Chapter One

Harry felt his knees try to give up on him as he lowered his wand, staring at the body of Lord Voldemort. He couldn't believe it was all over. After fighting for so long, he was a little disbelieving that it was finished. And if he was honest with himself, he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do with himself now that he no longer had Voldemort looming over his shoulder.

Glancing around the Great Hall, he saw Aurors and Order members restraining the remaining Death Eaters, all of whom were too stunned at the death of their master to actually do anything. Harry tried to see if he could spot any of his friends, desperately hoping that they were all fine - though he was aware that the likelihood of that happening was slim to none. He could still remember the staring eyes of Fred.

"Harry!" Harry was jerked out of his morbid thoughts, hands clenching around the wands in his grasp, as he turned at the sound of his name being shouted. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were standing close to him, obviously not sure if they should touch him - which was a wise thing as Harry wasn't too sure he wouldn't have cursed them - but clearly wanting to.

Harry sighed and turned back to look at Voldemort before he pocketed both wands and turned fully to face his friends. "Are you all alright?" He asked them, concern shining through his voice as he looked at them, trying to discern any injuries they might have.

"We're fine! What about you! Harry, we thought you'd died!" Hermione exclaimed, apparently forgoing any thought that he might not appreciate being mauled in public and flinging her arms around him. Harry cautiously wrapped his arms around her waist, mentally wondering just what he was going to do now, the conversation he'd had with Death during his brief visit at Kings Cross ringing in his mind.

"Yeah, well, news of my death has been greatly exaggerated," Harry said weakly, voice muffled by Hermione's hair. Hermione pulled back and punched his shoulder, though she was smiling at him, clearly knowing the quote. Ginny and Ron, however, were both staring at them blankly, clearly wondering what they'd missed.

"Mate, you had me worried for a moment there!" Ron exclaimed, moving to stand next to him and Hermione, clapping a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him widely, relief evident on his face.

"Had myself worried for a minute there as well," Harry admitted with a weak smile, glancing over Hermione's shoulder to where Ginny was standing, staring at him with wide eyes that made him sigh silently. She had clearly not gotten over her hero worship - and subsequent crush - of him and he just knew it was going to get even worse now that he'd actually killed Voldemort. Not that he could have escaped doing so, it was his task after all.

Harry looked around him, feeling confused when he noticed that he was on platform nine and three quarters at Kings Cross Station. Glancing around to see if he was alone, he first noticed a small child like creature that looked like it had been flayed and abused, crouched and hiding underneath a chair alone and unwanted.

Harry unconsciously took a step away from the creature, a feeling of unease washing over him when he saw it. Whatever it was, he didn't want to go anywhere near it. Though a small part of him couldn't help but wonder what it was, and if there was anything he could do to help it.

"You can't help it." Harry would not admit that he jumped a good foot in the air before spinning around and seeing Albus Dumbledore standing there, watching him closely. Harry returned the favour and stared at the man equally as closely, narrowing his eyes a little at the man.

"You're not Dumbledore," Harry said before the other man could say anymore. The being masquerading as Dumbledore just smiled brightly at him and gave a nod of his head before the illusion shimmered away and Harry was left staring at a tall - very tall, at least a foot taller than even Ron, by Harry's estimation - man covered with a black cloak, leaving only his face visible. And his jet black eyes that had no white visible but seemed to have some blue visible at certain angles. "Who are you?"

"I think you know the answer to that, don't you?"

"Death."

"Indeed. And your new servant."

"What? No! That's not possible!" Harry exclaimed, staring at the man in front of him in shock. Why would this being claim Harry was his master?

"You have read the story. You have collected the items. I assure you, it is very possible," Death told him calmly.

"I died! That's why I'm here!"

"Yes. You died. And yes, that is why you are here. However, as my Master you will not stay dead. I will be sending you back soon. However, you have one task that will assure your place as my Master."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I task you to kill the one now known as Lord Voldemort and finally bring his soul to be judged. He has escaped my judgement for too long."

"What if I don't want to be your master?"

"Do not complete the task."

"What? I never set out to be your master! I don't want to be anyone's master!"

"Exactly. That is why you succeeded where so many have failed."

"So I can only escape being your master by leaving Voldemort to live?"

"Yes. He lives and you will die. This time forever. It is your choice."

"There is no choice. I can't let him live. He would destroy all that I love if he were to survive," Harry said with a small shake of his head, glancing at the pitiful looking child out of the corner of his eye.

"Then you have made your decision."

"Why would you want a master?"

"Sometimes even Death gets lonely."

The days and weeks following Voldemort's defeat were hectic and yet at the same time seemed to just flow into one another with nothing to distinguish them from other days. Harry had letters from everyone he knew and even more from those he didn't know. All asking something of him. As if he hadn't given enough up. As if he hadn't given them his life. His mortality.

He had holed himself up in Grimmauld Place, working with Kreacher to fix the damage caused by Death Eaters and generally just working together to make the place habitable once more. Kreacher had been a godsend for him, currently being the only living creature that knew of Harry's new status and the house elf actually worked to try and make Harry accept it. Not that it was working all too well right now.

"Master Harry, there's being a bird waiting for you with a letter," Kreacher interrupted his morose thoughts as he decorated the master bedroom of the house, making Harry turn to look at him blankly.

"A bird? Not an owl?" Harry asked, following Kreacher out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen. Or he assumed it would be the kitchen given they hadn't really gotten round to decorating the rest of the house yet.

"Yes, Master Harry." Absently, Harry assumed he would have to get used to being called Master, given that is what he was now. Well, unless he could somehow convince Death not to call him Master.

Harry soon understood why Kreacher had neglected from telling him the species of the bird as soon as he walked into the kitchen. There on the kitchen table was a brightly coloured bird with feathers of every colour Harry knew and more and a vicious looking beak and bright turquoise eyes looking at him warily. Harry cautiously approached the creature and tentatively took the letter tied to its leg, breathing a sigh of relief when the bird let him.

"Er… thanks," Harry said, motioning for Kreacher to place some raw sausage and water in front of the bird before turning his attention to the letter in his hands and smiling softly. He had been wondering when Luna would contact him.

Opening the lime green envelope and pulling out the sheet of bright pink parchment - and absently wondering where Luna got her brightly coloured parchment, he wouldn't mind replying to official ministry letters with purple parchment - to read what it was Luna had to say.

Dear Harry,

I hope this letter finds you well! Though I imagine you are currently hiding inside Grimmauld Place, trying to avoid all the letters the Wizarding World keeps sending you.

My reason for sending this letter is just to inform you that me and my father are going travelling for the months before Hogwarts is ready to start again, we are hoping to find proof of the crumple-horned snorcack. I thought I would let you know that we are heading to Holland first, but I will tell you the coordinates of wherever we end up whenever we move on, should you wish to escape and join us! You know you will be welcome, and my father wishes to apologise for what he did.

I hope you know that whatever you are now and whatever changes you might have recently gone through will not change how I view you. You are one of my closest friends, Harry and that will never change, no matter what! Think about joining us, even if only for a break. We won't bother you with questions.

Lots of Love,

Luna

Xxx

P.S - You'll find coloured parchment in the back room of the stationary shop in Diagon Alley between Quality Quidditch Supplies and Flourish and Blotts. Hope you find what you're looking for! Oh, and I'd suggest using bright orange for the Ministry. Purple has a different meaning to wizards than to muggles.

Harry smiled as he read the letter, not at all surprised that Luna seemed to know about him being Death's Master and also knowing what he was thinking even before he thought it. Though he did make a mental note to take a wander to the stationary shop and buy some parchment.

Luna's letter had made him feel a little better about things, much better than the letters he had received from Hermione, Ron and Ginny had made him feel at least. He was beginning to get fed up of letters reminding him that the war was over now - as though he had absent-mindedly forgotten about that - and so he could safely continue dating Ginny.

He really didn't need Kreacher and Mrs Black telling him that he shouldn't have dated Ginny in the first place. If he was honest, and he regularly was with the portrait and the house elf, then he didn't really know why he had dated her in the first place. It wasn't like he was attracted to her in that way. She was a little too pushy and eager for his tastes. Plus she only saw him as The Boy Who Lived (forever and ever and ever apparently) and her hero. He really didn't want to spend the rest of his life with someone who seemingly worshipped him - he could see that getting boring fairly rapidly.

There was also the fact that she had apparently wanted to be Mrs Potter (or Lady Potter, though he wasn't sure she actually knew of the status of the Potters. Not many did) since she was old enough to understand such things. Which, to him, was just this side of creepy. He would essentially be dating his stalker.

Not that he'd ever say such a thing to any of the Weasleys. He loved them far too much to tell them what he thought of their little sister/daughter, plus he didn't think he'd get away with saying such a thing without being hexed to within an inch of his life. It would also be a little disrespectful of him. He only got away with saying such things to Mrs Black and Kreacher because they despised the Weasleys (it also had the added effect of getting them to like him a bit more).

So Luna's letter was a breath of fresh air and made him feel a little better about things. It also gave him something to do today, which in turn made him make up his mind about something he had been dithering over. He would be going to visit Neville today. Neville being the only one now that he hadn't heard from. Which was worrying him a little actually. Not that he expected Neville to send him a letter, it just would have been nice to know that he was doing alright after the events of the final battle.

Mind made up, Harry spun on the spot, letter still in hand and walked out of the kitchen to go and get his robes and possibly change his looks a little. He had made - with the aide of Kreacher - a potion that lengthened his hair a little, making it shoulder length and wavy, still as unruly as ever. Which would help hide him a little. His unmistakeable scar had faded dramatically since Voldemort's death and Harry had found that a little muggle concealer covered what little scarring was left. The final stage of changing his looks just enough to stop the regular wizard from recognising him was to quickly switch his glasses with contact lenses. He didn't quite trust the up and coming muggle surgery with lasers. He didn't want lasers near his eyes, thank you very much! And don't even get him started on the experimental potions going around the wizarding world. He was likely to end up blind.

With his looks suitably changed - no one that didn't really know him would recognise him - and changed into a comfortable dark green and grey robes (Harry Potter wear Slytherin colours? Never!), Harry was finally ready to leave the house for the first time in over a week.

"Kreacher! I'm heading out for a little while! I'm not sure when I'll be back, though I doubt I'll be long, you can just continue doing whatever it is you do while I'm not around! Have fun!" Harry called over his shoulder as he left the house, smiling at the muttering he could hear from Kreacher and closing the door behind him. Time to see what was going on in the wizarding world now that things were relatively more safe than they had been.

Harry walked down the path to the Longbottom family manor after he'd visited Diagon Alley - he'd brought parchment in several eye watering colours and looked forward to using them for his correspondences with the Ministry - and smiled to himself as he knocked on the door. The door was soon opened and a house elf wearing a neat pillow case with the Longbottom crest on it looked up at him expectantly.

"Oh, yes! Hello, is Neville in by any chance?" Harry asked with a smile, rocking on the balls of his feet.

"Master Neville is being in his greenhouse. Nippy will take you to him," the house elf, which Harry assumed was called Nippy, told him before stepping aside and letting Harry enter the house. The door closed behind him as he did, and then Harry quickly moved to follow Nippy as he was lead through the halls of Longbottom Manor towards, hopefully, where Neville could be found.

It wasn't long - thankfully, or Harry would begin to worry that he was being led to his death via mean house elf - before he was lead to a large and impressive greenhouse.

"Master is being in there," Nippy told him before popping away and leaving Harry alone in front of the greenhouse which, knowing Neville - and Harry did - contained several lethal man-eating plants. Herbology never was something Harry was good at, which made him nervous.

Harry anxiously looked at the door to the greenhouse before taking a deep breath and sliding it open, stepping inside. Immediately he was felt like he'd walked into a wall of heat and could feel sweat building up on his temples.

"Neville?" Harry called out walking deeper into the greenhouse and side stepping a plant that tried to curl around his neck. He was guessing it wasn't in a friendly manner. "Nev?"

"Harry?" Harry turned down a side path between tables to where he'd heard his name being called and smiled when he saw Neville sitting at a tall desk with a small, twitching plant in front of him.

"Nev! How are you doing?" Harry asked with a small smile on his face, walking over to stand next to Neville, who just smiled weakly back.

"Oh, you know. I'm fine. Plodding on. Have you heard from anyone?" Neville asked him, kicking out another chair for Harry to sit, which he did.

Harry then groaned at the question Neville had asked him, "heard from anyone? Try everyone. Including everyone in the Ministry who seem to even need my help to wipe their own arses. And the letters from my friends are even worse! I love them, but if they tell me that I should stop being shy and finally ask Ginny out now it's safe, then I think I may AK myself."

"Oh dear. And I guess Ginny is being even more… pushy?"

"I think she and Mrs Weasley are arranging the wedding as we speak."

"Ah. And you don't think of Ginny that way, I assume?" Neville asked, as calm and understanding as ever. Something Harry has always loved about Neville.

"Not really. Or at all. To be honest, I think I prefer men. Well, maybe not. I don't really mind what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts. I just… I don't like Ginny in that way."

"To be fair, she's pretty rotten on the inside. No! Don't defend her, nothing we say here is going to get back to her anyway. What I meant, Harry, is that anyone with a brain can see she isn't for you. She only cares about the hero, not Just Harry. Me and Luna, we spoke whilst she was still at Hogwarts, about you and about Ginny. We both agreed that she would ruin you if you got together. She doesn't care about what you want or what you feel, she only wants to be Mrs Potter. And she'll do anything to become that. Don't let her wear you down, Harry. I think, of anyone in the world, you deserve to be happy now."

"Oh, Nev…" Harry could feel himself blushing at Neville's words, looking intently at the squirming plant on the desk instead of looking at his friend. "Why… why did you and Luna talk about me and Ginny?"

"You weren't at Hogwarts, but you may well of been given what Ginny would say whenever things were safe to speak openly. She would claim that you were engaged, but you were just waiting to announce it until it was safe. I'll be honest, some of what she said disturbed us a bit. She was very possessive of you, made sure people knew that they had no chance with you. She didn't want any competition."

"That's… kinda creepy."

"Yeah, well, even creepier is the way she would go on about Potters and red heads, and how it was only natural that you would take after your father. That she was just like Lily and it was fate."

"You're right. Even creepier. Ignoring the fact that my paternal grandmother had black hair, why would I marry someone who reminded me of my mother? Freud would have a field day with that kind of thing," Harry said with an exaggerated shudder.

"That's what I thought, though I didn't say anything just in case she was right, you know? You've been told what to do all your life, I figured if you really did like Ginny, why should I tell you not to do it. I just decided that I would be there for you and hope to negate whatever she did to you."

"Neville, you're kinda awesome, you know that?"

"Well, it wasn't just me. I mean, Luna thought it too. I imagine others thought it too. I don't really understand why Hermione is backing this. She is, right?"

"I think so. I haven't actually heard from her. She went to Australia a month ago to try and find her parents. No idea how it's gone, like I said, I haven't heard from her." Neville stared at Harry and frowned, looking confused.

"Harry, she came back two weeks ago. She's staying with the Weasleys. You mean, no one's told you this?"

"Apparently not. Wow. Not sure how to feel about that. Why wouldn't she tell me?" Harry asked, confused and so very hurt that his best friend seemed to be ignoring him.

"I don't know, Harry. I'd have thought she would be even closer to you after what you had gone through. Has anything changed?" Neville asked him and Harry felt cold for a second, even though he knew Neville wasn't talking about the Hallows. Though Hermione was bright and there was no chance she didn't hear what he had said to Voldemort before killing him. Though, even if she had put it all together and worked it out, it didn't explain why she was avoiding him. "Harry?"

"What? Oh, sorry. Just… a thought that struck me."

"Want to talk about it?" Did he? Did he trust Neville enough to not change how he saw him. To not be afraid of him.

Yes. He did.

"While I was… on the run. I found certain objects. Have you… when you were younger, did you ever hear the story about the three brothers and Death?"

"About the Deathly Hallows? Yeah, I've read it. What about it?"

"I found the Hallows. They're real. And… they accepted me as their master, Nev. Apparently I'm now the Master of Death," Harry muttered, reaching out to stroke a leaf of the small plant Neville had been nursing before he had got there.

"Should you be telling me this, Harry?"

"I dunno. I mean, I thought I could trust you. I can, right?"

"Of course you can, Harry. That's not what I meant. I just, I don't think this is something people need to know. Or should know. WHy are you telling me?"

"I trust you. And… I think Hermione has worked it out. I think that might be why she's hiding from me."

"Oh Harry. Even after Voldemort, you can't get a break, can you? So what are you going to do?"

"Do? Nothing. There's not much I can do. Death pretty much told me that himself. I don't think I'm going to age anymore, Nev. I think I'm trapped like this forever. I don't know how I'm going to be able to hide it for long."

"What did you want to do? You know, when you left Hogwarts. Did you have any idea of what you wanted to do?" Neville asked him, grinning when the little plant finally seemed to accept Harry's touch and curled a stem around his hand in a caress.

"I don't really know. I'm not that great at anything, I don't really have any skills. And well, now that I'm not going to age, there isn't many jobs that would accept me without wanting to cut me open to see how I work."

"You're wrong, you know. You have skills. You're amazing at Defence and well, I dunno if anyone ever told you but you were the second best at charms. Beat even Hermione. And there are charms that can make it look like you're ageing, if that's what is holding you back. But that's not really why I asked. Besides your inevitable thoughts that you owe the wizarding world something - you really don't, Harry - what is holding you here?"

"My friends."

"As one of those friends, I'm going to tell you to take off. As long as you keep in touch, and maybe visit every so often, I'll be happy as long as you are happy. Go travel, Harry. See the world. Relax. Get away from the expectations of a selfish world." Harry looked at Neville in shock, not quite sure what he was saying.

"What do you mean? You know, Luna told me that I was welcome to join her in her travels."

"Good! Go join her and when she returns for Hogwarts, you should just continue to travel. Don't come back, just keep going."

"Nev?"

Neville sighed and looked back at the plant that now looked like it was trying to become one with Harry's hand, smiling at little as Harry just delicately continued to play with it, almost absent-mindedly. "You know what the wizards of Britain are like, Harry. I'm scared. If they find out what you are, they'll try to control you. And if they can't control you, they'll try to kill you. Or lock you up."

"What?"

"Even before I knew about the Hallows, I worried about what the Ministry would do to keep you under their thumb. Me and Gran, we talked about it. I was going to get in touch with you soon, tell you to run. There are whispers, Harry. Certain people think you need to be controlled before you become the next Dark Lord. If they find out that you're Death's Master, they're going to hunt you down. If you've left the country before they work out a plan, then there's nothing they can do."

"You're telling me to leave? To run?"

"Sometimes running is the only thing you can do."

"I don't want to run. I feel like all I've done is run."

"Don't see it as running then. See it as grabbing your own freedom. Something you deserve."

"I don't want to be alone."

"You'll never be alone, Harry. Me and Luna will always be there for you."

"What about the Weasleys?"

"I dunno. I don't know them enough to tell you what they'd think, but if they haven't yet warned you or told you to run, then I don't think they have your best interests at heart," Neville told him gently, reaching out to grab Harry's free hand and squeezing it.

"So I just run?"

"Yeah. Close up all your houses. Make sure the goblins know and ask them to transfer at least half of your money into their muggle counterpart, then just find out where Luna is. Or go somewhere else. Oh, and don't forget to keep in touch, and to visit occasionally."

"If I'm on the run, how am I going to visit?"

"You're a wizard, Harry. It doesn't take much to change our looks. Besides, I told you, I spoke to my Gran about this."

"So?"

"Well, not many people know, but the Longbottoms branched out and left England. I don't really know many of the family that did leave, but we spoke to them. We decided that you can pose as my cousin from the Norwegian branch of the family. We'll give you a name to use when you're here visiting, now that it's safe and all," Neville added with a grin, getting a small chuckle from Harry.

"I don't speak Norwegian."

"So? No one else needs to know that. You don't have to accept the offer, just know that it's there."

"So… I guess I'm running then. Is there anything I can do for you before I sort things out and disappear?" Harry asked, finally gently detangling his hand from the little plant with a farewell stroke to its stalk.

"Two things. If you don't mind."

"Of course, you can ask me anything, Nev."

"It's just, you're the Master of Death and I maybe wondered if you could do something for me."

Harry sighed and nibbled on his lip anxiously, not wanting to let his friend down but worried as to what the request will be. "Nev, before you ask, you need to know that there are still restrictions even for me. I can't bring people back to life and I can't extend anyone's life. People have a deadline and everyone has to meet it."

"No, it's not that. It's just… it's my parents. Do you… do you think you could let them pass? I feel like, right now, they're trapped in their minds. Nothing the healers are doing is helping them get better, it's just prolonging their torture," Neville mumbled not looking at Harry as he asked.

"I can… I can talk to Death about it. Give me a week to get the answer, and then I'll find a way of letting you know. If he agrees, I'll also let you know when you should say goodbye," Harry paused and squeezed Neville's hand that was still in his. "Are you sure about this, Nev?"

"Yeah. I am. It's not fair but the healers won't listen to me. They think if my parents are relatively healthy, then they should be allowed to live. But… what if they're trapped in the minds and reliving that night over and over? No one knows. They've been through enough, I think… I think it's time to let them go."

"Okay then. I'll let you know when I've spoken to Death. What else did you want to ask me? You said two things."

"Oh, yes. That plant you were playing with. Take it with you. It's bonded to you, and it'll just wither and die if you leave it here. It's too young to be left by its bonded."

"What?"

"It's a plant designed to bond with a strong wizard, normally they are cultivated to plant into the boundaries of its bonded's home, to act as a defence against intruders. Though, it needs to be nurtured before it reaches that point. I was trying to bond with this one, but it looks like it chose you."

"Oh crap! Sorry, Neville! I didn't mean to!"

"It's alright, Harry. Really," Neville told him, looking amused as he picked up the little plant and handed it over to Harry, who took it and looked at it nervously.

"What do I do to look after it? I don't want to kill it!"

"You won't. It'll syphon off little bits of your excess magic. Just make sure you also water it every day. And when it gets to about six months old, it'll be strong enough to be left on whichever property you choose to plant it on. I'd recommend an old family plot as it'll still have residual family magics that it'll be able to use."

"Are you sure about this, Nev?"

"Very sure. It'll die without you. And don't worry, it won't grow much more until it's planted in the ground," Neville told him, standing up and stretching, wincing when his back popped a little, before he glanced at Harry, smiling when he saw that Harry was cooing at the plant.

"Should I name it?"

"If you really want to. It doesn't really matter if you don't though," Neville told him, quite amused at how Harry was treating the plant, he hadn't realised what he must look like with plants until now.

"No, it should have a name. I've always liked the name Dara. Which, apparently means oak tree, so it has something to live up to," Harry added with a grin, still looking at the little plant in his hands.

"Perfect name. Will you let me know before you leave? And keep in touch with me so I know you're safe?"

"Of course, I will, Nev. And I'll be in touch in about a weeks time anyway. Thank you, for everything, Nev. And tell your Gran thanks as well. Oh, and if you think it's wise, let her know what you know and what you've asked of me. I should be going now though. I only really came to make sure you were alright as I hadn't heard from you."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just thought you'd want to be left alone for a while and decided to let you come to me when you were ready. Well, admittedly, you only had another week left before I would have finally hunted you down to tell you the plan."

"Well, thank you for that. And for Dara. I'll make sure he's safe."

"I know you will, Harry," Neville told him with a grin, leading Harry out of the greenhouses and back into the manor, taking Harry back to the front door.

"I'll be in touch, Nev. If anything comes up, or you need me, just let me know," Harry told him before grabbing Neville into a hug, clearly shocking the man before he returned it. Pulling apart, Harry grinned at him and then walked out the door with a wave over his shoulder.

"And you know where I am if you need me, Harry!"

Harry rushed into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and made sure the floo was locked down to prevent any unwanted visitors, then placed Dara the plant on the table, patting the top leaf gently and running back into the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of Mrs Black.

"Harry."

"Mrs Black! I've found something out and well, I need to leave. But I need to make preparations first and I'm not too sure what to do."

"Well, first, tell me what you've found out and why you have to leave, then maybe Kreacher and I can help you."

"Right! The Ministry is trying to find a way to control me. A friend of mine told me to leave before that could happen as apparently the Ministry doesn't have my best interests in mind. So, I need to leave. Soon."

"So you need to lock down all properties and sort out your accounts in Gringotts. I suppose it's a good job you apologised for stealing from Gringotts, isn't it?" Mrs Black pointed out with amusement. Harry just sheepishly grinned at her, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have known what to say to them to get in their good books without you telling me, so thanks for that. Do you know of anything else I should do?"

"Buy a tent? I good one. With at least two bedrooms in and a proper bathroom. And give those you trust a way to contact you."

"Any ideas on how to go about that? I don't have an owl, and it doesn't strike me as being safe anyway," Harry pointed out, getting a nod from Mrs Black.

"In the main Black vault, there should be several two way mirrors. You can make it so that more than two are connected to each other. The spell should be with them in the vault. Use them."

"Right. And I guess I could buy a couple of mobile phones and teach Nev and Luna how to use them. How do I lock down all my houses? I don't even know where all of them are."

"Kreacher knows where all the Black properties are and if you give him permission, he can find out about the Potter ones, then he can close them all down for you."

"Right. That seems easy enough. I guess I should contact Gringotts about transferring half my funds to their muggle bank. And I need to contact Death," Harry added, getting a sharp look from Mrs Black.

"Why would you need to do that?"

"A favour."

"Sounds like a dangerous favour. I know what you have to do to contact him."

"Yeah, I should probably ask him if there's another way around that. Right. Well, one thing at a time. Kreacher!"

"Master called?" Kreacher asked, popping in front of him with a low bow.

"Yeah, er… I give you permission to find out about all my properties. And when you do, do you think you could lock them down so only I can access them?"

"Kreacher will get it done, Master. Is that all?" Kreacher asked him, getting a nod from Harry before he popped away to hopefully carry out Harry's orders.

"Contact Gringotts before you contact Death."

"Right. Okay. Thank you for the help," Harry said, before he checked the time and deciding to go to Gringotts now as he had time before they closed. The sooner everything was sorted out, the sooner he could leave. He also made a mental note to contact Luna and find out where she is.

Harry nibbled on his lip anxiously as he made sure all precautions were in place before he made contact with Death. He had made sure that the house was locked down and wouldn't allow anyone access, he'd listened to Mrs Black try to convince him to not do it once again, and now he was ready to, well, to kill himself.

Stripping down to his underwear, Harry shakily climbed into the bath and grabbed the sharp knife he had brought in with him for this purpose. His hands shook as he placed the knife against his throat, deciding to that it would possibly be the quickest way to kill himself. And hopefully with the least amount of mess for them to clean up.

Taking a deep breath, Harry just decided to get on with it and with a quick movement, deeply sliced the knife across his throat. Harry choked and wheezed in a breath, spluttering on the amount of blood gushing out of the wound and had just enough time to decide to find another way to kill himself next time before he passed out.

Harry coughed and choked as he sat up and looked around him, half expecting to see Kings Cross station and only a little surprised that it wasn't. It was in fact a warm sitting room with large, comfortable looking chairs in dark green and brown. The whole room was in greys, greens and black, though still seeming warm to him. After looking around the room, he finally noticed that someone was sitting on one of the chairs. Cautiously standing up, Harry made his way over to the other chair and sat down before looking at the other man. A man that had thin, black hair that went just passed his shoulders, and white skin that looked like delicate paper. Harry took this in and then looked into the black and blue eyes.

"Death."

"I assume you wanted to talk. Either that or you decided to test me."

"Test you?"

"Yes. See if I would keep you alive after you tried to take your life. Slitting your own throat, Master. That's quite the accomplishment. I don't know of many humans who would be able to do such a thing," Death told him, a small smirk twitching at his lips.

"Ah, well, in hindsight, it wasn't the greatest way I could have taken my life. But you were right the first time. I needed to talk to you and I couldn't think of another way to do it."

"You only need call for me and I will come. You are my Master after all."

"Yeah, about that. Think you could just call me Harry?"

"As you wish. Now, what was it that you wished to speak to me about?" Death asked him, sitting back in his chair and staring at Harry unblinkingly.

"Right. You know of the Longbottoms? Frank and Alice to be specific?" Harry asked him, realising that it was probably pointless asking if Death knew of someone.

"I know them. What about them?"

"Their son, Neville. He asked me if I could possibly end their suffering. I said I would ask you."

"He wishes for them to pass over. Does he know what it is he is asking?"

"Yeah, I made sure he knew. He thinks they have been forced to live long enough," Harry told him with a small shrug. He could sort of see where Neville was coming from, though he wasn't sure he could have done the same thing.

"It is not really our job to decide when people should or shouldn't die," Death pointed out calmly, getting a sigh from Harry.

"I know. But Neville is a friend, so I told him I would at least ask."

"You are my master. I do as you wish. If the boy thinks his parents should pass on, then I will make it so. Would you like me to do so now or do you have a date?"

"What is the date now?"

"I believe for you it is June 13th, Harry."

"Right. Do you think you could do it on the twentieth? That gives Neville a bit of time to accept things and say his goodbyes."

"Then it shall be done. Is that all, Master?"

"Harry. And yeah. Though, I'm going travelling to escape the wizarding world, don't know if I need to tell you that."

"There is no need. I will always be able to find you now matter where or when you are. Remember, just call for me if you need me. I believe it is time for you to wake up, Harry."

Harry gasped as he jerked awake, nose wrinkling in distaste at the sticky, congealed mess of blood that he was lying in and covered by. With a quick wave of his hand, the mess disappeared, though the coppery scent remained in the air. Another wave of his hand opened the bathroom window and Harry slumped back down in the bath.

He needed to send Neville a letter to tell him the date that his parents would die, which would be a weird letter to write for anyone. And he should probably send along the two-way mirror as well. He hadn't had a chance to look into mobile phones yet and was thinking of leaving it for a while. See if the mirror option worked for them.

Then he needed to buy his new tent, he should probably buy more clothes as well and possibly some supplies he might need, though he supposed he could get them anytime. Still, the goblins had told him that it would take them ten days to get everything sorted, including his passport and bank cards and anything else he might need.

So he had just over a week to sort everything out. And in that time, possibly visit the Weasleys and find out why Hermione was avoiding him. If all else failed, he could remove her memories of him being Master of Death. She wasn't the only one who knew the obliviate charm. Though Harry was hoping he wouldn't need it.

Five days later and Harry had everything he would need, he'd contacted both Luna and Neville, and they'd all tested out the mirrors, deciding they would work fine enough. Neville had also told him that he'd let his Gran know and she sent him her thanks. Though harry wasn't too sure why he was being thanked, but he supposed he hadn't been in that situation before. He just didn't see why anyone would thank someone for essentially killing their loved ones.

Right now though, he was standing on the edge of the wards covering the Burrow, trying to get the courage to pass them and see the people he had thought of as family. Though admittedly, after talking to Neville, Luna and Mrs Black, those feelings were starting to fade a little. He wasn't sure why they hadn't warned him of the rumours. Even if they were just that, it didn't mean they should be ignored.

Harry fidgeted a little where he stood, biting on his lip and wincing when he cut it with his teeth - he should try to break that habit - and then mentally calling himself a coward, he took a step past the ward line and forced himself to keep walking towards the Burrow.

Though when he got to the door, he suddenly lost all courage and couldn't bring himself to knock. Putting his hands in his pocket, he felt a jagged rock fall into his hands, pulling it out and smiling when he saw the resurrection stone. He had no idea how it had found its way into his pocket, he had left it on his dresser at Grimmauld Place after it had first found its way back to him, trying to work out a way to make a necklace of it. Still, seeing it now somehow gave him the courage he needed to knock on the door before he thrust it back into his pocket and waited for someone to answer.

The door opened and Harry didn't have time to say hello before he was being dragged into a tight, breath-stealing hug by Ginny, who had answered the door.

"Harry!" Her shriek, which was right in his ear and made him wince a little and worry about any possible damage that might have done, brought the attention of the rest of the household and soon the rest of the surviving Weasleys were there, clamouring for his attention. And in the centre was a nervous looking Hermione.

"I see you're back. Did you find your parents?" Harry asked her once he'd greeted all the Weasleys and had managed to detangle Ginny from around his neck. He had decided, before arriving, that he would play ignorant to Hermione's presence. Neville was staying behind after all, no need to make things awkward for him.

"Oh! Yes, I did! Thank you. How have you been?" Hermione asked him, sounding stilted even to his own ears. Harry just sighed quietly and smiled at her, deciding to just move past any hurt she was causing.

"I've been good. Just working on sorting things out, getting used to sleeping in one place for more than a week again, you know. What about you? Been up to much since you've gotten back?" Harry asked her, walking into the living room and taking a seat next to the sofa, deciding he didn't want to give Ginny a chance to sit next to him. She was being rather… grabby.

"Oh, you know, I have been getting ready to go back to Hogwarts and just relaxing really. Do you have any plans before Hogwarts starts up again?"

"Ah, well, I'm going to be travelling with Luna and her dad for a while. Looking for interesting magical creatures and such. Should be fun! I decided I needed to get away for a while, you know?" Harry told her, carefully leaving out the fact that he had no intention of returning when Luna did. If they knew that, then he'd never get out. He knew it.

"The Lovegoods, Harry? Really? Don't you think you should be spending time with me?" Ginny asked him, butting in on the conversation he was having with Hermione. Harry just sighed and gave her a slightly confused look. Well, he hoped it came across as confused and not looking at her like she was mental.

"Why would I need to be spending more time with you, Ginny? And Luna's a friend. Travelling with her sounds like fun."

"You know why you should be spending time with me!"

"Er… I really don't," Harry said, looking from Ginny to the rest of the Weasleys, who all looked either slightly uncomfortable or were frowning at him like they agreed with Ginny. Well, at least he knew who was on his side of this. Looks like only Bill, Fleur and Percy were in his court. The fact Ron and George seemed to be in the Harry and Ginny forever camp hurt but didn't shock him entirely.

"Surely you should be spending more time with your girlfriend than with another girl you barely know, Harry," Molly told him in a scolding tone, which made Harry unconsciously want to wince.

"I don't have a girlfriend, Molly."

"Oh don't be silly. Don't you think it's time you admitted you and Ginny are together?"

"No, because we're not. And we won't ever be. I don't see Ginny in that way," Harry told them firmly, frowning when it seemed to be on deaf ears.

"Harry! What are you saying?!" Ginny shrieked, standing up and glaring at him angrily. Harry just rolled his eyes and stood up himself so that he wasn't being loomed over by Ginny.

"Yeah, Harry? We all know you've been pining after Ginny! Why are you pretending otherwise?" Ron asked him, frowning at Harry, who just wanted to leave and forget the whole visit.

"What? Since when? Look, me and Ginny are never going to happen! She's the wrong gender!" Harry exclaimed, lying just a little but wanting to snuff out any hope of them getting together.

"Don't be silly! You and Ginny are perfect for one another!" Hermione told him and Harry sighed explosively, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Whatever. I know it's not going to happen and if Ginny wants to continue thinking it will, then it's her life wasted. Now, I'm going to leave and I'm sorry, but if you're just going to continue demanding I get with Ginny, then I'd rather you didn't contact me. I'll see you around," Harry told them, shrugging and shaking his head at the stunned looks that got him, before he pushed his way past Ginny and Mrs Weasley and left the house.

At least he wasn't going to be anywhere near them when they realised he wasn't going to go back to Hogwarts and was, in effect, disappearing forever. Now he just had to wait for his passport to be ready and he would be able to leave and not look back.

A/N – Okay, so I said I wouldn't post anything else until I'd finished Bitter Hug at least, but well I've been writing this on and off for the a couple of years now and thought I'd post the first chapter and see what people thought. It's going to be Eleven/Harry slash, so if you don't like that, please don't bother telling me, just don't read it, okay? Sorry for now acquiescing to the needs of absolutely every person on this site but they don't for me so turn abouts fair play, yeah? At least I gave a warning. If you don't read Author Notes, then bigger fool you. :D

I've also started to write a oneshot Dr Who/Harry Potter crossover which may be posted soon enough and is a gen fic for those who get a bit twitchy when it comes to any kind of romantic pairing.

So anyways, let me know what you think and if you'd like me to carry on with this! The Doctor will show up in the next chapter if anyones wondering.