Disclaimer: Not mine.

Inspired by the story C'est La Vie, written by cywscross

Chapter 1 - Not A Happily Ever After

It was Christmas again, a little over three years after the long and bloody second war against Voldemort had ended. Harry walked alone through the cold, snowy graveyard, little flakes of ice clinging to his pitch-black hair. He could hear people singing Christmas carols in the church, but the snow muffled everything else. He walked between rows and rows of graves, pausing briefly at the final resting place of Ignotus Peverell and inwardly scoffing at the reminder of the Hallows, before continuing on.

Always on alert, even now that the last of the Death Eaters had been apprehended, Harry used the techniques that had become second nature to him over the years to ensure he wasn't being followed. A small part of Harry's mind constantly kept tabs on his surroundings, listening for echoing footsteps behind him, keeping watch out of the corner of his eye when he turned corners for people behind him, and flicking off small wandless spells to detect any magical presence. Part of Harry wanted to believe that being so alert wasn't necessary any more, but that same part also believed that Dumbledore could do no wrong and that it was possible to save everyone. Harry had long since stopped listening to that part of himself.

He stopped at his parents graves again, staring down sadly at the stone that marked their spot, but before long he moved on, brushing a hand along their names and whispering to them as he left. "Halloween is your night. Now I'm here for another."

Only a few rows later, Harry found exactly who he was here for. He stood in front of a headstone smaller than the others, befitting of the child inside. Thirteen simple words adorned the grave marker.

Here lies Teddy Lupin

May his afterlife be more peaceful than his death

Tears slipped unnoticed down Harry's cheeks as he remembered the boy that he'd come to love like a son. The boy he'd have damned the rest of the world to save, the boy he'd have died for without a seconds thought, despite the fact that Voldemort would inevitably take control after he, Harry, fell. The General of the Light.

Harry couldn't help but think that the title was fitting, if a little simplistic. He'd been fighting Voldemort since he was one, simply by existing. After he had reached Hogwarts, he was forced to fight the dark lord time and time again because no-one else could. After Hogwarts, well ... things had taken a nose dive from fighting at the end of the year because of whatever scheme the psychopath had managed to dream up this time, to fighting all the time and telling everyone else where and when to fight. Never mind the fact that he'd barely reached his majority before he was forced to make decisions that could mean the difference between life and death for those who put their faith in him, regardless of his lack of experience.

The title was simplistic because after so long fighting and killing, Harry knew that none of them, least of all him, were truly Light. Even those who had never fought bore witness to terrors, and by extension were not Light either. Voldemort's comment about how there was no good or evil, only power, in Harry's first year seemed truer than he had ever realized now that he had won a war, although not completely correct. Harry would say, everyone had good and evil, it was all in how you used the power given to you.

After Dumbledore's death at the end of his sixth year, the shit really hit the fan, to put it mildly. Harry activated Ravenclaw's legacy, a wardstone that would expel anything dark from the school. Including the Dark Mark. All of the Death Eaters were tossed rather roughly out of the school along with everything else even remotely Dark. Unfortunately, Ravenclaw's wardstone was a one-time thing, and it came too late to save the Headmaster.

Over what would have been Harry's seventh year, Voldemort's Death Eaters besieged the wards. The main purpose of this was not to take them down - wards that had stood for centuries were not going to fall because of a few Dark wizards - but to find weaknesses. Once, a team of Death Eaters managed to slip inside and murder over a twenty students in their sleep before being caught. Another time they had cast curses on the incoming owl post that would kill both the owl and the recipient of the letter and then redirected the owls through a hole in the wards so that the curses wouldn't automatically be removed upon entering Hogwarts grounds.

As soon as the weakness that allowed the previous attack was discovered by the teachers, they would try to stop it as best they could while the Death Eaters would begin searching for another way in. One by one, the residents of Hogwarts were being picked off, with no escape.

With the fall of the Ministry Voldemort controlled most forms of travel, including the Floo network which Hogwarts was cut off from. If they walked out of the gates then they would be killed by Death Eaters and even the secret passages out of the castle were being monitored, thanks to Pettigrew. People who snuck out of the grounds were soon found again at the gates of Hogwarts - tortured and mutilated. Thankfully, most of the DA were aware that Hogwarts was not going to be safe that year, and opted to join the Order of the Phoenix instead.

At the same time, Harry, Ron and Hermione were on the run from the Ministry. They apparated straight to Grimmauld Place only to find Death Eaters watching it. Luckily the sound of traffic nearby covered up the crack of their arrival and some bushes prevented them from being seen. They would have left again, but Ron had been splinched when they arrived, so Hermione had set up protective spells to keep them from being seen or heard and they had camped there for the night.

In the morning they had woken to find Moody standing over them, barking about Constant Vigilance. He'd almost died picking Harry up from the Dursleys for the last time, but Mundungus Fletcher had tried to run away and was Banished back into the fight by a Death Eater, straight into the Killing Curse meant for the old ex-Auror. Moody had gone to Grimmauld Place to see if anyone had gone there after the Ministry fell, only to find them with his magical eye. Moody had taken them to the rest of the Order who had survived, and Harry was quickly thrust into the role of leader because he knew how Voldemort had cheated death and no-one else really wanted to know, given that it would be on their head should Voldemort know that they knew.

With Harry as the leader, the Order never met at the same place twice. Hermione distributed mirrors to everyone that were only connected to Harry's mirror, so they could report from a distance and be sent off on a new mission straight away if possible, as Voldemort was even monitoring Apparition. Muggle transport was the safest way to go, which unfortunately, took far longer. The mirrors also displayed the date and time and location of their next meeting and were keyed to the owner's magical signature.

In order to stop spies from entering the Order, Hermione had everyone sign a piece of parchment similar to the one she used for the DA, although this time the consequences were far more painful, and fatal. Despite that, everyone willingly signed.

The war waged on for eight years in total, from the beginning of what would have been Harry's seventh year to when he was twenty four. If there was anyone left alive in Hogwarts by the end of what would have been Harry's seventh year, they weren't showing themselves, and since no-one else was sending their children there, the Death Eaters left it alone as they couldn't enter. The rest of the population was forced to take a side. A lot of people were forced to take the Dark Mark, often on pain of their children's lives. Everyone else joined the Order, even if they couldn't fight.

Much of magical Britain fell in those five years. Family after family was killed in Voldemort's raids. Death Eaters killed Order members and Order members killed Death Eaters right back. Hermione taught the protection charms she used to hide from Death Eaters that first night to every Order member she could, and they taught it to every Order member they could. Many people in the Order who couldn't fight were saved because they could use those charms to hide.

Draco and Lucius Malfoy joined the Order because Voldemort killed Narcissa. Harry had their Dark Marks removed and Draco became his second in command, alongside Neville. They soon began to spread the news that they could remove Dark Marks, and those that had been forced into service came flocking to the Order.

Two years into the war, the vampires, werewolves, giants and trolls left Voldemort's army because he failed to uphold his end of the bargain and grant them what they agreed on in return for their aid. Three years into the war, Gringotts allowed their human employees to use bank resources to fight Voldemort. The curse-breakers turned out to be just as good at putting up wards as they were at tearing them down. Harry soon had half of them making an abandoned castle unplottable, untraceable, unreachable, and impossible to Portkey into while the other half searched for and found some of Voldemort's bases so that the Order could take it out.

As soon as his new base was completed five years into the war, Harry organised the relocation of every non-combat personnel to the castle, as well as any Order member in need of long-term medical care. Thanks to the sheer diversity of people who had joined the Order, Harry had at least one specialist in almost every field. Before long, the base was self-sufficient, as well as under the Fidelius with Harry as the secret keeper.

With the more vulnerable people who needed protecting away from Voldemort, the people in the Order who were capable of fighting could afford to play dirty. In other words, terrorist tactics, or guerrilla warfare. Suicide missions that only required one or two Order members and often killed dozens of the enemy.

The Order became smaller day by day, until seven years into the war, one of Harry's second-in-commands, Neville Longbottom, died to protect Teddy Lupin from Bellatrix Lestrange. Neville's last thought as he sacrificed himself for Harry's godson was that he hoped reinforcements would arrive in time to save the six year old boy.

His hope was in vain. Both Neville and Teddy died on Christmas Day. Only a year later, a now far more ruthless and unforgiving Harry Potter led the Order against Voldemort for one final time.

The Order was outnumbered by the Death Eaters three to one, but they fought valiantly. Finally, after almost all the Order was decimated, Harry and Voldemort began duelling.

Harry won.

The magical blast from the collision of their spells not only literally wiped Voldemort off the face of the planet - all his Horcruxes having been destroyed - but also killed all the Death Eaters that still bore his mark. Everywhere.

In the confusion that followed Harry sent the Gringotts people who had constructed the safe castle (that thankfully, Voldemort had been unable to find, thus preserving a large number of people with the knowhow to rebuild society) to the Ministry of Magic to rebuild, this time without a god-awful statue before stepping down and handing the reins to the magical world to his remaining second in command, Draco Malfoy. Harry had no doubt that if he hadn't publicly supported the former Death Eater, someone would have tried to kill him within the week.

With Draco settled in as Minister, the rebuilding effort began. All the magical races were contacted and asked for help. In return they would have seats on the Wizengamot and would be allowed to teach the culture and history of their race at Hogwarts, as well as being considered for any other posts that they chose to apply for. Many agreed quickly, though some negotiated harshly, not quite forgiving the Wizarding World for all that they had inflicted upon them for the sake of prejudice.

Hogwarts was reopened after the bodies of the previous students and teachers had been given to their closest living relatives for burial. The wards had been updated and the curse on the DADA position had broken with Voldemort's death.

Harry himself had quickly withdrawn from the public eye, living in Grimmauld Place under the Fidelius, with only his closest living friends knowing his location. Percy Weasley, the only remaining Weasley, who had become one of the bravest members of the Order after the death of the brother he had always been closest to, Bill. Hermione, who threw herself into rebuilding the Ministry with multiple checks and balances designed to prevent and weed out corruption. Draco, who understood the part of Harry that was capable of killing far better than his other friends could, despite the lengths that the war had driven them all to.

The only time he ever left the house anymore was either to fly in the dead of night, pulling off ridiculously dangerous stunts that would have got him banned from Quidditch for a month if he were still in school but were necessary when you were escaping Death Eaters, or on Christmas or Halloween or the other dates that people close to him had died on, when he went to visit their graves. He hadn't been seen for so long that it was a commonly accepted truth that he was dead, either because a Death Eater had finally caught up with him or because he'd committed suicide in the aftermath of the war. Even after a war that would take magical Britain generations to recover from, the gossip mill was still going full steam.

Harry sank to his knees in front of Teddy's grave, ignoring the cold that seeped into him. It was three years since the war had ended, four years exactly since Teddy died ... since he failed Teddy. He'd give anything at all to have the happy, hopeful boy back, but that wasn't how life worked.

The Deathly Hallows had been his since the end of the first year of the war. He used them to fight Voldemort, but no matter how many people died, he never ever used the Resurrection Stone, not since he'd died in the Forbidden Forest. He didn't want to hear them blame him. After Teddy died, the temptation grew, but so did the fear that those he called to him would hate him. Despite that, the only thing that stopped him from going ahead and seeing Teddy was something Dumbledore said in his first year.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, Harry, remember that."

The knowledge that calling Teddy back wouldn't make him alive, wouldn't make him the same as he was before, was all that stopped Harry. And then the war ended.

He had seen how much damage the Hallows could do and rightly concluded that leaving them around for anyone to find once he had died was a spectacularly bad idea. Harry broke and threw away both the wand and the ring numerous times, but they always seemed to come back. Eventually in a fit of rage, he had used the wand to destroy the ring, and to his delight the power of the combined hallows was broken. After that, the wand didn't fix itself when snapped, so he tossed one half in the Room of Requirement and placed the other in Dumbledore's tomb, to be found by whichever idiot tracked the deathstick to one of the most powerful wizards ever to live. Harry hoped they enjoyed the fact that they only succeeded in finding half of a hallow.

All of which led them here, sat by the grave of one that he loved like a son, both wishing desperately to speak with Teddy again and afraid of what the dead child would say. Barely having contact with the outside world, rarely speaking to anyone other than himself, with no goal to achieve or direction to take in life. He might as well be dead.

In the distance, the clock tower struck midnight. On the twelfth stroke, a ball of golden light appeared rather abruptly behind Harry. Noticing the light instantly, the wandless spell that indicated magical presence chiming crazily in his ear, Harry threw himself to the side and rolled up, stopping the magical detection spell and placing a wandless shield charm up instead. His wand appeared from it's custom holster and a curse was ready on his lips as he took in the unusual sight before him.

"Who are you?" Harry demanded, his voice rough and his eyes gritty with grief and memories.

"I AM FATE." The glowing entity spoke. At least, Harry was pretty sure it spoke. The words seemed to appear straight in his head without going past his ears.

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Why are you here? You've screwed up enough, I think."

"IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE ONLY HOURS AFTER YOU DID, BUT RULES WERE BROKEN AND HE SURVIVED. MANY PEOPLE WHO DIED SHOULD HAVE LIVED, AND MANY WHO LIVED DESERVE TO DIE. YOU BROUGHT THE BALANCE BACK BY KILLING HIM, AND FOR THIS I OWE YOU A DEBT."

"You didn't answer my question." Harry said dangerously. "And why do I care? I didn't kill him for you."

"DEATH ALSO OWES YOU A DEBT, FOR YOU ENSURED THAT NONE COULD BECOME HIS MASTER IN THIS WORLD. AND YOU CARE BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT HAPPY. WE WISH TO HELP."

"I want nothing from you." Harry growled.

"OH? WE WOULD SEND YOU TO A NEW WORLD, A NEW LIFE. YOU WOULD HAVE LODGINGS, MONEY, SEATS ON THE WIZENGAMOT SHOULD YOU CHOSE TO TAKE THEM. YOU COULD FIND PEACE."

Harry snorted. "Trouble finds me like a magnet. It wouldn't be peaceful for very long."

"YOUNG WIZARD, DO NOT DELIBERATELY MISUNDERSTAND MY STATEMENT. YOU HAVE NOT FOUGHT FOR THREE YEARS, AND YOU ARE NOT HAPPY. I MEAN PEACE OF MIND."

"Peace of mind?" Harry looked at Fate oddly. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Never mind." He said before Fate could answer. "Where exactly do you want me to go?"

"AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. A WHAT-MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN OF YOUR LIFE. YOUR PARENTS WOULD BE ALIVE, AS WOULD THE HARRY OF THAT WORLD. THE MAJORITY OF YOUR POSSESIONS WOULD GO WITH YOU. YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE YOUR INVISIBILITY CLOAK, AS THERE IS ALREADY ONE THERE. YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO CALL ON DEATH AND I WHENEVER YOU LIKE, THOUGH I ASK YOU ONLY DO SO WHEN NECESSARY. THAT WORLD WOULD NOT HAVE A WAR, AND IT'S POSSIBLE THAT YOU COULD LEAD THEM THROUGH THE CHANGES THAT OCCURED FOR THE BETTER AT THE END OF THE WAR WITHOUT THE SAME DESTRUCTION IF YOU CHOSE."

Harry internally cursed his hero complex for making him want to accept before considering it logically. Was it worth it? Fate was telling the truth about owing him, but that didn't mean Fate was telling the whole truth.

"People will figure out who I am pretty quickly if I look as much like my father as everyone says." Harry pointed out.

"I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR LOOKS AND BACKGROUND. YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO ADJUST TO YOUR NEW LIFE BEFORE ANYTHING IS EXPECTED OF YOU."

Harry hesitated. He knew that when something seemed to be to good to be true, it usually was. But still, what did he have to lose? He wasn't doing a lot - or even anything - here. "Very well, I'll go." He agreed.

"DONE." Fate said, sounding oddly triumphant. Before Harry could wonder why he felt so uneasy at the obvious victory in Fate's voice, the world swirled around him and he fell into his first dreamless sleep since forever.

So, first chapter again. THIS HAS BEEN REWRITTEN. One of my reviewers pointed out that it wasn't enough like C'est La Vie by cywscross to cause concern, and while that is true, I think I could write bits of it better.

So here we are. Enjoy, Shib. :)