Cheating Death
Written by Christina Elizabeth Lupin
A/N: This is an answer to PadyandMoony's challenge of having Lily, James, and Lupin come back to life but I will also have Tonks come back because I want to be nice. Just so you guys know, there will be some DH material mentioned, but some of this will be AU. Anyway, this takes place when Teddy is going to enter his third year and Harry will not be married or have any more kids. Sorry to those who love Harry and Ginny together, but I am not a fan. But enough of my babble… let the story begin!
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Cheating Death
Chapter One
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It was too quiet for Remus Lupin's taste. Far too quiet, since the war was still raging around him. Or so he thought. He wasn't sure, since he had been hit….
"TONKS!" he yelled.
His eyes shot open and all he saw was blackness. Frowning, he lifted his hands (why was it so hard to do such a simple task?) and brushed against something silky. But that didn't stop him. His wife was in peril. Snarling, Remus began to rip at the silky material, frantic. Voldemort was certainly cruel in burying him alive. For all Remus knew, Dora would be panicking, thinking him dead.
It seemed to take him forever to thrust the top of whatever held him in such a small space up and he nearly choked when dirt fell in. Still determined, Remus somehow found a way to claw his way out of the ground only to stare in shock at what he saw after he pulled himself out.
Lily and James Potter were alive. And so was his wife, dressed in a beautiful white dress with matching white robes. The three of them were sitting by a small cluster of tombstones. Remus let out a small sound and they turned to look at him.
"REMUS!" Tonks screamed, crawling over to her husband. Remus tugged her into a hug, his eyes remaining on Lily and James, who smiled at them.
"Hullo Moony," James said. "You look older than I thought."
Lily frowned and slapped him upside the head. "Of course he's older than you thought, James. He's been around longer than you have." Her face softened as she looked at Remus. "Though it is lovely that you found someone to settle down with, Remus."
Tonks' sobs began to quiet down after a few minutes but she remained in her husband's arms. The four continued to stare at each other, not sure what was going on.
"It's too quiet," Remus said suddenly, glancing around.
"We're in a cemetery, Moony."
"Really? I didn't notice that, Prongs."
Lily rolled her eyes and began to push her body upward but regretted it when her body protested against the movements. She dropped down, groaning in pain.
"What's the bloody date?" she growled.
No one answered.
"July 21, 2011."
The four whirled around and stared at the figure outside of the graveyard. It was an older man dressed in what appeared to be rags and was leaning on a shovel. He gave them an amused look.
"And you are not the first to have risen from the grave and you certainly won't be the last."
"Why?" Lily asked, looking confused. "We all were hit with…"
"The Killing Curse, yes, but for the past few months, the victims of Killing Curses cast by the more prominent Death Eaters, including the Dark Lord himself, have worn off." The old man spit at the ground. "It seems that the curse actually freezes the body until the evil has passed and gradually the soul is replaced with the body. It's been happenin' randomly."
"So the Dark Lord is dead?" Tonks called to the man, who had begun to walk away.
"Has been for almost thirteen years now. Killed by Harry Potter himself." With a parting smile, the man strode away, pulling his shovel with him.
"Oh, Merlin," James groaned, putting his head in his hands.
"What?" Remus asked, looking curious.
"Lily and I have been dead for almost 30 years."
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"Dad! Wake up!"
Harry groaned and rolled over, pulling his covers over his head. Teddy Lupin frowned at his surrogate father. He swore he heard him say to wake him up in a few hours. Well, two hours had passed and Teddy felt that he should wake up.
Backing up a little, he ran toward the bed, tucking his legs in so he bounced on the bed without hurting himself. "WAKE UP!"
Teddy watched with a smile as Harry's green eyes blinked at him. "What time is it?" he asked, sleep deepening his voice.
"Two hours after you went to bed. Get up! You promised we could go visit!"
Teddy's godfather sat up, rubbing at his eyes. "I did, didn't I?" He let out a yawn and pushed the covers away. Teddy scrambled off the bed, grinning broadly. Just because he was almost thirteen didn't mean that he didn't love to wake his surrogate father.
Harry pulled the curtains away from one of the windows and watched as the sky began to darken rapidly, the sun casting its last golden rays over Godric's Hollow. He pulled himself away from the window and dragged his body toward the bathroom, intending on washing his body before he took his godson out to visit the graves of their loved ones.
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Teddy sat at the kitchen table, tackling his Potions essay when he heard a knock on the front door. He eyed the door warily, as any friend or family of either him or his godfather never knocked on their door. Letting out a sigh, he dropped his quill and headed toward the door, changing his hair to a normal light brown and keeping his eyes a dark black. The teen opened the door, a greeting on his lips, but it died once his eyes set upon who was standing outside.
"Hi," a red-haired woman replied, smiling. "Could we come in? We need to rest and have nowhere else to go."
Teddy looked them over and quickly ushered them in, closing the door behind him. He attempted to think of a story to tell his godfather when Harry entered the kitchen, a towel covering his wet hair.
"Teddy what…" Harry froze, staring at the four figures in his kitchen.
The young Gryffindor watched in amazement as the figures stared back at him, shock gracing their young faces, especially those of the extremely young couple. The man who had gray-streaked brown hair stepped forward, looking extremely happy.
"Harry?" the man asked hoarsely.
Harry stared at the man before he whipped out his wand, schooling his features into a hard look. "What kind of dark magic is at work here? Who do you work for?"
The man stepped forward again, apparently not caring for the wand that was being pointed at him. "Harry, it's me. We're…" He gestured to the others. The woman who had been with him was smiling in Harry's direction while the young couple looked at the black-haired wizard with tears rolling down their eyes.
"No. James and Lily Potter and Remus and Tonks Lupin are dead," Harry stated. "They all died during Voldemort's reign, but you know that, don't you? You read the Daily Prophet. Let me guess, you are here to scare ol' crazy Harry Potter, the man who killed Voldemort and saved your sorry asses."
Teddy's eyes widened in recognition as his godfather continued to rant. That was why Harry was having such a fissy fit. If what they were saying is true, then James, Lily, and Teddy's parents were alive.
The woman who Teddy knew to be Tonks, his mother, stepped forward as well, her tears (Teddy didn't know if they were happy or sad tears) rolling down her cheeks. "It is us, Harry. We can prove it."
Harry raised a single eyebrow. "Oh?"
The other man, Remus Lupin, nodded vigorously. "Yes. I taught you in your third year and privately taught you how to use the Patronus Charm to help you against dementors. Your form is a stag. During your sixth year, I kept writing to you in secret, begging you to let me in, to help you heal from the depression of losing Sirius…"
As the man continued to list things off, Harry's wand began to shake a little and Teddy could tell that he was weakening.
"…then we became close and you came to live with me after you left the Dursleys. You were there at the wedding Tonks and I had, standing up for me." Tears also began to run down Remus' face. "You were there too when Tonks had Teddy and we named you godfather."
It was then that Harry broke. His wand fell to the kitchen floor, making a small noise. He looked ready to collapse and nearly did if it weren't for Remus striding over and pulling the thirty-year-old into a hug, rubbing Harry's back.
Teddy turned away and looked at Tonks, who stared back at him with a smile. She opened her arms and he ran into them, hugging his mother against him. His own tears fell.
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End of chapter
A/N: So how did I do? I hope that I haven't really confused anybody yet. : ) Anyway, please review and I will have the next chapter up as soon as I can.
