This QL's Prophet challenge (Celebrate Good Times) is brilliant, I love it! Here is my second submission, this time with another prompt (obviously).
Beater 2: A promotion
Betas: S L Blake, Caerphilly's kid
Word count: 2925
Enjoy reading!
The Traveller's Welcome
People have different beliefs as to what happens when somebody dies. It isn't an easy question to answer but let me try it anyway.
When someone dies, it doesn't just end there. The soul doesn't just leave the body and vanish; all memories, thoughts, and emotions forgotten, never to be found again. This might be the reasoning of some misled and frustrated human beings but it is not the truth.
When someone dies, the soul leaves the mortal body and goes on its final journey. It drifts off the mortal plane and enters a spiritual one, a plane where everything is possible - everything and yet nothing. The freshly departed soul, called the Traveller, is transported into the Midlands, a level of the afterlife which is meant to introduce the dead to its eternity and for them to accept what has happened to them. It is inevitable and cannot be controlled.
However, Death is not merciless and allows one eternal soul to welcome the newly deceased into this new world. This allows them to move on and enter the true afterlife.
Not every eternal soul is allowed to greet the Travellers as not every soul is suited for a job this sensitive. Generally, it is believed that those who have died a natural death are balanced and in line with their energy. Those Eternals are predestined to welcome the Travellers. However, those who have died a gruesome death are less likely to accept their demise and are believed to roam the afterlife in their distressed state of mind, making them unsuitable for the task of welcoming the newly deceased.
And this is where our story begins.
James stared at the screen in front of him, eyes big and jaw working. He didn't understand what was going on in their plane - the mortal plane, just that what he was seeing couldn't be real.
When he had seen the jet of poison-green light, he had felt that cold, all-encompassing feeling once again. It was a feeling that had never left him and which had continued to haunt him ceaselessly. No matter where he went, no matter what he did, he could always feel that cold nothingness envelop him and remind him that he shouldn't be here. He should be there, with them, and protecting his son! He should be alive, breathing, fighting, and not waiting and constantly roaming.
He could tell that Lily felt the same but he knew that he couldn't do anything about that. There was only one thing that helped them keep their minds off the overwhelming feeling of wrongness, and that was to watch them.
Upon arrival, Death had allowed them to stay connected, meaning that once a week, they were allowed to watch their world and keep an eye on their son; make sure he was alright, make sure he was happy, make sure he was safe. After eleven years of the inhumane torture of having to watch without being able to help, they had received the first bit of relief and sense of right.
It had been a rollercoaster from that point onward but it had kept them going and had given them a reason to believe that their eternal future wouldn't be like this forever.
Now, seeing the green curse fly towards his best friend, colliding with his chest, and throwing him through the veil had shattered something inside him. He could hear his son's screams of agony that only mirrored what he felt deep inside. This was wrong, this wasn't supposed to happen! But it had happened. He had felt it.
Shortly after their fight, Harry's furious cry of Crucio still echoing in his ears, Death appeared out of thin air. Dazed, James blinked up at him. His hood was drawn up, throwing ominous shadows over his face.
"I will go and welcome your friend now," he said in his low baritone before vanishing in a cloud of dark grey smoke.
"He's alright," Lily whispered into his ear as he felt her warm arms wrap around him, pulling him into an embrace. "You will see. He's doing okay. He will be fine."
James slowly closed his eyes and allowed himself to sink into his wife's loving hug. He knew she was right. It didn't do well to dwell on something they couldn't change anyway but that didn't make it any easier. But Lily knew - she always did - and her embraces were helping him stay grounded and sane as the emptiness inside him was held at bay.
"Why Sirius?" he asked brokenly, burying his face in her incredibly soft hair - one more thing Death hadn't taken away from her. He was thankful for that, at least. "Why him?"
Silence dominated the next couple of seconds as Lily stroked through his hair slowly, lightly scratching his scalp. He knew she didn't know either but he hadn't been able to help himself. He just had to ask her. There was a confusion in him that was making it difficult to think clearly.
"I don't know." He felt her tremble against his body just before the first warm tear dropped into his hair. "I don't know."
Sirius had been one of the only people Harry had been able to fully trust. He had been his rock to hold onto and the one adult he had always felt comfortable to confide in. James had always felt that Sirius would keep his son safe, even if it was from afar, just by being there. And now this person was gone.
It had taken both James and Lily a long time to understand that Death did not make any decision about life or death as he was merely the one coordinating the transition from one to the other. He had been the one to greet them after their demise, he had been the one to explain everything to them and to accompany them to their new and eternal home. It looked exactly like their cottage on the mortal plane, and yet it felt off without Harry in it. It didn't feel like home.
*~*HP*~*
As Lily walked up the stairs to get her husband for some tea and biscuits, she found him standing in the doorway leading to Harry's nursery - or what had once been Harry's nursery. When they had arrived at their cottage, they had both immediately run upstairs to their son's room, only to find it empty. Death hadn't given them any explanation as to why, but Lily had had her suspicions for a while now.
If there was one thing Death wanted for them, it was to accept what had happened and to accept that they didn't belong with them anymore. Yes, what had happened hadn't been right, Lily knew that and James knew that, yet it wasn't helping them accept it.
For a while, she stood there in the hallway and watched her husband stand and stare into their son's room, not moving an inch. She had often found him up there, just as often as he had found her standing there, staring, waiting, wanting, needing. But nothing had ever happened. It had only deepened the angst inside her and had widened the now gaping hole that had once been filled by the love of her darling baby boy.
"James?" she asked cautiously, not moving any closer. He didn't need her embrace right now, he needed their son, his little ray of sunshine. And she couldn't give that to him.
A nearly non-existent twitch showed her that he was listening. It was all she would get at that moment, so she took it without asking.
"Sirius will be here in a few minutes. Would you come downstairs and help me with the biscuits and tea?"
After a few seconds in which he didn't reply, James slowly turned around and looked at her. His hazel eyes were sad, his face pale, yet there were no tears anywhere in sight. They had spent so much time crying that it was difficult to get that kind of release nowadays.
"I will be right there, love," he said quietly and gave her a soft smile, one that calmed her down and made her believe that he'd be alright.
Lily nodded and blew him a kiss before she turned around and headed back downstairs. It was their weekly Update Day and Sirius had joined them for every single one ever since he had arrived two years ago.
She hadn't been able to go to sleep this time last week after the screen had turned black, and neither had James or Sirius. They were in a war, one even worse and more horrifying than the one they had experienced.
Harry and his friends had been on the run, hiding in a tent, with barely anything to eat. To watch her son go through something as traumatic as that had nearly ruined her. She wanted nothing more than to help and knowing that she couldn't, only made everything more painful to witness.
The doorbell rang at 3 pm sharp. Lily hurriedly put down the tray which held the cups and biscuits before moving through the living room and into the hallway, only to find James had already welcomed their friend inside.
"Sirius, how are you?" Lily asked, a smile on her face as she walked over to the two men and embraced her son's godfather.
"Oh, I'm quite alright, thank you, Lils." The sparkle she had learnt to love while still on the mortal plane had vanished over the years. Spending most of his life in Azkaban and on the run had done so much damage to the once incredibly cheerful and childish man that it hurt Lily to see him now. She still loved him unconditionally but the twinkle in his grey eyes hadn't returned yet.
"Well, come on in and make yourself at home." She ushered the two men into the living room and shoved them onto the couch, earning herself a soft chuckle from both of them. "Tea?"
"Yes, ma'am." Sirius grinned at her as she poured him a cup and put just the right amount of milk into the brew. "You know me so well."
"She should by now, shouldn't she? Thanks, love." James accepted his own cup and winked at his wife, causing her to blush. No matter how often he flirted with her, she could still feel the butterflies somersaulting in her stomach and she secretly loved that feeling.
"She's known you for how many years now?"
"Quite a few, I fear." Sirius crowed and took a sip of his tea just as the screen that Lily and James both dreaded yet longed for materialised out of thin air. "We're getting old, chap."
But before James could retaliate, the screen came to life and showed a scene that made Lily drop her cup, spilling the hot liquid all over her lovely carpet.
Smoke. Everywhere. Fires, screams, curses, blood. Everywhere that they could see showed destruction, pain, and death.
Desperately, Lily started looking for a familiar head of messy, jet-black hair. She didn't know whether to feel relief or anxiety as she couldn't find it. Harry was nowhere to be seen, and that could mean one of two things - either he was safe, or he wasn't. A shiver raced through her body as the uncertainty of that thought hit her straight away. Where was her baby?
It didn't take long until the scene changed and broadcasted to the very top of the castle's wall-way, and after only a few seconds, Lily gasped as she saw a familiar bright green curse shoot straight towards one of her dearest friends, colliding with his chest, killing him. His once warm eyes stared up and directly into her very being, causing the bitter-cold darkness inside her to grow.
"No."
The whispered word seemed to echo within her as she watched numbly how the screen disappeared and smoke just as dark as on the mortal plane replaced it. She registered Sirius' gasp as Death stepped out of the cloud and addressed them in his deep baritone.
"I will welcome your friend now."
Sirius turned to James and just as the hooded figure of Death disappeared, he started stuttering. He seemed completely overwhelmed by the whole situation and Lily couldn't hold it against him.
"What just happened?" he asked, sounding breathless.
I know exactly how you feel, she thought dejectedly and watched how her husband put a hand on their friend's shoulder. She knew that feeling all too well.
"Well, why can't we pick him up, then?" Sirius demanded, jumping up and marching around the couch, stepping onto the broken pieces of china, seemingly without noticing.
Lily's gaze focused on the slowly drying patch of dark Earl Grey tea on her tan-coloured carpet as she absentmindedly listened to what was going on in the background. She felt numb and couldn't bring herself to feel anything besides the shock that was slowly taking over the hole inside her, only catching parts of what her family said.
"... not allowed to."
"But why?... make sense!"
"... told us. We're not allowed to."
She didn't know whether she'd ever get out of this daze. She didn't feel like she ever would.
*~*HP*~*
James sighed as he allowed himself to fall into the soft cushions of their living room couch. The fire was burning, brightening the room in warm, dim light, as he slowly closed his eyes and listened to the soft crackling of the wood.
It had been over fifty years since Death had welcomed Remus and had explained everything to him, fifty years since the war had ended. James still couldn't quite believe it. They had fought for nearly a decade before they had been killed, without having any chance whatsoever to actually make a dent in Voldemort's ranks, and there went his son - his seventeen-year-old son - and stopped what had supposed to end before he had been born.
When they had found out, he had been filled with so much pride that it had been difficult to breathe. It had been over - his baby boy was safe and the world had waited for him. James hadn't been surprised when Harry had joined the Auror department as his son had shown a clear talent for that sort of job, no matter how dangerous it was. It could mean that he might get hurt, or worse, but he knew what he was doing, so both James, as well as Lily, had felt at ease.
At last.
It had taken them nearly two decades to finally accept and the change had been imminent. The hole inside, although still present, had slowly started to close. While it still hurt to not have their son there with them, they understood that they would eventually see him again and be able to hold him in their arms.
The day Harry would join them would both be sad as well as happy. James knew that he would have some major problems dealing with the onslaught of emotions that no doubt would sweep over him but he would manage.
They would manage. He was sure of it.
"Mind if I join you?"
James opened his eyes and looked up to see the most beautiful woman he had ever seen hover over him. A smile crept onto his face as he hummed softly and raised his arm, ready to wrap it around her shoulders and pull her into his side.
He loved days like this - lazy, cozy, relaxing.
"It's about time, isn't it?"
"Hm?" He looked down and saw her brilliant green eyes look up at him.
"The Update. Shouldn't the screen have materialised by now?"
James blinked. "What time is it?"
With an energy that he hadn't possessed just a few minutes ago, he quickly sat up and turned to look at the clock that hung next to the door leading to the hallway. Lily was right. The screen was six minutes late.
Frowning, he took a deep breath. Don't panic, he told himself as the hand indicating the seconds ticked by. "That can't be," he said softly and leaned back against the backrest of the couch. The arm that was holding Lily pulled her even closer. "It's never late."
"Do you think there's something wrong with Harry?"
Dread filled James as he stared at the worried face of his wife. Harry!
As if it had listened to their conversation, smoke they knew only too well wafted out of the fireplace, suffocating the happily flickering flames almost immediately. He felt Lily stiffen in his arms as all of his muscles contracted. This wasn't right. Something was very wrong and he didn't like it one bit!
The tall figure they hadn't seen in over fifty years stepped out of the wall of smoke and kneeled in front of them. James didn't even have any brain capacity left to register that that in and of itself was odd, as all that he could think of was his son.
"Lily," Death said in his low voice, "James."
Lily's hands dug into James' arm and he felt it slowly going numb but he couldn't care less at that moment.
"I have come to tell you to go and pick up your son."
Silence followed that announcement as the two Potters sat on their couch and stared at the cloaked figure in front of them before Lily's quiet, quivering voice filled the room.
"What?"
"You are ready. Go and welcome your son."
I hope you liked it! It's definitely a bit different than what I usually write. A bit darker, I guess.
Well, until next time! See ya!
