Death's Loyalty Card
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

Warnings: Completely AU (also means that people's names, birth dates etc. might be changed to fit into this story). Partly OOC. Possible time paradox.

Faster than he had expected it, Harry became used to being small again and thoroughly enjoyed growing up together with James. However, he especially loved the times, which Charlus spent alone with him, so that they were able to speak about his past life, his memories and his concerns about the future in private. Even if Charlus had told him many times to not worry about things like marrying a Death Eater witch, killing Voldemort and saving people from death, Harry could not help worrying if he was going to do everything right.

Five years later…

For the twins' sixth birthday, Dorea and Charlus Potter had thought of something special and had invited all the children of Charlus' fellow members of the Wizengamot, who were around James' and Harry's age.

'Everyone who's going to attend Hogwarts together with us,' Harry realised upon letting his eyes wander over the guests, even if he could not recognise everyone, whom he had merely known as adults, at the age of six. He realised, however, that there were at least some children, whom he had not known at all in his own time.

All of a sudden, Arcturus Black approached him. "May I speak with you in private for a few minutes?" he asked in a small voice, causing Harry to nod.

'He's Charlus' best friend and Mum's sister; he won't do anything to me,' he thought, as he followed the man into the library, where the older wizard motioned him to take a seat opposite of him.

"Your father has told me everything about you," the head of the Black family began to speak, "and I know about your deal with Death. In order to help you as much as possible, I'd like you to tell me everything that you know about my family in the future."

Harry let out a deep sigh, before he slowly began to speak. "Sirius," he paused, giving the older wizard a questioning look.

"My grandson, yes," Arcturus replied, nodding in confirmation.

"Sirius," Harry continued, "was my godfather; however, I only got to know him, when I was thirteen, because he was unjustly put into Azkaban for twelve years. After that, he had about two years to live, before Bellatrix Lestrange, the bitch, killed him."

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Arcturus repeated, pensively.

"She was a Death Eater, she and her sister Narcissa Malfoy," Harry continued, his voice laced with anger. "Sirius escaped from Azkaban in his dog Animagus form," he recalled. "He was then living at the Black house in London. There was a portrait of his mother, screaming and screeching every time someone entered the house. She was horrible."

"Walburga Black?" Arcturus enquired.

"I think that was her name," Harry replied, darkly, as he remembered the most annoying portrait. "She got Regulus killed. He became a Death Eater, because she forced him to become one, and when he finally realised what Voldemort was doing and tried to get away, he was killed by Voldemort. She also wanted to kick Sirius out of the family for not following the Dark Lord. He fled to the Potters and lived with them for the last years of his time at Hogwarts. That's all I know though, sorry sir," he apologized.

Arcturus let out a snort. "That's more than anyone else knows, dear boy, and that'll help me organise the Black family in a much better fashion this time around. What about Andromeda, Cissy's and Bella's older sister, though?" he suddenly remembered to ask.

"Oh, sorry," Harry replied, remaining pensive for a moment. "I think Andromeda was kicked out of the family for marrying Ted Tonks, a muggleborn wizard. They had a brilliant daughter, Nymphadora Tonks. She was an Auror and a metamorphmagus. She married Remus Lupin, a werewolf, but I don't know if they survived the war, as I died before I could finish Voldemort off," he added in deep regret.

"Don't worry about that, my boy. This time, your father… or should I say grandfather… and I are around as is Dorea, and we're all going to help you," the older wizard promised.

Harry shook his head. "Thank you, sir, but there's a prophecy about Voldemort and me, and it says that I'm the one who has to kill him."

"Oh right, I saw that in your memories, but at least you have the deal with Death, so that the Dark Lord will be mortal, when you approach him. On the other hand, you need to marry one of the women, who were Death Eaters in your time," he added, thoughtfully. "Can you name them?"

Harry let out a deep sigh. "Bellatrix and Narcissa are the ones that come to mind first," Harry replied, thoughtfully. "I can't really imagine to marry Bella though. She was nice, earlier, but I still have the image in the front of my mind, where she put Sirius through the veil. I don't know if I can ever forget that. Oh well, there should be others like, for example, the mother of Pansy Parkinson or Millicent Bulstrode or, for example, of Theodore Nott or most of the Slytherins in my year. I don't know them though, which makes it even more difficult." He sighed again.

Arcturus remained pensive for a moment, before he spoke up in determination. "Well, Charlus and I have already spoken about this, when you came to live with him five years ago. Unfortunately, Death forbade us to simply set up a betrothal contract between you and one of my two granddaughters in question. I have, however, set up something that prevents everyone else to set up such a contract for any of my grandchildren, so that no one will be able to take them away from you by a betrothal contract. Meet them at Hogwarts, when you're all older than now, and see how you like each other, and then we can always reconsider the matter."

"Thank you so much, sir," Harry replied, feeling extremely grateful towards the older wizard.

"I'm not a sir, Harry," Arcturus replied. "Considering that my sister is your mother now, I'm your uncle."

"All right Uncle Arcturus," Harry replied with a combination of gratitude and amusement.

"By the way," Arcturus added as an afterthought, "we should keep the knowledge about your past and everyone's future between the four of us, your parents, yourself and myself."

"Yes, that's probably the best," Harry agreed, gratefully.

"Now get back to your party," his newly found uncle instructed him, and Harry scurried off for an afternoon of playing with his fellow six-year-olds.

HP

He took some time to just observe the children play, trying to figure out who was who. 'Peter seems to not be here,' he thought. 'I'm sure that he was a pureblood, but they probably don't hold a seat on the Wizengamot,' he realised. 'Same as with Remus. That must be Frank Longbottom though, Neville's father,' he thought upon seeing a boy, who was resembling Neville a great deal. 'The three Black sisters are very cute though.' Narcissa, the youngest, was especially cute, however, when Harry hesitantly stepped over to the sisters, Bellatrix was the first to speak with him.

"Do you have a children's wand?" she enquired in a friendly voice, causing Harry to look at her in surprise.

"No," he replied, before adding, hesitantly, "Do you have one?"

"No," she said, and her mouth curled to a pout. "Andy has one, and I want one, too," she added. "Andy is my older sister. She's nine already, and Mum says she has to learn to use a wand, 'cause she's going to attend Hogwarts in one and a half years' time."

"Bella, you're only six and don't need to practise yet," Andromeda told her younger sister, who in return rolled her eyes at the oldest, causing Harry to inwardly grin.

'She's not so bad yet; maybe there's still hope,' he thought and, before he knew what happened, he heard himself suggest, "Maybe we could study together some time and try doing wandless magic. James and I sometimes do that."

Bella stared at him in apparent excitement, before she agreed. "Yes, let's do that. Can you ask your parents, and I'll talk to mine?"

"You could also ask your grandfather," Harry pointed out. "He's good friends with my father and often visits us. Maybe he could bring you with him, when he comes here."

The two six-years agreed to try convincing the adults, just before Dorea informed everyone that the party was over and they had to take the Floo home. 'I should also ask Dad if Sirius could visit us together with Bella,' Harry thought, while he observed the children queue to use the fireplace.

"That was much fun," James said to Harry, once their last guests were gone.

"Yes, it was," Harry agreed, before he let James in on his idea to ask the adults if they could practise magic together with Sirius and Bellatrix. Needless to say that James was all for it.

Suddenly, an idea pushed itself to the forefront of Harry's mind and he hurried to seek out his father, barely realising that James followed on his heels.

"Dad, could you and Uncle Arcturus perhaps convince the headmaster of Hogwarts to set up a primary school on the Hogwarts grounds?" Harry blurted out, causing James to loudly voice his consent.

"That might be a good idea," Charlus replied, seemingly pensive. "I'll talk to your uncle, and we'll try to convince Dumbledore. Considering that I'm the heir of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw, we might be able to get him to agree. Let me seek out the portrait of Godric and Rowena and discuss the matter with them first," he added as an afterthought, causing Harry to gasp.

"There's a portrait of the founders of Hogwarts here in the manor?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, there is, and I'll make sure to introduce the two of you at another time," Charlus replied in apparent amusement. "Now however, I believe that it's almost dinner time, and I'm sure that your mother is wondering where you are. Go and wash your hands."

HP

It was much later the same evening, when Harry and James were in bed and James was already fast asleep, that Harry noticed some movement in the almost dark room.

'What's that?' he wondered, just when the torch that used to automatically come to light upon sensing movement in the room flared up. 'Death,' he realised in shock.

"Why are you here?" he whispered, almost fearing that Death had come to fetch him back to his old time.

"I came to express my congratulations to your birthday and give you a present," Death replied, smirking, as he handed Harry a small booklet. "This is a coupon or voucher book," he explained. "Once a year, mostly on your birthdays, I shall come and give you another coupon."

Harry hesitantly opened the thin book that was labelled on the cover 'Death's Loyalty Card,' and studied it with interest. There was only one coupon in it. It held two blank fields.

"You may save two persons, not more," Death explained in a firm voice. "You can fill in the name of the persons you wish to save, no more than two though. If you unconsciously save someone from me, before you put a name into a field, a stamp will appear on a blank field. If you save more than two people, I'm going to get one of your three items back, either the cloak or the wand or the ring. So be careful that you don't save more than two."

"Err, sorry sir," Harry began to enquire, when he felt himself being interrupted.

"I'm not a sir, I am Death."

"Sorry Death," Harry continued, "will you give me a warning? I mean, perhaps I find myself in a situation of saving someone without being aware of it."

"I shall give you a warning, Master," Death replied, sounding grumpy. "I'll be back next year."

Before Harry could demand to be told any details, the black figure vanished from the sight, leaving the boy very upset. 'If I want to save my parents and grandparents, that's already four people,' he thought, angrily. 'I just hope he'll give me at least three more people during the next few years. Otherwise, the whole coming to the past thing doesn't make sense at all,' he thought, angrily.

To his parents' concern, Harry was still awake an hour later. However, he decided to not tell them about Death's visit. 'I can't make them decide if they want me to save them or James and Lily,' he thought in devastation.

HP

Unbeknownst to Harry, Charlus proceeded to speak with Godric and Rowena in their painting the instant the twins went to bed.

"How are our heirs doing?" Godric enquired, when he showed up on the rarely used third floor corridor, where their painting was.

Charlus let out a deep sigh. "I believe that Harry is scared about his deal with Death about having to marry a woman, who was a Death Eater in his future. His big problem is that he didn't know them as children as well as the fact that he knows to not speak with his brother about the matter."

Godric and Rowena nodded in apparent understanding.

"Tonight, Harry came up with an idea, which, I believe, would help him greatly," Charlus continued and explained about the request for a primary school on the Hogwarts grounds. "Do you think it would be possible to build such a school at Hogwarts?" he enquired, looking at the two founders in expectation.

"Of course," Godric was the first to reply.

"That's a wonderful idea," Rowena said, warmly. "Charlus," she continued, "I have a request to you. Please take our portrait into a frequently used room, so that we'll be able to assist Harry with his tasks and talk to him, whenever his twin is not around."

Charlus scoffed. "They've become real twins, at least from James' point of view. He's not aware of the fact that Harry isn't his real twin brother anymore let alone that he's his son. They're absolutely inseparable. We're already making them do certain chores separately to give Harry some time to speak with me in private," he explained, sighing.

"Would you consider telling James the truth?" Rowena enquired. "He should know the reason for Harry's behaviour if he needs to act strangely in James' POV for one or the other reason."

"Don't you think that he's too young?" Charlus replied, worriedly. "Dorea is strictly against telling James."

"The other possibility would be to assign them their own rooms. You could use the beginning of primary school as an excuse to tell them they're big enough to have their own room. Then you could add a painting of us to Harry's room and another to James'," Godric suggested.

"Maybe a painting of Helga and Salazar in Harry's room and this one in James'," Rowena added.

"There's no painting of Helga and Salazar around," Charlus informed them, sighing, causing Rowena to chuckle.

"Have you never been to the founders' quarters at Hogwarts?" she asked, incredulously. "There are many paintings of all of us, and it wouldn't be a problem to bring one or two here."

"The founders' quarters?" Charlus repeated in disbelief. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Well, if you go to Hogwarts to speak with the headmaster about the Hogwarts Primary School, make a short detour to the founders' quarters," Rowena instructed him. "You'll find a portrait of all four of us if you continue the corridor behind the hospital wing. Take the twins with you. They'll love it."

"As to the primary school," Godric returned the conversation to its original topic, "I believe that there are more than enough unused corridors in the castle, so that you don't even need to have a new building. You could just use an unused part of the castle for your school. Tell me in advance when you're going to head to Hogwarts, and I'll make sure to call my three colleagues into my painting, so that we can support you and possibly Lord Black, if you wish to take him with you, for the conversation."

"Thank you so very much," Charlus replied, feeling extremely grateful at the prospect of having the founders' support in the matter.

HP

Before we head to Hogwarts to speak with Professor Dumbledore about the primary school," Charlus addressed Harry the following day after dinner, while James helped his mother in the greenhouse, "whom would you recommend as teachers?"

Harry remained pensive for a moment, before he replied, "Perhaps the mother of Andromeda, Bellatrix and Narcissa, or Eileen Prince, the mother of Severus Snape, who will be in our year at Hogwarts. She's a Potions Mistress, but she had a potions accident and died… Oh no," he interrupted herself. "I can't save her from Death, I'm only allowed to save so many people." He let out a deep sigh. "Sorry, Dad, but I don't know."

Charlus nodded in understanding. "Did Death tell you that?" he asked, not able to recall such a scene in the memories.

Harry nodded. "He came to see me in the evening of our sixth birthday," he admitted in a barely audible voice and explained about a coupon book, which he had received that night.

'Oh, that was last night, when we couldn't get Harry to sleep,' Charlus realised. "Don't worry about that, child," he gently instructed his surrogate son. "First of all, it's not your job to save the whole world, and secondly, if Death told you he'd come back on a yearly basis, he'll surely give you more coupons, so that you can save other people as well. I suppose that the most important people you need to save are your parents."

Harry let out a deep sigh, before he slowly nodded. "Yes," he finally admitted. "I was just about to put your and Mum's name first, when I recalled that I wouldn't even be born if something happened to James and Lily, so I put their names into the coupon this morning. The two of you will be the next," he promised, sincerely. "I just hope that I'm not going to change the future too much for them to marry and have a baby together," he added as an afterthought.

tbc...?

Thank you so much for your kind comments on the previous chapter. I am still not convinced if I should continue this, but due to your kind comments, I decided to write on and watch the resonance for the time being. Please tell me what you think and what you expect for this story.