The Gate
It was at age 22 when Silvia Potter died.
She died from an assassination attempt that went successful this time. By those who wants to avenge their Dark Lord after being an Auror, she 'tied up loose ends' but she didn't count on vengeful relatives...
So here she was, waking up to a white place.
'If this is Heaven, its too damn bright.' she swore as she winced from too much white.
Haha, this is not quite Heaven...but rather, Judgment! she heard what seems to be many young voices speaking in perfect sync. She looked up to see what could be her own shadow in figure, only, it was pure white with a black edge just to show it had a silhouette, and just a wide toothy grin on its face.
'Judgment?'
Yes. You see, when people die, they go through me first. said the entity. But to those who dares breaks rules...let's just say I have fitting punishments. Hehehe...
'Rules?'
Tom Marvolo Riddle tried to obtain immortality by splitting up his soul. That, is a crime. the entity elaborated. Does he seriously think he can achieve immortality by making that Horcrux? it snorted mockingly. Well, he's paying his price. He wants immortality...so I gave him just that. Silvia squawked in horror before pausing.
'Immortality...ah, you mean eternal hell.' she quipped. The entity snapped its fingers.
Bingo~you have any idea how much work he caused me these past few decades? the entity grumbled. Too many died before their time you know, I had no idea where to put them. the entity deadpanned as Silvia inwardly winced at the thoughts of those who died too young. And your mother made a deal with me.
'Eh? Mum did?' Silvia gasped out. What kind of deal with the Judge of all people?!
Yes. the entity affirmed. When she died, all she thought of was you after her husband died. She begged me for a way to protect you at the cost of herself if she had to. Silvia gaped at it incredulously. Your skin's deadly touch...she sacrificed her own soul for it until the time comes for Voldemort's downfall as she wished but Tom found a way around that as you know. And you lost its powers upon his death, hence, it was easy then to assassinate you by his vengeful supporters. it told her. However, it weakens him in turn as the power was based on maternal love, something he can never have which was why he consumed dark ritual after another to prepare for the war against you, never knowing his crimes are piling up to the point there's no such thing as redemption and rebirth for one like him.
'...what about dad? Did he...'
James thought he was in heaven. said the entity wryly to her disbelief. While he DID worry for his wife and child, he resigned to death, hoping he would see you two again soon and live together so he was fine with dying. it snorted. He was just angry he died for being useless when you two needed him most. Really, stupidly leaving his wand on the couch while he went to get coffee in those dark times, never knowing your family was betrayed? He was also inconsolable that a friend he trusted most, betrayed and sold his family out for who-knows-what, and only you know the truth. And James already reincarnated. Did he seriously think I'll let him wait here when this is a place of judgment, not anyone's Waiting Area?
Silvia can only gape at it dumbly.
'...what about Sirius?'
Ahhh, that one died by a forbidden magic, that Veil of Death thingy. the entity sighed. But he was destined to die that day but by a Killing Curse, not the Veil. Silvia recalled Sirius dodging the Killing Curse but he didn't realize he was next to an execution device... And this is where some things come in. it said. Silvia Potter. Regarding you, things are never balanced. You kept being taken from and received too little in return. Think of this like Accounting, the Ledger did not match. Your world has too many debts it owes you and you gave too much though not by choice.
That, was one thing that greatly peeved Silvia off but she was powerless against the masses and their intense pressure and mob mentality.
Karma will come eventually sooo I'll let you choose what you want in your reincarnation and make them pay for it. the entity grinned. What do you say? I can tell your wishes are very cheap, not even enough to pay the scales so ask away anyway.
Silvia thought about it.
'First, when I lost my skin's powers, what happened to mom? I want to know.' Silvia asked. 'Did she at least pass on peacefully?'
...she paid with her soul to protect her only child out of love, remember? She thus has no hope of rebirth. Ever. That was a rather painful choice. the entity stated bluntly to her horror. But Lily did it with no regrets. As long as she could do it, she would.
Silvia was horrified.
'And what about Sirius?'
He's stuck in the Veil in a state of neither death or dying.
'Then...who can I save through Reincarnation with my wishes?' Silvia asked it hopefully.
Well, only Sirius. Other deaths already reincarnated. Considering facts, I had to take into account how they lived, and give them a fitting send-off to their reincarnations.
'Dang...' Silvia sighed. 'Then I have other wishes to make.' she said. 'First, Sirius. I want him with his memories intact, reincarnating twenty years before I do...he really wanted to do me right, so I want to be reborn as his daughter in a life where we would happily fit in. I don't think given the life we had...we'd fit in anywhere else. Second, Neville. I want his parents to be fully-cured and restored, and the time they lost be given back to them so Neville can have his parents back. And make that couple and Neville very fertile so they can have many kids. He had it worse than I did in many ways. And let his grandmother know of this wish through a dream. But for security's sake, she can never tell anyone. No cheat code in knowing what comes after death, not fair!' she huffed.
The entity cackled.
'Third, the Black and Potter Family Fortunes...give it all to my Godson, Teddy Potter and nobody and nothing can take it from him and Andromeda Tonks. Not even murdering them will give those shits that money.' Silvia growled. 'If anyone dared to steal from or murder Andy and my Godson for that money, curse the money. A curse that activates by touch that they will suffer a slow, agonizing death no form of relief, not even mercy-killing will save them and touching the cursed will curse them too. The curse will only end when they're in that state for years equivalent to how much money was in our vaults as considering what I heard from Padfoot...yeah, it'll take over 200 years to spend it all in luxury...not that they'd know that, haha. Oh, and make it clear I cursed all that money so only my inheritors can safely use them.'
'Fourth...I want my godson to live and have what I never had. A happy childhood. A normal life as he grows up to be a good, kindhearted honorable boy with his head and heart in the right place and always think of doing the right thing and never commit a crime in his life. Good friends and a true love...and he'll discover the cure to Lycanthropy in honor of his father...and the ability to invent potions to counter Dark Curses known to man. His children and descendants will inherit that ability. To ensure he has that happy home, make Andromeda Tonks de-age back to 19 years old, look nothing like Bellatrix and gain another kind of family beauty and give her a very healthy, youthful and fertile body with no inbreeding genes.'
'Fifth wish...where Sirius and I will go...I will have the knowledge to make food, soap, shampoo, medicine and paper in where we're going so we can get by. That's about it...so you might want to ask Sirius what he wants after I go.' said Silvia. 'You know what kind of life I want to have...its sadly what most people take for granted even though its the most meaningful thing in life...to I who was deprived, its what I see.'
Alrighty buuut its still uneven as I predicted...ah well. Off you go. and Silvia was gone, and the entity brought Sirius to it. Hello, Sirius Orion Black III...
'Whoa! Who or what are you?!' Sirius yelped out in horror, freaked out over this...thing before him.
Good question...I am what Humans call 'the world', or 'universe', or 'god', or 'truth', or 'all', or 'one'...and I am 'you'. Sirius stared at him incredulously. I met Silvia before you.
'Er, its her time? I hope she lived longer and had it happy.' said Sirius.
She died at age 22 by assassination.
'WHAT?!' Sirius sputtered, his eyes bulging.
Oh, you'll go where she goes, don't worry...you have only one wish to make to balance out the price as you died in a wrong way to balance things out. said the entity. You only have one.
'Well...where we're going, I hope we can adapt somehow to eke out a happy living at least.' said Sirius. 'I know nothing else but the way of life I've known. I made a gross mistake with Silvia...I chose revenge over her and look where that got us.' he said gloomily. 'I want to be a parent she can count on.'
Most humans ask me for stupid wishes and very few only truly understand what's truly worth wishing for. said the entity. You balanced out the scales with your wish. Those who normally see me usually get punished for their arrogance and crimes. And then there are those with debts and overcharging to settle balances. Silvia will be reborn twenty years after you reincarnate. You'll know when you see her again. it said. Off you go. and Sirius was gone.
xxx
Earth...
Neville Longbottom dreamed.
He dreamed of Silvia's meeting with the entity that night, after they just buried her.
He found himself woken up with water.
'Neville! Get dressed, quickly!' Augusta Longbottom cried. 'Its your parents! We have to go! Quickly now!'
Neville quickly rushed with his grandmother, pajamas be damned and sopping wet from a water charm.
Indeed there it was.
In St. Mungos, the Healers were fussing over Frank and Alice Longbottom, looking as young as the day they were cursed to insanity.
'We can't believe this!' a Healer cried. 'Just hours after the Girl-Who-Conquered's funeral...the Longbottoms de-aged before Matron Smithers' eyes so she called us over...they de-aged up to the age of 24, the age they went insane because of the Cruciatus!'
Then they heard a baby's cry.
From the pile of pajamas, was a baby.
'O-oh my god...' Augusta choked out. 'My grandson de-aged...'
Then she remembered the dream.
"So this is what it meant..." and only Augusta Longbottom knows the truth as she burst into tears as she picked up her baby-fied grandson.
Silvia Potter's wish gave back the lost time so her grandson can grow up with parents, something she herself never had! She was utterly grateful but at the same time, horrified with guilt. She gave others what she could never have.
'M-mom? What's going on?' Frank croaked out.
'All I remember was pain from the Cruciatus Curse when the Lestranges and Crouch broke into our house...its a miracle we're alive...' Alice squeaked.
'Its a long story my dears...but I'm glad to have you back.' she said in happy tears. 'Now how on earth do I explain to poor Hannah Abbott what happened to her boyfriend?'
xxx
Andromeda Tonks can only shake her head.
She woke up seeing 'that dream' the next morning. She woke up young and beautiful as Silvia wanted. Why de-age her was a mystery when she was fine with raising little Teddy as a grandma.
Because of her state, she has to go in hiding. Goodness knows Magical Britain is so darn nosy, she can't answer questions she can't even answer and she and Teddy are now a target...for their money.
She packed up what she could, and left the country to raise Teddy to be just like his parents, while living a normal, happy life.
And while she mourned and missed Ted, she fell in love again five years later, made possible with Silvia's wish that she can bear children as she lived in a magical enclave in Spain.
xxx
Meanwhile...
Sirius was reborn in Japan...in Sengoku Jidai.
He was reborn with his memories intact of his past life.
He was reincarnated to a peasant family in a village in Musashi Province. The son of the Priestess Kaede and her unknown husband as he grew up with just his mother. His 'patchy' mom named him Kyouji.
He was said to be born with powerful Reiki, moreso than Kaede's older sister Kikyo...that when he was ten, Kaede happily sent him to school of Monks where he is to learn Monkhood.
"Geez, I'm a wizard, not a monk!" he sighed as his parents left him to the school she and her sister used to go to.
Here, he stayed, growing up knowing about youkai and how only holy people can truly defend and protect people against youkai. Kyouji noted that his teacher, is a very prejudiced man to his annoyance, but bit back his temper and laid low. And as a monk, he was forced to shave his head to his chagrin he could NOT wait for graduation.
He excelled his studies but showed only average power levels, but great execution. He was the most skilled, but not the strongest one.
He held back as standing out was more trouble than it's worth, thank you. He didn't want to die.
He grew up with good looks, and a fair skin that he attracted fellow boys. And he doesn't swing that way. He makes them forget with Obliviate.
He graduated at 18 years old, before going to explore his new world.
He wanted to find himself a wife and study architecture, as he could not stand those weak-looking houses back home. He finds it weak and flimsy he feared for his future family. And Silvia damnit!
He did his duties as a monk, changing names each time and he never wore his monkhood vestments, dressing as a peasant. He helps villages that have virtually no security and ignores large towns that have its own security, only going in it for entertainment and studying buildings.
He also looks for an ideal wife to bring home to his mom.
He eventually found a wife that fit his criteria. Beautiful, sweet, shy and a good cook. Her name was Misuzu. She was sixteen years old with fair skin, black eyes and long black hair parted in the middle, bound at the tip. She wore a plain-colored yukata like any peasant as only the rich can afford patterned fabric for clothing. She was also barefoot, as the poor can't even afford waraji!
That is truth, if a village doesn't have the skill to make one.
He met her on her travels accompanied by officers.
'What's going on here sirs? Its not every day officials escort a peasant girl.'
'Its the every-decade tribute to our lord.' said the older-looking official who looked disgusted. 'He would demand the best-looking women in his domain. He's had a harem in his castle and he wants new beauties when he gets bored of his previous women. We don't want this job either but either we do this, or our families are going to pay if we don't obey.'
'...he already has my mother.' said the girl timidly. 'I don't even know what happened to her other than...well...'
Kyouji had an idea...
He cursed the Lord with terrible bad luck the more he thinks of women, and a shrunken...thing that he couldn't even masturbate anymore. And he fell down the stairs, breaking his neck.
However, saving the women and the girl's mother came way too late. All women, including the girl's mother are all turned out. They can no longer live without sex Kyouji had to 'do what he could' and very few can resume a normal life again. The rest...had to be put out of their misery, rendered insane by daily rape and began to associate pain with pleasure to escape from their despair and suffering. What he saw, was horrific as the insane women did all means to pleasure themselves to the point of injury when 'it wasn't their turn'. He didn't allow the girl to see anything and simply told her, 'Your mother died from abuse. I'm so sorry.'
It was easier that way than what was the cruel truth.
However, the girl can't go home anymore either...because her funeral was held before she left home with the officials, and her father considered her dead in sorrow, so he took her with him home and decided to show her a good life. The fact he can both provide and protect her since her father pretty much declared her dead in sorrow and tearfully let her go because of their cruel lord. She cannot come home in fear that 'if she escaped, the lord would show his wrath to their village'.
'Kyouji, who is this girl?' his mother would ask.
'Its a long story.' Kyouji told his mother what happened why he took Misuzu home. Kaede can only shake her head.
'That does happen.' said Kaede softly in sorrow. 'We Miko are spared from that disgusting fate because we are holy women that defends from youkai. Nobody would dare lift a finger to us or threaten us because we can simply deny them our power and protection from youkai. Moreover we hold more power than these so-called feudal lords and the only ones above us, are the Shogun and his court. Its to the point that many villages wanted us Miko around to protect against unfair overcharging in taxes.' she said. 'Normal women aren't so lucky. But take responsibility, you hear? That poor girl lost so much.'
'Yes mom. And I'm gonna grow my hair, being bald is so not me it's gross!' Kyouji shuddered. 'She might not like bald men!'
'Monks have bald heads.' Kaede stated with a mischievous smile.
'Moooom!' Kyouji whined, making the middle-aged woman laugh.
So Kyouji made Misuzu happy as he promised.
Since they have a rice paddy, Kyouji can cheerfully use his powers to expand the village. He taught the men new forms of architecture to better rebuild their homes to be more durable and comfortable no matter the weather. Instead of these 'shitty weak-looking wooden houses', a thatched-roof farmhouse was much better. Kyouji did the cutting of trees while the men dug up needed clay and women cut the needed straw. A much easier job and the community worked as a whole to rebuild and reorganize an entire village.
However, he took great care to avoid disturbing the Inuyasha Tree as his mother warned. In fact, they avoid building and expanding near that tree.
Upon having a bigger space and organizing the village houses into neat rows, eventually forming a 'square pattern' surrounding the village well and alarm tower with lots of space and planned for future family numbers and growth, they were able to expand their farms. Kyouji had brought home lots of seeds from his travels which means more food...and that means more flavorful food for everyday meals, instead of the bland crap he grew up with, but hey, everyone's poor. Not like they can afford flavorful food like that in the capital or large towns.
Work by early morning, and Kyouji would hire Taijiya to teach his village how to fight against youkai in return for a lot of rice. He would pay them 10 koku of rice every six months and that 10 koku is more than enough to feed the Taijiya Clan and he's the one who makes weapons using his magic. They also trade with other towns using many false names just to gain technology needed to make condiments. So his village gets stronger. He wanted a stronger, prosperous village to raise Silvia in.
From the poor shacks and almost nothing, his village prospered enough to have complete life's necessities in the village and each person having enough clothing. They can worry about infants later who'll no doubt inherit their siblings' hand-me-downs...
By the time he was twenty...he married Misuzu, secretly eagerly awaiting for Silvia to be reborn as his child...as after expansions and application of security.