After writing lots of Fruits Basket fanfiction I thought I'd take a shot at a Harry Potter one. A response to Reptilia18's Challenge (see profile for details), I hope to add a different twist to a great idea.

This is also going to be a daily page story - although the chapters will be around 1,000 words, it will be updated daily, and so I hope that a large plot can come about - constructive critisism is very welcome, as well as reviews :)

Kyae x

Day 1

Return to the UnderWorld

Cassandra "Cassi" Grim had always wanted to be a Reaper. Ever since her father, the infamous messenger had taken Cassi and her brothers to his workplace, she had dreamed of following in his footsteps, leading the decent souls to the Afterlife from a plush office.

Today however, Cassandra was beginning to regret ever picking this particular profession.

Sure, most of the time it was fun – showing people their lives, answering questions, seeing their smiles as they realised that their lives were a "success".

She's even married one of those souls, her belovéd Reg, who, right now was a prestigious member of FATE – Fixing Alter-Time Errors, and her beloved partner in crime.

But at this moment...

Well, it wasn't as if she didn't appreciate the visits, but with her annual contract up for review, the last person Cassi wanted to see was Harry James Potter.

Even that Dumbledore bloke, who had spent almost her entire shift trying to get back to the human realm hadn't given her this much trouble. Heck – Merlin was a breeze compared to this boy-who-kept-dying-before-his-time.

"Urm... Hi...?" Snapping out of her anger-induced thoughts, Cassi turned to face the black haired boy0turned0man, glaring at his bewildered expression.

"Five Minutes."

"W-what...?"

"Five minutes." She repeated, snapping her nails against the desk, causing the boy to flinch. "That was all it would have taken. We made it easy for you. All you had to do was wait, and then I might not have had to see you again until after my review!"

"Sorry?" Running his fingers through his hair, the boy-who-didn't-live looked away. "Look... Is there any chance I can just go...? I'm kinda busy... I just need to have the portkey back..."

"What? To go back to that war?" She scoffed, sneering at his sudden shift in expression. "Mister you ain't going back."

"Why not?" He jumped up, obviously in a worse mood than the last three times he had visited, when he had actually been in the mood to talk. "Anyway – who the hell are you?"

Great... he's pouting again... how she finds that 'cute' is beyond me...

Sitting up straight in her chair, Cassandra turned her empty black eyes to stare into the boy's soul, once more in 'death' mode.

"I am Reaper Grim, employee of DEATH-co ltd, and you Mister Harold Potter are dead. Again."

"You're the Grim Reaper?"

Typical Human. Cassi sighed, her hands covering her face again as she prayed for patience. Why were they so stupid that they only latched onto the least significant piece of information, and yet still reach the wrong conclusion?

"No. That's my father. I am Reaper Cassandra Grim – how can you be so dumb?" She sighed, before holding up a hand to stop him from speaking. "No – don't. Anyone who chooses to do unspeakable things with a girl who looks like his mother must be deluded."

The next three hours of heaving from the boy-who-had-just-died were immensely satisfying for the young Reaper.

"How could fate do this to me?" The boy moaned as he wiped the last of the sick from his face.

FATE... how did he know about FATE...? Had she told him...?

Oh... he meant fate, not FATE...

"Don't worry kiddo – even FATE isn't that cruel. Until you kept messing up the time stream FATE had everything sorted out. Ya know – defeat the bad guy, oust Dumbledore from the castle and reveal his schemes to the world, and live to a ripe old age with your soul mate – some Granger girl – as headmaster, awakening a whole new age of Maraunders."

"Oh..." He paused for a moment as everything went through his mind, his expressions changing as everything settled down. "Wait – Hermione? But... what about Ron? Everyone knew they'd get together!"

"Oh boy... this is gonna take a while... again..." Picking up her phone, she waited for an answer. "Bob – can you postpone deaths for a bit... yes, it's him... I know, thirty times is a bit extreme, but sometimes, they just won't stay alive..."

"Thirty?" The boy interrupted again, his voice lowering once the Reaper glared at him again. "Y-You're telling me that I've died thirty times?"

"Hold you're horses' boy! Sit." She instructed before finishing her call with Bob. Hanging up the phone, she turned to Potter, waiting for dramatic impact before speaking again. "Right Harry – one question at a time; what do ya want to know?"

"Urm... you keep saying that I've died... again..." He asked quietly, his eyes shifting at random intervals to the Reapers hands, then to the floor by her feet, then to her chair, as if he were looking for something.

"It's on the wall." Pointing to the row of sythes on the wall, Cassi stood up, moving to them with a sadistic smile on her face as the boy tried to back away. "Stay."

Chuckling inwardly as she messed with the kids head, the Reaper headed to a stack of files on the floor, easily as high as one of the cupboards behind them.

"Do you know how much paper work dying before your time causes?" She moaned, taking the summary sheet off the top of the pile and bringing it back to the desk. Pulling out a pair of glasses from inside her hood she began to study the paper. "Anyway, yes, you've died again."

"How come I don't remember it then? I'm not that stupid!"

To this Cassandra laughed, the look on Potter's face priceless.

"Ya had to go back – didn't ya?" Stifling her giggles, she looked back at her notes. "It was hard enough getting you there though – it took two hole days to persuade you to return after that time you were ripped in half by that dragon..."

"But it... I..." Stammered Harry, suddenly realising how serious this all was.

"You thought it just scratched your shoulder?" She mocked, rolling her eyes. "You thought a dragon would only do that? Boy you gave a new meaning to 'nearly headless'. And don't get me started on the fire in the Room of Requirement – saving Malfoy was not the right thing to do. And overdosing on love potion – god that was stupid. Then there was the time when you drowned..."

"Okay – okay! I get it! Just don't..." He protested weakly, shuddering slightly. "I..."

"We know you didn't mean it kiddo – that's why you're getting another chance. It's the only way I can salvage what's left of my reputation anyway." The Reaper murmured, shaking her head sadly. "We'll talk more after I've got through the backlog of proper deaths. Maybe you should hang around and see how it's meant to be done."

Tbc...