Disclaimer: I own nothing. Any character featured in my story that you remember from the books do not belong to me. I have just borrowed them in order to write my story. Instead they all belong to J.K Rowling and her publishers.
Chapter One: Prologue
It was over.
It was finally over.
Sixteen years it had taken. From their first encounter to his resurrection, to his last, and final, defeat.
Over.
He was gone, and if God had mercy he would not be coming back.
The relieved Harry Potter looked around the grave yard. It was symbolic that the monster who had caused so much Death and destruction should meet his end at the very same place that he had been 'rebirthed'.
Fine Ash was the only thing that remained from Voldemort's death eaters. They had pledged themselves to the mark, they assumed it was an indication of the power and life that they would receive, yet in the end it was only a connection to their death. No more death eaters.
Harry could see the body of his best friend lying a few metres from him, standing up he stumbled towards him. He collapsed beside his friend, head bowed, weary and drained. He looked at the face of his friend and smiled.
"You did great mate. You did great."
With that he stood back up and with a wave of his hand and a silent incantation, his friend's body floated up to hover beside him.
"Let's go look for Hermione, Ron."
The Boy-who-lived-to-defeat found energy in being accompanied by one of his friends and staggered among the old and decaying grave stones trying to find his other best friend. He eventually found her underneath a crumbling statue of an Angel.
"There she goes Ron."
He stopped and lowered himself till he was resting on one knee.
"Mione. You should be proud of yourself, I don't think Malfoy thought a muggle-born could kick his arse."
Reaching out a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear he sighed before standing.
"Come on guys. Let's get back to Hogwarts."
Using the same spell he used on Ron he floated up the body of his friend and walked away, both his best friends drifting just beside him.
"I'm so glad it's over. I just wish it hadn't cost so much."
Silence greeted his quiet remark. Harry continued to walk towards the edge of the graveyard, concentrating on manoeuvring their bodies through the closely clustered tombstones.
Just before he reached the last grave he heard a small chirp. Stopping abruptly he looked to his left where the sound had come from.
"Fawkes?"
There among the weeds growing over a derelict grave was a rather gangly and wrinkled looking chick. He was sitting atop a pile full of ashes and looked to be struggling for breath.
Chirp.
Harry bent down and taking off his torn Hogwarts cloak he scooped the little baby phoenix up ashes and all, and placed him in the middle of his folded cloak.
"Hang on Fawkes. I'll get you to Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore."
Harry, now with his two best friends and a dying Baby Phoenix resumed his short walk to the edge of the graveyard and then stopped. Bending to pick up an old shoe he manipulated his friends bodies so that one of their hands were touching a part of the shoe. He winded one of the laces around Fawkes and then seeing that everything was set he whispered the phrase that would activate the portkey and take them back to Hogwarts.
"There's no place like home."
He arrived in the great hall to find over a dozen wands pointed at him.
They were tense and fearful. They were waiting for something, Harry could sense it. He signalled for them to lower their wands, about five of them did, the rest still waiting.
"Love," Harry said, starting off the sentence that had been used to identify Phoenix order members, "the power the dark lord knows not."
With a sigh the remaining order members lowered their wands before smiling.
"Harry? How did it go?" Asked one Order member Harry couldn't see.
The teenager in question waved a hand and his friends body materialized beside him, the invisibility spell he had cast over them falling away. His hands shook as he lowered his friends to the ground.
An order member with Red Hair gasped before with a small scream she ran towards Ron. She fell to her knees beside him and reached out a trembling hand to touch his cheek. Eyes wide with fear, not daring to believe.
"He's c-c-cold. H-he's...I can't...." she trailed off and took a deep breath. With tears trailing down her face, she put two fingers to his neck.
"H-he does-doesn't have a p-p-pulse, Harry," she whispered, grief and dread causing her to stammer. Shaking her head she leaned over Ron's body and put her ear to his chest. She remained that way for what seemed like hours, shoulders shaking, and her heart wrenching sobs muffled against his chest.
The rest of the order members looked on in desolation. Sorrow a common fixture on their faces as they realised that both of the bodies were similar in their state. Some of the older members felt the same grief that had run rampant at the death of Dumbledore return.
Neville approached Hermione's lifeless body bending down he shrugged out of his cloak and placed it over her body. He looked up to the only remaining member of the 'golden trio' and said softly, "Harry? I think it's a good idea if we take them to the infirmary."
Harry nodded his head before bending down to gently pull the sobbing girl from Ron.
"Ginny? Let's take Ron to the hospital wing. O.k?"
Ginny nodded and bit her lip, she raised her tear streaked face to Harry and looked into his eyes.
"At least the three of you were together," she hesitated to try and control the cry that wanted to come out, "he'd prefer to die amongst his friends."
Harry didn't answer, he handed Fawkes over to Neville and levitated his friends into the air. He was exhausted, magically, physically and emotionally. It took him twice as long and more concentration to perform the simple spell, but he did. Everyone in the great hall realised that Harry would not give the bodies of the closest thing to a brother and a sister to anybody else to take.
Walking slowly and wearily toward the exit with a sobbing Ginny crying into Neville's shoulder following behind him, Harry was stopped just outside the door to the great halls by a loud question asked by one of the phoenix members.
"Is the Dark Lord still alive?"
Harry paused before answering, he turned around slowly to look at the terrified, anxious and worried faces in the hall.
"His name is Tom Riddle," his tone dared them to contradict him. "If you cannot call him Voldemort, then at least call him Tom Riddle."
The Order member who had asked the question visibly swallowed and opened his mouth to ask his question again. "Is Y-you, I m-mean, V-voldemort still alive?"
"No," Harry whispered, his voice carrying to all corners of the room. "Not anymore."
Five years later
Time was a healer someone said. All heartache and grief faded with time. For Harry the belief that time would heal could never be true. Time only sought to bring him more pain and more sorrow, and the realisation that he was all alone.
The two friends that had known him better then anyone else were dead. They had died sacrificing their life force through their link to help Harry defeat Voldemort. As powerful as Harry had become, he had used most of his magical strength to weaken Voldemort so that he was in a state that the Contero Anima, created by Dumbledore, could work. It was Ron and Hermione who came to the Rescue, sending their magic, their spirit and in essence their life to refuel Harry. It was a sacrifice made in love and very much similar to the one made by his mother 16 years beforehand. Harry had utilised their sacrifice and in his grief his magic strengthened to the point that even drained and tired, it even the combined forces of Dumbledore and Voldemort would not be able to save the dark lord from defeat.
He had doubted since he had learnt the prophecy that love was enough to defeat the dark lord, but it took the death of his dearest friends to prove it. He missed them all the more for it.
Fawkes had kept Harry company for a while, in fussing over the baby phoenix it helped push his grief back for a bit. The little phoenix had survived for almost two years before finally succumbing to the heart-ache he felt in the loss of Albus Dumbledore. Fawkes had never re-grown to his phoenix form since he had brought him from the graveyard. Harry believed that it was only the presence of both the wands with his tail feather that kept him alive even after the former headmaster had died. The other reason why Harry thought he survived so long was to see the downfall of the monster that had used a part of him to kill his beloved master.
Whatever the reason, Fawkes finally decided to move on. Harry quietly envied the Phoenix for being able to, when he himself could never leave. He had to look out for Ginny after all. She was the only remaining Weasley left, and he had promised Ron that he would look out for her. So it was that he was now in the position that he had never imagined himself to be in.
"Neville. Ginny is a sister to me, you know that. I owe it to all her brothers to make sure that the man who eventually marries her meets their standards."
Neville smiled at Harry and nodded his head in understanding, "I know Harry," he said. "I love her. I love her very much. She means the world to me and you know that. I would suffer the Cruciatus for her."
Harry smiled at Neville's words and then said in amusement, "I doubt very much that it'll come to that Neville. But I'll keep that in mind if she ever comes to me crying because she's unhappy."
Neville grinned. He looked at the-man-who-lived and saw that he had lost weight and there were dark circles under his eyes. His grin faltered and a look of compassion entered his eyes, only those closest to him knew that he was really sick. Harry was powerful, too powerful. He didn't have a link to stabilize him and his mentor wasn't there to ground his magic and shield him from the ethereal core.
"Harry? The Weasley's would be so proud of you. You do know that don't you?" Neville saw the clenching of the jaw and the involuntary furrow of the brow. "Look at how much happier Ginny is now? She's healed almost completely, part of how well she's healed is contributed to me, and my stunning ability to make her happy – "
Harry gave a snort and the corners of his lips twitched up.
"- and the other reason is you. You're more a Weasley then you know Harry."
Harry sighed inwardly, he understood it all, but it didn't make anything any easier. His lips formed a sad smile and then he tried to take the mood from a less gloomy path. "Honestly Neville! Insulting me isn't going to get you my blessing."
Neville laughed out loud to this before replying, "what makes you think I'd need your blessing anyway, Ginny and I can always elope."
Harry shook his head and then smirked and stated with much conviction, "Ginny has you wrapped around her finger Neville, if she wants a big wedding with a Hypogriff pulling her carriage then chances are you'll jump through hoops to give it to her."
Harry paused and then smiled, "which is the reason why I'm more then happy to give you my blessing. On behalf of the Weasley family. You'll make her happy Longbottom, or else I'll hunt you down and use your arse as a beater's bat."
Seven years after the Wedding.
"We are gathered here today to farewell and pay homage to a great man. A Son, A Brother, A Best friend, An Uncle. He came into our lives on the wings of hope, giving us a second chance at life. And he leaves us now on the wings of Love, after ensuring that there would be a future."
Hours later after many had paid their last respects to one of the most powerful wizard in the world, only a small group of people were remaining around the grave. Thirty minutes later it had dwindled down to only three.
The weeping red headed mother stepped away from her husband and reaching out a hand, put her lily on top of the newly covered ground.
"Say Good-bye to Uncle Harry, Arthur."
"Buh-bye Uncly Arry. Miss you."
You are going back Harry
I don't want to go back.....so tired......I want to rest....
They need you.
No they don't....It's peaceful now....Lee is doing a great job as minister.....he has Neville to help him out....they're fine....don't want to go back...
No, your not going back there. Your going somewhere else, another dimension. And they need your help.
Send someone else?......Why can't someone else go?.....
You're the only person that can help with them. Others have already been sent back, but it's not enough. They need you.
Haven't I helped enough.....I've done enough....
Yes you have. But you need to do just a little bit more. Their future looks bleak without hope.
I don't want to go....please?....don't send me back....
Please Harry. They need you. You haven't lived yet. This is your second chance to find happiness.
I won't be happy......grief will find me.....I'll never be happy.
True. But this life will be worth fighting for. I promise. You'll want to survive for this.
Why?....why is it so important that I go back?
Your other self walked a different path. It was a path filled with much pain and destruction.
That's not so different from mine......My life was filled with pain and destruction.
Yes, but you were never the cause of it. You did not seek to inflict it on others. Your other self was very different from you.
What do you mean?......I caused many people's deaths, I caused pain for others......look at the Weasley's.....Sirius.....Cedric......Dumbledore....
Unintentional. They died through no fault of your own. Your guilt blinds you to what really happened. Their choices were their own to make. Do not belittle their sacrifices to satisfy your guilt Harry. This other self felt no guilt. He feels no remorse. He took lives and did not regret doing so.
Why?
While you dedicated your life to defeating Voldemort, he dedicated his to serve. His was a path much different from your own.
I'm not like that......I wouldn't be like that.....would I?
He is not YOU. He made wrong choices. Different choices made by others changed his life from yours. He did not have the suffering you did to influence his decisions. He is not you. So no, you are not like that.
What about the prophecy?
It no longer exists.
I can still destroy Voldemort?
Eventually. Maybe. It all depends on you. Choices made by others changed his timeline from yours. Voldemort was not defeated by your other self as a child. He is much more powerful.
So everything and everyone is different?
Not really. Most are still the same, if not more aware of danger. Not as trusting even. Except the others already sent before you. Their lives have fused with their other selves.
But that would mean.....are you going to fuse my life with the other Harry?
No. You will return as a separate entity. You will return whole. In your own body, with all your memories.
But.....I don't want to go......I just want to rest.....is that selfish of me to want –
No! You are not selfish. I understand that you do not want to involve yourself in another war. Especially a war that should not be yours to fight. But, they need help. I have no-one else to ask.
Then I will go.....but I ask something of you first.
Yes?
Promise me that next time I come back here. You will not send me anywhere else.
I promise Harry. This will be the last. It's just that I am sensitive to the pain of others. I cannot sit back and watch others suffer when I could make a difference.
Who are you?
I am you. Your spirit. It has always been aware of the world around it. The Guardian Elders want to reward you with a life. A family. This is our chance.
You are me?.....Even in spirit form I have a hero complex don't I?
It is called maturity. It is called compassion. It has many names but it is most commonly called 'Love'.
I will go then.....I do not want to though, I am tired of all the pain.
So am I. But I have never been broken. We will never be broken.
Who are already there?
You will know. They will know you. Let us go.
A/N:
There you go. I haven't given up on my other story yet, I've just got this idea bouncing around in my head so I wanted to see if I could make it into a story that others would like. Please Review and let me know if this is worth carrying on with. I know the whole 'different dimension' theme has been done by others but hopefully this is different. Hopefully. Fingers crossed and praying.
Thank you for reading my story.
Stahchild.