In the afterlife, time means nothing. Unfortunately, that's not always a good thing. A main problem being the effects that reordering time have on the Grim Reaper company that basically runs all of limbo. It is only there that time seems to matter in the land of the dead, which can make things very confusing since changing the time stream usually means people who died in the original timeline will go back and die again in the same fashion as before, unless of course their deaths are prevented by the person time was changed for.
In short, time was a confusing subject for those in limbo, and it usually meant that the Grim Reapers, while always on call whether they're in the office or not, kept extremely odd hours. Max Caldwell usually came into work at what would be 3 am in the living world. In limbo, there's no need to eat or sleep, although many employees drank excessive amounts of coffee in order to deal with the stress of their profession. How could such a job be stressful?
"NOOOO! I CAN'T BE DEAD!! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"
Max winced as he walked past the door where the hysterical voice came from. He noticed that everybody else seemed almost oblivious to the disturbance, but figured they were all probably used to it by now, some having done this job for thousands of years. Max was a real newbie, he hadn't even been here for more than two centuries yet. He nodded at the two janitors who were currently mopping up the floor and once he was near his door, his secretary ran over with a cup of fresh coffee all ready for him.
"Here you go sir," She said smiling, "Freshly ground."
"Thanks Ellie," Max grunted before gulping down half the cup, "Do I have any messages?"
"Um yeah, I've got them right here," Ellie answered and then reached over to grab a small stack of papers from her desk, "You got a call from Craig, he says his grandmother just passed on and he needs to go meet her so you're going to have to reschedule your appointment."
Max sighed angrily, "Oh great, and I really needed him today; my back is killing me."
"How can it, you're already dead." Ellie chuckled at her joke while Max rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"What else?" He asked.
Ellie turned her attention back to the notes, "Uh let's see…Eric called, he wants to know if you're still coming to see him perform tonight."
"Alright," Answered a nodding Max, "If he calls back tell him I'll definitely be there and to say hi to Shelley for me."
"Okay then," Said Ellie mentally writing down everything he just said.
"Is that all?" Max asked.
Ellie shifted through her notes and when she found the one she was looking for, her face fell. Max stared at her in confusion.
"What is it?" he asked.
She slowly looked up to meet his gaze.
"Joe wants to see you; immediately."
'Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.'
Max was totally screwed and he knew it. The news seemed to have traveled fast as everyone he passed stopped and gave him looks of pity. They all knew that a meeting with Joe was either a very very good thing, or a very very bad thing, and considering Max's record it was probably the latter.
As he approached Joe's door Max inwardly cursed at that stupid Potter kid for getting him into this mess. If he had been a wizard in life he would curse that boy into oblivion, that of course wouldn't do much to help the situation but at least maybe he'd feel a bit better. He was now right in front of a plain wooden door, slowly he raised his hand and after a moment's hesitation, knocked twice.
"Come in." came the voice on the other end.
With trembling fingers, Max opened the door and walked in. The office was rather colorful considering the gray color of the halls. The room was a warm shade of orange and looked like it was lit by candle instead off the old fashioned lamp on the desk. Seated on the far side was a bearded man with a warm face, although his features were currently very serious. Despite this he smiled warmly at the man before him.
"Ah Max, good to see you," He greeted the Grim Reaper, "please sit down."
Max sat down slowly in the surprisingly comfortable chair opposite his supervisor. He stared intently at the floor waiting to hear what Joe had to say.
The man in question observed Max for a few moments as his smile faded, "You're nervous aren't you?"
"No I'm not." Max answered much to quickly.
Joe smiled again, "Max it's alright. You're not being fired."
Max looked up at him, "I'm not?"
Joe shook his head, "I just wanted to talk to you about Harry Potter."
Max's stomach dropped, he knew that kid was going to be trouble for him. He hadn't even been back for more than a month now and already he'd messed everything up! Max knew that there was only one thing to do: beg for forgiveness.
"Joe, I'm sorry. I don't know what Harry did but whatever it is I had no idea he was going to mess up this badly and I-"
"Max, Max relax will you?" Joe said loudly, cutting off the other man's pleas.
Max recomposed himself and wait in anticipation for Joe to speak again.
"Harry hasn't done anything wrong yet, in fact he's been making excellent progress in fixing his life." Joe explained.
Max gave sigh of relief, which seemed to amuse Joe.
"You really thought you were in trouble didn't you?" Joe asked him, although it was really more of a statement.
Max nodded, "Yeah I just- I thought that maybe I was going to get fired this time."
Joe regarded him silently, "Max, I don't mean to go off-topic here, but have you been having some problems with the way I'm running things here?"
Max was scared now and had no idea how to answer. For all he knew this could be a trick question, or was part of some kind of weird test to make sure he was still fit for the job. If that was the case and he answered wrong…
He fought very hard to get rid of that thought knowing all it served for was to make him more agitated.
"Answer me honestly." Joe told him sincerely, sensing the dark haired man's distress.
Max knew somehow that Joe wasn't lying then, and nervously began speaking,
"W-well," he started, "I-I think that I've been treated- treated rather unfairly."
Max braced himself.
"Oh?" Joe answered simply with a peculiar look on his face.
It took several seconds for Max to realize that Joe wanted him to continue, so he gulped and started again.
"Yes, I think that you've been a bit harsh with me considering Harry's only died four or- or five times now. I mean, Alfred had that one kid from Colorado who died every other week and you never said anything about that, why me?"
Max was positive then that he'd gone to far, but once he started talking he just couldn't stop himself. Joe didn't seem mad though, in fact, he almost smiled a little.
"Max, I understand how you feel but Harry is different, he's suppose to save the world, and besides, he's not the first one to die prematurely under your watch." Joe explained calmly.
Max had an idea of what Joe was talking about and scoffed, "Oh come on, why are we bringing up that? You and I both know that rock star guy was going to snuff it sooner or later what with all the drugs he was doing I mean-"
"I'm not talking about that Max," Joe interrupted him for the second time, "You do know what day it is in the living world right?"
Max thought back for a second, last he'd checked it was March 9th on earth and that was about three days ago. His heart dropped into his stomach when he realized what that meant, and he could have kicked himself for forgetting. He looked up at Joe who was sporting the same grim expression as Max.
"That's tonight?" Max asked.
Joe closed his eyes and slowly nodded, "It is in their world."
Max brought a hand to his forehead and tried to avoid getting too upset in front of Joe. Flashes of the first time around arose from his memory and he knew that he couldn't bear to have it happen a second time. At least now that Harry was close by he could prevent it from happening again, but only if he knew how, and Max couldn't have any contact with him the next night at their monthly meeting; by then it would be too late. He just hoped the boy would remember what he told him about people dying in fires on his last visit, he had used that example for a reason.
"Max, I know this is difficult for you, but you have to watch the boy and make sure he does this right." Joe told him in a comforting voice.
Max looked up, "What can I do, I can't talk to him until tomorrow."
"I know," Joe told him, "But you can give him a few 'suggestions' on how to deal with the situation."
On 'suggestions', Joe winked at Max, who knew immediately what the bearded man was implying but that only caused him more confusion.
"I thought I used up all those 'suggestions'," Max put the same emphasis on the word so Max would know he understood, "won't the big guy get upset if I do it again?"
"Don't worry about that," Joe said waving it off, "he knows about all this, I'm sure he won't mind. Just make sure you time it just right, we don't want anyone finding out Harry's from the future."
"But in the contract it says he can tell people." Max argued with no real force behind it.
"Yes but only a certain number of people," Joe elaborated, "I think you should have read the contract a little more clearly yourself."
"That thing was huge!" Max protested.
Joe chuckled, "I know."
The phone rang cutting off their conversation. Joe gestured to Max to wait a few minutes while picking up the receiver.
"Hello?…Yes…Yes…Alright I'll be right over." He put the phone down and turned his attention back to the dark-haired man in front of him.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short Max." He told him.
"Is something wrong?" asked Max.
"Yes, another premature is causing problems again," Joe explained, "They need me to help with this one. I hope to continue this meeting soon, but for now just concentrate on tonight, pay very close attention to Harry's actions throughout the day alright?"
"Yes sir." Max answered obediently.
Joe gave him one last smile as the two walked out of the office, down the hall, and then parted ways down a split corridor. Max went left and headed for the elevators. All he wanted to do now was go relax in his office, but he knew that all he'd be able to think about was that day when she had come in, looking so lost. The first thing she'd done is ask him where her mother was, and just thinking about her tear filled eyes when she realized she wasn't going to see her mother again for some time, it just broke Max's heart.
"Potter you'd better not screw this up." Max muttered to himself as the elevator doors opened on his floor.
Ellie looked rather surprised to see him. She like everyone else had probably assumed that Max was getting fired and so it was no shock to him that she almost dropped the papers she was carrying.
"Get me some more coffee," He told her as he passed her by, "Black."
"Is everything alright Max?" Ellie asked sounding worried.
Max rounded on her angrily, "Does it look like everything's alright?"
Ellie, being much shorter than Max shrank down to avoid his gaze. After a moment though her fear was replaced by anger as well,
"You've got some nerve talking to me like that," She told him, "I don't know what's upsetting you but what-"
"Oh you don't know what's upsetting me huh?" Max said loudly causing passer-bys to stare, "Do you have any idea what day it is down there?"
"I-" Ellie began before it clicked in her mind, and her face fell, "Oh my- Is it that day already?"
Max solemnly nodded. His anger fading, "I can't believe it either…good thing he decided to go back so far, hopefully he can prevent this."
Ellie knew how Max must have been feeling and so she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Max, have faith in the boy," She told him, "I mean, it's like Hermione said, he has a hero thing, he won't let it happen again."
"But he doesn't even know about it," Max said, "he won't find out until it happens, and then it might be too late."
"Max, you just have to believe that Harry will save her, I believe he will." Said Ellie.
There was something about Ellie's way of speaking that made it hard not to listen to her. Whenever she offered Max words of advice he always felt better, and this time was no different.
"Thanks Ellie, I'm sure you're right." He smiled as convincingly as he could.
She seemed to accept that and turned away to get the coffee her boss requested, while he tried to push the thoughts of that night from his head. Unfortunately, they were replaced by another, almost equally terrifying notion.
"Ellie!" He called out.
The young woman in question turned, "What is it?"
"What year is it on earth right now?" He asked urgently.
"What year?" She repeated while trying to think of the answer, "It's uh…it's 1986, why?"
Max slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned, "Oh no, oh no!"
"What's wrong now?" The secretary asked, approaching him.
"Don't you realize what this means?" He asked her.
She shook her head.
"It means we're going to have to deal with that stupid, drug-addled, metal head again!" Max complained.
This time Ellie's face cracked into a smile and she giggled, remembering the first time that man had come in.
"Oh come on Max," she said cheerfully, "He wasn't so bad. Actually, I thought he was kind of cute."
Max looked up at her, now extremely annoyed, "Didn't I asked for some coffee?"
Ellie shook her head and giggled more, "Alright I'm getting it."
When she was gone Max sighed and got back up and went into his office. Once there the thoughts of the girl came rushing back and he felt a huge weight in his stomach. He slumped into his chair and closed his eyes. Ellie brought him his coffee a few minutes later and left quickly, sensing that he wanted to be alone.
After finishing the whole cup Max stood and walked slowly to his window. Pulling back the curtains he saw not a cloudy scene or anything that indicated he was viewing limbo, but a quarter screen view of four sleeping children. On the top right was a bushy haired girl gripping a large book in her hands sleeping peacefully. Below her was a blond boy currently not enjoying as sound a sleep. Every now and then he would let out a childish cough, as he was suffering a cold. On the left were the boy and girl in question. The girl, much younger than the other three slept silently with a pink teddy bear under her arm. Max lightly touched the image of her as a single tear fell from his eyes.
For a moment he gazed at his other charge, the one that had already caused him more trouble than any other premature he'd had since he started here combined. Then his eyes shifted to the older girl who was turning over in her sleep, the book falling onto the floor.
"You'd better be right about that hero thing kid."
A/N: Okay, this didn't take as long, so that's good. I'm sure you all can figure out what's going to happen though, and I know it's kind of clichéd, but trust me it's going to be very important later and not for the reasons you might think (although it will be significant for those reasons too). Anyway, I hope all of you liked this chapter, and I hope you got a least some of the various TV/Movie/People references in this chapter. So give me a nice birthday present and review. See you later.