6AN: Fixed a few mistakes here and there. Nothing big though. 1-16-21
Chapter 2
Harry was warm. He could hear humming somewhere in the distance. The scent of bacon and eggs was in the air. A soft pillow was beneath his head and the blanket felt heavenly against his skin.
Sighing contentedly he turned over, fully intending to fall back asleep. It had been ages since he had laid in such a comfortable bed. In fact, he was not sure he had ever laid on something so soft before.
He frowned slightly. Now that he thought about it that was strange. He could not remember getting in a bed. In fact...what was the last thing he could remember?
The humming grew louder. Harry's frown deepened. He had finally gone through the last Death Eater trial, so much he knew. Harry smiled at that. It had been such a relief, to finally get that behind him. The look on the face of the accused when he realised that Harry actually remembered him, had filled him with dark satisfaction.
His body grew warmer. His finger felt hot. That man had been one of those present in Malfoy Manor. One of those to laugh at Hermione's pain. To enjoy her torture. He-The heat on his finger grew hotter. It burned. It-
"You should really stop that train of thoughts," A happy echoing voice said from across the room.
Harry's eyes snapped open.
"That is better." The voice praised.
There was a pause as Harry's eyes zeroed in on the person standing before the stove.
"I have made you breakfast." Death said, showing him a pen filled with bacon and eggs. It was arranged to look like a smiley.
Harry gaped. Closing his eyes and carefully rubbing them, he looked again. The bacon smiley was still there.
"Well...many potion accidents can cause hallucinations...," Harry mumbled to himself. In the background Death transferred the content of the pan onto a plate. "Also, Hermione has once said something about..." Harry frowned. Death set the plate on the table. A cheerfully pink napkin and a glass of orange juice was put next to it. "...about magical accidents being able to cause...anomalies…" His eyebrows arched as Death put a pink straw in the glass. "...anomalies in the brain."
Carefully considering the option of having some kind of stroke, Harry went to the table and set down in a chair. In a painfully pink chair. The kitchen counter was pink too. The covers he had just left behind also. Now that he thought about it, except for the table, and thankfully Death himself, everything in the room was pink.
Harry shuddered at the thought of the entity wearing pink. There was only so much his heart could take.
"My sister said you would like it," Fork pausing halfway to his mouth, Harry stared at Death. "Sister...no, you know what? I do not want to know." With that Harry shoved a forkful of, surprisingly good, bacon in his mouth.
"Don't you have questions?" The echoing voice asked, a tint of confusion colouring its tone.
"No, this is merely an…" Harry paused to gulp down some juice. He was really thirsty. "...anomaly in my brain. That might or might not cause my death." He paused "Well, cause you." He shrugged and went back to eating.
The entity filled his glass back up. Harry had the feeling it was amused. "Ah, denial. You humans are fond of denying the obvious." Harry pointedly put his fork down. "Alright," he said. "If this is real, then why can I see clearly?"
"Magic," it simply stated.
"And why did I wake up in a room I have never seen before? In a-" He took a moment to look out the window noticing long stretches of grass and a hill, he had never seen before. There was even a river and trees. "-country I have never been in?"
"Magic and-" Before Harry could say anything, the entity added, "we are in Britain." Harry frowned. "Well, not the Britain you are used to, but a Britain."
Reaching up to rub his itching eyes, Harry froze. His hands were-
"Slight adjustments had to be made to your body," Death said while taking Harry's plate to the sink.
"Slight adjustments…" Harry said tonelessly, staring at his too small hands in horror.
"Yes." It paused and turned to him. "They were necessary to grant your wish." For a moment he felt like the entity was examining his very soul. He felt breathless, he-
Then Death grabbed his empty glass and turned back to the sink. "The price was already paid." It said with a tone of finality.
Harry gulped. That did not sound good. He did not remember wishing for anything. When had he even-
"You are in the body of your ten year old self." The echoing voice said without inflection. "Or one version of yourself anyway." It paused. "Are you familiar with the theory of the multiverse?"
Seeing Harry still frozen in shock it shrugged before putting a teapot on the shove. As much as a shadowy entity could anyway. "You will understand in time."
While it finished drying up, he rushed to the mirror he had seen out of the corner of his eyes. When he saw his mirror image he gasped. His eyes were bright green. He could swear they were even faintly glowing. What-
"That only happens when your emotions are out of balance. Others won't notice. Except for in extreme circumstances. Muggles won't notice it at all."
Sighing, he continued to take in his features. His hair was longer than he remembered and dark black. His skin was paler too. He was as small as he had been with ten. The most horrifying realisation however was-
Spinning around, he shouted, "Why am I wearing Duddley's clothes again?!"
Death calmly poured a cup of tea. "Lemon and ginger. Helps with the nerves." Harry wanted to scream. Taking a deep breath, he asked again, "Why am I wearing the clothes the Dursleys gave me?"
Death turned its hood towards Harry and he could have sworn it smirked. "Oh? I thought this was what-" It paused as though thinking. "Ah, yes, merely an anomaly of the brain, yes?" It's tone became slightly amused. "Why would it matter, what you wear in your...what did you call it? Right, in your delusions."
Harry closed his eyes, taking the time to suppress his rising wish to physically attack an entity. Carefully pronouncing each word, he grit out, "The clothes?"
The entity added honey into his tea. "This version of you was still living with the Dursleys when the adjustments happened." It put the spoon beside the cup. "I took the liberty of taking you here for an easier transmission. You need to learn a few things before you may return. It is also a precaution, so you won't do anything you will regret out of a misguided sense of invincibility."
It gestured Harry over. "Now drink. You have yet time to accept this as reality."
Taking a moment to look back at his mirror image Harry sighed. The resurrection stone was glowing on his finger. It was humming also. With a start he realised that this was the sound that had woken him.
"The magic in the stone and your core has yet to settle." Death said as he cut a few oranges into pieces. Harry watched in fascination as they were arranged to look like the sun. "Once your soul has merged with the one in this body," At this his startled gaze snapped over to the entity. "You might have felt a warmth in your body while waking up. It is one of the symptoms. Along with the itching in your eyes."
"There is truth to the saying that the eyes are the windows to the soul." He put the plate on the table. "Once you have settled a bit, the merging process will truly begin."
Harry slowly walked over and plopped down into the chair. "Don't worry, it will happen when you sleep." It sounded like a reassurance, but was not reassuring at all. "Now eat, the process is hard enough on your body as it is."
Slowly starting to eat, Harry asked in-between bites, "Why are you doing this?"
He had the feeling the entity smiled. It was an eerie sensation. "I am here to ensure the survival of," The temperature in the room dropped, "the Master of Death."