Last Chapter: It was then I realized that this was the end of me. The end of Lily Potter. I'd be with James now. I love you Harry. Be safe. I love you. I'd never see my son become a wizard. I'd never see Sirius again, him and his foolish ways. I'd miss him. I'd miss Remus, and Peter. But mostly James and Harry. I'd never breathe again, I'd never...live again.
And then I fell. To the floor. My wand clattered aside. My eyes filled...with blackness.
A/N: All the italics are in the living world. The regular print is the "after-world".
Chapter 2: The Unbreakable Man
James' POV
It was misty. I couldn't see anything. I was dead.
"Are you kidding me?" I yelled into the mist. "Why me? Why my family? What the bloody hell did I do? I'm gone! My son will never know me! NEVER! Who is going to be there for him? And what about Lily? My poor Lily! I swear if she died too... WHY ME?"
I was furious. That piece of scum tore my family apart once when he killed my parents, and now poor Harry and Lily too! Voldemort just needed to die. And I wanted to be the one to kill him.
"Ja-me-s," I heard the voice of my wife croak out.
"Lil?" I asked the mist.
"Over here," she croaked out.
I ran to the voice as fast I could. I saw my lovely Lily on the floor. So the bastard had killed her too. Take me, but my wife. No I don't think so. Protection surged over me and I scooped her up. She was crying.
"Shh.. We'll be okay." I soothed.
"Harry," she sobbed out. "He's still alive."
My eyes widened, "But how?"
"I used my last moments on earth protecting my son with love. Voldemort can't break that. It's ancient magic."
I nodded, vaguely remembering something along the lines of that. At least our son was alright. I sat down and calmed Lily down. She was a wreck. And I couldn't do anything about it but hold her in my arms.
"James Harold Potter. Lily Marie Evans." a voice spoke out.
We both looked up and the mist cleared. There my father stood. Broad and tall like a true Potter. My father, was there. I stood up and helped Lily stand. Her knees buckled beneath her but I caught her before she fell.
I let her lean on me as we walked over to my dad.
"Dad?" I asked. This was all too surreal. But then again, I was the walking dead now, I guess anything was possible.
"Hello, James." he said a smile breaking across his face. "It is great to see you again, but I wish it was under different circumstances."
"It's alright Dad. I've missed you. Oh-uh allow me to introduce you, this is Lily Potter. My wife."
An even greater smile came across him. "Your wife! Oh how great it is to meet you! I've heard so much about you, you should have heard this lad in his school days, 'She's an angel with red hair.' It was a shame I never got to meet you when we were alive," he said giving Lily a huge hug.
She smiled feebly and was able to stand by herself. "Hullo Mr Potter, it is great to meet you too."
"Now now, no more of this formal stuff. I'm Dad to you!"
She smiled again more Lily-ish and stood by my side.
"Ok, well we best be going. It's quite a trip to the life beyond death." He said addressing a train very similar to the Hogwarts Express.
It took us a while to get in and situated. My dad sat with us and offered tea and sandwiches, which we gladly took.
"Now there are a few things I'll want to tell you. In this 'after-world' you don't age. Your appearances will not change either. At all. So I hope you like what you look like! But looking at the pair of you two, you'll be fine!"
We laughed and Lily leaned her head against me.
"Ah but there is one other thing, in this world you can watch your living relatives and closest friends as they live their lives."
Lily and I stared at him.
"I- I can see Harry?" Lily asked.
"Yes love, you can. By saying a simple spell. Show Me and then say their name. It's pretty simple actually. That's how I knew you were coming Jamie."
Lily giggled at this nickname and I looked down, "Daaaad, didn't we have this discussion when I was 12 not to call me that?"
"Oh but I don't care." he said. "Magic still works in the after world, by the way. So I'll leave you two to get to the station, however I am apparating home to tell your mother James."
"How will we know where to find you?" I asked.
"Oh you'll know." he told me.
And with a wink he dissaparated with a crack.
Lily and I sat in silence for a few minutes. Then I saw her reach into her pocket and pull out her wand. "But I dropped mine when I died." she said.
I reached into my pocket, it was there. "So did I."
"I guess our wands wanted to come too." she joked.
"I guess so," I said holding her tightly again.
After a few minutes of talking about death we began to worry about Harry.
"Show me Harry Potter." Lily said gently.
A small window appeared. And we saw our son laying there, crying in a pile of rubble.
"Oh Lil, you did it. Voldemort couldn't kill him." I said hugging her so tightly.
Tears were spilling out of her eyes at the scene of our only child crying, with no mother or father every to come attend to him. Then we heard the engine of a motorbike. "Sirius" I whispered.
"Lily? James? NO!" he yelled as he ran through the rubble to the crib where Harry lay.
"No. No no no. They can't be dead. Oh no." Tears started spilling out of Sirius' eyes. "James." he said his voice growing thick.
We watched as Sirius picked up Harry and cradled him. "Shh...Harry it's alright I'll take care of you."
Harry was silent. Sirius tickled him and Harry giggled.
"Oh you look like James so much. Except your eyes, you have Lily's eyes. Lily is your mum. And James is your dad."
"Dad?" Harry cooed.
"Oh, his first word, they'd be so proud of you," Sirius said.
"Damn right we are." Lily said. I laughed, my wife never cursed, ever.
"No I'm not your dad. James is. Was? No James IS your dad." he said smiling. "I'm Sirius Black. Not serious though I'm Sirius. I'm a joke, no joke there."
Lily and I laughed at Sirius introducing himself to Harry, for the thousandth time. Every time he came over he reintroduced himself. It was great. But this time, it was significant. Sirius was surely going to raise Harry now.
"I'm your god-father Harry. I'll take care of you now. I promise I'll keep you safe."
Lily started crying again, "That should be me," she sobbed.
"Shh..you'll see him again. He's going to grow up to be a great boy. I can tell." I told her.
She nodded sniffling and turned back to the scene.
Hagrid was there now. He was telling Sirius that Dumbledore wanted him to take Harry. Sirius unwillingly obliged, crying. And Hagrid comforted him.
"They're dead. I'm going to kill Peter." he said icily.
Hagrid comforted him and Sirius insisted that he took his motorbike. Hagrid agreed and after one more kiss and hug to Harry from Sirius, he left.
Then the most heartbreaking thing in the world happened. Sirius Black, my best friend. My brother. My partner-in-crime. Sat in the rubble of my destroyed house and cried. He cried and cried. The unbreakable man I'd always known him to be, broke. Snapped like a twig and cried.
Sirius' POV
My best friend was dead. My brother. My partner-in-crime. Dead. I sat down and cried. I didn't care anymore. I couldn't live without James. And now Harry was gone too. Hagrid took him away. I was alone. I was heart-broken. My whole family was gone now. I couldn't go to Remus, it was a full moon. And I sure as hell wasn't going to Peter the rat bastard. So now I was alone and I cried for hours.
Then eventually pulling myself together I dug up Lily and James' bodies and wands from the rubble. I cleaned them off and closed their eyes. They looked peaceful. I covered them with a blanket and placed a charm over them so no one else could do any more harm to them.
Then I went to the graveyard in Godric's Hollow (where they lived of course) and arranged for a cemetery spot good enough for Prongs and Lily-flower. They deserved it. I used most of my gold to get the best plot. Then I bought a bunch next to them, one for me, and a few for Harry and his wife and kids. Everyone dies eventually. And I wanted this family to be together. Then I returned to the bodies and cried until morning.
James' POV
I sat there crying as I watched my best friend arrange my funeral, crying himself. It was heart breaking. Lily comforted me the best she could, but there wasn't much she could do for me.
The train slowed to a halt and we waved the image away.
Opening the cabin door, the compartment filled with light.
A voice spoke to us, "James and Lily Potter. Your after-world has been constructed to be your happiest times. Open your eyes."
As we opened our eyes the light faded and there it was, a small house. Our house. The destroyed house in Godric's Hollow. We walked around and it was our dream house. All the home improvement projects we'd been planning to do were done. It was amazing. This was heaven. But it really was. I was dead and I was in heaven.
Lily gasped and I turned to see her with a list. I walked over to it and read over her shoulder. It was a list, and address book if you will. It listed the names of all our deceased relatives and friends, and how to get to them. Next to it was a huge vase filled with floo powder.
So this is heaven, I thought. I looked at my wife who was marveling in the beauty of the house. I wouldn't have it any other way.
"It's perfect," Lily said.
"Yes it is," I said hugging her.
She kissed me softly on the lips and I kissed her back.
"I love you Lily."
"I love you James."
I sat down on our (new?) couch and fell asleep with my wife in my arms.
A/N: Sooo...? What do you think? Poor Sirius! But he'll be ok. And so will Harry. Important events are coming soon. Reuniting with families is coming up! Prepare for the waterworks!
