AN: The character of Sirius Black (and any others you recognise) belongs solely to JKR, just as the world she created does.
Hello, and welcome to my fic! I have recently edited and improved these early chapters, because I wasn’t particularly happy with them, but I’ve kept as close as possible to the original! Any changes are for the better. I really hope you like it, and thank you for reading! I would like to thank my brilliant friend “Chomione” for believing in me, and for offering her constructive criticism. I would have given up by now if it weren’t for you, so thank you! Now, I shall keep you no longer, please enjoy.
Chapter 1: The End
“Come on, you can do better than that!” I yelled, laughing at my cousin Bellatrix. It was a phrase I used solely for taunting her. I always had done. I saw her eyes darken and suddenly a flash of light was coming towards me. I watched it hit me straight in the chest. At first it just felt as if the breath had been knocked out of me. Then, as I fell backwards, I realised it was not my breath, but my very life.
And then, everything was black. I heard someone calling my name. They sounded scared. And I knew that voice. Something about that voice made me feel something “ a mixture of happiness and pride and love. Was it James? No. Lily? No. Remus? No. Lola? No, as much as I wished it, the voice was not hers. And then it came to me. Harry! Harry was screaming my name. He was yelling for me. I had to get back to him! I had made a promise. I had to protect him. I just had to get back to him. I tried to move, to walk back out from the veil, tell old Death thanks, but no thanks, life will do for now.
And so, I put every thought, every scrap of energy, every bit of willpower that was left in my body into moving out of the black hole I was trapped in. Minutes passed and nothing happened. And slowly, it began to dawn on me that I wasn’t going anywhere. Against my will, I began to think that if I was truly dead, maybe it wasn’t so bad. I could see everyone I’d lost once again. I thought of each of them, and the moment a part of me wanted to stay dead, I was moving so fast that everything was a blur of colours. And then I landed face first at James Potter’s feet.
“Blimey, mate! Have you forgotten that a Marauder always lands on his feet?” James asked, pulling me roughly up. “You haven’t changed. I wasn’t sure, you see, but I must have known you were happiest when I was around!”
I was still in shock. And I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. I told him this, and he laughed. Then he handed me a mirror. I looked into it and got the shock of my life. I looked in my twenties again ... my face was full and healthy, my eyes had no trace of the sunken look they had picked up from Azkaban, and my hair shined, it was jet black again, with no traces of grey. I looked great. I told James this too, and he laughed again.
“Yeah, the thing about this place, is that you look like how you did when you were at your happiest. Even if you’re really old, you could look twenty one, if that’s when you got married or something,” James explained. I was still trying to take everything in.
A thought crossed my mind. “You look the same age as you were when you died, though. How come you didn’t change?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Because I was happier than I’d ever been when I was married to Lily, and we had a son. Isn’t it obvious?”
“Um, no,” I admitted. He shrugged. Then I wondered why he hadn’t asked me how Harry was. Surely it would be the first thing he asked? “Listen, so you know, Harry’s fine,” I quickly assured him. “Well, I hope he is. Last time I saw him we were “”
“In the Department of Mysteries, I know. What, did you really think I wouldn’t take an interest in my own son’s life? Lily and I spend most of our time watching him,” he said. The comment made me realise that she wasn’t there with him. Before I could open my mouth to ask why, he told me, “She’s still making sure he’s all right. But I had to be here, to welcome you to this place. See, everyone who comes has to welcome someone at some point. For me, it’s you. And when Harry dies, it will be Lily. I’m supposed to tell you that you’ll have to meet Remus when he arrives.”
“Oh,” is all I could say. James stood there. He smiled. He seemed to be expecting something. “Uh ... I missed you?” I tried.
“I know,” he said. His smile didn’t falter. I tried again.
“And, uh, I looked after Harry for you.”
“I know,” James said again. He was still smiling. I had forgotten how infuriating he could be sometimes. I gave up.
“What? What are you waiting for me to say?” I demanded. He sighed.
“Don’t you want to know where you are?” he asked. I thought seriously about the question. Did I? I wasn’t sure.
“Is it ... heaven?” I asked.
“It has many names, popular ones being ‘Heaven’, ‘The Other Side’ and ‘The Afterlife’. I call it ‘Home’,” he said, and I got the feeling he had practised that little speech several times. Calling it ‘Home’ seemed odd to me, though.
“Why? Isn’t Godric’s Hollow you’re home?” I asked.
“All that doesn’t matter any more, Sirius. It was my home, but here just feels right. It really does feel like home. And if I wanted, I could probably make it look like Godric’s Hollow, like anything I wanted,” he said. I was confused.
“But how?” I asked. He smiled, like he had his own private joke, damn him.
“Maybe I’m not explaining this well...” he mused.
“I’ll say! I am lost, mate, lost!” I shook my head and he laughed. I had forgotten what it felt like to make him laugh. In fact, I had forgotten just how much I had loved him.
“Time and space, they’re not the same. The room we’re in now, it’s pretty small at the moment. But I could make it as big as Scotland, even bigger, if I really wanted. I could make it the size of a broom cupboard, but we’d be a little uncomfortable.”
“Wow,” I said. I really was impressed. “How do I get to do that kind of thing?”
“First, you have to watch your life,” he told me meaningfully, which made no sense at all.
“Watch my ... watch my life?” I asked, in confusion. I had every right to be confused, too. My best mate had clearly become a nutter since he died.
“Yeah. I did it. Just the important bits of course, otherwise it would literally take a lifetime. Bits are cut out. I mean, take out the sleep, and that’s already down by half, right? And all those boring, average days, you don’t have to watch them.”
“Why do I have to watch my life? What’s the point?” I asked, as I genuinely didn’t know.
“It’ll help you sort things out. So you can be at peace,” he shrugged. Suddenly, Lily came bursting through the door.
“James, James, come quick! I think Harry could be in trouble, he went after Bellatrix!” she gabbled all at once. “Hi Sirius,” she added, distractedly, when she saw me. Then she grabbed hold of James’s arm and dragged him away. James said something about me ‘watching the screen’, before he left. I was worried about Harry, but not surprised he had gone after Bellatrix. After all, she just killed me. No wonder he’s angry. Still, I had faith in him. He can handle himself pretty well ... so far.
I looked around for the screen James had mentioned. Then I realised that one of the walls was just one big screen, which I suppose I should have noticed before, but I was pretty distracted by seeing my dead best friend again for the first time in fifteen years. I also noticed a comfy looking armchair and I sat down on it. “So how does this thing start?” I asked myself out loud. And when I said the word ‘start’, the screen flickered and began to play ...
AN: Thanks for reading this! By the way, only this chapter is in first person, the others won’t be. This is a tribute to Sirius Black. All who love him, will (hopefully) like this! I’ve also edited parts since the original, so hopefully it reads smoother. Please review, I’d love to know what people think ... of the newer version or in general.