"Wake up" an eerie voice demanded of David.

~What's that voice? … I'm fairly certain I'm meant to be dead…~

"Err, hi?" David replied quite unsure of what exactly was going on.

"Yes, greetings David Cross. Stop thinking as to why you are here. All will be explained" replied another, less frightening voice yet emotionless voice.

~That's really not going to convince me not to – ~

"David Cross, an orphan who died of Leukemia at the age of twelve in a cold hospital bed, alone. This is who you are" said the eerie voice, stopping David's train of thought.

"Yeah… that's me. David Cross, an orphan who died as you say, alone" David replied with a hint of venom and no understanding of just who he was sitting before.

"We've brought you before us to give you second chance, a second life David. Do you acce-"

"I accept," David said cutting off the eerie voice who David now noticed was merely an oppressing, blackness rather than a person.

The black figure sighed to himself and continued, "Very well. There will be conditions for your return to life. Most important of which is that you must save the magical world."

"A hidden society, in a world much the same as yours. I believe you know of the story regarding, Harry Potter?" said the emotionless voice who David now saw was a grey figure, who had thin strings of grey connected to its body.

"Yeah, I know the books and movies. I had fun reading them… And you're telling me this world is real? And I'm going to uhh, be reborn there to save it? I thought it was saved, in a sense at the end of the books?"

"The loss of life was catastrophic to Magic, the death of what they refer to as 'muggleborns' throughout the year in the lead up to the war of Hogwarts set into motion a series of events that resulted in Magic herself dying," said the grey figure.

"Magic is sentient, by can no longer influence events. Her life is connected to every magical creature, witches and wizards included" added the eerie black figure.

"So, I need to stop muggleborns from dying in the final war? Or do I need to save as many magical creatures as possible?" David asked understanding the gist of what they were getting at.

"As many children of Magic as possible David" the grey figure replied.

"Got it, save as many lives as possible is what I need to do in return for getting a second chance at life. Yeah, I can do that. Done, where do I sign?" David replied excitedly, this was magic! How could he refuse?!

"There's more you need to know before we send you off, " the grey figure said, before turning towards the black figure.

"Tell me" David demanded impatiently.

The blackness took a deep breath and started to explain, "There are rules David, we are breaking many of them in sending you into that world. The body you will inhabit, if you decide to do so, has many similar qualities as to yourself. The same name, same face, orphan and… dying from a magical disease quite similar to what you have died from."

"Wait, how am I going to change things if I'm going to be in a body that is also dying?" David asked, confused.

"Once you inhabit your new body, you will, in some ways, merge. Fret not, you will still be you. But have additional memories and added mental prowess among other smaller gifts. If I am correct you were considered a genius before your death were you not? Finishing High School at the tender age of twelve, regardless of your coming death. The merging will strengthen your soul considerably and as a result your magic will also be, immense. This will allow you to stave off death until your early twenties. Plenty of time as you will be attending Hogwarts concurrently with the chosen one," the darkness prattled on.

Jumping in was the grey figure, "What was not mentioned is that you can further delay your decay, depending on how you treat your body, David. And while there is no cure for what you have… It does not mean one cannot be created. But you must not forget your task!"

"I see… early twenties or longer if I treat my body with care… How long is the longest I can get by without a cure?"

"Mid-thirties, but you will need assistance from potions. I believe Hogwarts has a healer that can help you."

"Well, it's better than being dead… What else do I need to know?" David inquired, sadly accepting his fate to potentially die young, again.

"You cannot reveal what you know, of us, of the books, or your task," added both voices simultaneously.

The grey figure furthered, "Fret not, such knowledge shall be hidden in your mind form even the most skilled legilimens or potent potion. That does not mean you will have natural Occlumency shields, we will give you nothing of the sort, you must acquire it yourself."

"Is that all?" David asked the two beings in front of him.

"Tom Riddle still needs to die at the hands of Harry Potter, how he gets there however does not need to happen the same way" answered the grey figure quickly.

Prepare yourself David time runs short. You will fall asleep and reawaken in your new world" replied the black figure before everything went black.

"This is your fault Death," said the grey figure with a hint of emotion in its voice, "If you had not been so foolish as to pass on those accursed items, Magic would not have had to intervene, damaging herself and saving you from potential servitude."

"I know Fate, I know…" replied Death as it was overcome with immense tiredness.

"How could you have been so moronic? If I find that you have failed like this again, I will end you," Fate warned Death before disagreeing in a flash.

"Excuse me I'm Professor McGonagall, I'm here to see David Cross about a scholarship to attend our prestigious school."

"A professor? And what school is this?" asked the plump woman who ran the orphanage in suspicion.

A simple wave of the professor's wand resulted in said question being left unanswered as the woman continued, "Ah, no matter. David is this way… I feel I must warn you though."

"Oh? Is there a problem with Mister Cross?" Minerva McGonagall asked curiously.

"Nothing behavioural I assure you, he is quite well behaved and… eerily intelligent. But no, that is not it, as you wouldn't be here if you didn't know about his grades. David is ill Professor, the doctors say it's leukemia and that he doesn't have much time left…"

"I see… well, I'll speak to David regardless ma'am, thank you" replied McGonagall tartly.

"Right, well he's in the last room down the hall on the left, I'll leave you to it."

David awoke to someone calling his name, and quite tiredly sat up from his bed and opened his tired eyes.

"Mister Cross?"

"Yeah, that's me, ma'am. How can I help you?"

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I am the deputy headmistress of a private school in Scotland. I'm here to offer you a position in our prestigious school"

~Knew she looked familiar…~

"So, magic is real?" asked David with a curious look on his face.

"Indeed, it is David. Have you ever experienced a… frustrating situation where you made something happen that was quite impossible?"

David quickly searched his mind for any information about accidental magic and was quite surprised at what he found.

"Yeah, once when I was younger, I wanted a book from the library that was out of reach, and I guess I made it fly down into my hands. I've actually practised it since, look!"

David lifted his hand and pointed it at his bookshelf, promptly summoning a book into his palm and smiled at the quite shocked professor.

"Amazing, truly… And I assume you make sure no one can see you perform such magic David?" asked McGonagall with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I only do it in my room when no one is around Professor."

"That's good to hear… I must stress that you are cautious though David… There is only one last matter I need to attend to before I head off David. Before coming to meet you, I was informed of your illness, will you permit me to run a simple diagnostic charm on you?"

"Sure Professor, as long as you promise to tell me what you find, regardless of how upsetting it could be."

Showing a rare smile, the stern Professor agreed and with a flash of her hand a wand appeared in it and she proceeded to mutter and perform some simple wand movements in the direction of David.

"Well, there is definitely something here David. It does seem to be magical in nature, unlike what you have been told before. There seems to be no immediate risk to your health and as such, I won't be having to take you to St. Mungo's, as our resident healer at Hogwarts, is more than skilled in properly diagnosing you next month. I'll ensure that you see her the day after the welcoming feast."

"Okay, thanks, Professor. I appreciate it," replied David.

"Quite alright David, I'd better be off. I'll be back to help you with your school supplies next week," she took a look at the clock in David's room and with a nod hurriedly left.

David sat in silence and came to terms with everything that had transpired recently for a good hour.

With a sigh and decision to do some exercise, he slipped on a pair of trainers and went for a run around the orphanage that was now his temporary home.

Diagon Alley accompanied by Professor McGonagall had been immensely enlightening, he was quite grateful the professor had been his guide, the information she had of the magical world was far greater than one, Rubeus Hagrid. And with her purchasing him extra books, as the Hogwarts fund for students with a lack of financial resources such as himself had only been able to cover the bare minimum of school supplies. Luckily, he hadn't been forced to purchase second-hand clothing, second-hand books were fine but the idea of wearing someone else's clothing just hadn't sat right with David.

The purchasing of his wand had been interesting and left him with hope for the future. Acacia wood and Hungarian Horntail heartstring. According to the old creep, Acacia wood was an unusual wand wood that refused to produce magic to anyone but their chosen owners and withheld their full power from all but the most gifted or wizards and witches. Accompanied with a Hungarian Horntail core, Ollivander warned him that his wand was unusually powerful and should be treated with the caution it rightfully deserved.

Judging by the spectacular light show and feelings of content passing through David, he and his wand were going to perform some pretty intense magic in the years to come.

Seeing an owl perched outside his window and tapping, David quickly opened the window and removed the letter from its leg, following which it hooted and flew off in a flurry.

Dear Mr Cross

Gringotts requests your timely appearance regarding a matter of grave urgency.

Sincerely,

Ragnok, Director.

"Well, that's certainly dry… Wonder what this is about" David spoke out loud to himself.