AN: Harry Potter and canon belong to JK Rowling.

He had never realized how busy St Mungo's could get, or how much work it was to simply find out which room the person you were trying to visit was in. By the time Tom made it to room 531B he was very low on patience and near panicking – his breaths were coming in fast and shallow, he was actually sweating, and his eyes had a wild look to them. Opening the door, he was greeted by a sight he both loved and hated.

Johan was there… on a hospital bed, weak and delicate looking.

It was too soon, he wasn't ready! Who else would give him advice, who understood him completely, who supported him whole heartedly and without any flicker of doubt? He needed Johan to be okay, needed him to be there. At the age of two-hundred-and-one, Tom found himself still deeply attached to his parent figure.

Tom was still in the doorway, unconsciously putting most of his weight on the handle, when Johan opened his eyes and noticed him. With a smile, he attempted to raise his hand to Tom, but only managed a few inches before dropping it back down. Nevertheless, it was enough for Tom, who entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"Wha-? WHY? You should still have decades; this is- this is too soon!" Tom was babbling as he stumbled his way to the chair beside the bed and grabbed onto Johan's nearest hand. His eyes never left Johan's, whose deep brown gaze still held the imprint of power that Tom had gravitated to all his life. No one, no friend, no bed partner, not even the woman he had chosen to bear his children, was anywhere as respected by Tom as the man in the hospital bed. The one person Tom would consider an equal (not even his children were worthy of that, though they were dear to him) was dying – of old age!

He was forced to accept his own mortality due to his research revealing that the human mind could not withstand an infinite life, not without breaking. The Flamels, who famously lived into their sixth century, had contracted him as their healer when they started showing the symptoms of a brain cancer. It seems as if not even magic could protect the genetic code past a set number of mitosis cycles. Over the decades, as Tom had seen his children and grandchildren grow, he had come to tolerate the necessity of there being a life and death cycle to govern mortals. The old must let go so that the new may take over, and he was proud enough of his descendants to want them to have their own chance to change the world into their image.

But Johan! Not him, not this soon! Tom wasn't ready to be alone, to let go of his mentor, of his father, the inspiration behind Tom's own character!

"Tom…" The whisper was weak, forcing Tom to lean in to hear it. "This is not the end… This physical shell is dying, but my soul, it will be cleansed and allowed to be born into a new, fresh body, just as all souls do. Death is not forever, it is only the process of shifting from one incarnation to the next… Tom, do you understand me? This is not the end, it is only an end, and also a beginning." Johan stared Tom in the eyes, doing his best to make him understand. "I will be reincarnated in a decade or so, into a new infant body with little to no memories of this life, but it will still be me. The world has not seen the last of Johan Tufts, who was once known as Harry Potter, among a plethora of other names."

"But you won't be you, you'll be gone beyond my reach." Tom nearly sobbed.

"I promise you, I will do my best to wait for you, on the other side. I'll wait and we can start our new incarnations together."

"How...?"

"The powers that be respected Harry Potter, hopefully they will be willing to grant him this favor. We'll be together again, I promise you." Johan's eyes started to flutter close, his last act was to soundlessly repeat his promise.

This is the end. Sorry that it was less of a show and more of a tell story, but I hope you enjoyed it. If anyone is interested in using this as a starting point to their own story, or would like to rewrite it or play around with it, feel free to do so (I would be very flattered) though let me know so that I can read your fics.