Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The last words James Potter would ever hear were uttered by the darkest wizard of modern times. He wouldn't hear his wife's broken screams nor his son's cries for his father.

James Potter wouldn't be able to look one last time at his small family. His face pinched into anger and pain, he couldn't leave his family. Not alone with this monster.

But it was like time was going too fast while he was moving in slow motion. He couldn't dodge the Killing Curse. Not this time.

With a shout forming on his lips and his mind thinking of only his family, his sweet Lily. His Lily that finally was his, whom finally returned his love. They were suppose to grow old, have several children running around his family manor. He was suppose to keep her safe, he promised her he would. But surely she had to be safe elsewhere by now, with Harry.

His baby boy whom he would never be able to teach to play Quidditch or be able to send him off to Hogwarts, nor watch him fall in love and experience life. His son who would have to face the burden of that stupid prophecy alone. But hopefully Remus, Sirius, and Lily would raise him away from that, give him a safe childhood and let him know how his father loved him so very much.

Sirius, whom James knew wouldn't be able to accept this, who would blame himself and drown in his guilt. Just as Remus would. James sent a plea to whomever was listening that his friends would find peace and not spend their lives trying to get revenge on Peter. Peter the traitor who was to blame for this. Just as James felt he was to blame since it was his friend he trusted. His friend he trusted to keep his family safe.

With these thoughts running wild around his head, the roaring green light engulfed James Potter. With a blast of sickly green James Potter was thrown to the floor by the sheer force of the spell. His body fell like a puppet cut from it's strings and he knew no more.

At first there was nothing but blackness. And the euphoria feeling of nothing. Like a warm blanket you pull over your head during the cold nights of winter. James felt like he was floating.

Then came the light. The blinding light that slowly made him wake.

With a slight groan James slowly blinked up the bright light. His hazel eyes squinting at the ceiling above his head. He was lying down on his back in what felt like a bed. His bed to be exact.

He slowly sat up, confused as to what was going on. This was his bed back at Potter Manor. Why was he in his childhood bedroom? He looked around the room, everything looked exactly as he left it the day he and Lily decided to go into hiding.

He heard the floor behind the door creak. He perked up, it had to be Lily.

"Lily! Lily love-?" He called out to his wife as he stood up and walked over to the door.

The door flew open and in the doorway stood Fleamont and Euphemia Potter. His parents who looked distraught at the sight of their son.

"You're dead." James rasped out.

"We are son." Fleamont softly said. His father, whom James inherited his black, messy hair. His father didn't seem bent with age and worry, he stood tall and strong. His face was shadowed with uneasiness, a face that looked very similar to James'.

"I don't understand. You've both been dead for years!" James said harshly. Perhaps a bit too harshly as his mother flinched.

But they both looked younger than they were when they died. They looked healthy, much healthier than James remembered them ever looking.

"James, love, just relax. What do you remember Jamie?" Euphemia said as she slowly walked towards her only son. She looked as lovely as she did when she was alive. Her hazel eyes, usually full of laughter just like James', were full of grief and sadness. Her red hair didn't have any greys. Her face held no tired wrinkles.

James blinked down at his mother with wide eyes. He had grown taller than his mother during his sixth year at Hogwarts. The same time his relationship with Lily had changed. Wait, Lily. Where was Lily? His breath quickened, where was Harry?

"Harry, where is Harry? We were just playing with the bubbles when-"

James gave out a cry and fell to his knees as his mind was assaulted with his last moments in Godric's Hollow. His head felt like it was on fire. He was breaking. His chest felt tight and he couldn't breathe. He hadn't been able to protect them. He had failed his wife and son.

"You were suppose to be safe! All three of you were suppose to survive this damn war!" His mother had tears pouring down her cheeks as she hurridly knelt down and held her son. Her son of only twenty-one who barely got to experience life.

Fleamont joined his wife and son on the floor, and held them both in his arms. Something he had not been able to do for years. Something he had prayed and hoped wouldn't happen until James joined them after a long life filled with love and happiness.

James didn't realize he was screaming. Screaming as only a man who had just lost everything and would never be able to get it back. He didn't realize the ache in his chest and throat were from his sobbing. Not until he felt his parents desperately try to soothe him.

He was a brave man. And even though they were thick into the war, James never imagined he would be taken so cruelly away from his family. He never thought he would be without his Lily, or that he would leave her to be alone. Call it a naive thought, but to James there was no him without Lily. She was his other half, his soul mate. He had never been without her, even when they fought during their early years at Hogwarts, they were still around each other daily.

The war had made them all grow up too fast. They experienced too much horror, too much tragedy for any young adult to go through. Lily and James dealt as best as they could, and tried their best to shield their baby boy from the horror going on around him.

But there were days that they would break and feel like the world around them was crumbling down. Days were Lily would scream and cry for hours, for her dead friends who were murdered so ruthlessly. There were days that James wouldn't make a sound, wouldn't be aware of his surroundings due to failing to save that Muggle family, too late to save them from being tortured and raped, but just in time to hear their dying screams. They were kids thrown into a war they were not prepared for. And while they did their best to survive and fight, they all had a breaking point. Dying didn't make it any easier.

"James, sweetie please, please sweetie, breathe. Breathe Jamie." His mother pleaded with him. Holding his face to her chest, rocking him gently as sobs racked his body. Trying desperately to get him to breathe and calm down, even if just slightly.

But how could he? He had no idea what would happen to his small family now. He was dead.

But there was comfort in this place, in his parents arms. He felt safe, something he hadn't felt since he was a boy. It took what felt like forever, but his sobs eventually subsided. His breathing slowly grew calm as he listened to the soothing voices of his parents. With tears still sliding down from his red eyes, he leaned back slightly.

"Where are we? I-I don't understand.." he said looking at his hands, his voice rough from screaming.

"Well, to put it simply, we are on another plane of existence." His father explained softly. "But right now you could say we are your welcoming committee. When we die, we go where we felt the safest."

"Is this where you both, er, live?" James asked looking up at his parents.

"Sometimes we spend our time here. Sometimes we visit others. Or, we would go and watch you." His mother added sadly. She brushed his dark hair out of his eyes, like she used to do countless times.

James' eyes lit up at that.

"We can watch the living?" He asked excitedly.

"For the most part. We can't watch everything they do. But we get to see enough." She said with a smile that James usually wore.

"I need to see Lily and Harry. I need to see they're safe." James said as he gently dis-tangled himself from his parents' arms. He walked with purpose out of his bedroom.

Fleamont and Euphemia shared a look as they followed their son. James turned to look at them, biting his lip. His father put his hand on his son's shoulder, while his mother held his hand.

"How do we-?" James started to ask, just as they disappeared into a flash of light.

They reappeared, but not in a way that made sense to James at all. They weren't in a room over looking a hole in the clouds. They didn't even seem to have a body, James could see his surroundings but couldn't feel them. They were spectrals watching the living, almost like looking into a Pensieve.

James gave a start as right in front of him, was Lord Voldemort. And in front of Voldemort was his Lily.

Their voices sounded slightly muffled, like trying to hear someone talk through a long tunnel.

James felt his heart jump into his throat as Lily shielded Harry. He was powerless to do anything. He couldn't even move in front of her. But he wouldn't leave them, he refused to leave them again.

Lily was fiercely defying Voldemort. With tears running down her face, Lily started to beg for her son's life.

Neither of them could hear James screaming as Voldemort threw the Cruciatus Curse at Lily. Lily's screams of agony pierced James' soul. He could feel her pain, and all he could do was watch, unable to do anything to stop her pain.

Harry started to cry, scared by his mother's screams and the scary man in his bedroom. James realized his son would never feel safe in this house. Harry's childhood home would never be a symbol of safety for him anymore. Unlike James. And this broke James' heart even more.

The screaming stopped. Lily stood up shakily, and still refused to move away from Harry. Begging for him to kill her instead. Lord Voldemort had lost his patience and with a flash of bright green, Lily Evans-Potter fell to the floor just like her husband did mere minutes ago. Her bright green eyes, the same eyes her son had inherited, dimmed as the light left her.

James felt a roaring in his ear as he heard a cruel laugh and the shrill screams of his son who was now an orphan and utterly alone in the world. James tried to go closer to his son, try to protect his baby boy from the pain. But he was pulled back in a rush of wind, back to his parents' house.

"LILY!"

"James! Wait!"

James was running through the manor, trying to find the door that would lead him out to Lily.

"James you won't find her yet!"

He stopped very suddenly, turning around quickly to look at his parents. A slight wild look in his hazel eyes.

"Why?!" He snapped out, "Where is she?"

"She's here son, in the same way you are. Just not exactly where you are. She's getting her own welcome committee son. Sometimes it's family, sometimes it's the partner or friend that greets you. Normally, you would have been the first she saw. But you died mere minutes ago, your soul wasn't ready to accept what had just happened. Let alone help someone else adjust to such a sudden change." His father said gently, but firmly. His own hazel eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Her parents are with her right now James. She isn't alone."

"Dad, I need to see her. I need to see Lily." James said in a broken voice, "She just died by-by him and-"

"Time is different here son, it doesn't move the same way as it did on Earth. What might feel like hours here might be seconds down there. We'll get to her soon, when you both are ready." His mother murmured softly as she embraced him in her arms. "You two won't be apart much longer, I promise you that my son."

James sobbed quietly into her shoulder. He didn't think he would need his parents this much. He had been without them for so long, he was use to dealing with everything on his own or with Lily.

Yet, at the same time his parents were making things easier. They were helping him and if he was honest with himself, he really was in no position to help Lily adjust right away. If Lily was being received by her parents similar to how his parents came to him, then he could accept that he would see her soon enough.

With a heavy heart he let his parents lead him back to his room. Trying to calm down enough to where he could finally see his wife. And hopefully find a way back to see Harry.

A/N: Okay, so first part of this is up! Lily's experience will be up next, as will James and Lily's reunion. I haven't written in quite some time, not the most skilled writer but this story plot would not leave my head, so I had to give it a try. Obviously this story is going to center on the Potter's death and experience in the here after. A lot of stories make their death something the Potter's accepted easily, which is something I never agreed with. This is going to be a very emotional, raw story. Not very long, probably around 5 or so chapters. They might seem ooc, but I wanted to show how the war would have effected them. They were thrown into a war as soon as their childhood ended, and witnessed horror. Harry and co. grew up with that kind of horror, and got use to it in a sense. James' parents are not keeping him from seeing Lily btw, both of them just went through something very traumatic and need help to process what just happened before they can be reunited. Who better to help them but their parents!

So, please review and let me know what you guys think! There will be spelling errors and such, but stick with me and please give me your thoughts!