January 1998, extended break before 7th year

Killing the snake was easy.

Killing his soulmate was just as easy.

Harry had never actually murdered a living being before – or had he? He honestly could not remember – and he hadn't wanted his first kills to be the Dark Lord and his Horcrux (because he hadn't wanted to fulfil the bloody Prophecy), but it couldn't be helped.

(Harry should probably have wanted his first kills to never actually happen, but he had long given up on adhering to the moral standards of other people.)

(Had he ever adhered to them at all?)

The snake Harry drowned in Fiendfyre. It was his proven method of destroying Horcruxes and Harry had made promises that kept him from experimenting and risking any delay in the Dark Lord's demise.

The Dark Lord, himself, had not known about his destroyed Horcruxes, otherwise he would most likely have guarded his pet snake more carefully. He was, understandably, very enraged when Harry burnt his precious snake on the front yard of Malfoy Manor.

Malfoy had kindly given Harry the location of his erstwhile home after Harry had cast his Horcrux-locating spell one last time, so he could compare the coordinates and confirm that the Dark Lord was still using Malfoy's parents' house as his primary residence. Malfoy had also given Harry a list of every enchantment and ward he knew about, not that Harry had needed it to get past them.

So Harry had burnt the snake and then found himself face to face with the Elder Wand.

Someone had desecrated the grave of one Albus Dumbledore, it seemed. Wherever that grave was – if it even could be called a grave. Thinking back on it, Harry thought the old man's death was most likely the Dark Lord's fault. Harry had assumed Dumbledore had died looking for a Horcrux, but he had never encountered his body during his own search. Then again, the pink toad must have come into possession of Slytherin's Locket somehow and it certainly hadn't been given to her by the Dark Lord, himself. So perhaps the old man had found his demise wherever the Locket had originally been hidden.

Either way, Harry's soulmate was holding the Elder Wand and pointing it at Harry.

"Who are you?" the Dark Lord hissed.

So Harry might have decided not to fight as himself. Harry might have thought – if he had to fulfil the bloody Prophecy after all, then he would not give anyone the incentive to make 'Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, Child Saviour' into 'Harry Potter, the Chosen One, He Who Has Saved Them All'. So he had put together a new disguise – that of a person of ambiguous gender (because he couldn't make up his mind) with mahogany-coloured hair that carefully hid his stupid scar and green eyes that were just a shade off, wearing neutral, black robes, and wielding no wand.

Not that there actually were any witnesses to the Dark Lord's ultimate demise other than the Death Eaters that were probably watching through the windows of the manor. But you never knew who might be telling someone else – the Daily Prophet's reporters always found a way, even with Rita Skeeter still too traumatized to pick up a quill.

Harry bared his teeth in a – probably kind of crazed – grin and instead of saying any of the various answers he had had in mind, what came out of his mouth was, "The Master of Death."

If he had been able to see Death, he would have glared at it. Not that looks could have killed it, anyway. But Death was invisible, despite Harry clearly sensing its presence.

"Master of Death?" the Dark Lord repeated softly, carefully stalking around Harry, the Elder Wand steadily aimed at his heart.

Harry's grin widened. "Yes. And I would very much like to have my wand, now, if you please."

The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes. "You dare to stand against Lord Voldemort?"

"Yep." Harry cocked his head. "Hey, Death, do you want to take this one? You can do that, right? Since I am your Master and all."

There was an eerie chuckle and then a skeletal hand – skeletal instead of one made of flesh and burned skin – reached out to gently caress his soulmate's cheek. A look of pure terror overcame the Dark Lord's face, before his eyes rolled up into his head and he dropped down dead.

Harry calmly walked over to pick up the Elder Wand and make sure his soulmate's heart really had stopped beating. As he twirled the knobbly wooden stick between his fingers and listened to Death's distant laughter ringing in his ears, Harry thought that this was the first time a wand felt right in his hands.

Then he briefly glanced at the house, at the shifting shadows behind the windows, and turned around to walk away, leaving his soulmate's body for his loyal followers to deal with.

The power vacuum the Dark Lord's downfall would leave behind was going to be huge. Getting rid of everyone loyal to the Dark Lord, undoing all the damage they had caused and restructuring the Ministry would take ages. But none of that concerned Harry.

All Harry had to do was to fish his communication mirror out of his pocket and wait for Theodore's drawn face to appear.

"Well," Harry said lightly, "that felt anticlimactic."

"Knowing you, it probably was," Theodore said and Harry could tell he was hiding his relief behind the dry words.

o

Reuniting with his friends drained Harry of more energy than facing his soulmate had. Both Susan and Theodore had tears in their eyes and they would not stop asking whether Harry was okay. For several long moments, he was afraid neither Susan nor Theodore would ever let go of him again. (Malfoy was standing off to the side, watching them awkwardly.)

Harry endured and Harry waited patiently, slowly petting their backs as they gathered themselves again. Then he gave Susan a peck on the cheek and Theodore several pecks on the mouth and squeezed their hands and, finally, they let go.

"What are you going to do now?" Malfoy asked.

"Wait until the adults have dealt with the aftermath?" Harry shrugged. "I suppose it would be wise to finish our education. I'm sure whoever is in charge of Hogwarts will allow us to redo the seventh year we missed."

"Professor Snape is the current headmaster," Malfoy said. "And he was openly loyal to the Dark Lord."

"Yes," Theodore agreed. "He betrayed the Order of the Phoenix, revealing that he had been on the Dark Lord's side all along."

"But perhaps that was just a ploy," Susan argued. "What if Professor Snape was planning to strike at the right moment and was on our side, after all?"

"I guess you never really know with double agents," Harry mused. "I suppose that is for the Aurors to decide. Oh! This means we can graduate together with Luna. And I can finally take a look at the Come and Go Room. Who else do you think might redo their seventh year with us?"

"Oh, well, most of my housemates are currently attending Hogwarts," Susan said, "except for Justin. I suppose all Muggle-borns will return next year."

"Last I heard, several Gryffindors and a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had started a rebellion against the Death Eaters within the school," Malfoy said. "As they undoubtedly missed critical parts of their education by being forced into hiding, they will surely have to redo their last year, as well. As for Slytherin House, both Pansy and Blaise have been forced to stay home by their parents." He inclined his head towards Harry and Theodore. "And then there are the three of us, of course."

"Ah, that means you can get back together with Pansy," Harry said to Susan.

"Maybe," Susan hedged. "I'm not sure whether I want to try a relationship again so soon."

They spent the rest of the day exchanging what their final year might look like and how much they should study beforehand, considering they had seven whole months left before a new school year was to begin.

"What are you going to do after graduation?" Theodore asked, once they were finally alone.

Harry shrugged with the shoulder Theodore wasn't leaning against. "Whatever job can keep me entertained the longest, I guess. It's not like I have to do the same thing for all eternity – I can just amass money, get myself set up to make profit without lifting a finger and work whenever and whatever I want to and travel and experiment and spend forever with you."

"… Why does this sound like you are planning to never die?"

Harry grinned at his friend. "Oh, I have so much to tell you," he said and then, finally, began the tale of how Albus Dumbledore had managed to straight up murder him.

"The … Master of Death …" Theodore said slowly, once Harry had finished.

"Apparently," Harry said with a careless shrug. "Death certainly obliged my request and took my soulmate's life when I asked."

"But how does this make you immortal?" Theodore asked curiously. "You came back from the dead once, but that does not mean you will live forever."

"Oh, I will. The Prophecy decreed that only my soulmate can kill me – 'and either must die at the hand of the other' you know? – and my soulmate is dead," Harry said, before scrunching up his nose and laughing at Theodore's incredulous expression. "No, of course that's not the reason. As the Master of Death, I can decide whether I want to die or not."

"I see …"

"There is so much left to do still," Harry said. "So much left to see – you promised to show me what remains of the Royal Library of Alexandria, for example, and all the runic artifacts that have been saved from its destruction."

Theodore was silent for a moment.

"You said you want to spend forever with me," he said eventually, sounding thoughtful.

Harry arched an eyebrow. "Who else would I spend the rest of eternity with? I'm going to find a way to make you immortal – perhaps Death will allow me to decide that for you, as well." He cocked his head. "Do you think Susan would appreciate immortality, too?"

"Probably not."

Harry hummed. "Well, I've got more than enough time to convince her otherwise."

He wouldn't even try convincing Luna. Harry knew that she would do whatever she wanted to no matter what he did or said. Susan was much more receptive to his very convincing arguments.

They both fell silent after that, just basking in each other's presence for a while. Harry could hear Susan's parents talking to someone over the Floo. He knew Susan was upstairs, writing letters, and Malfoy was outside, hoping to see his family's owl appear on the horizon. Luna would probably appear on their doorstep randomly, or perhaps she would wait for them to come to her – either way, Harry was sure they would see her soon.

He still had to keep his promise to Susan and tell her about the Dumbledore and Master of Death business and he wanted to have Luna there, because she would be able to help Harry understand what Death was refusing to explain and also have a calming influence on Susan. Theodore had taken it surprisingly well, but Harry suspected the reason for that was that Harry fighting the Dark Lord had already drained him emotionally and he would have to face whatever Theodore's actual reaction was after a good night's rest.

Maybe he should take Theodore and Susan to see Luna the next day, actually, so he wouldn't have to deal with that alone. Harry had dealt with enough emotional outbursts when he had returned earlier that day to last him for a lifetime. He barely remembered anything, at this point, beyond the crushing hugs and the tears, so traumatizing had it been. He definitely would have to take his friends to see Luna the next day.

(As expected, Susan did not take the news about Harry's temporary death very well. Nor did Theodore, once he had had a whole day to process the information.)

(As expected, having Luna there, who had somehow known the moment Harry had left the old man's office, helped immensely.)

(Harry did not know what it was, exactly, that the Ravenclaw whispered in Susan's ear – or Theodore's for that matter, and Theodore wouldn't tell him no matter how much Harry pouted at him with his best impression of puppy eyes – but it helped slowly calm her down from her hysterics and allowed her to gather herself enough to start pestering Harry with questions about Death and its realm and the Deathly Hallows and what Dumbledore's ultimate plan could have been and so on.

"You didn't think he just left your body there without a reason, did you? Honestly, Harry, you are the Boy-Who-Lived – Professor Dumbledore couldn't just let you disappear like that. He must have had a plan for the discovery of your body that perfectly suited his motives."

"That … makes a lot of sense. But why did he leave, then? Why didn't he take care of my body first?"

"Why don't you ask him? That's what the Stone of Resurrection is for, isn't it?"

"… Oh. Right.")

(It turned out that even in death, the old man was infuriatingly evasive in all of his answers, but Harry would get the truth out of him eventually. He had three very clever friends at his side and all the time in the world. Harry had patiently waited two years for the old man to die so he could get the man's wand – and he had been willing to wait even longer. He could patiently wait for however long it took until the old man was worn down enough to willingly give up the answers Harry wanted. He could patiently wait forever, if that was what it took.)

"Do you think you will be content?" Theodore asked, after several more minutes of comfortable silence.

Harry didn't have to ask what he was talking about. He hummed. "Perhaps. I will get bored a lot and I will get ideas again, but …" He turned his head, so he could look Theodore properly in the eyes. "If my ideas involve you, then I will ask first. And if you aren't comfortable with them, then I know you will tell me so and maybe even actually say no to me for once."

The corner of Theodore's lips twitched, but he did not allow himself to smile, yet.

"You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, you know?" Harry continued. "I am very lucky to have you at my side. I am even luckier that you never decided to leave me for what I did."

Theodore's face softened. "You know I could have never done that. It would have broken me."

"But staying with me was breaking you, too."

"No. It was hard, sometimes, but every second you allowed me to spend with you, every touch you granted me – they were gifts I still treasure to this day."

"Theo."

"Hush. It is the truth. I love you for who you are, Harry. That will never change. Even if you were to leave me, I would still love you from afar."

Harry stared at him for a moment.

Then he shook himself.

"I already told you, I am never going to leave you."

This time, Theodore allowed himself to smile. "Because I am yours."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "… and?"

"… and you are mine?"

The grin that split Harry's face could have illuminated all of Hogwarts. "Yes, exactly. So, are you ready to spend forever with me?"

And Theodore threw his head back and burst into unrestrained laughter and it was the most beautiful sound Harry had ever heard.

"Yes," he said, "forever."

AN

Those two will never have a normal relationship.

Because there will be no "Nineteen Year Later" epilogue:

Harry and Theodore regularly have to return to Britain from wherever they are currently hunting down one of Harry's many projects, because a) Susan and her spouse keep adopting children, and b) Luna keeps receiving special awards for her work (which none of the others will ever truly understand) – and Harry & Theo have to be present at those events, of course.
Also, Harry still calls Draco 'Malfoy', just because he finds the blonde's exasperated expression whenever he does funny. (At least he moved on from 'the blonde boy', not that Draco is aware of that.)
Everything else regarding their future is up to your own interpretation.

Thank you for all the reviews!