2) The Duty.
"So what do we do now, sir?" Granger asked as they walked back to the classroom.
"I will take care of the horse and… a few minor things that need to be done," Severus said. "While you will…" Yes, will what? Go back to the dormitory, to Potter and Weasley, and tell them you've just met Death, who had unfortunately broken his leg, and helped put him in the Potions Master's bedroom? Or go to the Headmaster and say Professor Snape will be a little late because he has to take care of Death's horse? He sighed.
"Al right, you can help. I guess you can hold the horse or something. By the way, its name is Binky."
"You're going to have to… you have to take over for him, isn't it?" Miss Granger ventured.
"As always, excellent deductive powers," he said, the rare compliment blunted by his acid tone and his fervent wish she wouldn't actually use them all the time.
They had entered the classroom and he walked around his desk, grabbing the scythe from where it leaned against the wall. The horse was still waiting patiently on the far side of the room, sleeping with its head down and one leg slightly cocked, but it lifted its head and stood up straight when he approached. It nickered softly.
Miss Granger frowned. "Sir, how are we going to get the horse out of here?"
He hadn't thought of that yet either. However…
"Something tells me that will not be a problem," he said.
He walked up to the animal, then looked down at his robes. While practical for teaching, they left something to be desired for riding a horse, unless he wanted to ride side-saddle. Well, he might as well go in style. With a flick of his wand, he transfigured his heavy robes into a hooded cloak like Death himself wore.
He glanced at Miss Granger. Her school uniform was impeccable, as always, but it did not seem appropriate for the occasion. He flicked his wand again and she suddenly wore a black dress of a rather ancient cut, skirts divided for riding. It was trimmed with black lace and had a rather low neckline. He wasn't sure where it had come from, for it hadn't been what he had pictured. However, it fitted the circumstances rather well. And her, too, if he had to be honest about it.
She looked down in shock. "Oh, no. I am NOT going to wear this! It's… totally inappropriate."
"Miss Granger, wearing your Hogwarts uniform would be inappropriate. I assure you, this is far more suitable for the occasion."
Miss Granger opened her mouth as if to protest, but he grabbed the reins, put his foot in the stirrup, and swung himself up on the horse. "Well, are you coming?"
She seemed to make up her mind, stepping forward and allowing him to pull her up behind him. He didn't even have to touch the horse with his heels; as soon as she was seated it trotted off. Straight through a couple students' desks, then through the wall and upwards, taking the shortest way out of the castle with little regard for such things as architecture or gravity.
Once outside, the horse trotted a few steps over the ground, as if to take a running leap, then pushed off and cantered up into the air.
"Miss Granger," he said, carefully keeping his voice level. "I don't mind you holding on to me, however a little less tight would do. You will not fall off. I would know."
"Sorry, sir." The pressure on his waist let up only a little. Not that he could really blame her, it was somewhat disconcerting to be on horseback, far enough above the ground so the trees were just a green blur below them.
"So where are we going?" she asked after a few moments of silence.
He wasn't sure. The horse would know, Death had said, however he felt a little more preparation wouldn't hurt. What if there were more people where they went? In his case it had been pretty obvious, but what if he were to end up in a hospital or somewhere, it might not be so clear as to whom he had to take. He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the hourglasses Death had given him.
One still held a tiny bit of sand in the top bulb, the other was empty save for a few grains. That had to be the first. He noticed there was a name written on the wooden frame. "Someone called George Jones. Sounds Muggle."
"Death comes for Muggles too?" Granger asked from behind him.
"Death comes for everyone, I believe," Severus remarked. "Obviously."
"Well, yes, of course," Granger replied. "I just didn't think he would actually come for them. In person, I mean."
Severus shrugged. He hadn't thought Death came in person for anyone. Or that he rode a horse named Binky. But he wasn't about to admit as much to Miss Granger. "Well, now you know."
Binky saved him from having to answer more questions by descending. Strangely enough it seemed they were going to land in a wooded area, with no structure nearby. Only a narrow road twisted through the trees. Maybe some lumberjack was in for an accident. If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound, he thought bitterly.
Then, just as Binky touched down, he heard the sound of a Muggle car. Oh, of course. Muggles had accidents with those vehicles of theirs all the time, didn't they? He looked around just in time to see a sleek, dark blue vehicle approach at what seemed a rather high speed. It completely missed the bend in the road and, with a sickening loud crunch, ended up twisted around a tree. A few parts came off and landed nearby.
He heard Granger gasp from behind him, and cursed his decision to allow her to come. There was little left of the Muggle vehicle, and there were some things a seventeen year old girl did not have to see. He swung down on to the ground, holding the scythe. "Just stay here with the horse, Miss Granger."
She dismounted and just for a moment he thought she would follow him but she nodded wordlessly, and he approached the car alone.
A middle-aged man, looking somewhat unkempt with shirtsleeves rolled up, tie half loose and messily brown hair, emerged from the vehicle, still holding a beer can in his transparent hand.
"'ad me a bit o' a scare, there," he said, slurring his words. "One moment I'm jus' takin' a swig o' me beer, next there's this 'ere tree suddenly comin' out o' nowhere. I must've got lucky to get outa there like this."
"I'm afraid you did not," Severus remarked dryly, looking pointedly at the wreck behind the man's ghostly image.
"Whadda ye mean?" the man asked, turning around rather unsteadily. "Oh."
That seemed to be the standard comment. Severus brought the scythe down, cutting the blue line that connected this man with his corpse.
The man seemed to be too inebriated to be seriously bothered by his predicament. He took a swig from the ghostly beer can. "So, yer Death, then? Ah alwahs figgered you'd be thinner, like. And who's she, yer missus?"
Severus almost choked. "Not exactly," he growled. Merlin, she was seventeen, couldn't the guy see he was much older than her? Of course, the guy was drunk, and dying didn't seem to have changed that.
"Ah, suit yerself. Nice lookin' though, she is. P'rhaps bein' dead ain't so bad then." He emptied the beer can and tossed it into the bushes. It disappeared before it hit the ground. "So what 'appens next?"
"I think it is time to leave," Severus suggested. He wasn't entirely sure what would happen either, but he had done his part.
"Ah, right then," the man said and started to fade a little, then stopped. "Wait, I betta take me a fresh can. No tellin' when I'll get anutter one, whereev'r it is I'm goin'." He turned, reached into the wreck of the car and came up with an unopened, though ghostly, can of beer. Popping it open, he took a swig, then continued to fade out. "That's betta."
Severus watched the man disappear completely, then turned back to where Miss Granger stood with Binky.
"That was disgusting," Miss Granger said. "He was dead and he still couldn't stop drinking!"
Severus shrugged as he shouldered the scythe and swung himself up into Binky's saddle, pulling her up behind him before replying. "And what difference does it make? If he'd stopped drinking yesterday, perhaps things would be different. But now –it's not like it's going to kill him."
Miss Granger didn't reply immediately. "I suppose. It still seems like a waste though," she conceded quietly.
Secretly, he agreed; he didn't think much of those who abused alcohol, drugs or potions in such an excessive manner. However, he was not going to admit that. He took out the second life timer and read the name. "Louella Ann Smythe," he said. "Whoever that is."
He glanced down, trying to find out where they were, and was startled to find only water below. Then again, why had he expected to remain in England? People died all over the world, everywhere.
Even so, it didn't take long for Binky to descent again. To the total opposite of the earlier place; this time the high-rises of a large city sprawled below.
Binky aimed for a floor halfway up a large building and it soon became clear this was a Muggle hospital. In a room with only a few beds and dozens and dozens of screens, wires, machines and plastic pipes, the horse stopped. Severus looked around in wonder as he dismounted and looked around, wondering which of the five occupants was Miss or Mrs Smythe.
"Here she is," Miss Granger said, pointing at the chart at the foot of one of the beds. An elderly lady was lying in the bed, eyes closed. "I think we're a little early yet."
Severus frowned. She was old, al right, but she didn't look like she was about to die. He said as much.
"Well, I guess she must be," Miss Granger said. She pointed at a screen with a slightly irregular, wriggly line crawling over it. "That's her heartbeat, I think."
The way she eyed the Muggle equipment told him she had a general idea what it was doing, but not in all detail. Severus watched the line, then frowned as it suddenly grew erratic, then flattened. The soft beeping turned into a blaring alarm. He frowned again as he noticed there were still just a few grains of sand in the top bulb. Muggles still had a few moments left after their heart stopped? Figure that.
People came running from the nurses' station up front, and Severus stepped back. He knew they couldn't see him, but it was disconcerting to have them actually walk through him all the same. He suddenly felt a new appreciation for the unwritten rule at Hogwarts that it was impolite to walk through one of the ghosts.
One of the orderlies slapped a button and at least the alarm stopped. Another wheeled yet another apparatus with wires up to the bed. A nurse or doctor took two strange paddles and placed them on the old woman's chest.
"Clear!" she said, and everyone stepped back.
Suddenly the old woman convulsed, and in the same instant, Severus had his wand in his hand, even though something told him he shouldn't interfere. Couldn't, probably, when he was in this state.
He didn't get to try for Miss Granger's hand was on his arm, holding him back.
"They're killing her!" he exclaimed.
"They're not," Miss Granger said. "That's the Muggle way of restarting her heart. They're trying to save her."
"By doing that to her? That's barbaric."
"It often works," Miss Granger said. "Though not this time, it seems."
Severus could see she was right about that part, at least. The ghostly form of the woman came loose, even as the doctors and nurses were trying another shock. He stepped around them and brought the scythe down.
"I still say it's barbaric," he said with a snort of disgust.
"I wouldn't go that far," Mrs Smythe said, "Although I had told them not to bother. Really now, I'm ninety-three, you'd think they would let a woman die in peace."
When Severus did not reply, the woman squinted at him. "Surely you see this all the time, in your position. Hm, come to think of it, you don't look or sound like I expected. I never knew Death would be British."
"I am just filling in. Death has been… indisposed."
"I never!" Mrs Smythe exclaimed, shaking her head. "The things they think of nowadays. Well, as long as someone gets the job done." She started to fade.
When she was gone, Severus turned around, took Binky's reins from Hermione and mounted. Soon they rode off, leaving behind the nurses and orderlies who were still working on the old lady's body. It hadn't gone too bad, all things considered.
"Muggles really believe they can stop someone from dying by doing that to them?" he asked when Binky was once again airborne and they'd left the hospital behind.
"It does, sometimes. I don't exactly know how it works either, but it sends a jolt of electricity through the victim's body and it shocks their heart into starting again. If they don't have one of those machines like that, they will also try to push on someone's chest repeatedly, CPR they call it."
That was even stranger; you couldn't just thump someone's internal organs to get them going again? "I am very glad I am not a Muggle, then."
Miss Granger didn't reply, and moments later Binky descended again. The speed at which they travelled didn't seem to be related to the speed they seemed to keep; the horse had not gone faster than a trot on this last trip, and Severus was sure their last visit had been to America. Only when the ground was in sight did they actually move at a normal pace.
"Professor, what will you tell the Headmaster? He doesn't know, does he?"
Severus looked over his shoulder, slightly irritated. He hadn't come up with a satisfactory explanation of their absence either, but he didn't need her to point that out to him. Then he took a good look around.
"I don't know if we will have anything to explain. I don't believe a lot of time has passed, that is the third-year Slytherin class down there with Hagrid."
He could feel her shift slightly as she looked down –she wasn't holding on as tightly any more either. "You're right, sir."
"I have good hopes the Headmaster is still waiting in his office and has not looked for me yet. Will your friends have missed you yet?" he asked.
"No, not likely. I didn't have time for a long explanation or an argument, so I told Harry I was going to the library. Unless anyone has a homework problem and comes looking for me they won't miss me any time soon."
"Ah, but that would require they actually did their homework," Severus remarked sarcastically.
"They do their homework. But usually not before dinner," Miss Granger replied.
"Good then," he said. He smirked, as he knew well he'd hit upon a sore spot between the three Gryffindors, however he also knew he was wasting time. He still had the horse to deal with; where could he leave it? In spite of its ability to fly and walk through walls, it seemed rather more solid than Death himself, and it had nibbled on the potions ingredients. He was afraid it would need to be fed. Well, Miss Granger could make herself useful for once.
"I will have to go in and see the Headmaster immediately. I hope you know how to unsaddle a horse," he said as Binky touched down on the lawn outside the castle.
"I've ridden horses a few times in summer," Miss Granger replied. "Just tell me where I can leave him, and do you know whether anyone will be able to see me while I'm still working with him?"
Severus frowned darkly. He had given it some thought but their trip had gone quite fast and he hadn't thought of a solution he was really happy with. Death had said it was up to him when he and the horse could be seen, and by whom, but he wasn't sure if that extended to Granger too. Reflecting on how hard it'd been to cover up his movements in the classroom, when he'd been dealing with an invisible Death, scythe and horse, he decided that it would probably be simpler if the horse were visible to all when on the ground. It looked real enough.
"Everyone will be able to see it when it's on the ground," Severus told Miss Granger as they dismounted. "It is easier that way. Anyone who asks, it will be my mother's horse that's here while she is on vacation. Take it to Hagrid's and put it in the paddock, and make sure it stays on the ground. A horse walking on air is not something I want to explain. Oh, and transfigure your dress back into your uniform."
"Yes, sir," Miss Granger nodded.
He changed his own cloak back into his teaching robes and walked off without looking back. At the front doors he realised he was still carrying the scythe, and with a tap of his wand transfigured it into a potions bottle, making it disappear into his pocket before entering the castle.