Junior Hallows

Chapter 3

Ghost-Harry heard Draco’s question, but didn’t reply, the pull behind his navel getting stronger by the second.

“Greyson?” He gasped. “Come tell Draco and Neville what’s happening. Tell the others to wait, Neville and Draco won’t handle their presence yet. Hurry, please…” The ghost cried out as the pull yanked him across the room.

“Podder?” Draco sounded alarmed. “Whad’s wong?”

“Listen to Greyson, Draco, please.” The ghost begged.

That was the end. The ghost felt squashed and stretched and twisted all at the same time. He shut his eyes to escape the sight of the room distorting, a heartbeat or an hour later, he couldn’t tell which, the horrid motions ceased and Harry reluctantly opened his eyes. The room looked different, softer, but so much bigger. Harry lifted a hand and what he saw was a chubby baby hand, he twisted his hand and watched the fat fingers move.

“Podder?” Hearing his name in Draco’s baby-voice, made him turn his attention from his hand to the others in the room.

“Dwaco? Wisten do Gweyson.” Harry tried to speak clearly.

“Oo?”

“That would be me, young Draco. Greyson De Silver, Harry’s guardian. Harry? Do I wait for Neville to wake?”

Instead of answering Harry looked around until he spotted the third baby, the one he knew to be Neville. Not knowing how well he could walk, Harry felt the best option right now was to not push the boundaries, he could do that tomorrow. He twisted himself around until he could get his legs and hands under himself and then he began the clumsy task of crawling over to the other dark haired boy.

“Oi, Nev, wa’ up. Nev, ‘ome on, wa’ up.” Speaking like this was so annoying.

Neville’s eyes opened to a baby sitting beside his head. It only took him seconds to see Draco and Greyson, but it wasn’t until he tried to talk that he realised something was wrong, something with him.

“Wha’?”

“Easy, Neville.” Greyson cautioned. “Let me explain why you and Draco are here. Yes, Draco, Harry did do something. But I hope that you will understand why he did it. After Neville was told to kill Nagini and Harry saved Draco from the fiendfyre curse, he went looking for the Dark Lord, he’d just watched the memories of Severus Snape and knew that Dumbledore had lied to him. Harry was home to one of the Dark Lord’s Horcruxes and the only way to destroy that was to kill Harry. He planned sacrifice himself for his friends, trusting that, once that the Dark Lord was mortal again, that surely someone would be able to kill him.”

The two newcomers looked at Greyson in horror, then both turned to gape at Harry and Neville whimpered. Harry patted his hand and the little boy leaned towards to him, after a second’s thought, Harry wriggled closer to Neville and slung a chubby arm around him.

“Yes. He went to die for his friends. And he did die, but… that wasn’t the end. Harry found himself in a large white space with Dumbledore waiting for him. They talked and Dumbledore gave Harry the option of going back or moving on. Then he left, he left Harry alone in that place between life and death. Harry was ready to go back, but another voice spoke to him, when he looked, he saw Merlin… and standing at Merlin’s side was… Death.”

Both Draco and Neville’s jaws dropped.

“When he told me I was sceptical, but what Harry, as a ghost, has done and shown us, since? No, I don’t doubt that Merlin and Death were there. They gave him other options, including this one. The consciousnesses of the three of you would travel back in time and merge with your younger bodies at, roughly, the time that Harry first became a Horcruxe. Initially Harry wasn’t going bring either of you with him, but Death gave him an ultimatum, Harry took you both or Death did. Not much of a choice, not to Harry. And so… here you are.”