Building the Yellow Brick Road by LittleOne94

Chapter 3 : Memories of a dead man

When Harry reached consciousness something seemed off. He was lying on a bed and heard some soft snoring next to him. When he let his senses expand to beyond the overwhelming snore he could hear some soft whispering. A man Harry vaguely recognized as Jiraiya and a woman he had yet to officially meet. There was another woman in the room, but she had yet to speak. As the Wizard drew a breath he found the different scents which made up the night. Sweat from a long day's work or a battle past, smoke from the different foods eaten outside and lastly the bitter and sweet smells of alcohol and tea.

His ears twitched slightly when a cup was roughly being placed on a table top. A passing couple masked the voices from Jiraiya and the woman as they continued to argue. Harry twitched his fingers and wiggled his toes to start up the blood flow through his body. "Ah, it seems you are finally awake Ryuu-kun," Jiraiya said from across the room in a loud whispered.

The moment Harry opened his eyes a series of images flashed through his mind. It was as if someone was trying to communicate with him, telling him a strange tale. It took him a while to realize that the people he saw in his vision were from the world he had left behind. He witnessed the introduction of Draco Malfoy into the Death Eater ranks. How he was forced to take his father's place while Voldemort threatened to kill his loved ones if he should fail killing Dumbledore. He watched as Dumbledore fought against his cursed hand, treated by Snape who continued to do the man's bidding and planned for the old Headmasters death. Ron and Hermione, who had taken it upon themselves to avenge their fallen brother, had offered their services to the dying headmaster. He had promised them that they could help him, but under the promise to keep the killing to the adults. Only if Voldemort and his Death Eaters would declare an all out war would they be asked to defend their friends and families, but never on the front lines.

It was a strange concept for Harry these days. He had seen young Shinobi and Kunoichi on missions, fighting against fellow ninja who were twice as old. Besides Ron and Hermione had proven themselves worthy soldiers over the years after all, even if they were still naïve most of the time. He watched them grow, Ron who was still as hot-headed as ever seemed to cause even more trouble than when Harry had still been there and Hermione who was still trying to figure out how to use her knowledge in everyday situations. They made a great team and motivated the other students in fighting for what they believed to be right.

He felt oddly proud of his two best friends. They were a bit foolish though as they tried to do everything themselves, not relying on anyone but each other. Remus seemed to be having the same problem, pushing away everyone even if that person wanted nothing more than love him. At the end of what was supposed to have been Harry's sixth year of Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy had fully joined the Death Eater ranks with the help of Severus. It confused Harry when he watched the Potions Master kill his protector. It wasn't until the wizard turned Shinobi remembered all the conversations between the two men that he stopped being angry and started feeling sad.

The man had basically sold his soul away so he could keep protecting the one place he could truly call home, much like Harry had when he was young. Harry watched the fights and scorn Severus got by pretending to be the bad guy while in fact he was searching for the Horcruxes to destroy the man who had enslaved him. Watching his friends and former professors fight what was supposed to have been his fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters made Harry feel guilty. Had he lived instead of ran blindly through the Veil after Sirius he would have been the one to face off against them.

Many of his friends and professors fell in battle, including the unsung hero Severus Snape who died at the hand of Voldemort when he learned of the man's betrayal. Now Harry was no longer a stranger to death, he had delivered the final blow to many since he entered the Elemental Nations, but watching his friends fall before him without being able to do anything was maddening. It must have taken a long time before the battle against Voldemort and his Death Eaters finally ended, because Harry saw the sun rise and set a few times. He was glad to see the survival of Ron and Hermione, and even Draco Malfoy had survived.