Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or The Book Thief. J.K. and Markus Zusak have those locked up, I'm afraid.

My job is simple, you would think. How hard would it be to take people to the afterlife? To show up at the scene of their death, pick them up, and carry them away?

Not very difficult, it would seem. The merciless part happens when a particular soul isn't quite ready to leave.

It is my duty to be unfeeling. My sole purpose is to carry the dead on. I cannot let the sob stories of those who wish to hang around the earth a bit longer stop me from what must be done. When their time has come, my work has begun.

In some particular cases, I feel the unfairness of taking the souls away. Why did their stories end so quickly, while others' continue on? Is it the way of life? Chivalry? Or luck?

I would like to think that it is the unfortunate end of the latter that took the main characters of this story, but I'm afraid that assessment would be optimistic to the point of blatant lies.

-A FACT OF VITAL IMPORTANCE—

Lily and James Potter are dead.

No, their souls deserved much more time, I am sure. I had seen them both before, holding each other up in situations of grave danger. They deserved to carry on.

But a man had better plans.

The man who I will not name, he took them without mercy. He stormed in to their home, and took their lives in preservation of his own.

How odd it is the measures that he went to to avoid me.

-ANOTHER SNIPPET OF INFORMATION FOR MY DUTIFUL READER-

I find everyone eventually, but I found the Potters a little earlier than anyone would have liked, I am sure.

The odd thing about picking them up was that while they were not ready to go-not in any way, shape, or form- they walked into my arms.

There was no resistance. If I remember correctly, (which I assure you I do, Death never forgets), James Potter did not attempt to block my approach. He did not defend himself. He accepted his fate in hopes that those of his family would be different.

His wife's was not.

Her death was even more peculiar than his. Lily Potter was even more ready for me than her husband, of this fact I am sure. She craved more time on Earth, but begged to join me. Lily Potter did not see her fate as a definite, as James did, but still begged for it. Lily wanted her time over, but because she no longer wanted to live.

Lily Potter had a reason more moral than having her misery ended. Her reasoning was remarkably unselfish. Humans tend to look out for what is best for themselves, ignoring the fate of those around them. Lily Potter did exactly the opposite. While she did acknowledge her own fate, it was for the bettering of another person. Her son.

I did not expect Harry Potter to live past that night. I thought that I would collect him, send him on, and never hear his name beyond the list of victims. I encountered him more times than I would like to admit to. I'm very busy, but I always took time to sneak a glance at the boy who escaped me, when I was ready to pick him up and carry him off.

-IN CASE IT HASN'T YET OCCURRED TO YOU-

Harry Potter lived past the night of his parents' deaths.

He lived many more nights, in fact. I carried him off in the end though. Twice, actually. Harry Potter was the first person to experience such a thing. As I was ready to depart the forest, I sensed that he wasn't mine yet.

Anyone might be wondering why it was him who evaded me. Anyone could be thinking, "What did he do to continue on?" The answer is simple, even more so than my job.

-ONE LAST OPINION BEFORE YOU FORM YOUR OWN—

I find it fitting that Harry Potter was the first, and last, person to truly conquer me, when his parents walked into my open arms in return for their son's life.

A/N: I really enjoyed writing that! It defiantly wasn't in Rowling or Zusak's writing styles, but I think it was alright. For those of you who didn't get this, it was narrated by Death (the character) from The Book Thief. I enjoyed both, so this combo occurred! I don't think it's quite a crossover, so here it is. Thanks for reading!