A/N: Okay so a long time ago I saw a post about a grim reaper au for 5sos, back in those fandom days and I have never been able to get it out of my head so I’m finally writing a fic that is heavily inspired by my memory of that post, though I can not find it, just know some other human has inspired me to write this, somewhere out there…also Harry doesn't exist cuz idk what I’d do with him in this story. This is modernized sort of, and it deters from canon obviously, I make my own rules for the afterlife. Reader will be in the next part!
The Marauders x Reader / Grim Reaper Au. Word Count: 3.1k
Warnings: violence, death, drugs, mature themes. Mentions of drug use but I am Canadian so weed is super legal here fyi.
Destiny is a funny thing, some people believe in it, some don’t. If you asked James Potter a few days ago what his destiny was he would probably tell you something super mushy about Lily like his destiny was to find her and marry her and build a family with her, but things change and no one controls their own destiny.
The door to their small home in Godric’s Hollow is broken down with a silent bang that shakes the floor under his feet, Lily rushes upstairs to hide and James is determined to keep his wife safe. A green flash of light fills the small home and James Potter’s eyes roll into the back of his head as he hits the ground and everything goes black. He didn’t even stand a chance.
His head becomes an empty void of nothingness for what seems like forever and simultaneously no time at all.
Until he feels his soul leave his body, he feels light, he opens his eyes and he feels hollow and barely there, his feet planted on the ground but he feels as if he could fall through the ground. He holds up a hand and looks at his palm, his skin looks faded and he can see through his skin.
“James Potter, your destiny has arrived.”
“Destiny... what? Where am I? Wheres Lily?” The questions fall out of his mouth in a mess of words and worry.
“None of that matters, it’s time to face your destiny.”
A cloaked figure appears before him in the never-ending white room he appears to be in. It’s faceless and holds a scythe, almost the same appearance as the dementors from Azkaban. But he didn’t commit a crime?
“The title is being passed, it is going to you, it is your destiny to guide the dead to the afterlife.”
“Woah wait, I don't accept, I don't want that job,” he stutters in disbelief before deferring to humour not knowing how to handle this information, “that sounds like a shit gig mate, no offence. I never sold my soul or anything why me?”
“A greater force has decided.”
“A greater force? No way, this is all some stupid dream, I’m gonna wake up and Lily is gonna be okay and she will be beside me in bed and everything will be fine.” James takes a deep breath as he closes his eyes.
“It is not an option and even if it was you can never go back to that life, you are dead. Your wife is dead.”
“What?” James’ heart drops, it was inevitable that Voldemort would kill her after him, she wouldn't be able to stop Voldemort, “where is she?” James turns and looks behind him as tears fill his eyes, panic fils his voice and his heart feels like a million pounds in his chest.
“She’s already gone,” The figure, this personification of death pulls out what looks like an enchanted short scroll. “Lily Potter, witch, angel, was taken to heaven by angels two minutes ago-”
James gulps, at least she was going to heaven, at least she wasn’t in a situation like this.
“I thought it was your job to bring people to the afterlife.”
“Not my job, it’s your job now. And only some people, it’s a shared job. Angels handle heaven and demons handle hell, I do both, or you do now.”
“Great!” James yells sarcastically, he can’t even properly mourn his wife because he’s found himself in such a weird fucked up situation he doesn't even know how to react to any of it.
The figure hands James a key and he reluctantly takes it, the figure fades away and suddenly James finds himself alone in a dark room. It’s large, there are windows but no light comes in through them, it’s very empty with basic furniture and a letter and an old-looking suitcase on the bed.
He slowly turns and looks around before grabbing the letter which reads.
~
Congratulations you are the new “Grim Reaper”!
Your position will last until a new replacement is chosen, anywhere from 100 to 100,000 years is the usual duration.
You are currently standing in your new home/ office/ living space. Though you are not really living, you are the personification of death and this place is called the in-between. You can travel to the living world, heaven (only the gates) or to hell using the scythe placed under the bed.
The scroll inside the suitcase will tell you when your next job is, who they are, where to bring them. You won’t receive a new job until one is completed. You can also use it to see lists of the recently deceased, all older inquires can be handled at the main office.
You will also find your uniform inside the case, it is a requirement to be worn when guiding the dead. The scythe can be used as a weapon to defend yourself from the living, the dead and the various things you may encounter in between.
In this current state, you still have your magic abilities you had during life and can use them however you see fit.
For any questions or inquiries please call our main office at 1-800-666-DEAD, or email me [email protected] , ask for Lana!
Sincerely, Afterlife HeadQuarters,
- Lana Lynch, secretary.
~
“This is fucked,” James says aloud to himself, he took out the black cloak and holds it out. He lets the material fall to the floor before pushing the case and letter onto the floor and off the bed, lying down and bringing his knees to his chest, hiding his face in his palms and crying himself to sleep.
Not only had he been murdered by an evil dark wizard, but he was now given the task of being the Grim fucking Reaper, not to mention his wife was also killed and he didn’t know if he could ever see her again.
He wondered if he would have been sent to heaven or hell if this problem hadn’t gotten in the way. If he’d be an angel with Lily if they could have spent eternity together. Was Heaven nice? Was Lily happy and at peace or was she frantically looking for James just to find out he’s not even there? And he won’t be coming any time soon.
-
The apartment in the in-between had grey painted walls, it was the size of a large apartment, it had a small kitchen with smooth tiles, a bathroom and a living area with a large grey bed with black pillows. The decor really was ridiculous, was the grim reaper allowed to have things with colour?
James wakes up and takes a few minutes to open his eyes not wanting to accept reality when he opens them he sees the awful gloomy place, the empty side of the bed and lack of warmth beside him, none of Lily’s wild red hair tickling his face as he pulls her close.
He takes a deep breath and gets himself out of bed, he pushes his messy curls out of his face and cleans his glasses with his sweater. Figures even as the grim reaper he needs these damn things. He grabs the scroll and prepares himself to read the first name, might as well get started, there wasn’t anything else in this apartment to distract him. The scroll was a brown faded short piece of paper rolled into a silver metal tube, he popped off the lid and unrolled the paper.
= Sirius Black, Wizard, destination undetermined, to be decided upon soul retrieval. =
As if things couldn’t get any worse, James’ best friend, Sirius Black was dead. Great. James’ first job as the fucking Grim Reaper was to bring his best friend to the afterlife, even better he got to choose his friend’s fate. He didn’t know that could be part of the job, deciding whether someone got to go to heaven, this sucks.
The tears fell quickly, James was just so tired, he just wanted this nightmare to be over. He was so emotionally drained yet his body still found a way to produce new tears as he fell to his knees and screamed into a pillow.
He doesn't want to put that stupid cloak on, he doesn't want to do this but a thought crosses his mind. Sirius is already dead, from whichever means killed him, probably Voldemort, and he was just in this state of nothingness just stuck waiting for James. With that thought he quickly throws the cloak over his jumper and jeans and old scuffed up converse, he pulls the long hood over his curls and the shadow of the hood hides his face perfectly making him appear like more of an evil shadow than a person.
He leans down and pulls the scythe from under the bed gripping it tightly in his hand. He figures it works somewhat like a wand, with nonverbal magic. He holds it close and wills himself to be transported to wherever Sirius is.
There’s a quick flash of darkness before James finds himself hitting the ground outside a building, his knees ache as he hits the ground and struggles to stand up and fix his cloak.
Sirius’ body is on the ground, he was killed by the killing curse, James can just tell. He must have been doing an order mission. None of his other friends appear to be nearby which makes James feel a tiny bit better.
Sirius isn’t moving so James pokes his foot with the scythe which makes Sirius’ soul leave his body and form his ghost form, hovering over the dead body.
Sirius opens his eyes and looks around, shock evident on his face, trying to accept the fact that he just died.
“Bloody hell,” is all he mumbles.
“Are those your last words?” James asks as he pulls his hood down awkwardly.
“James...mate! What the fuck is going on.”
“You died,” James says awkwardly pointing to Sirius’ dead body
“Yeah, and you and Lily died yesterday, what is going on…”
“I'm the new grim reaper,” James states as calmly as he can and Sirius can’t help but burst into laughter, he doubles over as tears stream out of the corners of his eyes.
“The Grim Reaper!” another burst of laughter.
“Sirius this is ...serious! You died and now I have to bring you to one of the afterlife’s, you’re dead, Lily is dead and she’s an angel and I don't get to be an angel or demon or whatever this is a serious problem Sirus I’m so screwed.”
“Wait do I get to go to heaven?”
“It said undecided, it’s up to me.”
“Well then just don’t kill me mate! Easy.”
“I didn’t kill you!” James yells defensively, “but I can’t just not bring you somewhere, where will you go if I don't? I can’t bring you back to life.”
“I’ll just hang out with you, we can be inseparable just like in real life,” Sirius states so calmly, so certain that this is what he wants for eternity. The words make James break, the tears fall easily as he grabs Sirius in a tight hug and is surprised to actually be able to hold his friend and not have his arms go right through him.
Sirius isn’t as emotional, but he hugs James back and smiles to himself knowing he would follow James anywhere, even in death.
“There’s no afterlife without my best mate!”
James takes a moment to calm himself down as he works things out in his head.
“Okay I’ll just never complete this job and they won’t be able to give me a new one!” James says as he calms his breathing and rolls the scroll up sending it back to his apartment.
“So who will bring all the dead people to the afterlife then?” Sirius asks.
“I don't know I guess the angels and the demons will handle it.” James shrugs not caring about his lack of responsibility.
“They are gonna have their hands full with voldy going around, he’s killed three of us in less than two days already-”
With that realization, both young men look at each other in shock and speak in unison.
“Remus!”
James grabs Sirius’ hand and then holds the scythe, hoping it will bring them to Remus but it doesn’t budge.
“Wait, hold on to this,” James mumbles as he passes Sirius the scythe. James lifts up his cloak and Sirius bursts into laughter yet again.
‘You’re wearing normal clothes under that!”
“Well did you expect me to be naked?” James defends his wardrobe.
“No, I just thought the big bad death guy’s uniform would be more than a black bed sheet with a hood.”
“Shut up,” James mutters as he grabs his wand from his back pocket, he grabs Sirius’ hand and apparates them both to Remus’ small apartment.
-
Apparently it had been a few hours since Sirius had died, Remus had already heard the news that his other friend had died, he broke two plates in his kitchen, failed to be able to eat any food, made a mess of his apartment and hid himself in his bedroom to wallow in sadness and mourn his dead friends. Oh and to get high enough that everything feels numb and nothing feels real so he can pretend his friends aren't dead and he isn’t actually all alone!
His bedroom door is closed, the coloured light from his lava lamp and led lights reflect on the walls and a mix of smoke and incense fill the air making his room one big faded rainbow cloud.
Remus is sat on his bed hunched over with tears dried to his reddened cheeks, his hair is a mess. He was going to put on a record an hour ago but the one he grabbed he realized had belonged to Sirius and he forgot to give it back so he’s been sat for an hour just starring at it completely zoned out.
“Hey, that’s my fucking record!” Sirius says before even thinking of a proper thing to say to their very much alive friend.
Remus screams at the top of his lungs and throws the record into the air, Sirius catches it.
Remus realizes his dead friend is stood in front of him, holding the object he just had in his hands, his other best friend who was also dead as of yesterday is there in a weird black cloak and holding a giant scythe.
“Fuck this,” Remus mumbles and then lies down in his bead and turns to face the wall, pulling his blanket over his head wanting to just sleep off this bad high.
“Could he see us?” Sirius asks James.
“He’s not supposed to be able to, how strong is that shit he’s smoking?” James says in disbelief.
“Remus!” Sirius yells and watches as Remus brings his palms flat against his ears trying not to hear what he thinks is just a figment of his imagination.
“It’s not real, your friends are dead, it’s not real it’s not real it’s just a bad high a bad high,” he mumbles, a few tears trickle down his face as his hands start to shake.
Sirius and James sit on the bed and gently shake him pulling him to face them again. Remus’ eyes are wide and he looks horrified.
“This isn’t real you are both dead!” Remus is crying as he yells at the figures in front of him.
“This is real and yes, we are both dead...sort of”
“No, if you’re dead you wouldn't be here this isn’t real, I smoked some bad shit, it was laced, must have been I got it from Peter, never take weed from Peter!” Remus shakes his head and hides behind his hands, wiping his scared tears away with the long sleeves of his jumper.
“Remus I’m dead why didn’t you just go take my weed, it’s not like I need it,” Sirius states so matter of factly as if that’s something a normal person would do.
“Are you asking me why I didn’t steal a dead man’s drugs? Oh, I don't know I was a little busy crying over your death to think about stealing your things!” Remus yells, offended and feeling a bit crazy.
“I'm TALKING TO MYSELF!” He yells and then gets up abruptly, pushing the blankets off and going to stand up before being stopped by the presence of his two friends, knocking himself over.
He reaches out a hand and places it flat on James’ face, smudging fingerprint on his glasses. And then gasping as he pulls his hand away.
“We’re real Moony, I promise,” James confirms.
“Okay, you better tell me what the fuck is going on and make it make sense quick or I might bash my head in what the flower pot.”
“Do it!” Sirius yells.
“No merlin, no don't kill yourself for fuck’s sake, Sirius.” James rushes to correct his dumb friend.
“Then he could be one of us?” Sirius asks confused.
“No, then either an angel or a demon would appear to take his soul and he’d be gone.”
“I said make it make sense!” Remus complains, and Sirus and James proceed to sit him down and explain everything they know to him.
-
The trio made their way to the living room, sitting on the chairs and couch in Remus’ apartment.
“So James is the new Grim Reaper, and Sirius got killed and you are just avoiding taking him to the afterlife for as long as you can.”
“For forever!” Sirius clarifies.
“Okay, so what happens when these, angels and demons notice you aren't doing your job at all?”
“They won’t? And if they do I'm the Grim fucking Reaper, I’m their boss!”
“Are you sure about any of this?” Remus asks and both Sirius and James speak in unison.
“We aren't sure about anything!”
Remus rolls his eyes and plants his face in his palms.
“Remus don't worry about it too much, you are still alive and you just get to hang out with us all the time!” Siriustries to make this sound normal.
“I'm too high to deal with any of this right now, wait why can I see you if you are both dead?”
“We have no idea!” Sirius says with a big dumb smile.
“Great, a lot of information you guys have here.”
“All the information you need is the phone number for the pizza place across the street,” Sirius says as he relaxes back into his seat.
“You’re dead do you really need pizza?”
“I'm like half-dead Moony, please be more sensitive to my condition.”
“Fine, I’ll go get pizza, put the Jurassic park DVD on and roll these.” Remus orders as he tosses Sirius the DVD boxset and hands James his grinder and a pack of papers.
Not much had changed for the boys now that two of them were dead, the way they spent their night wasn’t any different from any of their previous hangouts, and that was the beauty of it, enjoying the little things, like pepperoni pizza and classic dinosaur movies. Maybe this would work.
