Prologue
“Sir?” he called as Dumbledore started to stroll away. “Is this real or is it just happening in my head?”
“Of course, it’s happening inside your head, Harry. But why should that make it any less real?”
Harry felt a strange wave of contentedness as Dumbledore smiled and continued on his way. The misty fog seemed to thicken and coalesce, then just as suddenly it was gone. Harry blinked in surprise as the scenery of King’s Cross Station seemed to have changed completely. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected or how it would feel to ‘come back,’ but at present, the only thing that seemed to change for Harry was his location.
“Hello?” he called while glancing around at his new surroundings. Wherever he was, it seemed to be either sunrise or sunset based on the colour of the sky, although he couldn’t actually see where the sun was.
He was in the middle of a courtyard made of beautiful black-coloured marble with brilliant golden veins streaking through the stone. Around the courtyard were marble pillars carved of the same stone as the floor with beautiful exotic plants interspersed between the pillars and climbing around and up them as well. There was no roof above the pillars, yet Harry could not see past them. All that there seemed to be was the misty fog that had engulfed him before.
“Hello?” he tried again, wincing slightly at the hint of fear in his voice. Besides himself, there didn’t seem to be anything or anyone else in this place. He wondered if he had to go through the pillars and back into the misty fog to make it out of there.
With another quick glance around himself, Harry walked toward a set of pillars that had a small tree with large red bulbs hanging from the branches. He was just about to walk through them when…
“Hello, Hadrian. Or do you prefer Harry?” said a deeply melodic voice. He whipped around so fast that he nearly stumbled into the small tree. He quickly righted himself and stared at the man in front of him…except…Harry supposed he wasn’t really quite a man.
He was very tall and lithe of body, but that in no way took away from the sheer strength and power he exuded. His skin was very pale, but in the way that a naturally tanned person who hasn’t been in the sunlight for a long period of time looks—pale, but tan. His most striking features were his chiseled face—long straight nose, high cheekbones, strong jaw—and surprisingly soft-looking lips. His hair was bone-white while his eyes were so black you couldn’t tell the difference between his irises and pupils. He was dressed all in black with leather boots that went to just below his knees and a shimmering cloak that looked like it had a large piece cut off a bottom corner.
In fact, this being’s presence was so imposing that it took Harry a long moment to realise that there were more people in the room: an older gentleman with kind eyes and a beautiful woman in a long toga-like flowering gown who had all manner of flora woven into her long chestnut-coloured hair.
It looked like they were sitting down at the small table in front of them drinking tea.
Harry couldn’t make sense of any of this. What was going on?
“Hadrian? Harry?” the man spoke again.
“What?” he said hoarsely.
The tall man chuckled and gestured for him to follow him to the table. Once there, he introduced the couple sitting down. “Harry, this is your ancestor and my very dear friend Ignotus—”
“What?!”
“—and this is my mother, Persephone.”
Harry’s legs felt weak. He didn’t realise his legs had given out until his downward momentum was stopped by a chair that promptly appeared. Suddenly the missing piece from the man’s cloak made a dizzying sort of sense.
“So you’re Death?” he asked faintly.
“Yes.”
“Please, Thanatos,” Persephone scoffed. “That is not the name your father and I gave you.”
“True,” he chuckled. “But it has a nicer ring to it than Thanatos or my nickname.”
“I happen to like your nickname, Thane,” Ignotus said teasingly.
Death laughed and sat down on another chair that magically appeared, facing Harry. Harry, for his part, was just trying to breathe and calm his racing heart.
“Harry.” Persephone gained his attention and his heart rate seemed to slow as he looked upon her face. “Ignotus and his descendants have been very dear to us—” she pointed between herself and her son “—and I am not the least bit surprised that one of them has been found worthy of the gifts my son had left in the mortal world.”
“The story of the Three Brothers?”
“True, as I’m sure you already know.”
Harry nodded sheepishly before his brow furrowed. “What did you mean by worthy?”
“The descendants that came from Ignotus here have always been worthy of the invisibility cloak.” She gestured to the shimmering material on her son’s shoulders. “Anyone who has bested the current keeper of the Elder Wand has been worthy of its loyalty, but thricely so in your case. Firstly, since it was not taken from killing. Then, when you discovered that you held the wand’s true loyalty, instead of trying to take the wand for power, you sacrificed yourself to the wand to preserve life. To protect those you care for.”
“And the Stone?”
Persephone smiled brilliantly as she regarded him, but it was Death who spoke.
“When you used the Stone to see the shades of your loved ones, you did not try to keep them in the land of the living. You asked for their guidance before requesting they escort you to your death. Then you discarded the Stone where it is unlikely to be found again.”
“And all those things make me worthy?” he asked doubtfully.
“Yes. More than you can imagine.”
Harry nodded as he thought on all that he’d learned today. It was all a lot to take in, especially considering this had all happened after he had died. Which also begged the question, “Why am I here?”
“To receive a gift from that of my house,” Persephone said solemnly.
“To have the blessing of an ancestor who is old friends with Death,” continued Ignotus.
“And to grant you an inheritance for all that you’ve been through in your short life,” finished Death.
As Harry turned to Death at the last of his words, he was surprised to see him holding out one of the red bulbs from the small tree near the pillars. It was split open and Harry realised with astonished recognition that it was a pomegranate, filled to the brim with blood-red seeds.
Harry’s mouth instantly watered and he unconsciously leaned forward to take a bite of the fruit. The taste that burst in his mouth was both salty and sweet and it wasn’t until he’d swallowed that the taste of the fruit registered as blood.
He pulled back shocked both at the taste as well as how his mouth still watered for more. Harry felt a wave of panic begin before Persephone got off her chair and knelt at Harry’s feet, cupping his cheeks in her hands.
“Hush now, child,” she cooed. “It is a gift we have bestowed upon you.”
“What did you do to me?” he croaked.
“We have blessed you with the gift of returning to the land of the living as a vampire.”
“What?!”
Persephone laughed and Harry felt his pulse slow at the enchanting sound, still processing this unexpected turn of events.
“But I thought I’d be able to go back…alive.”
“And you will, child.”
“But—”
“We have given you the inheritance of vampirism.”
Harry felt his brow furrow, he was still confused. Weren’t vampires the living dead?
Persephone laughed again as she retook her seat and motioned to Ignotus. He smiled at Harry before beginning to explain. “There is a very large difference between a bitten and turned vampire—which I’m sure you’ve learned a great deal of and a living born vampire. The bitten and turned do die and are the living dead. They feed off of blood only to survive and are unable to go out into the sun. They are also allergic to silver in the same way that a bitten and turned werewolf is.
“A living vampire,” he continued, “is more than just another species of human/wizard. They are alive. They are born, grow old and eventually—granted maybe in 500 years—they die. They need both food and blood to sustain them, but the blood drinking also slows their metabolism so that the nutrients from the food can work more efficiently. They are faster, stronger than humans, and have an unprecedented amount of healing capabilities. There is also NO aversion to silver. If severely injured, the body goes into an almost death-like state so the body can heal itself without having to maintain extra bodily functions, like breathing or a consistent heartbeat.”
Ignotus continued. “They are also blessed with recognising their fated soulmate; whole blood and exchange of bodily fluids give strength and fast healing to both parties.” Noticing Harry’s stunned and slightly dazed expression, Ignotus finished by saying, “If you need extra guidance and mentoring in coming into your inheritance, you may seek it from your Professor Severus Snape.”
“But Professor Snape is dead,” Harry said, still dazed.
“Is he?” Ignotus chuckled.
Before Harry could wrap his brain around that little nugget, Death took Harry by the shoulders and gently led him to the pillars with the small pomegranate tree.
“You have done well, Hadrian Jame Potter,” Death intoned. “Go now and live a long and happy life with your mate.”
“But who—?”
Death chuckled as he pushed him beyond the pillars. “A conundrum in and of himself. Harry Potter—a virtuous incubus.”
That was the last thing Harry heard from Death as he came back to himself and realised he was lying down on the cold forest floor.