It's All Just Temporary with a Bit of Necromancy

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to Me

The summer night was sweltering. There was no breeze coming through the open window and Harry was drenched, the threadbare covers were already in a pile on the floor with his clothes. This summer had been the worst than all of the others. Sirius was dead. The image of him falling through the Veil played on repeat. Growling in frustration, Harry tossed around on the lump of a mattress that he had.

Sadly, Sirius's death wasn't the worst thing in Harry's life at the moment.

No, it was the itching under his skin and the fever that had been building for the past two weeks. The itch had been progressively getting worse ever since the summer started. On top of the itch and the fever, had been the mood swings. They had been bad during the school year but Harry had assumed that was due to Voldemort. Now he wasn't so sure. This felt different. Like something was burning within him but not at all like how the possession had felt.

He had tried contacting Dumbledore during the beginning weeks of the summer but each of his letters went ignored. So now, he had given up on help from the Headmaster.

Harry gasped out as his muscles seized for about a minute, the longest yet. The seizing had only started about three days ago. Thankfully the Dursleys had been avoiding him for the past week once his condition got to the point where he could hardly walk properly. Which was probably for the best, plus for the past month it seemed that his touch was only detrimental to the garden. It was like the plants just whithered if he just looked at them long enough which was absurd. However, with no other explanation, his aunt had made it so he only did the indoor chores before locking him in his room completely. His aunt or Dudley would push a pitcher of water and some bread through the flap in the door every morning, but that was it. It was still something. Harry doubted he would have been able to stomach much else anyway. He supposed he should be grateful for the small kindnesses of his aunt and cousin which was another absurd thought.

Tears pricked his eyes as Harry desperately tried to figure out what was happening to him. Hedwig watched from her cage, concern in her yellow eyes as she watched him writhe on the old mattress. The worst was it was his birthday tomorrow and he doubted he'd feel better by then and the Order hadn't made a single attempt at contacting him the whole summer. Rage flared at the reminder of how he had been shut away, it joined the heat already building within him.

Clawing at his skin to try and get the itch and the burn to release, Harry cried out as the worst pain gripped his bones and shredded his muscles, it was like the Cruciatous Curse filled with fire. Just as Harry thought he was about to pass out from the pain, an icy chill crept through his veins infusing his bones with icy splinters. Shivering uncontrollably as the inside of his body felt like it was freezing over while his skin still felt like flames danced across it. Harry whimpered as his body felt like it was fighting itself. He gasped out as he felt frozen tendrils encircle his pounding heart and pierce his scar. Was this it? He had faced Voldemort and survived the Dursleys only to succumb to death by some unseen force?

His mind was losing its grip on reality as the pain, the heat, and the cold brought him to a breaking point. He distantly heard his clock chiming the stroke of midnight before he slipped into the dark embrace of unconsciousness.

***

Blinking his eyes open, Harry squinted at the bright light streaming through the open window. It took him a moment to orient himself. He knew that he was still at Privet Drive but he wasn't in pain. In fact, his body felt better than it had years, his whole life even. His head felt lighter too like an unknown weight had been lifted. Which didn't make sense... The last thing he remembered was firey and icy pain. Slowly he sat up. Nope, still no pain. Frowning in confusion, he stumbled off the bed and attempted standing. He hadn't been able to stand in a couple of days. No dizziness, no pain, but he did feel gross with the sweat of a couple of days clinging to his skin and the stench that came with it.