Rebirth

Everyone is born with a soul mate. Not everyone meets them. Some live and die with a different person. We could only recognize our soul mate with a red mark around our left ring finger, it only appeared when we had met our soul mate, or at least we had been in the same room at some point. Then it remained, as a constant reminder that at one time you had breathed the same air as your soul mate.

All Harry knew about this soulmate was: that he had met them at least once and that they was dead.

After the Battle of Hogwarts he felt emptiness. A heavy and deep void. Neither joy nor fear, less sadness or stress. Nothing. This could only happen when his soulmate died. And that day, they was dead. Without him knowing who they was, where they was.

He had to pretend his whole life. Feign joy, love, pain, stress, anger, anxiety. He had cried at the many funerals after the Battle of Hogwarts, and at others throughout time. He had married Ginny, had children with her and divorced around their 40s. He never felt anything for them. Or even pain for not feeling anything. He didn't cry during the divorce, nor when his children no longer came to see him. He felt nothing when Mrs. Weasley died, Hagrid, Ron, Kreacher, Luna, Hermione. Nothing.

He had worked as Aurora thinking he would feel what he had felt all his years against Voldemort. But nothing. He had worked as a hitman, thinking that killing someone would give him even a thrill. Nothing. He had taught at Hogwarts. Nothing. Became the director himself. Nothing.

Now he lay in his hospital bed, lulled by the sounds around him. The footsteps of the nurses, the sound of the radio in the distance, the discussion of other patients. The sound of the wind against the leaves of the tree outside his window. The constant beep representing his heartbeat.

The room, the bed, the curtains, his clothes were all dazzling white. As white as King Cross station when he first died.

The beeping began to slow down beside him. His eyes closed, letting the comforting darkness take over. The sounds became distant to his ears. Except for the sound of the beeps. They slowed down again, until they became constant. Long and endless. A feeling, the first he has felt in a long time, peace.

Everything was dark, the beeping now mixed with the sound of a train whistle. Many footsteps around him, chatter getting louder and louder. Was he back at King Cross station.

He opened his eyes and instead of the blinding white place, he was on the Hogwarts Express. He looked out the window and saw the many families bringing their children onto the train and chatting with them. In the corridor, many students were rushing frantically to find places in the carriages. The smells, the sounds, the noises all seemed so real. Was it in his head? "Sure it's in your head, but does that mean it's not real." Dumbledore's voice reminded him in the distance.

Was he given a second chance?

He stood up quickly. He delights in the laughter, incessant chatter and banality crowding around him. He saw familiar faces passing his door. He saw his first love Cho, her cheeks rosy from the excitement and the effort of carrying her suitcase, talking happily with one of her friends.

Later he heard the Weasley family, easily recognizable. Looking out the window he saw the twins having their straps pulled up by Mrs. Weasley, Ron looking at the train with slight fear on his face, and Ginny asking her mother if she could get on the train too. Percy should already be on the train, he think,

The twins joined Lee Jordan, probably already talking about their first pranks or ways of going to detention, breaking previous records for speed. Percy joined the group in helping Ron get on the train. Ginny was always complaining to her mother about how unfair it was that she couldn't go too. The scene was slightly different than he remembered. This shouldn't have shocked him after all he himself wasn't on the train at the time.

Looking at the passers-by, there were students whose faces he didn't recognize. It was strange at first, but considering his old life, it wasn't surprising either.

Apart from the people in his class and the DA he didn't know anyone else. He had been too busy surviving between basilisks, acromentulas, dementors, dragons and so on and the best. He had thought too much to take care of his social life. Having a handful of friends had been huge for him compared to his life with the Dursleys.

Howls brought him back to his own compartment. Looking up he saw his old and first friend, Hedwige. He stroked the white owl through the cage.

"Hey old girl. I missed you." he whispered.

While caressing Hedwig he saw his soul mark being created on his ring finger. The fine red thread that he had also received during his first year reappearing. A wave of strong emotion took him by surprise. Emotions he hadn't felt for over a hundred years. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, he didn't know what emotion he was feeling at that moment, perhaps all at the same time. He wiped away the tears and tried to stay calm and regain control. If it happened again like in his previous life, Ron wouldn't be long and he didn't want to explain anything to him. He sat back and continued to observe the people, now happy to be here.

Barely a couple of minutes later, the door to his compartment opened. He turned around with a big smile, ready to speak again with Ron, with whom he had lost contact since his divorce from Ginny.

His smile faded slightly at the sight of the boy in front of him. His heart stopped for a moment. The face was too familiar for his taste, sure he had only seen it a few times but he could never erase it from his memories.

Brown eyes, black hair styled in perfect curls, which contrasted with pale skin and rosy cheeks and lips. Old and gray clothes yet worn as if they were new. His face blank, but his eyes full of mischief. But it was impossible. It was just a coincidence. He resumed his smile, not wanting to make the boy doubt.

He glanced briefly at the seats across from Harry before returning to his eyes. He nodded and the boy entered with his second-hand suitcases, which he placed in the luggage rack and sat down in an unnatural position. He was straight as a rod, his hands placed correctly on his legs, which were glued together. His head was straight and seemed frozen like the rest of his body; he would think he was dead if he didn't see his chest moving with each breath.

Harry sat down as well, trying to look young and not a 117 year old man. It was more complicated to do than he had expected, but to his advantage the other boy didn't seem to really know what was "normal" either.

The train began to move forward, with some people running alongside the train to say a final goodbye to the student on the train. He was a little curious to see that Ron hadn't come to see him and instead there was this strange boy, staring at him intently in silence.

The different and familiar landscapes passed before his eyes as he made his way to Hogwarts. He still didn't know why he was there, could this be death? Relive certain passages of your life, differently. Unless he went back in time, which was unlikely. But everything seemed so real, so precise, in the white station it wasn't the case, there was a mist around him. He breathed as if he were alive, feeling the emotions he had forgotten for so long.

Hedwig hooted happily when he let her out of her cage. The boy in front of him was looking at the owl just as intently as he had been looking at Harry earlier. Harry held her out for him to stroke. The boy hesitated before reaching out to touch Hedwig's head, who was enjoying the attention she was receiving. The boy's smile was terrifying, but strangely true and deep in a way that Harry didn't understand. Placing Hedwig next to him so she could stay out of her cage the rest of the way, he noticed that his red mark had intensified, turning blood red.

He stopped for a short moment before coming back to face as if nothing had happened, carefully hiding his finger so the boy wouldn't see it. The marks only intensified when you were alone with your soul mate in the same room. Was this strange boy his? His soul mate? Did he know it? That would explain his behavior.

The candy cart arrived at their level and the lady asked them what they wanted. He bought double of everything, which he gave to the boy as he had done to Ron.

He started eating his own handful of candy. He had forgotten how much he loved it. Adult life was dull once you lost your sweet tooth. The boy in front seemed to be hesitating with what to take, as if he would only be allowed one and his choice was therefore crucial. He empathized with him, when he was at Hogwarts he would sometimes be afraid of not being able to eat again the next day.

"By the way, I'm Harry." he said suddenly to break the silence that had lasted since the start of the journey.

The boy jumped slightly, eyes as wide as an owl, seeming to mentally struggle with whether he had heard what he had heard correctly. Which was strange considering what he had said was just a simple presentation. Harry didn't lose his smile, not wanting to scare his soul mate more.

The boy spoke after a long moment, and Harry's world collapsed.

“Tom….Tom Riddle.”