Thanks for the reviews! I should say that this story is based on the idea from The Crow that your soul can be brought back, it will not be following the storyline from The Crow. I totally recommend the movie though, it's one of my favorites. I'm trying to work on length but generally I write chapters until I have a good stopping point.

"In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise." Edgar Allen Poe- The Black Cat

June 24, 1987

Emina jerked awake, blinking the sleep from her eyes as thunder shook the house. A long sigh escaped her as she dropped her face into her hands. Oh Harry. He had settled in well at first but now, it was like he wasn't sure it was all real. She had found him trying to crawl into the boot cupboard the night before and learned that he had lived in the cupboard under the stairs, she had to take a moment to keep from apparating straight to Privet Drive and killing Petunia. Instead she had led him up the stairs and in the room she had put together for him. The little boy had looked slowly around the nicely sized room, with its starry ceiling, walls painted to look like the forest with animals added in although he didn't yet understand the significance and told her it was the best room he had ever seen. After she had tucked him in for the night, something he told her his Aunt had never done for him, she had gone to her own room and cried herself to sleep.

Her molten eyes slid to the clock as she pulled herself from under the covers, pulling a robe over her pajamas. She padded quietly down the hall, poking her head into Harry's room and frowned. The boy was wrapped thoroughly in his sheets, his forehead dripping with sweat and obviously in the middle of a nightmare. After watching him twist in his blankets for a moment she padded into his room, running a gentle hand through his hair. He calmed for a moment but dropped back into the nightmare and she dropped her hand to his shoulder, giving a gentle shake. "Harry, you're dreaming. Wakeup love."

He shot up, wide eyed and screaming apologies. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I woke you up. No breakfast."

"Harry, Harry." She shushed, "It's alright. I want you to wake me up when you have nightmares. That's how it's supposed to work. Would you like to talk about it?"

Harry hesitated for a moment before he nodded slowly. His Aunt Petunia had never asked him that after a nightmare, just given him a good smack for waking her up. "There's a man yelling, telling her to run that he's here and then... it's quiet but then the woman starts screaming. Not Harry, not Harry and... and there's green light everywhere and she's quiet. Then there's a really scary laugh and more green light. Then nothing." His voice growing quieter throughout the explanation, "I have it all the time."

His Aunt Mina was quiet for awhile and Harry was beginning to think he would be in trouble when she finally spoke. "Harry, that's..." Her voice cracked, and her eyes met his, soft and caring. "Harry how did Petunia tell you your parents died?"

"She said that my they were both jobless, worthless, freaks and my dad was a drunk who killed himself and mum the car crash. And that's how I got my horrid scar." He recited, as though he had heard it so often her exact wording was committed to memory.

"Your father was most definitely not a drunk. Both of your parents were amazing people. Petunia was always very jealous of your mother because she was special, while Petunia was boring and normal," Emina smiled for a moment at some distant memory. "Your parents didn't die in a car crash Harry, and that scar is most definitely not from something so simple. You remember when we came here? How I told you we apparated and how the house appeared from thin air? I can make things like that happen because I have magic as did both of your parents."

"Magic isn't real. Uncle Vernon said so," Harry said, shaking his head.

"He lied to you Harry. I'm a witch and you're a wizard as sure as the moon is in the sky," She smiled slightly. "Our world is separated from the muggles -non-magical people- and when you were born there was a war. Your parents were both talented and brave and they fought in the war until you were born. After you were born they were forced to go into hiding because the man leading the other side of the war was after them, and you. He found them though and James... he tried to fight him so that your mother could take you and get away. But she wasn't able to get away, instead she begged the man for your life and he killed her. But when he tried to kill you, he couldn't. Lily knew that in sacrificing her life for yours she was sealing an extremely strong type of Old Magic. It was a spell she had been researching since she found out he was after you. So you see Harry, your parents were far from worthless, jobless, drunks. They were some of the bravest people this world has ever known."

September 11, 1991

"Harry James, you had best get up this minute!" Emina's voiced carried up the stairs and the boy sighed, rolling out of his bed, "We won't have time for breakfast!" At that Harry threw on a pair of jeans and a rumpled t-shirt before dashing down the stairs. Mina always made his favorite breakfast when school started. The woman beamed when Harry entered the kitchen, gesturing to his plate sitting on the table.

Harry couldn't help but smile back, "Morning Aunt Mina. When are we leaving for the station?"

"We're apparating so we don't have to leave to early. You have all your things packed?" She asked as she took a seat, golden eyes locking on his shirt with a disapproving frown, "Harry, where did you get that shirt? You had better be planning to change it."

Green eyes rolled, "Fine. I'll change it after I eat." He yelped at the mild stinging hex that hit his hand and dropped his fork.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me young man. I will not have you leaving this house dressed as though I can't afford to dress you properly," Mina's eyes narrowed, "If your father or I had come down to the breakfast table dressed like that, without our hair combed or teeth brushed, we wouldn't have been eating breakfast." Harry dropped his eyes in apology and took a bite of his French toast. They finished their breakfast in a comfortable silence and when Emina rose to clear the plates, because she preferred doing it the muggle way, Harry rushed up the stairs to check his things one last time. His Aunt appeared in the doorway, shrinking his trunk with a wave of her hand.

"Thank you," Harry said, dropping some dirty clothes in his hamper and then the trunk in his pocket. "Are you going to come on the train with me?" Harry knew about Death, of course, and had actually met the man once or twice. His Aunt had essentially made a deal with Death, and if nothing else, owed him a few social visits. Death had also done something interesting to Emina's magic when he brought her back, although she did not yet understand the full extent of it, something he seemed to find rather amusing.

She regarded Harry for a moment, the nervousness apparent in the boys' eyes and sighed, "Why not? I always enjoyed the train ride. Now you have everything? Your ticket?" He nodded, "Good, let's go." They made their way outside the cottage, Emina pausing to lock the door securely before pulling Harry close. The pair disappeared with a quiet crack, reappearing with the same sound in an empty alleyway.

"Alright Harry, just go straight out of here and the station is right there. You know what to do from there." His Aunt pulled him into a hug, pressing a kiss to his hair, "Stay out of trouble and have fun. Do our House proud." And with that his Aunt was gone and a pure black cat sat in her place.

The boy scooped the cat into his arms before making his way out of the alley, into the station, and through the barrier.