Chapter 21: The Beginning
I blinked. And that was it. That was my life. It was bizarre, and crazy, and terrifying, and upsetting, and wonderful. Because I feel so much better now. Like James said I would.
“James?” I called out. “Lily?” I tried next. The next name caught in my throat, and I had to try again. “Lola?”
A door appeared out of thin air. I took a step towards it, and said her name again. There was a crack between the door and the frame, and a bright light seemed to be shining out of it, getting brighter and brighter, the closer I got. I reached out for the handle ...
“Boo!”
I screamed, swivelling around away from the door. James. “What did you do that for? What was that door all about?” I yelled, angrily.
“Just my little joke. Man, you scream like a woman. What’s with that?”
“You made me jump!” I said in my defence, but I couldn’t help grinning. It was so good to see him. He smiled knowingly.
“Feel better? Do you ...” he waved his hand around as if searching for the right word. “Understand more now?”
“I guess. Hey, is Harry all right?”
“I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t. And remember, just as I was here to welcome you Home, you must welcome Remus when he arrives.”
“Who welcomed you?”
“My Dad.”
“And Lily?”
“Lola.”
“And Lola?”
“Her aunt.”
“Oh. So Lily will welcome Harry?”
“Yes.”
“And Remus ...”
“Tonks.”
“What? Why?”
“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Being here doesn’t mean we know everything that will ever happen, it just means we’ll understand it when it does. We watch. We have fun. We talk. We laugh. We do whatever we want. If we get bored, we watch some more. Not necessarily the people we care about, either. There’s always something in the world worth watching. Lily likes weddings, bless her. I like watching school friends have random, everyday fun, because we had so much ourselves.”
“And that’s it?”
He spread his arms wide. “That’s it. Forever, as far as we know. You never get bored, because there’s always something to watch, and there’s always someone new to meet, and that’s if you’re not spending time with your friends, or “ in my case “ wife.”
“Is it just for witches and wizards?” I asked, thinking it wouldn’t be fair if it was.
“No, it’s for absolutely everyone who’s ever lived. That is, anyone who isn’t evil, and didn’t end up as ghosts.”
“What happens to the ones who are evil?”
James shrugged, “Dunno. Don’t particularly want to know, either. Do you?”
I thought for a moment. “No, I guess not. So ... is there anything else I need to know?”
“I don’t know. Do you have any more questions?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then follow me.”
We left the screen room, and entered a long corridor, with many doors. A sudden recognition hit me. “James, are we in the Department of Mysteries?” I blurted out. He stopped, and turned to look at me.
“No ... we’re in a whole other dimension, Sirius. Remember when you got stuck in that vacuum type thing after you first arrived? That was the In-Between. And as soon as a part of you wanted to stay dead, you went rushing forwards, remember? That was the journey between dimensions. And then you landed in front of me? That was your arrival here. Haven’t you been listening?”
“Of course! But this is a lot to take in all at once, and this corridor looks a lot like the Department of Mysteries.”
“Does it? Well, I never went there, so I wouldn’t know. Come on, it’s through this door here.”
I followed him through, and found myself ... in a meadow. There was a lake, and people were sitting around it, looking in. Not enough to feel too crowded, but enough to give the atmosphere of some kind of community.
“The lake is where you can watch stuff. Everywhere else is for you to wander, doing whatever you feel like. There are hundreds of places you can go in that corridor we were just in, but this is where Lily and I like to be. It feels most like home, we think. Lola’s usually around here, too.”
I looked over at him, and he smiled a small smile. “Soon,” he said, and I knew he was referring to when I could see her, just as I knew he knew I wanted to know. Which makes sense if you say it slowly enough.
I followed him over to the edge of the lake.
“What do you want to see?” he asked, as we sat down in front of it.
“Harry,” I said, with rather a lot of certainty in my voice.
“So see Harry,” James said profoundly.
A little uncertainly, I looked into the lake, but I suddenly saw him, as if I was there, standing over him. He was asleep in the Hospital Wing, a bottle of Dreamless Sleep potion on the table at his bedside. It was as if I was standing right by his bed. I stayed there for what felt like hours, with people occasionally bustling around, but not paying any attention to me. Probably because I wasn’t really there. Eventually, I looked around, and realised where I really was.
James smiled, encouragingly. “It’s like you’re really there, isn’t it? Lily and I have been with him through all his main adventures in life. It’s a bizarre feeling, but eventually you get used to it. And speaking of Lily ...”
She came up behind me, and tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped up. “Lily!” I cried, and threw my arms around her. She laughed.
“Hey, Sirius. You haven’t changed.”
“Yes I “” I began to protest, but then I remembered what James had told me. Here, you look like you did when you were at your happiest. I look about twenty-two “ after all, my happiest was with Lola, running the shop with Jack and Penny. Both Lily and James look as they did around the time when they died, a couple of years older than how I appear, because my top personal happiness ended before Harry was born “ when Lily and James were at theirs.
“So, where’s ...?”
“Lola?” she asked, and smiled at me, her eyes shining. “Right behind you.”
I whipped around for what seemed the hundredth time in ten minutes. I wished people would stop doing that. But then, there she was, looking the same as when she died. Her long, light brown hair tumbled, loosely curled, down her back. Her brown, nearly black eyes sparkled.
For a moment, all we could do was stare. And then she jumped up, flung her arms around my neck, and kissed me.
It felt as if no time had passed at all.
And so, time goes on. I’ve settled into ‘life’ at Home considerably well. I can watch Harry whenever I like. I can talk to Lola, to James, to Lily, to people I don’t even know. I’ve spoken to LaLa before now “ she’s found a group of strange but wonderful people from various eras in time who have taken her in. She says that after spending her life grasping and flailing in the dark to find somewhere to belong, it was death which finally brought that privilege.
And so, time goes on. The possibilities of this place are endless, but like James said, mostly we stay in the meadow, by the lake.
And so, time goes on. When Remus dies, I can welcome him here. Lola will welcome Tara when she arrives, and it will be nice to see her again, to find out how she’s changed, after all this time. I don’t particularly miss life on Earth. Being here in Lily’s words, “is like living, but with less worry, and more sparkle.” The only hard part is not being able to talk to the people who haven’t ‘moved on’ yet. But I know that when they do, I’ll be able to talk to them forever, if I want.
And so, time goes on.
BN:*Ahem. I'd just like the say that I've been with this story from the beginning and it rocks and you should all give Pussycat123 a big round of applause for all her hard work and I'm so sad and happy that it's ending and...Okay, I'll stop now. Go Pussycat!* ~ Chomione, beta and best fish to Pussycat123
AN: Thanks Chomione! I’m going to take this opportunity to make a just-won-the-oscars style speech. Ahem ... *wipes dramatic tear from eye*
I would like to thank my best friend, and wonderful support, Chomione, for checking over EACH AND EVERY ONE of these chapters, and pointing out mistakes, and offering her constructive criticisms. I would also like to thank ForbiddenLove and Twizzle_loves_Lupin for being wonderful (and, in Twizzle’s case, for checking over chapters 18 onwards for me). I will also mention my little brother CheeseKing, because I’m sure he doesn’t want to be left out. I would also like to thank all the mods who have helped me with this fic (literally couldn’t have done it without you). I think it was Magical Maeve for earlier chapters, and Vindictus Viridian for later ones, although I’m not sure when the changeover was. Probably around the time “ok” turned to “okay”! ;D Thanks you guys! Finally, I would like to thank everybody who ever read, reviewed (and who will review in the future), particularly the ones who have faithfully stuck with this fic all the way to the end. And anyone who put this on their favourites. You guys ALL rock, you know who you are!
If you’re distraught that this is over, and aren’t reading The Things I Do For L.O.V.E, you can always do that to ease your pain! I love and reply to all reviews, so don’t hesitate to drop me one sometime. I also have several one-shots you might want to check out.
So, here’s the big question ... WHAT DID YOU THINK? Not just of this chapter, but of EVERYTHING? What was your favourite part? Who was your favourite character? What was your favourite quote by Sirius? What was your favourite quote by one of the other characters? Who were your favourite couple? What bit made you saddest? What bit made you happiest? What bit made you laugh most? Thanks again for reading, especially if you reviewed. If not ... well, what are you waiting for?
Toodle-pip!
**Pussycat123**