Disclaimer:

I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Mischief Managed Damn It!

Title: The Potter's Rewind (Working Title)

Posted Date: March 24 2024

Challenge: KGFinkel Challenge / Reptilia28's 'Don't Fear the Reaper Challenge'

Tags: James / Lily

Possible Challenges: Fake Prophecy, Snape Redemption, Pettigrew Redemption

Possible Pairings: James / Lily

Tropes not to be used: Bad Potters, Harry fighting Voldemort

A woman breathed heavily as she rushed into the room that had a few children's toys and a cradle where a small baby was currently standing to look at her, the previous happy expression slowly disappearing as he could sense the tension from her when she shut the door harder than normal and used her wand to do something to it.

"Harry, everything is fine." The woman tried to assure her child while she came forward to do something around the cradle with her wand. "Mummy will keep you safe."

"Dada?" The boy asked while looking about. The woman sniffled as she tried to focus on her task.

"Daddy is busy downstairs. He will come later." The woman tried to give a smile but only managed a grimace. The door behind her started to shudder with someone cursing behind it. "Come on!" She hissed as she tried to grab something only to drop it with a shriek as the item glowed before burning to ashes in seconds. "Damn it!" The woman cursed before she used her wand to create a dome around the cradle just as the door exploded into shrapnel inside the room. She got knocked over from the blast but thankfully was not hit by the shrapnel. She pushed herself off just as a dark figure wrapped in dark robes appeared from the ruined doorway.

"I am not after you, woman. Only the child. Step aside." The man spoke with a notable hissing in his words.

"Not Harry, not Harry! Please!" The woman pleaded with the man even as she pulled herself up using the cradle as a post.

"Step aside, woman. Step aside now." The red eyes narrowed in annoyance at the defiance of the woman.

"No, not Harry. Please! Take me, kill me instead!" The woman begged once more to spare her son's life. The hooded man raised his wand higher to aim for her head.

"As you wish. AVADA KEDAVRA!" A bright green light filled the room, with the sounds of her baby's screams and cold laughter filling the area, then all went black...

"Lily, wake up!"

And a pair of eyes opened widely to see the face of a man who was looking at her in concern. "James?"

"Oh, thank Merlin you are okay." Her husband slumped in absolute relief before he pulled her up into a sitting position. Doing that allowed Lily to see that they were no longer at Godric's Hollow, instead they were in a large room that was a cross between the classrooms of Hogwarts and the modern office building of London, the stone work blending almost seamlessly with the white walls. There were few rows of seats fixed to the floor much like those from train stations, and there was even a giant clock above them that showed the time, but with decorations of the sun, the moon and the stars.

Oh, and for some inexplicable reason, James and Lily were both naked with blurred out features.

SLAP!

"OW! What was that for?" James lightly rubbed the red cheek while Lily covered herself automatically.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner? And why are we naked?" Lily asked while she looked about for her clothes. "For that matter, where are we?"

"In no definite order, I have no idea where we are, I woke up not too long before you and have been looking about trying to find an exit when I stumbled upon you. You literally just appeared out of nowhere. And I have no idea why we are not wearing clothes." James answered before raising an eyebrow. "Besides, we have already seen each other naked, so there is no reason for you to freak out." Lily grumbled before noting someone's absence with a sinking heart.

"Where is Harry?" That question got James frowning.

"I do not know, I was hoping you would have an idea." Lily opened her mouth only to notice the hot breath coming out of her mouth and the temperature dropped slightly. The area seemed to dim slightly before a dark cloud came out from the ground a few feet away from them and gathered itself to form a shape. James quickly grabbed Lily and pulled her away from it while putting himself in front to act as a shield as the cloud solidified to form a creature that looked uncomfortably like a Dementor, only this one had a scythe on its back and a pair of glowing orbs appeared beneath the shadow of the cloak to form eyes that peered at them.

"Ah, what do we have here?" The being loomed over them. "New souls for me to process."

"Don't come any closer!" James held up his arms, both him and Lily cursing the fact they do not have their wands. "Did you bring us here!"

"Oh how cute." The being narrowed his eyes, "the mortal is demanding answers."

"Where are we?" Lily asked defiantly.

"Where, you ask?" A bony arm appeared beneath the cloak and reached to pull it back for the other hand to reach inside. James made sure that Lily was behind him as he pulled something out from the cloak and held it both hands, and then…

"POP!"

"BBBBBEEEEEPPP!"

"Welcome to the Limbo Processing Depot!" The reaper-like being cheered with a more normal tone amid all the streamers and confetti falling from the ceiling and the sounds of air horns being blown around them, before pulling back the cloak to bring out a rack of ice cream cones with different coloured ice cream. "Snow cone?"

"Wha?" James could not help the sound coming out of his mouth at that announcement, totally unprepared for the sudden shift. Lily was of the same mind but gathered up her wits.

"Excuse me? May we ask who you are and what is this place?"

"Oh, such a polite mortal." The being chuckled quite nicely in their opinion. "I am what you call a Reaper, essentially a Grim Reaper sent to those who are about to reach their end or there to collect them. You can call me Gary, everyone else does." Lily and James numbly nodded while processing the bit of them being in front of an actual grim reaper of death.

That, and he went by a common name called Gary.

"As for where we are? Well, normally after they die, souls go directly to the different levels depending on their sins and purity of souls, but every so often we will have souls like you come here, the Limbo Processing Depot, where we have to deal with the paperwork regarding some irregularities with your life. Depending on your answers, you will end up going to one of those doors over there." Gary pointed a bony thumb above his shoulder at the set of doors and gates at the far side of the room they were in, a sight that startled the couple since they were sure they were not there earlier. One was a pair of white doors with light coming through the gaps and a holistic feel to them. The second was a blue door that felt neutral like one of the reception rooms one would be led to wait for a period of time before moving on elsewhere. The third was a blood red door that had smoke coming out from the gaps and what sounded like the screams of the damned coming from the room. And finally, there was a black door that had no feeling, like a cold void that had the Potters instinctively stepping back.

"Ah, you felt that one, huh?" Gary nodded at their reaction. "Those doors lead to different places depending on the soul's weight of sins and actions. Souls heading for the white doors are bound to go to Heaven, Elysium, essentially the places where good souls go to after death. Most children who have untimely deaths and have yet to commit sins will go there unconditionally." Lily perked up at that, her muggle education helping her understand this and getting confirmation that such places existed was a happy distraction. "The blue door leads to a place that you may know as the Limbo, it is for those who may have some sins but have been judged worthy for redemption. They will be stuck there for a period of time depending on the weight of their souls and sins, then when they are ready, they get judged again before being sent to the other three doors."

"Okay, then what about the red and black doors?" James asked with slight trepidation from the stated doors.

"Well, I think you can guess what the red door is, but let me just answer you." Gary gestured to said door. "That red door is appropriately named the Inferno, the gateway to a place where souls with grave sins and actions would be sent for eternal punishment. Hell would be the place you are thinking of. As for the black door?" Gary paused for a moment, and the Potters were not sure if it was for a genuine reason or for effect. "That door leads to the Void. That is strictly for those with crimes so severe or those committing the Magical Taboos without remorse. Once they enter the room, everything about them gets erased to oblivion. Not even a chance for reincarnation. No exceptions."

The Potters gulped as one and looked to each other at that bit of information. They were certainly not wanting to be near that last door.

"Anyway~" Gary guided them to a booth that reminded James of the service counter at the Ministry, having them stand in front while he went behind it to look through a book that appeared in a cloud of smoke. "Since you are here, let's get you registered and read up. Let's see now." Gary used a bony finger to search while humming. The contrast was almost too much for the Potters and oddly enough, made Gary a lot scarier with how cheerful he sounded while looking at the names. "Ah, here we are."

"James Charles Potter. Son of Fleamont and Euphemia, oh I remember her, such a nice lady! She always enjoyed my snow cones! Hmm, a bit of a troublemaker in your youth, not very nice pranks as well." Gary looked up from the book and they got the sense that the reaper was frowning at James, making the wizard squirm a little on the spot. "You redeemed yourself a little by saving Severus Snape from your werewolf friend, but your attitude was rather problematic. Became an Auror to combat the bad guys, and ultimately died from Tom Riddle."

"Who?" The Potters blinked at the name.

"Tom Riddle, as in the dark wizard masquerading with the fake name Voldemort." Gary spoke slowly like they were dumb. "You know, the one that sent you both here in the first place."

"We never knew his name." Lily went to rub her forehead to relieve the headache. "Hell, I should have considered the idea that was never his real name to begin with."

"Well, you have been obliviated of the memories after you found out."

"What!" Lily snapped her eyes back to Gary who was reading the book again.

"Yeah, it says right here for you, Lily Marian Potter nee Evans. Your memories have been erased a few times before your deaths, each one regarding a secret that could have ended the war quicker if not for the fact the person you reported it to had stakes in the war. Well that sucks." Gary said nonchalantly before pausing. "Oh dear."

"Oh dear? What oh dear? I do not like 'Oh Dear' right now!" James was feeling very uncertain at this point.

"There is a notation here that the both of you are to visit the Big Guy if you ever came here." Gary's voice dropped the cheerfulness and actually sounded a little nervous. "Something in your lives must really be important for the request."

"Is that bad?" Lily's question made Gary look at her.

"In the 400 years I have taken up the post, outside of the two of you, eight others have been sent to the boss for personal processing. Of the eight, only two have been granted passage to Elysium and a third sent to Limbo for 5 years before being sent for reincarnation. Three went to Hell via the special trapdoor the boss has for those occasions they pissed him off, and the others got sent to the Void. The last one got the personal escort to be thrown in." Gary seemed to be shivering given the cloak's shuddering. "That was a very scary day."

Oh Gee, thanks for the frightening thought.

"In your case, being the parents of a prophesied child has bumped you up his list, I better get you guys to him now." Gary came around to get them moving, only to be stopped by Lily. "What's the matter, Missus Potter?"

"Erm, may we please have some clothes?" Lily was self conscious again after hearing that they had to meet the boss of Grim Reapers, and she was not sure if being naked was the best manner of greeting them.

"Oh right, you Brits are prudes. The French are more interesting." Ignoring their complaints at his words, Gary waved a hand and they were in clothes that they were comfortable in, James being in wizard robes and Lily being in modern clothing. "Okay there? If nothing else, we got to move." Gary ushered them along to a different door next to the booth and moved them through a long corridor that appeared to have small windows into what could be the lives of other people before them. Lily did pause at what she thought was an older Petunia before Gary got her moving to the end of the corridor where a big door was at. It was made out of dark wood that looked very sturdy, and had a symbol adorning it, made up of a circle, a triangle, and a line bisecting the two. A sound from James drew Lily's attention to her husband who looked like he had an epiphany about whom they were going to see.

"James, what is the matter?" James slowly turned to face Lily with an frightened expression.

"I think I know who Gary's boss is. And we have better be on our best behaviours." Lily blinked and turned back to the door with trepidation as Gary stepped forward to knock on the door.

What in Merlin's name was going on right now?

Author's Notes:

This idea is based from KGFinkel's Challenge from AO3. The premise is instead of Harry and Hermione who go back in time to fix things, it was James and Lily Potter who get the chance to go back in time to fix matters before the war got very bad.