Chapter 1: (2907 words)

Okay... he certainly wasn't expecting this one, and he's had a LOT of unexpected things take place in his rather eventful yet short life.

He had recently confronted Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest and sacrificed himself for the rest of the world. Of course, he was confronted by Dumbledore at some weird 'Limbo Train Station', and that in itself was already unexpected enough. The deceased headmaster told him that he could choose to go back to the land of the living, while casually ignoring some weird, disgusting, baby Voldemort... oh well, he's seen weirder things. Anyways, he walked towards the train that would take him back, while Dumbledore was taken away by the other train, back to the Other Side.

However, he was blocked by some weird guy that just appeared. He wore long white robes and cloaks, and had neat, long, grey hair, but he didn't seem old at all. Smiling kindly at Harry, he greeted himself, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Harry. I am known as the Moon to you humans."

Harry blinked, "Er, nice to meet you too... Moon Man."

The Moon chuckled. Good, it meant that Harry hadn't offended him. Honestly, reckless Gryffindor indeed. "I have stopped to talk to you, because I wanted to tell you about immoral beings called the Guardians."

"The Guar-what-now?" Harry raised an eyebrow and blinked at the Moon Man who nodded.

"The Guardians..."

And that was how he learned about all of the Guardians, and what they did. He also learnt of their victory against the evil Bogeyman, Pitch Black, about five years ago. How had he never noticed any of this before? And Santa Claus was real?! And the Easter Bunny?! And even the Tooth Fairy! This was incredible!

He had believed in them before, since Dudley always got presents on Christmas, and Dudley always found Easter eggs before Harry did on Easter, and Dudley always found a coin under his pillow the day after one of his teeth fell out. Just because those things had never happened to him before didn't mean that the Guardians weren't real, it just meant that he didn't deserve them, and it wasn't really that hard to believe, really. He had been told all his life that he was just a freak, a useless, worthless boy, and after coming to the Wizarding World and realising that all of these people, an entire society, expected him to die for them, well, it only cemented that fact.

What use would a present, or an Easter egg, or a coin underneath a pillow, be for a pig raised for slaughter?

He had also believed in Jack Frost and the Sandman, and they were his favourite, since they didn't ignore him at all, like the other Guardians. A snow storm affects everyone, good or bad, and Harry had the occasional good dream, although after everything that had happened on his annual 'End of Year Escapades', they had decreased in amount drastically. Still, they came every once in a while.

And when he was introduced into the Wizarding World, his belief for them, all of them, only grew. After all, if things like a stone that turns metal in gold, and understanding a snake were possible, then surely the knowledge that all those childhood stories were real as well, right? It wasn't so hard to believe, anyway. Not after being told of the existence of soul-sucking creatures of darkness, and that fire-breathing dragons, and mermaids, and prophecies, and objects that you could contain a soul piece inside of existed. After everything that had happened, then surely a man who gives children presents once every year and a fairy that swaps teeth for coins isn't so unbelievable? Hell, fairies already exist anyway!

The whole conversation must have taken an hour or two, at least, and he hoped that time didn't pass back on the living side. A fact that amused him was that the Wizarding World didn't know about them at all, dismissing them as random muggle folklore. Fools.

"Harry, I have a few more things to tell you, though they shouldn't take very long," the Man in the Moon, as he was referred to by the Guardians, added.

"Alright. Go ahead," Harry nodded.

Moon Man (Harry liked it too much to let the name go) coughed to clear his throat, before continuing with his explanation, "The entire reason I have told you about this is because you have been chosen to be the next Guardian."

"What?!" Harry screeched, and Moon Man chuckled, much like before.

"Yes, Harry. It's true. You shall be the Guardian of Life and Death, and it helps that you have all three of the Deathly Hallows. It means that you can escape Death, and if you decide to become this Guardian, you will become fully immortal," Moon Man explained more fully, and in detail.

"I see..." Harry mumbled. "But," he paused, "I'll never get to see my family and loved ones ever again. The ones that are alive won't believe in me, since I'm brand new on the job, and no one sees Death as a person. It means that I'll be... alone." He couldn't deal with that again, not after doing so for a decade at the Dursleys. Never again would he do that to himself if he could stop it.

"Harry..." Moon Man began, "Since you are the Guardian of Life and Death, you can visit the Other Side, and come back too. No other Guardian can do this, so it's an added bonus of being one so important. Also, the Guardians can see you, even if they've never met you, so you won't be completely alone, and soon enough, you'll be believed in. I promise."

Harry looked up through his fringe, his emerald eyes, the colour of the Avada Kedavra curse, the colour of Death, filled and shining with Life, "Promise?"

Moon Man nodded, "Promise."

Taking a deep breath, Harry took a step forward and nodded, "I'll do it."

The other man gave Harry a small smile, "I'm glad. And... I'm sorry that neither I nor the other Guardians could help you with your childhood. It was one of the reasons I chose you. many other children out there are abused like you are, though they are not overlooked by the Guardians. However, some are. You need to set the Guardian straight, since they don't know about them. Of course, if you're up for the challenge...?"

Harry rolled his eyes and glared, "C'mon! You know I'm a hot-headed Gryffindor, right?"

"Oh, that's another thing! The Guardians have no idea that the Wizarding World exists, so please do be annoying about it and tell them everything."

Harry suddenly grinned, a vicious, malicious thing, and he bowed, "It would be my pleasure."

Moon Man chuckled, "Well, that is all I have to say, Harry. You are now truly dead, and you will return as the Spirit and Guardian of Life and Death. You will be fully invisible to all except the other Guardians and your believers, which is currently at one, with a Miss... Luna Lovegood. Ring any bells?"

Snorting, Harry nodded with a grin, "Oh, certainly. I have nothing left to say, so, thank you for doing this for me, for giving me the chance to meet my loved ones again, while still being 'alive', or, well, being able to be on this side of the spectrum."

"Of course, Harry. You should get back now. Don't you want to see everyone freaking out about you just disappearing?" Moon Man grinned.

Harry smirked, "I like the way you think, Moon Man." Harry was pretty certain, he preferred his little nickname much better than 'The Man in the Moon'. That sounded so formal! "You're like the cool older brother I've never had. See ya!"

And with that, Harry was off, back to the Wizarding World, and to the Forbidden Forest, where a rowdy crowd of Death Eaters, and an awakening knocked-out Voldemort were waiting for him.

(-Line break!-)

All of the Death Eaters were gobsmacked at the change of events expected. The oaf of a half-giant was sent outside of the clearing, just in case something went wrong, and although they certainly weren't expecting it, something... did.

Their wonderous Lord sent the killing curse at the Potter boy, who promptly fell back, but the Dark Lord also passed out, and many of the Death Eater healers rushed forward to help him.

A few minutes later, he was reawakened, and he stood up quickly. The Dark Lord, along with all of the Death Eaters, turned to look at the deceased body of Harry Potter, which was suddenly glowing a bright black and white, swirling over and around his body, much like the swirls of 'The Starry Night' by Vincent Van Gogh. Suddenly, it all glowed brighter for a second before the glow disappearing. The body soon after faded into thin air, and all those present were speechless.

Was the boy still dead? There should be no affects to using the Avada Kedavra curse, just that the person it touches is dead. They should look perfectly fine, with no sign that they should have died. Harry Potter fading away just wasn't magically possible! Bellatrix thought about this and wondered how to confront the Dark Lord about this... strange occurrence.

Bellatrix turned to look at her glorious master, "My Lord, is the Potter boy... dead?"

As if snapped out of some sort of trance, the Dark Lord whipped his head around to look at his most faithful female follower, "Of course, Bella. He was hit with the curse of Death, there is no other outcome." None of his supporters and followers were brave enough to point out the exception that occurred sixteen years ago. "Now, we have no body, but it should be enough to get the foolish opposition, if they can even be called that, to stop fighting and surrender. After all, their miraculous 'Saviour' is no longer alive."

Although none of them knew it, an invisible spirit on the other side of the clearing chuckled, "You got that right, Voldie. I'm pretty dead, but I'm also alive, and it's weird."

Harry Potter stood by those words. He was currently in the Land of the Living, but he could very quietly hear the voices of those on the Other Side. It was rather unusual. Anyways, he should figure all of this Spirit and Guardian stuff out. He had the Invisibility Cloak on his person, that was one Deathly Hallow. He needed the Resurrection Stone next. Well, that shouldn't be too hard, it was on the floor just outside of the clearing.

He went to get it, and then wandlessly conjured some black string that couldn't be snapped so that he could tie it around his neck. He thought it looked pretty awesome, at the very least. Now all he needed was the Elder Wand, which would be what he needed to use to help souls to the Other Side, when it was an emergency. Most of the time, souls could make it themselves, but then there were cases like Voldemort, where the soul just wouldn't get a move on. It was pretty rare though. Also, once he had possession of the Elder Wand, he could fix his old holly and phoenix feather wand, since it was perfectly suited to him. Missing it greatly, he rushed to follow Voldemort.

The band of Death Eaters, with a furious yet subdued Hagrid, and an invisible Harry Potter, made their way to the grounds of Hogwarts.

Eventually, they stood at the edge of the school grounds, just outside of the forest, and Harry rolled his eyes, annoyed at what Voldemort said next, "Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. His body was mutilated beyond repair and was burned brutally once he was finally dead. Your hero is gone.

"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy-Who-Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

Harry was full on laughing out loud, rolling on the floor, the entire package; he couldn't believe Voldemort had just lied his way through his disappearance and then just talked about his pureblood supremacy regime like everyone at Hogwarts at that moment wasn't totally and completely against him- well, to be honest, it wasn't that hard to believe. Tom Riddle is as sly as you can get.

Although he knew that his friends did care about him, he wasn't expecting the screams of, "NO!" and "Harry? HARRY!" It was rather painful, but a part of him burned with joy at the knowledge that his friends cared for him, at least somewhat fondly.

Still, he had things to do.

He whistled as he casually strolled up to where Nagini was proudly and elegantly hissing at the crowd of Hogwarts students, professors, and all other manner of creatures who had stepped forth to protect Hogwarts, right next to her master, who was speaking stupidity squared to them all, along with her hisses of, "You will pay for defying my massster, you ssstupid, foolish, humansss. Foolsss!"

A part of him wondered if magical creatures could see him, but he remembered that it was only those who believed in him, other than the other chosen spirits, who could see him.

Harry shrugged, and summoned a basilisk fang from the Chamber of Secrets, making it invisible from where he was so that no one would wonder what a basilisk fang was doing, flying 90 mph towards the patch of grass next to Nagini. He caught it with his right hand, using his skills as a seeker to not even break a sweat. He smirked as he caught a glimpse of Luna giving him a mischievous smile, and he turned to face Nagini, "You won't know what hit you. Literally!"

And with those last words, he stabbed Nagini in the head with the basilisk fang. Voldemort suddenly stopped speaking as he gaped at his beloved Nagini just randomly being stabbed by an invisible object. He wasn't the only one: all around the area, Light and Dark both stared in confusion at what was taking place. Voldemort growled in fury and shot an Avada Kedavra at the invisible object, several of them in fact, but nothing happened. They all passed through Harry, who admitted that it felt incredibly painful. He wasn't sure if it was just that it was passing through him or if it was because of that certain curse, but what he did know was that, 'Ouch'! It hurt!'

Harry stepped back to admire his work: Nagini and the horcrux within her were all gone. That was that, all of the horcruxes had been destroyed, Voldemort was mortal once more.

Hermione looked at Luna's smile, confused how the girl could smile at a time like this. The bushy-haired witch turned to her friend and quickly whispered, "What are you smiling about, Luna? There's nothing good about this situation right now, you know."

Luna turned to face her, "Voldemort wasn't lying, Harry really is dead, but he's come back as a spirit, since he's the Master of Death. Only those who truly believe in his existence can see him." She now spoke in a deadly serious voice, one that none of her friends had ever heard her use, which drew in the others around them into listening from that point onwards, "This isn't another one of my 'loony lies', as most put it: this is truth and fact, Harry summoned a Basilisk fang, turned it invisible, and used it to destroy the two souls within Nagini."

"Wait, Harry's alive?" Ron whispered, worry present in his voice; he had already lost on older brother, he didn't think he could bear to lose someone who he considered family. It certainly took some pressure off if Harry was actually alive.

"No." Ron's body deflated like a balloon, but he soon rose again.

"Then what did you mean by 'Harry killed Nagini'?" he countered, Neville nodding along, equally curious.

"I mean that Harry died, but he's the Master of Death, so he's come back as a spirit. He's the one who killed Nagini," Luna calmly explained to the two boys who didn't already know the truth. Hermione had already heard but was still nodding along, as if trying to believe it. Good, maybe they'd be able to see Harry again if they believed enough.

The four friends turned to look as Voldemort growled in fury and demanded who it was that killed Nagini, his magic crackling furiously around him, and although he didn't say it, Harry added on, "And your soul shard too. Damn, that must hurt, feeling a part of your soul pass on while the rest stays. Ouch."

Now, all that need to happen was for Voldemort to die, and Harry wouldn't feel so obligated to help out the Wizarding World anymore. Wow, did he know how much of a relief that was.

A/N: Wow, my first crossover, I'm so proud. :)

I've got a basic layout for the rest of the story, it shouldn't be too long… hopefully. You know how I am with summaries. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I also hope you enjoyed sassy Harry, 'cause I sure did.

If you have any questions about the story, feel free to ask!

Enjoy!