Chapter Text
Melissa wandered through the twilight. The area was fogged, much like her mind felt at the moment; but there was dirt under her feet and the sound of a river ahead, so she had some inkling of where to go. She arrived at the river, staring at it as a strange trepidation enveloped her. She couldn’t cross it, obviously, but civilizations are always downstream, so downstream is where she continued to walk.
It’s quiet, she noted mutely. The fog blocked distant sight, naturally, but surely this place would have more sound to it than a river, right? Her mind couldn’t quite grasp what was missing.
She walked further down. The walk went on for another few days- minutes-? Years-? Weeks-? Hours-? That’s probably a problem, isn’t it? What was I doing before this?
She tried to recall a time before twilight. Before twilight… it was night before twilight. That’s… not how time works, but that’s correct, isn’t it? It was night, there were sparks in the air… fireflies? There had been a booming sound. A boom, and her own laughter. The greatest joke, the longest punchline, she had been waiting so long, but for what?
An answer sang from her lips, unbidden, “For it’s my job, to steal and rob… GRAVES!”
A flash of images crossed her mind’s eye. The Little Hangleton graveyard, Riddle’s headstone, a photograph, a basilisk, a box, a bow, Harry-
More of her life flashed in front of her eyes, and she suddenly remembered who she was! The realization rocked her, remembering herself, her life, her time. Grasping onto it, she woke from the fog, and the area cleared around her. She looked about the clearing, now incredibly confused and annoyed, to boot.
“How the fuck did I get here, then?!”
“A bit of a misstep on your end,” a voice answered. “You’re here a lot earlier than I expected.”
Melissa turned in place, spotting the speaker. It was a dark-haired woman in her thirties, whose brown-hazel eyes were watching Melissa with deep amusement. It wasn’t a woman Melissa has ever met, yet it was a face she recognized all the same.
“Ah. Hey, you”
The woman’s amusement deepened. “Hey, Me.”
She gave a wry smile, “I mean, if we want to get technical, I haven’t been You in a long time.”
“And yet, I still persist in ways that matter,” the woman said matter-of-factly.
“So,” Melissa looked around the area, understanding dawned on her, “I take it that I’ve died?” She heard a hum in the affirmative before continuing, “That’s pretty sudden.”
“I know, I’m surprised, too, all things considered. …Want to take a walk?”
“Sure.”
They walked along the riverbank, taking in the quiet of the wood. It finally dawned on her what was so strange about the quiet. It had the sounds of water, but it had no sounds of life. Now understanding this strangeness, Melissa couldn’t help but break the silence. “It’s weird that you’re here. I mean, we’re the same soul, aren’t we?”
The woman gave a hum. “To a degree. I woke up here a little over two years ago, and found that I’ve become more… present since this past Halloween; but, well, a part of me has always been connected to this place. It’s probably a side-effect of how we reincarnated. We did go about it in an unconventional way, after all.
Melissa gave her an odd look. “You’re going to have to elaborate on that. I don’t even remember being dead in the first place.”
“Ah, well, it’s a funny story,” she petered off, body swaying from side to side. “You remember that little episode with the forgetfulness potion?”
“Ironic phrasing; but, yeah.”
“Well…” she pointed to the flowing water, “welcome to Lethe River.”
Melissa stuttered in her step, eyeing the water with renewed trepidation before taking a few steps away from it. “Joy. Lovely. I ain’t touching it.”
The woman laughed. “I didn’t expect you to.” She continued her walk as if nothing was amiss. “The thing is, though, I actually planned to drink from it the moment I realized I was dead.”
“Really?! Why?!”
“It’s what you’re supposed to drink before reincarnating,” she said simply. “I already had a gnostic belief in reincarnation, so why wouldn’t I?”
The words spun oddly in Melissa’s mind. It felt like she was missing a piece of something important. “A gnostic belief implies you knew for sure that you’d reincarnate.”
“Yeah, and…?” She gave Melissa a bemused look. “You remember Firenze, right?”
“...The centaur?”
The woman burst out laughing. “Not Firenze the centaur! Firenze the city! You know,” her hands moved wildly, “the Medici Capelli? The Me-Not-Me? …Do you seriously not remember that?!”
“Hey! I’ve lost a lot of your memories! You can’t expect me to remember every little thing!”
“Ah, yes, that,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m blaming genetics on that decision of yours. I would have never done anything that dangerous to my own brain when I was alive.”
“Gee, thanks,” she muttered. “So that thing you were talking about,” Melissa looked over the woman from top to bottom, the phrase ‘Me-Not-Me’- while not remembered- had an instinctual understanding to it, “a Me-Not-Me. That’s what you are, isn’t it?”
“I am as much to you as you are to me,” she answered.
“So mysteriously profound,” Melissa said teasingly. “So, my Me-Not-Me, you found evidence of your own reincarnation, hence the gnosticism. Though how does that lead to us? ‘Planning to drink it’ implies you never did.”
“Well, you can imagine what it must have been like, walking along fellow shades while looking forward to starting a new life. I had a little fun with it, singing songs about the dead and dancing my way to the end of death. It freaked out the other shades, so they gave me a wide berth.”
“Their loss,” Melissa interrupted. “You know, I once did a whole concert to ghosts. Practically did the same thing you did that night.”
“Yes, including when you sang ‘Canary’,” she said knowingly. “Except when I finished that song, a definitely-not-a-shade woman came over and asked why I was singing a song about Calliope.”
Melissa gaped, eyes gone wide, as the significance hit her. “Oh- oh my god!”
“Oh their gods,” she corrected, pun intended. “After answering her, we started to discuss music, movies, that sort of thing. It was a nice talk, though it made me start to lament the idea of forgetting all those fun things just for the sake of reincarnating, but also wanting to reincarnate at the same time. I made some quips about isekai stories, which gave her a funny idea.”
“Oh my god,” Melissa's face fell into her hands, muttering, “I already know where this is going.”
“Mhmm! So, she introduced me to her mom, who showed me a pool of water that helps you keep your memories. See, apparently an isekai makes for a great loophole for those that want their cake and eat it too; and she has a way to make that happen. I must’ve made a good enough impression with her daughter for them to let me have a shot at it. So, I let them work their magic on me and… here we are.”
Melissa’s mind reeled. “This is… a lot to take in. …So you just casually hung out with… I’m assuming Calliope or one of her sisters- who apparently exist, and then the titan, Mnemosyne- who also apparently exists, let you reincarnate with your memories in a Harry Potter isekai?”
“That’s pretty much it,” she laughed awkwardly. “I did say that it’s a funny story.”
“Holy shit,” she muttered. “Dude, that is a wild story, and kind of ridiculous, so… kudos to you.”
“Thanks.”
“Hold on-!” Her mouth gaped open as she played the scenario in her head. “Are you trying to tell me that you singing This Is Magdalene led to me leading a life full of Magdalenes?!”
“...Huh. HA!” she barked with laughter. “Holy crap, that is what I did!”
The two broke into stutters of bewildered laughter. Several minutes or weeks passed as the bizarre scenario replayed in their minds.
When they finally settled down, Melissa considered all that she had learned. “So where does that leave us, then? I mean, I guess all of that weirdness explains why we’re Me-Not-Mes instead of a We; but aren’t we supposed to merge or something now that I’m dead?”
“Probably,” her Me-Not-Me agreed, “but that’s more dependent on how the story goes, I think.”
“But… I’m dead,” said Melissa. “The story’s over for me, isn’t it?”
“Oh, it seems you haven’t thought this through, little Melody,” she teased with a laugh.
The condescending tone and use of that nickname annoyed her. “Thought what through?”
“Think about it, kid,” she gave Melissa an expectant look, “who, exactly, are you friends with?”
“AVADA KEDAVRA!”
A flash of green shot out from near the cauldron, slamming into Melody’s back. In a heartbeat, before anyone could react to what had happened, Melody fell to the ground, dead.
“MELLY!” Harry screamed, racing towards her body.
Distantly, Harry was aware that the adults had sprung into action, firing spells towards Voldemort’s bizarre baby-ish form. Here, though, his eyes were fixed solely onto Melly. His brain registered the odd sense of apparition again. This time, however, it conjoined with Melly’s weak death aura. It ‘disapparated’ from her corpse, and ‘apparated’ outside of it. It was hovering above her, stronger now that it was free of her body, and yet… it felt as though it was trying to hang on, clinging in tendrils to the teardrops of hematite that lay atop her heart.
I need to help it hang on!
He wasn’t sure where the thought came from, but he reacted to it with desperate instinct. With one hand he pulled out the Resurrection Stone from his necklace. With another he focused on the death aura, ‘grabbing’ it as it hovered over her body.
“You’re not leaving!” he said, gritting with exertion as the aura struggled under his ‘grip’. “You’re staying- right- HERE!” He slammed his fist down, the aura followed as if a puppet on strings, slamming down into the corpse-
-and Melly shot up with a gasp!
Her eyes were wide, panicked, and bewildered. Harry could only meet her gaze, his own shock silencing him as what just happened realized upon his mind.
Realization dawned upon her, too, with twice dead lips muttering, “What did you just do?!”
Gasps came from behind them, with Torrero-Ramirez shouting, “WHAT IN THE UNGODLY HELL- YOU’RE ALIVE?!
“A- apparently?” She looked back at him, relief washing over him. “Harry-?” He pounced, wrapping Melly in a hug as tears started to shed. “What-?”
“DON’T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!” He yelled, arms wrapping tighter around her. A beat of silence passed between them, then her arms joined in with the hug. With a jerk, Melly pulled his body down. A shot of spellfire passed overhead, right where they had been. “What the hell?!”
They broke out of the hug, giving Harry the ability to see what was happening. Voldemort, despite his weakened state, was battling his former DADA instructors. Both instructors were on the ground, bleeding, but still holding on. Rage and adrenaline rushed through Harry as he took in the scene. Voldemort just tried to kill his sister!
He fired a spell to intercept one of Voldemort’s curses. The spell hit; but, to his confusion, the spellfire seemed to merge with the curse. They fused, moving away from the initial trajectory and pulling tighter between him and Voldemort. The spells started to spark strangely, and Harry got another odd sensation as though ghosts were trying to climb out of Voldemort’s wand.
“The twin feathers!” Mister Salvatore shouted, the words having no meaning to Harry. “Now’s our chance!”
Stunners flew from both adults. Their marks hit true, causing Voldemort to lose focus and the merged spells to explode with power!
Silence followed. Voldemort made no move, perhaps unable to stir.
Harry took in the scene with confusion. “What- what just happened?”
“Your wands linked,” said Salvatore. “They share a wand core from the same phoenix, yes? They aren’t able to hurt each other.”
Harry looked down at his holly wand, strange emotions moving through him as he took in the information. “Was that always meant to happen?”
“I believe so, yes. Though, from what Melissa once knew, Voldemort planned to abandon his wand after tonight and eventually take the Elder wand from Dumbledore’s grave.”
Harry’s head shot up. His grave?! The thought of Dumbledore being dead bewildered him. There was, however, another thought- one mixed with worry and relief as he considered the changes of futures passed. Taking a moment to think on it, he holstered the holly wand and took out the Elder Wand. If the twin wands were that much of an issue, perhaps Voldemort’s plan wasn’t a bad one to take up for his own advantage.
First things first, he stumbled over to Voldemort. He eyed the abomination’s prone form, lying close to Pettigrew’s body but still breathing. Now understanding the strange ‘apparitions’, he beheld the one hovering over Pettigrew and promptly banished it. Was it cruel? Perhaps; but, as Master of Death, he was content with letting the man remain dead as he is. There was, however, a connection he still felt towards Pettigrew’s body.
He wasn’t sure what possessed him, but he regarded the connection for only a moment before flicking the Elder Wand towards the corpse. With a jerk, the body launched forward, grappling Voldemort’s body in a tight hold.
Screams of shock followed the action.
“By God-!” Torrero-Ramirez gasped.
“That’s necromancy!” said Salvatore. “Harry, you can’t-”
“What the fuck not?” he scoffed, barely acknowledging his own small surprise. “He was hardly useful when he was alive. He might as well do something good when he’s dead.”
“I have to agree,” said Melly. “Better to keep ole Voldie down, anyways. Though, while I have my brain working- whatever happened to the snake, Nagini?”
“The snake?” It was a good question. He stretched his sense out, trying to find the serpent. Unable to hear it, he opted for the path of least resistance. “Accio, Nagini the snake.”
A rustle, then a whoosh, brought the snake flying towards them from distant grass. He shot out a hand, snatching the snake by her neck. She hissed in anger, demanding that he release her, then called out for her master to help her. Barely hesitating, the Master of Death one-handedly fished out the goblin dagger from his pocket, then used it to slit the snake’s throat.
“HOLY SHIT, HARRY!”
He barely paid mind, watching as the snake wriggled in pain, the fight weakening from her as the body slowed with blood loss and basilisk venom.
From around them, he heard Melly mutter, “Okay, I see what you guys are freaking out about.”
A screech came from the serpent, the horcrux letting out a call of dying fury. Once it ended, the Master of Death dropped the snake’s corpse to the ground. “There’s one more horcrux, right? Let’s deal with it now and get this over with.”
An awkward silence followed. Cautiously, Melly stepped closer to him. “Sure thing, Harry. Before we can, though, you need to give me that knife and put all of your Hallows away.”
“Why?”
“Trust me, it’s better if I handle the last one. I know the best way to get rid of it.”
He shrugged, muttering, “Alright,” before giving her the bloodied knife. He holstered the wand and took off his cloak, wrapping it up into a ball.
The veil of calm fell away the moment he let go of the cloak.
“What the-?” Harry jumped as a flurry of emotions and adrenaline slammed into him. Taking in his surroundings, he moved away from the snake’s body with disgust. “What just happened?!”
The group looked at him with varying, guarded expressions.
“I’m not entirely sure,” said Salvatore.
“We will need to investigate this once this is over,” said Professor Torrero-Ramirez, “but first… since Voldemort is alive, we can still move ahead with the experiment. Marcello, can you talk with Harry while we work on him?”
Salvatore hesitated with the request. “...I can. Harry, please have a seat.”
Harry felt incredibly confused. What just happened? What experiment are they talking about? Why was he feeling so… lost?
He sat slowly into the grass. A sensation of guilt filling him as Marcello took his own seat next to him, his wand held firm in his grasp as he looked at Harry with expressions of fear and trepidation. “What’s happening? I thought- we’re trying to get rid of the last horcrux, right?”
“Yes,” he said slowly, “but first, Harry, I need to explain to you just what the last horcrux is.”
Melissa and Luisa were still reeling as they approached Voldemort’s unconscious body. Luisa, in particular, was incredibly disturbed by everything that’s happened in the last few minutes. A death, a resurrection, a callous slaughter, a personality shift, …they were all pretty jarring. Melissa was having a better handle on it, all things considered. It helped that she had no memory of the actual dying part, not that she’d want any of that. The rest was creepy, certainly, but on the scale of Fucked Up Behaviour, she could hardly judge Harry for his actions tonight. At least, with Harry, his fucked up behaviour was new and accidental.
What Melissa was about to do was planned and armed with practice.
“We have no idea if this will work,” said Luisa, “so be on guard, alright?”
“I know,” she lied, “I’m ready.”
“Together, then.” They steadied their wands over Voldemort’s head, speaking simultaneously. “Legillimens”
They fought against Voldemort’s mental shield, dismantling them in the process. Even unconscious, Voldemort had some fight in him. Still, he was no match in his weakened state against two witches who specialised in mind magic.
When the last of the shields fell, the witches changed spells, each taking lead on a different task as they spoke of their intentions.
“Obliviate.”
“Misrembrate.”
Luisa went after his most egregious memories. Memories of cruelty and dark magic were erased from his mind. Each falling one by one from his lifelong path of death and destruction.
Melissa’s task was more delicate. She went after his most emotional memories, taking them- changing them- into something new. Memories of standing alone on the sidelines of an orphanage shifted into games of play with friends. The memory of a matron explaining the story of his mother shifted from anger and disgust to ones of pity and admiration for the woman who birthed him. The panic of Dumbledore’s visit was removed, replaced instead with a wonderment of dancing animals in the flames. Allegiances at Hogwarts turned into friendships, commands of power became teasing ribs, and bullying turned into pranks. A friendship struck with Caireen as he grew older, and both mourned the passing of Myrtle Warren.
His adult life had less for Melissa to alter as Luisa moved ahead of her on the timeline. Mentors became stern rather than cruel, or patient rather than stern. New friendships bloomed from those met on his journeys around the world, and pity was made of reluctant death in the study of magic. A young Severus, a fellow half-blood taken under his wing towards greatness, tells him of a prophecy. He acts with hasty panic rather than malice, simply wanting to save himself, though through foolish actions. His body is painfully ripped apart for his folly, noticing a piece of himself latching onto the child in the process, condemning the poor child to a cursed life.
Harry sat in mute horror as the words washed over him. It took doubled explanations as the shock of his horcrux state continued to cloud his mind. Salvatore filled him with assurances, and with contingencies should those assurances fail, but they did little to numb the shock.
If he’s a horcrux, then he has to die.
Melissa released the spell, feeling solace to know Luisa was long finished and was pointing a readied wand at Voldemort’s twisted face.
“Are you done?” Luisa asked her. Melissa nodded, which Luisa resolutely exchanged. “Good. Now to see if it worked. Renervate.”
Black scales stirred, and horrible red eyes blinked open as Voldemort woke from his forced slumber. It was a tense moment of silence for all parties involved.
The silence only broke when Voldemort gave a cry of horror, “WHAT HAVE I DONE?!”
Harry blinked in shock and confusion as Voldemort began to wail. It was a terrible scream, grating against his ears. His body was in full alarm, unsure of how to react.
“What happened, Tom?” Melody asked in a strange, almost gentle tone.
“The child- that poor child-!” Voldemort’s high voice cried, “What was I thinking?! I never should have tried to find him! His father and mother- I wasn’t thinking clearly- they did not deserve to- to-” He let out another wail of mournful anguish. Harry stared dumbly at the display. Voldemort was sorry about his parents? Why would-
Salvatore’s words finally started to make sense to him.
“I know it’s too late for his parents,” Melody said gently, “but there is a way you can atone for the harm you did to that family.”
“How?” Voldemort begged. Begged!
“That baby, he’s grown up now. He’s right here, actually.”
Voldemort’s tiny body whipped around, scanning the graveyard. Terrible red eyes latched onto Harry like a drowning man seeking the shore, filling Harry with pain. “Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, can you ever forgive me?!”
With a hard swallow, Houdini answered in gasps, “As long- as you can- get rid of- the horcrux- inside of me. Can you do that?”
“I- I- yes, of course!” He regarded the others in the graveyard. “I require black calcite and some ink to release him.”
“I’ve got you covered,” Melody said casually. She stuck a hand in her pocket, retrieving the exact stone needed to complete this ritual.
Torrero-Ramirez moved the abominable body towards Harry. Melody moved simultaneously, bringing the stone and ink forward. For a moment, he met Melody’s eyes with wild incredulity, whispering, “This is insane!”
“Believe me, if you had told me this was even possible three years ago, I’d have called you crazy, myself,” Melody admitted. “But, hey, if it worked once-”
“It can work again,” Houdini agreed. He took the stone and ink from her hand, and closed his eyes as he passed them over to …Voldemort.
The shrivelled monstrosity worked with haste. The other wizards watched for signs of treachery as Voldemort drew the circle onto Harry’s forehead. The stone was placed within, and Harry tried to steady his breath as a familiar chant murmured from Voldemort’s lipless face. Even with eyes closed, his brain was hammering with pain. Having Voldemort this close to him felt like it was driving him mad; yet he had to endure. Endure like his life depends on it- because it does.
PAIN unfurled, and Harry screamed!
He could feel it as the horcrux ripped out of him. His scar burned like never before. The abominable soul shard clawed at him as it was dragged out of his scar. He could feel someone holding his hand, murmuring sweet words as pain overwhelmed him.
After a long eternity, the pain finally receded. He breathed heavily, his mind and body exhausted from the terrible experience.
A call of stunners and bodybinds rang out from above him. In his weakened state it took a long moment before he could use his eyes again. When he did, it was to find Voldemort once again at the mercy of his captors. This time, however, he was awake and shrieking threats at them all.
“What’s going on?” Houdini asked, “I thought he was helping us?”
“He was,” Melody agreed, “but that was before reabsorbing his horcrux. He got his memories back, just like I had with that demon.”
“You knew that would happen?”
“I had a feeling, and clearly it was the right call to be cautious.” She looked at him, eyes full of concern. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling…” Houdini took a moment to think about it, “strangely better. My head feels a lot clearer now.”
“Good to hear it. …Are you able to handle a bit of dark news right now?”
“I- uh,” his body reeled, “It’s been a mad night. I’m not sure what could be as bad as all this.”
“Well,” she clicked her tongue, “the prophecy about you and him says that ‘neither can live while the other survives’, so you’re going to have to be the one to give the finishing blow.”
“...What?” Harry looked over at Voldemort, the misshapen, weakened, baby-like monster. He was still shouting obscenities and death threats. “I… I don’t know if I can do that.”
Her voice came at a deadpan. “...Would it help if I gave you back the knife and Hallows?”
Harry took a very deep breath, shame washing over him. “I wasn’t thinking clearly when I used them, or maybe I was thinking too- but that was for a snake! You’re asking me to kill a human!”
“I’d use that term lightly, but yes.”
“But why?” The strain of the request grated against his conscience.“Not all prophecies come true, you know that!”
“But this one needs to happen.”
“Needs to,” he repeated incredulously, “really?”
“Houdini,” Melody took in a deep, steadying breath, “Cedric was supposed to die tonight.”
The memory halted Harry’s mind.
Melody continued, “After that, Sirius was going to die. Then Death Eaters would get stronger, killing and kidnapping people over the next few years. Amelia Bones, Luna Lovegood, Garrick Ollivander, Albus Dumbledore, Ted Tonks-” The way she said the names, as though it were nothing more than a list of casualties from a history book, filled Houdini with dread.
“Then he attacks Hogwarts with an army of wizards, giants, werewolves, and acromantulas. More deaths follow. Nymphdora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Colin Creevey, Severus Snape, Lavender Brown, Fred Weasley-” her voice broke from neutrality, with tears threatening to break. Harry, too, felt tears run down his cheek. “Harry, you have no idea how many people are going to die if he survives tonight. It has to end.”
She was openly crying now, blue eyes shining wetly, body shaking from this confession.
All of those lives… The people that he loves…
Neither can live while the other survives.
“Give me the cloak.”
He hated this, even as the silky touch of the cloak brought him comfort and soothed his mind. He hated what he was about to do, but he had to do it.
He felt it fall upon him again. The comfort and surety of the Master of Death standing here among his subjects. There was one, however, who defied death in the most terrible of ways…
He stepped towards the bound body, Voldemort raging against his captors. He considered the monster for a moment, of all that he stands and strides for. “Tom Riddle, the man who calls himself Voldemort, the one who flies from death, …you’ve flown for the last time.”
A cutting curse shot from the Elder Wand, severing the Dark Lord’s throat. He gasped, choking on his own blood, with red eyes staring hatefully, fearfully, as Death finally took its quarry.
“That was bad ass,” Melissa mouthed to Marcello, glad that she was out of Harry’s view. I’ve got to write that one down. Can you imagine how people will react when they hear that line?!
Marcello ignored her awe. Instead, he walked over to Harry’s side and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright, Harry?”
Harry gave a nod. “What’s done is done. …It’s finally over.”
“Yes, it is.” Marcello took stock of the scene around them. “When you’re ready, we can head back to the school. Luisa will keep watch until the aurors can arrive.”
Harry seemed to struggle with thoughts. Not that Melissa was surprised. He’s bound to go through an adrenaline crash soon. “...We can go now.” Harry said.
It surprised her, but he’s probably just feeling done about all this, she figured. So Melissa walked over, taking hold of Harry’s other shoulder as he summoned the portkey. With a pop, the three of them vanished into the night.