Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or GetBackers.

Chapter 1

Damn it, thought Harry Potter. He had been tricked into entering the Department of Mysteries by Voldemort who had shown him a vision of his godfather, Sirius Black, being tortured. So Harry and five of his friends, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, had broken into the Department of Mysteries to rescue Sirius.

Things had then gone from bad to worse. Sirius had never been there. They found themselves surrounded by Death Eaters. After a long fight, which left all of his friends incapacitated, the Order of the Phoenix led by Sirius Black himself had arrived. Dumbledore soon joined the fight and most of the Death-Eaters had been captured.

Unfortunately, Sirius had been knocked into the Veil of Death by his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. Giving in to his rage, Harry had chased Bellatrix to the atrium. After a very short duel, in which Harry had realized the incredible difference in power and skill between himself and the evil witch, he found himself face to face with Voldemort himself.

Voldemort looked down at Harry with fury in his red eyes. He walked towards the boy with his wand pointed at him.

"I will deal with you later, Bellatrix", he said, ignoring the whimpering witch, who looked terrified at his presence.

"You have irked me too often, for too long, Harry Potter. Avada Kedavra!"

Harry could do nothing but gape at the green light headed towards him. It hit him and everything turned dark. He never heard the anguished "NO" of Albus Dumbledore as he arrived a moment too late.

Harry felt as though he was floating. His body felt light and there seemed to be no pain. He slowly opened his eyes and then wished he hadn't. He had been right – he was floating.

"Is this hell?" he thought. Above him was what he supposed could be called a sky. Except, this sky seemed to be made from the fiercest flames. It glowed a scorching orange and seemed to be constantly moving. Below him...well, he was not sure what exactly it was. It seemd to be made of several colours, like little streams. There were more dark colours than light and they gave a highly unpleasant feeling.

"Where am I? I died, didn't I?"

"No, not yet."

Harry turned around shocked. He didn't understand how he could not have felt this being's presence. It was covered in a dark cloak, its face hidden behind a hood. Its voice could not be identified as male or female. It was tall, around 7 feet. And its power!

Never had Harry ever felt such power. Voldemort and Dumbledore had nothing on it. The power was so overwhelming that it made Harry want to bow before it. And the strange part was Harry didn't think it was even trying to display its power. He didn't think that anything or anyone in this world could compare to it.

"W...Who...What are you?" he asked.

"I am the entity called Death", it replied, its voice neither warm nor cold, devoid of emotion and yet not empty.

"Death? S..So I have died then?" asked Harry.

"No. Not yet", Death replied.

"I don't understand", said Harry, feeling confused.

"Yours is an interesting situation, Harry Potter. Turn to your left", it said.

Harry turned and recoiled in shock. Suspended in the air, next to him was something quite similar to what Voldemort had looked like before he was reborn: like a child with a snake-like face and reddish-burnt skin. He wanted to ask what it was but fear stopped his voice.

"That, Harry Potter, is a broken fragment of Tom Riddle's soul. The fool, in his attempt to escape me, took many dangerous steps. What you see before you is the result of that foolishness", Death explained. "On the night that you received your scar, this soul fragment entered it. That is why you have been connected to Tom Riddle. When you were hit by that curse tonight, it ejected both, your soul and the soul fragment from your body. The curse is not allowed to do so. It may take only one soul at a time."

Death pointed below him. "What you see there Harry Potter is the power emitted by every living soul in the world and also all the ghosts and spirits that exist there; their emotions, hopes and shattered dreams. The light colours show positive emotions and powers, the dark colours show negative emotions and powers."

A part of Harry realized that this meant there was more darkness and negativity in the world. The rest of him was still listening to Death speak.

"Beyond the fiery clouds above you, lies Limbo", Death continued. "It is a place from where you may enter the afterlife, an area of judgement. Had your death involved self-sacrifice, you would have directly entered Limbo."

Death paused for a moment and then spoke, its voice commanding, "Listen to my words carefully, Harry Potter. From here on, you may either go beyond or return to the mortal world or wander as a ghost. You are currently protected by a barrier that I have created. As soon as I release it, you will be bombarded by the emotions of every living creature in existence. This soul fragment will also awaken. Remember, that it cannot understand anything but survival."

A transparent glassy platform appeared below Harry and he found himself standing on it, near the middle, facing Voldemort's soul fragment. "Magic is useless. Your will alone will matter. Try and push each other off the platform. The one who falls will move to the world beyond. The one who remains standing will be given three options that I have already mentioned. But bear in mind, that because it is only a soul fragment, the only thing it can do is to possess your body. Now, begin!"

Harry had no time to respond. He felt the barrier disappear and almost instantly fell to his knees. It was too much. It was pain beyond pain. He could feel the thoughts and emotions of every living creature in his head. Joy, pain, anger, cruelty, kindness and every other emotion entered him.

Stop it! Please!

Somebody seemd to be pleading but he did not know who. Was somebody pleading for him? But who was he? What was he? He could no longer remember himself, retain his identity as he felt himself dissolve.

No.

He had to snap out of it. He did not know why but it seemed important.

He tried to focus, which was made difficult by the screaming voices, but he finally beginning to get a hold of himself.

Yes, I am Harry Potter. That's my name.

He started trying to remember his past and bit by bit, everything came back to him. He realized that he was being affected by lesser thoughts now. He looked up and saw the soul fragment of Voldemort, now no longer frozen, glaring and screeching at him.

Yes, Voldemort, his enemy. Murderer.

The emotions and thoughts bombarding him slowed down and he realized that he was able to identify some of these thoughts. He felt Ron and Hermione's anguish at his death, Dumbledore's grief and then suddenly felt the grief of Cedric Diggory's parents, their broken dreams.

Voldemort's victims, he realized, as he felt the grief of other survivors of Voldemort's cruelty. It was the last push he needed. His mind snapped back into place silencing the foreign thoughts and feelings.

And just in time, he thought. He was standing on the edge of the platform.

Oh no, you don't. He started pushing back just as he had an year ago in the graveyard. But this time the situation was different. In this world, where neither magical power nor physical power would work, only the soul mattered. And before his pure and whole soul, Voldemort's corrupted and broken soul stood no chance. As Harry put all his focus into taking a step forward, Voldemort's soul fragment was being pushed back. And as Harry reached the middle again, the soul fragment was pushed out of the platform. The soul fragment instantly transformed into a sickly yellow ball of light and floated into death's outstretched hand where it disappeared.

"Interesting", said Death. Harry turned towards it but found that Death was not looking at him. Instead, it was looking at the sky.

Harry looked up and saw what had caught the powerful being's interest. The sky, which had previously been only fiery was now accompanied by lightning flashes.

"Well, Harry Potter", said Death, turning towards him. "You may now make your choice. You may move on, or return or become a ghost."

"What happens if I move on?" asked Harry.

"I do not know", it replied.

"You do not know?" asked Harry, incredulously.

"What happens after the soul enters Limbo is outside my domain. Therefore I do not know, nor do I need to know", explained Death.

"But are you not curious?"

"Harry Potter, I am not human, nor one of the countless beings of the mortal world. Curiosity is not in my nature. I do not hate anyone, nor do I love anyone. I am impartial. My duty is to ensure that the event of death happens without fail. Everything has an end, Harry Potter. And one day, when all life ends, I will end as well."

Harry did not know what to say to that. In the few moments that he had been here, he had learnt so much. He had become wiser, though he did not realize this.

"I don't want to be a ghost. I think I want to live again. I want to go back", said Harry, making his choice.

"So be it, Harry Potter", said Death. "When you return, you will be forced to fight Tom Riddle again. Till now, he was a dark lord by title alone. But in the thirteen years of his exile, he absorbed the essence of darkness into him. In the year since his resurrection, Tom Riddle has been successfully able to become one with the darkness. He is the Dark Lord now."

"There are other soul fragments that he has hidden in the mortal world. As long as even one exists, he cannot be killed", said Death. "But also remember this. That as each fragment is destroyed, his control over the darkness will only increase. Now, leave Harry Potter! We will meet again."

Harry felt the world around him begin to dissolve. His sight started fading as darkness began spreading. But he could still hear Death speak clearly.

"Now that Tom Riddle's soul fragment has been removed from you, your true powers will begin to emerge."

"Wait? What powers?" asked Harry, startled.

"Your will know soon", was the last thing Harry heard before everything turned black.