Well let's just see how this goes. I've read a heap of similarish AU fictions lately and I wanted to have a go myself so I could make a (hopefully) more original one. Ok, ok I admit I wanted to have my own war-hardened, smart ass, powerful Harry running around in a 'world that could have been' – happy now?! Anyway this is my second fic attempt so please review, tell me if I'm getting any better etc. enjoy!!

Once Again

Done

Harry lay on the ground utterly relaxed, quite exhausted, physically speaking and in no small amount of pain with a gaping, fatal wound to his stomach but he was utterly relaxed. The war was over, his part at least, Voldemort lay dead a few feet away from him and 'really' dead, Harry and his friends had destroyed all the horcruxes, well Harry and his friends had started destroying them all, in the end Harry was the only one left to get all of them but he had and with Voldemort dead he felt his job was done. He was comforted as he lay there dieing, he had lost almost everyone he had become close too but the world itself was in decent shape. He knew the ministry could rebuild and Hogsmede would recover, just like the rest of the world – with time, and eventually his accomplishments would be nothing more than a boring Binns-like lecture for students that were more than a little like he used to be. Harry felt it was right for him to die now, maybe he could go to a better place like they used to teach him good children did when he was little.

But alas, life is never simple for Harry James Potter. He looked up from his reclined position when he heard the familiar trills of phoenix song.

"Fawkes?" he muttered in happy disbelief, as the phoenix landed on his chest. Harry patted him fondly, "I thought you'd died with Dumbledore" he said more to himself really. Fawkes was observing his stomach and gaping wound with sadness, "oh please Fawkes no, it's ok, I don't want you to heal me. This is how things were meant to be, they'll be alright without me now. I'm looking forwards to a long rest" he said smiling at the large bird.

Fawkes seemed to look right into his eyes, and as good as Harry had become at occulemency he knew that Fawkes could see his soul and was reading his every desire. Then the phoenix just let out one long melody and Harry was overcome by darkness. Anyone who saw the exchange would have described a blinding flash of light in which the phoenix disappeared and left one happily dead Harry Potter smiling asleep never to awake on the blood soaked grass surrounding Hogwarts castle. Little did they know that Harry was not so much dead as the expression would have it he was simply 'gone from this world'.

And it Begins Again

Harry groaned as he slowly came to and realised that his surroundings had changed. He dimly recognised the magical signature of Madam Pomfrey and tried to open his eyes regardless of the blinding white of the hospital wing.

"Here we are again" he sighed smirking, "don't seem to be able to go a full week without seeing your lovely face these days, eh Madam Pomfrey?" he chuckled hoarsly but in good humour. "I'm not taking the full blame for it this time though … stubborn bloody bird" he muttered never noticing the looks Pomfrey was giving him. They ranged from confused to concerned to cautious, the nurse always was very thorough.

Harry was about to continue asking how the rest of their side had gone (the hospital wing seemed far too empty considering a major battle had just taken place) when he felt a familiar magical aura approaching. In a second he was back in 'fight' mode.

"GET DOWN" he yelled at Pomfrey, leaping in one swift movement, out of the hospital bed and onto the floor. "expelliramus" he blasted Snape to the floor before he'd gone two steps into the room. It confused Harry to no end when he realised that Snape hadn't even had his wand out. "You have some nerve coming in here traitor" Harry addressed him darkly, "the only reason your heart still beats is because this is neutral territory. State your business" he concluded with venom to a slightly dazed Snape.

"Who the hell are you?" a recovering Snape asked him incredulously, his eyes throwing daggers at Harry.

"Wrong answer" said Harry winding back to punch him.

"STUPEFY" shout a panicked Madam Pomfrey aiming her wand at Harry.

"POPPY! What the heck!?" asked Harry angrily, brushing off the stunner with practised ease, "I'm not gunna kill him … yet" he shot teasingly at the man on the floor, " I was just-" but Harry never did get to finish that sentence as he noticed some other magical auras were approaching – magical auras that couldn't possibly be approaching. Yet when those auras walked in the door, Harry realised that they belonged to who he thought – impossible or not.

Harry's eyes went as wide as saucers as he stared at those who had just entered the room – Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin currently stood in front of him. His practised blank mask fell to the floor as he stared, slack jawed at the four ghosts before him. None of them moved, they seemed to be worried if they did they might further panic the poor boy who stood there a cross between a deer in the headlights and a gaping fish. Harry reached out and clung onto the bed railing, his legs were threatening to stop holding him up. Suddenly he realised he wasn't getting any oxygen he panicked about this briefly until with a giant gasp of breath he realised that he'd forgotten to keep breathing. 'Always forgetting the simple things' he mentally chided himself before continuing his brains chant of 'it's not possible'. Dully he noticed something had been dropped, then with something resemblant of brain activity he realised it was him – his legs had stopped holding him up after all and he was now sitting on the floor, his eyes having never moved from the closest thing to a father he'd ever known. Sirius he thought wistfully.

The expressions of those in the room varied, Snape's features were a cross between confusion and utter rage while most others seemed to be either concerned or politely puzzled or a mixture of both. The increase in oxygen seemed to be helping Harry's mental processes though, the fact of the matter was what he was seeing was not possible, he concluded this must be Voldie's last present for him – a vision from the grave.

"You really are a piece of work, you know that don't you Tommie boy? Half blood, muggle fucking, son of a bitch" he seemed to curse at no one in particular, much to the befuddlement of the others in the room. Their confusion only escalated when the boy on the floor who'd gone from shocked to pissed in a matter of moments purposefully, and quite forcefully smashed his head into the hospital bed he had been sitting next too.

"Wake up you great lump – or die properly, now there's an idea" he muttered sarcastically to himself after the bang to the head didn't bring him immediately awake, "Just wait till I get my bloody hands on you Fawkes! I'll ring your bloody neck – let's see you rise from them ashes to save my sorry ass, you great overgrown magic chicken" He continued to curse vehemently not paying any attention to some of the teacher's snorts of disbelief/humour. "I hope you're enjoying this Tommie, when I wake up I. will. Piss. On. Your. Corpse. then we'll see who gets the last laugh shall we?" Harry prepared to smash his head into the bed again and was slightly surprised when the dream Albus moved it away from him. He spared him a brief glance before attempting to smash his head into thin air – it had hurt the last time so 'obviously' there had to be something there in the real world that he was hitting his head against. The theory was flawless except that it didn't work – there was nothing there.

"Not possible" he whispered disbelievingly to himself. He reached a hand up and felt the bump – it definitely hurt and as he drew his hand away there was even blood. "Not fucking possible" he said a little louder to himself, but the problem with that theory was that it was by all technicalities now impossible that he was dreaming – so where did that leave things.

Well it left him a very realistic Godfather standing in the same room as him and Harry decided to make the best of the situation. God knows how he'd craved for one last chance for a meeting with the man over these last few years. Slowly Harry rose from the floor and moved until he stood not a foot from Sirius. Everyone tensed but Snape was the only one with a wand trained on Harry (he'd picked it up previously) the others seemed too curious to move. Cautiously Harry reached out a hand and touched Sirius' face – 'it was real' – then Harry threw caution, dignity, neutral masks and practicality out the window and latched onto his Godfather, crying his heart out and clinging on like he'd never let go again – he ignored the whispered stupefy and simply let the darkness overcome him but he didn't let go of Sirius, that was all that mattered to him in that moment.

"Did somebody want to get him off me?" a confused and rather uncomfortable Sirius asked the other staff around him.

"I don't know Padfoot, he seems to like you" Remus chuckled at the look on Sirius' face, though truth be told he was still utterly bewildered about the very strange stranger currently attached to his best friend.

"Funny Moony, funny – now get him off" Sirius replied dryly. Though he visibly relaxed when Madam Pomfrey managed to levitate the boy back into bed.

"Did you manage to find out anything about the boy" Poppy questioned the headmaster.

"You mean other than the fact that he's a raving lunatic" Snape added (still livid) before Dumbledore could reply.

"I take it you had some experience with the boy before we arrived" Dumbledore questioned the two curiously.

"You certainly could say that" Madam Pomfrey answered him still incredulous, "it was the strangest thing, I'd come to check on him and some of his injuries had already completely gone – and they should have taken days to heal at best! Though I'm sure he's definitely human." She added hastily, "Then he woke up and started talking to me like he'd known me his entire life though he seemed perfectly sane at the time, quite a lovely boy actually but then he gets this odd look, like he's listening for something, next thing I know he's shouting at me to get down like I need protecting, leaps out of bed and blasts Snape to buggery" Remus couldn't contain a snort at this, when McGonagall shot him a look he explained,

"at least we know why he likes Sirius so much" he answered meekly.

"It was a little stronger then a petty dislike" Snape added darkly, "the boy wanted to kill me, he said himself 'the only reason I had a heartbeat still was because a hospital is neutral territory'. He was about to hit me before Poppy intervened"

"Yes then he was acting shocked like it was odd of me to protect him, kept calling Snape a traitor and I'd shot a stunner at him and he just brushed it off, it didn't even seem like he used a shield! Then just before you lot came in he got that odd look again except this time he seemed confused, then you came in and well you know what happened from there" she finished lamely.

"Does anyone recognise him" McGonagall asked curiously. All replied negatively and she went on, "well he certainly seemed to know us, not that I understand what he was talking about with Fawkes"

"I think perhaps it would be easiest on our guest if we used a truth serum" Dumbledore said addressing Snape who left abruptly to get the potion.

….

When Harry next awoke he had been placed in binds; however it did allow him to speak and move very minimally, he looked around to see that he was back in the hospital bed and surrounded by the same people as before. With his brain and life experiences finally at the forefront of his mind once again he came to the assumption that he had been captured by death eaters – because however much he may have wanted it the dead simply do not come back to life.

"Well this is a new low even for you people – So I killed him, boo hoo. Why don't you all just pack up and go home, might even be able to try getting a life – doesn't that sound exciting Snivellus" Harry continued mockingly.

"Now child we think it will be easiest if you just take this potion – save you thinking about your answers" The Dumbledore look alike addressed him holding a bottle of veriterserum.

"You must be joking – What wand's in the shop?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

"Are you implying that you'd think we'd use torture to question you?" Dumbledore asked, somewhat concerned.

"oh of course not" said Harry sarcastically, "you death eaters wouldn't hurt a fly"

"I am not a death eater" said Sirius angrily.

"No, you're just some average wizard that likes parading around as my dead godfather, what on earth would lead me to the death eater conclusion."

"Enough of this" said Snape and he angrily poured the potion into Harry's mouth, holding his nose and forcing him to swallow. Harry glared at him but swallowed all the same. It was a few seconds before his eyes glazed over then Dumbledore began his questioning.

"What is your name?"

"harsisss sarraasss hatfsss" Harry answered in parseltongue, smirking at the peeved look on Snape's face.

"He's a parseltongue" exclaimed a shocked Sirius.

"He's a smartass" was Snape's reply to Sirius.

"Yes to all" put in a now lucid Harry, "but you knew all of those things already. You know what they say – ask a stupid question…"

"How did you fight the serum so quickly" asked Lupin quietly. Harry sighed,

"Well I'd be a pretty crap leader if I just went and spilled all the order's secrets every time someone gave me veritaserum now wouldn't I?

"What order would that be" Dumbledore asked in his pleasant, cunning way. Harry just looked at him incredulously.

"That would be the order of the great magic chicken who only visits to get in people's way when they're trying to die quietly then pisses off and lets them be taken by death eaters who play pointless mind games. It's quite popular in the UK" he finished conversationally.

"So you live in the UK", Dumbledore questioned further.

Harry gave him a dead panned glare, pausing before he replied, "Was I not certain that you were incapable of either originality or intelligence, I might be beginning to think you had found a new form of torture –'Death by blatantly obvious questioning'. I suppose-"

"Just answer the damn question you obnoxious little brat" Snape grinded out exasperatedly.

"Oh what's the matter Snivelly?" Harry teased in a babying voice, the familiar nickname sparking curious glances between several of the onlookers. "Am I making you angry? Anytime you wanna go, you just tell me. I've been waiting three years for you to bring your treacherous, whimpering little behind out of hiding for a rematch. Not such a brat anymore am I?" Harry leaned toward Snape as much as his tight binds would allow him to, and whispered viciously, "Sectumsempra is going to seem like a stinging hex with what I've got planned for you. I can turn you inside out…"

"If you think I'm going to fear a blubbering little boy with a big mouth you are more insane than I thought." Snape whispered back, equally vicious. Disconcertingly the boy just smirked, then replied,

"I'm not the 15 year old you left behind. You think I'm gonna explode because you insulted me?" Harry just grinned more evilly, "uh uh."

AN: I just ended it where I was up to. So if you think it ends in a stupid place - i agree with you. If ever i make my lazy self update, the conversation is by no means finished. Do review, please... It might give me incentive to write... That's a big might.

Katty xx