DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don't sue. Really, don't sue, it'll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I'm broke.
CHAPTER 1Fred Wealsey had come to a conclusion. Being dead sucked.
Fred wasn't sure how long had passed since that stupid battle where he stupidly took his eyes off his stupid opponent and ended up getting beamed on his stupid head by that stupid heavy stone. Next thing he knew, Fred was stuck here, wherever here was. He was sure it wasn't Heaven, but he was pretty sure it wasn't Hell either although the way things were going he might change his mind about that before much longer.
But wherever he was right now, it was somewhere that Fred really didn't want to be. He was essentially floating in the middle of nothing. Completely nothing. All around him was as expanse of pure white, as far as the eye could see. That was all there was. It could have gone on forever, or it could have stopped just out of his reach, Fred had no idea. It was impossible to tell. All he knew was that he was trapped in this white space, completely alone and with nothing else around to break up the all-uncompromising emptiness.
It was quite simply the most boring place Fred had ever been or imagined, so bad it actually beat out Binns History of Magic class. If Fred didn't find a way out of here soon, he was sure he was going to go completely crazy.
If this is what death was like, then Fred really couldn't blame so many wizards for becoming ghosts. He was rather wishing he had himself right now. And eternity of annoying little first years wandering around Hogwarts sounded really good right now. Then again, if it got him out of this bloody place, just about anything sounded good about now.
Just when Fred was trying to decide whether yelling again would be a good idea (he'd already tried it once, there was no answer not even an echo), when he finally noticed something. There was a small bluish light over there that he was sure wasn't there before. A little, tiny blue-white light in a perfect circle which was shinning so brightly. Not the most exciting thing ever usually, but considering that it was the only thing around for him to look at… and look at that, it was getting bigger! Or was it coming closer. Yes, it seemed to be coming closer, and closer and too close! It was going to hit him… and suddenly everything went black.
There was no pain, at least that was a good thing, but now Fred couldn't see anything at all. The black lasted for a few long moments, just long enough for Fred to start to feel that the white maybe wasn't all that bad, when he could suddenly see again.
Looking around, Fred noticed right away that he was out of that white place, and in somewhere very strange, even to someone with his experience with the weird and wonderful. The very mismatched furniture, the even more mismatched windows, the overall all encompassing feeling of strangest that seemed to be infused into the very air. In all it was somewhere beyond even Fred's wildest imaginations.
Then again, it wasn't all white, so Fred was exactly going to complain.
"Hello Mr. Weasley." A soft yet powerful voice said from behind him, and Fred span around to see what had to be the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She looked almost too perfect too be human, even Fleur and her Veela cousins had nothing on this girl… or should she be called a woman? For some reason Fred just couldn't put an age on her. Her hair was so red it almost looked like it was on fire, it certainly put his own ginger mop to shame. As for her eyes, Fred honestly couldn't tell you what colour they were, as one moment he would think they were green, then he's wonder if they were blue, then gold, then some other random colour. Either way they were certainly beautiful eyes, just like the rest of her.
Fred usually considered himself the kind of guy who rolled with the punches, but right now, between the room and this girl-slash-woman, he was definitely feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
"I'm sorry who had to stay in Limbo for so long, Mr. Weasley, or may I call you Fred?" The woman – he was defiantly going to think of her as a woman, she came across as far too wise and important for him to think of as a girl – said in her oddly powerful voice. "But I'm afraid with all the recent deaths in the wizarding world, the angels who are responsible for ferrying the departed souls of your people across have been rather overworked lately."
Oh, so she was an angel, huh? Well that explained why she seemed far too perfect to be real.
"So, does this mean I'm moving on now, and won't have to be stuck in that very, very, very boring place anymore?" Fred asked somewhat hesitantly. He was rather pleased with the idea of getting out of Limbo, as his apparent angel called it, but going to the afterlife meant that he was really dead. And though he'd been thinking about that since he got hit with that damn rock, it had always been a somewhat abstract thought. Now that he was confronted with the actual reality, he had to admit, to himself at least, that it was scaring the bejeebies out of him.
"Maybe, maybe not." The angel said with an amused looking smile that somehow made her seem far more human. "Fred, do you know who I am?"
"An Angel?" Fred asked, suddenly not so sure.
If her smile had made her seem more human, if was nothing compared to the laugh she let out at that statement. Fred was rather grateful for that, as it made her seem far less overwhelming. She was still somewhat larger than life, but now at least was somewhat approachable and Fred no longer felt like he was committing some unforgivable sin simply for looking at her.
"Oh no, Fred." She said with a smile. "Thank you for the compliment, but no. I am Fate. Yes, the Fate, Destiny, the one who spins the Wheel of Fortune and all that junk. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, yeah, you too." Fred muttered once he managed to pull up his jaw and get his voice back from the shock. What was he just thinking about not being so overwhelmed again?
"Now." Fate said, looking amused by Fred's reaction, though not surprised. "About why you're here. Will you come over here and look at this please?" With that, Fate turned around gesturing to the table behind her. Somewhat apprehensively, Fred did so wondering what on in Merlin's name Fate could possibly want to show him.
Whatever, it was Fred was expecting, it certainly wasn't a complicated looking game board with hundreds of little figurines standing in neat rows.
"What?" Fred started too asked, looking with confused eyes at Fate hoping for an explanation.
The last thing Fred expected was for Fate to look at him with what could only be real grief on her face. "This, Fred, is how I watch and guide souls down on the Earth. Each of these little figures represents a soul, who I move to try and lead them to their destinies."
"Now, please keep in mind that I am not all powerful, despite what some think. Everyone sentient being in the world has free will, and that free will stops me from controlling them completely. Like a game, I can only move one little figure a certain way in the hopes that they will follow my plans. Usually it works, but sometimes things go wrong."
"Your people's war with Voldemort, went wrong." Fate concluded, looking very grim. "Very wrong. Every one of those figures you see before you are the souls of those who died before their destined time."
Fred looked at the figurines again with a new understanding. There were so many of them. Looking closer, Fred was pretty sure he saw some that looked like Sirius, Remus, that crazy elf that followed Harry around, and even – and this one was a surprise – himself. Fortunately, Fred noted with relief, there didn't seem to be any of his family represented there, Harry and Hermione included.
"You're here now, because I hope to change that."
With those words Fred's head snapped back up to stare at Fate. There was a determined gleam in her eye that reminded Fred of someone but he couldn't quite tell who. For some reason it made him feel both excited and fearful.
"How?" Fred asked, the excitement getting the better of him, and he was eager to hear the details.
Fate grinned, a look that Fred never would have imagined could be on a Deity's face, but it sure made her seem like his kind of Deity. "By doing a complete do-over. I can send one soul back in time, with all the knowledge of what is to come along with a few upgrades provided by yours truly. Once there the soul, my new avatar, will get to work fixing everything that has been broken and messing up the plans of those who are trying to interfere with my plans. This whole mess wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the Snake Bastard and the Old Goat getting in the way and messing everything up."
"You want me to go back?" Fred asked, seeing no other reason why he would be and be told this otherwise. "Why me?"
"There are a whole slue of reasons that make you the perfect, if somewhat unconventional, man for the job." Fate said firmly. "First off, you're in the prefect spot to act. Hogwarts is the epicentre for so much of what is to happen, and as a student you will be ideally positioned to act when the time is right. Two, you are close enough to the pivotal individual to influence him to do what needs to be done and to help him when he needs it. Dumbledore and old Snake-Face got one thing right, Harry Potter is needed to end everything. However, Dumbledore in his misguided attempts to preserve the 'Greater Good' messed up big time and left Harry woefully unprepared for most of what is to come. You will be responsible for fixing that by doing a few little things to make his life better. You know, get him out of his abusive home situation, get his innocent godfather out of prison, make sure he is properly trained and informed instead of locking him in a little box for protection then sending him out to fight a war single-handedly… that kind of thing. Really, I just don't get what the hell Dumbledore was thinking with that plan. And don't even get me started on the whole 'last Horcrux' thing."
"But most importunately," Fate said happily. "I want you because of who you are. An unmitigated prankster. Everywhere you go you cause chaos and mayhem, and that is exactly what this situation needs. Dumbledore has tried so hard to order everything so that it fits into his plan. I need you to get in there and mess up those plans so much that he'll never be able to get them back up and running again. I want to keep everyone so distracted in the chaos that they won't see the plans I, we've, created until it's too late to stop them. I want absolutely everything at Hogwarts turned on its head, and Dumbledore not knowing what's up or down. Serves him right for messing with me. So, are you in or what?"
Now Fred was sure he knew where he'd seen that look before. It was the same one he'd seen so many times in George's eyes, that was in his own eyes, when they were planning one of their more elaborate pranks. Shrew the consequences and put everything on the line for a good laugh.
Oh hell yeah, this was his kind of Deity!
Fred grinned widely as he made a low and only somewhat mocking bow. "My lady, I am at your service."
Fate grinned back. "Prefect." She practically purred. "Now, all we have to worry about is how and when to send you back. Now let's see."
With that, Fate turned to look at the game board again, which Fred just now noticed was free of everything but his own little figure.
"I would love to send you back to your third year, Harry's first, because that's where Dumbledore really started to manipulate things. Well, actually he started that when Harry was a baby and he left him at the Durselys," Fred noticed that Fate said their name with the same kind of distain Fred felt when he thought of Harry's barn-animal-like relatives. "But you would be three years old at that time, so there isn't much point sending you back that far as you would unfortunately wouldn't be able to do anything. Anyway, back to Harry's first year, as much as the poor boy was being manipulated, Dumbledore actually managed to get a couple of things right that year which I'm hesitant to mess with. Harry's friendships with Ron and Hermione are critical to fulfilling his destiny, and as much as I hate to say it they likely would not have grown so strong so fast without Dumbles interference. Nothing draws people together like life and death after all. So, I think we'll stick you in Harry's second year, your forth. But when in the year will be best to fit you in, hmm."
While Fate looked thoughtful, Fred was stuck on the thought that he'd been stuck with Lockhart for another year. Not particularly happy about that, the boy tried to make himself feel better about it by imagining all the pranks he and George could pull on the man.
"Ah, I know!" Fate said suddenly, bringing Fred out of a wonderful fantasy involving Lockhart's cologne, an animal aphrodisiac, and Hagrid's pet 'Fluffy'. He didn't pay too much attention though, it was such a great idea and would need careful planning to pull it off. "It's prefect! After all, it's been well documented in history that wizards and witches who survive near death experiences sometimes gain new powers so no one will question too hard when you suddenly start showing new skills."
Well, Fate had Fred's full attention now and not in a good way. "Near death experience, what are you talking about?"
Fate ignored him, as she continued to work out her plan out loud. "And lightening is such a wonderful element, so charged with natural magic! If you got hit by it, no one would be at all surprised if you started showing powers you didn't before."
"Lightening?! Hit by?! Fate, what are you talking about? What are you… Is that the Quidditch Pitch?"
Sure enough the game board had changed to show what could only be the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch with a few figures in red robes flying around and what looked scarily like a real if tiny storm over the top of it.
"And even better, that silly Wood left multiple opportunities for you to be hit by making the team train in the rain so many times that year. Now all I have to do is increase the power of one of these storms to give it some big, powerful lightening bolts, and we're all set!"
"No, we are not all set!" Fred yelped, trying to ignore how high pitched his voice had become. "What are you planning Fate? I don't think I want to do this any more. What are you do…"
PP***PP***PP***PP
"…ing?" Fred finished suddenly realising that he was talking to himself. Not only that, but he realised that he was soaking wet, sitting on a broom and felt quite a bit smaller than he was sure he was a moment ago. Even worse, Fred could hear loud, angry sounding thunder booming what felt like right above his head.
Fred barely had time to think 'Oh shit!" Before he suddenly felt a huge pain vibrate throughout his whole body and everything went black.