A Second Chance at Love

by Strength of Spirit

After James was supposed to die, he wakes up in America, where his magical community is but a book series. He's taken a job as an actor, to play a character in the movies, to find Lily, who he's sure is also in this strange alternate universe. Three year later, at the age of sixteen, he's found her. But, there is a catch. She doesn't remember anything about their past lives.

1. My Death

Prologue

"Lily! Take Harry and run! Run!" I shout at my wife madly.

She and Harry need to stay safe, no matter what. My life here, does not matter. Lily turns towards me with a wild, terrified expression on her face, squeezes my hand once, and dashes up the stairs toward the nursery, and our son. I watch her disappear to the floor above, then I turn to face the door. That's probably the last time I'll see her in this life. I think of all the missed opportunities, all the mistakes I made, that I regret more than anything. But I can hear footsteps coming closer, and closer now. I curse. Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard alive is here, and I'm standing without a wand.

Turning and racing to the couch, I snatch it up, and then spin around to face the door. It shatters under the impact of an overpowered spell. Bits of wood fly around the living room, and the handle nearly hits my face. I stand my ground. I will die, I'm sure, but I will die standing. A foot comes through the gaping hole in the wall, where the entrance to my home used to be. A dark robed figure follows, and before I know it, the cruelly smirking face of Lord Voldemort comes through the doorway, into the one place he isn't supposed to be able to find.

I curse the betrayer in my head. Peter, you slimy rat. Then, I spur myself into action with the thought of protecting Lily and Harry. A green streak of light comes flashing towards me. My Auror instincts take over, and I dodge it. Ducking and rolling on the floor of my own living room, I throw a curse back. Stupefy, a spell that served me well the last time I fought this monster. A shield like solid air erupts from the tip of Voldemort's wand, and I have to sidestep hastily to avoid the rebound. As I straighten up again, I notice, almost as if I'm an outsider to my body, a green light shooting for my torso.

I know it, this is the end. Like in slow motion, the curse closes in toward me, and I don't try to dodge. Then it hits me, and it's over. As the last vestiges of life leave my body, I try to whisper, I love you, to Lily, one last time, and then, nothing. I don't know how long I floated there, in nothing, void of all coherent thought. It could have been seconds, years, centuries, I just existed there, and then, something odd happened. You know that feeling you get when you stand up too quickly, and it's like, whoa, head rush? It felt a little like that. But, I blinked my eyes to an unfamiliar room, then I realized. I woke up. How odd.