Important A/N at the end.
1981
It was on a warm day at the end of August that an eleven year old Severus heard it. The sound of beating drums. He had heard it every time he walked home from Lily's. He hadn't thought much of it since he thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but today, the drums seem stronger, louder.
He was already close to home and if he decided to go find that drumming, he could be back home before curfew.
With his mind made up, he went searching for the drums. It led him to the park about a half mile from his house. He searched for the sound and it led him to a construction site on the other side of the park. He passed by several men that was still working and saw a massive hole where they were working on. He heard the sound of drumming coming from the hole and went to go inspect it.
He passed by a couple of men and went down and found the cause of the drumming. It was still inside the ground. He peeled away the dirt and found a box. It wasn't big and was rectangular. He wiped the dirt off of it and a picture of a jungle appeared on the box with Jumanji in big letters in the middle of it.
He wanted to inspect it more but a yell interrupted him.
"Hey kid, you're not supposed to be here."
Severus looked back at the worker before getting up and running back the way he came, with the box in tow. He ran all the way back home and almost slammed the door shut when he got there. He didn't do it because of his father.
The drumming started again and Severus looked down at it. He went to his room and set the box on his bed. He opened one side of it and then the other. It was a board game. It must be magic if it emits drumming sounds.
He turned the game so that the actual game board was facing him. He looked down at it in awe. There were four starting points that were located on each edge of the board game and the four paths from those points led to the middle that looked like it was made of black glass. It was a shape of a semi-circle and it protruded out of the game board. On the left side of the game board there was a little storage place. He looked inside and there were four game pieces. He pulled out two, one white and the other dark green. He saw that one was in shape of a Rhinoceros and the other an elephant.
"Severus."
He jumped as he heard his mother called out. As he did, he dropped the game pieces.
"Yes, mother?" Severus called.
"Come down, dinner is waiting." His mother called back.
"Coming." Severus said as he closed the game. What he did not notice was that the game pieces he dropped had arranged themselves onto the game board.
He opened his school trunk and placed the game in there before closing and locking it. Hopefully it would drown the sound of the drumming.
What he didn't know was that the game he was about to play would change his life forever.
THE NEXT DAY
Severus couldn't believe it. He was on his way to Hogwarts. He was finally going to learn magic and his father wouldn't be there to scold him. His mother, Eileen, smiled down at him as they walked through the gates to Platform 9 ¾. She was proud of her son and was happy that he was going to Hogwarts. He could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air as he saw crowds of students and their families gathered there.
"I want you to do good this term and I want to hear back from you every week, is that clear?" Eileen said with a stern look.
"Yes, mother." Severus said with a smile.
"Oh, come here." Eileen said as she pulled him into a hug which he returned.
"Now go, before the train leaves without you." Eileen said.
Severus got on the train with his trunk in hand. He found an empty compartment and settled in there. He noticed the railings above the seats and he knew that they were for their school trunks. He hauled his trunk into the railings and sat down. He heard the train whistle go and knew that they were about to leave.
He looked out the window and saw many students hurry on board before the train lurched forward. Finally, he was on his way.
It was a while later that the train got to speed and the station went away. The landscape opened to fields.
He heard the door open and looked to see a dark haired kid his age at the door.
"Hi." Severus said.
The kid gave a small smile in return.
"Is anyone sitting here? I couldn't find anywhere else to sit?" The kid asked timidly.
"No, go right ahead." Severus said. The kid sighed in relief and came in with his trunk. He set it down on the floor not wanting to haul it on the railings.
"My name's Tom Riddle, what's yours?" The kid now named Tom asked.
"Severus Snape. Nice to meet you." Severus said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you too." Tom responded with an honest smile. He didn't think he would find a friend. Maybe going to a Magic school would be good. At least no one would be calling him names and bullying him.
"Sev?"
He looked up to find Lily standing there with a smile on her face.
"Hi, Lily." Severus responded.
"I didn't think I would find you until we got to Hogwarts. Can me and Devon sit with you two?" Lily asked.
Severus looked to Tom, who shrugged.
"Sure." Severus said. Lily came in with a boy with dark almost black hair and had a light tan. He was a couple inches taller than Severus and Lily, who were both the same height.
Lily sat beside Severus while Devon sat beside Tom.
"Sev, this is Devon Stuart. Devon, this is my friend I told you about, Severus Snape." Lily said excitedly to the boy who smiled at Severus.
"Nice to meet you." Devon said.
"Hi, what's your name?" Lily asked Tom.
"Tom Riddle." Tom said.
"Lily Evans. What house do you think you would get into?" Lily asked everyone.
"House?" Devon asked.
"There are four houses in Hogwarts, Gryffindor, for the brave; Ravenclaw, for the cleverness; Hufflepuff, for their loyalty; and Slytherin for their Cunning." Severus replied. That he had learned from his mother and he also read it in Hogwarts, A History.
Devon nodded in understanding.
"I hope to get in Ravenclaw." Lily said.
"Slytherin, for my mother was there." Severus said.
"Slytherin for me as well." Tom after some thought. He had also read Hogwarts, A History. He wanted to know more about what world he was about to join and he has read almost all of his school books already.
"I think I would like Hufflepuff." Devon said. After he said that there was a drumming sound.
"What was that?" Lily asked looking around.
"You heard it too?" Severus asked in shock. Lily nodded.
"Did you?" Lily asked Tom and Devon. Both who nodded.
"What is it?" Tom asked.
"I found it yesterday." Severus said as he climbed up on the chair to reach into his trunk. He pulled out the game and set it on Tom's trunk.
"Jumanji?" Devon asked as he read it out loud.
"Yeah, it's some sort of game. I think it's magic." Severus said as he opened it. He saw the two pieces that he had pulled out were already on the board.
Lily was going to say something when the door to their compartment opened and they saw some other first years and an upper year.
"What's going on in here?" The one with the blond hair asked with a superior look and stance. The others with the similar looks on them.
"We were about to play a game." Lily said quietly. Not liking the way the upper year was looking at them.
The one with the blond hair arched a brow before coming into the compartment. The upper year boy muttered a spell and the compartment grew in space. There was enough space for everyone to sit.
"I am Lucius Malfoy and this is Narcissa Black and her sister Bellatrix." Lucius stated. The four first years introduced themselves as did the others. The two dark haired twins were named Rabastan and Rudolphus Lestrange. And the other boy was named Barty Crouch, Jr., while the sole upper year was a fifth year named Fenrir Greyback.
"Well, go on then. Let's see this game." Narcissa said haughtily. The four first years look back at the game.
Severus reached out and tried to move one of the pieces but it wouldn't budge. He looked over to the panel on his right and read the words aloud.
"Jumanji. A game for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind, you roll the dice to move your token, doubles get another turn and the first player to reach the end wins." Severus said.
"Who wants to play with me?" Severus asked looking up. After a moment's silence. Devon spoke up.
"I'll play." Devon said as he moved closer to the board. He picked up the dice and rolled. The dice fell on six. And the white piece started moving six spaces.
After it was finished, letters appeared in the middle glass sphere.
At night they fly, you better run, These winged things are not much fun.
Devon read out. "What does that mean?" He looked out and saw that it was almost night. They had left a few hours ago and it was starting to get nightfall. There was a sudden bump under their seats and screeching sounds. Lily and a few others screamed.
"What was that?" Bellatrix asked looking down with a scared look.
"It was probably just coincidence. The game is probably playing tricks on us." Barty said.
Some nodded in agreement while others weren't too trusting.
Severus reached down and picked up the dice and rolled. A five. The dark piece in shape of an elephant, started to move. Once it was done letters showed up.
Born with magic passed down: In the jungle you must wait until the dice read five or eight.
Severus looked up confused at the others until Lily started screaming. He looked to her and saw that she was looking down at his hands. He looked down and saw in horror that his hands were becoming like dust and he felt his body being pulled. There were a couple of screams as Narcissa and Bellatrix had the same problem as did all the others except Devon and Lily. They all were gravitating to into the black center of the game as the board was shaking. To Lily it looked like they were all being devoured.
As they were being sucked in, a couple yelled out, this sounded like Severus and Lucius.
"Roll the dice."
Before the screams and the wind stopped. Everything was eerily silent as Devon and Lily looked at each other. Devon reached for the game and slammed it shut. There was another screech before a small group of bats flew from under the seats. Lily screamed and waved them off as she opened the window to let them out.
They all eventually flew out while Lily and Devon went to search for another compartment. As soon as they reached Hogwarts, they would be rid of the game and make sure no one would find it.
Yeah, I know this seems somewhat impossible. I tried to get the others (Malfoy, Lestranges, Black, Crouch and Greyback) in as much as possible, I really did.
Important: So what did you think? Should I continue this? If I do, it will be mostly in Harry's POV from the next chapter onwards. I will try and switch POVs to get everyone's take on this as much as possible. I know that I am practically repeating the Jumanji movie, but I recently got the idea that Harry went through this.
I know for sure that one other player would be Harry, but who should the other player be? I am thinking of having this take place in Harry's Sixth Year about the time Dumbledore dies. Or should I make this an Avengers/marvel crossover? I have an idea for both. Like how the game to be if I do the Avengers crossover.
I don't know what to do. Should I make this truly an AU where those who went into the game don't appear until they are rescued later on? Or should there be duplicates of them running around until they come back?
I don't know about pairings yet, but I know that some will be slash and there will be canon pairings in it as well.
On one last note (for this chapter): Devon Stuart is an OC that I created. He will have a major role if I continue this story. I wanted Lily to be the one to join Severus in playing the game, but she dies. Since Tom's stuck in the game I will have to make something up on how Lily and James die, depending on everyone's answers.
While this is AU I at least want some of the actual stuff to take place, Like Harry's parents dying.
I am hoping to hear back.