Idona sat quietly, Harry had only been gone a few minuets when there was a rustling beside her.

"Hello." She said, tucking a strand of long dark hair behind her ear. "I thought you might join me."

Idona turned to look at Death, smiling brightly. Death had taken the form of a young woman, still wrapped in a dark cloak, and with glimmering red eyes.

"You are worried about him." Death said knowingly, sitting next to Idona.

Idona nodded, "He will try to save everyone. It will take him so long to understand that he can't.."

"No longer than you." Death said, lounging in the tall grass, they did not turn to look at Idona, but knew that she was smiling half hardheartedly.

"He will love people strongly, but not in the same way. It will be so painful for him, he will cry for them."

"You say that as if you cry for none now." Death laughed, but it was not cruel. "It never does stop hurting. But you gave him the seven years in hope that he would find a lover, wife, husband, anything and he would change his mind."

Idona was silent, pressing her fingers to the soft dirt.

"Having someone, it helps." She said finally, glancing over to Death's relaxed figure. "He won't have anyone."

"Well," Death said, as though it was the most obvious thought in the entire world, "He will have us."

Idona, acting the like an average teen, threw her hand up in frustration, "You don't understand!" She huffed, "He won't have anyone like I have you! Shouldn't he get a chance at that?" She let her arms fall heavily.

"I forget just how young you are sometimes." Death muttered, turning their head to look at Idona.

"I am almost seven-hundred sixty years old." Idona said stubbornly, narrowing her brown eyes at Death.

"And I am much older." Death said, and after pausing just a moment they asked, "Did it never occur to you, Dear Idona, that Harry Potter will never seek out that kind of love?"

"I-What do you mean?"

" Harry Potter has never, and may never, feel a romantic love. It was simply how he was born. I believe they have created a name for it- aromantic, hmm yes, that sounds right. It's amazing how mortals are advancing-"

Idona interrupted, almost regretfully, Deaths Excited ramble, "What does that mean?"

"Hm? Oh, right. He does not love others like you love me. He doesn't really understand it, he doesn't know the word himself yet even, but he is starting to understand that romantic love does not appeal to him. He's accepting, finally that he is not broken because of it."

"He will not know the pain of having and losing a lover, but her will know always the pain of losing a loved one."

Idona watched the stars twinkle brightly, suddenly thankful for the peaceful land around them.

"Do you love me," Idona asked Death suddenly, knees pulled up to her chest, "Because I can never die?"

Death sat up sharply, and looked at their master closely "Do you love me because you are not alive?" They asked, an eyebrow raised.

There was a heavy pause between them. "No. I love you because of who you are." Idona said finally, dark eyes staring at Death.

Death nodded, smiling, opening their arms to girl next to them. She accepted the invitation without question. They sat like that for a long time, Idona relaxing and enjoying the peaceful quiet Death carried with them, the slight muffle on the humming vibrations Life made.

"It never does get any easier, does it? Falling in love with mortals, knowing that they fear you, knowing how fragile they are?"

Death spoke softly, "It does not." Long, thin fingers ran through Idona's hair, "But you are so amazing that sometimes it's not as bad."

"We know that falling love with Mortals is painful, it's empty, yet it seems that everyday it is one or the other."

"It is because Mortals are so complex, so.." Death trailed off for a moment, "Fragile. They live their lives, fulfill their purpose and create bonds and webs and magic and technology, even as they know I wait patiently for each and every one of them. They carry on. They fight for their heartbeats and days and breathe and they do it with such passion, such determination, To fall in love is only natural."

Idona laughed, but it seemed almost humorless. "He will love each and every mortal he sees. He saves people. He wants to save everyone."

"He will learn, just as you learned." Death trailed their fingers down Idona's arm, "He will have you to help him. He understands that there are choices to be made, and not always are they easy."

Idona nodded solemnly.

"What will he say about us?"

"Us? You mean Death who fell in love with it's master, a kind heart and bright soul?"

Idona suppressed laughter. "Of a girl who loves Death with her Half beating heart? Of a girl who made so many mistakes in life only to find comfort in the embrace of what so many fear and do not understand?"

"Of an entity that time itself can not destroy, brought to it's knees by a mere mortal?"

"Do you think he will think that it's odd? Or wrong?" Idona asked finally, tilting her head back to stare at Death.

"Well, it is rather odd. Completely unheard of. But never wrong."

Idona snorted, "Unheard of for sure. Hardly even anyone realizes Death can take a physical for, or can feel anything at all." She scoffed at the apparent ignorance of these things.

"When You grow older than written word, older than recorded time, myths begin, legends are born, stories are told. There are truths and there is spaces that are filled in between them. One can't simply expect to have every word spoken about them to be the truth."

Idona shrugged.

"I don't thinnk that he will have anything to say about us other than expressing his surprise."

Idona watched Death carefully. "If he became your master, He could stop it, couldn't he, he could claim it's interference in the balance."

"He is not so cruel."

"I suppose." Idona stood suddenly. A shuddering breath escaping her.

Death bowed their head. "Go to them, bring them home, I will be waiting for them."

Idona only just managed to nod, taking a single step before looking at her surroundings once again.

She could see the tree that she had sat under just hours earlier, now a small spot in the distance. What stood before her now was a somber sight.

Flames leaped from the wreckage of what was once an airplane. The heat danced against her, and sparks flew up from wires.

Seventeen. Seventeen souls already calling to her, confused and lost in a world that they were no longer a part of. A child no older than eight stumbled out of the wreckage, tear tracks falling steadily from his eyes.

"My momma. My little sister. They're hurt. Can you help them please? I don't want them to die too."

Idona resisted her urge to weep. "Take me to them, child."

Idona followed the sniffling child to a women clutching an infant to her chest. The woman was still strapped in and breathing shallowly, the Infant's cries muffled against it's mother's chest.

Idona reached out, and smoothed the hair out of the woman's face. Blood trickled down her forehead. "Please. They've gotta stay here. They gotta." Idona did not turn to face the child. "I don't care that I'm dead now please, please." The child's voice wavered and Idona flinched.

She was aware of the growing number of spirits that had gathered around them, some muttering, some crying silently, watching Idona as though she were the only thing they could see.

She fumbled with the belt buckles. "Wake up," She muttered in the ear of the woman, "You two have time yet. Hurry now, hurry." The woman opened her eyes, and the grip on the infant in her arms tightened.

"Daniel?!" She cried as she stood, shielding the infant in her arms, Idona turned to the child, who still crying, stared at his mother with longing. "Daniel!?" Idona could feel the heat of the flames growing again, but could not draw her eyes away from the mother.

"Oh my god." Daniel was standing next to his body, watching his mother reach down to him. Suddenly, it became to much, and Idona turned away, looking at other spirits.

"We are dead, aren't we?" A man asked, "We've all died."

A woman began wailing at this revelation, and Idona strode calmly through the crowd to her. She placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Dear Melanie," She said softly, her voice soft as wind, "Your grandparents are waiting to greet you, and I believe that there is a rather excited Kitten longing for it's mistress."

The woman took a while to go silent but she took Idona's offered hand and stood. "I was gonna be great." She muttered, "I promised them all I was going to be great." Idona led her away, leading the new souls slowly into the realm of death, her heart breaking as they spoke to her.

Some told her dreams, some told her memories. She listened to each of them, and she felt weighed down with each and every word.

Daniel stood still by his mother and sister, his mother kneeling next to a figure laying in the grass, and the only other survivors, four, crying and dialing cellphones frantically.

"It's time to go child." Idona said, and a gently breeze blew through the once tranquil field. Daniel looked over to her, and she thought that he looked so much older than just the few minuets it had been since she had last looked at him.

He looked from his sister, who was sniffling now, staring at the spot in which her brother stood, and then back to Idona.

"Thank you." He said quietly, reaching out to grasp one of Idona's hands, "My dad is waiting for me already. Do they have Ice cream where he is?"

"You can eat your fill of whatever you desire, and then some."

Death greeted them as Idona walked into their realm, Daniel's hand falling from hers with a cry of "Daddy!" and ran into the arms of a brown haired man. Daniel whispered something to the man, who then turned to stare at Idona and Death.

He bowed his head, and smiled when he raised it.

Idona stared after them.

It would take Harry Potter long enough to learn that not everyone could be saved, but the ones that could would be the ones that made everything okay, even just for a little bit.

A/N: This got way longer than I really intended, but since I had only ever intended for this story to be a collection of events and glimpses into lives, I think it's more than acceptable. Yes, I made Harry aromantic.

Any thoughts, opinions, comments on this? I'd be more than glad to hear them.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!