HP fic: Nine Lives, prologue (part 2)
Stopping at one of the mirrored walls, Harry watched in amazement as it rippled, like a droplet of water hitting a smooth watery surface, and then showed Grimmauld Place.
Remus Lupin was sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands, dried tear streaks on his cheeks and a rapidly burning cigarette leaning against the cap to a bottle of Fire whiskey.
“C’mon, Remus,” said Bill Weasley, entering the kitchen from off the mirror pane, “You need to get some sleep.”
“How can I sleep when Harry’s at Hogwarts, in a coma after nearly trying to off himself?!” snarled the man, rising from his seat suddenly. “I nearly lost the last thing I have to Lily and James and Sirius, and you’re telling me to sleep?? I won’t sleep until I know he’s bloody well fine! And when he does wake up, I’m going to give him such a trashing he’ll wish he hadn’t!!”
Why, Remus, I never knew you had it in you, thought Harry, slightly amused. He knew Remus wouldn’t really trash him, but rather, give him a rather stern talking to, and then crush him into a hug.
The image rippled again and this time showing the Burrow - Ron’s room. In it sat the twins, Ginny and Ron.
“Why would he do that?” asked aloud Ron, rubbing his cheeks. Ginny hiccupped and leaned into Ron’s shoulder.
“Sirius was murdered in front of him, Ron, and you often said that he acted oddly after he spoke with Dumbledore. Something was bothering him,” said one twin - Harry identified him with Fred.
George spoke up, “He had every reason to think like nothing mattered anymore.”
“But why didn’t he tell me about it?” asked Ron, in a plain, small voice that sounded more like an eight year old than a sixteen year old. “Or even Hermione? Remus? Anyone?”
The scene changed again, echoing Ginny’s loud sobs, until Harry saw an unrecognized room. It was cluttered with books and a writing desk with its top entirely covered with papers, and a large canopy bed headboard was pushed against the wall, prominently displayed in the center of the room.
Hermione was lying on the bed, clutching a stuffed toy tightly in her arms, sobbing heavily. An older woman - Harry thought to be her mother - was sitting next to her on the bed, running her hand over Hermione’s shoulders and speaking softly to her.
“Shh, oh, Hermione dear… please, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Harry,” sobbed out Hermione, sniffling. She shifted and looked up at her mother, eyes rimmed red and puffy. “He… Ron owled me about it… Harry’s at Hogwarts. He tried to kill himself!”
Mrs. Granger gave a muffled gasp, and then gathered her daughter near her, pulling her half on her lap.
“Oh, my poor baby girl,” she soothed, “It’ll be okay, Harry’s a strong man, he’ll pull himself out of it… he’ll be all right, Hermione…”
“Mum… he saw his parents die… he saw Cedric die… he saw his godfather die… what if he doesn’t want to come out of it? What if he wants to leave me alone here, all by myself? Without him? I could never continue on without Harry Potter in my life!”
Mrs. Granger’s face softened and her eyes narrowed in sympathy. “Oh, oh, Hermione… did you ever tell him? Did you tell him -”
“I think that’s enough Harry,” interrupted the Devil, and the image disappeared without an echo, and all Harry saw was his startled, pale face.
Turning, Harry saw that the Devil and God had a new piece of cream paper on the desk, near Harry’s seat. “Are you ready to help us, Harry?” asked Fate, stepping back into the room.
Nodding, and not trusting his voice, Harry sat in his seat, and read over the contract.
Contract between Harry James Potter, Wizard & the Devil & God & Fate
(1) Harry Potter must deliver to the Devil ALL souls that have been marked with the Dark Mark
(2) Harry Potter must deliver to the Devil ALL sympathetic, supporters to the Dark Lord, he who goes by the name Voldemort, A.K.A. Tom Riddle
(3) Harry Potter must KILL the above mentioned souls, also known as “The Damned”;
(3.1) How Harry Potter does so is of no consequence to the Devil or God
(3.2) All deaths shall be stricken from Harry Potter’s file
(3.3) The more creative Harry Potter is in the deaths, the more will be stricken from his file
“I can’t believe you added that in,” groused God, frowning.
“It’s incentive,” argued the Devil. “Deal with it.”
Harry continued reading.
(4) Harry Potter’s magical levels will be boosted by Fate’s intervention
(4.1) Magical skills and talents will be honed and learned subconsciously or through trial and error
(5) Harry Potter will be given temporary immortality
(5.1) He will have NINE lives and for each time he should die, one life will be removed until none remain
(5.2) The above mentioned clause will continue even after his succession in delivering the Damned
(6) When Harry Potter finally does die and comes to Limbo for judgment, should he succeed in his quest he will go to Heaven regardless of his file
(6.1) Harry Potter may join his parents and Cedric Diggory in the after life
Harry frowned. “Why my parents and Cedric? Where’s Sirius?”
Fate started. “Sirius? As in, Sirius Black?” He began to mutter.
“Pardon?” interrupted the Devil, clearly confused. “What are you blathering on about, Fate?”
The wiry and spry deity turned around and blinked owlishly at the three staring at him. “Sirius Black! He fell into that veil in the boy’s Department of Mysteries.”
“And?” asked God.
“Well, he isn’t with any of you, is he?” questioned Fate tartly. “He’s probably waiting in Limbo.”
“What?” exclaimed Harry, jumping to his feet. “He’s not dead?”
God frowned. “Well, not technically…”
The Devil smiled toothily, and rose to her feet. “I agree with Harry, let’s go see Sirius!”
Harry shot a suspicious glance at her. “Why do you want to come so badly…?”
The Devil raised a single, arched brown eyebrow. “What do you think? He nearly got Severus Snape killed in their fifth year. If he’s in Limbo, I ought to be talking to him in my office.”
“He’s a good man!” shouted Harry. “He died to protect me and did what he thought was best to save my parents! Everyone makes mistakes!”
God and Fate were quiet, with a somber look in their eyes, while the Devil’s eyes were flickering in the artificial light.
“That’s right Harry,” she said softly. “Everyone makes mistakes.”
And suddenly, Harry couldn’t breathe; it felt like a Bludger had hit him in his chest as the Devil’s words echoed in his head.
Everyone makes mistakes… Everyone makes mistakes… Everyone makes mistakes…
She was referring to him… his mistake at the end of his fifth year, what got Sirius killed, Hermione so badly hurt, Ginny’s ankle broken, and Ron’s scars with the Brains… but everyone makes mistakes.
He could too. He was merely human.
Well, for now at least.
Harry stumbled physically, blinking as her words impacted him. Finally, after wheezing and drawing in deep breaths of air, he stood tall and looked at the Devil in her kohl-rimmed eyes and nodded.
She smiled.
“Now,” interrupted Fate impatiently and sullenly, “can we go see Sirius Black?”
--*--
Sirius wasn’t exactly sure where he was. One second he was battling his cousin, and the next, he was falling face-first, belly up from an unknown height and landing painfully on a concrete floor.
He was in a rectangular room, with a desk and judge’s podium at one end, and a row of seats against the two long walls. Behind the desk were two elevator doors; one was marked “Heaven,” and the other, “Hell.”
There were a few others sitting in the room; one young man with the back of his head missing, a bloody young girl who was glaring at the young man and sitting near another young man with blood all down his front. Sirius supposed it was a lover’s spat.
An old woman sat clutching her handbag a few seats down from him, ever so often muttering about the Knight Bus running her over.
Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had heard Harry’s pain-filled voice calling for him, from the ceiling, but the voices had long since faded.
Suddenly, there was a ping! and the elevator door marked ‘Hell’ opened up. The young male attendant behind the desk immediately jumped to his feet, a scowl on his face. Sirius watched impassively until the scowl disappeared and a look of fear replaced it.
Sirius shifted his eyes and they widened. A beautiful woman in black was speaking lowly with the attendant, while a scruffy black man and Dumbledore-looking man stood next to her. Another figure was behind them, with unruly black hair, but Sirius couldn’t make his details out.
When the attendant pointed at him, however, he rose from his seat and quelled his shaking nerves.
The three plus other figure moved to him - the bickering couple and young man fell silent, and so did the witch. Sirius flashed a charming smile at the woman and said, as smoothly as he could, “Hi there, sweet thing.”
The black man’s eyebrows rose and a snort came from behind the eccentric-looking man.
The woman, however, smirked. “And I believe vanity is a point for me, God. This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Sirius,” admonished a familiar voice, “Do try to tone down the charm… I doubt the Devil will be interested in a mortal anyway.”
Sirius’s shocked gaze was jerked away from the woman - the Devil?! I just hit on the Devil??? - to the familiar voice, and involuntarily Sirius made a noise somewhere between a choke and a sob.
“Harry?!”
Harry flung himself to his godfather’s chest and hugged the man tightly, as Sirius clenched him to his body and wept into his godson’s shoulder.
“Don’t ever do that again!” whispered Harry, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, so not to cry. “Don’t leave me again!”
“What are you doing here?” Sirius finally asked, pulling back from his godson. “And where is here, exactly?”
“You’re in Limbo,” the eccentric man answered helpfully. “Where dead souls go before going to Heaven or Hell.”
Sirius gapped, before looking down at his godson and demanded, “What the hell did you do?”
“Cursing!” chirped the Devil gleefully. “Two points!”
Harry glared at her and she stuck her tongue out. “Nyah!”
Harry sighed and turned back to Sirius. “It’s a bit of a long story…”
“Back to my office,” continued the Devil happily, motioning Fate and God to follow, while Sirius and Harry took up the end of the group.
The attendant was still in shock, Sirius was happy to note, as the elevator doors shut.
--*--
Two hours later, Harry signed his name with a flourish on the improved upon contract. Sirius was now going back with Harry as his partner in crime, and was exonerated for previous sins and would, as well, be given temporary immortality. Although he was only given four extra lives than Harry’s nine, both were pleased with the end results.
“Now, Harry,” began Fate, looking stern as the three sat in his cramped and dark office, “The power boost you’ll receive will make you a powerful wizard… it will also be shown in your cast spells and anything magical you do, or how you feel magic.
“Voldemort and Dumbledore have years of experience playing, manipulating and learning foreign magic. You, my boy, are only fifthteen”-
“Nearly sixteen!”
“-nearly sixteen and do not have that talent. As such, I have decided that I will also give you this,” finished Fate, holding up what appeared to be a stick of chewing gum.
“What is it?” asked Sirius, eyeing it.
“This,” beamed Fate, “Is the collective memory of Merlin’s magical and Muggle knowledge.” Seeing Harry and Sirius’s rather apprehensive faces, he hastily continued, “I understand that the Muggle knowledge might be outdated, but considering his time period that he came from - the 900s - it was a turbulent time and violent one.” There was a distinctly Dumbledore-ish twinkle in his eyes as he spoke. “The Devil will appreciate the bloody creativity you might use when you consider Merlin’s knowledge.”
Harry made a soundless “oooh,” and nodded. At Fate’s urging, he stuck it in his mouth, and chewed.
Fate held out the glowing ball of magic (and ripped off the tag with ‘30’ stamped on it) and placed it in Harry’s hand. “Hold it in front of your chest and accept it.”
Confused, Harry did as he was told and watched in awe as the cantaloupe-sized ball of magic vibrated slightly and was sucked into his body with a whoosh.
Sirius was staring agape at his godson, and both were ignoring Fate.
Fate, on the other hand, rummaged through a cardboard box on the floor and went “ah-ha!”
“Ah-ha what?” asked Sirius, curious.
“In case your completely useless wizard government decides to label you the next Dark Lord after delivering Voldemort’s soul to the Devil, you will have a failsafe.”
“What’s the failsafe?”
“The failsafe will be with you from the moment you arrive back in your own world, Harry,” explained Fate, smiling and creating tiny wrinkles around his mouth and eyes. “I am sending you Suzaku, a phoenix.”
“A phoenix?” breathed Harry in awe.
“Yes,” nodded Fate, “a phoenix. He’s very red, as most phoenixes are, but Suzaku is a bit different… well, you’ve seen Fawkes, of course?”
Harry and Sirius nodded.
“Suzaku is… larger.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh.”
--*--
Back in the Devil’s office, Harry and Sirius stood side-by-side. God and the Devil stood behind her desk, while Fate was still in his office.
“Do you think I can do this?” asked a worried Harry, biting his lower lip.
God smiled and nodded. “You were meant to do it. I’ve always believed in you, Harry Potter. Now believe in yourself.”
Harry smiled and hesitantly held out his hand, for God to shake. The black man only smiled, and stepped forward, embracing the young wizard instead.
“You’ll do well. Remember yourself, who you are, your past, who your friends are, and believe. As long as you believe in yourself, you will not stray from your path,” whispered God into his ear.
Harry, thankful for the advice, smiled and nodded. He then turned to the Devil.
She smiled, and said, “Well, I’ve grown a bit fond of you, Harry. I do think you’d like it here in Hell, if you’d give it a chance.”
“No thanks, but I appreciate the offer,” replied Harry.
“Ha!” the Devil laughed. “That’s a lie, but you did it to please a woman. I’m flattered. You take care of yourself, Harry, and have fun!” she leaned forward and kissed his cheeks. Before she pulled away, she whispered so lowly he had to concentrate, “I’ll be seeing you from time to time. Watch out for me. I’m here to help.”
Once she was back behind her desk, God looked at Sirius and Harry and said, “Good luck.”
Then, everything was painted black.
--*--
TBC...
--*--
Next chapter...
Remus Lupin was sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands, dried tear streaks on his cheeks and a rapidly burning cigarette leaning against the cap to a bottle of Fire whiskey.
“C’mon, Remus,” said Bill Weasley, entering the kitchen from off the mirror pane, “You need to get some sleep.”
“How can I sleep when Harry’s at Hogwarts, in a coma after nearly trying to off himself?!” snarled the man, rising from his seat suddenly. “I nearly lost the last thing I have to Lily and James and Sirius, and you’re telling me to sleep?? I won’t sleep until I know he’s bloody well fine! And when he does wake up, I’m going to give him such a trashing he’ll wish he hadn’t!!”
Why, Remus, I never knew you had it in you, thought Harry, slightly amused. He knew Remus wouldn’t really trash him, but rather, give him a rather stern talking to, and then crush him into a hug.
The image rippled again and this time showing the Burrow - Ron’s room. In it sat the twins, Ginny and Ron.
“Why would he do that?” asked aloud Ron, rubbing his cheeks. Ginny hiccupped and leaned into Ron’s shoulder.
“Sirius was murdered in front of him, Ron, and you often said that he acted oddly after he spoke with Dumbledore. Something was bothering him,” said one twin - Harry identified him with Fred.
George spoke up, “He had every reason to think like nothing mattered anymore.”
“But why didn’t he tell me about it?” asked Ron, in a plain, small voice that sounded more like an eight year old than a sixteen year old. “Or even Hermione? Remus? Anyone?”
The scene changed again, echoing Ginny’s loud sobs, until Harry saw an unrecognized room. It was cluttered with books and a writing desk with its top entirely covered with papers, and a large canopy bed headboard was pushed against the wall, prominently displayed in the center of the room.
Hermione was lying on the bed, clutching a stuffed toy tightly in her arms, sobbing heavily. An older woman - Harry thought to be her mother - was sitting next to her on the bed, running her hand over Hermione’s shoulders and speaking softly to her.
“Shh, oh, Hermione dear… please, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Harry,” sobbed out Hermione, sniffling. She shifted and looked up at her mother, eyes rimmed red and puffy. “He… Ron owled me about it… Harry’s at Hogwarts. He tried to kill himself!”
Mrs. Granger gave a muffled gasp, and then gathered her daughter near her, pulling her half on her lap.
“Oh, my poor baby girl,” she soothed, “It’ll be okay, Harry’s a strong man, he’ll pull himself out of it… he’ll be all right, Hermione…”
“Mum… he saw his parents die… he saw Cedric die… he saw his godfather die… what if he doesn’t want to come out of it? What if he wants to leave me alone here, all by myself? Without him? I could never continue on without Harry Potter in my life!”
Mrs. Granger’s face softened and her eyes narrowed in sympathy. “Oh, oh, Hermione… did you ever tell him? Did you tell him -”
“I think that’s enough Harry,” interrupted the Devil, and the image disappeared without an echo, and all Harry saw was his startled, pale face.
Turning, Harry saw that the Devil and God had a new piece of cream paper on the desk, near Harry’s seat. “Are you ready to help us, Harry?” asked Fate, stepping back into the room.
Nodding, and not trusting his voice, Harry sat in his seat, and read over the contract.
Contract between Harry James Potter, Wizard & the Devil & God & Fate
(1) Harry Potter must deliver to the Devil ALL souls that have been marked with the Dark Mark
(2) Harry Potter must deliver to the Devil ALL sympathetic, supporters to the Dark Lord, he who goes by the name Voldemort, A.K.A. Tom Riddle
(3) Harry Potter must KILL the above mentioned souls, also known as “The Damned”;
(3.1) How Harry Potter does so is of no consequence to the Devil or God
(3.2) All deaths shall be stricken from Harry Potter’s file
(3.3) The more creative Harry Potter is in the deaths, the more will be stricken from his file
“I can’t believe you added that in,” groused God, frowning.
“It’s incentive,” argued the Devil. “Deal with it.”
Harry continued reading.
(4) Harry Potter’s magical levels will be boosted by Fate’s intervention
(4.1) Magical skills and talents will be honed and learned subconsciously or through trial and error
(5) Harry Potter will be given temporary immortality
(5.1) He will have NINE lives and for each time he should die, one life will be removed until none remain
(5.2) The above mentioned clause will continue even after his succession in delivering the Damned
(6) When Harry Potter finally does die and comes to Limbo for judgment, should he succeed in his quest he will go to Heaven regardless of his file
(6.1) Harry Potter may join his parents and Cedric Diggory in the after life
Harry frowned. “Why my parents and Cedric? Where’s Sirius?”
Fate started. “Sirius? As in, Sirius Black?” He began to mutter.
“Pardon?” interrupted the Devil, clearly confused. “What are you blathering on about, Fate?”
The wiry and spry deity turned around and blinked owlishly at the three staring at him. “Sirius Black! He fell into that veil in the boy’s Department of Mysteries.”
“And?” asked God.
“Well, he isn’t with any of you, is he?” questioned Fate tartly. “He’s probably waiting in Limbo.”
“What?” exclaimed Harry, jumping to his feet. “He’s not dead?”
God frowned. “Well, not technically…”
The Devil smiled toothily, and rose to her feet. “I agree with Harry, let’s go see Sirius!”
Harry shot a suspicious glance at her. “Why do you want to come so badly…?”
The Devil raised a single, arched brown eyebrow. “What do you think? He nearly got Severus Snape killed in their fifth year. If he’s in Limbo, I ought to be talking to him in my office.”
“He’s a good man!” shouted Harry. “He died to protect me and did what he thought was best to save my parents! Everyone makes mistakes!”
God and Fate were quiet, with a somber look in their eyes, while the Devil’s eyes were flickering in the artificial light.
“That’s right Harry,” she said softly. “Everyone makes mistakes.”
And suddenly, Harry couldn’t breathe; it felt like a Bludger had hit him in his chest as the Devil’s words echoed in his head.
Everyone makes mistakes… Everyone makes mistakes… Everyone makes mistakes…
She was referring to him… his mistake at the end of his fifth year, what got Sirius killed, Hermione so badly hurt, Ginny’s ankle broken, and Ron’s scars with the Brains… but everyone makes mistakes.
He could too. He was merely human.
Well, for now at least.
Harry stumbled physically, blinking as her words impacted him. Finally, after wheezing and drawing in deep breaths of air, he stood tall and looked at the Devil in her kohl-rimmed eyes and nodded.
She smiled.
“Now,” interrupted Fate impatiently and sullenly, “can we go see Sirius Black?”
--*--
Sirius wasn’t exactly sure where he was. One second he was battling his cousin, and the next, he was falling face-first, belly up from an unknown height and landing painfully on a concrete floor.
He was in a rectangular room, with a desk and judge’s podium at one end, and a row of seats against the two long walls. Behind the desk were two elevator doors; one was marked “Heaven,” and the other, “Hell.”
There were a few others sitting in the room; one young man with the back of his head missing, a bloody young girl who was glaring at the young man and sitting near another young man with blood all down his front. Sirius supposed it was a lover’s spat.
An old woman sat clutching her handbag a few seats down from him, ever so often muttering about the Knight Bus running her over.
Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had heard Harry’s pain-filled voice calling for him, from the ceiling, but the voices had long since faded.
Suddenly, there was a ping! and the elevator door marked ‘Hell’ opened up. The young male attendant behind the desk immediately jumped to his feet, a scowl on his face. Sirius watched impassively until the scowl disappeared and a look of fear replaced it.
Sirius shifted his eyes and they widened. A beautiful woman in black was speaking lowly with the attendant, while a scruffy black man and Dumbledore-looking man stood next to her. Another figure was behind them, with unruly black hair, but Sirius couldn’t make his details out.
When the attendant pointed at him, however, he rose from his seat and quelled his shaking nerves.
The three plus other figure moved to him - the bickering couple and young man fell silent, and so did the witch. Sirius flashed a charming smile at the woman and said, as smoothly as he could, “Hi there, sweet thing.”
The black man’s eyebrows rose and a snort came from behind the eccentric-looking man.
The woman, however, smirked. “And I believe vanity is a point for me, God. This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Sirius,” admonished a familiar voice, “Do try to tone down the charm… I doubt the Devil will be interested in a mortal anyway.”
Sirius’s shocked gaze was jerked away from the woman - the Devil?! I just hit on the Devil??? - to the familiar voice, and involuntarily Sirius made a noise somewhere between a choke and a sob.
“Harry?!”
Harry flung himself to his godfather’s chest and hugged the man tightly, as Sirius clenched him to his body and wept into his godson’s shoulder.
“Don’t ever do that again!” whispered Harry, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, so not to cry. “Don’t leave me again!”
“What are you doing here?” Sirius finally asked, pulling back from his godson. “And where is here, exactly?”
“You’re in Limbo,” the eccentric man answered helpfully. “Where dead souls go before going to Heaven or Hell.”
Sirius gapped, before looking down at his godson and demanded, “What the hell did you do?”
“Cursing!” chirped the Devil gleefully. “Two points!”
Harry glared at her and she stuck her tongue out. “Nyah!”
Harry sighed and turned back to Sirius. “It’s a bit of a long story…”
“Back to my office,” continued the Devil happily, motioning Fate and God to follow, while Sirius and Harry took up the end of the group.
The attendant was still in shock, Sirius was happy to note, as the elevator doors shut.
--*--
Two hours later, Harry signed his name with a flourish on the improved upon contract. Sirius was now going back with Harry as his partner in crime, and was exonerated for previous sins and would, as well, be given temporary immortality. Although he was only given four extra lives than Harry’s nine, both were pleased with the end results.
“Now, Harry,” began Fate, looking stern as the three sat in his cramped and dark office, “The power boost you’ll receive will make you a powerful wizard… it will also be shown in your cast spells and anything magical you do, or how you feel magic.
“Voldemort and Dumbledore have years of experience playing, manipulating and learning foreign magic. You, my boy, are only fifthteen”-
“Nearly sixteen!”
“-nearly sixteen and do not have that talent. As such, I have decided that I will also give you this,” finished Fate, holding up what appeared to be a stick of chewing gum.
“What is it?” asked Sirius, eyeing it.
“This,” beamed Fate, “Is the collective memory of Merlin’s magical and Muggle knowledge.” Seeing Harry and Sirius’s rather apprehensive faces, he hastily continued, “I understand that the Muggle knowledge might be outdated, but considering his time period that he came from - the 900s - it was a turbulent time and violent one.” There was a distinctly Dumbledore-ish twinkle in his eyes as he spoke. “The Devil will appreciate the bloody creativity you might use when you consider Merlin’s knowledge.”
Harry made a soundless “oooh,” and nodded. At Fate’s urging, he stuck it in his mouth, and chewed.
Fate held out the glowing ball of magic (and ripped off the tag with ‘30’ stamped on it) and placed it in Harry’s hand. “Hold it in front of your chest and accept it.”
Confused, Harry did as he was told and watched in awe as the cantaloupe-sized ball of magic vibrated slightly and was sucked into his body with a whoosh.
Sirius was staring agape at his godson, and both were ignoring Fate.
Fate, on the other hand, rummaged through a cardboard box on the floor and went “ah-ha!”
“Ah-ha what?” asked Sirius, curious.
“In case your completely useless wizard government decides to label you the next Dark Lord after delivering Voldemort’s soul to the Devil, you will have a failsafe.”
“What’s the failsafe?”
“The failsafe will be with you from the moment you arrive back in your own world, Harry,” explained Fate, smiling and creating tiny wrinkles around his mouth and eyes. “I am sending you Suzaku, a phoenix.”
“A phoenix?” breathed Harry in awe.
“Yes,” nodded Fate, “a phoenix. He’s very red, as most phoenixes are, but Suzaku is a bit different… well, you’ve seen Fawkes, of course?”
Harry and Sirius nodded.
“Suzaku is… larger.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh.”
--*--
Back in the Devil’s office, Harry and Sirius stood side-by-side. God and the Devil stood behind her desk, while Fate was still in his office.
“Do you think I can do this?” asked a worried Harry, biting his lower lip.
God smiled and nodded. “You were meant to do it. I’ve always believed in you, Harry Potter. Now believe in yourself.”
Harry smiled and hesitantly held out his hand, for God to shake. The black man only smiled, and stepped forward, embracing the young wizard instead.
“You’ll do well. Remember yourself, who you are, your past, who your friends are, and believe. As long as you believe in yourself, you will not stray from your path,” whispered God into his ear.
Harry, thankful for the advice, smiled and nodded. He then turned to the Devil.
She smiled, and said, “Well, I’ve grown a bit fond of you, Harry. I do think you’d like it here in Hell, if you’d give it a chance.”
“No thanks, but I appreciate the offer,” replied Harry.
“Ha!” the Devil laughed. “That’s a lie, but you did it to please a woman. I’m flattered. You take care of yourself, Harry, and have fun!” she leaned forward and kissed his cheeks. Before she pulled away, she whispered so lowly he had to concentrate, “I’ll be seeing you from time to time. Watch out for me. I’m here to help.”
Once she was back behind her desk, God looked at Sirius and Harry and said, “Good luck.”
Then, everything was painted black.
--*--
TBC...
--*--
Next chapter...