort as Hermione and Luna took out the guards. The Fuhrer fell, a bullet through his brain, and so did the guards.
Harry watched as Hermione broke. She threw herself into Ron's arms and kept saying, over and over again, "I can't lose anyone else, I can't."
Luna flew to Draco's side, trying to stop the blood flow as tears slipped slowly down her face.
Ginny went straight to Harry's body and started giving him CPR, trying to restore the air that the Fuhrer had stolen.
It didn't work.
The images sped up then.
Draco and Luna got married and took up positions as co-rulers of the Third Reich. Slowly they turned things around, broke up the camps and made the Dole more reasonable. Eventually they passed on a humane country that was accepted by the world to their children. The Third Reich was renamed the European Union and became the model plan for uniting a continent under one government.
That was only one thread.
In another thread Hermione and Ron helped rebuild Europe as they raised their son in a new world of peace and prosperity.
The person Harry cared about most though was Ginny. It turned out she was pregnant with Harry's child. As the baby grew within her she helped the other rebels rebuild the country. She contacted Lily to let her know she would be a grandmother and learned the entire story.
So, when her little boy was born, she gave him the longest name in her family – Harry James Sirius Remus Weasley.
Her brothers told her it was ostentatious, but she didn't care.
This Ginny never remarried. She devoted her life to raising their son and rebuilding Europe.
As Harry watched his son marry a sweet girl with golden curls he found himself unable to keep back the tears.
By the time he stopped crying the images were gone and he was alone at King's Cross Station with the chest of Hallows and Death.
"Are you ready to chose? I can return you to any of these worlds with a long and happy life for the Hallows. If I return you whatever I showed you will change for that world, it will be completely rewritten. Or, you can keep switching worlds until you become like me – alone, but powerful."
Harry stared off into space over Death's shoulder. Trying to think, but finding it difficult. One thing kept bothering him, "I have one question."
"Yes?"
"I don't want to part with the Invisibility Cloak. It's the only thing of my father's that I have and it's been in my family for generations. So, could we cut it out of the deal? It, in itself, doesn't make someone a Master of Death."
Death seemed to consider this for a moment. Finally, after what could have been ages, he spoke. "Yes, I suppose you can keep that. But, if you eventually have no descendants I will reclaim it in that world."
Harry's brows rose, "And will you promise not to hurry that along?"
Death gave that breezy sigh again, "Yes, I promise not to interfere in the lives of any of your descendents."
Harry nodded, "Alright, now I need to think."
"You have all the time in the world."
Harry moved over so that he was sitting facing the glass box with the three ever-changing Hallows in it. Every time they switched to a new form his thoughts drifted into those memories. What world would he change and spend the rest of his life in? Or would he give it all up and become a god so as to help others protect those they love?
He didn't know.
He sat there for a long time. He wasn't sure how long, time had no meaning here. Finally he made up his mind.
Carefully he stood up and turned back to face Death.
"I've made up my mind."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright. I want you to close your eyes and only think about what your answer."
Harry did as he was told and an instant later he heard the scythe thump one more time. He felt the cold, hard grip again and then all he knew was darkness.
Author's Note: Now, all of your answers have been given. Well, most of them.
This has been a wild ride and a fun couple of months. So I have a little treat for y'll, as a sort of thank you for reading and staying with me on this journey.
It's your turn to give some input to the story and influence the ending.
So, leave a review and let me know which choice you want Harry to make. Also try and let me know your thinking on that choice. That's not a requirement, but I would like to know.
So, as a reminder, choices:
Magic Memories
Soccer Memories
Police Memories
Wealth Memories
Godhood (sort of)
You have until the fourth of June to put in your thoughts.
Thank you everyone!
So, a couple people sort of guessed the reasons he switched worlds, but they never quite hit the nail on the head. So, kudos to y'll and everyone else for guessing!
Enjoy! Read! Review!