Summary: When the road you're on is already in the verge of crumbling, you could either choose to foolishly continue onward, or turn back and change paths. Harry decided on the latter. MoD!Harry
Main Pairing: HP/LV (Marcaunon/Voldemort – not Chaos)
Side Pairings: Pending
Warning: AU, Time-Travel, Universe Hopping, New Identity, Slash (this means Boy/Boy), MasterOfDeath!Harry, Killings/Torture
Disclaimer: If I were the author of Harry Potter, Dumbies would have chocked on a Lemon Drop and drop dead, not AK-ed. So no, I do not own Harry Potter.
"Speaking"
"Parseltongue"
'Mental telepathy'
Chapter 20.5: Mother's Day Special
Date: 10 May 1977
Location: Hogwarts
The day begun like any other this week – with Marcaunon bent over his desk, scribbling and muttering about the bane of all existence; paperwork. When the door to his study slammed opened, he, with blurry eyes, looked up.
He did not expect to see Death, in all of Its cloaked glory, to be staring back at him with intense emerald eyes. He was about to question his servant, but just as his lips parted, Death disappeared, only to reappear in front of him.
He did not squeak. Really.
Unexpectedly, Death grabbed his hand and the two disappeared from his office. He was disorientated and confused the second they landed, and had to hold onto Death to gain his bearings. As soon as he did, however, he glared, his scarlet eyes became crimson in anger as he eyed his longtime companion.
"What the bloody hell just happened, Death?" He hissed, his tone calm yet threatening.
Death only grinned, not at all caring that It was this close to being castrated.
"That, my Master, is called apparition. I'm sure one of these days you'll be able to apparate as well as I did."
"As a matter of fact, I already know how to apparate, you sorry excuse of a servant. But thank you for your oh so brilliant explanation. Now tell me, why have you apparated me to… Where the hell are we anyway?"
"My realm."
"… You renovated your office?" He raised a brow at the innocent looking teddy bear sitting innocently on one of the many shelves. It would not do to underestimate the things within Death's office. That teddy bear might be a tool for creating a weapon of mass destruction.
"What splendid observation skills you have, my Master!" Death clapped his hands mockingly, and if Marcaunon did not know the being well enough, would've thought that the entity disliked him. But alas, It was genuinely amused at how he was stating the obvious. Damn ancient arsehole.
"Thanks." He stated dryly, already used to Death's playful (disturbing) attitude. "Now, will you tell me the reason as to why you have brought me here?" Marcaunon asked as he glanced around the… overly bright office. The walls were bright orange, for Morgana's sake. It was an eyesore of a color.
Death's grin widened, if that was possible, and suddenly melted out of existence. He only stared at the spot where Death used to be, before he rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. That git actually left him here! With no way out! The only one possible to open the gateway to Death's realm was Death himself, and not even the Master of Death could. He could transport another person, or himself, to another realm though. But he refrained from doing that – Death's minions were weird.
He sighed, a little irritated at being left behind, before he sat on Death's comfortable office chair. Well, since he had nothing to do, why not just relax? It was better than doing paperwork on a weekend. Actually, Chaos should be up soon… and his son would probably wonder where the heck he was, seeing that they had agreed on eating out this particular day.
He could only hope that his son woke up in a good mood. He did not need, or want, a repeated occurrence on what had happened the last time he had broken his promise. Marcaunon shivered slightly. How the hell did he raise his son to be such a sadist, he would never know. He just pushed it as Voldemort's influence.
As he settled himself comfortably, he entirely missed how a person – soul actually, seeing that only souls could be here, disregarding him – appeared. He only realized that he was not alone in this office the second someone had cleared their throat to gain his attention.
And gain them they did.
He snapped his head to the direction and could only stare at the soul, his mind unable to process why the hell this particular soul was here, of all places. Normally, the only souls to be brought here were the damned. Or those that could not be sorted due to how high their negative points were.
"Harry?" The soul of Lily Potter spoke unsurely. He could not blame her for her hesitance. He looked nothing like her son, after all.
"Marcaunon Gaunt, at your service, Lady Potter." He stood up and bowed slightly. When he straightened up, the person he no longer considered to be his mother looked more anxious – her green eyes were clouded with fear.
"G-gaunt? Are you related to T-t-tom Riddle?" She stuttered out the true name of Voldemort.
"I doubt it." Marcaunon Gaunt was only related to Tom Riddle in this universe. His universe's Lily Potter was still alive, and too young to look thirty something, so he had to assume that this Lily was from an alternate universe.
She relaxed slightly, but still looked tensed and ready for battle. Her fingers, he observed, were twitching for a wand that was not on her. Oh, did he forget to mention? Souls here were naked as the day they were born. So, yeah. Luckily he cared not about looking at a woman's nude body, but it would've been awkward if he still considered this particular soul his mother.
"So, why were you sent here?" He sat down and crossed his right leg over the other, looking like a bad arse king, if he did say so himself.
Her facial expression changed from confusion to realization, and confusion once more.
"I… I don't know." She scrunched up her nose. "I remember being hit by the severing curse… and dying…" She swallowed here. Hard. Before she released a shuddering breath and continued. "I remember a cloaked person guiding me to a train station – similar to platform 9 ¾ actually – and… oh god… I'm dead! And my clothes! Oh god!"
She was hysteric now, as if she had only just realized she was dead – and naked. It made Marcaunon roll his eyes, inward of course. It would not do to be caught rolling his eyes – especially not by Death, who would tell his son, who would lecture him about how inelegant it was. That, he would definitely gain a headache from.
"Yes." He cut through her random bubbling, his voice sharp and commanding. "You are dead, Lily Potter. I dislike repeating myself, but I shall do so since I am in a good mood; why were you sent here? Only those that have done many evil deeds are to be brought here."
"Y-you are… Death?" She stared at him fearfully, and shifted slightly backwards, her arms and hands trying to cover up her woman bits.
"What do you think, mortal?" He smiled, showing off his sharpened canines. "Will you answer my question, or will we continue having a discussion about my identity?"
"S-sorry. I don't know. I really don't know!"
He sighed inaudibly under his breath. How troublesome. What would Death gain by bringing her here? He narrowed his eyes a little, unknowingly making Lily Potter's breath hitch at how similar he looked to a certain Dark Lord in her universe.
"Don't you have a son?"
Instantaneously, Lily Potter's meek disposition changed, and she snarled at him fiercely. It made him blink owlish at her rather 180 attitude.
"Leave him alone! It is not his time yet, and if I have anything to do with it, won't be anytime soon!"
His heart sped up slightly, and he touched his chest lightly. He frowned in confusion at the unknown emotion he was feeling. He shrugged the emotion away and smirked at her, wanting to agitate her more. Perhaps his mood would improve upon the misery of others?
"But why?" He gave her an innocent smile. "He's the child of prophecy isn't he? I would love to meet him! Besides, he could help you remember."
"So what if he's the child of prophecy!? I shan't allow you to touch him! Bringing him here will do you no good."
Marcaunon tilted his head to the side curiously. "Why are you so willing to give your life up for him? Do you not fear death, little girl?"
Her shoulders relaxed slightly, before she straightened her back, her eyes never leaving his. The words that came out of her mouth were so full of love and determination, that Marcaunon knew he believed her.
"Because he is my son, and I love him. I'll do anything for him, and if I have to die for him to live, then I will welcome death with open arms."
"Are all Lilys like this?" He murmured to himself, and for once, thought back to his own mother, who had gave up her life for him. He closed his eyes, and suddenly, wanted to meet his mother. Would the Lily Potter from his original universe love him? Even though he had become so corrupt?
"Before you go," He started, his eyes still closed, thus missing Lily's startled look at being addressed after a period of silence. "will you answer a question of mine?"
She hesitated, but nodded her head. When he noticed that he could not see her due to his eyes being closed, she gave an affirmative.
"Hypothetically speaking, if your son grew into a twisted man with a dream of killing all the Pa–Muggles in the world, would you still love him? Support his ambition? Will you still stand by his side as he tortured, killed, and commit all the evils in the world?"
The office grew silent, and after five minutes of no answer, Marcaunon sighed and opened his eyes – feeling quite disappointed without knowing why. His heart had gone cold, and he wondered if he was catching something. The sight that greeted him made him startle, and he almost toppled over Death's chair when all he could see was Lily Potter's face, only a few centimeters away from his.
She had a concentrated look on her face, and before he could demand for her to leave his personal space, she gave him a blinding smile. It confused him how she could smile like that in his presence.
"I will stand by his side. He is my son, and as his mother, it is my duty to always be there for him. Besides, no matter what kind of person he may turn out to be, I know that he will make the correct choices in life, and if he wishes to wipe out all the Muggles, he must've had a good reason. I believe in him."
His eyes softened and he gave her a small, yet very true, smile.
"Thank you for your honesty, Lily Potter. If I could, I would loved to have met your alternate self – my mother. Thank you for sacrificing your life for me, even if it was another you."
He saw her eyes widened and as her lips parted as if to speak, but he snapped his fingers, transferring her to the reincarnation realm, where her soul would be reincarnated. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling grateful at Death for having brought the soul of Lily Potter – even if it's another Lily Potter – to him.
"How was the encounter, Master?" Death said from behind of him.
"… Alright. It was alright."
"You're smiling, my Master." At Death's words, Marcaunon brought his fingers to touch his lips, which was curved upwards into a smile. Death's hand covered his, and his chin was tilted upwards so that he was staring into Death's familiar emerald green eyes. "It's lovely. I do wish you would smile more often though."
He laughed, feeling quite elated from the experience and Death's compliment.
"Thank you, Death." And he just knew that the entity knew that his gratitude was not only for the compliment, but also having let him talk to a Lily Potter who was also a mother, yet not at the same time.
"You're very much welcome, Master." He was pulled to stand at Death's side, and he felt those slender arms around his waist. "Shall we head back?"
He nodded as he rested his head on his companion's chest. With that, the two disappeared from Death's realm, and reappeared at Marcaunon's office, Chaos already waiting there for them with crossed arms.
His son only raised a questioning brow, but before he could babble out an excuse, Chaos had had his arms wrapped around Marcaunon for a hug. He, without question, returned said hug.
When they parted, his teenage son handed him a wrapped package with the wording Happy Mother's Day. He blinked the wetness from his eyes and grinned at his boy.
"Happy Mother's day, Mom. Thanks for bringing me into this world. Now that I'm older, I'll be the one to take care of you."
Marcaunon did not reply his son, he only wrapped his arms tightly around Chaos, and if his son's uniform was a little wet, he blamed it on the rain – even though they were indoors.
A/N: Here's the Mother's Day special! I give my thanks to Silence of Sorrow and suntan140 for reminding me about this special occasion!
Yeah! That was… Wow, I rushed through this special because I totally forgot about it! Hopefully it turned out well.
Story recommendation for today: Hermione Doesn't Make Mistakes by ColorMeMonochrome. Hermione made a potion for Harry for him to be teleported to his 'True love' or 'Equal partner'. Harry thought it was Ginny, and thinking that it would've been a great Christmas present, brewed it with Hermione (well, he only watched). He should've taken note of his Potter luck though. He was transported back to time, where his TRUE 'Equal partner' was. Time Travel, TMR/HP. This is a new fic, so it has little chapters. Give it a chance though. I wholly enjoyed it.
Rainbows and Mothers,
GenderlessPerson