Disclaimer; Don't own anything except Shadow, Vimm and Nightmare. I don't even own the idea, I saw a challenge by Reptilia28 and thought it's be fun.
Harry groaned, picking himself up and looking around him, taking in the hallway and trying to remember what just happened. Okay. I was in Hogwarts just now, I know that much. Then… I think Ron pushed me down the stairs. Something about 'you'd better stay in line Potter'. Hold on a minute, Hermione keeps saying you can't apperate in or out of the school, so that means… his hand slowly curled into a fist which he put in his mouth. He, Harry James Potter, arch-enemy of Voldemort, who survived attacks he didn't care to count by one of the strongest wizards of the age, had died by falling down the stairs.
He was shaken from his thoughts as a hand grabbed him around the back on the neck and began dragging him none-to-gently. "What the hell are you doing?" he yelled, deciding to sue the arse off this guy when he found the opportunity and getting smashed against a wall in response.
"You… I don't… WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? DO YOU WANT HER TO GET FIRED YA LIL' SHIT?" Came the raging roar of a verbal response. Harry took this opportunity to see if he knew anyone like the guy in front of him, ultimately deciding he didn't. He was fairly sure that everyone he knew was human, or at the very least, half-human, centaurs included. This guy however, was not. Sure, he would have passed for human if he got rid of the claws. And the red eyes. And the tar-black skin. And the serrated teeth. And the tail. And the wings. And the broardsword that was nearly as long as its owner was tall with some scythe-like blades running down it. And the- You know what? He'd pass for human if he removed everything that obviously wasn't.
"Who's her?" choked out the captive. He was both surprised and relieved when the clawed hand was remover from his throat.
"You don't know?"
"That's why I'm asking." He was met with a stunned expression.
"Wow. You get dumber every time, ya know that?"
"Actually, I don't."
"Oh right. Memory erasing. Damn that's a stupid rule. Who the hell thought it up? Oh right, some guy who thought it wasn't a good idea for people to know they're not supposed to die again." Muttered the monster, glumly. "Come with me, you'll understand soon enough." They walked in silence for a while, before the monster stopped, turned to a door and opened it. "In." Harry Did as ordered. "Sit." Harry did just that, in front of the only desk in the room. "Now. My sister's gonna be here soon, and she'll explain everything. My brother and I'll be nearby just in case." With that, he left the room, leaving Harry to continue asking himself the question 'What the hell is going on?' until the door opened and a smiling Caucasian girl walked in. She looked like she was fourteen with a black bob cut, she was wearing a black t-shirt, black slacks, sandals and had a huge, vicious-looking scythe strapped across her back which ruined the entire appearance.
"Are you really that guys sister?"
"Yup!" Apparently she didn't care about the monstrous weapon. Good for her. She paused and looked at him quizzically before asking "Do I know… you…" and suddenly fell to pieces, metaphorically speaking. "BIG BROTHERS!" She howled between sobs, "HE'S BEING MEAN AGAIN!"
"Again with the again! Will someone tell me what you mean by again?" Roared Harry, the crying girl grinding his nerves more than they already were, which was enough to shock her into silence. She literally stopped. Even her tears remained suspended in the air.
"This isn't the first time you've died." She said, her voice far more serious than it had been a second ago. And the tears were still in the same place. "It's the, lets see. There was the incident with the Cerberus, the blood-drinker and the head in the first year-"
"Head?"
"You know when you killed Quirrel, you had a splitting headache?"
"Yes."
"Let's just say it did. That was only the first year, so add that too the cracked skull on the sealed platform, the crashed car, the bludger, the skeleton removal-" She giggled, sounding like a kid again. "You were funny when you were a boneless boy! Then there was the Basilisk venom, the Dementor, Shadow had to hunt it down and rip it apart to get your soul back, hitting the ground at full force in the match against hufflepuff, the whomping willow again, Pettigrew killed you, the werewolf killed you, deatheaters, dragons. You got killed by dragons TWICE!"
"But I only faced it once!"
"The first time was when you saw it with Hagrid. You were just within burning range. Idiot. Fish people, the giant squid, the spider, the sphinx, Voldemort, dementors again, Dumbi- Umbridge sorry, the centaur herd, jumping through the veil after your godfather and FALLING DOWN THE STAIRS? Are you TRYING to get yourself killed boy?"
"You're wrong. There's no possible way I died twenty six times."
"You're clumsy, stupid, and just annoying in general. Like all Griffindors. Except for," she paused "Can't remember her name. Some Granger girl I think" she giggled, the suspended tears finally continuing their descent. "She's the one you love!"
"And vice versa," came a more sane version of the monsters voice from behind the twenty-six-times-dead-and-counting boy who span around to face the newcomer, startled but not truly scared. He doubted that he'd ever feel fear again after talking with the girl. The newcomer was what the monster would look like if he was human, only with hair spiked up instead of a crew cut. That and nearly everything about him was bleached. His t-shirt, his tracksuit pants, his hair, even his skin was bleached white, as was the poleblade across his back.
"Big brother!" cried the girl, waving excitedly as what looked like a Caucasian version of the monster without the monstrous parts, save the red eyes, teeth and sword, from before came into view. Her eyes widened, as did her grin "Big brothers!" She corrected herself.
"Now you're all here, I'd like to ask WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!" He screamed, finally snapping.
"You're dead, Nightmare's gonna get fired if you die the twenty-seventh time, and you get one last chance." Replied the white one.
"Who's Nightmare? Oh, right." Harry said, finishing after seeing the girls nametag.
"Let me finish. Because her job's on the line, we're going to let you relive your life from the beginning of Hogwarts, all memories intact, rules be damned. But please, I'm begging you here, don't get sorted into Griffindor or blindly follow the old man!"
Harry snarled, "You don't know him. Dumbledore is a-"
"Manipulative old fart with a God complex." Said the monster. "And don't get close ta most of the redheads either. Especially the girl." He shuddered.
"Ah! Meanie love potion girl!"
"Love potion? You mean everything I ever felt for Ginny… was a lie?"
"Ya make that sound incredibly cliché mate," muttered the monster, who's nearly invisible black nametag identified him as Shadow.
"I- I- I-"
"Can't believe it I know. Ya nearly died of an overdose once. She's insane."
"So where's your nametag?" The scarred one asked the white one, desperate to change the subject. He was answered with said white one turning around, revealing three words on the back of his t-shirt in large, dark blue letters, 'Vimm Psyche Scryer.'
"We've wasted too much time here. You'll be sent back to the first time ya went to Kings cross. Avoid. The redheads. Except the twins, the twins are cool." Advised Shadow. "Well, see ya."
"That's it? You're not giving me anything to help? Wait. See you?"
"You'll find out soon enough kid." There was a flash, and Harry James Potter, the Boy-who-lived, the chosen-one, the hater-of-all-these-frikin'-hyphonated-titles, was gone.
Yeah, Harry's a whiny kid at the moment, but I'll try to make him into something more badass. He might get his own weapon sometime, but not yet. Not 'till he survives the first year.
So! Whaddya think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Continue? Give up? It's my first attempt at something like this, so go easy on me if ya don't mind.