Differing Worlds

Sirius Black glanced down the hallway of Hogwarts, seeing only the paintings lining the walls. When he looked down the other side, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were standing together, looking at him curiously.

"So, Padfoot," James whispered, raising an eyebrow, "you're sure this genius plan of yours is going to work?"

"Of course. I mean, I am the genius." Sirius smiled widely and stood up straight, hand on the wall next to him. "You see, we meet up at James' place and try it out."

"When?" Peter asked, looking over Sirius' shoulder at the far end of the hall Footsteps were starting to grow louder and Sirius led them down the other end of the hall.

"One week into summer. That would be..." he paused a moment, mouthing numbers. "That would be the thirtieth. We meet there a-"

"Change it to the first of July," Remus added in quickly, turning in their direction. "I'm busy then."

"Alright, alright, the first. Anyway -"

"It would have to be the second," Peter mumbled. "My aunt wants me to visit on the first."

Sirius glanced at him and sighed after seeing his apologizing face. "Fine. Who else needs to reschedule to fit their family into their ever so hectic schedule." He threw a glance at James, who shook his head, grinning wickedly.

"But, I do believe you're busy then," James said. Sirius raised an eyebrow, thought a moment, and sighed again.

"Alright, alright! So it's the third. Agreed?"

The other three nodded.

At the age of seventeen, Remus Lupin was rather tall and, for lack of better word, lanky. He had a small frame that seemed to have stretched too much on the height scale and his head was covered in light brown hair that managed to stay in place all the time. Except when he woke up.

Blinking in the morning sun, he yawned and tried to wake up enough to get ready. The third of July had come very slowly as a snail racing a rocket and getting blown backwards by the wind.

He quickly dressed in muggle clothes, then ran downstairs to an empty kitchen. The kitchen seemed different from when he was last there. It took him a few moments to remember that school was over, he had graduated, and he now owned the flat. No one would be there. Smiling to himself, he quickly Apparated to Sirius' house.

Sirius and Peter were already sitting at the couches, playing a small game of gobstones. Sirius' face was drenched in ink, dripping down onto his shirt, and he looked up when Remus opened the door.

"Did anyone ever teach you anything?" he joked, flicking a marble. It hit Peter's out of the round board and squirted a stream of dark ink into Peter's face. He laughed and threw himself to the side, trying to dodge the stream but it followed him. When he was up again his shirt was drenched. "You always knock before entering. Apparating in is a very bad habit. And, Peter, cleaning halfway through a game is cheating." Peter stopped his vain attempts to clean himself with magic and replaced his wand.

"Want any cake?" Peter asked Remus as Remus took a seat next to him. "My mum made some and Sirius still hasn't managed to maim it." Sure enough, next to him was a large box with a crease along it. "He sat on it." Remus grinned slightly.

"Peter, you're mother is a very good cook," Sirius explained, watching Peter flick his marble onto the board, moving Sirius' to the edge. "She's such a good cook when it comes to cake that it can double as a chair. See?" Peter glanced up at him and scowled.

"James ought to hurry up," Remus said, looking down at his watch. "What exactly are we going to, Padfoot?"

"You'll see," was the only answer he got. The dark haired man rubbed his gray eyes and picked up a fallen marble. "Peter, you're cheating!" Remus saw Peter stoop rubbing his thumb along the board, throwing three of Sirius' marbles on the floor. Sirius flicked the marble into Peter's eye. He fell backwards, overthrowing the board into Remus' lap. Remus stood up quickly, seeing the ink stain his pants.

At that moment, James Apparated into the room, glanced at them all, and walked into the kitchen. "What are we doing then?" he asked, getting a glass of water. "Playing games or planning something?"

Sirius took his seat back again and straightened out. Peter clawed at the couch and sat back up and glanced at Sirius.

"Alright," Sirius announced to the assembled group, "I'll tell you my master plan. We're all out of school, we have no one left to prank -"

"Except your mother," James laughed. Sirius glared quickly but continued talking.

"We have no one left to prank, and my mate here is about to get married. But, most important, we can use magic. We can Apparate." He lowered his voice dramatically, his wicked smile growing enough to rival Peeves.

"What we do is, we test to see what Apparating at the same time to the same place is like!"

His sentence was met by silence. James pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and blinked. Remus cleared his throat and turned to face the door. Peter was the only to speak.

"Well.... It may be an interesting idea."

"What if something happens?" Remus asked. "I mean, no one will know what's happening and James is about to get married." He turned to James, whose face stayed blank.

"I think it's a dumb idea," Peter added quietly. "I agree with Remus."

"It's brilliant!" James suddenly yelled, throwing his hands into the air! "I don't think any wizards has ever tried this! We would be famous!" He threw himself onto the couch next to Remus and grinned widely. "Where are we all going to go?"

"I'd say somewhere like you mother's, Prongs. I mean, would she faint at the sight of her son and his friends' body parts spread around her parlor?" Remus said, face straight and un-laughing. Peter smiled slightly.

"Good idea," Sirius remarked. "I say that's where we try." He stood up, grabbed his coat, and dusted it off quickly. James stood too and tucked his wand into his pocket.

"You're really trying it?" Remus asked incrediously. He turned his gaze to Peter, who was still sitting. "Are you?"

Peter shook his head, hiding behind a large brown pillow.

"Oh, yes you are," Sirius exclaimed, dragging him up and over the couth. James grabbed Remus' elbows and both men were dragged to the kitchen. Sirius looked at the large clock above the counter.

"At fifteen seconds past," he said to the other three, "we Apparate to Prong's mum's house."

"Why mine?" James asked, taking his eyes from the clock. "She would throw a fit or something!"

"You volunteered her," Sirius reasoned. "It's only fair if you volunteer your own mother."

"I did not volunteer my own mother," he snapped. The clock ticked on to the ten second mark. Peter closed his eyes, whispering a feverant prayer. Remus crossed his arms and watched the two boys argue.

"C'mon, James! Just this once! I swear I'll write her a full apology after we give her a heart attack."

"How can you write an apology when you're dead?" James yelped. His gaze went back to the clock. Two... One...

The four boys Apparated to James' mother's house to give her a shock.

Death walked down the row of hourglasses on the shelf. He mumbled to himself as his fingers went over the names in spindly handwriting and paused. Marie Longstoat was going to die in less than an hour. He took the hourglass from its place and put it on his desk. The room went on forever, really, so he would wait for the clocks to tell him when to go.

Ysabel was bound to be off with Mort at the moment. Their daughter, Susan, was starting to spend more time with him than her parents. Death glanced out the open door to see Albert. The old man was walking to the library to clean up after Susan's plunge through the room. She, like her own mother as a child, liked to read through the long life stories of people and see how they wrote themselves.

Death walked outside, taking a look at the chairs with the skeleton motif, and made his way to Binky's stable. Down a hallway, he paused upon seeing four young boys.

All were in their late teens or early twenties. Two had black hair and there was a blonde and brown haired boy. Death stared them down for a moment and saw their glances run from corner to corner.

HELLO? Death greeted, blank faced. As a skeleton, it was difficult to make expressions, but if he could, this one would have been blank.

The blonde boy, in the corner and shaking slightly, spoke. "Who are you?"

I AM DEATH, Death said simply. He assumed that people would understand who he was once they met him, but it was rare that people came to visit him unless they were related and crossed over.

"Do you have any clue why we're here?" he asked slowly, not taking his eyes off of Death's face. Death shook his head slowly.

NO, I DO NOT. I DID NOT SEND FOR ANYONE TO COME AROUND HERE. DID SUSAN OR YSABEL BRING YOU?

"Who?" the dark haired boy with glasses asked, frowning. "Look, we're just going to get out of here now -" He broke off as a small rodent's skeleton ran over and climbed onto Death's shoulder. Death looked at it.

SQUEAK, the robed figure said, pointing a claw at the blonde boy. Death nodded.

I SEE. YOU SEEMED TO BE DEAD.

"Er... why else would we be at... here?" the other dark haired boy asked. He did not seem nervous or afraid, but merely confused. "James, I don't think this worked. He's obviously not your mother."

"I can see that," James snapped.

Death reached down into his robe and produced four hourglasses. He looked critically at the names and thought. Then he spoke. DO YOU HAPPEN TO BE JAMES POTTER, SIRIUS BLACK, PETER PETTIGREW, AND REMUS LUPIN?

"Yes," each replied, still nervously moving about.

I SEE. I DO NOT KNOW YOU, BUT IT APPEARS YOU WILL BE DYING IN TWENTY SECOND'S TIME.

"That's nice to know," Peter whimpered.

Sirius smiled ever so slightly. "Fifteen... fourteen... thirteen... twelve...."

"Be quiet, Sirius," Remus hissed. "It must be a hoax."

IT IS NOT, Death assured him. YOU WILL BE DEAD IN A FEW SECONDS.

"Nine... eight... seven... six... five..."

FOUR, Death continued, THREE...TWO... ONE.

All five of the figures fell silent.

"Are we dead yet?" Peter asked from behind Sirius' jacket. Sirius ripped his jacket from his hands and sighed.

"I think Remus was right. We're not dead."

"See?" Remus asked, looking at Death. "We're still here. Now, where's the way out."

Death looked at the hourglasses. He prodded one and shook it. No sand moved. He turned it upside-down and waved the glass in the air to see what happened. IT APPEARS SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG. I'LL JUST RETURN YOU TO DISCWORLD.

"Discworld?" James asked. "What's Discworld? A disk?"

IT IS THE PLANET, Death replied, obviously confused. THAT'S WHERE MY... CLIENTS LIVE.

"Right," Sirius scoffed. "We'll just prance on back to this Discworld and go back to my place."

GOOD. YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME WITH ME. I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE ANYWAY TO GET TO A FEW PEOPLE.

The four boys looked at each other and followed the seven foot tall skeleton all the way through the yard. All the plants were black like Death's robes and a fountain shot water into the air. An old man was hanging some Victorian dresses on a line and talking to a young girl with a large amount of white hair with a black streak. She nodded every so often. Death looked at them with an air of fondness.

THAT IS MY GRANDDAUGHTER, he said. When they were in the stables he removed a bag from a white horse's snout and climbed on, reaching out a hand to the others. GET ON. WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. THIS IN BINKY, BY THE WAY.

Peter was hoisted up first, a frightened expression burned onto his face, and was followed by Remus and James. Sirius got on last, looking to the ground and back to the roof.

"How long will this take then?"

A MATTER OF MINUTES, I SHOULD THINK. NOW, WHAT SPECIES ARE YOU ALL?

James gave him a blank look. "We're... human, I should think. Why do you need to know?"

THE PEOPLE OF THE DISC TEND TO... SPREAD OUT BY SPECIES. THE VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES ARE AROUND UBERWALD, THE HUMANS SOMETIMES ARE IN AHNK-MORPORK, AND THE WIZARDS -

"That's where we want to go!" Sirius said from the back. "To the wizards."

ARE YOU WIZARDS?

"'Course we are," Sirius dismissed. "We did go to Hogwarts."

HOGWARTS?

"You know... Hogwarts," Peter added, frowning. He was holding very tightly to Death, looking at the ground below them. Binky started to move, trotting, then somehow removing his feet from the ground and flying into the cool night air.

I DO NOT KNOW OF THIS HOGWARTS. WHERE IS IT?

"Err... nevermind," Sirius cut in. "Obviously you must have never known the place or Dumbledore."

I'M SORRY. I HAVEN'T.

Peter looked back to the ground and gulped, staring intently at the sky then. "Can we please get off soon?" he managed. The blonde teenager tightened his grip.

I COULD LET YOU ALL OFF HERE.

"I'm staying on until we get to the wizards' place. Peter can stay," Sirius said, peeking over Binky's rear end and looking at the houses under them.

"I'm getting off!" Peter hollered, closing his eyes and shivering slightly. Remus looked down, seeming nonplussed by the heights.

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked, looking at Peter's face.

"Don't care!" Peter yelled, still with his eyes closed.

"Stay Remus," James offered. He smiled at Sirius. "We can leave Peter."

Death pulled at Binky's reigns and the white horse touched down to ground, Peter threw himself off the horse and stood there, panting for a moment.

"I didn't know you were afraid of heights," James mused. "Who would've guessed?"

"Why else did I hate flying?" Peter said through gulps of air.

ARE ANY OF YOU STAYING, TOO? Death asked, looking over his shoulder. All three shook their heads.

Peter opened his eyes again and was able to see his friends and Death flying back into the air and zooming forward.

A few minutes passed in silence as the last three boys saw the ground passing quickly under them. The air was rather cold and growing colder as the night continued, though Death soon touched to the ground again.

In front of them was a very tall building. Very tall does not sum up the height of the building, which reached the clouds and had to have been touching the moon. Sirius squinted up to see if he could see the top.

HERE IS THE UNSEEN UNIVERSITY. WHERE THE WIZARDS ARE, I MEAN, Death told them, walking forward and opening a door. ENTER.

"Are you leaving us here?" James asked.

YES. I MUST RETURN.

Sirius walked into the building and turned back around. "C'mon, James, Remus."

"What about Peter?" Remus asked.

"We'll find him in the morning," Sirius answered, looking at the frame of the doorway. It seemed to be a very old building with fine woodwork.

"I'm staying out of there," Remus said, taking a step back and looking up. "I'd rather find Peter, sorry."

"Fine. James?"

"I'll stay with Remus."

Death sighed. I SHALL TAKE YOU BOTH BACK. UNLESS THER IS SOMEWHERE ELSE YOU'D RATHER GO INSTEAD?

"Just drop me off somewhere closer to Peter. We really ought to find him." Remus followed Death back to the horse with James. Sirius shrugged again.

"Are you sure?" he asked quickly.

"I am," James responded. "Sirius, I'll find you in the morning." He smiled as he used the same tone of voice Sirius used.

"Fine, fine."

Binky soared through the sky again and Death did not seem to have to control him to get the horse to move somewhere. Binky seemed to have a mind of his own and knew the way.

I SHALL DROP YOU OFF AT A PLACE WHERE I'M SURE YOU'LL MEET SOMEONE. I OFTEN COME AROUND THERE, SO YOU WILL BE SEEING ME SOON IF YOU ARE WIZARDS.

Death pulled at the reigns again and Binky touched down at the street called Elm Street. He trotted in front of a house and stopped. Remus and James both got down.

"You first, Remus," James said, slightly nervous.

"Alright." Remus started to open the door and paused. "Are you coming, James?"

"I - I.... Err...." He turned back to Death. "You mind if I follow you around a while? This place doesn't seem... right."

THAT IS FINE WITH ME. I SHALL LEAVE YOU WITH ALBERT, THOUGH.

"Good enough for me."

Remus sighed. "Don't tell me you're afraid."

James gave him a long look. "I'm not. This place just seems... wrong. So did the others. I promise to meet you back here tomorrow to find Peter and Sirius again."

"Alright." Remus gave James a handshake to make their deal and turned to the doorway.

James felt rather alone as he rode the last way with Death. Death had said that he needed to make a small stop and James could only guess what it was for.

As they slowed down for the fourth time that night, Death quickly got off and pulled his scyth in front of him. They walked up to an old wooden door and Death managed to step through it. When James did not follow, he retreated and grabbed him in through the wall. James felt the sensation of walking through an ice waterfall and shivered.

HELLO, MARIE, Death greeted a woman. The female could not have been called a woman, as she looked no older than ten. She only sneezed in reply.

"She can hear you?" James asked, astounded. The girl had wispy red hair surrounding her pale face and she looked extremely ill.

NO, NOT YET. WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT A MINUTE. Death pulled an hourglass from the recesses of his robe and looked at it. James took a look over his shoulder and saw the name written along the base.

"What do you do to her? Kill her?"

I DO NOT KILL. I TAKE LIVES THAT ARE NO LONGER NEEDED, Death whispered.

The small girl's eyes closed a moment later, her chest no longer moving as she breathed. The woman at the side of her bed paused and looked at the girl's face.

Death fingered the scyth again and brought it over his shoulder. With a swift movement, he cut down into the girl's throat.

She did not move for a moment until a faint imprint of her rose from her body, very much like a ghost. James watched her for a moment as she stared at Death.

"Who are you?" she asked in a small voice, rocking back and forth slightly.

I AM DEATH.

James found this answer to be bland, but he kept silent.

"Am I dead?"

YES.

The girl did not answer, but instead faded slowly like mist.

Death turned to James.

THAT IS MY JOB, YOU SEE. I TAKE USED LIVES, NOT KILL.