Thanks to everyone who did anything! Sorry for the MASSIVE wait :/

After a brief pause, Harry decided to deal with the situation in a manner not entirely new to him. He decided to ignore it.

"Soooo I'm Harry! What's your name?"

There was a brief pause where he was almost overcome with the urge to smack himself in the face for his overly cheerful statement. It really didn't look like the kid thought he was all there in the head.

"I'm Eric."

As the kid replied, Harry saw himself being looked over, the look on the kids face getting even more confused as time went on.

"You're wearing really weird clothes. Where'd you get it from?"

Looking down at himself and then at the kid Harry realised that what he was wearing looked really out of place in the time period he was in. Scrambling for something to say, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"It's my uniform."

His feeling of satisfaction in a believable lie was cut off when he heard Eric's reply.

"It's still strange looking. What's the uniform for then?"

He went to expand on his lie when he was caught in the kid's ridiculously large innocent looking eyes. Harry couldn't lie to him, not when he was going to be collecting his soul in the near future, the kid really didn't deserve it. Instead, he was going to reply as truthfully as he could without actually mentioning his job.

"I'm a guide."

A look of fascination spread across Eric's face.

"Really? That's so cool! I've only ever stayed in the village, never even been to the next one. I've always wanted to travel, what's it like?"

And so the conversation went. With him rambling in a slightly overly cheerful manner, trying to bring some joy to the child as he firmly berated himself for getting even slightly close to someone he knew would leave him. Harry ended up spending the rest of the evening with Eric, describing places and telling stories, delighting when he would laugh and the tired look would leave his face.

It was in the middle of one of his stories when Eric started to cough. He started and wouldn't stop. The dark sadness that Harry had been ignoring rushed back with a vengence.

He knew that he couldn't stop what was coming. He could feel that it would be soon. But that didn't stop him from trying to sooth the child. It was what he had been told he was here for. Sure this was the first time he had met the to be dead before the actual death and soul collection part, but that didn't mean he should just ignore him.

Grabbing him, Harry brought him close to his chest, trying to comfort him and aid his breathing somehow. After a moment where the coughing still continued he sent some of his magic into Eric, using it on a live being for the first time since entering this world.

It was with a great sense of relief that it actually seemed to help and Harry couldn't stop himself from smiling. The happiness of being useful to someone still present from his miserable childhood. The smile didn't last long though, as the look on Eric's face gave way to what the child knew was coming.

There was a brief moment where they just stared at one another. Eric knew that something had helped with his cough. It had been one of his worse episodes yet and felt like it was never going to stop. He had been so scared that it had finally been his time to go and none of his family had been with him. He had been alone. But then the weird guy - Harry - had brought him onto his lap and tried to help, then the pain in his lungs seemed to disappear.

"You're not ... normal ... are you?"

Despite the plethora of ways he could take that statement, Harry could feel that this wasn't the time for it.

"No Eric, I'm not."

He couldn't help the tone and look of sadness that overtook him as he uttered his reply. He had gotten attached to Eric in the brief time he had known him. He knew that he was too caring, he couldn't help it. The fact that it was a child made it a hundred times worse.

The fear that had momentarily disappeared from Eric's eyes started to come back as he comprehended the situation.

"You ... you're going to take me away? ... It's soon?"

The fear that he could see in Eric's eyes, the fear of him grew. Unable to stand it, Harry comforted him as best he could, drawing him closer in a hug before staring back into his eyes. He had to do something. It was in his nature, it was who he was, he needed to help this person who was looking at him in such need.

"I'm a guide Eric. I'm your guide. Please don't be afraid, don't be afraid of me. I'm here. I'm so sorry I can't stop it but I'm here with you. You wont be alone, there's nothing to be scared of."

They did nothing but stare at one another for a moment as Eric calmed himself enough to try and understand what Harry had just said. He could feel himself getting even worse with every breath, much quicker than he ever had before. He knew that the only reason he wasn't coughing or in pain was because of the strange person he was sitting on. Looking into his eyes, Eric could see that he was genuinely shaken for him, he could tell that he really did want to help, even if that help wasn't the thing that he really wanted right now, to get better.

"You...you can't stop it? Can you stop it?"

Even knowing that this question was bound to come up didn't make hearing it come out of the young mouth any easier. The pause that occurred as he tried to think of an answer was answer enough, causing a sharp pang in his heart at the sudden resignation in Eric's eyes. He gathered him in closer into his arms and tried to sooth the child as much as he knew how.

"I'm here Eric. Don't be afraid. I'm here just for you. I'm sorry, so sorry that I can't make things better for you. All I can do is help make things easier. I promise that it won't hurt, there's nothing to be scared of."

He almost couldn't bear the dejection that he could feel coming from the small child in his arms. He was at a loss as to what he should do. He didn't actually know what happened to the souls after they dived into the pool, meaning that he couldn't truthfully reassure Eric that there was nothing to be worried about.

Harry sat there, his thoughts spiraling into a frenzy as he held Eric. He could feel the child relaxing further into him and knew that the time was drawing to a close, his powers rising up within him for that familiar burst of magic to form one of those empty butterflies. With heavy heart, Harry looked up from his precious cargo and at the butterfly hovering in front of them.

Feeling Harry look up, Eric slowly moved his head from his position directly on his heart and stared in wonder at the insect. He reached out in awe, allowing the butterfly to land on one of his fingers, causing it to flash brightly in different colours before becoming colourless again. His face cleared of the slight lingering pain that he could still feel despite Harry's help. The scary thoughts in his head suddenly seemed unimportant, the haunting fear that he had been living with since he understood his condition was gone.

"It looks so beautiful, so many colours."

Cupping the butterfly close to his chest, Eric knew that his time had come. But as he looked back at Harry, he could see that even though this was what was meant to happen, that this was right, Harry would still be heart broken for him, the little boy he met and knew for not even a day. Turning, he cuddled closer into his chest and smiled up at Harry before closing his eyes.

"Thanks for being here Harry. It's not scary."

Harry's heart felt ready to explode with the many emotions currently trying to escape him, he couldn't do anything but hold Eric closer, too choked up for words. He just sat there giving comfort to the child as he saw the butterfly start to fill in and the body in his arms start to still. He felt pleased that Eric went with him, completely fearless, relaxed and even happy, but lingering feelings of regret and sadness still stayed as he saw the butterfly finally take flight