Advent '10 - December 24th
December 24th - Xmas tomorrow!
Fred and George dragged Harry into the sleeping house, followed shortly by Ash who was still carrying Harry's trunk.
"We've got to be quiet." Fred hissed.
"Otherwise we'll wake up-"
George was cut off when the curtains hiding Sirius' mother sprang open and she started to screech loud enough to cause paint flakes to fall from the ceiling.
"Mudblood!"
There was a series of thumps from upstairs that sounded like two people had fallen out of bed.
"Blood traitors! In my home! Why if I could-"
She cut off suddenly with wide eyes when Ash just turned and looked at her. There was a moment's pause and then the curtain's sprang closed once again.
"What was that about being quiet?" Ash asked as two men and a woman half ran half fell down the stairs.
"Sirius, Remus, Tonks." Fred nodded to them as they stared at them in shock. "Where's everyone else?"
Fred's voice must have snapped them out of their daze as they quickly moved forward. Remus, who was pale with huge circles under his eyes, went straight for his cub grabbing him and sinking to the floor, holding him.
Sirius stood by them, "Once they were cleared they went home." He answered.
"Moony…" Harry said faintly, turning into Remus' embrace. Remus' eyes turned amber. It was only the night after the full moon and the wolf was still too close to the surface for him to control it.
"What happened?" Sirius asked the twins.
Fred and George just shrugged.
"Tell me what happened to my cub!" Remus snarled at them.
"We don't know." Fred said, "We were just celebrating Harry being cleared and the wizarding world getting common sense for once when he appeared right in front of us looking like that."
"Congratulations by the way." George said.
Sirius just looked at them, telling them that he'd rather they brought him another present then his half dead Godson.
"He apparated from wherever he was to New Orleans without a wand." George added, flinching only slightly when Remus growled and turned back to Harry, who had slipped into sleep.
Remus pulled out his wand and started casting diagnostic charms and Tonks kneeled down beside him.
"He's almost out of magic. If he tries to cast anything else in this state then he's going to be drained completely."
Everyone except for Ash paled at this.
"What does that mean?" Ash asked.
"It means that if Harry does anything right now, except sleep, then he'll die."
At the explanation Ash sank to his knees and hesitantly reached out to stroke Harry's hair. Remus pulled Harry away.
"I don't mean to be offensive but who the hell are you?" Remus' eyes turned from amber to a glowing gold. "Are you Savitar?"
Ash scowled. "No. I'm not."
"This is Ash." George cut in. "He got us home when everything went tits up."
"If what you said was true about Harry's condition then he probably saved Harry's life."
Everyone waited whilst the Wolf seemed to argue with itself. And then slowly Remus' grip on Harry relaxed and Ash threaded his fingers through Harry's hair.
"So who's Savitar then?"
"He's the idiot that caused this." Ash growled, his eyes flashing red for a moment.
Remus' wolf joined in, sensing a fellow bond.
"Don't worry though," Ash grinned, almost ferally, "I broke his nose."
"That's might be too good for him." Remus spat out through clenched teeth.
Ash sighed, feeling the demon retreat a little so that some rationality could come back. "I think he had good intentions…"
"Yeah, well, the road to hell is paved in them. And now I'm holding my half dead cub."
"I'm not saying that what he did was right; just that he thought it was the only way."
A tick appeared in Remus' jaw. "I know that you're trying to be rational right now," he said slowly, "but all my instincts are telling me to rip the face of the man who hurt my cub."
Ash nodded as something occurred to him. "You said that Harry's…magical core? Is drained?"
Remus nodded.
"Is there anyway to fill it with your magic?"
Everyone took a sharp breath in hope and turned to Remus, who was usually the one who would know these sorts of things.
"I've never heard of anyone pushing their magic into another's core to fill it…" he trailed off and started to mumble, "but then again some medical spells…and they interact…causing a link that would…"
"Is that a yes or a no?" Sirius asked, slightly impatiently.
Remus sighed and shook his head. "No. Whilst some medical spells do create a link between cores to stabilize them, no one has ever pushed their magic into one. If the person had a larger core than you then it would suck out all of your magic and you'd die instead.
"And with the size of Harry's core…"
"What about if a bunch of us did it though?" George asked.
Remus shook his head. "The spells that are used to link cores only allow one person, usually the medi-witch or wizard, to do it."
There was silence and then,
"But Harry can recover from this, right?" Tonks asked quietly.
"Yes," Remus nodded, "But it might take years for him to be back to his full strength."
"I'll do it." Ash cut in.
Everyone stared at him.
"You can't." Remus eventually got out, even though a spark of hope lit his eyes, "Unless you have more power than Harry and I don't know of anyone in Britain who-"
"Don't worry." Ash interrupted, "I'm not a wizard. I have enough power to fill him. Cast the spell."
"Remus bit his lip but started to cast the linking spell between Harry and Ash.
"If you're not a wizard," Tonks asked, "What are you?"
Ash smiled at her humourlessly. "I'm a god."
Then before anyone had any time to make anything out of that comment, Remus finished and Ash's conscious was sucked into the link.
It was a maelstrom of colour and yet, completely white. Ash found himself floating but able to feel solid ground beneath his feet. Every single sense was obscured as pure power convulsed around him, not limited to a physical body but just was.
He basked in it.
"Hello."
Ash stayed completely still yet spun around.
Harry was standing before him. Yet it wasn't Harry. The man looked like him but had pitch black eyes and skin so pale it was beyond white. He was wearing all black, except for a shimmering silver cloak thrown over his shoulders, it's hood raised but not obscuring his face. In his right hand he held a long, bone white, wand and as he rolled it between his fingers, the not-light caught on a black stoned ring.
"Harry?" Ash asked hesitantly.
The man smiled humorously. "Yes. And yet, no."
Ash looked him over, it was weird, he felt absolutely nothing from him.
"Who are you?" He asked.
The not-smile didn't leave the man's lips. "Harry. And yet not Harry at the same time."
"Is that all you can say? That you are and aren't?"
"You aren't asking the right questions."
Ash paused. "What are you?" He asked instead.
The smile turned genuine for a moment, "Ah. I am not the End-Of-All-Things. I am it's Defeater. Conqueror. Master."
Ash swallowed. "I know you."
"Your power released me. Temporarily gave me body and consciousness. Changing my current host's body so that it can house it and not rip him apart. Once it leaves my host I will dwindle back into nothingness until I am called once again. United in a being of great power…unless this is permanent. Then the changes will also be permanent for I cannot die."
Ash clenched his jaw. "You were never supposed to exist."
Not-Harry smiled. "Neither were you."
And then there was one final blast of power and Ash found himself thrown out of the landscape and back into his own body.
The hallway throbbed with crackling power and there was a high pitched whine that caused Remus to grimace and Sirius and the twins to fall to their knees, clutching their ears.
The power built up and they could see Ash's skin mottling, turning from a white into a pale blue, as Harry started to seize in Remus' arms, his own skin taking on an almost green tint to it.
They all flinched when Harry's eyes shot open and instead of emerald green they were pitch black.
And then as suddenly as it started it all stopped and Harry collapsed back into Remus' arms, blinking wildly, his eyes and skin staying the wrong colour.
Ash opened red eyes to look at him. "Oops."
"What the hell was that!" Sirius cried, staggering to his feet.
"Well…I'm not entirely human…" Ash explained with narrowed eyes, "And when the spell linked us it pulled on the other side of me, changing him…"
"I'm not human anymore?" Harry asked, blinking slowly and looking at his hands. "Am I green?" He ran his tongue over his teeth. "And do I have fangs?"
"Yeah." Fred said helpfully. "You also have black eyes."
"The side effects will disappear when your own magic pushes out my borrowed power." Ash said slowly, "As you only have my power you've taken on certain…characteristics of me. But it wasn't like you were completely human to begin with."
Remus clutched Harry tighter. "What do you mean by that?"
Ash didn't move his gaze away from Harry's. "I had always wondered why neither I nor Savitar could see you. We see fate and everything that exists has a fate."
The others were quiet, almost spellbound from the conversation happening right in front of them.
Harry swallowed, not liking where this was going. "I already completed my destiny."
"The only thing," Ash continued, "That ends fate. Is death."
"I already died." Harry said quietly.
"And yet, you exist and have no fate. You are not death, you are beyond it. Defeater. Conqueror. Death's Master."
There was silence as the weight of the moment bore down on everyone kneeling in that hallway.
At least until Remus glared at Harry. "You died?"
That snapped them out of it and Harry winced. "Only for a little bit…?"
"That's it. You're going straight to bed." Remus stood up and slung Harry over his shoulder, heading up the stairs.
"It was years ago!" Harry protested.
"And you are grounded!"
"I'm twenty one!"
"And you are banned from anything sharp or pointy!"
"Guys!" Harry called out beseechingly, "Come on! Help!"
They shrugged at him.
"Sorry pup!" Sirius called up the stairs after him, "Never get between a werewolf and it's cub!"
"I hate you all!"
Ash had left soon after, not bothering to head back to Sanctuary, he instead went straight home.
Today had been a long day. He had revealed things he probably shouldn't have and had met something that shouldn't have existed.
Right now he just wanted a glass of whiskey to warm him, a hot shower to relax in and complete peace and quiet to unwind in.
"I've made the biggest mistake of my life."
Ash ruthlessly squashed a groan. He couldn't quite stop himself from sighing loudly and turning to face an exhausted looking Savitar. Who still had a broken nose, bruises staining his eyes.
"Yes." Ash agreed with him as he conjured a glass of whiskey and a chair. "You have."
Savitar conjured his own chair and slumped down into it, cradling his head in his hands as he stared at the floor.
"I just wanted him to be happy!"
Ash stared at him, unable to work out the logic. "You wanted him to be happy…so you told him he was worth lower than a whore to you?"
"If he hated me then he'd go back to his home with his loved ones and he'd be able to be normal with them! Grow old! Have a life!"
Ash stared at the glass in his hand. This was not going to be enough. He conjured a bottle.
"You don't love him?" Ash asked mildly.
"Of course I do…" Savitar trailed off and glared at Ash, who was grinning wildly. "Stop taking advantage of my emotional turmoil."
Ash drank a mouthful and savoured the burn as the liquid ran down his throat. "I can't help it. I've never seen you like this about anyone."
Savitar gritted his teeth and looked away.
Ash drank another fingers worth of the liquid, savouring the taste. "You're an idiot."
Savitar flinched and Ash just shrugged at him. "Well you are." Ash continued. "Does Harry give the impression of being normal in any way shape or form?"
Savitar opened his mouth, and then frowned and closed it with a snap.
It was then that Ash decided to drop the proverbial bomb. "He's the Master of Death."
Savitar's head snapped up so fast that Ash was sure that he gave himself whiplash.
"What?" Savitar asked breathlessly, "But then that means-"
"That he's powerful? That he can become immortal?"
Savitar's face closed off. "He would still want to be with his family though. Why would he give them up to spend eternity with me?"
"Because he loves you?"
"I still think that he should-"
"I think," Ash interrupted him, "that he loves you and makes you happy. He's his own person and can make his own choices."
"But-"
"Besides," Ash cut him off again, "What part of Master or Death don't you comprehend? If he wanted to see his family and friends after they have passed then he can just travel into Death's realm and talk to them there."
Savitar stared at him as he poured out another glassful of whiskey.
"I'm an idiot aren't I?"
"Yes." Ash agreed. "But I've been telling you that for ages now. Are you sure that you haven't accidentally given yourself brain damage? It might have occurred if you just hit yourself in the head with your board."
Savitar groaned and dropped his head back into his hands. "Gods, how do I make this right?"
"Beg." Ash told him. "You get on your knees and beg and you don't get up again until he's shredded every last piece of your so called dignity. And then you beg some more until he actually believes what you're telling him."
"I have to go." Savitar disappeared suddenly.
Ash took another mouthful of alcohol and just waited until a blank faced Savitar reappeared again.
"I don't know where he is."
Ash snorted and stood up. "Come on. I'll take you there."
Despite his arrival ending on a somewhat light hearted note. When Harry finally woke up that morning he was back to feeling upset about what happened with Savitar.
There were certain things that weren't making sense though. His words and actions were not adding up and it made him suspicious. He was no Hermione but he knew that when a friend handed you a bottle of poison and told you to drink, you should always stop to think 'why the hell?'.
But what Savitar had said had really hurt him and Harry wanted to mope about it for a bit. So he stayed in bed, staring petulantly at the wall.
Stupid Savitar.
At least his skin had turned back to its normal colour and his fangs had receded.
He was perfectly content to stay in bed for the next week. Until he remembered that Remus had practically glued him to the mattress and pillows.
Now he had the urge to get up and run with scissors or something. Being Master of Death had to be good for something right? Apart from setting an overprotective werewolf on him.
He was just getting out of bed when Fred and George came tumbling into his room, wearing matching grins.
Harry was instantly on guard. "Guys…?"
"Remus wants to see you in his room." They said at the same time.
Harry immediately thought back to the analogy he just made. Cautiously he edged around the twins until he was standing in the hallway, then he slowly walked backwards to Remus' room, not wanting to turn his back on them.
It didn't help that they just stared at him with evil grins until they were out of sight.
He shivered as he bumped into Remus' door. Creepy.
Finally deeming it safe to turn around he knocked and was only a little startled when it swung open immediately. He was a lot more startled at coming face to face with a naked James Potter wearing a towel wrapped around his waist.
His mouth opened and closed. "Dad?" He asked faintly in shock, his heart seizing in his chest.
James grimaced and shook his head, his facial features immediately turning back into Tonks.
"Oops! Sorry!"
Harry just stared at her. "What? Why?"
"Hey! Who was that at the door?" Harry watched in growing horror as a half naked Sirius walk into the room from the connecting door. "Remus is still tied up…in…there…"
He trailed off when he looked up to see Harry in the doorway staring at them in horror.
"Oh. Hey pup."
Harry screamed and ran.
He was just sprinting through the hallway to the front door when Ash and Savitar appeared right in front of him. Unable to stop running or screaming he crashed straight into them and fell to the floor. Now that he wasn't running the images wouldn't leave so he started to claw at his eyes.
The picture curtains sprang open again at the noise but as soon as the occupant saw who was standing in her hallway they closed again.
"Harry!" Savitar bent over him, grabbing his wrists and pulling them away from his face. "What's wrong! Are you hurt!"
"Oh God! My eyes! The images! They burn!"
"Harry, please! Tell me what's wrong!"
Harry calmed down enough to notice just who exactly was holding him.
"Savy!" He said in surprise.
Savitar smiled at him, breathing a sigh of relief at the use of the nickname. "Yeah, it's m-" He was cut off when Harry punched him straight in his broken nose. "Motherfucker!" He cursed, dropping Harry and clutching his face as he fell backwards.
"That's for everything you said you wanker!" Harry glared as he pushed himself up to his feet. "I don't know why the hell you said the things you said but you're an arse!" He kicked Savitar in the ribs.
Ash burst out laughing. "I'll leave you two alone to sort everything out." He said before disappearing.
Harry glared down at Savitar who was groaning on the ground. "I can't believe you said those things to me!"
"I'm-"
"I don't care! Shut up! It's my turn to talk!" He grabbed the back of Savitar's wetsuit and dragged him into the living room for some semblance of privacy. "Did you actually think that I was going to fall for what you said?"
"I-"
"Okay, yeah, sure," Harry started to pace, "I was upset! And may have suffered a minor breakdown. Which I still think you're an arse for by the way."
"Can I-"
"But when I had time to stop and think and you weren't constantly bombarding me with your jerkishness…" He glared at Savitar and felt justified when Savitar swallowed heavily in nervousness, "it didn't make any sense. At all."
"Look-"
"So I started to think about the whys. Why were you saying something so stupid?"
"Will you-"
"I said it was my turn to talk!" Harry yelled at him, his eyes bleeding black, fangs growing and his skin turning a mottled green. "Your constant interruptions are making me angry! And you won't like me when I'm angry!"
Savitar nodded, wide-eyed.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he next opened his eyes he was looking back to normal.
"I just…I don't understand why…"
Savitar watched quietly as Harry slumped into the nearest chair, looking exhausted. He stayed silent another minute, making completely sure that Harry had finished.
"Harry," he said hoarsely as he moved, kneeling before him, grasping his hands in his own, "I did it because I thought that you should be with friends and family. That you should live your life with them instead of watching them."
Harry frowned but didn't tug his hands away. "I don't understand…"
"I know what I said was horrible. I know that you may never…should never forgive me. But you have to know that I am so, so sorry. I never gave you a choice and I'm sorry for that too.
"But please, please, even if you don't forgive me, please don't hate me. I-I love you.
"I love you, Harry. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I want you to stay with me for eternity. Become immortal. But I was scared that you'd say no. And...I was scared that you'd say yes and then hate me when everyone you knew died and all you were left with was me." Savitar clenched his jaw after he finished admitting everything.
"But being Master of Death means that you can travel through Death's realm and see those who have passed on. You wouldn't be alone. Please, Harry...please..."
In the end he had no idea what he was begging for, only that he needed to do it.
Harry just stared at him with wide eyes.
The silence stretched on for what seemed like forever and Savitar felt his hope dwindle with every passing second that Harry didn't move, didn't blink, didn't say anything.
He was about to stand and go back to Neratiti when Harry opened his mouth.
"Did you just propose?"