Chapter 03- Explanations

"Testing"- Speaking
Testing – Thoughts and Telepathy

A/N: PLEASE READ. I have re-worked chapters one and two. I have added some and taken out some. Daisy will be in the story. None of my stories will be abandoned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Dead Like Me. Nor do I claim to.

Number 13 Grimmauld Place

"Excuse me," Rube said as he rubbed his hands together. I haven't felt cold in a long time? "Did you just say that this is your house? As in your name is on the title?"

"Yeah," the stranger said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Why would I be here if I didn't own the place? I thought this guy was supposed to be smart. "Who'd you think owned it? The Queen?"

"Not to get off track, but doesn't the Queen own all land in England? Georgia asked. "I seem to remember something about that from when I was in school." Or at least the part I stayed awake for.

"The Queen doesn't even know this place exists," the stranger said. "Even the people who live in the other buildings don't know where it's at. Kind of sucks for them when they want to give directions to their house, but I like my privacy. Let me tell you, that charm took me five months to perfect. For the first month, no one could find their homes. It was kind of funny seeing people searching for their homes and telling police that someone stole it."

"Charm?" asked Betty. "Some kind of bracelet?"

"Not quite," the stranger smirked. "I'm not that good at altering charms, so it took me some time to figure out how to fix the outer edges of the wards but allow people into their homes. I eventually found out that I had to own the land, so I bought it all. I now get a steady income from my tenants. At least I don't have people wandering around looking like idiots anymore."

"That still doesn't explain who you are," Roxy said. "And that also bring up the question of what those things are."

"That's because I haven't told you who I am yet," he smiled. "And those things are called Dementors. I personally can't stand them. They come here every night. Those men in the robes work for the Ministry and are attempting to contain the situation. Every morning they erase the memories of the mundanes. It's a moot point anyway. The Dementors can't hurt anyone who lives here as long as they stay on this street. The idiots out there have never realized that the Dementors never set foot near this place."

"Why not," Betty asked curiously. She was getting excited about all this. Something interesting was finally happening. "Why is this street safe and the surrounding ones not?"

"For the same reason they can't find it," he shrugged. "Look, like I said, I'm not that good at altering charms. I meant to ward just the block but the entire street along side the block was warded also. It was a side effect that I had no idea would happen. Not that I'm complaining. It keeps the Ministry from finding me and the house."

"Why are they after you anyway," Mason asked. "Did you kill someone? Steal something? If so, I'll take it off your hands. I'm pretty sure that I can fence it for you for a small charge."

Ignoring Mason's comment, "Just so you know, everything in this house belongs to me. And it's all protected from thieves. I've had some problems in the past with house guests who were thieves. Don't try to pawn any of my stuff. Anyone who's smart will not take it from you."

"Would you just tell us who you are?"

"I'm surprised that he hasn't figured it out yet," the stranger said while nodding towards Rube. "Though he does seem like the ominous type."

Rube just continued to glare at him, though his glare had nothing on Snape's glare. "I'm afraid that I don't know anyone besides George and Mason with an attitude like yours."

"I'm Harry Potter."

"You're Harry Potter?" Mason asked in disbelief. "You're the strange, mysterious reaper that somehow survived? I thought you be bigger."

"Yep, I think so. Though I don't know so much about surviving anything recently. From what they tell me, I'm dead. Though why I'm a Reaper, it's a mystery. My kind doesn't become Reapers."

"You're the one who owns this house?"

"I believe I said that already."

"You're the one who can lead us to the bank?"

"Yep."

"And you're…"

"Enough already," Roxy yelled in frustration. Mason would've gone on for hours if left unattended. "If you don't start giving us some answers, I'm gonna make you wish that you never died."

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like a bull dog when you get mad," Harry smirked. "My aunt used to have this particular…"

"That's it," Roxy yelled. "He's mine."

Having enough yelling for one night, Rube said, "Quiet. I suggest that we all head to the dining room and eat. We can discuss this over food."

"I'll meet there in a minute," Harry said. "I'm gonna go change clothes."

Trying to get in the good graces of the new guy, Mason whispered, "Word of advice. Never take anything that belongs to Roxy. She gets kinda mad when people do that. Last time, she took a bus and ran me over."

"Thanks. I think," Harry said. As an afterthought, "And the master bedroom is mine. You're in my house, so my rules."

After Harry had walked up there stairs, Betty asked, "Did he just say my kind?"

"He probably meant our kind, Reapers," Rune sighed.

"Then why didn't he say our kind if he meant that. He knows what we are."

"Maybe we'll get some more answers over dinner."

"You actually think he has a butler?" Mason asked.

Looking at each other, the other Reapers walked towards the kitchen in hopes of solving at least one mystery tonight.

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Kitchen

"He wasn't lying," Roxy said as they stood before the small feast.

"Damn, I think I'm going to like living here," Mason said. Oh, that looks good."

"Maybe you won't have to revert back to your life of crime," Roxy muttered.

"I heard that," he yelled as he stuffed his mouth.

"Shouldn't we wait for our host before devouring his food?"

"Why wait," Mason said. "It's his loss that he's late."

"And it's his food," George said.

"Thank you for your concern, but I don't think it will matter much," Harry said from the doorway. "He seems to be rather occupied."

"I'm Georgia Lass, but please call me George," she said as she stuck out her hand. If I left it to the others, they would probably never get over their distrust of him. I can understand Roxy, but Rube never acts this…unless he's mad.

"I know," he said as he took her hand. "I'm Harry. And may I say welcome to Black Manor."

"Black Manor," Betty asked.

"And you are?" Harry asked.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Betty Rohmer," she said as she shook his hand. "The pig that walks in a man's skin is Mason."

"Nice to meet you," he smiled. "And this is Black Manor. It was owned by my godfather and passed to me when he died."

"You get to keep your house? No way," George said. "Rube, why did you jump on my case whenever I tried to get anything from my house?"

"Because it's not supposed to be that way," he said glaring at Harry. "I don't know how he managed it, but it will stop. There can be dire consequences if you try to hold on to your old life…"

"Oh, you mean that whole memory thing," Harry said. "They tried that with me but it seems that they've never dealt with my kind before. A combination of my shields and training saved my memories. There're kinda at a loss for what to do with me."

"Charms? Shields? Dementors?" Betty asked. "Can someone please explain to me what's going on?"

"You mean they didn't tell you." Harry asked in surprise.

"They didn't tell me much," Rube said.

"Ah, you must be Rube. Nice to finally meet you…"

"I don't know how they run things over here, but I run a tight ship…"

"Easy, no need to go all dark lord on me," Harry joked. "And just in case you don't know, there is still one more due in."

"What?" Rube asked. "No one told me. Who is it?"

"Her name is Daisy Adair. From what they told me, she was going to join your team anyway."

"When is she due?" Roxy asked.

"Sometime Tomorrow. Dobby is going to pick her up when she calls."

"That's the second time I've heard mention Dobby," Roxy said. "Who is he? Your servant?"

"Kind of," Harry admitted. "I was expecting a call from you all. I guess they never gave you my number."

"You seem to enjoy changing the subject," Rube pointed out. "Is there something that you're trying to hide?"

"After we eat," Harry said. "I'm starving and business shouldn't be discussed over food."

"That's what I'm always saying," Mason said.

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Library

Harry led the group to the library after a long, uncomfortable dinner.

"So, what do you want to know first," Harry asked as he sat down.

"What happened to the others," Mason asked before anyone could get a word in.

"Why don't we start with an easier question," Harry said rather uncomfortably. "You won't understand unless other questions are answered first."

"Okay, what is it that you do?" George asked. "I mean, you keep mentioning charms and wards."

"It's magic. Plain and simple," he said.

"That's what you mean when you said my kind," Betty said.

"Yes, I'm a wizard and an anomaly. It turns out that wizards are not dealt with by Reapers. We either pass over or choose to become ghosts."

"But you're a Reaper," George pointed out.

"I know," Harry frowned. "That's the confusing part. I do have my theories on what happened but I'm not sharing those at the moment."

"So, you're saying that you can do magic and this entire house is protected by magic?" Roxy asked.

"That about sums it up."

"If you're a wizard, why do you live here? I know it might have some sentimental value, but it's a dump," Mason said. "Even I wouldn't choose to buy this place."

"Oh, sorry about that," Harry said as he pulled out his wand. "It's charmed to look like this for anyone who doesn't belong. Other wizards can't get in and mundanes see a dump…"

"Is that why this place is still standing while the lot next door burned down?" Georgia asked.

"Actually, no," he said. "This lot is that lot."

"That made no sense," Roxy said.

"Yeah, it does," Harry defended. "I accidentally burned down number 13 trying to fix the wards. Since no one was living there at the time, I just played around with the numbers and made it look like number 12 burned down."

"Why go to such lengths for privacy?" Betty asked.

"It's only a back up security measure," he said. "Hopefully, it'll give me a few minutes to figure out what to do if my wards come down. They'll waste time trying to figure out what happened in the burned lot. And because it was done with magic, they will spend more time looking over it."

"If you're not supposed to be a Reaper, what do you do around here," Rube asked.

"I usually just tagged along with one of the others while they were on assignment. We'd usually split the work. I'd take one soul and my partner would take the next one. We would keep switching every time."

"We'll figure out assignments in a day or two," Rube finally said after taking it all in. "We've been given that long to settle in."

"Finally, bed," George said. "Which room is mine?"

"Dobby will show you all to your rooms," Harry said.

"I've been meaning to ask," Roxy started. "Who is Dobby?"

"Dobby," Harry called.

"Master Harry Potter called?" Dobby said excitedly as he bounced on his heels.

"That's Dobby," Harry said dryly.

"Graveling," Betty shrieked when she caught sight of Dobby.

"No, he's not a graveling," Harry laughed. "He's a house-elf. They take care of the manors of the old families."

"If you're sure…"

"Dobby, please take them to their rooms," Harry said. "I'll see you all in the morning."

Before they could stop him, he disappeared with a pop.

"I guess that means the conversation is over," George said.

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Ministry

"Sir, some muggles just entered zone 14," an Auror reported to his superior.

"So, muggle enter and leave that zone every day. They don't matter to out investigation anymore. We can't even ask them to lead us to their houses. It seems that who ever is hiding there, doesn't want any wizard getting close to the house."

"But sir, these muggles don't live there. They entered the zone and disappeared…"

"That's what happens when you walk into a warded area." Where are getting these idiots. You'd think they know about wards.

"But they went in five hours ago and haven't left yet. And they aren't in with the other muggles."

"What are you talking about? They can't just disappear."

"We've tagged each of the muggles that live in the area. While we can't see or hear what happens in the houses, we can read life signs within the residence."

"And," the Senior Auror prodded when nothing further was said.

"And they aren't in near any of the other muggles. We figure who ever warded the area focused more on the house itself than the outer perimeter."

"Why would a wizard recluse invite muggle into his house," the Senior Auror mused aloud.

Thinking that he was being asked a question, the Junior Auror replied, "We were kinda thinking that he's a dark wizard and may be using them in some type of ritual."

Shooting his subordinate a glare, he continued. "If we managed to get any pictures of their faces, send them to the muggle ministry and see if they can locate them."

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End Chapter

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