Chapter 2

A/N: Oh god, I'm so sorry! I meant to be very active with this story but college came up, and I have been so frickin busy! I have cut out time to update today because I have some excellent news. Least exciting is that my History Midterm has been moved back a week, but most exciting I have found a job! For various reasons this is my first job so I'm a LITTLE bit excited (as little as the all of the Harry Potter books stacked up)! I also talked to a cute guy today! It's been a superb day! So I want to celebrate with you guys! You get a chapter, and YOU get a chapter!

Disclaimer: Would I be this excited about a job bagging groceries for people if I owned Harry Potter or Guardians of the Galaxy? No!

Harry looked at the growing stack of paperwork on his desk, "Oh, Merlin no!" The little whimpers of distress had been coming from each of his many Reapers as he expressed his mounting frustration in a series of angry grunts. Harry hadn't even been death for a century, and he was already gaining a reputation.

If you asked a reaper about their boss their first instinct would be to get out of there ASAP; their second instinct would be to tell you to mind your own business. If you somehow capture the Reaper long enough to make it talk it would explain that the Master of Death's temper was singularly proportional to the size of the stacks on his desk. He hasn't had a long time in the position, but he is acclimating to the responsibility well. You will only be in real trouble with Harry's employees if you ask about Thanos. The man had come to meet Harry in the short man's first year in the position, but the Titan was already tap-dancing on the power house's last nerve. The state of his nerves was a fact he liked to remind his Reapers about whenever they tried to complain to him about a problem, "I don't have enough room on my nerves for your problems, I have enough on my own thanks!" A customary response by now but the reapers all somehow know that if they focus all the power of their puppy-dog eyes on their Master, he would acquiesce and send them away with a mind full of good advice on how to handle the issue. All things considered, Harry was counted as one of the kindest Masters the reapers had ever known! Mercy was known as one of his most utilised tools, on all things but Thanos and paperwork.

Thanos was the primary source of all things that irked the newest pseudo-god. The Titan had taken to threatening the Master of Death with insanity and an endless supply of forms unless the tiny brunette agreed to a date. The first time Thanos had told Harry of his ingenious plan the man had scoffed and told Thanos that he wasn't gay but thanks for the offer. Harry was, of course, a vibrantly stereotypical homosexual man but if the Boy-Who-Lived had learned anything from his human life it was how to gently but firmly turn down a man's offer of sex. When Thanos walked off easily Harry had thought that his little deception had done the trick but then the paperwork started streaming in.

Not every death in the Universe required a form. An old man dying warm in his bed was happily ushered on his way without a single stamp, signature, or pen needed. Death by disease was another easy one. The Reaper assigned to the case simply brought the ragged little soul to Harry who would lay his hands on the fragile little scrap and mend the effects of human suffering. When Harry had a chance he liked to personally explain what had happened to the renewed soul but he hadn't had time for that since he had turned the Titan down. The first time he encountered one of these souls was a coma victim. Her mother had waited to pull the plug for fifteen years but Cathy never woke from the sleep. The ravaged soul felt so heavy in Harry's arms but he gently stroked a frayed edge as it melted back together and thickened in protection. By the time he was finished Harry barely recognised the soul and then he released it to turn into the image of a little girl with pigtails and a pretty dress! "Cathy? My name is Harry. How do you feel?"

Cathy looked confused and a little afraid, "Where is my Daddy?"

It broke his heart but Harry sat the little girl on his lap and set to explaining the unexplainable, how she had ended up there rather than at home or school. Little Cathy was rewardingly strong and she was reassured by Harry's power of soothing that comes with his position. She happily went with her grandma when she arrived to take the little one away. It was the protocol with young souls that a loved one was called to meet them and take them into "the light". Dumbledore had, of course, been right. The doorway into the afterlife appeared differently for everyone. In his train station Harry would be situated in the Ticket Booth.

After the paperwork free deaths came the Interview worthy deaths. Accidents were the main thing to land on his desk that required such an intimate experience. When a soul came in from an accident Harry would sit with the person and fill out the single form for the soul. Other than death by disease the accidental deaths were the most traumatised. People who die a long, slow death suffer but they expect their end but when a car accident came in Harry's first priority was to explain what happened to them. When the soul understood what had happened Harry could heal it and move it forward. The custom was to treat the souls like children in need of tenderness and forgiving but this is especially true for accidents. One of Harry's first accidents was a father, dead at the bumper of a drunk driver. The man had been gentley ushered into Harry's office by the Reaper, Dave, who had whispered an explanation in Harry's ear. Harry could remember putting a little extra effort into the soul's orientation. The father's first words had been to ask about his family, "Sir, I don't understand! Where are my wife and baby! She's only one year old! She'll be so scared!" Harry only thought it for a moment but he had to ask whether his father had done so when he had died. "Matthew your wife and child are both safe! Your side of the car was the only one that took serious damage." This was an obvious relief to the young father but when he asked if there was any way to see them again Harry was unable to give the desired answer. No returns or visits! These were harder deaths to handle but he loved those cases.

The deaths that Thanos was inundating him with were the ones that generated the most paperwork and that broke Harry's heart. Murder! Murder deaths were a painful sight on their own but when he received the release papers on their souls there was a lot to be done. The more damaged a soul is the longer it must remain in Harry's presence. Murdered souls held so much pain and anger that they were often little more than scraps when they arrived to Harry. The paperwork included a place to calculate the rehabilitation time. Some of the souls from Voldemort's Reign were still in the rehabilitation box under Harry's desk. Obviously, the Master of Death couldn't sit and stroke the damaged souls for the millennia it will take for the souls to recover so instead he filed a reminder for them with the calculations on their recovery time. When a soul was ready to be released into the afterlife the reminder would pop up in front of Harry's face so he remembered to release the recovered soul. Harry's family had been granted a brief release to visit him on the battlefield but they were all there. In the box. Harry liked to take them out sometimes and spend a few moments hugging the tatters of his loved ones and forcing copious amounts of healing magic into them. Every time he did that their paperwork reappeared for him to revise but it was worth it if his parents or Sirius recovered sooner.

Thanos was murdering by the billions to get Harry's attention and the Master of Death was about fed up with him. It was taking all the restraint the soul of a Retired Master of Death had imbued him with but he had avoided giving in to his Hero Complex. Soon, the Titan's tap shoes would sever Harry's wast nerve and he would promise anything in exchange for the safety of the Universe.

A/N: Well? What do you think? I do beleive Peter will come in soon so prepare yourself for a romantic MoD and a very confused Star Lord!

Please review, it makes me feel bad so I update!

Thanks for the Support! Love, Amy!