The one who came back...

The truth...

Harry Potter had just woken up. As he looked around he couldn't identify with his surroundings.

Just where was he?

All he remembered was falling asleep in his bed in Grimmauld Place after having a sandwich that Ginny had brought him.

Wait. Ginny. Where was she now? Was she alright? He hoped she was. He loved her with everything he had. Ginny was his life.  He tried to understand what was going on all the while worrying for his fiancée. Ah yes fiancée indeed. He had proposed to her not long ago.

He was brought out of his train of thoughts when he heard a groan. He turned around, his wand in hand.
(What? He was a warrior now. So he had his reflexes.)

In front of him was a shadowy figure clothed in a void black cloak with a part of it torn. The hood covered his face and the atmosphere around him automatically darkened. He looked like an other worldly creature. Harry could see the tight line his lips were pulled in from where the hood ended.

Harry's wand hand shook. It was then that he noticed his wand. Instead of his old, trusty phoenix feather wand, the elder wand glimmered in his hand. He looked up at the creature in front of him and with as much dignity as he was left with, he asked ,atleast tried to, when the figure spoke, " Who am I? That's what you wanted to ask, right?" Harry gulped.

"I am Death and before you ask yes you have died. Though that shouldn't have happened if those mortals had stayed true to themselves." Now the last statement stumped Harry. Even if he wanted to shout at this -whatever this was- for trying to get him with such a stupid joke, he couldn't just ignore what he had heard. Mortals. Who?

"Who are you talking about?" Harry asked. "Your so called best friends and fiancée along with their mother." "What do you mean? They wouldn't do anything of that sort to me! The are the only family I ever had!"

"Well, it seems that they have. I am not going to talk with you interrupting me every now and then, so I'll show you the footage of what exactly happened."

The air in front of Harry seemed to shimmer as a portal like thing appeared except with a screen and he began to see what he hadn't known before.

It was the day he had first stepped on the platform nine and three quarters. He had yet to cross the barrier and was standing in front of the two platforms nine and ten. Then he heard the oh so familiar voice of Mrs. Weasley.

"What was the platform number again?" It was now that he saw her looking meaningfully at her daughter, expecting her to answer. And she did. "Nine and three quarters. Mum." It was now that he realised that the entire conversation between them was for him. He saw his eleven year old self walking over to them.

The scene shifted. Now he was sitting on his own in the compartment he had managed to find vacant. As he sat watching the activity on the station, a very red Ron popped his head in. " Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." His past self replied in affirmative . But he gritted his teeth.

Practically half of the train's occupants were still on the station. How was everywhere else full then? He realised that he was just so desperate to have a friend then that he couldn't see what lay before his eyes. The scene shifted again and he could see himself and Ron looking at a bushy haired girl aka Hermione standing at the door to their compartment. He could see her eyeing his past self almost triumphantly.

She even had a soft smile on her lips. Meaning, she had meant to find him all along. He noticed that as soon as he looked away she winked at Ron. The scene shifted. Now he and Ron were alone and Ron was explaining to him just how evil the slytherins were. He was ashamed at how easily he was influenced by a mere child who was biased. And at the same point, Draco Malfoy entered.

What a great timing Malfoy! Harry thought sighing. And he just had to act like a stupid, biased pureblood. Idiot! Now Harry realised the number of mistakes he had made, all under the influence of either Ron or Hermione. The scene shifted.

Now they were in their potion class. Snape was asking him questions. Hermione raised her hand at every one of them. What was new? Then he saw it. He was sitting there looking at Hermione as though waiting for her to answer every time. He had known the answers yet he had just got bored with seeing her raise her hand. After all, he had studied his books before coming.

The scene shifted once again. It was their second year now. The time he was accused of being the heir of slytherin. He saw his past self going out of the library and as soon as he did, he saw both Ron and Hermione letting out a breath. They looked at each other and laughed ,almost guffawing. Harry was seriously hurt. Why hadn't he seen this ever before? Malfoy was right after all.

The scene shifted and they were now at the entrance to the chamber of secrets. What would've happened here?Thought Harry. As Harry walked into the cave, he saw Ron raising Lockhart's wand and muttering a spell. And there, the roof fell in between them. He had done it on purpose! He heard Ron say,"Great. At least he will die in there. The basilisk will surely kill him."

The scene shifted. This was the end of the year feast after the chamber had been closed. As he stood he saw Hermione run towards him and embrace him. Now as he noticed it he saw her rolling her eyes at Ron and letting out a quiet sigh.

The third year. Ron was holding onto Hermione and Remus. As they walked forth , Ron pushed Remus to the ground, letting the rat (Pettigrew) escape. As Remus turned, Harry could see Ron smirking at Hermione.

The fourth year. Hermione looked frustrated as she looked at Ron. "Why do I have to act like I understand while you get a break from all this?" Ron replied,"Because you are the smart one. Of course you will understand he didn't put his name in."

The fifth year. It was Umbridge's room. He was being questioned. Hermione had shouted," Harry tell her! The weapon!" She then smirked at Ron probably expecting that he will die this time.

The sixth year. Hermione was in the ROR. She opened the door and in came hooded death eaters. Malfoy was hidden behind the pillar. His eyes told that he was terrified.

Year they had spent on run. This was just after he had gone inside the tent to  give them privacy after Ron had returned. Ron smiled wide and hugged Hermione really hard. "I hate this you know. We can very easily get him caught by just saying the name and save us further trouble. Besides I have seen him talk about Ginny in sleep. I guess her love potion is working on him. Let's just hope he'll be stupid enough to accept it when we lead him to the castle." "You are right .  But we need to tell the Dark Lord that he will have to go underground for sometime so we can kill him when he least expects it."

Finally, it was the day he had seen last before he came here. He saw himself sitting on his bed as he drank a glass of juice. Just before he could lie down, Ginny came in with a sandwich in a plate. He had denied but she fed him forcefully.

As soon as he closed eyes, he was out cold. And Ginny laughed like a maniac. She pulled out a  vial from her pocket ,tracing the name, Draught of Death over it.

Harry couldn't  stop his tears when they came. He had just been used all this while. There were so many emotions that plagued him now. Anger, disappointment , frustration, pain and helplessness. He cried ,cursing his fate and desperation to find a friend of all things.

Couldn't he have waited?