Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. If I did I would be a far richer man. And I'd be a woman. I also don't own anything related to the Fate/(anything) series because then I'd be able to speak fluent Japanese. If I owned anything related to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I would probably have an unhealthy fascination with towels.

Reviews are appreciated but certainly not required.

AN: So yeah, my normal beta RhysThornbery successfully convinced me to start a new fic. This originated as an altered take on the Reptilia28 challenge of Harry being sent back in time by the Reapers when he died one times too many. I felt that was a bit too cliché and used however so I adjusted it and adjusted it and eventually we wound up with this! Yes, this is going to be a somewhat large AU. Yes, Harry is still the main character. Yes, Jeanne is also a main character. Jeanne is loosely based around a combination of her historical figure and Fate/Grand Order (I have not read Fate/Apocrypha nor seen the anime yet so I have no idea what her character is like there). That doesn't mean this is a crossover; it remains firmly and solely a Harry Potter verse story with zero F/SN elements.

Note on Pairings: This is an H/Hr fic. Other pairings will include Fleur/Aster, Neville/Daphne and probably Tonks/Jeanne among some more spoilery ones. There will be femslash so if that doesn't float your boat don't say I didn't warn you. Jeanne is highly unlikely to be paired with Harry.

CO AN: Rhys' Ramblings: Hi, Rhys here. Really happy to be working on this with T-Knight. We're hopeful you'll enjoy it! It sorta started out as a Reptilia28 challenge and spiraled out of control from there until we ended up with the current incarnation. On a secondary note, for those of you wondering about my own works...I have a lot of crap going on in real life right now and hope to pick up those stories again soon. I imagine I'll update again sometime in September. Cheers and thanks for reading.

Chapter 1: Winning the Battle, Losing the War

"Where did we go wrong, Harry?" Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's best friend, asked in a soft resigned tone as they sat together staring up at the roiling flames in the sky above. It wouldn't be long now, Harry supposed. He gave it maybe fifteen minutes tops before the out of control Fiendfyre ran amok and descended onto Hogwarts. What was actually left of Hogwarts anyway.

"I've been asking myself that for the past two years, Hermione," Harry sighed and smiling wanly at her before reaching down to squeeze her hand reassuringly. "It could've been anything. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I have to go with 'getting on that boat with Hagrid' back at my eleventh birthday."

Hermione chuckled. "Yes, well that certainly would have prevented…this. But then I would've died via troll club to the cranium so perhaps not the best example of things to change."

Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Come on, 'Mione, we both know that I'm probably responsible for that somehow as well." He grinned at her and just laughed as she playfully punched his shoulder. "Why are you still here with me anyway? Shouldn't you leave? Luna and Neville headed off already."

Hermione's shoulders slumped and her head drooped. She cast a brief look towards the fiery maelstrom overhead before sighing softly. "They don't want to admit it, but I know better. We've lost, it's over now. There's no way we're ever going to be able to stop Voldemort's final contingency plan so why bother running anymore? If we had a year or even just a month or two I'm sure I could unravel the central scheme around Stonehenge with Bill, but as it stands…what's the point? Besides…you're not leaving this Tower this time are you?"

Harry stayed quiet for several long moments before eventually shaking his head. "Seems right. I killed Tom right down there and started all this." He said nodding to the sky before holding up a hand to cut off her expected challenge. "Don't, Hermione. I know that Voldemort is to blame. I know it. But I was too slow at the start of this war. If he hadn't realized we'd been hunting his Horcruxes he never would have set this all up. Now the entire world is going to burn to a crisp because of one lunatic's inability to admit defeat. You're right. What's the point in running when it just buys us another week or two now? Might as well go down with one of the only homes that I ever really had. When Hogwarts dies, I want to die with it."

Hermione squeezed his hand harder and leaned over to kiss his cheek. As she pulled away Harry felt some of her tears brush against his skin before she laid her head on his shoulder. "I know, Harry. I understand. I wish things could have been different."

"So do I, 'Mione, so do I." Harry quieted and joined his friend in watching the seething hellfire as it roiled in the sky above them.

It didn't take much longer after that. Barely five minutes later the fire clouds twisted and turned. Harry tightened his grip on Hermione, but refused to look away. Multiple funnel clouds formed, made out of flaming beasts running over and around each other in ever widening, ever accelerating circles. As each Fiendfyre tornado approached the ground, the fire creatures surged outward burning the countryside below to char and glass. One particularly enormous cloud congealed nearly overhead and the bottommost segment twisted itself into the truly ironic image of a phoenix aimed straight at Hogwarts – straight at the Astronomy Tower where Harry was sitting. He glared up at the oncoming rush of flames and took one final breath.

"See you on the other side, Hermione, it has been my honor." Harry murmured an instant before the fire engulfed them both.

"Number 42! Number 42! Now serving number 42!" an obnoxiously cheerful voice rang out startling Harry from his reverie. Sighing he pulled himself out of the waking nightmare of his final moments. When he'd been consumed by the Fiendfyre he hadn't quite known what to expect. Well besides the brief, probably painful, sensation of burning to death. Something similar to the Kings Cross Limbo train had been at the top of his Afterlife Express list though. A doctor's waiting room complete with an old rotary style ticket machine had definitely not factored in at all.

And would it kill them to let him wait with Hermione? They had just died together for crying out loud! Was most of his 'next great adventure' going to be searching for where his best friend had been deposited? Scowling Harry shook his head. No, this was not remotely close to what the afterlife should be like.

"Number 42! Are you out there or did some idiot pull two tickets again?"

Harry looked down at the stub in his hands and sighed rubbing a hand wearily over his scar. "Here," he stated standing and starting to move towards the desk with the bubbly teller smiling at him. How did one remain so chipper when greeting the recently deceased? "Sorry about that."

"No worries! Name please?"

"Harry Potter. Or do you need the middle one too? I'd guess you probably do. There's got to be a lot of people with the same name coming through here right…" Harry trailed off as he saw the girl's expression freeze and the color start draining from her face. He groaned and did his level best to avoid banging his head against the nearest wall. Even in the underworld he was famous it seemed. "Look, can we just get this over with? I just want to meet my parents, my godfather and my friends."

"Harry Potter? Harry James Potter?"

"Yes…" he said trailing off uncertainly.

The girl behind the counter swallowed thickly and, if possible, paled even further. If she had been alive he'd have worried she'd faint from blood loss. "Uh, you're here…again…oh Jeanne is not going to be happy. Excuse me for a minute, Mister Potter. You have a specific caseworker and she's more up to speed with your case. I'll uh-I'll be right back."

Harry glared at her retreating back as she started to scamper away. "Why do I need a caseworker? I'm dead! I just want to see the people I love again!" There was no answer except for the door slamming shut behind her. Harry huffed and turned to glare at the room behind him. A few people put down the magazines they were reading and raised their eyebrows at him. "What? You never seen somebody yell at a deity before?" he snarked to the closest woman staring at him.

The woman just shrugged in reply. "Honey, I make it my business not to piss off the folks helping me to the next plane of existence. And I don't think these personnel qualify as 'deities'. They're barely middle management at best I'd bet."

"Says the woman attempting to not annoy us," an exceedingly tired and exasperated voice said from behind Harry. Harry turned and found that the bubbly teller had returned with a friend, though the teller had taken shelter behind the partially opened door it seemed…perfect. The newcomer looked to be barely older than Harry, she was maybe nineteen…twenty tops. Her suit was well fit, but she seemed somewhat uncomfortable in it from the way she picked at the collar and her black hair was short enough to just barely brush her ears. "Harry James Potter. Again. I can't believe we have to do this for a sixth time…Come on, let's get this party started…Again."

A distinct knot of worry manifested in Harry's stomach as the girl turned around and started walking down the nearby white-paneled corridor. He hurried after her trying to ignore the growing concern and frustration knotting his insides. Things could never be normal for him could they? Even when dead he was walking farther and farther away from the beaten path…

Pushing open an office door the girl waved Harry in and dropped into a seat behind the desk before laying her head onto the table with a groan. Harry could only stare while the knot inside him grew larger. He hated seeing women cry and this 'caseworker' seemed to be coming perilously close to that point. "Do you know how long I've been assigned here, Harry?" The suited girl murmured into the desk. "I died May 30, 1431. I've been in this department for about three quarters of that time; about 420 years now. Started out sorting paperclips in Accounting…You were actually my first 'problem' case with legitimate issues. I thought I screwed it up royally when you showed back up again just a few months after your initial stopover. And then again, and again, and again…by the time you were here for the fifth time I realized it probably wasn't that I was bad at this job, it was more likely that you just enjoy dying."

"Hey! What the hell lady! I don't even know your name and you're sitting there accusing me of getting off to getting myself killed?!" Harry snapped. He continued scowling despite the girl sitting up with a grimace and holding out her hands in supplication.

"Sorry, sorry, you're right, that was uncalled for," she said tiredly shaking her head. "You should try and see this from my perspective though, Harry. I've been around the block more than a few times with you. Most of us only have to deal with a repeat client once or twice at most. There are some rumors that Da Vinci had three visits here and the guy stuck with Rasputin's file is still waiting for him to kick the bucket, but you're…a special case. My name is Jeanne d'Arc, and I'm your assigned Reaper."

Harry blinked repeatedly and reached a hand up to try and clear out his ears. He must have heard her wrong. "Sorry, could you repeat that. It sounded like you said Jeanne d'Arc."

Jeanne shut her eyes and leaned back into her seat. "I did."

"Jeanne d'Arc."

"Yes," she agreed shortly.

"As in Joan of Arc? As in the bloody hero of France?! Joan of Arc the Patron Saint of France and soldiers?" Harry was not proud of the high octave his voice had traveled into, but there wasn't much helping it.

"Correct. And I'm not a hero. I was a stupid little girl who got into things way over her head and pissed off the wrong people before being burned alive as a witch ironically enough, though the men's clothes was the bigger deal to them since that they could actually make stick."

"You—you're—that's—What the bloody hell are you doing here talking to me?!"

Jeanne chuckled tiredly. "I never get tired of hearing you stuttering like that I have to say. To answer your question though, I'm here, helping you, because I wanted to help people in general even after everything that happened to me." Her face fell and she sighed, rubbing her hand over her left arm. "Not that there is much actual help being done in this department. This job isn't what they sold it as. Trying to walk people through how screwed up their lives were and how there's not much we can do about it gets pretty depressing after a while. I had wanted to be a Guardian, but apparently I wasn't qualified at the time. Now that I am, I'm stuck here for another twenty years or so. Even if I wasn't though I wouldn't be leaving this job until you finally get a decent lifetime for a change!"

Harry frowned and rubbed his scar. This was…not remotely approaching anything that could be described as rational. It wasn't even close to making sense to him. He had been killed by Fiendfyre raining from the sky on a dying world and now he was chatting with Joan of Freaking Arc about how she hated her job and was personally invested in seeing him succeed at his – wait…

"How can I have a 'decent lifetime'," Harry asked slowly narrowing his gaze. "I'm dead…aren't I?"

Jeanne's face lit up and she laughed, shrugging amiably. "Yes. And no. It's a bit more complicated than that actually. Let's start at the beginning, yeah?"

"Sure…" Harry nodded uncertainly. It looked like he wasn't going to be seeing Hermione or Sirius or his parents anytime soon, but…there was a niggling feeling that he might be about to receive a better option in a minute or two here.

"Cool," Jeanne said smiling. She reached for a folder on the side of the desk and flipped it open. "Okay, so for starters you've died six times now. The first was when you were ten. Do you remember the incident near the park when you tried to run away from your Uncle and nearly ran in front of a car?"

Harry cast his memory back and eventually hit on something that might be what Jeanne was talking about. "Err, Uncle Vernon had threatened to use the fireplace poker and I was running towards an ice cream truck to try and get somebody's help but…I…switched directions and ran the other way…some lorry cut across in front of the ice cream truck afterwards I think…"

"Yes. That lorry would've hit you had you kept going towards the people. A beating was a far less horrible outcome than a broken neck," Jeanne said grimacing. "I'm sorry about that by the way. I hated convincing you to let that awful man catch you, but there really wasn't any other option at the time…

Harry felt a flash of irritation wash over him but the dejected expression on her face washed it away quickly. "It's in the past I guess. Moving on?"

Jeanne nodded and flipped a page. "After that it was in your first year at Hogwarts. Initially when fighting the troll you apparently tried to levitate Hermione Granger out of the bathroom. It didn't end well. We reset her too at that point. Almost backfired even worse on the poor girl. She half remembered the first fight and froze up completely when the troll lumbered into the bathroom again. You know that saying, 'life flashing in front of your eyes?' Yeah, that."

Harry grimaced. That 'fight' had been frightening enough as it was. To think that he and Hermione had actually died during it was…not that surprising really. "Well thanks, I guess. What was the third?"

Jeanne flipped another page and quickly turned the paper over casting her gaze resolutely over his shoulder and refusing to look down. "You tried to talk to the dragon with Parseltongue in the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. It…got annoyed with you for your audacity to speak to it 'in the low tongue'. That was…messy. Very messy. You really don't want to see the pictures for that one."

Harry gulped and nodded. "The thought had crossed my mind to try it…I guess you talked me out of it then. Okay, moving on!"

"Overdosed on love potion during your sixth year."

Harry gaped at the girl for a minute before laughing so hard he nearly fell off the chair.

"It's not funny! Those two girls were insane! What kind of psycho bitch has to drug a boy into liking her?!" Jeanne said scowling at him and the papers in front of her.

"Considering how my fifth year went," Harry got out around his giggles, "I am flat out amazed I didn't die at all during that year, and instead I died from laced chocolates from Romilda Vane of all people!"

"It wasn't the chocolate, it was the pumpkin juice!" Harry abruptly stopped his giggling and picked himself back up as he cocked his head at Jeanne and looked down to try and read her notes. "You ate the drugged candy yes. Dose of amortentia number one. When Ginevra Weasley saw how you were acting she got to you before Hermione did and tried to fix it by dropping a larger dose keyed to her into your pumpkin juice. Both together sent your system into shock. Pomfrey was able to revive you, but the immediate withdrawal symptoms coupled with being uncertain which girl you were supposed to love more was too much for your heart. It err – may have exploded in your chest."

Harry could only gape for several seconds. He tried to form words, but after several failed attempts, merely sat back into his seat and groaned wiping a hand over his eyes. "Yeah," Jeanne sighed. "I'm sorry. If it helps you're taking it much better this time than the last go round. Ginevra isn't a bad girl per se…She's just a bit unhinged after the possession. You really should try to get her to a Mind Healer this time, Harry. Bypass Molly Weasley; the woman is a menace, both to others and to her own children."

Harry nodded and waved one hand for her to go on while leaving his other firmly clapped over his eyes. Jeanne audibly swallowed and Harry's heart plummeted. That wasn't a good sign. "You're not going to like this one either…"

"Rip the plaster off, please," Harry said grimacing and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Ronald Weasley killed you the night you destroyed the Locket Horcrux."

Harry sucked in a breath between his teeth and hissed. His arms fell to his side and he glared at the papers in the Jeanne's folder. "What!?"

Jeanne just nodded. "He pulled you out of the lake, you opened the locket and it taunted him. The first time, you never actually refuted the locket's assertions that you had feelings for Hermione Granger. Ronald…did not take it so well. Instead of stabbing the locket he stabbed you…repeatedly…Then he felt bad and stabbed the locket afterwards, but…"

"Basilisk venom in the blade…What the bloody fuck!? My best mate killed me?!"

"Well considering he never told you about the dragons to begin with during the Tournament I really don't understand how you can keep proclaiming the little jealous moron as your best mate," Jeanne scoffed.

"He what?! He knew?! I'm going to kill him. I'm going to find his little corner of the Afterlife and I'm going to kill him…again! I don't know how just yet, but I'm going to do it!" That dragon had almost killed him! Hell, it apparently had killed him once!

"Told you you weren't going to like it," Jeanne said sighing. She flipped to the last page and rubbed her arm again. "And now we're up to the Fiendfyre trap."

"Contingency," Harry corrected with a growl still thinking of all the fun ways he could show Ron his displeasure. "It was a contingency and a failsafe, not a trap. Hermione was very clear about that."

"To-may-to, to-mah-to." Jeanne waved a hand in the air and shook her head. "The point is, Riddle never should have been able to set it up. You were supposed to finish him off before he got spooked about you hunting Horcruxes and set his final temper tantrum to standby. This is actually the worst death. The others just threw Britain into the Dark Ages for a century or two. This one kind of ended up dooming the entire world. So there's that…It's a bit of an accomplishment actually. Generally very few people can point to a specific action – or lack of action – on their part that leads to the apocalypse. Not that I recommend world obliterating destruction, I'm just saying, it's bizarrely impressive."

"Yes, thank you for the compliment on ending the bloody world!" Harry took several deep breaths and tried to control his breathing. Finally after several minutes he was calm enough to continue with a question. "So are you, what was it called, 'resetting' me again?"

Jeanne sighed and shook her head. "Things are more complicated this time so unfortunately it's a bit over my head now. Basically, you've hit your limit. We're humans not cats – we don't get 'nine lives'. Seven is the most we stretch it to and that's just because it's magically powerful."

Harry relaxed his hands releasing his fingers from the fists they'd curled up into when Jeanne had mentioned a potential problem. "So what does that mean?"

"It means I get to go to management with you and we can try to convince them that you need to remember the entirety of our conversation this time instead of a just a vague feeling," Jeanne said. Despite the confidence in her tone Harry was distinctly aware of the nervous way she started fingering her shirt collar again. He tended to have the same nervous ticks when he was putting on a show of confidence for his friends. That…didn't bode well.

"Before we go there, can you tell me how to stop Voldemort's failsafe at Stonehenge? Is there a trick to cracking through the barriers? We couldn't get to them with the ley lines feeding them all the energy they needed."

Jeanne shrugged and nodded. "Trick's simple: don't let it get set up." Harry rolled his eyes before Jeanne smiled at him and shook her head slowly. "Unfortunately that's really the only option, Harry. Either dismantle the runic shields before they are activated or kill Voldemort before he forms the circle. Once everything is started you'd need a large asteroid in order to crack through those shields. Yes, I know you tried that. You didn't go big enough. Tom Riddle may be insane and despicable, but one can't deny he's brilliant at times."

Harry sighed and nodded. That was pretty much what Hermione had said too. It was a large part of why the two of them had stopped struggling at the end. "Anything else I should know?"

Jeanne tapped her fingers on the desk and flipped a few pages. "Hmm, hit the review…skated over the changes recommended…not worried about the destiny talk since it's pretty obvious…soul mate joins in so Granger is rolled up too…"

"Wait, what?" Harry interjected latching onto Jeanne's muttering. "Soul mate? Jeanne what are you – "

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Jeanne cried slamming a hand down onto the page and looking up with a grin. "Since this is your last life and the nature of the reset required I can stretch the rules a bit! You don't have to go back into your seventh year during your 'field trip', I can get you as far back as the Quidditch Cup in Fourth Year! That should be enough time to take out the Horcruxes before you even have to go back to school! With a bit of luck you might even be able to avoid the Tournament all together!"

Harry blinked stupidly at his caseworker's exceedingly pleased expression and ecstatic grin. For a moment he almost thought that Jeanne was going back instead of him…He frowned as he thought that over. Was it normal for these…Reapers…to get quite so involved and stretch things left and right? Was it just him? Or…was it her?

"Okay, let's go find Solomon. He's the Manager for my Branch and we need his approval. It's just a signature or two on your part." She jumped up from her desk, gathered her papers and folder and swiftly moved to pull the door open rushing out into the corridor.

Harry muttered a quiet curse and ran to follow along in her wake. "I think I had another question. Jeanne, can you slow down please!"

"Solomon!" Jeanne yelled skidding to a stop and banging on the front of a door with a Star of David symbol on it. Harry pulled up behind her and glared at her back though any heat was lost as he rolled his eyes at the woman. It was a shame they were meeting like this. She seemed nicer than half the people he knew from Hogwarts at least. It was almost like dealing with an unholy child of Luna and Hermione…"Solomon, open up! I need your signature for – Harry Potter. Hi! So I just need you to sign here and here…" Jeanne said flashing a bright smile as the door opened and a large man with a beard rivaling Hagrid's glanced down at her and her proffered folder.

Harry stood awkwardly behind Jeanne as Solomon looked from the paper to Harry and raised an eyebrow. Harry gave a sort of half wave and suppressed a groan. Jeanne definitely did not have explicit permission for this.

"Mr. Potter, welcome back. Unfortunately. Jeanne…" Solomon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jeanne, what are you trying to do this time? Isn't it enough that you convinced me to give him the seven lives instead of just letting him die to begin with like he was supposed to?"

"Supposed to?!" Harry squawked. The knot in his stomach returned with a vengeance and he looked at Jeanne who was cringing back from Solomon with a large grimace. Harry caught her shoot a brief glance in his direction before she turned her attention back to Solomon.

"It's just a reset for his last life, Sir."

"If it was just a reset you wouldn't need my authorization," Solomon sighed and stood aside waving them both into his office. Harry carefully sat down at the offered seat and practiced breathing deeply and keeping his mouth shut. It seemed the most likely way to get him through this meeting.

"Sir, I swear, this is just a reset and a tagalong. Nothing major," Jeanne stated folding her hands in her lap as Solomon opened the folder she'd carried in.

The big man snorted as he scanned the page. " 'Nothing major.' I distinctly remember you saying that exact same thing while arguing to 'give him a fighting chance, Sir. It stays within Fate's decree, Sir.' Now we're dealing with a burning planet when all we previously had was a simple hard to kill dictator. In case you were wondering, that counts as 'major' in my book, Jeanne."

Jeanne fiddled with her collar again and mumbled something unintelligible. Harry however threw away his previous determination to stay silent less than a minute after making it. "That's hardly fair to her! How was she supposed to know that Voldemort would throw a temper tantrum at losing and literally burn the planet to ashes on his way out the door?" he growled. Glaring at Solomon, Harry crossed his arms and tried to puff up his chest. This woman had apparently argued for saving the life of a stupid 10 year old who got himself run over by a lorry. The least he could do was try to argue for her as well.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle has warnings all over his file, Mr. Potter," Solomon said raising an eyebrow. "We make it a rule not to mess with those types or ones closely related to them. Especially when the Fates are involved. Those women make very little sense in their weavings and I've learned it's easier to just let things be. Jeanne has been here long enough that she should know that as well."

"He was a kid! Their weave only said the two had to fight. It never said anything about Tom Riddle possessing the driver of a lorry and accidentally running the kid down without even realizing it! I was totally justified in requesting the Seven Seal Exception. You agreed with me," Jeanne stated raising her gaze and joining Harry in his stare.

Solomon took in both of his guests and rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes I did at that, Jeanne. Alright, fine. You want a reset back far enough to deal with Riddle's destruction; you've got it. This is going to cause a bit of a reweave most likely, Mr. Potter. It's just a temporal displacement though so nothing too major should change I imagine and…yes?" Solomon trailed off as he saw Harry frowning and opening his mouth to say something.

Harry however just gulped and shut his jaw again. It was a stupid idea. An insane idea. He was already apparently on thin ice just for being alive long enough to even get a Hogwarts letter. And yet…she'd fought for him. "Could you get Jeanne to come with me? As my…err…Guardian? Yeah, as my Guardian." Harry fell quiet as he took in the stunned gaze of his caseworker and the rapidly blinking stare from Solomon. The papers in the big man's hands slipped through his fingers onto the desk and nobody seemed to care. The silence stretched on and Harry gulped again as he reached up to run a hand through his hair. "I seem to keep screwing this up. I could use a guide you know? Last life? Dying world? Help would be appreciated? Jeanne knows my life better than I do; she'd be a great Guardian for me!"

Solomon finally seemed to regain his train of thought and started laughing as he shook his head hard enough that his beard started to wag. "Oh I see why you like this one, Jeanne! Mr. Potter, do you have any idea what a Guardian actually is?"

"Err…No?"

"Harry, sit down and shut up!" Jeanne hissed reaching over to grab his shirt sleeve and attempt to haul him back into his seat.

"A Guardian, Mr. Potter, is a spirit sent to walk in the shadows of someone's life. They intervene every once in awhile under exceptional circumstances in attempts to prevent untimely deaths. They cannot communicate with their charges. Even if I could bend the rules enough to allow her to speak with you it would be pointless. As a Guardian Jeanne would not be of any use; you can't be revived any further and we cannot take active steps in your final life to prevent potential death. So you see, an assigned Guardian is quite pointless in your case."

"Oh…" Harry deflated. It had been a long shot anyway, but it had been worth a try. He lifted his head to meet Jeanne's gaze though both of them froze as Solomon continued.

"However…I could perhaps…oh now you've both got me doing it! Looking for ways around the rules…" The large man chuckled at himself and reached into his desk pulling out a bright gold form that nearly shimmered as the light played on it. "Jeanne d'Arc, do you truly wish to help this young man finish things off?"

"…Yes…" Jeanne said slowly her eyes never leaving the paper. "What is that? I've never seen that type of paperwork before…"

"Harry Potter, do you truly wish for this young woman to assist you in your final endeavor?"

Harry nodded and felt the knot in his stomach unravel slightly. "I do. She's done more for me than anyone except my parents and Hermione. And I didn't even know her until like an hour ago."

Solomon smiled wider and nodded. He gently set the form down in front of the both of them and pointed to the bottom. "Jeanne d'Arc, this is a re-embodiment form. With a signature here you are allowed one lifetime as a mortal again. You can keep your memories of your time among us and upon your return you will be again offered the choice of employment or Elysium. With this you will be able to assist Mr. Potter in his endeavors without restriction."

"I…Mary Mother of God…" Jeanne whispered reaching out a tentative hand to touch the gold paper. Harry was just as stunned though his face split into a grin. Potter luck apparently won out for the plus side every once in awhile! "Won't this cause a much larger reweave though?"

"Most assuredly. I can't even begin to guess how much would change due to it. I would say it would likely be at least two or three large-scale items. However those two or three changes could occur from anywhere between five minutes prior to reset, to all the way back to your new time of birth in the re-embodiment; meaning approximately 4 years before Mr. Potter's birth. The changes could of course 'snowball' as the phrase goes." Solomon leaned back and clasped his arms over his chest eyeing both of them though the grin remained in place. "Think carefully before you agree to this."

Jeanne frowned and started to pull her hand back as she glanced over to Harry. "Harry, thanks for trying, but that is too big of a risk to – "

Harry shook his head and cut her off almost immediately. "So things'll change, so what. I'll deal with it like I've dealt with everything else. You've literally given me a whole bloody life, Jeanne. Six of them. Sign the stupid papers and let's go."

"I…this is…How the heck did we get to this?!" Jeanne whispered looking back to the form in front of her.

Solomon chuckled again and handed over a pen. "I warned you not to get too involved with your cases back when I recruited you, sweetheart. This is what happens when you care too much. Same rules apply: no resets for either of you, be prepared for the reweave, ensure the planet survives this time. Have fun!"

AN: I like to think I'm getting more used to British terms but 'plaster' in place of 'Band-Aid' is just…weird. It's my American shining through…

Fic Recommendation: "Wish Carefully" by Ten Toes. This story is narrated by Lucius Malfoy and is a bit different from the norm. Basically after Dumbledore died Harry signed a binding contract agreeing to leave England along with all of the Light personnel in exchange for the Dark not touching Muggles and giving all of their Muggleborn and squibs to the Light once a year. It turns out that the Dark did NOT think through the consequences of getting what they wanted…This is a very good, longer oneshot.