A/N: in case any of you were wondering how it is that jen and harry started making cookies in the morning and weren't finished until the evening, the cookies used yeast and therefore took forever to make. it was also very overcast and the two of them took their time eating them. (yeah, that's the best i can come up with for my stupid screw-up)

anyway, it's officially summer and that means me updating a hell of a lot more. please please please please review and maybe even ask jen questions.

disclaimer: i'm now the proud owner of a bunch of long, bsed papers and a new chocolate bar (chocolate is my friend : D)

Harry was more than confused now. "You knew him?" he asked. Jen sighed and then nodded.

"He was one of my best friends," she said quietly. She closed her eyes as if she were trying to hold back tears.

"How did you even know him?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's a long story," Jen stated, remaining very quiet, "The under-detailed, extremely short version is that I went to school with him when we were both young. That probably only makes things more confusing, though."

"How the hell did you go to school with him! You're my age not to mention a harpy!" Harry felt confused, and from the confusion was springing a slight burst of anger.

"I haven't always been sixteen," Well that's obvious. It doesn't really help, either. "In fact, I was twenty-two at one point." What! He must have voiced as much, because Jen looked ready to explain more. Though he wouldn't put it past her to read minds anymore. "Perhaps this will help to clear a few things up." Jen ran a thumb along her throat, a faint blue mark appearing along it. The blue mark quickly faded away, except for two small, triangular spots that were within about an inch of each other.

"What the hell is that?" It looked like a bite mark or something. Wait. A bite mark? Aw hell… "Something bit you and turned you into a harpy, didn't it?" He assessed gravely.

"Actually I was born a harpy. Unlike with vampires, which is where I'm guessing you got that theory from, you are either born a harpy or not one at all. One of the many differences between the two. However, I was bitten." A pained, yet still somewhat amused, look now playing on her face.

"How was telling me all that supposed to make me less confused! And what does something biting you have to do with any of this if it doesn't explain why you're here!" The anger was growing slightly.

"Slowly but surely, I'm going to explain all of it," Jen said calmly, not looking the least bit worried about Harry's confusion or anger, "My getting bitten does have to do with why I'm here. I actually got bitten twice. The first time was by a vampire, the second by a harpy. The first bite killed me in a sense. The second brought me back."

"How, and more importantly WHY, did a vampire bite you? What do you mean by 'in a sense'? How the hell did you get brought back? You can't bring people back from death!" All these questions were asked of Jen in the period of about half a second, so how it was that she understood any of it was a mystery.

"One question at a time and you'll have a better chance of being less confused sometime soon," Jen said, still pained, but still amused as well, "A vampire bit me because I was on an assignment for the job I had at that point and we got ambushed. I fought, so she bit me right in the vein on my neck."

The strange girl took a small pause and then continued, "I say 'in a sense' because it wasn't the bite that killed me; had it been a different scenario, I might have lived. Had the vampire not held me down, or had I not been so tired from fighting that I had been able to unlatch her from my neck, I could have healed the wound. That small shadow of doubt is enough that a good friend of mine, whom I now literally owe my life to, was able to bring me back."

Harry's confusion only was only increasing; his anger, however, was remaining under control to the point that he wasn't going to yell or blow anything valuable up. At this point, it seemed like that would only increase the amount of time it would take for him to have any inkling of understanding.

"Harpies are considered immortal by most because the standard for immortality , given by humans, is a lifespan upwards of 500 years. Harpies normally live to be between 600 and 700, so we fall into that area. Even though actual immortals, vampires again being the main example, don't normally consider us such, there is a process that a harpy is capable of that makes them question their own standards. A harpy can sacrifice his or her 'immortality' to bring back someone who has died. There are very specific circumstances, though. I honestly don't know what all of them are; I don't think anyone does. What I do know is this: it doesn't work if the person got hit with a killing curse, or anything else that causes instant death. The way it works, as far as I can tell, is that it really just makes it so that a circumstance was changed, not the actual death. So, if someone couldn't heal themselves before bleeding to death anyway, the process probably wouldn't have worked for them."

"That makes NO SENSE at all!" Harry exclaimed. He was angry again, though this time it was simply because he had no idea what was going on anymore.

"Neither does life. If life makes no sense, it's not really sensible to expect what happens afterwards to either," Jen stated, sounding familiar to Luna.

"You're speaking in riddles!"

"Life is nothing more than a gigantic riddle. What better way to try to understand it than to speak its language." Now she really sounded like Luna.

"Right. That's nice. Tell me when you intend to stop sounding insane," Harry said exasperatedly. Jen opened her mouth to retort, but Harry near-shouted, "Don't even start!" This time Jen smiled, albeitly it was a tired smile. Harry sighed and then, after pondering for a few seconds, said slightly (very slightly) more calmly, "So what happened after you died?" Jen smiled understandingly. He was beginning to believe that she actually could relate to how he felt, though the small fact did little to help with his anger.

"One of my friends, obviously enough a harpy, brought me back. You don't know her. Nor does anyone here, though you might meet her later. Any other questions?"

"Yeah, quite a few actually. How long is a mortal life, because wizards live longer than muggles, but they're both mortal. Also, why are you here if your friend isn't? Wouldn't you end up wherever she is? Why are you sixteen if you were twenty-two when it happened. And, the big one, HOW THE HELL DO I KNOW YOU'RE NOT LYING!" This last question was one that had been at the back of his mind since he and Jen had begun this little conversation.

"My life span is between 125 and 175, so it's plenty long. I'm not really sure why it is that I ended up here, but I'm guessing that's just how it was meant to end up. That's all I can think to say about my age, too. I'd say that you just have to trust me, but I haven't really given you much of a reason to. Whenever you see Remus again you can ask him I guess. Apart from that, I can't really prove much to you. People that I know but you don't won't be of much help because you don't really have much of a reason to trust any of them, either. You'll probably see everyone else that knows you and knows me at the same time you see Remus again." Jen said all of this calmly, as if this entire situation was completely normal. Her eyes, however, still held sadness.

As the fanged girl sat down again, she lightly touched his ankle. The now somewhat familiar tingling sensation returned for a few seconds. When Jen lifted her hand off of him, he could tell his ankle was fully healed. "It should sit for about ten minutes so that the muscle strengthens in the right place. Afterwards, feel free to leave."

Jen took a deep breath and got up. For a second, Harry thought she was somewhat calm, an emotion neither had truly expressed the entire night. The supposed calmness was quickly disproven, as Jen jumped up and kicked a vase right off the fireplace mantle. He would have been surprised that she could jump like that, but she still had wings sticking out of her back. Her eyes glowed a dangerous red as the vase shattered against a wall, but then cooled back down to a blue slightly darker than her usual color.

A/N: please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please review