Harry Potter and The Twisted Laws

Decisions

"Should I talk to Kingsley?" Harry asked, pacing around the small living room.

"Harry—" Hermione started.

"Or McGonagall?"

"Mate-" Ron said.

"But they didn't really talk to me first, did they?"

"Harry!" Ginny said, trying to make him stop yapping. Harry paused. "There are people here, you know?" She continued.

"Right, sorry," Harry said. "But seriously, should I contact them, or should I not? Like, they didn't talk to me before arranging this all marriage law."

"They weren't even sure you were the Master of Death?" Hermione reasoned.

"Then their decision was reckless. What if I wasn't the master of death? This whole law is stupid. And what about Dean and Romilda and Michael and Pansy? They hate each other! You can't just expect them to be together!"

"Harry...you are the only one who defied death. You are the only one on whom the Killing curse didn't work—"

"It was because of mum's sacrifice, Hermione!" Harry said, "I didn't 'fight' against death or something."

"—Twice." Hermione completed anyways.

"The second time, the force of the killing curse was taken by Voldemort's Horcrux inside me! I didn't defy death!"

"You escaped it but." Ron piped up, "You may think you haven't defied death but escaping from under its nose is also called defying it."

"And let's not forget, you are maybe one of the only few people who have survived being bitten by a Basilisk," Ginny said quietly.

"And thus, they may have guessed that you are the Master of Death," Hermione concluded.

Harry sighed. "I can bring back people...but how? The price seemed too.... insignificant. What if this is a trick? And they don't want to come back to Earth? What if they become immortal?!"

"Harry, no one can be immortal on this land," Hermione said.

"Okay but coming back? As in...alive. Again? It... doesn't make sense."

"Well, it doesn't to me either," Ron said, "But mum always told me....when there is magic, sometimes, there is no logic. And this is kind of magic, is it not?"

There was silence.

"Will you pass the offer?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I can't. Death said he has to...bring those back. And I can't force soulmates apart so that the conditions don't match. But...whom to bring back?" Harry said, running a hand through his hair.

"You sure you don't already have a list of people you would have liked back?" Ginny asked, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"I don't want to be selfish, but." Harry reasoned. "Many families lost their only heirs. Or their small children in the war."

"You can't bring back everyone. And you know, sometimes, it's...okay to be Selfish." Ron said. "You have gone through too much, mate."

"I don't know....but the first person I would bring back.... would surely be Fred... he shouldn't have died. It wasn't fair. And he was young. And then....Colin Creevy. He was just 16." Harry said, collapsing on a free couch. Ginny smiled softly at the mention of Colin. Harry remembered Colin's boundless enthusiasm for him, the support...and the way he snuck back into the battle despite being underage. He let out a wistful chuckle before Hermione's voice brought him back to the present.

"And...maybe your parents?" Hermione suggested.

"Them too, but first, Tonks and Remus. Teddy doesn't deserve to be an orphan...he doesn't deserve to be orphaned like I was."

Ron chuckled at Harry thinking about others again.

"And maybe....Ted Tonks." Harry said. "Like Andromeda left her everything for him and now, she is living without him. It's not fair."

The list in his head grew as every second passed. There were so many who didn't deserve to die. Who didn't get the chance to live. It was overwhelming. There were so many who had fallen, and he could bring back only fifteen.

"Sirius." Harry said firmly. "He never got a chance to live. To do what he wanted to. And he...lost everything."

"What about Regulus then?" Hermione suggested. "He didn't get a chance to live too!"

"But he made his choice to die, didn't he?" Harry asked, rubbing his temples. His thoughts were tangling together, leaving him more confused than ever.

"Eight decided. Seven more." Ron counted.

"Okay.....I know this is kinda......out of the blue, but, what about uncles Fabian and Gideon?" Ginny suggests.

"We can go with it. Only so little I can do in return for what your family has done for me." Harry said and silence fell again.

He looked out of the window, watching the snow fall and meet the ground.

"Marlene McKinnon." He said silently.

"Who?" Hermione voiced the question in the other minds.

"She was Sirius' fiancèe. Died mere weeks before the wedding. Voldemort killed her personally. She was a tough nut to crack." Harry said quietly.

"I...we didn't know Sirius was engaged," Ginny said, a silent gasp escaping her lips.

"Not many did. I came to know about her...through a letter mum wrote to him." Harry explained. He sighed again, leaning back on the couch. "Dorcas Meadowes. She fought till the very end. Mad-Eye used to say she gave Voldemort hell. And...she was one of my mum's best friends."

"That makes twelve," Ron said. "Three more."

"Charity Burbage."

"The muggle studies professor?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. She was killed without any reason. Just because she believed muggle-borns weren't lesser than pure blood. Stupid reason to kill someone."

Hermione nodded.

"Okay, two more."

"Florean Fortescue. He was a wise man. And was killed just because he was wise." Harry said, the memories of the summer of his third year coming back to him.

"And Dobby," Ginny said.

Harry looked at her, his expression unreadable, before his face broke into a wide smile. "That's fixed then."

"Fifteen. You sure you don't want to reconsider?" Ron asked.

"Honestly? No. I have decided. I just....hope I am right." Harry said, standing up again. "The only issue now is.....unite two more pairs of soulmates.....I don't really have hope with Romilda and Dean, and Michael and Pansy."

"Leave that to Kingsley." Ron said, standing up from his seat. "The ministry should do some work too."

"I am not sure," Harry admitted, looking up at him. "I don't trust their choices much.

Silence fell again as everyone thought of a way to respond.

"Maybe those two pairs are already replaced by someone else?" Ginny asked. "Death said the condition was already fulfilled. We don't need to know who those two pairs of soulmates are...like, for all we know, they could be mum and dad or even Bill and Fluer."

"Well," Harry said, standing up. "There's only one way to find out. I will...talk to Death again. And if the condition is not fulfilled, then, we will have to fulfill it. And if it is, we can proceed." He looked out of the window, and even in the snow-covered landscape, he could feel the presence of someone listening to them. Someone ever present. Someone like...Death and Life both.

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So, that's it for this chapter.

Let me know your thoughts about this one.

HP_Always.