Chapter Text
Godrics Hollow. October 31st 1981.
James Potter never stood a chance. That's just a fact. Yet he walked towards the door of their cozy cottage at the edge of Godrics Hollow, smile still plastered on his face from Harry's reaction to his smoke rings, his wife's goodnight kiss still lingering on his lips, and his wand - very much still down the side of the cushions of the front room's sofa. No, the only use James was at the moment that really mattered was his voice, loud and desperate, screaming out in hopes of saving his family. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!". Then nothing. He never stood a chance.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
Lily's blood seemed to turn to hot lava right as it ran through her veins, heart pounding ten times harder than the violent shaking of the door to Harrys nursery. They had painted it only last month, James laughing just as brightly as Harry after Remus had managed to charm the snitches they had painted to fly around excitedly on the walls. Sirius laughed with them, face splattered with deep blue paint and eyes filled with adoration for each and every person in the room. Lily threw up every protective spell she ever knew around her as the walls started to crack around the frame of the door. She thought of all of them - all the people she loved - Her parents, who brought her and her sister up in a household full of love that she vowed to replicate. a crack in her shield. Her friends, who she laughed the most with, their voices echo around the crumbling room. a shake of the walls. Her husband, her first love, now strewn across the stairs with the ghost of her kiss on his cold lips. a tear down her cheek. Her son, his warm, squirming body in her arms, wrapped in his baby blue blanket.
A tiny, soft, chubby hand escaped its confines and wrapped itself around Lily's finger. Her head whipped around but her eyes softened instantly as green met green. Harry's eyes were exactly like hers, all the way down to the tiny flecks of gold whenever the sunlight would happen to hit them just right, he was perfect. Everything about Harry could be taken directly from James, except his eyes. She realised then that they would live on forever in him - her and James - in his heart as well as his looks, for as long as Harry lived. The chubby hand slipped from her touch as she placed him into his cot, tears streaming mercilessly down her pale, freckled face. "He will live." she thought as the shards of her wards flittered around the infant's room. "I'll make sure he lives." she swore to herself as the door was blown from its hinges and was flung forcefully across into the opposite wall. Lily grit her teeth, her bravery and magic mixing deep within her, raw and powerful, as she flung around to meet the cold, unfeeling gaze of Lord Voldemort. Lily took a sharp breath.
"Step aside." came the sharp, hissing voice of the monster stood before her.
Lily shivered, yet she stool tall, the grip of her wand tightening a frightful amount, her magic sparking around her. She met his glare. "No." was her reply.
The Dark Lord let out a short annoyed exhale, as if he were to have his way, she would've been dead before she could've turned around. "You do not have to die. Just give up the boy."
Lily's tears ran fierce and hot. Her magic spilling out over the confines of her body just as forcefully. "Never." she exhaled through a trembling breath. "I would rather die than give Harry to you" she spat at him like venom, eyes glowing dangerously green as her magic took form, encasing itself around the smaller heart, the one beating softer in the cot, as it protected Harry with every fibre of Lily's being.
Lord Voldemort's eyes narrowed and a sickly sneer spread itself across his thin lips as he raised his wand with purpose. "Very well then. Avada Kedavra!" A bright bolt of green light burst from his wand, splitting painfully into Lily's chest as the curse ripped through her. Her last thoughts were of Harry, and the last of her magic pushed towards him through all but pure willpower as her piercing scream echoed for a mere moment around the small room. And then - nothing. Absolutely Nothing.
Until there was something again.
The Limbo. ???
James sat up with a sharp inhale of pure air. No seriously, this air was so pure that it hurt to breathe in too much of it, the unusual cleanliness of it assaulting his airways and lungs by extension. Dazed and confused, he darted his eyes around him desperately searching for any clues that would oh so kindly point out to him wherever in the ever-loving fuck he was. Okay, so maybe he needed to calm down. Running a hand through his all year round messy hair, he counted down from 20 in his head just as his Mum had taught him all those years ago. Yes, James is aware that it usually only takes 10 seconds to calm down a regular person, however that had never seemed to work for him properly, so he was prescribed double the dosage and it had worked for him ever since.
With a slightly calmer demeanour than before, James took in his surroundings again. Only to groan in frustration. again. Everything in his current vision was blindingly white and extremely fuzzy. Great. James reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose where his glasses would usually reside, only to be blocked by his glasses - that were very much still on his face. "Huh." James wondered "Well that's not usually how it works." He blinked around the environment once more before sighing loudly. Either James needed a new trip to Specsavers or something was very wrong. Well, as wrong as it could be for a man who had just woken up promptly after being murdered in cold blood. Waking up after dying is not usually how it works.
He thought back to the eyes that greeted him as the door swung open rather violently. Hollow and haunting. He thought back to his yells to Lily, screaming for here to take Harry and run. Gods he prays they're alive. But some part of him knows. There were no other exits to the house readily available to them so - unless Lily had decided to form a one woman demolition squad and blast through the back garden - they were dead. "Merlin tell me Lily blew up the strawberries." James hoped with all his might as he leaned his head back to rest on a very soft mattress. Hang on.
Leaping to his feet, he started to feel around for... "Yes! A bed! " well at least that was a start. The surroundings - earlier unrecognisable to him - started to form together to create the space he had spent 7 long years in. A room containing laughter, tears, fights and love. James couldn't help the grin from forming widely across his features as he stood in the - albeit rather heavenly white - Gryffindor boys dorm. "I know this place!" Was the only coherent thought running through his brain. "I know this place!"
Using his muscle memory -paired with his actual memory- James felt along the walls to find the staircase down to what he could only assume would be another minimalist's extreme version of Gryffindor common room. Running his hands along the cool, curved walls, he eventually made it down to "Yes!" the common room in the same blinding state as where he had woken up (Granted he had tripped on a few occasions but hey, Let's see you try navigate your way down an impossibly winding flight of stairs that would be switching and disappearing even without the fun added bonus that everything was Colgate white and still annoyingly blurry.)
"Step one : complete." He thought triumphantly before realising that he hadn't yet come up with anymore steps after that, and he hadn't really had much of an idea as to what step one actually entailed... Oh who is he kidding? James hadn't even had a sodding plan to begin with. Grin slipping rather quickly off his face, He resorted back to putting full faith in his muscle memory - which apparently had just as much of an idea that he had - flinging himself down onto the nearest armchair. Burying his face in his hands, he supposed all he could really do was wait for either somewhat of a plan to form in his clouded brain or a magical angel sent from heaven to tell him what on earth he's supposed to do now. The angel arrived before the plan. But James already knew her. He stared in shock for a moment his brain refusing to believe what his eyes were telling it. No. "Lily..?" His voice caught in his throat because No his wife could Not be dead. She can't be dead. Here. With him. But she was.
"James." Lily breathed, her eyes becoming instantly glossy with unshed tears. "Is it really you? Tell me it's really you." She croaked.
"Oh. Oh Darling.." Her husband whispered so delicately softly that she couldn't refrain from running and leaping into his arms because this was real. James was really here. Burying her face deep into the base of his neck, her salty tears streaking down her rosy cheeks - unable to be held back by her eyelashes any longer , she sobbed into James as he wrapped his arms so tightly around her that if not for the need to be as close as physically possible to him at this very moment - she would have feared she would be split in two.
"It's me my love, I'm here." James soothed her, rubbing his thumbs in circles while hugging her ever closer.
"Shhhh. Hey hey it's okay. Everything is okay." Deep down he knew that wasn't true, because if Lily was really here with him - and he wasn't succumbing to some sort of hallucinogenic fumes - it means she died along with him. The thought brought tears to his eyes and he let them fall down onto her soft red hair. Something brought James back to his senses as he looked around. He was here, and Lily was here, but no Harry. His brows furrowed as he looked around for any signs of his infant son, attempting to crawl over to them. But nothing.
A small sound - barely even audible - like a gust of wind brought both Lily and James' heads up, looking around the ghostly white plane they had found each other in, they spotted It. Over in the corner, behind large sofas and cushions, towered a dark, looming figure. Withered black cloak billowing in non existent winds. The void of the cloth seemed to drain even the blinding light of the Limbo that it stood in. Its hood draped high over the tall dark shadow, two long and slender skeleton hands rest easily down each side of the entity. The couple shivered as the ominous presence's aura washed over them, dark and powerful, yet also the tiniest bit comforting, like eternal slumber. The dull swishing of the cloak billowed even more as It glided over to loom before the two sat on the chair. James gripped his wife tighter as if to protect her against this unknown force. One bony hand rose to hover above the arm of the plush chair, where it stayed, as if waiting for them to do something. James counted down from 20, took in a deep breath, and removed his right hand from his wife's waist. He held his hand under the claw as if expecting to receive something - and sure enough - the bones flexed as a sleek object started to pour out of the cloak, shiny and liquid-like. As soon as the material touched the palm of James' hand he recognised it in an instant.
"My cloak." He wondered aloud, nudging Lily to draw her attention to the cloth. "Darling its my cloak."
"The cloak? Why?" Lily turned her neck to get a better view as to what her husband was showing her, only to regret her decision immediately as she was presented with an even clearer view of the terrifying figure stood before them. "What does it want?" She asked timidly. The Hooded figure turned its shrouded face towards the redhead and tilted to the side - as if trying to recognise something about her - before nodding its head a fraction and veering away from them slightly. Lily's frown deepened in worry.
'What -I mean- Who are you?" her voice carried out with surprising confidence. The shadow raised a single bony finger and paused slightly in the air before creating a black swirling smoke which it traced through the air into the form of some sort of symbol. A circle, split down the middle by a line and encased in a triangle. "Great. Pictionary." Lily thought - she hated that game. She turned her confused pout towards her husband, only to find him sat staring up at the drawn out symbol and then back down to the silver cloak draped over his hands, mouth agape, as if he were putting together the worlds most obvious puzzle. James was unusually quiet.
He turned his head up to the symbol and then to his hands once more before drawing his eyes onto the cloaked entity. It made so much sense now. James' deep brown eyes widened a comical amount as everything slotted into place. No way. No fucking way.
"Death." It was scarcely more than a whisper, no louder than the sound the figure - Death had made when it first appeared before them moments ago.
"What..?" Lily asked, wide eyed, her face had lost all colour at the connection James had made. "Death..?" Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked between the love of her life and - apparently one of the strongest forced to ever exist. Both in the same room. She would have laughed -no really she would have- out of the nerves that were currently consuming her if not for the absolute absurdity of the situation. She froze in her place as a raspy voice filled the room, somehow too quiet to hear but too loud to bear both at the same time. James winced beside her showing that he could hear it too. well at least she wasn't going completely mental.
"The Peverell blood runs as deep in your heart as the Magic in your soul, both precious and valuable, as reliable as the cloak of which you hold in your hands, your line has evaded me for so long because of it." Death stood in the same position , cloak billowing with more purpose as magic can be felt around the room, raw and real. "In your possession it grants you both protection from me and power over me. For it is a third of the items belonging to he who rules over Death. Your lack of your cloaks protection tonight was due to a cowardice act of selfishness and greed." Lily and James looked towards one another with confusion for a moment - before their attention was brought back to Death, which Lily realised with a shudder was now addressing her directly.
"Undeniable was the power you used tonight with your sacrifice. You drew protection from an ancient source long lost to most magical beings in present times. The force of your will bended the fibres of your magical core to your wishes, without need of any verbal magic. Your exchange of the gift of life for another is Earths most powerful sacrifice. For this you have earned my respect." The wind that swayed the curtains of Deaths void cloth became more and more known with each word spoken by the universal entity. the ethereal magic whipping around the couple, enveloping them in harsh winds that sunk icy temperatures into their skin and made their hair flail around helplessly. Yet throughout all this, Death continued speaking. "Both of your magic combined, equally as formidable as it is primitive, mixed together it will allow you to breathe once more. forever intertwined just as you are. I will see you again, Peverell."
With that, Deaths cloak enveloped itself around the shadow as it disappeared into the whirlwind storm surrounding the couple. James felt the magic seeping back into his bones, he couldn't tell if the rushing in his ear was from the small tornado they found themselves in or his blood rushing through his body at an alarming rate as a tug started pulling him upwards from beneath his ribcage. The gale engorging them becoming more relentless by the second, until the pair was swept away from the Limbo - and James found himself at the bottom of the stairs. Godrics Hollow November 1st 1981.