Destiny

Disclaimer; I don't claim any ownership of Harry Potter, Tru Calling or Charmed themes nor any other recognisable ideas from this story.

Chapter 1; Death

Little Whinging; Privet Drive

Harry gasped in pain one last time as the police burst through the doorway of the Dursley's house with a loud crack just as Vernon Dursley plunged the knife into Harry for the last time.

It was Harry's fault really; he had gotten angry and lost control. He'd finally managed to destroy all of the Horcruxes with Hermione and Ron's help but he'd wanted to come back here one last time before he faced off with Voldemort. He had never expected the house to have such an effect on him now that he was eighteen but his Uncle's comments had gone too far and he had lost control on his magic.

The effect had only been little, no more than a cracked glass, but it had been too much for his Uncle who had launched himself on Harry before he had had a chance to do anything to defend himself. The fist struck had hit him followed by the first knife wound. Somewhere along the lines somebody must have seen the fight through the open window and called for the police since he heard his Uncle hit the wall as one of the police officers expertly struck him with a baton.

"God kid! Hold on!" The visor of the policeman's helmet was pushed up but Harry's vision was fading fast, the last thing he saw was flashing blue lights on the Dursley's living room ceiling.

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Royal Surrey County Hospital; Guildford

Harry's vision was blurry when he was woken by voices but he could still make out the white ceiling rushing by over his head and the worried words of the paramedics rushing him through the hospital.

"Approximately eighteen years of age, multiple knife wounds to the chest and abdomen, broken arm, broken leg, fractures alone left rib cage. Possible concussion." One Paramedic was telling the Doctors with a saddened tone though it was still professional. The voice of somebody that loses hundreds of victims without losing themselves but feels for each of them. "Heart rate is erratic and weakening."

"Take him straight to OR-5 and page Doctor Felps immediately."

Harry met the same police officers eyes where he followed the cart through the halls. The officer had kind eyes Harry realised before his head went limp as he fell into unconsciousness for the last time.

He found himself standing in the Operation Room. He did feel concerned that his rather beaten body was laying on the table in front of him with no fewer that eight people fussing over him but he wasn't really shocked. It had to happen eventually, he couldn't always be lucky.

"Watching people fight to keep you alive is inspiring is it not?" A gentle voice muttered in his ear. Harry didn't take his eyes off of the Doctor who had his hand in his chest trying to restart his heart. He nodded even though he didn't turn to face the stranger, he felt safe, he didn't feel pain and he didn't feel troubled. "This is the part of humanity that makes up for people like Tom Riddle."

This comment made Harry jerk around. "You know of Tom Riddle?" Harry gasped out. "Who are you?"

"I am what happens after this." The black haired and tall man told him as he pointed towards Harry's dying body. He was wearing a long black cloak that although it looked ominous it looked welcoming at the same time.

Harry remembered the horror stories he had learnt as a child from eavesdropping on Dudley and his Friends. "You're supposed to be the Grim Reaper?"

"That's one of my names I suppose. Most just call me Death." The man told him.

Even though Harry was almost eighteen now he was still a child at heart. "Am I going to see my parents?"

Death's previous neutral look vanished and a sad glint filled his eyes. "You're different from these others."

"Because I am a Wizard?" Harry asked with a frown still watching the doctor fuss over his body more than the man beside him.

"No," Harry actually looked around at him. "Wizards, humans, Witches, they're all the same. Mortals. They all die. But you are different; you cannot die in their way."

"I think you'll find I can." Harry told him with an amused grin despite the severity of the situation. "They don't seem to be able to produce miracles."

Death looked at the doctors with amusement. "Some things are out of their hands yet without them Destiny is thrown out. You see, Harry, every mortal being has a time to die set into place since before their birth and even though there are always changes they will always die eventually." Death turned him by the shoulders. "You will never die though. You were marked by the Angels of Destiny, the guardians of Destiny and Fate, when you were born to walk in my footsteps. You have an affinity for Death."

Harry knew he should be panicking but he felt with every ounce of his mind and heart that this was right. He was finally where he belonged. Something bugged him though. "Why did I survive the Killing Curse?"

"The Killing Curse has no effect on you and never will and now that you have shed your body then no magic can harm you."

"What about Voldemort?" The sound of the doctors faded away as they finally gave up their attempts. Harry watched as the Police Officer that had stayed with him watched helplessly from behind the glass of the operating room's wall. He looked like he had failed. The room shifted changed, the room itself was the same but it was empty. The door was the only animate object left. No Doctors or nurses, no equipment and no lighting.

"Voldemort is still your problem." Death told him. "You're last task as a Wizard is to remove his soul and send it through the vortex."

"What vortex?" Harry frowned. "How do I remove his soul?"

"You are no simple Wizard anymore. The moment your heart stopped you became Death. You are Death with everything that that entails. Listen to your instincts." Death told him. "This is the Ghostly Plain; it lies alongside the normal one. It is where we transport the Souls of the dead so that they can pass through to the beyond."

"The beyond?" Harry questioned.

"It has many names. The Afterlife, Heaven, I call it the Beyond since it is beyond the vortex." Death Explained.

"The Next Great Adventure." Harry sighed remembering his late Headmaster's words.

"Indeed." Death smiled at his apprentice. "In this Plain we have complete control; we can manipulate it to our own desires. When I leave focus on speeding up time for two days. Then go to Diagon Alley. That is when you must finish your mortal Destiny."

"How do I get to Diagon Alley?" Harry asked.

"Trust in your instincts." With that Death vanished. It wasn't like apparition though, one moment he was there and the next he was gone. Harry surmised that he had returned to the normal Plain.

'He said to focus on speeding up time.' Harry thought to himself but hung his head in defeat. What he saw shocked him. He was dressed in the same clothing as Death had been in. It complimented his appearance well. Travelling with Ron and Hermione had been good for him, the constant meals and activity had caused his body to transform into what it should have been. With the vision of his clothing, the Grim Reapers clothing, he felt confidence bubbling up inside.

He focused on the time but instead of trying to push it to two days in the future he listened to his instincts and let it adjust itself. When he opened his eyes there was no difference around him and for a split second he thought he'd failed but that went out of the window when he felt a pulling, like something was calling to him from afar. He tilted his head slightly as he 'listened' to it before focusing on travelling to it.

Nobody saw his departure or his arrival but if they did they would have seen a hazy flicker of a skull become his head and body with a strange shadowy haze around him which faded after a split second. He smiled in happiness, he'd transported himself across England with barely a thought and even though he was Death now he felt more alive than ever before.

It actually took him a few seconds to realise that he was in the midst of a battle and also the fact that he was standing right beside Voldemort and he didn't feel a single thing, no pain or emotions whatsoever. It was then that he realised that he wasn't Harry Potter anymore, he was Death. Just as Death had been for however long it had been.

Harry noticed that nobody had noticed him and knew instinctively that he was invisible to everyone and not just in the magic spell type of way but more like he wasn't really there. Harry saw Ron and Hermione nearby, there was over sixty Death Eaters there and only ten or so defenders left standing.

"You made it then, Harry." Death's voice whispered in his ear.

"Why are you here?"

"We will always be where there is death." Death told him simply. "Before it was just we, for now it will be both of us and when you are ready it will be just you."

Harry glanced over at his old friends, far beyond his reach now. They fought side by side and Harry knew that it would be better for them to believe in his death. They wouldn't understand like he did. "Will they die?"

"Of course they will, they all will, eventually." Death told him. Harry gave him an exasperated look so he continued. "You sensed the pull of a soul before?"

Harry nodded.

"Remember how it felt but don't let it pull you to them, instead focus on a list of them." Even as it was spoken Harry felt something form in his hand with a wisp of smoke. He glanced down and saw a list of names. At the top of the List was Tomas Riddle. Harry smirked at it before glancing down the list. There were twenty names and though as he watched a couple were rewritten with fresh ink neither Hermione's nor Ron's appeared on it.

Even though he knew instinctively that dying wasn't so bad anymore he was glad that they'd have a chance to live. Harry glanced at Death who nodded encouragingly. "You can appear only to Tom Riddle if you wish to say a goodbye before you take his soul."

Harry grinned maliciously and focused for a second on becoming visible but only to the soul he was there to take. "Hello Tom." Harry whispered quietly. The Wizard span quickly at the mention of his hated name.

"Potter!" Voldemort growled out. "You're dead."

"Death actually." Harry smirked at him. "You've been running from me for too long now, Voldemort." Harry stressed the last word knowing that the man was scared of death more than anything else. He also knew that he was being rather dramatic but he wanted to scare Voldemort before he claimed his soul.

"We all saw your body." Voldemort glared at him bringing his wand to bear on Harry.

"I'm not a Wizard anymore, Tom. I'm more, I'm eternal. In existence to collect the souls of the dead just like I was born to do."

"Avada Kadavra!" Voldemort yelled. The curse flew through the air and Harry sidestepped watching over his shoulder in amusement as an unsuspecting Death Eater fell to the curse.

"Don't do that again, Harry. You just changed the order of the souls." Death told him from his position to his side. Harry frowned before summoning the List again. Tom's name was still at the top of the left column titled 'To Die' but now a second list had appeared headed 'To Collect' with the single name of Morris Spencer on it.

"Opps." Harry said meekly. The battle had ended rather abruptly once Voldemort had seemingly turned on his own troops.

Voldemort was seething with rage. He began to rant about spectres of death before firing another Killing Curse. His Death Eaters dove to the ground but this time Harry didn't dodge knowing that it wouldn't hurt him. He didn't even feel the spell impact him and just smirked at Voldemort's horror filled face as the space rebounded and struck him in the chest. The light instantly fled from his eyes and his body collapsed to the ground.

Harry felt a tug at the edge of his vision and turned to look at a white robed Tom Riddle standing beside him. The murderer of his parents was shaking in fear. Harry focused on travelling into the Ghostly Plain with his 'charge' and suddenly they were in a rather grey tinged and deserted Diagon Alley. "There is no escape from where you're going, Tom." Harry waved his hand at the swirling blue vortex to the Beyond that stood before him.

He knew instinctively that this wasn't where Voldemort would end up but he didn't say anything to the pale and scared man beside him. "This is where our struggle ends."

On more instinct Harry backed away and waited for Voldemort to take a slow step forwards before swiping his hand down. A red well of fire erupted from below Tom's feet and his soul was sucked down into it. Harry knew he'd never see him again and was glad.

Death appeared next to him. "Are you ready to enter your new life?" Harry nodded. Death smiled at him in that strange way that made it look like the smile was painful. "I'm going to take the main work load for the time being and give you a special list. You'll only have one soul at a time to focus on but they will all be special cases. Just remember to use your instincts."

Harry nodded. "So I just collect the souls and put them through the Vortex?"

"If it was that simple it would happen automatically." Death told him. "We are the main tools for keeping order in the World. We keep Destiny on course and ensure it isn't tampered with. It is why we are invincible, sometimes we have to go against the mortals to claim what we want whether they are witches or demons."

"Demons?"

"There is much to learn but it will all come to you as time passes." Death told him. "Should you need me I am just a thought away."

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End Chapter