Chapter10

was an hour before Harry was able to return home. There had been so many who had wanted to see him and speak with him, so many who weren't willing to listen to his feeble attempts at excusing himself or his insistences that he really did have somewhere to be. They only dispersed after each and every person had been granted a chance to shake his hand and personally thank him for saving their world. When he was finally back in the safety of Grimmauld Place, he was tired and irritable and just really wanted to settled down with something warm to eat and begin sorting through his books, but the little luck he'd been seeing earlier that evening had apparently fled and he found himself with guests.

Ron and Hermione had let themselves in sometime during his absence and set themselves up in the main parlor. Harry expressed his surprise at seeing them, but hugged them both in greeting anyway.

"My parents are finally settling back in," Hermione explained as she happily accepted his hug. "They're still a bit angry at me for taking their memories, so I thought it'd be a good idea to give them a bit of space for a week or two."

"I can't stay as long," Ron said, "I'll probably head back home sometime tomorrow. But I needed to get away for a few hours, we're all mourning but sometimes it gets to be too much. Almost suffocating."

"Well, if you've come to distract yourselves from your own terrible woes, you've come to the right place." Harry heaved a dramatic sigh as he flopped onto the nearest armchair. "I had a day. Wait, actually, these past few weeks have all been something else."

Hermione leaned forward in her seat. "Oh?"

"Brief summary? I had a conversation with Death and Xenophilius Lovegood is convinced I've brought about the end of days."

"Um, okay no." Ron frowned. "We do not want the brief summary. Tell us everything."

Harry scratched at the back of his head. "It's a long story."

Ron made a point of settling back in his seat. "We've got time."

"Well, okay." Harry sighed again. "The other day, the same one as Fred's funeral, I got smashed and decided I was going to use a dark ritual I'd found to summon the dead." He felt sheepish explaining what he'd done as, now, he knew how much of a monumentally stupid idea that had been. "I just wanted to talk to them and make sure they were happy. But they didn't show up. Instead, a man did, Death."

"Death?" Ron repeated weakly. "Like Death Death?"

Harry nodded.

"Did he look like the stories said? All skeletal and scary?"

Harry shook his head. "No. He was actually kind of fit, a bit older and definitely intimidating, but he looked like a man."

"And what did Death say to you?"

"After comparing me to a bacterium and calling me a great, big coward?" Harry snorted. "He was actually nice enough to explain what the Hallows were to him and what uniting them meant for me."

"What does it mean?"

Harry sobered at that. "A lot, apparently. I'm not his master but his equal, his protégé without the chance of him actually dying and passing his position on to me. That means I don't die, not from old age, not from a killing curse, not even from bad shellfish. Eventually I'll be able to do the things he can, though I'm still not entirely sure what that is. It's actually already started, when I saw Fred that day at Hogwarts and when I nearly went mad because of the voices only I could hear? That was me sensing those who have passed on but haven't crossed over yet."

"Shit," Ron whispered. "Is there nothing you can do? Do you get any say in this?"

Harry smiled sadly. "Not really. Death said I can die, but only if we're both in agreement that my soul should be reaped, and he's still not sure it'll work. The Hallows are a part of me, they've absorbed into my core or something, the only way I can stop being Death's equal is if they're harvested from my soul, and I've been told that it's incredibly painful."

"So, what, you're just going to sit back, eternally young and healthy, while we grow old and drop like flies around you?"

"Well, I have no intention of outliving you, not for long at least. Death has assured me that there won't ever be a time where he won't want to reap my soul, he's an arsehole like that, I figure once you're gone I'll finally give him permission to have at it and cross my fingers that it actually works."

Hermione seemed stricken by this idea. "That's horrible. After everything you've endured…it's so much less than you deserve."

"I know." Harry shrugged. "But I've just about come to terms with the fact that I won't get to live the sort of life I'd really been hoping for. I guess I'll just have to work with the cards I've been dealt."

Ron reached out to squeeze Harry's knee. "I'm sorry."

"So am I."

"If you really don't age, we'll have to find some way to make sure you at least look like you do." A contemplative look settled over Hermione's face as she began attempting to find some way past this issue. "The last thing we need is for the wizarding world to become aware of this mess."

"It might be a bit too late for that." Harry snorted ruefully. "Remember how I mentioned Xenophilius thinking I've brought about the end of days?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, what's with that?"

"The Hallows come from an ancient object that was all about balance. Xenophilius believes that the wizards who possessed the Hallows and used them for their own personal gain upset that balance; with them reunited they'll attempt to right the balance by wiping out the wizarding world. He's declared it his personal mission to warn the wizarding world of their coming demise. I have a feeling he's drafting an article for the Quibbler as we speak."

"How does he even know you've united the Hallows?" Ron asked. "He shouldn't even know you were interested in them. Hermione obliviated him, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but according to him the charm was hastily cast, weak enough for his wards to stop it. I guess he took what I said to Voldemort during the final battle about my being the master of the Elder Wand, and added it to what we talked about that day and came to his own conclusions."

Hermione looked appalled with herself. "Fuck."

A bubble of surprised laughter burst from Harry at the sound of the expletive leaving his friend's lips. "Don't worry about it, Hermione, I don't blame you. We all did the best we could in that situation."

"You seem awfully calm," Ron observed.

Harry shrugged. "I tried reasoning with him, tried to convince him the Hallows would do no one harm, then not to tell anyone, but he won't be swayed. I have a feeling he's going to use the Quibbler to spread the news, but they've never exactly been a reputable source."

"Not before the war, no," Hermione pointed out, "but during, when Voldemort had taken control of the Daily Prophet, the Quibbler was one of the only reliable sources of news. People subscribed and they listened to what he had to say. Now that the Daily Prophet is back up and running he likely has less followers, but he still has them and they still listen. It may not be a lot, but it'll be more than enough to cause you trouble."

"Then we go and stop him from writing that article." Ron declared this as if it were the most obvious solution in the world. "Ginny said he and Luna have been staying at the Leaky Cauldron since their home was pretty badly messed up. We'll go up there and give him a talking to. And if he doesn't want to be reasoned with, then Hermione can obliviate him. Only this time, try and do it right, yeah?"

Hermione gaped, clearly affronted. "That is a terrible thing to say."

Ron frowned in confusion. "What? My suggestion that we obliviate the man for a second time or that the only reason we have to is because you couldn't get it right the first time?"

Hermione scowled and very pointedly didn't answer.

Harry smiled, feeling lighter now that he had a potential solution to this newest set of challenges. "All right, let's go. Let's do it."After spending a few minutes hashing out who would say what to Xenophilius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. However, the moment they landed, they were met with a surprising amount of chaos; Aurors were swarming the place, searching every nook and cranny while wizards in strange, navy blue robes stood along the edges of the room, specifically near the exits and entrances as they muttered obscurely. The moment the Aurors caught sight of the trio, they were herded out into Diagon Alley where a large group of patrons was already gathered. At the forefront was a supremely unconcerned looking Luna.

Harry made sure to shield his face and, subsequently, his scar as he moved to stand beside Luna and question her on what was happening.

Luna smiled excitedly up at him. "A muggle came into the Leaky Cauldron." She was near bouncing on her toes in excitement. "Just walked right in. And no one even noticed until she began making a fuss about two hags who had gotten into a duel because they found out they were dating the same ogre."

Ron's jaw dropped. "Really?"

"Yes." Luna nodded. "It's terrible isn't it? You would think they'd realize they were dating the same man. Perhaps he didn't know? They did look very similar."

"Not the hags, Luna, the muggle. How did she even get in? The wards are meant to keep them from realizing this place even exists."

"I reckon it has something to do with the way the wards are beginning to fail. They're not as strong as they once were."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked to Luna sharply, unsure if this was another of her wild tales or if there was actually a basis of fact to what she was saying.

"Surely you've noticed it by now?" Silvery eyes looked between the three friends quizzically. "The magics we've cast to keep us safe is dying, they won't keep us hidden for long."

Harry felt something uncertain and just a little bit worried settle in his stomach, this was too much of a coincidence. "Luna, what do you know?"

"More than a bit, Harry. I wasn't in Ravenclaw for nothing."

Luna didn't even flinch when Harry gripped her wrist and dragged her further into the Alley, away from the crowd, Ron and Hermione followed uncertainly. "Luna, you know what's happened to me, you know what I've become. Did you tell your father about it? Any of it?"

Luna frowned. "Of course not. That's your secret to keep."

"Yeah, well today he cornered me in Gringotts, certain that I had united the Hallows, he said that bringing the Hallows together would destroy our world and now here you are telling me that the magic that's been set to protect us is dying. What do you know?"

"You're hurting me, Harry."

He immediately released his grip on her wrist, but he didn't retreat an inch. "Please."

"Daddy's always been obsessed with the Deathly Hallows," she admitted. "His parents told him stories of them, though in those stories they were only the Heart, not the Hallows. It was a story that was passed on from generations. He told me of it only a few years after Mummy died, he told me about how once the Heart was whole again we would all die. Our magic would fail us and the wizarding world would find its end. It frightened me terribly so he never told me again, but I never forgot."

Harry's hands felt as if they wanted to begin trembling, so he tucked them beneath his arms. "Do you think the stories were true?"

Luna looked pointedly to where the Aurors and the blue robed wizards had moved to investigate the outside of the pub.

"Is there any way to stop it?"

Luna smiled, sad but not at all afraid. "No, there's nothing you can do. I know it's hard to accept, you who were born to be a hero, but we are finished, our end is inevitable."Harry left Luna, Hermione, and Ron to watch as the source of the Leaky Cauldron's breach was searched for. Luna's words had left a tight band of worry around his chest, but he refused to allow himself to begin actively fearing for his friends' fate until it was confirmed by the only source he could trust. First he apparated to Grimmauld Place to collect a few leftovers from several weeks ago, then he apparated to a place he'd intended to never return to again.

Privet Drive was still empty, wherever the Dursleys had been moved they must have liked it quite a bit as they had yet to return. Or maybe they had been forgotten about and were still huddled in some drafty hovel fearfully waiting for Voldemort to track them down and murder them for sharing blood with his greatest enemy.

Either way, he didn't care.

He took great pleasure in placing his wreath of asphodel, henbane, and ash wood atop of one Petunia's prized dinner platter and setting the whole thing alight, no doubt irreparably damaging the china. He used one of the pristinely kept steak knives to cut into the flesh of his palm and allowed his blood to mix with the flames.

"Again with the sticks and the flowers. I thought after our last conversation you would have learned, but it seems not. That is most disappointing."

Harry glared coldly at Death. "Whether it has your oh so revered mark of approval or not is no concern to me, it worked in bringing you here and that's all that I care about."

Death snorted inelegantly, he waved his hand and extinguished his fire and then, just to spite him, returned the plate to its once pristine condition. Harry responded by shattering the fine china across the linoleum.

"Well, we are in a mood today, aren't we? What has you in such a snit, little quark?"

"The Heart, does it intend to destroy the wizarding world?"

A slow look of amused realization hijacked Death's features. "This upsets you."

Harry felt something deep within him shatter, he hadn't spoken the words he'd been seeking, but Death's reaction was confirmation enough. "Yes, this upsets me," he hissed. "Those are my people, my family, and you failed to tell me that they would all be dying because of me."

Death didn't even have the grace to look ashamed or repentant. "Lives on earth are so fleeting, entire races and species die out only to be replaced by another in a single day. I confess to having forgotten about their coming extinction."

Harry flinched at his blasé words. "But it can be stopped, yeah? If you harvest the Heart from my soul, would it save them?"

"No, the Heart has been united, it is whole again and it must restore its balance."

"Those are good people," Harry protested. "They've done nothing wrong."

"The Heart makes no distinction between those who used it to do wrong and those who exist now. It was magic that has upset the balance so magic must right it."

Harry wilted, his people would die because of him and, according to Death, nothing, not even the power he was to be granted could stop it. "How long do they have? How long until they're all dead?"

"Oh, it will not be immediate. They will have a century, two if they're careful. But they will no longer grow, no longer thrive, their death will be a slow one." Death idly paced the length of the kitchen, running thin fingers along the lurid, floral studded wallpaper. "The magics that have kept them hidden for so long will fail, it has already begun; those who they wished to keep their existence hidden from will become aware of their lurking presence. They will be frightened of these strange new people, they will want to try to control them, want to regulate their powers. Of course your people will not stand for such a thing. And so there will be war. As it wages, pestilence will strike. Sickness will spread killing the weak and rendering many unable to bear children to continue their lines. The disease will shut down butchers, bakeries, markets, they'll have to venture into the world they are at war with or famine will take them." Death seemed spellbound, almost reverent by this point. "Only when they are weakened, suffering, and unable to reproduce, only then when my Heart feels as if they have paid their due, will I, Death, take them as my own." Death bestowed Harry a smile, both pitying and terrifying. "And then they will be gone, as if they had never existed. The era of magic is ended."