The Master of Death

Chapter 16: Fear and Revelation

Over the next few days, Harry noticed that Sirius was in a bad mood. Harry did not know if it was because he would not stay with Sirius now that he was allowed to return to Hogwarts, or because Remus was once again absent to work for the order.

"Hey Sirius" Harry greeted him as the holidays were coming to an end. She meets him in the hallway, after which she, Ron and Hermione finally finish cleaning the moldy closet.

Thankfully no one noticed Harry using his magic to keep the smell away from him and to clean up some of the harsher stains. "On the way to lock yourself in with Buckbeak huh?" Harry asked, "Never leave your room again, right?" Sirius shrugged his shoulders in annoyance and muttered something. "You wanna get out of here for a second?"

Sirius' eyes were slightly twinkling. "Yes. What's on your mind?"

"Come on," Harry shrugged, "We can visit Remus."

"Remus has a business of order" said Sirius, "He was disguised as a werewolf. It took days to find them other than the fact that visiting him would threaten his mission."

"I don't understand why Dumbledore still sent him there" Harry said. He somehow doubted that finding Remus would be a problem.

"I knew. He hated it" said Sirius, "it was there, with the other werewolves."

"Well, he doesn't like his own wolves either."

"Whoever?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Harry replied, "Most of her ignore it."

"The wolf - you mean the wolf man?"

"Mhm. I can feel it. The wolf grows stronger with the approaching full moon. It's a bit like a multiple personality. Generally, they are the same person, like two sides of the same currency. I think it would be better for Remus, if he sometimes gave up on his wolves."

"Walk around and bite people or piss on trees to mark someone's territory?" Sirius asked. "Don't laugh, I've seen him do it. He also wags his tail if he's happy."

Harry grinned beside Sirius. "No. But if he was willing to listen to it more, he wouldn't put up with so much nonsense. He had long since stopped carrying out missions, which he considered pointless anyway." Sirius hummed in agreement.

"Harry, the letters from Hogwarts are here!" Ron shouted from below. Sirius breathed.

"You should go. We can go out next time," he said. Harry had already turned around but stopped to face him once more.

"Sirius, I know this is none of my business, but are you and Remus a couple?" Harry asked curiously. Sirius looked surprised but then sighed once more, as he leaned against the wall.

"This-It's complicated. We were once one thing, you know? Now..." Sirius let out a dry laugh, "We haven't talked about it since I escaped," said his godfather and flicked his long hair.

"If it bothers you, do something about it" Harry suggested. "He likes you and you like him."

"I don't know" said Sirius. "Sometimes more complicated than that. He thought I was a traitor for over ten years and I can't blame him."

"Sirius, that guy shaved his beard because you said it looked stupid!" Harry insisted. "You'll regret it if you don't do anything" said Harry and with a last look at Sirius, he left.

At night, Harry found himself sitting in the kitchen under a banner that read, "Congratulations to the new prefects, Ron and Hermione". Mrs Weasley was overjoyed and her good mood seemed to be contagious because everyone had once forgotten the reason that brought them here. The whole commotion about it was a little disturbing, at least in Harry's opinion. After all, Sirius had found peace after Remus arrived in the afternoon and Harry immediately chose a seat near them, as they did not look at him with pity. Even Kingsley questioned Dumbledore's decision not to choose Harry as prefect. Lastly, very satisfied not having to deal with that unnecessary workload.

Harry busied himself wondering if Sirius had heeded his advice about Lupin. But eventually, even this loses its appeal and after a brief conversation with the twins about their 'more illegal' purchase made possible by Mundungus, she finds herself in the chair next to Ron, who is, yang explains each feature of his new broom to Tonks as Mrs Weasley has bought him one, as a gift because he was declared perfect. "... yes, zero to seventy in ten seconds, compared to the old one..."

Harry turned away from the conversation and looked at the other person in the room.

Fred and George sat in a corner and still talked to Mundungus, Moody bit his chicken leg after he analyzed it for about five minutes - Harry felt his gaze on her all night - and the others were engrossed in their own conversation. Finally, Mrs Weasley yawned loudly.

"I think I'll get rid of that Boggart guy before I go to bed... Arthur, I don't want the kids staying up late. Good night Harry" he said as he walked past.

Harry nodded and then turned to the table and his gaze passed over Sirius and Remus. Harry grinned at the werewolves when their eyes met. He raised an eyebrow. Remus stared back and he looked a little confused. From his point of view, Harry should not have been able to see what was going on. But Harry is the Master of Death. The perception has changed and in this case... Harry stared intently at the table, where Sirius placed his hand on Remus' thigh, the energy around their bodies betraying them.

Harry grinned at Lupin, who suddenly lifted his head, listening attentively as a voice came from upstairs. No one else seemed to notice that Mrs Weasley's fight against Boggart was not going well.

He had been gone for about ten minutes, but Harry did not care much. Remus ignored the voice and turned to talk to Sirius.

Harry knew that Moody was watching him. Bright blue eyes had been staring at him all night, apart from a few glances here and there. Mad-eye raised her head as Harry pushed her chair back with a scratching sound and stood up. He saw no reason to stay any longer. He can also sleep and wait for tomorrow.

Harry left the table as Moody's eyes turned toward the ceiling. He could hear Mad-Eye grumbling. "Molly seems to have a problem with Boggart..."

"Don't worry Arthur," another voice interrupted as Harry was halfway up the stairs to the entrance hall. Maybe Remus. "After all, I was thinking about going to bed. I'll see it." Harry could hear the scraping sound of a chair being pushed back, as he continued on his way. He knew what was waiting for them when they reached the second floor. The hollow twang of Moody's wooden leg was also heard. Harry sighed. Now he had to go to Mrs Weasley if he didn't want to raise too many suspicions. Even more so after his trial. Death watched him silently as he made his decision.

"You know, if you don't invade my mind, I don't have to think about getting in there or not" Harry whispered as he reached the living room door. Slow whispers could be heard from behind him.

"It looks like you're pretty fine with it," Death replied with a grin.

"Yes, because I don't really care" Harry replied. "And the part that should worry me more, is, I don't care, that I don't care."

"But you still like me" said Death. Harry looked at the creature with a curious look. He did not expect this answer. Their influential relationship really seemed to go both ways.

When he felt the arrogance of Death, Harry shook his head, silently laughing. "Alright, alright. You're the right bastard, you know that?" Harry pushed the door open. "Now, come on," he said from over his shoulder.

Harry wiped a grin from his face as he entered the room. Mrs Weasley was sitting on the floor, crying and weakly swinging her staff. "Ri-Riddi-," she started hiccups. On the ground in front of him was Ron's corpse until it turned into Percy's one a second later. Or at least, pretend to be him. It radiates darkness. Suddenly turned into Mr. Weasley. His glasses slipped from his face and a drop of blood flowed from his nose. Molly was crying. "Ri-Riddiculus" Mrs Weasley stuttered. Harry, who was dead, lay in front of him. "Riddiculus." The twins lie next to each other. "Riddiculus-" It turns into Bill, eyes wide open, arms outstretched like trying to fly.

"Come on Mrs Weasley" said Harry and pulled his elbow, "Get out of here."

Harry pushed him towards the door where Remus had just entered, followed by Sirius and Moody. The werewolf could not even react when Mrs Weasley stumbled towards him.

"It was just Molly Boggart," he said, arms full of Mrs Weasley's cries. Harry turned around as Moody stared over his shoulder. Boggart has turned his attention to the nearest person there is, and in this case, Harry .

Harry stared at the curved mass, which turned into the first form of Dementor, but it changed not even fully formed. The red eyes on the noseless face replaced the black hood, hiding the slimy face of the Dementor and disappearing back into the mass until it changed once more. He doesn't know what to do. Harry tilted his head, wondering what the creature would look like. Honestly, he doesn't know. The thought of a Dementor did not frighten him and he had lost all his fear of Voldemort long ago.

Except for a moment of panic when the knife was about to stab Death like a snake, Harry was not afraid. Not really. Death cannot be hurt. Harry was convinced of that now that he had seen his true form.

Meanwhile, Boggart seemed more desperate with each change. They happen faster and faster.

It turned into one of the inferries Harry saw in the cave with Voldemort's Horcruxes. His stomach contents fell from the bloodless wound on his stomach. Harry heard a startled sigh behind him, but a moment later the Boggart fell and changed. The organs retreated back into the body, which had now been encased, but three more wounds were formed, and blood flowed out of them.

Harry is under the impression that Boggart is trying to change everything that Harry has ever feared in his life.

The arch began to move and widened to become a giant Basilisk, with a bloody hole where his eyes should be. Already shrunk, his fur grew and turned into Fluffy who soon lost two of his head and turned into a ferocious Ripper version of Aunt Magda's dog. Uncle Vernon who shouted approached Harry shortly after, "I'll teach you a lesson, son!" and turned into aunt Petunia who tried to hit him with a frying pan. Harry showed no reaction, other than watching it with a curious look on his face. Just before he could land the blow, Boggart-Petunia lost all of its features and turned into a genderless blurry figure. Seemingly out of nowhere, a panicked man began to shout.

"Lily, take Harry and go! Here goes! Just go! Run on! I'll hold it—" A high-pitched laugh echoed from the wall. Then, for a moment they could hear nothing until the scream broke the silence.followed by Lily Potter's voice.

"...not Harry, not Harry - Please, I'll do anything" The blurry shape flickered and his voice grew weaker. Sounds like it came from a long distance.

 "-standing at the side - standing at the side, girl-" Then, there was silence. Boggart has disappeared from existence.

Harry hummed while thinking. So he doesn't have any more boggarts. He didn't know if he should be happy or if this made him worried. Harry turned. Moody looked at him with an unreadable expression, his two eyes piercing.

He really should keep an eye on the Auror.

Meanwhile, Sirius gripped the doorway. His knuckles were bleached from blood loss, just like his face. She's trembling. Remus doesn't look much better. Mrs Weasley was still leaning on Lupin and hiding her face on his shoulder.

"I think it's gone now" said Harry to break the silence. Mrs Weasley turned around and pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace.

While Harry tries to regain his ability to breathe, Remus manages to find his voice. "Harry, I-I never-"

"This is James and Lily, which we heard... Right before they died" Sirius said.

"Yeah" said Harry, his arm pressing against his side uncomfortably.

"-oh Harry, I'm sorry" said Mrs Weasley in a tearful voice.

"M-hm," answered Harry, finally breaking from his grasp. He glared at Death as the echoes of entertainment pulsed through the bonds. Moody's eyes went from Death to Harry. Of course, the Auror could not see Death, but its capture power was still impressive. Harry returned his smile as Mad-Eye looked at him with a suspicious look.

He had the impression that he himself was least affected by this encounter, aside from Moody probably. Fortunately no one realized that Malfoy's mirror image was older than his actual age. Or that Harry was completely afraid of Malfoy's life. An inferius that he could explain by looking at it in the textbook before, but the veil was another thing. Mrs Weasley sniffed again.

"I can't imagine what you're thinking about me right now," he said, still shaken by his experience, ". couldn't even deal with a stupid boggart...." Lupin offered a handkerchief, still staring at where the boggart had been. Mrs Weasley blew her nose. "Just— I'm so worried. It would be a miracle if we all got out of here unscathed... A-and Pp-Percy don't talk to us-“ She wipes her tears. "What if something hh-terrible happens and we can never make peace?..and what happens, if Arthur and I die, who will take care of Ron and Ginny?"

"Molly, now is enough," said Sirius sharply. Looks like Molly's worry is her little problem right now.

"It's not like last time. His orders are prepared, we have the advantage, we know what Voldemort is planning" Remus begins, but he is interrupted by Mrs Weasley, who shouts the name.

"Oh Molly, come on, it's time to get used to hearing that name - look, I can't promise, nothing will happen, nothing can, nothing can, but this time we're better than last time in the Order back then. Last time, twenty Death Eaters stood against one of us and they snatched one after another..."

"Don't worry about Percy" Sirius said, "He'll come back to us. It was only a matter of time when Voldemort would show himself. Once he did that, the entire ministry would kneel down and apologize. And I don't know yet if I accept their apology" he added bitterly.

"And about Ron and Ginny... Do you think we'll let them starve if something happens to you or Arthur?" lupin.

Mrs Weasley smiled weakly. "How stupid am I" he said, wiping his eyes.

Harry just wanted to go. He tried to sneak past the group into his bedroom, as long as everyone was still standing around Mrs Weasley.

"Harry." Sirius had called out his name. Harry held his breath and turned around, only to see his godfather approaching him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Um, of course," answered Harry. Sirius looked over his shoulder and when no one really noticed them Harry knew that Moody's eyes were still on him, though Auror stood her back to them - Sirius pulled Harry into the next room. It just so happened to be an old bedroom. Probably Ginny and Hermione. "So what do you want to talk about?" Harry asked, "Is it because you told Remus about all this?"

"I haven't told him much now, it's just that you found hallows. I can't really tell him that your snake is a Grim Reaper without him questioning my sanity, but that's not it" Sirius hesitated. "I wanted to ask you what things we saw... Boggart, did it really happen.”

"Basically yes" said Harry. He wondered if Sirius would ask him about his parents or his veil. Maybe even a Basilisk. The question that came was unexpected.

"Did the Dursleys harass you, Harry?" ask Sirius. Harry's surprised. No one ever asked him that. Neither the fifteen-year-old nor his older self had ever thought of it.

"No. I mean-I don't..." Harry started, but then he stopped. Now that he was connected to Death, he had a different view of his life. He never wanted to live there. Living with the Dursleys was always more of a punishment than anything, but he never asked himself if he had been abused. Not getting food, if he does something they don't like, is a fact. That's not very important. There are worse things out there. Maniacs tried to kill him for example. But Petunia had hit him with the pot and Vernon strangled him more than once. The words 'Freak' and 'boy' still made her feel uneasy, even now she lost an emotional bond with her so-called relatives. Only magic gives him some kind of power. The cupboard under the stairs had been his bedroom for so long, he had never even questioned it. And as Harry looked at Sirius, he was once again reminded, that Sirius ran away from this house when he was a teenager. Didn't Harry do the same when he was thirteen, but Dumbledore decided that he should return the following year?

"I think they did it" answered Harry. "But it's not something I can't handle" he added with musings. Harry did not plan to return.

"I'll kill them!" sirius muttered and his eyes blazed dangerously. He's pacing around in the room. "I'll kill them!" Harry recalled Moody and with a thought threw a powerful privacy talisman.

"I'm not kidding. I'm on the run, so why not? They need my house, so no one here would dare to drive me out." Sirius laughed crazily - a voice, Harry was somewhat associated with Bellatrix rather than her godfather. Death stood quietly beside him and watched with a grin. Harry felt his desire. Sirius took out his wand and stopped in front of Harry. "I'll go now!" that Death is the only one who finds that thought interesting.

"Sirius, the last time you tried like that, you were locked up" Harry said instead, but he grinned.

"I don't care" his eyes widened. "Last time I didn't tell Remus where I was going. That was his mistake," Sirius said in a sudden realization. "He can help us, we just need to tell him." Harry laughs. It would be interesting to know if it was true. Lupin was everything to kill Pettigrew, maybe the Dursleys were the same... The wolf inside him could not be the only reason for the darkness around him. "And Dumbledore," Sirius blabbed, "He knows. There's no way he didn't." Sirius was already halfway to the door.

"Sirius" said Harry, trying to stop him, a grin on his face.

"Oh no, Harry, I'll talk to Dumbledore right now!" sirius said and his magic was spinning wildly.

"Siri!" Harry snapped and the grin slowly disappeared from his face. His godfather had already grabbed the doorknob. Without thinking, Harry made a grabbing gesture with his hand. Sirius' wand fell to the floor with a clattering sound. A shocked shout came out from his lips and Sirius leaped back from the door, grabbing his lower arm. The symbol of a deadly hallow flared up in his arm. It burned gold almost like fire.

"What-" Sirius begins and Harry releases his grip on Sirius.

"Sirius. What do you think will happen, if you face Dumbledore?" Harry said and stepped towards his godfather. The black mark that had now faded again. Sirius turned from his arm to Harry. "I'm going to tell you. There aren't. Don't you think that I haven't done it yet? Approaching Dumbledore about it, asking him to stay at Hogwarts or be with the Weasleys? He thought it was the best solution, living with the Dursleys. Voldemort couldn't get through the blood ward, that's why he sent me back there. Speaking objectively he was not wrong" said Harry and stopped in front of his godfather, who was staring at him. Harry's voice softened a little. "Sirius, you have enough problems already, don't try to solve my problems either. I'm not mad at Dumbledore for thinking he did the right thing.“Harry's expression changed. "But what bothers me is that he's still interfering with my life, trying to control me in a way that I don't agree with. And I won't let him do that again" he said and licked his teeth. Sirius shuddered as Harry's dark magic swept through his possession. "The Dursleys are my problem, and when the time comes they die, you're not responsible" Harry said. He grinned sharply and Death's entertainment reverberated through the bonds. Sirius looked at him with wide eyes and when the day of their death comes, you will not be the one responsible for it" Harry said. He grinned sharply and Death's amusement echoed through the bond. Sirius looked at him with wide eyes and when the day of their death comes, you will not be the one responsible for it" Harry said. He grinned sharply and Death's amusement echoed through the bond. Sirius looked at him with wide eyes.

"Harry, don't-" his godfather began.

"What," Harry snapped and almost laughed at Sirius' worries. "Think about killing them? Like you tried to do three seconds ago? Don't be Sirius' hypocrite" said Harry. "You're dark, don't deny it. Try and pretend like Remus that you're a good little sheep, but sometimes you're just bloodthirsty."

"We're not like Death Eaters. We're not bad" Sirius bursts and anger flares in his gray eyes.

"I never said you were a bad or evil man" Harry interjected, "But even you can't deny that you're happy to have Pettigrew in front of your staff. You'll kill him if I don't stop you and Remus. in my third year.”

"That's different," Sirius said and retreated, "He's responsible for James' death!" Harry did not pity him. Notnot now.

"You bullied Snape mercilessly even before that. Of course, he is also not a saint, but that doesn't change the fact, that you almost got him killed once and you don't regret it. Be firm on who you really are, Sirius. Don't back off, just because you think I'm a kid, who can't understand this side of you. Pretend as much as you want, others will probably believe you. But don't try to lie to me. I saw who you really are. You were always a little crazy, even before Azkaban." Sirius swallowed. "You know it, and Remus knows it. She's as dark as you are, or she won't forgive you for telling Snape where she could find her on the full moon.” Harry grinned. "Let me tell you a secret of Sirius" said Harry. He leaned forward and as he continued his voice almost whispered. "Because I'm connected to Death, I'm darker than you might imagine. It's darker than you or Remus and maybe even Voldemort, but in spite of all this, I didn't commit mass murder" Harry said. He smiled and took a step back, towards the door. "I don't know if it's because of this, but I like you, Sirius. More than anyone else here and I don't like seeing you in Azkaban, just because you're doing something, it's not even your problem. Don't worry about me. Try to keep Remus from getting killed, because of Dumbledore's stupid orders" Harry said. With that, he walked past Sirius and left. He won't be able to win this war anyway..."I don't know if it's because of this, but I like you, Sirius. More than anyone else here and I hate to see you in Azkaban, just because you did something, it's not even your problem. Don't worry about me. Try not to get Remus killed, because of Dumbledore's stupid orders" Harry said. With that, he walked past Sirius and left. He won't be able to win this war anyway..."I don't know if it's because of this, but I like you, Sirius. More than anyone else here and I hate to see you in Azkaban, just because you did something, it's not even your problem. Don't worry about me. Try not to get Remus killed, because of Dumbledore's stupid orders" Harry said. With that, he walked past Sirius and left. He won't be able to win this war...