AN: Alright everyone, the pairing has been decided and it's going to be Winter. I know a lot of you will be upset as many wanted Death or Ruby as the pairing, but I would like you to hear me out on this. Winter not only had the most number of votes, even if that's not the reason I picked her, but there are several factors that chose her. For one is that I really don't think I can write Ruby in a relationship without extreme changes to her as she's too childlike for me to feel comfortable doing it at the moment. Winter felt the most natural to write. I already put that Ruby's eyes reminded Harry of his sister figure (a hole I hadn't realized when I first wrote that). Winter as the ambivert will be able to cover both spectrums and know when to push and when to let Harry relax.

I know that many of you threatened to stop reading if you didn't get the pairing you want, and that's your call. I have parings I refuse to read on principle and so if Harry with Winter is one of those then I understand and hope you find the story you want somewhere else. I just ask that you please give the story with its new pairing a chance.

A Grimm Huntsman

Chapter 19

-Harry-

Leaning against the wall with Jaune, Harry watched as everyone else shared their last goodbyes with the returned souls, the spirits already beginning to fade and flicker. Ruby and Yang held on tightly to Summer Rose, Taiyang and Qrow each putting a hand on the flickering ghost's shoulders as the woman smiled at them with watery eyes. Nora and Ren were both being hugged tightly by their parents.

Slowly, mist began to form from the floor of the dimly lit house as a figure rose up, formed out of the fog. "Your time is almost up." Death told them seriously, "Finish your goodbyes, for this will be the last time they will cross over to the world of the living." With a wave of her hand a pulsing simmering tear appeared in the air, a one-way portal to the afterlife.

"Goodbye mom." Ruby choked out, clutching Summer's cloak tightly as Yank simply hugged her. Tai-Yang kissed his wife one last time and Qrow squeezed her shoulder. Nora and Ren didn't speak, they merely held on tightly, taking in as much love as they could in the last few moments that they had in the living world.

Harry noticed it first, the bottoms of the spirits beginning to dissolve, their essence being sucked back into the portal along with the fog as they lost their glow. Within moments the spirits became intangible as his friends staggered at the sudden loss of contact. He watched the spirits mouth final messages of love before they were sucked into the portal, Death following silently after as it sealed shut behind her.

Despite the tears, despite shaking shoulders, he saw smiles of joy on their faces, their eyes shining brighter than before, and a weight seemed lifted off their shoulders as his friends got the closure they had needed from the past twenty-four hours. "Aaaand Five," he began counting as he checked his watch "four, three-"

"What are yo-?" Jaune's question was lost as his friends began toppling one by one as his potion wore off and their bodies crashed to sleep.

"Enjoy nap time guys." He chuckled softly, going through the different rooms to find pillows and blankets so everyone would at least wake up comfortable. With everyone settled he began to browse the bookshelves, needing something to do while everyone else slept away. "Why hello, what have we here?" he muses as he finds a large binder on a shelf. Taking it over to the couch he sits down and opens it up, finding that it's a scrapbook of pictures from when Ruby and Yang were younger. "Ah, blackmail." He grins at some of the pictures, taking out his scroll for copies "These should come in handy."

-Hazel-

"Hey Cinder!" a mouthy brat with gray hair hollered out, the irritant and his green haired companion having found him outside "There's some big gorilla here, says your boss sent him." This declaration was met with the sound of heels as the giant saw Cinder approaching along with a man he recognized from the news as Roman Torchwick and a short girl with three toned hair.

"Hazel," Cinder greeted him with faint nod, a glimmer of relief in her eyes which he assumed was from his presence rather than Watts "I see my missive arrived."

"Wait, the gorilla was for real?" the gray-haired nuisance asked surprised "I thought he was bullshitting."

"Mercury, must you continually insult those who could kill you?" Cinder sighed "I would rather not have to replace you this far into the mission." The fact that she would replace him without any guilt went unsaid.

"I don't think the idiot has an off-switch Cinder." The girl with the green hair simpered, showing a reverence to his ally that, while not at the level Tyrian showed to Salem, was still blatant and extreme.

Ignoring the squabbling teenagers, he pulled out a sealed letter "This was sent for you, it contains Her new instructions."

Reaching out, Cinder snatched it from his grasp, breaking it open to read through the letter at a blistering pace before reducing the paper to ash. "Very well Hazel, I'll have you reside with Roman for now as you help him with-"

"No." the finality of his tone echoed in the warehouse they were hiding in, the two bickering children growing still as they stared at his back in blatant shock that someone would talk that way to Cinder.

"No?" Cinder growled, her fists coming alight with flame as Roman and the short girl quickly moved away from the partial Fall maiden.

"I was sent to recruit the Potter boy if possible, not to help you." He grunted out, "If I see an opportunity to help you without jeopardizing my own mission I will take it, but I am not going to risk failing in my own objective. If you don't feel that you can complete the mission without my aide however then feel free to say so, I'm sure Watts will be more than happy to take over the assignment personally." The click of her teeth slamming together was audible as the girl reigned in her admittedly impressive temper.

"Um…excuse me, terribly sorry to interrupt but who are you talking about?" Roman asked, twirling his cane about in what Hazel recognized as a nervous tick and a defensive gesture, the signs of it being a Hunter's weapon visible to those who know to look.

"I assume Cinder told you that she was in charge?" he asked with a sigh, getting a nod from the short girl who he could tell was dangerous, far more so than the two irritants Cinder recruited. "She is merely one of those who sits at the table of our employer, the lowest ranked one as well." Cinder's face turned red with anger, indignation, and shame at the truth of the statement.

Watts brought money, resources, and his own talents to the table given that the man was both a doctor and an inventor. Tyrian was Salem's assassin, able to blend in enough to move without too much difficulty and psychotic enough to leave devastation in his wake when Salem let the man off his leash. He was her enforcer, the most dangerous of them all in a fight and the most mentally sound. Cinder had yet to even harness the Fall Maiden's full power, her first true assignment Salem had given her.

"Wonderful!" Roman enthused "Do you think you, or you employer if you would be willing to pass word along, could do me a favor here? I got hired by our dear friend Cindy here to steal Dust. I completed the contract, and in exchange instead of paying me like we agreed she threatened to burn me alive if I didn't steal a new amount. She's done this a few times now and I would rather deal with someone who has actual business sense and doesn't talk in a constant bedroom voice."

"Roman Torchwick. Former Huntsman, trained sniper, master thief, and a talented escape artist." Hazel listed out as Cinder was only kept from interfering by his steely glare "The fact that she was willing to alienate a potential ally of your talents is just another sign that I doubt she's ready for the current undertaking. I will see what can be done." With the sound of shattering glass, he found Roman's small compatriot on his shoulder as she kisses his cheek happily before teleporting back to Roman. "Another useful one," he gave Cinder a disappointed look "some days I wonder who is more likely to prove the adage 'pride goeth before the fall' first, you or Watts." With that he turned and departed with Roman and the shorter woman, leaving two confused teenagers and a fuming Cinder.