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*Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and now Voldemort tilted his head a little to the side, considering the boy standing before him, and singularly mirthless smile curled the lipless moth. “Harry Potter,” he said very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. “The Boy Who Lived.”
None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting and Harry though inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his “
Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curios child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear “
He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone. *
As suddenly as everything had gone, it reappeared. Instead of the forest, Voldemort, and jeering Death Eaters, he was in a room. The room had only one door, which was closed. He couldn’t see the floor either, or feel it for that matter. It looked rather cloudy. Where there should have been a wall facing the door on the opposite side of the room, there was an opening. It led to a great expanse of “ nothing. Just more of the same cloudy white stuff the floor was made of.
The walls were a rather dark, worn burgundy, and the door was made of old wood, and it looked like it could use some fixing, but it was a comfortable room. Harry sank into one of the many comfortable looking armchairs lining the walls next to the door.
He wondered what this place could be, but then found that he really didn’t care to find out. His curiosity had led to nothing but trouble in his life. He knew he had died, but he didn’t want to think about that now. He would have all of eternity to think about that. For now, he really wanted to sleep. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours.
He adjusted himself into a more comfortable position in the armchair, and fell asleep.
What felt like moments later he was roughly and rudely shaken awake. He was so tired though. He tried to tell whoever was waking him that, but they didn’t seem to hear him. After a moment, Harry realized he hadn’t heard himself either. He opened his eyes and saw his godfather standing above him.
A wide grin spread across Sirius’s face. “About time, Sleeping Beauty,” Sirius said. “Actually, I was just about to pretend I was in one of those Muggle fairy tales your mum used to tell me and give you a kiss.”
He laughed at the expression on Harry’s face. Harry couldn’t help but grin to. Sirius’s elation was so contagious. “Sirius,” Harry finally managed to choke out, glad to know that he still had a voice.
“Well, well, I see you can state the obvious. You always were good at that,” Sirius told him.
“Sirius, what just happened? Where am I? Where are we? Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be dead? Am I dead?”
“Harry, so many questions, as always, but I’m afraid I can only answer a few. I am dead, or as dead as possible. You see Harry, you can never really die, because well, I’m not allowed to tell you,” Sirius said. “You see, I was sent here to give you a message. I can’t answer to where we are, or as to what just happened, but the question is are you really dead?”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Well, who could expect you to? Harry, you have three options. You can either choose to go back, but I must warn you, if you go back, so does Voldemort, and you will not be able to defeat him. He will take over if you go back. However, you do have another shot at life. The higher powers that sent me to tell you this feel bad about all they put you through.”
“You can choose to relive your entire life, but without the prophecy. Again, this comes at a price though. The prophecy would fall onto Neville, but there is no guarantee he will succeed, even in the way that you did. In fact, he might die at the first attempt at the age of one. You would not remember any of this life at all, and you would be powerless to help, to destroy Voldemort, and your parents still might die, working for the Order.”
“The last option is to choose death. It will also keep Voldemort from power. While you choose Death, he will be dead. However, I must warn you that death is not what humans expect it to be. I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you that I am more like a ghost only in the clouds instead of on Earth. I’m not a soul. More of a vague imprint of a copy of a soul. I know that this is a lot to think about, and I can answer any questions as much as I’m allowed, but you have to decide.”
Harry thought it over. He had no questions, because he knew Sirius could not help. This would be his choice, his decision, as it was to walk into the woods, into the hands of Voldemort and die. He realized that his friends, the people that were like family would be able to survive, and live long, happy, full lives. Ron and Hermione had finally realized they like each other, he didn’t want to be so selfish to live, and destroy that. He thought about his life, and knew that after all the pain, he wouldn’t want to put anyone else through it, much less one of his good friends.
But death. Harry wasn’t sure he wanted it, or was ready for it. He felt like after all he had given up, all the pain he had gone through, he should be entitled to a happy long life with Ginny. To have kids, and watch them board the Hogwarts express.
Sirius was watching him intently. “I know that whatever choice you make Harry, you will choose right. I know all of them require sacrifice, and none sound too great, but I know you will pick the best one for you.”
Harry looked up into Sirius’s eyes, and Sirius knew that he had decided.
“Sirius, I choose death, to help save my loved ones. I couldn’t live with the guilt of killing them.”
Sirius smiled on the outside, and knew that Harry had made the best decision, but there was a sadness about it, which went completely unnoticed by Harry. Harry had no idea what lay in store for him.
Sirius put the doubts aside though, gave Harry a huge hug, and together, they walked through the door into the unknown.
Life in Death by darkchocolatemntn
Chapter Notes: Hey everyone. I hope you enjoy this story. Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling. I can only wish to be half as wonderful a writer as her.
Chapter Endnotes: (*) - pg 704, Deathly Hallows by the amazing J.K. Rowling (duh)
So if you liked it, hated it, questioned it, or just feel like saying something random, let me know and comment below. :D