4) A little help…
After classes a knock on his office door announced Miss Granger's arrival. Severus got up, put his quill down –he'd only managed to grade one essay, she'd been quick.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Go saddle the horse while I get today's life timers," he instructed. She frowned, opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "And don't ask."
"Yes, sir," she replied quickly, and turned.
She'd at least learned not to argue with him, and he wasn't going to explain the damn horse insisted on her presence. He locked classroom and office and went to see Death. Soon he walked towards Rubeus' hut, the hourglasses hidden in the pockets of his robes. Miss Granger was just tightening the cinch.
"All done, sir," she said. She looked eager; she truly wanted to go.
He nodded brusquely, taking out his wand and, after a quick look around, transfigured their clothes as well as the scythe. "Well, come along," he said as he mounted and pulled her up.
This time the horse did not hesitate at all, taking off immediately. He got the impression they hadn't gone far when they descended to a house in a small town. He dismounted, hoping not to run into any children like the day before. He needn't have feared; the old man they found in the bedchamber was not alone, but neither were there any kids or pets around. Those present seemed to be a nurse, as well as the man's adult children. Miss Granger held the horse like she had done the first day, so he didn't even have to worry about it nibbling anything.
The man died, and his ghost sat up and nodded politely as he saw them. "Good afternoon."
Severus decided he definitely preferred the elderly. Well, unless they had cats. He returned the man's greeting with a nod.
"It seems I am dead," the man remarked calmly. Of course the elderly generally would be expecting it, rather than those who were younger and died in an accident. "What happens now?"
"It appears that is up to you," Severus replied.
The man considered that for a moment. "Well, in that case," he said, getting up, and as he did so, he changed. He now appeared to be in his thirties. He added, "I was happy enough to make it to eight-four, but I'd be crazy to stick with being old if it's not necessary." With a big grin, he faded.
"I didn't know that was possible!" Miss Granger exclaimed.
Severus shrugged. "Why shouldn't it? It does appear anything goes."
He wasn't in the mood for small talk –like he ever was- and he was glad when she didn't say anything more on the subject.
Soon they were underway again. Once again they galloped over the ocean, descending finally to land at an apartment building that had seen better times. They dismounted and Severus noticed a ghostly presence. He turned to see a young man, not bad looking, who waved at them. Inside the apartment people were arguing.
"Let go of me! I'm outa here, you can't stop me!"
"He's been dead for six years. I'm right here! If I can't have you, no one can."
They stepped into the apartment just in time to see the man draw a gun. A shot rang out and Severus stepped forward.
The ghost of the woman looked confused for a moment, then she spotted the ghost of the young man who'd shown up. "You really did wait for me!" she exclaimed as she ran to him.
In the meantime, her attacker looked down at the fallen body. Shouts were coming from the adjoining apartments now. The man looked around and seemed to panic. He stammered apologies as he sat down next to the body, then, as someone started to pound on the door, he raised the gun and shot himself.
Severus used the scythe again and the man blinked, looking at the couple who were already fading but still quite recognisable, kissing intimately. He stared open-mouthed until they were gone completely.
"I messed up, didn't I?" he said finally.
"You did," Severus agreed.
"So what can I do?" the man asked. Then his eye fell on Miss Granger. "Whoa, very nice… What're you doing tonite?"
Severus glared at him and he was about to jump in, but Miss Granger was quicker.
"Don't even think about it," she snapped so forcefully the ghost of the man drew back and almost blinked out. To what or where, Severus didn't care and from the looks of it, neither did Miss Granger.
"The bloody bastard! He killed her because he was jealous and a moment later he's looking at me like that!" she exclaimed indignantly.
"Language, Miss Granger," he warned, but he put little of his usual venom in his words.
She scowled. "He deserved it. And I am raising the neckline on this thing." She fingered her dress.
"Do as you want, you're perfectly capable of taking care of such details," he replied. "As long as it's something black and fits the occasion." Truth to tell he thought the dress looked pretty good on her, but it did draw the eye.
She waved her wand and the lacy fabric crawled up considerably. Then they stepped back out through the wall.
A couple neighbors were still pounding on the door and looking frantic, and in the distance sirens screamed, however no one looked like they could see them so Severus calmly swung himself up on Binky's back and Miss Granger followed.
"Same time tomorrow, Miss Granger," was all he said as they returned to Hogwarts and left her to unsaddle Binky. Some time he'd have to think of a good reason why Miss Granger, out of all people, was taking care of his mother's horse, but he left that for later. The animal wanted her, so he was damned if he was going to spend his time brushing and feeding it.
The next day was uneventful up to the time Miss Granger reported to his office. Poppy had asked to see him again but he'd been able to brush her off, stating that he'd been busy and since he'd been doing fine for two days it was unlikely he'd suddenly drop dead at this late a time. The fact that such was extremely likely to happen in just a few more weeks was of course totally lost on her.
Miss Granger appeared at the appointed time and soon they were again airborne. They arrived at another hospital, but this time they landed on the ground floor. Large, red lettering read 'Emergency', and outside a brightly coloured Muggle vehicle with flashing lights sat, its rear doors still open. Severus gave it a quick glance, but he already knew the one person moving around inside was in perfect health.
They entered the building and here, too, it wasn't immediately apparent where they were supposed to be. A few people sat around, waiting, but unless Muggle medicine was a lot worse than he thought, none of them seemed likely to die in the next few minutes. He looked at Miss Granger for help.
She was also looking around. Several doors led off from the main reception area, and after only a moment she pointed at one. "In there, I think. The operating room."
They entered and he knew she had been right. A group of Muggles was clustered around a fairly young woman on a metal table, moving around rather frantically, and there seemed to be a lot of blood. Muggle devices were all over the place, and he didn't understand a word of what the healers were saying. The one thing he did recognise was the screen with the spiky, green line, and thus it didn't surprise him when the line flattened out, or when the Muggles started their barbaric shocks again.
The woman sat up and looked around in confusion, at the healers and at them. "What happened?"
"You died," Severus remarked dryly.
The woman's expression didn't change, as if she didn't know what to make of that answer, or of him. "I only remember going to the store, driving along and… I think there was a car, it must've ran the light."
Ran a light? How did one run a light? The woman didn't seem to notice his puzzlement as she continued.
"Oh, no! I didn't wear my seatbelt, my husband is always telling me to wear it but I keep forgetting. Would it have made a difference? Please tell me it wouldn't have made a difference!"
How the hell was he supposed to know? What exactly did a seatbelt do anyways? He needed a dictionary if he was going to talk to Muggles this often! Fortunately Miss Granger jumped in. "I don't think it would have," she said. "Don't worry about it."
The woman looked relieved, and faded.
"What's a seatbelt?" he asked as they walked out through the closed doors.
"It's a restraining device, for safety. When Muggle vehicles run into each other, a seat belt makes sure the driver doesn't get thrown from the vehicle. I wasn't being entirely truthful; if the accident were bad enough it wouldn't have made a difference, but chances are it would have. Seat belts prevent a lot of deaths."
"You lied, Miss Granger? What happened to the famed Gryffindor honesty?" he asked, using sarcasm to hide his surprise.
"Like you said after that first man, it doesn't make a difference anymore at this point, does it? It just made her feel better."
"Quite sensible," he grudgingly admitted. Which seemed to surprise her; he rarely complimented anyone. But why not? She was doing better than he could have hoped for, and he might be stuck with her for a while.
After they took off again, the horse turned east, not west, and when they descended at first they saw nothing below but a lot of desert. Just when he thought the dead would be a lost traveller, a line of vehicles came in sight, as well as a number of people swarming them. Clouds of dust and sand hung around. Coming closer, one or two of the largest vehicles appeared to be sprouting long tubes, the others were lighter but also had thinner tubes protruding from them.
"Tanks!" Miss Granger said. "I think we're in the Middle East somewhere."
Binky landed in between the vehicles, where a few Muggles in patchy brown and grey clothing had sought cover. Small objects whizzed through the air and slammed into the metal of the vehicles with sharp twanging sounds.
"Uh-oh, incoming!" Miss Granger said after just a few moments, and Severus looked up to see a rather large, pod-shaped object approaching them. Its trajectory made it clear it'd miss them by several yards, though. Surely if that were some large bullit or whatever it was called, they were waiting for the next.
"Really, Miss Granger, clearly that one isn't going to come close…" the rest of his words were cut off as the thing hit the ground and exploded. Shards of metal, parts of the vehicles, a shower of sand and, to his disgust, body parts flew all around and straight through them. He ducked and barely stifled a scream, then quickly recovered, hoping no one had seen. The soldiers at least would've had something else on their minds.
Three of the soldiers had died in the explosion, however it seemed he only needed to use the scythe on one, the others came loose as soon as he had taken care of the one whose life timer he carried. All three ghosts saw them, though.
"Fucking hell," one said, while his companion glanced at Miss Granger.
"Jesus, they got women working here, too? Now I've seen it all."
The third soldier paid them no mind. He was looking off to the side, where a broad, shining road had appeared among the rubble. "I knew it! At least we're going to go to heaven."
The first soldier turned to Severus. "Did we at least get some of them, too?" he wanted to know.
Severus turned and pointed in the direction the missile had come from. Two ghostly young men walked towards them. "It looks like you did," he said.
The two came closer. The third soldier, the one who'd first notice the road to Heaven, stepped forward, blocking it. "You aren't going to our Heaven," he stated.
The two men looked at him, frowning. When they spoke Severus found they could all understand, even though he was sure the newcomers did not speak English. "We don't want to walk your road, this here is the gate to Paradise."
And indeed; an ornate, golden gate had appeared a little ways off.
The soldier frowned. "If we go to Heaven fighting you guys, surely you must go to hell."
"Speak for yourself, mister," one of the newcomers said. "Paradise is only for those who have lived well, not for unbelievers."
The two started to argue while the other soldiers looked from the road to the gate and back.
"Does that road look like it leads to hell to you?" the soldier yelled.
"It must, 'cause everyone knows you get to Paradise going through a big, golden gate. Would hell have a golden gate?"
Miss Granger interrupted them. "I think you both go to your own Heaven," she said.
The soldiers looked at each other, at the road, at the gate. "You mean it's all true? Then what did we need to fight for? Aw, man!"
The two parties finally made their way to their respective paradises, the road and gate fading with them. Severus walked back to Binky, then noticed Miss Granger standing still, looking at the devastation around them. "Miss Granger?"
"It is all so useless. If they knew it all were true, would they stop fighting?"
He shrugged, then gave a derisive snort. "I doubt it would make a difference in the end. If there were no Muggleborns, would the Dark Lord be a nice guy, content with a regular job?"
"I suppose not," she conceded.
"It's just an excuse. Religion, Muggleborns. What people really want is power over everyone else. Take one excuse away from them and they'll come up with something else. Always have, always will."
"That is a very bleak outlook."
"But accurate, I am afraid," he replied, swinging up into the saddle. "For us and for the Muggles. We just use different weapons."
With a resigned sigh, she climbed up behind him. "You really didn't know it would explode?"
Damn, he should've kept off that subject. "I think that much was obvious," he said acidly.
"I'm sorry, sir. I thought you knew or I would've said something," she apologized.
"Miss Granger, I thought you realised by now I know very little about anything Muggle. I heard about bombs once, but those were dropped from aeroplanes."
"They used to be, and some still are," she said. "But they can shoot them all the way across the world now, out of underground bases or ships. However I think this one was launched from one of the vehicles. I'm afraid Muggles have weapons that do a lot more damage than any spell."
He frowned even though Miss Granger could not possibly see his face, riding behind him. "And Muggles, if they even know about us, are afraid of us?"
He felt her shift as she shrugged. "The Muggles haven't had those weapons for very long," she said. "I suppose before they had guns, even a minor curse must've looked like something straight from hell, when all they had was swords and knives."
"They sure caught up since then," he remarked dryly.
"I'm surprised you don't know more about these kind of weapons," Miss Granger said. "I would've thought You-Know-Who could use them in his propaganda."
"You don't know what cowards a good lot of his followers are," Severus replied, disgust in his voice. "He would gain some supporters, no doubt, but as many of them would never face a Muggle again."
"Like Crabbe and Goyle, they only pick on those smaller than they are."
"Exactly."
He felt Binky start a descent and he broke off their conversation. Another desert spread out below them. Not another war? Two in one day? Since Severus had no idea how it was determined who, out of all the people who died each day, he had to attend to personally, he didn't know how likely such a thing would be.
Then a row of stunted, almost-dead trees came in sight along a river that had run dry, and a small village of thatched huts that didn't look like a war zone. The wind blew sand all around the arid place, and some children tended a few sprigs of sickly green that clung to life in the dry soil.
Binky landed in front of one of the small huts and he could hear voices coming from inside. He went inside expecting to find an elderly person who couldn't stand the strain of living in such a dreadful place, which would be a relief after the previous ones from today. A cluster of women sat in the back of the hut, wailing rather than keeping their emotions in check as is common in Western culture, and he was almost on top of them when he saw how wrong he'd been; the small body one of the women was holding couldn't be more than a year old.
He turned quickly, intending to tell Miss Granger to wait outside, but she was right behind him. It was obvious she had seen the child, as she was biting her lip and trying not to cry. Damn. Then he knew the time was there, and he used the scythe, a little awkward as, even though he knew he wouldn't hurt the woman holding the child, he still felt uneasy about touching her with the scythe.
The child was too young to talk, and its ghost faded almost immediately, but the women wailed louder than before. Severus quickly left the hut, where he turned to Miss Granger.
She was standing in between the huts, holding Binky. He'd just come out in time to see her wipe her eyes, and now she was gripping the reins tightly and blinking.
"Are you al right, Miss Granger?" he asked.
"It's just not fair!" she burst out. "The woman in the accident, the wars being fought for all the wrong reasons, and now this child who's never had a chance at life, living and dying in a place like this!" She gestured at the dismal village around them. "Isn't there anything we can do? Warn them, tell them, help these people here with some spells to grow their crops?"
"You know the reasons we can't help Muggles with our magic," he said.
Miss Granger bit her lip again. "Okay, not these, but at least the accidents, can't we warn those people, stop them from dying?"
He hesitated as he thought it over. He had no idea what the extent of Death's power was, but he had the feeling it was more than he had used, so far. And as he considered it, he knew. Not in all detail, for he didn't understand exactly what it meant, but just thinking about it had told him something, as if he'd remembered even though he knew he had never actually been told. "It wouldn't work. They couldn't… live a normal life if we did that." He was also quite aware that he, himself, was doing just fine at Hogwarts even though he should've been dead. But that was different, wasn't it?
Miss Granger seemed to take the information at face value. She grimaced, then sighed. "I guess."
He hesitated. "Do you want to continue coming with me?" he asked then.
She looked up, obviously surprised at his question. To her credit, she didn't answer immediately, but rather took a few moments to think it over. "Yes," she replied then. "I'll be al right." Her voice sounded steady again, too.
He nodded. He was glad for her answer, for she'd been helpful when it came to the horse and she knew so much more about the Muggles, too, but if she'd answered differently he swore he would've left her at Hogwarts and the bloody horse be damned. He still wasn't sure taking her along was the right thing to do, Gryffindor courage or not, and he would not take her along against her will. "Then let's go."