A/N: I had this inspiration after reading the seventh Harry Potter book, which I absolutely loved! J.K. Rowling and her brilliant mind own Harry Potter. I am not J.K. Rowling, so I do not own Harry Potter. ... Oh yeah I don't have the seventh book in front of me, so the events might a teeennnyyy bit off and I might sometimes do that on purpose to make it more emotional, but I don't think the events are altered by much.
Summary: OneShot. AU. James and Lily Potter always looked down on their son since they died from the heavens above. Now they watch over their son as he resolves to defeat Lord Voldemort.
From the Heavens
James and Lily Potter and Sirius Black stood outside in what looked like a town plaza in Heaven, observing the events that happened to their son below. To do this, they watched the swirling golden water in the Fountain of Beneath. This fountain showed the events of any person the person desired. James, Lily, and Sirius were watching Harry, seventeen years old, about to enter the Shrieking Shack to confront Voldemort. Ron and Hermione followed him close behind.
"Oh, Merlin," Lily whispered, wringing her hands together. Her hands became whiter and whiter as she applied more pressure to her hands.
Sirius and James also had their faces set in a grim expression and James squeezed Lily to calm her.
Sirius took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, Lily. Harry is a very capable wizard, and so are Ron and Hermione."
Lily nodded her head and smiled at the two men beside her to thank them for the comforts. They watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione go into the small tunnel that led to the Shack. As the three teenagers reached the door entrance, James, Sirius, and Lily's eyes widened as they saw Voldemort murder Snape. Voldemort left the room and Harry's observers watched in silence for the next event.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran inside to Snape as he slowly lost his life. Snape awkwardly gave Harry his memories and Sirius, Lily, and James watched Harry go inside Hogwarts to observe the memories.
Lily had watched the event with horror all over her face and James and Sirius voiced what she was thinking.
"I can't... believe it." James said in a stunned voice.
"Yeah, Snape actually ...died." Sirius said.
"Wonder where's he gonna come…" Lily pondered. She was referring to the spot where Snape would appear in the Heavens. There were two portals that the dead people came out of. The Fountain was located near one of the portals, and on the other side of the Heavens, the other portal was located. There was no Heaven or Hell, just the Heavens above where the deceased spent their Afterlife. Of course, the bad did not go unpunished. Whatever happened to them in the Heavens would correspond to their actions during their life. Therefore, if a person acted badly on Earth, horrible things would happen to them in the Heavens.
"Well, when he comes might not be for awhile because he has to travel through the Tunnels to get in the Heavens." James replied.
"I wonder what his memories are that he gave to Harry… I wonder why he gave them to Harry..." Sirius said. Both James and Lily shrugged to answer him.
"Shhh, Harry's going to watch Snape's memories now." James said.
Lily laughed out loud and explained, "You sound like a Muggle at a movie theater."
James and Sirius gave Lily questioning looks, for their knowledge of Muggle activities was greatly lacking.
She continued, "A movie theater is where Muggles watch films, which are stories that people act out." She noticed Harry look down at the Pensieve. "Okay, be quiet!" She put her index finger to her lips to silence them.
The three adults watched the first memory and as the younger version of Lily appeared at the park in Snape's memory, James exclaimed, "You lived near Snape?"
"Um. Yeah. I never told you?" She asked.
"NO. I mean I knew you guys were kind of pals in Hogwarts until like Fifth Year, but…"
"Oh. Sorry. I guess it never seemed that important… Gosh, I hope all of these memories don't involve me…"
"Why does Snape want Harry to see this?" Sirius wondered.
"Dunno," Lily answered.
James and Sirius suddenly laughed because at the moment, Young Lily had asked Young Snape if he was following her.
"What?" Lily asked.
"Does little Snivellus have a crush on Lilykins?" James asked, using a mockingly astounded tone.
"I believe so, Prongs, I believe so." Sirius said with the same tone James did.
"Oh, shut up!" Lily said and shoved James who was standing to her left. Her shove was so forceful that James had bumped into Sirius who was standing to his left. Because of Lily's reaction, James and Sirius began to laugh even harder. "Guys, come on, I want to see what Snape wanted Harry to see."
"Okay, FINE." James said.
"Shut up, you want to see, too." Lily retorted.
"Shut up." James said immediately and quickly in a comical way, so Sirius and Lily grinned.
The next memory was when Lily was going on the Hogwarts Express for the first time. As eleven-year-old Lily said goodbye to her older sister, Lily looked on the memory with sad eyes as she recalled the fun childhood memories with Petunia. Once again, James squeezed Lily with his right arm. As the memory continued, the three of them watched the memory on the train with sad smiles. It was the first time they had met each other.
"I forgot how good life used to be." James whispered. Lily and Sirius solemnly agreed by nodding their heads.
After that, the Pensieve showed the time when Lily and Snape's friendship fell apart.
"Okay, why do all of these memories have me in them?" Lily demanded to no one in particular. Then, she added with a small bit of whining tone, "It's annoying."
"Well, at least Harry gets to see a part of your past." James said.
"Yeah, the parts that have to do with Snape!" She exclaimed.
Next, Snape was talking with Dumbledore about the prophecy. If the memory was not so serious, Lily might have cried out "Yes! No me!" but since it was, James, Lily, and Sirius watched carefully. When Snape confessed his love of Lily to Dumbledore, Sirius, James, and Lily all had shocked and completely surprised looks on their faces. It was clear that none of them had seen that coming. When Snape agreed to look after Harry, Lily had a small grateful smile on her face. They finished watching the memories in silence, once gasping when seeing Dumbledore's injured hand.
"So, Snape. Was. Good." Sirius said, half-stunned and half-appreciative of Snape.
"Yeah, even though what he did to Albus." Lily said and wiped a tear from her eyes because of the reminder of her former Headmaster. James put his hand on Lily's shoulder and she looked up at him. He was smiling softly at her.
"I'm glad he protected Harry." James said. "…Even though he did it because he loved you, Lily."
"Which was creepy on a whole new level for Snape." Sirius added.
"Yeah," Lily agreed, still looking shocked.
They watched Harry go into the Great Hall after leaving the Headmaster's Office. Harry found the Weasleys crowded around Fred, Tonks, and Lupin.
"Oh my God! Fred, Tonks, AND Remus DIED?" Sirius said, once again stunned.
Lily gasped, "No…" She was also clearly shocked at the casualties.
"Now Harry lost Remus, too!" James cried.
"I can't believe Fred died! He was too young!" Sirius said, the only one who had known Fred. "And Tonks and Remus too! Their son was barely a half-year old!" After a pause, he added, "I'm gonna go look for Remus on the other portal, 'kay?"
"Mm, 'kay." Lily and James said. Then, Sirius Apparated to the other portal. A minute later, somebody came out of the portal near Lily and James. It was Severus Snape. He was standing about five feet away from them. James and Lily stood up straight and while Snape was observing his surroundings, he noticed James and Lily. His eyes widened with surprise.
James cleared his throat and greeted, "Hello, Severus." Snape nodded curtly in response.
Lily continued, "Um, Severus, we would like to thank you for watching over Harry, while we, Sirius, or Dumbledore could not. We are extremely grateful. Thank you." Lily smiled at him.
James added, "Yeah, it meant a lot to us, knowing our son was safe in your able hands. Thank you." He held out his hand for Snape to shake it. Surprisingly, Snape returned the gesture by shaking James's hand.
Once this little peace treaty was done, James and Lily explained the Heavens to Snape. When they reached the part about the Fountain, they offered Snape to come watch the events with them and Snape accepted the offer. They sat near the Fountain, watching Harry. Moments later, Sirius arrived with Remus and Tonks.
"Remus!" James cried out in joy, ironically because they were meeting after they had lost their lives. He went to hug him for he had missed his friend very much and Lily followed suit. After Tonks was introduced to James and Lily, James asked Sirius, "Did you explain…?"
Sirius answered, "Yeah."
Then, Lupin noticed Snape standing behind Lily and James. He began, "You also…"
"The Dark Lord apparently believed that by killing me, he would have received control of the Elder Wand." Snape replied.
Suddenly, James, Lily, Sirius, and Lupin felt a slight tug on their bodies.
Lily looked into the Fountain, smiled, and said, "I think Harry just activated the Resurrection Stone."
The four of them turned into electric blue streaks, rose into the sky, and flashed away. Tonks and Snape observed the next events with marvel. James, Sirius, Lupin, and Lily appeared in the Forbidden Forest with Harry and talked to him, using their valuable chance to proclaim how proud they were of him. As Lupin and Sirius gave supporting and comforting words to Harry, Lily wiped a tear from her eye while thinking of all the tasks her son had accomplished and of the task he was about to perform. When they arrived at the clearing where Voldemort and his followers were, they all watched Voldemort quietly. A moment later, Harry stood up to face Voldemort and Lily, James, Lupin, and Sirius disappeared into the air. As the imprint of her body began to vanish, she met Harry's eyes and gave him an encouraging smile.
Just as they left, Lupin, James, Sirius, and Lily returned as blue streaks into the Heavens. Then, they resumed watching the contents of the Fountain immediately as to not miss a single detail. Unfortunately, they witnessed Harry's death and all went into a state of shock except for Lily. Lily was beside herself and started crying hysterically. Lily's actions shook James out of his state of shock and instantly, he attempted to soothe his wife. Since Harry had died, the Fountain could not show Harry because he was no longer with the others below. However, a minute or so later, the water in the Fountain continued illustrating Harry's life.
"How…did that…?" Sirius was baffled.
"Did he… come back to life?" Lupin asked incredulously.
"If we are able to find Dumbledore, he might have the answers to your questions. After all, it is known that he had sent Potter on a secret mission." Snape said.
The others looked into the water again. Then Narcissa Malfoy went to Harry and seemed to be doing a checkup on Harry like a doctor. Then, they saw that Harry was lying in Hagrid's arms, but his eyes were closed.
"Is Harry…asleep or something?" Tonks said with uncertainty. Nobody answered, but Tonks did not mind. She was also trying hard to listen to hear what was happening.
Voldemort was saying some sort of speech to the ones around him about finally defeating Harry Potter and achieving control on the world. As they entered Hogwarts, people cried out in anguish, calling out for Harry, not wanting their savior to leave them.
"I don't get it… is Harry pretending to be dead?" James said.
"Then, why didn't my dear, dear cousin know? She just checked for his vital signs." Sirius added.
"I think, when her hair fell over face, she might have asked Potter if Draco was still alive because at this point, I would think that she, like Lucius, only cares about the safety of her son. Then, if Potter said the Draco was still alive, she might have spared Potter from the Dark Lord's wrath." Snape replied.
As the rest of them pondered over that possibility, the battle began once again in the castle.
"Hey, guys, Harry's moving again!" Lily cried.
They watched him sneak toward Voldemort. They saw Harry seeing Bellatrix Lestrange fight Luna, Ginny, and Hermione. As a Killing Curse flew by Ginny and barely missed her, Sirius said, "Woah, they better be more careful!"
Then, Mrs. Weasley came running towards Bellatrix and began to fiercely fight her.
"Merlin's hat! I didn't know Molly had that in her!" Tonks said with surprise.
Sirius laughed at Mrs. Weasley's words and said, "Yeah, Arthur and their sons better watch out if she ever yells at them." Just then, Mrs. Weasley cast a spell that killed her opponent. "Ha! Thanks, Molly, for avenging my death!" James and Lupin grinned at Sirius.
"Hold on, I think Harry's going to fight Voldemort now!" Lily said, always looking out for her son like the loving mother she is.
They all had grim expressions on their faces; their mouths were set in straight lines, even Snape, though his was not as severe as the others.
Snape, Lupin, James, Lily, Sirius, and Tonks watched Voldemort and Harry circle each other while Harry explained to Voldemort why the Elder Wand had not been working for him. Then, Voldemort performed the Killing Curse (as he did so, Lily let out a tiny gasp) and to counter it, Harry shouted the Disarming Spell. From the Heavens, they watched Harry's spell bounce off of Voldemort's and both jets of light hit Voldemort.
Sirius cried a yell of triumph for his godson and James roared, "Harry did it!"
A wide grin burst onto Lily's face and tears of happiness came out of her eyes. "I'm so proud of him!"
"…We all are, Evans." Snape said.
This comment made everyone else around Snape freeze. All of their grins were replaced with surprised eyes, Lily stopped crying, and James, Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks paused embracing each other. Lily smiled and nodded at Snape.
James was glad and amazed that man who loathed him during school, and probably after, truly appreciated his son and gave him a sincere smile.
And Snape returned the smile.
Okay, I want to let you know that I did not write this to make Snape look like a good person/hero. That happened on its own because after reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I did not like Snape. I appreciated what he did for Harry, but I still remember how he treated Harry because he was James's son and I thought that was extremely unfair. Thanks for reading and please review!