Delusional

Chapter Two: Being a Death Omen

Would a written invitation
Signed, "Choose now or lose it all"
Sedate your hesitation?
Or inflame and make you stall?

Incubus; A Certain Shade Of Green

"It's really not a big deal," Jacob said, placing his hands in his pockets and watching with half-amusement Ginny, who was pacing back and forth running her fingers through her already tangled hair.

"My dead body is only two feet away!" Ginny screamed. She continued pacing until new worries swept through her. She had just owled her parents, how would they find out? She didn't know any of the people that were filing around her dead body. She hadn't even caught a glimpse of the person who killed her. What about Harry? He was only four stores behind; he was bound to walk in on this...unless he walked the other way... What about Ron? Hermione? Fred? George? Charlie? Bill? Percy had ceased to exist in the Weasley family, and therefore would he care at all? What would happen at school? Ginny stopped pacing and yanked her hand out of her hair, pulling out a tangled knot as well. Shrugging it off, she laughed.

"It's funny now, isn't it?" asked Jacob, starting to chuckle himself.

"This isn't funny anymore...Fred! George!" She jumped at Jacob and began scratching at his head as if he were wearing a mask. "Come out! I know you're there George!"

"She's lost it," Jacob muttered, taking his hands out of his pocket and cupping Ginny around the shoulder. "She's definitely lost it."

"You work for them, don't you?" she asked, pointing at Jacob suspiciously.

"Who? You're brothers? No, but their lives aren't going to last much longer than two years...well, Fred will go first, and George will stay alive for about a week..."

He was cut off by Ginny's sudden giggling fit. She shut her eyes and giggled until she erupted into a fit of laughter. She was positively convinced that this was some joke. She was amazed at how Fred and George were able to convince that many people to get involved, to predict their own deaths, to make a body double of Ginny, and to fool her so badly. If only for a minute, she believed she was dead.

Jacob led Ginny to a small alleyway where a black door lay at the end.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't know you," Ginny said, turning. "Besides, I've got to go find Fred and George, tell them they've got me! It was a pretty good joke, though, wasn't it?"

Jacob grabbed her arm. Ginny struggled in his grip. "Let go of me!" she screamed. In all the fear that erupted when someone had held Ginny this hard before, this had to be the worst. Their was a glint in Jacob's eye, almost annoyance, somewhat hunger. Maybe this wasn't a joke... But she wasn't dead. She'd wake up any minute.

The two stood there, Jacob's hold never ceasing, Ginny's eyes closing as she inhaled and exhaled sharp but subtle breaths. OK, so now she knew this wasn't a joke... When the hell was she going to wake up? She waited for about five minutes, then was brought back to life, and Ginny knew that she was really there. She looked back at the spot where her body was... or where she thought she saw it... it was still there...

Jacob was still holding her, but his grip was definitely far from deadly.

"Sit," he ordered. Ginny obeyed. Slumping to the floor with her back against the nearest building, she sighed.

"But I was just alive," she said. She tugged at the hem of her dress, stretching the material to curve over her knees.

"I was just alive two and a quarter years ago," Jacob said, sarcastic etched in his tone.

Ginny looked up and narrowed her eyes maliciously.

"Look, you need to come in here," Jacob said, motioning toward the door and scratching the back of his neck. "One question. Are you sure you don't want to become a ghost?"

Ginny stared, disbelieving. "This is the choice? There are no committees or parchment needed to be signed? There's no parchment needed to be looked at? What about benefits? What happens if I say yes? If I say no?"

"Just be happy I'm asking. When my father died he put me on the toll for non-ghost. Well, it's not as if we're not seen."

Ginny stood up quickly and swiped at her bottom to remove the dress of any dirt. "You mean they can see us?"

"No, I mean it's not as if we're not seen. Now get in here," he said, grabbing Ginny's wrist and pulling her into the room. As Ginny whirled past him she noticed he was taller than her and grateful that her - what was he? - was taller than she. She wasn't aware of how much time she was going to spend with this Jacob Emerson character, so she was happy that she wouldn't feel like such an oddball. She had always been slightly taller than Harry.

Her heart panged at the thought of Harry. Was she ever going to see him again? What if, if he died, chose to become a ghost instead? Would they be in two separate worlds?

"Um...Jacob? Where are you taking me?" Ginny asked, because they had been walking for quite some time. Jacob whipped out his wand. Ginny was surprised he still had it.

Obviously, he had noticed Ginny staring because he said, "Yea, we get to keep out wands. Unless you didn't die with it, of course."

"Shh..." He muttered a lumos and suddenly the room was lit. There was nothing special about it, except for another door directly in front of them. When Jacob pulled it open, Ginny was surprised to see a panel of people across from them.

One elderly man looked up from a letter and glanced at Ginny, then spoke to Jacob. The man resembled something of a chimpanzee.

"Emerson, you've returned. Took you long enough."

"She didn't believe me," Jacob said simply. The panel erupted into a small murmur, and she distinctly heard one of the middle-aged woman say, "My daughter didn't believe me; she thought she had a sixth sense."

"That's enough," said the man who resembled a chimpanzee. "Ghost?" This was directed to Ginny, who looked taken aback. "Ghost?" he repeated.

"What's the difference?" Ginny asked, taking one step toward the panel.

"One is transparent, one is solid," the man said. Ginny stepped back.

"No," Ginny sighed. She wondered if her choice was going to affect her negatively, or what type of effect the choice would have on her and her afterlife.

It still sounded odd, Afterlife.

The man took a stamp and stamped the parchment in front of him. "Emerson, I'm assigning you guide duty."

"G-guide duty?! Why?!"

"Look at her. Do you think she has the faintest idea what she's doing here? Accidental deaths are the ones that usually get the guides. It's only for...for about two months or so..." He looked Ginny up and down before nodding softly. "We're going to need her after that."

Jacob scoffed. "I don't care...I'd rather assist the people who've just died, bring them here...that's my damn position!"

"You're dead, there really aren't any positions," the elderly man pointed out. "Just be lucky you're not being assigned to a suicidal death."

"But those are my favourite," Jacob said.

"I don't care what your favourites are, Emerson! Now you're assigned to Miss. Virginia Weasley. Out with you!" He waved his hand towards a door to the right. Slumping forward and making Ginny look like the tallest girl in the Afterlife, Jacob began trudging out of the room.

She followed him by staring at his feet, until finally he stopped and her head rammed into his.

"What the...ouch!" Ginny yelped, bringing her hand to her forehead.

"I'm going to get that stupid Malfoy figure. His father's already here..."

"Malfoy," Ginny said, snapping her head up, great distaste etched all over her face. "What about him?

"I think he goes to your school..."

"No, idiot, I know who he is, but what about him?" Ginny asked impatiently. "Wait, do you mean he killed me? It was him?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Yes," Jacob snapped. "He was with that pervert Goyle. Discussing that damned Harry Potter--"

"Harry's not damned! Shut up!" Ginny said, shooting daggers at Jacob.

"You know him?"

"Of course I do. He just broke...up with me..." Ginny said, letting her gaze fall to the ground.

"I see," said Jacob, the rage that had been apparent in his face disappearing at the sight of a morose Ginny. "Do you want to see out benefits?" he asked Ginny.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Chuckling as he thought of what he had just said, Jacob grinned. "What do you want it to mean?"

"How old are you?" Ginny snapped.

Jacob shrugged. "Twenty-two...ish...ness...Twenty-two."

"Hello," Ginny said, waving her hand frantically at him. "I'm still illegal, buddy, keep your pants on."

"Oh damn," Jacob said, kicking the ground with his foot. Ginny laughed. Jacob laughed.

"Ok, show me the benefits then," Ginny said.

"On second thought, we'll do that tomorrow."

"Oh damn," Ginny said, imitating Jacob kicking the ground with her foot.

The two stood around for a moment.

"Still illegal?"

"Yup. Sixteen. Where are we supposed to sleep?" Ginny asked.

"Wherever we want," Jacob said, and he pushed through a curtain to his left. Ginny followed, expecting to walk into a room just like all the other ones: blank and white. Instead, as she walked behind Jacob she felt her foot slip through something soft. She looked down and saw white. Fluffy white. She was on a cloud.

"Where am I?" she asked, but Jacob ignored her. He had situated himself only a few clouds away. He was talking to three people, all of them with their backs turned, so Ginny was only aware of just that. She struggled to get her foot out from the center of the cloud. It was warm inside the cloud, and the longer her foot stayed there the hotter it got. A trick cloud, thought Ginny, and she yanked her foot out of the cloud.

Not knowing where to go, she walked toward Jacob, who was still talking to the other three. She was about to call out to him when he, instead, called out to her.

"Ginny, you've got to meet these people!" Jacob called, gesturing Ginny forth. She scurried as quickly as she could next to him and looked up the same time she felt her outstretched hand drop to her side. She couldn't help her jaw drop as far as it would go.

"Hello, you must be Virginia Weasley. I'm Lily Potter."

Ginny forced the shock level to a minimum as Harry James Potter's mother wrapped her arms around Ginny and squeezed her tight.

"I'm so sorry, dear. Harry just didn't know what he was missing," she said, and it took Ginny about three minutes to register that she was referring to the date in which Harry had broken up with her: only a couple of hours ago. She couldn't help but let her mind wander. Had anybody found out yet? Lily stepped back just as a man with jet black, messy hair and glasses stepped forward.

"Hey, I'm James Potter..."

"I know...oh....my...goodness...it's....it's...The Potters! The Potters!" Ginny exclaimed, dancing on the balls of her feet and hugging James herself. "You guys have no idea how much you're missed...down there!! And here you are, mingling with Jacob!!"

James chuckled light-heartedly, "Well, it's only natural that we keep a basic relationship with the person we brought here."

"You mean..."

"We were his guides last year," Lily said. "Oh, and over here," she continued, grabbing a man with hair down his back and pulling him forward. Ginny already knew who it was.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him so tightly that his face reddened. When she pulled back she kissed him on the cheek and ended up hugging him again. "You have no idea how much stress you caused Harry! You're alive!"

"Well, not really..." Sirius said, looking around at Lily, James, and Jacob, all of whom stood around looking uneasy. Ginny waved an impatient hand.

"Well, how have you three been?" she asked.

"OK, I guess. It's not really as bad as you'd think here...I mean, easy to avoid death," Sirius said. "We've been watching Harry since our...er...deaths."

"He's unbelievably unstable," Lily said, sighing. "We don't know what to do."

"Why didn't you guys choose to become ghosts?" Ginny asked.

Lily's face dropped. "When you're killed by...by the Dark Lord that choice is pretty much stripped from you." James stuffed his hands into his pocket and stared at his feet.

"How have you been watching him, then?" Ginny asked; the questions just kept coming. She was aware how personal they might have been, but she was curious. Curious could be deadly, after all, that's how Ginny got killed. But she was already dead, so why not ask away?

"Tomorrow, Ginny, tomorrow," she heard Jacob say. Ginny mumbled a quick 'oh' and turned to Sirius.

"What about you? Why didn't you become a ghost?" she asked.

Sirius glanced at James. "I wanted to be with James," he said easily.

"Oh," Ginny said. "Well, where do you sleep?"

"Usually we sleep with Harry," Lily said, grabbing James's arm and pulling him close to her side. Ginny felt Jacob walk away, but didn't bother going after him.

"You do?" Ginny asked, and she saw Sirius sit down on the cloud. James and Lily sat as well. "How come he can't see you? I mean, if you sleep with him won't he at least feel your presence?"

"Not necessarily. I've been down to see him a couple of times myself. He hasn't the faintest," Sirius said, slumping down onto his back and staring upward.

"I don't get this," Ginny said, shaking her head and staring at James and Lily. "You two have seen Harry, but he hasn't seen you. You've been to his dormitory, and he hasn't felt your auras? Ok," Ginny looked behind her and saw Jacob settling down onto a cloud after conjuring a blanket and pillow, then turned and leaned forward, staring at James and Lily, "just tell me, how have you been watching him?"

"We go down and see him," Lily said.

Impatiently, Ginny grunted. "How?"

James changed his seating position and said, "The difference between ghosts and...us...is that we're solid, and they're transparent. That means we're able to go wherever we want without being seen. Of course, our kind can see us, but people who are alive cannot. We still have to be care though because we're solid. They can literally reach and out and grab us. Ghosts are transparent but are able to be seen.

"Personally, I'd rather continue to be this than a ghost."

Ginny's eyes grew wide. So she could simply go back home. She wondered if she could even hold a conversation. "Is this similar to being under an invisibility cloak?"

"No conversations," Lily said. "That's why Harry doesn't know we're there. He can't feel our presence and he has yet to touch us, and we're not able to speak to him like ghosts are."

Ginny sighed. It was worth a shot. She began to understand it a lot more. "What are we called exactly," she asked.

"We're Death Omens," Sirius said.

"Death Omens?!?!" Ginny asked incredulously.

"If anyone did perchance see us, whether or not we were physically in our own bodies, that means death is pretty much near. Of course, no one can ever see us in our bodies. The only time our name is used is if Prankles decides to reincarnate us. That only happens if we're actually needed. Past taken into account," Sirius said simply, then sighed and said, "I'm going to sleep. Keep it down" before magicking a pillow and blanket and shutting his eyes.

"You know what, Sirius, I'm going to bed as well," James said. Lily nodded and yawned in agreement.

"I'm going to go with Harry. I should check on how Petunia's been anyway. Just as well, I'd like to see his reaction to..." She glanced at Ginny, who blushed. "Goodnight, James," she said before snapping her fingers and disappearing, leaving a small silvery vapor behind.

"That'll be the Omen in her," James said, shaking his head. "Bloody smoke. Someone's bound to see it," he said, running his hand through it and waving it away. "Well, goodnight Virginia."