(This chapter contains chapters 2 and 3! Enjoy!)
Chapter 2; Things seen and unseen.
Balerion; The Valyrian God of death, the afterlife, and endings watched the betrayal of Harrison James Potter unfold. Pure rage burned in his purple eyes as he witnessed it all. The things he was seeing through his enchanted viewing mirror happen to the last descendant of Ignotus Peverell were utterly sickening to him…
When doom had happened, his sweet daughter Tessarion had saved the Targaryen family with her powers by way of Dragon Dreams. She knew they would be needed. At least three other Valyrian families also left around the same time.
He had helped save the Peverell family... But in a different way…
The Three Perevell brothers used their magic to open a bridge across to a different world just as the doom was happening. Balerion had wanted to let all three brothers live; but sadly, he could not. The balance of magic and blood as well as the balance of life and death itself had to be upheld. All magic came with a cost, and the Peverell family was not supposed to survive. He had taken the first of the brothers, the oldest and proudest, the very next day. The second had given himself over to his arms after losing his mind to grief over his lost lover. The third brother…Ignotus... Balerion had let him live as long as he could, but when the time came, they had come to a mutually acceptable agreement…
Ignotus would go with him willingly, earlier than expected, thus paying the price of life and blood. His sons and their sons would then live on under the protection of Balerion himself. The Peverel family, it's blood and magic would continue on…
A life for a life.
A Fair trade.
The balance was kept, the Hallows purpose fulfilled. The Perevell family and Valyrian blood magic would not end with him, but carry on all the way to Harry.
His wife, Meleys (The goddess of life, love, fertility, and beginnings) stood beside him, looking just as angry and disturbed as he was. She had also been peering into the viewing mirror with him.
Harry had defeated The Dark Lord but unknowingly still held a small piece of his soul in his scar. Someone had told... Someone had sold him out. Ever since the battle of Hogwarts the British magical government had feared him. His power was proven, his support had gotten stronger, and his dragon (even in the poor shape she was in) was beyond deadly to any witch or wizard alive. So they were quick to use any excuse to turn on him completely. Any reasoning for killing him, as well as a few of his allies, was good enough for them.
They had decided to launch their attack while everyone was visiting the Burrow; The home to the only family Harry had ever known. They attacked the Weasleys mercilessly, even though they had always been the best of witches and wizards and didn't deserve it all. Molly and Aruthur died, but all their children and Hermione survived.
They had killed Severus, the man who was hard at work making amends… He went out standing in front of his students, much like he did when he stood in front of Lupin as a werewolf years before.
Worse than that; that horrible woman Umbridge killed Teddy. An innocent newborn, whose only crime was beating the odds of being born to a werewolf father. Meley's rage was palpable as they watched that, as well as the screams that followed from Harry. The dept of grief and anger in his bottle green eyes was haunting.
Those idiotic witches and wizards had thrown off the balance completely in just one day. Nearly everyone in magical England and many beyond owed Harry a magic debt… One now doubled or tripled with their betrayal. Harry's future after the battle was near written in stone. His fate was not to die this soon. He was set to save the lives of many men, women, and children during his time as an auror. As well as stopping and catching multiple murderers. On top of that, Harry was intended to father three children of his own as well as be the acting father to Teddy Lupin. Then later, a grandfather to many more.
Now the people he would have saved would pass on. The children they would have had would never be born. The murderers he would have stopped wouldn't be stopped as soon as they would have been under his watch, or not caught at all. The People he and his line would have saved over the generations as Aurors would be lost, and the children of THOSE people would never be born…
This ripple effect this would have on the balance of life and death was catastrophic. Growing from tens, to hundreds, to thousands to tens of thousands...
It would take generations for the wizarding world to recover, if it ever truly would.
He and his wife turned to one another with furious eyes. For over a thousand years he and his wife had worked together side by side. They made Valyria together. They made Dragons and Dragon riders together. They had raised 12 children together, Sons and Daughters: now all gods and goddesses in their own right. They didn't need to speak. There was no need for words between them right now.
They knew exactly what they were going to do...
Balerion swore to protect the Peverell line… Not the Wizarding world.
If they wished to toss Harry and all the good things that he would bring with him away, Balerion would not stop them. He would simply take Harry Back…
He would return the blood of Perevell back to world where it belonged…
Not to mention that Harry was a beacon of light. An inspiration. A Hope… a hero for the ages. A paragon of good.
With him brough back home and put into play, perhaps they change the fate of the Targaryen family as well... And with them, all of Westeros.
Harry's trial was an embarrassment and a farce.
He had a binding spell, the langlock curse, as well as Magical cuffs built into the chair on his wrists. Overkill, when you added in the fact that he no longer had any fight left in him.
Harry's heartbreak and grief from losing three most important adults in his life as well as his infant godson was clear on his face. He had cried himself hoarse the last two days. With no food and barely any water, he was beyond exhausted, tired and worn. The whole Wizgomount talked over one another while refusing give him a chance to speak at all. No one came through the door to be his defense this time. He was sure it was because they made sure no one would show. More than likely lied about the time like they did before... Hell, they rushed the trial to 2 days after they took the Burrow. They probably didn't even have to do much more than that.
It wasn't long, not even an hour, when they declared his punishment. Due to being in possession of a part of the Dark lord's soul, he was going to be forced to walk into the Veil of Death.
Harry couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little at the dark irony of that, even as more tears poured down his face.
He'd be going out the same way Sirius did... Somehow that felt... Comforting.
In his and his wife's pocket realm, Balerion also smiled.
Little did the Wizarding world realize they would be saving him time and effort by sending the boy straight to him…
Balerion would welcome him like old friend when he arrived.
Harry didn't remember what happened before he was pushed through the veil. He would have been ashamed of that fact looking back, seeing himself lost in tears and grief. Bearly able to stand. Feeling so weak, lost, hopeless, and helpless he might as well of had a dementor right there feeding off of him. All happy thoughts, memories, and feelings were truly gone… The wizarding world had finally broken him.
Snape and Arthur died for him… they were gone forever, and Molly and Teddy too…
His sweet little godson, Teddy…. He barely got a full two weeks with his favorite little boy.
Teddy didn't even get a full 3 months to live…
Lumi was screaming in the back of his mind, wanting to burn her way to him. They had chained her back up again and injured her as well… She wouldn't be able to reach him here in the department of mysteries anyway. He shouldn't have waited for her to heal more before trying to remove the magical neck and leg restraints. He should have just done that right away. But it was too late to do that now, so, here they were. Two guards with firm grips under his arms, being tossed into the veil of death...
He felt a lifting, and a shove...
Then, suddenly… Everything cleared.
His mind cleared. His emotions calmed. His wounds and his body stopped aching.
Everything was suddenly… Peaceful. He opened his eyes to blink, and that was when he realized…
He was in an entirely different room.
He turned around and looked behind him. there, a near-replica of the doorway of the veil. A Mirror, tall and ominous, one that looked like the mirror of Erised but with different writing on it was in the left-hand corner.
He slowly turned his body back where he was facing forward, trying to take the rest of the room in… That was when he saw them. Two of the most ethereal people he had ever laid eyes on in his entire life.
"Harrison James, descendant of the Peverel Line; Welcome to our realm..."
They were tall, lithe people. One male, one female with silver hair falling from their heads all the way to their knees. One shrouded in black, the other robed in white with perfect porcelain-like faces. Perfectly shaped shoulders, arms, legs… Harry's jaw dropped as he took in the sight of them both.
"We have an offer for you. One we believe you'll be happy to take..."
Chapter 3; Deal(ing) with death.
"I'm… Sorry… An offer? Apologies, I'm quite confused right now…" Harry mumbled as he blinked rapidly and shook his head. He was completely out of sorts, and he knew it.
A soft chuckle came from the ethereal woman as she moved to his side. She took his arm under hers, and gently started to lead him to a table and chairs that was already set up for them. It seemed the table, setting, maybe even the whole room were personalized to make Harry comfortable. The style, the placement, the nick-nacks all reminded him of the headmaster's office at Hogwarts and the burrow. Something about everything collectively made it feel at home.
"That's quite alright, young one… And somewhat expected. You've just gate traveled and had to handle a lot over the last few days…"
A steaming pot of tea, a plate of tarts, as well as the cups and saucers were already waiting for them. Ready to be poured and tasted. The woman gently settled him into one of the seats as the man who was following close behind her took one of the chairs as well. The third and last seat was obviously meant for the lady.
"Take a moment. Catch your breath. After you've gained your bearings and oriented yourself, we'll continue our talk…" The woman said as she took the tea pot and poured out 3 cups.
Harry did in fact take that time to orient himself as much as he could… It was a weird; this feeling of vertigo and derealization that was hitting him both at the same time. He was here, but he wasn't here a moment ago. And was here even real? He had died, he was sure he was dead, so was this place had to be… The Afterlife? Purgatory? Some other place?... At least it seemed like a physical place.
He stopped that train of thought with a few blinks, as he thanked the lady kindly for the tea. He took the warm cup in his hands and sipped. By the time he got to the bottom of the cup he was feeling much better, and his head was far less swimmy.
"Traveling though the veil, especially the way you did, can be quite… Taxing… Now if you're feeling better, we can begin our talks."
Those words got Harry's attention. His mind focused full force back up front. They sobered him up and cleared his head out much quicker than the tea had.
"Oh, yes… You had an offer for me." Harry said, sounding more than a bit wary and unsure. "But… Before we get into that… Apologies, but… Who are you? Why are you helping me? HOW are you able to help me? And where even IS here?"
Two similar toothy smiles crossed the faces of the man and the woman sitting with him. It did nothing to dismissed Harry's worry or anxiety.
"So… You're Death. You're life… and because I died before my time… You're giving me another chance?"
"You MORE than died before your time, Young one. Your life was deeply connected to many others. Important People, Places, Events... Lives, Births, and Deaths. You had a wide path set before you. A… Destiny or Fate would be the words I believe your people would use, but it is a bit more complicated than that. When your life was cut short, they were all cut short with you…"
Harry seemed to be monitoring both the man and woman's faces as she said this. "Why would you help me with this?... and what will it cost me?"
The woman seemed upset at the last question and gave the man a sideways 'See what they did?' look. The man returned the look to his wife, then motioned for Harry to calm and listen closely.
"Perhaps it's best if we start from the beginning… With Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus. Who were NOT from your world at all, But from ours. From a kingdom called Valyria..."
Harry sat, mouth open and dumbstruck, his fourth cup of tea half-full in his hand as his mind took in all the information he was just given.
Dragons… Fallen kingdoms… Dooms... Bridges across realities and Blood magic… Dragon blood and…
Merlin, if he thought his mind was spinning before…
"So, because the balance was thrown off so badly, you're… Going to make me an offer?"
"Well…"
"Yes…"
"Quite a good offer, if we do say so ourselves."
"We let you live out the rest of your life…"
"Only, you live it back in our reality."
"The home your ancestors hailed from."
That peeked Harry's interest and his heart gave a little leap. Hope he didn't even know he still had bloomed in his chest.
"This will not be an easy task, nor will you be free from your destiny. You still must meet the marks you had set before you… Only it will be in Westeros, not the wizarding world. You were meant to save many lives and inspire many more people. Stop criminals and murderers, prevent some important murders and assassinations. Be a beacon of light and justice… You'll have to do the same in the life we will trade for you."
Harry felt his hope drop and felt an acid burn his mouth. So, even if he agreed, he was still not free from the shackles he had been born with...
"You were also meant to be the parent of three children, and the father figure of Theodore. You will still have those children, only under different names, with a different parent."
Harry's heart dropped even more at that.
"What about Teddy?... Would… Would he be able to… go with me?... He only lived three months. He wasn't even given a chance, would…" He stopped his words before he got choaked up. He still couldn't get that memory out of his head… Little, tiny Teddy… Defenseless at the end of Umbridge's wand. He had to ask… He had to at least try… He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't.
Syrak looks to her god-husband with a determined glint in her eyes. He gazed back toward his goddess wife and nodded softly.
"Teddy's life was also taken to soon as well…"
"He was not supposed to die, especially not that young."
"He also had a destiny before him. Lives to save. Children to raise."
"Even a few lives to take. In the interest of justice…"
"We would be open to sending him with you…"
"We could add him as a part of your offer."
"But to add him in, in order to keep the balance-"
"-We would need something extra from you."
His head switched back and forth at the pair as they spoke in turn.
"What is the extra something you would need?"
"… You would need to give birth to Teddy and your other children yourself."
"From your own Body and Blood. In short, you'd have to become a Woman."
… He'd have to become a woman. He'd have to go through the pain of labor and childbirth. More than once. But…
He'd get Teddy back. He'd get to see his sweet face and cradle him in his arms again… Raise him, watch him grow...
It would be worth it.
"I accept your terms."