Good Night, Darling

[ The Change Has Come ]

The forest was dark and Harry was shaking. From the cold, but also the fear. The man. No. The thing in front of him was pale with red eyes, he wore no shoes and had pointed nails, there were slits where an ordinary human would have nostrils. But most terrifying of all? It was the way it glided, no rise and fall to his movement, and the way it spoke. With the charisma of a politician who had never been caught in a scandal. Well, being a Dark Lord was probably a scandal on its own.

"Harry... Potter" Voldemort breathed, lazily pointing his wand at the boy currently standing before the large group. "Cutting it fine."

"I am here, let us get this over with." His bravery would be his downfall, but it was all for the best. The suffering of one, for the life of the many. It was the right thing, the good thing, to do.

"As you wish... you see? I can be merciful. Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort flicked his wand, and soon Harry was on the floor. The world had gone black. No, wait, it hadn't. The world had gone white.

Harry blinked, but the world was still white. But there was a train now, a bright red train. It was the Hogwarts Express, and it was almost comforting to see. His eye was caught by a flash of black, a man who stood suddenly beside him.

"I am sure you have worked out where you are, Harry." The man was stick thin, tall, and rather pale looking with skin that showed each blue vein. He had a grey, pinstripe suit and leant slightly on a cane with the handle of a silver raven.

"I– I died." Harry stuttered out, "But I don't know where I am."

"This is Purgatory, Harry. The place where you are able to make decisions about your future, or your past, or your present. As the Master of Death, you get to choose."

"Master? Of Death?" He said incredulously, even if deep down he believed it.

"You conquered me, Harry. Congratulations." There was an evil, excited smile on the man's face that showed pearly white teeth. Like he couldn't wait to begin... something.

"You. You're Death?" Harry looked the man up and down. This was harder to believe. He wasn't sure what he expected, maybe a scythe.

"I am, and you are my Master. Let us get onto your choice."

"My choice? Surely I'm just dead, so I go wherever dead people go," Harry replied, crossing his arms over his chest and taking a small step back. This was... unusual. Strange. And he wasn't entirely sure that this wasn't a dream.

"No. Fate and I are unhappy with how your life played out this time, and we have set about to fix it. You can choose to go back in time, into another's body or your own, and fix it. It is not really a choice, per say, but how it is done all depends on you."

"Fate?" He questioned, still sceptical.

"Yes, lovely woman. Even if she is a bit harsh sometimes."

"Right... and I can go back to any time? To 'fix' this? What exactly am I fixing?"

"You can choose the date, and you are fixing the world. The natural order was changed when Tom Riddle chose to make Horcruxes. You can destroy them, with your knowledge, or you can prevent them ever being made. It is up to you."

"Surely it would be better that there were no Horcruxes at all?"

"It is up to you, Master. I will be there with you, guiding you, the whole time. There is no need to worry."

Harry wasn't particularly worried, not really, just quite confused with an undercurrent of anticipation. He took a deep breath, sweeping his gaze around Purgatory, and gave his response to Death.