Finally At Peace (Tomarry)

Chapter 1: Surprise?

I've said this before but I plan on deleting that authors note, but this is a slightly (aka very) different start to the story. And the rest will more than likely be very different as well. Thank you for sticking with me through this though, much love<3

'Thoughts'

*******************************************************************

     "Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shouts, and as the green light sped toward Harry he finally accepted that this is what must happen, there was no other way. Instead of feeling nothing though, Harry grits his teeth in pain as he falls to the ground. He tries not to move a muscle or make a sound as someone walks towards him, however, he feels himself twitch and hopes it goes unnoticeable.

     The person kneels next to him, checking for a pulse it seems. It feels like an eternity has gone by before the pain finally lessens and Harry can hear a familiar voice ask him "Is Draco alive?" He gives a barely there nod of his head and listens as Narcissa Malfoy tells Voldeort that he's dead. Hagrid starts sobbing as Voldemort rants about finally defeating 'The Boy Who Lived'.

     As their backs are turned Harry gently lifts his wand, still gripped in his hand "Expelliarmus!" He mumbles the spell, so as to take them by surprise, and they all watch as Voldemorts lifeless body seems to burn and falls to the ground. Harry rolls to the side and jumps up as Bellatrix starts firing spells at him, he starts firing back trying to hit her. Narcissa has already left to find Draco, leaving just Hagrid, Bellatrix, and himself in the forest.

     "Flipendo Duo!" Harry finally shouts, sending Belltrix into the tree behind her landing with a sickening crunch. Harry accios her wand, grabs the Elder Wand, and releases Hagrid from his chains before running off towards the castle to find his friends.

     He reaches the Great Hall and immediately finds the group of redheads known as the weasley family. They're all surrounding someone and Harry rushes over to see who it is. He sees Fred lying on the ground but sighs in relief as his chest slowy rises and falls, indicating he's just knocked out. "Is he alright?" He asks Arthur. They finally notice he's standing there and he gets pulled into a hug by them all, Molly frantically checking him over.

     Arthur grasps his shoulder and looks at him, "He's going to be fine, just banged up pretty good. How are you, Harry? What happened with Voldemort?" At this everyone turns to look at him and he shrinks under the attention.

     "I won't go into detail, but he's gone. For good." (a/n: sike!) He mutters, though in the silence of the Hall everyone heard him.

     The Great Hall errupts into cheers, everyone congradulating Harry. Arthur pulls him to the side, "You did good, Harry. Now, the Auor's have rounded up most of the Death Eater's, but a few got away so I want you to be very careful until they are found, yes?" Harry nods and goes to step away.

     He doesn't get very far before he's pulled into a bone crushing hug by Hermione and people start shaking his hand. It's all too much for him, something doesn't feel right but he can't seem to figure out what. He spots Sirius and Remus, alive and well besides some cuts and bruises. The Weasley's and Hermione are ok, he sees Luna and Neville are alright. Most everyone he cares about seems to be alive and ok for the most part, so he can't figure out why he feels so off.

     He turns to one of his best friends, "Hey, 'Mione?" She looks at him questioningly, "I'm going to walk for a bit, clear my head some. Can you cover for me?" He asks quietly.

     She looks at him for a minute but eventually agrees. "Of course, Harry. I think it's about time you get some space for yourself." She gives him one more hug before he slips his invisibility cloak on and heads outside, no destination in mind.

     Some time later Harry's resting against a tree, not really noticing where he's at until there's a flash of blinding light. Once it dims a bit he looks to see a glowing orb of some sort and realizes he's in the clearing where he killed Voldemort. Harry quickly stands up to inspect the light before he sees that it's hovering over the Dark Lords body, and in one more flash of light he hears a large gasp of breath from the body and sees it morhping into... Tom Riddle?

     Harry slowly draws his wand, backing away while keeping his eyes on the man. After a while he realized that he's not waking up and starts walkig closer. Before he can take a second step though he hears Ron and Hermione calling for him. He rolls his eyes thinking 'Really? Time alone does not mean thirty minutes.' With them getting closer he throws his cloak over Voldemort without a second thought and runs towards his friends. "What's up? I told you I needed some time to clear my head." He said tiredly.

     "We were getting worried about you, mate." Ron says, rolling his eyes.

     Hermione looks at Ron for a second before saying, "Yeah, Harry. After everything that's happened, we just want to make sure you're alright."

     Harry takes a deep breath trying not to be bothered by her mothering nature. "Guys, I appreciate it but I told you, I just need some time alone. I need to process everything, on my own." He looks at them with pleading eyes.

     They both sigh before Hermione nods, "Okay, we'll leave alone for a bit then. But, come find us soon, okay Harry? You know you're like a brother to us." He doesn't think it was meant to be seen, but Harry saw Ron make a face at the last words.

     "As soon as I'm ready I'll come find you guys, love you 'Mione." Harry finally lets out a breath when they begin walking back to the castle after a brief hug.

     After waiting a few minutes to be sure they weren't coming back he turned around to head back to the clearing.

     It took a minute to find the body because of the cloak, but when he did he looked closer only to back away quickly with a gasp. It looks exactly like the diary Tom Riddle, just a little bit older. 'This shouldn't be possible.' Harry thinks to himself.

     Quickly deciding to go to the Dursley's old house Harry grabs Tom's arm and apparates there. Crossing his fingers that no one thinks to look for him here he lays Tom on the old couch, and sets up a sleeping pallet on the floor next to it so he can keep an eye on the man. He then goes around making sure all the windows and doors are locked as stong as he can manage, then he puts up silencing and notice-me-not charms around the house so the muggles don't realize someone is there.

     Finally, he gets as comfortable as he can on the floor to try and get some sleep hoping he doesn't wake up dead. He has one last though before he drifts off 'I should run to the store tomorrow.'