Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was dark in the narrow hallways, prophecies were left unattended on the shelves, some too close to the edge. Harry was breathing heavily, he had lost all his friends while running. He looked around, but he saw no one, not even the deatheaters. Something was wrong.

He took one final deep breath and stood up straight, wand in hand, ready to strike at any possible threat. He took silent steps towards the nearest hallway, there was a faint sound of people shouting spells and he understood he got it right. He followed the screams and was lead to another room, a big spacious one.

His heart swelled with hope when he saw Sirius and other members of the order fighting the deatheaters away from his friends. The first one to see him was Luna, who looked up and smiled, then mouthed a quiet "hide". But he ignored her, the deatheaters might be after the prophecy he was holding, but he wouldn't stop helping out his friends, not when he was the one that messed up in the first place!

“Harry!” this time it was Sirius speaking, his eyes filled with fear. Harry was confused, was his godfather afraid that he might be hurt? But the quick movement on his left made him understand why the man was scared. He lowered himself immediately, covering his head with his hands, something he did often as a child, and the prophecy slid out of his hand and onto the cold floor. The sound of glass breaking hurt his ears, and he looked up.

His eyes met the silver ones of Lucius Malfoy. The man’s gaze quickly followed the prophecy on the floor and he glared when he saw it breaking.

Harry tried to stand up, but something hit his head and he was forced back down, hot blood running in his messy hair and he almost screamed.

“HARRY” this time Sirius wasn't the only one shouting, but even like that everything the boy could hear was glass breaking. He realized too late that Lucius’ spell had hit the shelf by his side and now all the prophecies were talking on him.

Sirius moved his wand mumbling a spell and stopped the shelf from falling on Harry, but as the boy finally felt safe another scream ripped through the air.

"Avada kedavra!" Bellatrix had used Sirius’ distraction to her advantage and the spell hit the man square in the chest. Harry screamed as he saw his godfather back away, but he didn't have the time to grieve that the whole shelf fell on him

<3

Harry was confused to say the least, he was laying in a comfortable bed in St Mungus but he felt that something was wrong. The palace was different from the last time he saw it, when he came to visit Mr Weasley.

No one had entered his room yet, that too was strange. Where were his friends? Were they mad at him? He couldn't blame them, Sirius’ death and the attack were his fault.

He had been awake twenty minutes, twenty minutes he spent crying his heart out until his eyes burned like crazy.

He could barely see when a healer walked in, she was a tall woman with long black hair. She barely glanced at him, like it didn't bother her he was crying.

“I see you are awake” her voice didn't hold any emotion either, she scanned some papers and looked at him again “do you remember your name?”

“What?” Harry looked up at her confused, he used the back of his hand to rub his eyes and get his vision back. She didn't know who he was? Not that he was complaining, it was annoying that everyone recognized him because of his scar. But the situation was unusual.

The woman barely raised an eyebrow: “I’ll take that as a no” she wrote something down “the aurors will be here in no time”

After that she left, no explanation, no concern, nothing. Harry bit his bottom lip and looked around, maybe they had left something that would help him understand for what he was being treated.

Ten minutes later two aurors walked in, the boy was out of bed, on his own shaky legs looking at the drawer next to his bed.

“Curious?” one of the aurors asked, he seemed amused. Harry looked up at them, they looked almost identical, but the one on the left was shorter and the one on the right had a scar on his cheek.

“Sorry, they didn't tell me what happened” Harry mumbled and he sat down on his bed once again “where are my friends?”

The two men looked at each other, they seemed nervous. The one on the right spoke “We found you alone in the Ministry, where the unspeakable work. How did you get in there?”

Harry blinked confused, they left him alone? Or did the deatheaters kidnap his friends? But the members of the order were strong, they wouldn't let the dark wizards take them.

“Alone?” he mumbled confused.

“What were you doing there?” this time it was the one on the left that was speaking, he looked impatient.

“I-” Harry was not sure what to say “we had to grab a prophecy, one about me” he lied, he couldn't tell the aurors about Sirius.

The two aurors glance at each other once more, they didn't seem to believe him but played along anyway.

“Sure” mumbled “the healer said you don't remember your name”

Harry moved his head to the side, making sure his fringe moved to the side to show his scar, as to test if they would recognize him. One of them scanned it but said nothing.

“We are Lucian and Dorian Yaxley” the man on the left pointed at himself then at his brother. Harry blinked, he remembered that name, but the only Yaxley he knew was a deatheaters, and they were aurors. Something was really wrong.

“Would you mind running a blood test for us?”

“A blood test?” Harry was confused, he was used to muggle ones so he wasn't sure what the auror meant.

The man nodded and handed him some paper and a knife, when he saw Harry waiting Lucian explained to the boy that he had to let some drops of his blood fall on the paper.

“Do you know the date?” the man asked, Harry shook his head “it's the 28th of August 1942”

Harry froze, he didn't even see the words forming on the parchment. 1942? What the fuck! It was too early, he wasn't even born yet!

The aurors took his panic as disorientation, as Lucina tried to convince him he was out for long, only a week or two, Dorian was reaching for the parchment. He scanned it quickly.

“Harrison Atlas Evans” he mumbled “Halfblood, homeschooled. Son of Atlas Caleb Evans, muggleborn, and June Elin Peverell”

Lucian moved closer to his twin to look at Harry’s information too and smiled “you have a sister! Enya June Evans, she should be here”

As he finished saying it, the door opened and a girl walked in. She was concerningly pale, and had long black hair, her eyes were like Harry’s. She smiled but something in her was cold.

“Brother!” she rushed to Harry’s side and when the aurors couldn't see her she winked at him, he understood she was in a similar situation as him “I was so worried for you!”

Then she turned to the aurors “that unspeakable called him in his office and then he just disappeared! Why did the healer not call me?” She yelled, extremely angry, the two men looked at each other.

“Well-”

“I don't wanna hear it! Bring her in now” the twins rushed out in a hurry, and the girl calmed down.

“Enya?” Harry mumbled.

“I hate that name” she scoffed “just go by Ea”

“You-” the boy hesitated for a moment and she seemed to pick up on what he was about to say.

“No, but hey! You aren't dead” she winked at him.

“How do you know?”

“Because I am death”

Chapter Text

Harry was left alone in the room to change, Ea said she would have dealt with the aurora and left the room a while ago. The boy couldn't care less, he could barely focus.

He was in the past, he was alone. Well, not completely since death was on his side, but that's not good either.

His friends? Gone. The order? Gone. The teacher, the other students? Gone, gone. Like the deatheaters, Voldemort, and everyone he knew and who knew him. This couldn't be happening.

The clothes he was given were clearly muggle and if had worn them around Hermione she would have probably called them vintage. As he finished buttoning up the jacket Ea walked back in.

“Let's go, I already settled everything with the aurora” she reached a hand out for him to grab and even if hesitant he took it. Appearing always made him feel sick, and this time was no different, he almost fell on the new wooden floor.

When his head stopped spinning he looked up and saw he was in a different place, it was a small living room, it looked cozy with a black couch and a coffee table.

“This is” he tried to say, but he couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. ‘our house’, it felt so different from the Dursley’s or even the Weasley’s.

“Yes” Ea barely nodded, she had walked up to one of the doors, she was in the kitchen and stemmed to be grabbing something from the fridge “come sit, you need meat”

Harry slowly stood up and walked into the room, this one was even smaller and cramped, but he didn't mind too much. He sat down on one of the stools and waited for the girl to finish cooking.

They are in silence, or at least Harry ate, while Ea just stared at him. It reminded him of a story he had read about Dracula in elementary school and he felt uncomfortable.

“Reincarnation takes a lot of energy” Harry finally looked up, so he was right, he did reincarnate “and a great will to survive”

Ea studied him for a few seconds, as if waiting for him to speak, so he did: “why am I here?”

A simple question, but death laughed like it was a funny joke.

“Well, you see…” she chewed on her lips as if trying to find the right words “there are many universes, and I can walk between them. I dragged you along this time”

Harry’s stomach dropped, the situation was worse than he expected “you clearly want something from me, if I do it will you send me back?”

Ea smirked and nodded “yes, let's make a deal!” She giggled like a child “If you make sure Tom Riddle doesn't make ANY horcrux, I'll send you back”

Harry frowned “I expected something more noble, like stopping him from being a dark lord”

Ea shook her shoulders “I am death, I am not moral”

Harry took a deep breath, it was a good plan, he could make sure Tom Riddle didn't take any stupid decision and go back to his universe “I'm in”

“Awesome!” Ea clapped her hands “let me fill you in with your story” she pointed at his body.

“We are siblings, I am a year younger than you. Our parents were persecuted by the current dark lord, Grindelwald, because she was a Peverell that married a muggle”

Harry felt his chest hurt, Lily and James were no longer his parents. He never met them but he felt like he lost them a second time. He was no longer their son.

“I gave some purebloods some vague memories of ‘our mother’” death didn't even seem to notice “since they were scared for our lives we were given to our muggle relatives, they were just like the Dursley”

Harry glared “you could have given me a happy childhood”

Ea shook her head “Stupid child, I can not heal your traumas! And this story explains you…behavior”

Harry was about to insult her but she gave him a look that screamed ‘let me finish'.

“They came back to pick us up and teach us magic when you were eleven. In an hidden village or some shit-”

“Shouldn't it be more precise?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Look, I am death! I don't have too much time in my hands!” She scoffed “then Grindelwald found us. Or better his men! And our parents were killed”

She turned to look at him “and we tortured, you look like someone who got beaten"

Harry raised an eyebrow, he had been abused by the Dursley but no one ever said such a thing to him! Maybe because his scar was well known, or because everyone believed he lives like a spoiled brat.

“What do you mean?” He asked, and a mirror appeared in front of his eyes. His blood ran cold as he saw his own reflection, he looked TERRIBLE. He was covered in scars that almost hid the lightbolt one “WHAT THE FUCK”

Ea sighed “do not overreact! In the other universe a whole shelf of prophecies fell on you, what did you expect?”

Harry touched his face, all those cuts had healed in the wrong way and he felt his hands shaking. He couldn't hide them.

“Do not be so sensitive!”

“Shut up!”

Ea sighed and shook her head, mumbling something about mortals being too much drama.

“One last thing, you’ll start Hogwarts in your sixth year, I faked your OWLs. So you better study”

<3

Time was quick, way too fast. Harry spent his days sleeping and crying and his nights studying. Ea barely spoke to him and was rarely around, she cooked for him saying he needed meat, which was annoying.

The night before the first day of school Harry was on his bed hugging his pillow, he didn't feel happy. Not like he usually was when he was going back to Hogwarts.

The door of his room opened and Ea walked in, she looked less pale and her face was softer, she was wearing a long white nightgown. She looked more human than usual.

She sat sex to him and spoke in a soft voice “I don't understand mortal suffering” she started “but I understand some of your feelings”

Harry looked up at her confused “what does it mean”

“For me you are like a pet” she said, which almost made Harry laugh “I do care for you even if you are not my equal”

“You have always been close to me” he whispered, he has seen so much pain in his life, he felt like he had always known death.

“So stop crying, it makes me feel strange” her voice was a bit less gentle “I can't kill anyone, but I am always here if you need me”

“Thank you” he mumbled, the with a small laugh he added “sister”

Ea looked at him like he had gone crazy “do not”

<3

“He is in the last compartment” Harry looked up at Ea, they had just boarded the train and he was about to enter an empty compartment.

“Who?”

“Tom” she said, like it was obvious “this is the year he’ll make his first horcrux, so do not mess this up”

As she finished the sentence she grabbed her luggage and walked in the opposite direction, Harry tried to follow her.

“Where are you going!” he glared, she stopped in her tracks and he bumped into her.

“I can feel a girl dying, maybe cancer” she shook her shoulders “being around her will give me energy. Now go, you have a mission”

Harry stared at the girl as she marched into a compartment, and he felt sorry for whoever she was after but he couldn't do anything about it. He grabbed his luggage and started walking for the long hallway, as he reached the end of the train he was nervous.

He looked between the two doors, one would lead him face to face with his mortal enemy. He bit his lip, deciding that if he picked the wrong one he would just ignore his mission.

He took one last deep breath and reached for the one on the right, the chatter quieted down immediately as he opened the door. Four Slytherin boys were looking up at him, and, closer to the window, a boy with dark eyes raised an eyebrow. He recognized those eyes from that terrible night he fought the basilisk. The boy was the exact same age and as arrogant as ever: Tom Crazy Snake Face Riddle.

“All the other compartments are full, can I sit with you guys?” Fuck, why did he sound so much like Ron.