Chapter 3: A Meeting with a Difference

"What...?" Harry whispered, wondering if the pain in his cheek had somehow made his ears play tricks on him.

"We're leaving," Lily repeated. "I can't stand it anymore! I thought Petunia and Vernon would at least ignore you, but... enough is enough! We'll leave these morons, even if I can't properly raise you myself! We'll find out where Sirius or Remus are or the Longbottoms... Anyone!"

Harry stared wide-eyed at her. Was she serious? Leaving?

"But I don't have any money..."

She snorted. "Nonsense! We just need to get you to London. Do you remember when I told you about Gringotts?" He nodded slowly. "Well, James wasn't exactly poor and we had set up a trust vault for you. Inside should be enough money to be able to live off it for a while. Also, we've left you a house you could use."

Harry gaped at her, unbelieving. He... had money? And an own house? And the Dursleys didn't know about it? If that was true- He shook his head.

"How should I get to London...? I have no money to take the train..." he mumbled but she already had an answer for that up her sleeve.

"When we were young, Petunia always kept some of her pocket money inside of an ugly vase in our living room. She was quite paranoid, fearing that her money might get stolen easily if she simply put it near her bed as every burglar would look there first. I think she never quite lost that habit. And if all else fails we can still hitchhike. It's a bit riskier but I think I can recognize a trustworthy driver," Lily explained patiently and Harry couldn't help but wonder if she had thought about it before. "But I am very glad that you're thinking for yourself."

If he was honest with himself, he had already thought about running away multiple times, but he had known that it wouldn't work because he had nowhere to go. But his mother said he did have a place to go... And she had been right about him being able to do magic too, he had learned to trust her these past months.

He would definitely try it!

But first he needed to wait inside of his cupboard until everyone had gone to sleep, as he could never sneak off unnoticed as long as his relatives were still awake.

To pass his time, he practised his cutting spell a bit more, to be able to properly defend himself if necessary. Lily told him that he would probably not need it but she insisted that it was better to be safe than sorry. Also, it helped him forget about the pain in his cheek as it had began to swell slightly and made him wince every time he moved his facial muscles.

Finally, everything went quiet, but Harry continued to wait for a bit longer, to make sure everyone was definitely asleep, before he quietly unlocked his cupboard door with a whispered "Alohomora", closing and locking it again behind him, his school bag on his shoulders.

He had emptied it before and put everything he wanted to take with him inside. Mostly his drawings and a few toy soldiers he had once been able to steal from Dudley's second bedroom because his cousin had forgotten about them. He took a bit of clean paper and a few pens too, for emergencies.

He first crept into the kitchen, opening the fridge. He knew that what he was doing was forbidden, but he did not know when he would get another meal so he took a small bottle of water and two apples, as well as a bit of chocolate. Especially the latter probably wouldn't be missed anyway, Dudley went to the fridge all the time to get more of it. Then he took two slices of bread and hurried to put all of it into his bag, before sneaking into the living room.

He felt really bad about stealing money, but Lily had explained to him that it technically wasn't stealing, because the Dursleys never bought him anything even though they probably got money for 'taking care' of him. She also told him that if he really wanted to he could pay them back later, once he had reached Gringotts.

With that thought in mind he finally grabbed into the big, ugly vase that had stood in the living room for as long as he could remember. And really, he felt some paper at his finger tips. The only problem was that he was pretty short even for his age and his arms didn't completely reach the money at the bottom. He needed to almost climb into the vase but afterwards he at least held the money in his hand. And after he had counted it and Lily reassured him it was enough he placed it into the pocket of his trousers and turned to make his way to the front door.

Crash.

Harry's eyes widened in shock. While turning he had managed to bump against the vase with his bag and it had fallen over, breaking as it hit the floor.

"Oh no...!" he whispered, panicking slightly. What if the Dursleys had awoken? If they found him like that he would never hear the end of it! What to do now...?

"Keep calm, Harry... just leave through the back door, alright?" Lily said in a calming manner and he nodded, hurrying to the back door which at least wasn't directly next to the stairs leading to the bedrooms the way the front door was. "Take a deep breath... you need to focus to open the door."

Harry drew a shaky breath and tried to concentrate, which wasn't very easy as he could already hear slow, thumping footsteps above. Someone had awoken and he needed to be out of the house before they noticed what had happened.

"Alohomora," he whispered sharply, staring at the lock. Nothing happened. He cursed inwardly and tried increasing his focus. "Alohomora!" Still nothing. Taking another deep breath he forced himself to calm down and ignore the footsteps, putting all of his focus onto the lock of the back door. "Alohomora!"

Finally, the door gave off a soft click and he quickly opened it before hurrying outside. As he breathed the fresh air he gave off a relieved sigh, but he still ran along Privet Drive, across Magnolia Crescent and down Magnolia Road until he felt he was a safe distance away. Breathing heavily he slowed down to a walk, hoping he would find the train station without many problems. He hadn't been there often so he felt slightly insecure. At least Lily said that she had a faint memory of the town herself because she had visited her sister once and had needed to walk because neither her nor James knew where the house was to simply apparate.

Apparition... Also something Harry yearned to learn, but his mother had told him that he would need to wait until he was seventeen for that. Or at least until he had a proper instructor, because there were many accidents that could happen and only a grown-up wizard could mend certain problems, like splinching.

So for now he would need to walk. At least it was summer and the night still was pleasantly warm. He just needed to find the station.

Thankfully, they had a vague idea about where to go after Harry had walked the way to his school. He had remembered how Aunt Petunia had once fetched him from there to visit the local hospital - they had needed to go to the eye doctor to get a prescription for his glasses - and Lily was quite sure that the station wasn't very far away from the hospital, so he walked that way first.

It was really creepy to walk through the town at night though and Harry felt very glad that many street lamps illuminated the streets and that his mother walked next to him, even though he would have given anything to be able to touch her right now.

At least she managed to keep his fear at bay with cheerful chatter about her childhood, how she had lived with Petunia and her parents in a small house and how she had first met Severus. It was very interesting and he had almost forgotten the creepiness once they reached the hospital.

Harry turned to her, ready to ask if she did remember the way to the station now as he heard her gasping in surprise, stopping dead, staring at something in front of them. Confused, he stopped walking too and turned his head to look the same way but he could just see a hooded figure leaving the hospital, a few yards away.

They wore a very dark cloak or something and had a hood up that cast a shadow over their face. Harry frowned. They seemed a bit spooky, but everyone did at night, so that wasn't much to say.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked his mother, looking back up to her. "Have you seen them before?"

But Lily didn't answer, she kept staring at the strange person. It began to scare him. What was going on?

He looked back to the cloaked person, just in time to see them turn into his direction, raising their head to look at him. The hood fell slightly back and the street lamps revealed his face.

It was a skull.

Harry couldn't help but scream, not caring about the pain in his cheek as he opened his mouth. But he was too scared to run, he just kept looking at the cloaked... being that kept staring at him - if one could call a skull turned into his direction staring. The worst thing wasn't the skull itself though, but he could see some kind of violet light glowing inside each of the eye sockets, making the skull seem much more alive, but at the same time a lot scarier!

He didn't know what to do, maybe someone had heard him and could come to his aid? Though he didn't even know if he was in danger, but he had heard his classmates talk about some weird films they had seen, about evil skeletons and everything!

The being in front of him didn't attack him though, it just stared. And stared some more.

Harry had stopped screaming after a few seconds, noticing that nothing had happened yet, but he still fought against the panic that made him unable to move.

Then, he suddenly saw how skin began to cover the skull. It looked really disgusting and he wasn't sure if he'd get nightmares from it later on, but after a moment, the skull was completely covered and suddenly, the being didn't look so scary anymore.

It looked like a man, younger than Uncle Vernon though definitely an adult, who had violet eyes, the same colour as the light inside those empty eye sockets had been. They glowed slightly in the dark. Also, Harry could see long, black hair falling out of the hood as the other one shook his head slightly.

"I am sorry for scaring you, fledgling," it spoke in a deep, velvety voice, though Harry could not say how sorry it really was, because the tone lacked any kind of emotion. "I had not imagined meeting you here, of all places."

It made no move to come closer, so Harry decided not to run for now as he had gotten slightly curious. If it could speak, maybe it wasn't out to kill him or anything like that...? But he had no idea what was going on.

"W-Who are you...?" he asked in a shaky tone, not knowing what to make of that whole situation.

The being bowed slightly, which actually crept Harry out even more.

"I have many names, but to most, I am simply known as Death," the being explained and Harry couldn't help himself. His jaw dropped and he gaped. Could that actually be true?

He turned to his left, where Lily still stood, unmoving.

"Mum...?" he whispered nervously, and finally, she seemed to break out of her trance and looked at him.

"I am sorry. It's the truth, he really is Death. I have met him once before, he talked to me for a moment just after I had died. I just thought I would never see him again..." she quietly explained to him, though Death somehow seemed to have heard her.

"That is true, I speak to every soul who has died. After all, some are stupid enough to want to stay on earth as a ghost. I need to note these exceptions," he spoke, and this time, Harry could hear something resembling annoyance out of his words. But mostly it was still toneless.

"Y-You can see my mother...?" he asked after collecting his courage for a moment.

"Of course I can see her. She is dead and I am Death, how could I not?" Death answered and Harry flinched slightly, looking at the ground. That person - and Harry decided he would think of Death as a 'he' for now, as it looked male to him - was honestly scary...

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. You couldn't have known. I dare say that you have never seen me before, though the fact that you can see me at all is exceptional enough," Death continued, sounding indifferent again. Harry wondered if seeing Death was connected to seeing his mother. Maybe Death was a little bit like her and could only be seen by people who could somehow summon dead people? And by people who were already dead...? Harry didn't know. "Why are you walking down this street in the middle of the night though, and almost alone, at that? You look a bit young to be exploring."

Harry looked up to his mother. Should he tell the truth? It wasn't a very nice truth after all and Lily had told him beforehand that he would need to lie at people like guards to be allowed to stay on the train. But she nodded with an encouraging smile, even though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I ran away..." he uttered nervously, looking back to Death even though he was unsure if it was wise to tell a stranger about it. But maybe Death had a way to know if you lied to him? If he would get caught at lying it could be very bad!

"Is that so...?" Death answered, sounding neither pitiful nor disappointed or anything Harry might have expected, just... neutral.

For a while, no one said anything as Death kept staring into his eyes, making Harry feel slightly awkward but he wasn't sure if it was impolite to look away... and he certainly didn't want to anger his opponent.

Then suddenly, Death spoke up again.

"I want to make an offer to you. I could give you shelter, food and magical education you would get nowhere else. But in return, you would need to agree with becoming my apprentice."

Harry's jaw dropped. Becoming an apprentice of Death? Wasn't he too young for that? And, more importantly...

"Why me?" He was just Harry, after all... Sure, there was this weird thing with being able to summon the dead and that he had supposedly survived the Killing Curse, but... what were these things to someone like Death?

"You are currently the only human alive who has the abilities necessary to be able to become my apprentice," Death answered at once. "While you may think there are more important people than you, I do not care about human ideals like fame, money or beauty. Though I believe you do possess all three of those." Harry couldn't help but feel that this was a huge compliment coming from someone like that, causing him to blush heavily. "But I require other talents. And your power of summoning spirits without the help of a certain item as well as the fact that you are able to see me at all tell me that you possess just these."

Death pulled up the corners of his mouth in resemblance of a smile, though Harry thought he seemed to be serious. Even if that didn't help him in deciding anything at all, because he knew he wouldn't be able to weigh all of the pros and cons the acceptance or decline of this offer would bring. He looked back at his mother for guidance again, but currently, she was frowning at Death.

"...You read his mind, didn't you?" she asked after a moment and Harry's eyes widened as he looked back to Death.

Who nodded.

"Yes. It was necessary to understand if he was what I thought him to be. And he actually is. Congratulations."

"...Thank you," Lily replied stiffly, confusing Harry even further. What was going on?

Death must have somehow noticed his expression - Lily was still looking in another direction - as he was now addressing Harry again.

"Do you remember how your mother told you about the ritual she performed to save you?" Harry slowly nodded. He was still crept out by the whole mind reading thing, but it was probably better to answer. And it was hard to forget if someone told you that you could not be killed, even though the danger of being killed wasn't exactly high anyway. "Good. Now, the three powerful objects she never named were called the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility and together, they make up the Deathly Hallows. Humans always thought that anyone who owned these three items was invincible - which is ridiculous, but humans are foolish creatures - but there seemed to have been one human who devised a very interesting ritual. It could actually transfer the power of the three Deathly Hallows into a human, making him immune to dying involuntarily in the process. It was a very good theory, and obviously, it has worked. The three items aren't working the way I created them anymore. The stone has lost his power, the cloak isn't indestructible any longer and the wand, while still extraordinary powerful due to his materials, will not simply make the wielder win every duel he participates in."

Harry tried to follow the man, but it was a lot of information and he didn't understand everything... and Death had obviously noticed, too, because he rolled his eyes before changing tactics. "To put it short: You are connected to me because of the ritual your mother performed. I needed to convince myself that this was true, so I read your mind. Yes, I really am able to do that and I can teach you how to do it yourself as well as how to shield you from it if you agree to be my apprentice." The last sentence was added after Harry had already opened his mouth to ask if Death could really read minds. Because even though it was pretty scary to think someone else could read your mind it was probably a very cool skill, too! But he still wasn't so sure about what that apprentice stuff meant for him...

"Being my apprentice would include learning a few things no one besides myself should be able to do as to help me in my work. And yes, my work mainly consists of visiting the dead, making their spirit part from their body. I do have helpers that take over all the dead that have lesser problems with parting from this world, which are mostly children and pensioners, but I am left with the ones that desperately wish they could have stayed alive. To properly part their clinging spirit and either send it to the afterlife or make it a ghost."

He gave Lily a pointed look and Harry absent-mindedly wondered if she had been a complicated case. Death seemed annoyed with all the dead that wanted to stay alive... But Harry still didn't know what to say...

"How about that:" Death continued after a moment of silence. "You may stay at my place for this night and use all of tomorrow to think about my offer. Maybe talk to your mother about it. I will visit you in the evening and you may tell me your decision. If you decide to decline my offer I will bring you to Diagon Alley unscathed, but I will change your memories. That means you won't be able to remember anything that happened since you first saw me, forgetting my very existence. If you accept, you will be able to stay with me and we will see if we can devise some kind of lesson plan. How does that sound?"

Harry once more looked questioningly at his mother for support. He himself thought it was a good idea, but he was still wary of Death. Lily seemed to know him slightly better. But she nodded after a moment of consideration.

"If you want to think about it... It should be alright." She sounded as if she wanted to say more but didn't, so Harry turned back to Death, nodding slowly.

"Then I will go with you..."

Death nodded once himself, before slowly closing the distance between them he had preserved before. At least he made a point of taking small steps, walking in a manner that seemed unthreatening which helped Harry to the extent that he did not turn around and bolt.

Once Death stood a few steps away, he stretched out his arm.

"Just take my hand and I will transport us to my home. And do not worry about your mother, she will be able to follow you. I do not need an apprentice who just agreed to do this out of fear, after all."

Nodding again, Harry hesitated a few more seconds, before taking Death's hand. It was very smooth, unblemished skin and didn't feel the way the skeletal face he had seen before had suggested.

For a second, nothing happened. Then, shadows shot out of the ground and seemed to envelop them, before Harry's vision turned black...

Surprise!
Hope you liked the idea (as I've said before it actually originates from a review, though it will differ from the actual suggestion).

I know that many people thought Severus might become Harry's guardian, but... I don't think that would be a good idea, he still looks a lot like James and I don't think Severus would know how to handle a small child. Even if it's Lily's child. (Of course, there are stories that manage to write that beautifully, but this won't be one of them, sorry)

Anyway, thank you all for your reviews! I'm glad that you like the premise as of yet! :)

Regards, Violet-san