Chapter Text
This was not the first time in his life that Harry believed himself to be losing his mind and, like all the previous times the feeling of madness had flooded him, he hoped that there was a rational explanation for it.
His most recent flight of lunacy was caused by a young woman he was sure was stalking him.
“Harry are you sure you saw someone out here.” Hermione asked with the tact of a hippopotamus on a rampage.
“Hermione I’m telling you I saw her. She had black hair and her skin was so pale I’m telling you she’s real.” Harry shouted back as he looked from one tree trunk to another as though she was simply playing hide and seek.
“Mate this is getting concerning!” Ron shouted back at him from the clearing where they had taken Teddy, Rose and Hugo out for picnic.
“I’m well aware!” Harry shouted back before taking one final sweep of the forest. He sighed to himself as he turned around to make his way back to the picnic.
It had been weeks of this.
It didn’t matter where he was or what he was doing he would see her over and over again.
Some days he would see her through the shop windows at Diagon Ally. Other times he would see her face in a crowd of people. It didn’t matter if they were in the wizarding world or the muggle. She was always there smiling back at him.
Her long black hair cascading behind her, her pale skin taking on almost a blue tint and her lips a whisper of a smile. She would always smile at him and no matter who was with him it was like he and only he could see her.
He could feel her calling out to him. Like the magic drumming under his skin would sing whenever she was near. He could feel it, the breeze would carry her song, the leaves would shiver and shake and then there she was.
He knew he was looking at her and she at him but the moment he looked away she would be gone. Without a single trace and he would be left to wonder if she was real or nothing but a figment of his imagination.
Everyone thought he was losing his mind whenever he would bring it up. Time and time again Ron would tell him he hadn’t seen anyone or Hermione would promise him no one had been there. Everyone was starting to become more and more concerned whenever the topic would come up.
Harry knew he wasn’t making it easier for himself, it had been 9 years since the war and while every one else had been anxious to continue on with their lives he had decided to finally give himself a moment to catch his breath.
For years he had enjoyed his seclusion, his new home was an estate in Scotland, away from the prying eyes of the press and the wizarding world and his life centred around his friends and godchildren and nothing more.
It was a good life and one he had grown to love even when his self imposed loneliness weighed on his soul. But recently he felt purposeless, restless like there was more for him to do and see and learn and yet no matter what he turned his attention to it all just felt wrong.
His return to London had caused more nausea than excitement. His consulting work with the Aurors department felt less like coming home and more like the wrongness of feeling another’s skin on your body under a pollyjuice potion.
Even his home in Grimmauld Place felt wrong, he had renovated it and redecorated it well over a dozen times and much to Kreecher’s dismay it was never enough.
Everything just didn’t fit quite right and he could not understand why.
So naturally he was obsessing about this mirage rather than trying to make sense of his own problems and ill fitting life.
He shook his head softly to himself as he saw Hermione return to the clearing and pull Hugo into her arms while Ron ran away from them, no doubt running after Rose and Teddy before they got themselves into some mischief.
And then he felt it again, the slight upturn of the breeze, the whisper of magic on his skin, the dancing of the trees. She was here.
All of a sudden his body was moving without his thoughts pushing him to do so. He didn’t know where he was going or why. He could vaguely hear his friends shouting for him but their voices faded away into the distance. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was there. That she was waiting for him.
He couldn’t have run far, it felt like only a moment and yet he had no idea where he was. He couldn’t hear the kids and their rambunctious laughter or Ron and Hermione’s shouts.
He was in the woods and yet the forest around him felt different.
“It’s magic of course.” A quiet voice said behind him.
His neck snapped in her direction, his body moving toward her like a fish on a line.
“Who are you?” He asked before he could think to even look at her. If he had it would have been obvious.
“I think you know the answer to that my lord.” He voice was a hypnotic lull, like an ancient lullaby. Her eyes were blacker than night and yet they shined like stars in distance galaxies. Her hair was long enough to reach the ground and her skin, it was the palest blue he had ever seen. Then there was her smile, it was breath taking.
“Death” he whispered her name and was rewarded with her smile.
“I am surprised it was not you that sought me out first.” She said with a chuckle as she walked past him and took a seat on a long fallen tree. Her robes billowing around her in a glimmer of invisibility just like his own.
“Can you blame me? You’ve taken so much from me already.” The resentment bled into his voice whether he willed it or not. It was the singular truth on which his entire life revolved. Loss and grief were his oldest companions.
“I’m sorry.” His head snapped at attention as the sincerity in her voice caught him off guard. “I know just how much I took from you and I took no pleasure in it.” She didn’t
meet his eyes, couldn’t have even if she had wanted to. It wasn’t guilt that marred her features but rather concession.
“Your hands were tied I suppose.” He placated, hoping to forgive her even where it wasn’t warranted.
She offered him a ghost of a smile in response.
“I am a necessity. There is little that can be done, I am a constant in this world and so I move as fate commands me.” She was well versed, her words rolled off her tongue with an ease of comfort that was beyond Harry’s understanding.
“Is that why you’re here? Is… is it my time?” Harry asked cautiously, his instincts telling him to run despite the comicality of the notion.
Death smiled before she shook her head. “Not yet. No that is not why I am here.”
The confusions on Harry’s face was enough to make Death laugh, her laugher was like the melodic sound of wind chimes.
“If you wanted to have a chat over a cup of tea you could have just asked.” Harry teased to which he was rewarded with another laugh.
“I will be sure to take you up on that offer one day my lord.” She added with a smile. Harry smiled back, happy to ease her worry if even for a moment. It seemed almost painfully obvious how alone she must be.
“You keep calling me your lord. I don’t think I’m a noble but then again I don’t know much about my family.” Harry asked as he took a seat next to her. His eyes taking in his surrounding, she was right he could practically feel the magic in the air.
“You are the master of death. I didn’t think you could forget that so easily.” She said softly, her curiosity evident as she looked up at him.
Harry’s face turned quickly back at her as the shock coursed through him. That old story couldn’t have actually meant anything.
“I thought that was just part of the old children’s story. I didn’t think it…meant anything?” He asked cautiously. She smiled back at him and nodded before looking up above at the sky.
“It does and it doesn’t. The old stories they’re not all right or all wrong but they are still true. The deathly hollows. They were made by my hand and to wield them all is to wield my magic.” Death explained.
“But… but I don’t. Not any more. The stone is lost and the wand… about the wand-“ Harry began almost as though he was about to ramble into an apology for breaking such a important relic but she stopped him before he could begin.
“You broke it.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that.” He added sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Death laughed gently at Harry’s discomfort.
“I do not blame you. It was the right decision to make but you see my power was in each of those items and to use them meant drawing on my power. When you broke the wand my power had to go somewhere.” She explained gently as she watched Harry’s eyes widen comically in shock.
“Oh Merlin’s beard please tell me I didn’t unleashed it on the world! Shit shit shit shit shit!” Harry panicked. Death quickly rested her hand on his shoulder and began to try and calm the man in front of him.
“No no not quite. Harry you absorbed my magic. You aren’t just a normal wizard anymore the magic, my magic is now a part of your very being.” Death explained but only panic was coursing through the boy who lived.
“Does this mean I’m going to die? Wait does this mean I can’t ever die? I don’t want to live forever! I mean no offence I’m just saying- shit I don’t know what I’m saying what am I going to do!?” The panic was setting in but Death with the tact of an immortal being grabbed him by the arms and shook him until he finally calmed down.
“My lord you have had my magic running through your veins for years and nothing has happen. You are fine.” She calmed him before he could continue to spiral.
“But you’re here. There must be a reason. A problem?” He asked cautiously. For a moment she seemed to look abashed, almost embarrassed. The emotion didn’t suit her face in the slightest.
“That’s … that’s not the reason I’m here.” She added.
“Me having deaths magic coursing through my veins isn’t the reason you’re here? What could be more important than telling me that!?” Harry exclaimed
“I had actually planned on telling you about the magic for some time now but… well you see time can be a little tricky.” If she didn’t look so embarrassed and sincere Harry would have been far more upset than he was. But something about seeing her so nervous felt wrong.
She was death after all. She was powerful and ethereal and some part of him just knew that something was wrong here.
“I don’t mean to be curt but then why are you here?” He asked as he sat back down on the log. She sighed and took a seat next to him.
“I… I have a request. A favour actually and you’re the only one who I can ask… who can help me.”
Harrys eyes widened at the prospect of him being of any use to Death herself but there was something about her. She seemed resigned. Defeated.
“I’ll help.” He found himself saying before the concept had even cemented in his mind. If she needed his help then so be it. That’s exactly what he would do. Now he just needed to figure out how.
“My lord this isn’t a small-“
“It doesn’t matter to me. Big or small I’ll help you.” His conviction was startling even for Death. Death had known all of mankind, the best and the worst of them and yet no one had ever offered to help her. Not once. Not before today.
“Thank you” She said as she smiled back at him brightly.
“So what do you need me to do? Does it involve snakes? I can still talk to them and they make for wonderful company.” Harry asked just to try and get her to laugh again. When it worked he smiled back at her.
“No no snakes. He’s a person. He needs help and… and there’s no way that I can help him.” She explained sadly.
“Oh. Who is he? Does he have a name? Is he a wizard? I’m sure the ministry keeps record of everyone.” He asked confused why Death would ask him to help one single person.
“No the ministry won’t know of him. I mean they do but not… not as he is.”
“I’m sorry you’re not making much sense. But my friend Hermiones great with riddles maybe she can help?” He added as he became more and more confused. Death laughed and shook her head.
“Allow me to explain. This person he has lived by many names and identities over the millennia-“
“He’s that old!?”
Death nodded solemnly.
“I think of him as the ancient one. He… I told you earlier that I am the hand of fate. I act as the fates demand and I cannot act until they allow. His time. It has not come yet.”
Harry was taken aback by the thought. Why would someone be forced to live for so long by the fates. It seemed cruel.
“Is he cursed?” Harry asked solemnly.
Death shook her head no and then sighed.
“It might as well be. Hes waiting for someone. He’s been waiting for the same person to return to him for over 1500 years.” She explained.
“1500 years!?!” Harry exclaimed in shock but Death just nodded gravely.
“My lord I… He calls to me. He has for centuries begging me to take him to the land of the dead. To return him to his loved ones. But I… I can not. My hands are tied and I am helpless but to watch his suffering and … he does not deserve this. He has isolated himself from the world. He refuses to live and I don’t know what else I can do.”
Harry had always hated to see people cry and seeing the pain on Deaths face was a stake through the heart. He wanted to help her. He would.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to help him but I can sure as hell try. Where can I find him?” Death smiled softly back at him. The weight on her shoulders finally dropping.
“I’ve brought you a map and a compass. They will guide you to the hidden realm he has created. You will have to go alone only my magic will allow you to pass into Avalon. The rest is up to you.” She explained as she pulled a map and a compass and handed it to him. Then she reached around her neck and unlocked her necklace and medallion before placing same around Harry’s neck.
“And the necklace?” He asked.
“To call for me. Wrap your hand around it and call my name and I will appear.” She explained.
“And your name?” He asked gently.
She smiled back at his before speaking.
“I have many but I’ve always preferred Amaya.” She said with a smile. Harry nodded as he reached down and held the medallion in his hand. It was made of a silver casing and in its centre was an obsidian jackal.
“This necklace-“ Harry looked up only to realize he was alone once again.