Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheek as she woke up. The whirl of a window air conditioner didn't immediately set off alarm bells in her befuddled mind. Her eyes opened before she dared move her body, in fear of aggravating the injury she knew she would have. Her last memory had been of a bright purple spell flying her direction, and she was certain she would be waking up in a hospital of some kind. What she found, however, was something quite different. Her eyes took in the couch she was laying on, and the desk on the opposite side of the room. She could hear shuffling around behind the four foot stacks of paper that covered most of the desk, so she knew someone else was in the room. Quietly running her hands down her stomach and to her pocket, she searched for her wand. Her movement didn't go unnoticed by the occupant behind the desk, and a bored male voice broke the silence.
"Your wand isn't on your person. Its not even in the building - or the realm, to be sure." Her logical mind kicked on, and she noticed all of the muggle things littered around the office. There were also orbs and other distinctly magical objects in nature and it just did not make sense. This much magic should interfere with the computer sitting on the corner of the desk. "Now, give me just a second and we will discuss your death."
"My… what?" Her brow creased and she tried to focus on the last things she remembered. "I… Im dead? But…" Her voice trailed off and she pressed a hand to her stomach. She sat up and started taking stock of her body to see if she had any injury she had missed that would give her a clue as to what happened. Laughter caused her to look up in confused agitation. Standing behind the desk was a man in his late forties. He was balding, had orange eyes, dark tan skin, and generally looked beyond the prime of his life. The hood of his black cloak was pulled back, but it went all the way to the floor and was so dark black it was like looking into an abyss.
"No, dear. I'm sorry. You haven't died. You see, we plucked you out of a variable equation because we need your help."
"Variable equation? Help with what? Who even are you?!" The man sighed and came around the desk to sit down in a chair across from her couch.
"A variable equation is a point in time where a soul could have gone either way. It could have lived, or it could have died." Her look of concern made him smile and he leaned towards her a little. "Don't worry, you live. I just need to have a conversation with you about your friend Harry Potter."
"What about Harry? And, you still haven't told me who you are. Or where we are, for that matter!" Crossing her arms over her chest she tapped her leg impatiently, glaring at him in her agitation.
"You're in the care of The Afterlife Inc., Miss Granger. We are a group of Grim Reapers that all report to the big guy. We watch all of the souls of this world and make sure that no one throws the balance of magic off course. We break it down by year, and you were the last soul born during the year that I was assigned." Her face screwed up in confusion and she interrupted him.
"But, I was born in September." The reaper smiled at her indulgently, revealing a set of sharp pointed teeth.
"Yes, you were this turn around. You have a rather old soul, Miss Granger. Your first life was many cycles ago. Time works in mysterious ways, my dear. Now, lets not worry about that at the moment. For now, lets focus ourselves on the reason you are in my office. Your friend Mr. Potter has made quite a mess of things for my friend Phil. You see, if he dies before he is supposed to one more time, poor Phil is going to lose his job." The grim reaper looked at her expectantly, but Hermione just burst into giggles.
"Im sorry, its just – Phil? The grim reaper's name is Phil? What is your name, Bob?" She covered her mouth and doubled over laughing at the absurdity of what she was now convinced was a vivid hallucination.
"Well, no. Bob is my cousin. My name is Carl." Her laughter got louder and he sighed. "Miss Granger those are just the human names assigned to us by our boss in order to make your transition into your next life as easy as possible. I assure you that I have a name you wouldn't even be able to pronounce. I know you are confused, but this is important." Hermione sobered up and looked at him appraisingly.
"Ok, say I believe you. Harry has died more than once? How is that possible?" A wave of his hand had a tea service appear out of nowhere. He prepared her tea for her in the way she usually took it, and handed it over to her. She took it with a smile and settled in to enjoy her tea.
"Well you see, we have the power to take your soul, and move it anywhere along the board in your current or most recent life in order to effect change. Your friend Mr. Potter was denied his soul mate in this life due to the manipulations of others. It has had some undesirable effects on the state of his soul. You see, Mr. Potter is a special favorite of the big boss."
"A favorite? Why?" Hermione took a bite out of her scone and looked at him expectantly.
"He is his son," Carl said casually. Hermione chocked on her scone, and started coughing. Carl laughed.
"My dear girl, you are much more excitable at this age then when you usually die." He smiled as she regained her composure and handed her a napkin to wipe the crumbs and splatters of tea from her skirt. "Yes, Mr. Potter is the son of Death. Or, more accurately, his soul is. He is being groomed to take over when the big guy is ready to retire, so he is being left to his own devices. Except, he has been rather spoiled up until now. You see, usually he has the tools he needs to succeed. However, the big boss told Phil to give him a challenge. And, well, Phil was rather drunk at the time and not thinking things through. So, instead of just making things a little bit harder by giving him a foe to fight, or giving him not as big of a support system, or having him meet his soul mate later in his life, Phil gave him the trifecta of challenges. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, this has been a rather huge mistake. Mr. Potter has died a rather large number of times, twenty-eight to be exact, in this life."
"What?! Are you – youre serious?!"
"Yes, I'm afraid I am. You see his soul is depressed. He has a strong desire to just end this life and start the next one but he cannot. Not until he learns the lessons he must learn in this one. Except he cant bring himself to care. So, in order to help Phil avoid a lifetime of torture, would you help me Miss Granger? Would you help me keep Harry Potter alive?" Hermione looked troubled, and her sad smile definitely did not reach her eyes, but she nodded.
"Of course! You're in luck, Carl. Keeping Harry Potter alive is something of a goal of mine in this life." Carl laughed and leaned to pick up his tea.
"You haven't proven to be very good at it, but that isn't entirely your fault. That Dumbledore character has a rather large hard on for messing with Potter's life. And, unfortunately, I gave you a rather large penchant for obsessing over the rules this time. You need to learn to stand up to authority more. So, I am going to break a few of the rules. Just a couple. I never do this, and I will probably be written up but I cant damn Phil to an eternity of torture because we were getting drunk because of a bet I made with him."
"What exactly do you need me to do? Will I remember this conversation? You said I had lived quite a few lives and I don't remember you at all."
"Given enough time in this realm, you will begin to remember. However, there is a rune I can give you that will allow you to remember this conversation. It will also allow me to appear before you and anyone else that is touching your rune."
"Has Phil tried this before? Sending Harry back with a rune to help him remember?" Carl smiled sadly at her.
X
"He has. You see, the reason we are talking is because you had already been dosed with the potion to corrupt your bond with him. You didn't believe him."
"Our bond? You mean our friendship?"
"Oh, no dear. I'm talking about your soul bond. You see, you are fated to be together. You always have been." Tears pricked her eyes and Carl handed her a tissue.
"Soul mates," she whispered. "That is – that makes so much sense, you know? I was eleven years old and it was the most surreal moment of my life, feeling like we had known each other forever. It was never awkward with him like it was with Ron. It was familiar, and safe." Her reaper was smiling at her wistfully.
"I, too, have a soulmate. It is a beautiful gift. Now, lets get down to business. The rune I am going to give you will need to be somewhere that can be touched in public, but out of the public eye. I suggest your hip. Its easy to hide, not overly hard to touch by slipping a finger below the waistband of your skirt, and you could hide it from your parents." Her eyes lit with questions she wanted to ask and he smiled. "I would love to answer all of your questions now, but I cannot. I can say that there are books available from your world to answer those questions burning in your eyes. They are also just within your reach. The Black Family Library will hold those books for you."
Hermione nodded and he motioned for her to stand. His hand hovered over the edge of her skirt and a warm light spread over his hand. Her skin felt warm, and when his hand pulled away, he motioned her to look. She turned slightly and lifted her shirt, moving her skirt a bit to see the intricate design sprawling along her skin. It was delicate, and the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It wasn't a rune she had ever seen, and she looked up at him expectantly.
"This is a rune from a lost language of part humans. We haven't existed in a millennium, and certainly not on this planet. Now, if you need me, you have a way to contact me. You are going to go back conscious and before you are given the potion that would destroy your soul bond. You need to kiss Mr. Potter or have him touch your rune before you are given the potion. Do not trust the mediwizard at the ministry. You will be in pain, and it will be terrible. But it is imperative that you activate your soul bond before they can take it from you. Do you understand?" Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. The wheels were turning in her head and she looked at him with calculating eyes.
"Do me a favor?"
"I already am, Miss. Granger." Hermione smirked at him.
"No. I am doing you a favor. I am helping you to correct your error with this Phil person and I think I have done a good job of not freaking out on you this entire time. You can help me, by giving me all of the tools I need to succeed." Carl frowned at her appraisingly.
"I have given you my personal call rune, with a special dispensation for your mate to see me if he touches it in my presence. I have told you where to find the books you need to enlighten yourself to the magic of soul bonds. What more could you possibly require?" Hermione smirked at him and his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"And just how am I supposed to gain use of the Black Library when it isn't located inside the manor at Grummald place but in a location only accessibly to the Head of the Black Family? Sirius Black cannot claim the title when he is an escaped convict." Carl leaned back and looked at her in contemplation for a moment before standing abruptly and making his way to his desk across the room. Hermione stood up to follow. "What are you doing?"
"I am looking up this Sirius Black fellow and seeing just who his reaper is. If it doesn't conflict with any major events or lessons, I see no reason we cant just free him." He typed away for several minutes before a smile broke out on his face. "Ah! We are in luck. His reaper is an old mentor of mine. This should be a snap. Let me just page him over." Hermione nodded and took to studying the office a bit more closely. She wandered slowly to the bookshelves in the corner and read the titles. Most of them seemed to be history books on different eras of time. There were a few books on languages and customs of different time periods, and one book that looked suspiciously like a harloquin romance novel. She was just reaching for it when a knock startled her.
"You wanted to see me-" his eyes looked quickly to Hermione before he continued, "Carl? I was just in the middle of a client meeting. This guy is just as hopeless as that Potter kid of Phil's, except it was the bosses idea to mess with him this go around not mine, so I get a free pass." Carl looked to Hermione before motioning the newcomer inside.
"That is actually sort of why I called you in here. The Potter kid, I mean. You see this is his soul mate, Hermione. She is a soul of mine and I pulled her here to talk about him. I agreed to help Phil since he is down to his last chance and it isn't going too well." The new guy nodded.
"I can see why you would want to help him. He told me all about the deal you made him, and all of that." Carl blushed in much the same way Ron Weasley did, and the absurdity of it made Hermione giggle. The new reaper looked to Hermione and smiled a little. "I apologize, I never introduced myself. My name is Joe, and I am a senior reaper at Afterlife, Inc."
"Hello! I really hope you can help us, Joe. Because I fear that without you, Harry might not make it very far. And if Harry doesn't meet his destiny, your friend Phil is going to be fired." Joe looked to Carl and quirked his eyebrow in question. Carl sighed heavily and nodded.
"She is right, Joe. I need to tweak the life of one of your souls. He has all of the information Hermione needs to save Potter." Joe snapped his fingers and a palm pilot appeared in his hand.
"Lets see what we can do. What is this persons name in your timeline Hermione?" He looked up at her expectantly.
"Sirius Black." Joe's mouth dropped open in complete surprise.
"Excuse me? You cant mean Sirius Orion Black, the escaped convict?" Hermione looked to Carl and then met Joe's eyes again.
"Yes, they are one in the same." Joe closed his eyes in frustration.
"That may be more difficult than you are realizing. Sirius Black is here. He died." Hermione gasped in horror and Carl groaned. "He took a curse and got pushed through the veil of death and straight into my office not five minutes ago. How is he going to make a difference to you? His existence in that life is tainted and no one cares enough to fix it. That is why I determined that he wouldn't go back to try again. See, it's the damned dementors. They fed on him too long and I haven't found a way for him to clear his name because no one can back him when he goes back about the rat being the traitor." Joe took a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Would – would it be possible to speak to Sirius?" Joe looked up to Carl and shrugged.
"It shouldn't be a problem." Joe disappeared from his seat and Hermione gave a startled yelp. Carl laughed at her and actually snorted when a male voice down the hall gave a startled shriek and cursed.
"Merlins saggy left testicle you purple and green bastard!"
Hermione giggled despite her surprise and covered her mouth with her hand. She could still hear Sirius cursing Joe as they walked back through the door.
"You don't just appear out of thin air just moments after a guy pops his effing clogs!" Hearing her laughter, his eyes flashed to her. "Hermione?! Harry said you were still breathing when he left you in the corridor with Ron. What happened, love? Harry is going to be devastated! This cant be happening. I don't understand! I-" Sirius had crossed the room and pulled her up into a hug that lifted her feet off the ground. The reapers laughing at him stopped his tirade at Hermione and changed its focus dramatically.
"You! You fix this! If I am dead, and Hermione is dead, then the entire world has been taken out from under Harry and he will die too. If that happens, your stupid world balance is gonna go out of whack because no one on this sodding planet can kill Voldermort besides Harry." The whole room sobered immediately, and Hermione glared at the reapers right alongside Sirius. The reapers looked from one to the other, and then seemed to be using telepathy to talk to each other while Hermione and Sirius stared at them impatiently.
The reapers sighed and turned to look at the duo in resignation.
"Say we agree to find a way to keep Sirius alive. What then? How does him living help your plan Hermione?" Sirius sat on the couch and got comfortable, reaching for the tea pot that was still sitting on the table. The reapers looked on curiously while Hermione paced the opposite side of the coffee table.
"Well, you want me to save Harry, right? Well, to do that will mean bucking authority and making changes that some people wont necessarily like. I need adults on my side that are going to be able to throw their weight around. I have a few plans to see that happen, but I don't think you understand the current state of our country. Harry is going to need a crash course in so many things, and Ill need to do so much research its silly. Ill need specific books to do that, and those books are locked in a cellar at the manor house on Black Island. Theres no heir other than Sirius, so the estate will go into a bidding war, and the Malfoy family is going to win."
"They don't play fair, you see. Lucius lets his gold and his lackies do all of his bidding for him. Gold speaks for people in ways that morals just don't these days in Britain." Sirius nodded for Hermione to continue, before tucking into his tea again. Hermione sighed and sat on the couch across from Sirius in dejection.
"Honestly this whole thing sort of hinges on the Black family. We need to get their information, and we need to do it quickly. I can kiss Harry just fine, but not if I don't have –" Sirius spat out his tea causing her to stop and glare at him.
"Im sorry. I think I heard you wrong. Did you just say kiss Harry? Arent you currently running after Ron?"
"That isn't the point, you complete arse!" She crossed her arms and glared at Sirius until he stopped sputtering in complaint and conceded the floor back to her. "Right. Now. I can kiss harry to solidify our bond, but he will need a real mentor. More than one, if my suspicions are correct about his upbringing. Now, you will return Sirius to Harry, and I promise I can get him cleared if you wake me up early enough at the ministry." The reapers looked on with shell shocked expressions as they were bossed about by a fourteen year old girl. Joe stood and sighed.
"Alright. But, I don't see how you are going to get him out of Azkaban or away from the minister without being kissed outright." Hermione smirked.
"Well…. A friend once told me that anything was possible if you had enough nerve. Im not a Gryffindor for nothing, am I?" Sirius laughed and stood, setting his tea down on the bench.
"Well, that's all sorted. I don't need to be here for the rest since I wont remember sod all of this conversation in about five minutes anyways." He turned to Hermione and looked at her appraisingly for a moment. "I wont believe you when you tell me about all of this. So, if you ever need me to do something that I don't understand without argument, just tell me its part of the gift for Aunt Ardestia. I will throw myself 100% into whatever you tell me after that and interrogate you later." Hermione nodded and turned to Phil while the others left the room.
"What happens when I go back?" Phil rushed over and grabbed a thick book and flipped through the tome so quickly his hands almost blurred. He stopped at a page about two thirds of the way though and made a sound of resignation.
"Well, Ill have to send you back after the spell hits. I cant alter the time line enough to send you back to your last variable equation, so youre going to just have to do your best."
"Ok. That doesn't work for me. I need a plan." Phil laughed, as he reached over and picked up a giant stamp.
"Well, youre gonna have to think quickly then, because when I stamp this paper you go back." Hermione's eyes flew wide in panic.
"What? No. Ok. How do I convince Harry to - stop! Seriously!" He had pressed the stamp to the ink and looked up at her.
"Im sure youll be fine. You have to be. Remember? Now. You'll go back in 3, 2, 1…." Hermione lunged to stop him with a shout, but it was no use. The stamp hit the paper, and inbetween one breath and the next, Hermione was in agony.