Sirius Black fell.
The last noises he heard as he fell through the veil were the anguished screams of his godson Harry. He knew he should've felt pain, worry, distress, but surprisingly, all he felt was peace and tranquility in his soul. He closed his eyes, relishing the newfound peace & comfort as he continued falling...
And then he landed with a start. Sirius started and looked around. 'Was this the afterlife?' he thought. It was then he realized how much younger he felt; as he felt his face, he felt great relief that most of his wrinkles had disappeared, and his appearance was as that to when he was 21. His surroundings, which were foggy initially, were beginning to materialize into solid, tangible materials. Soon, he found himself standing in front of a house.
Sirius choked back a sob. This was his flat, a two level house that he had bought with the money Uncle Alphard and James had given him. He had made this his home, not far away from where James & Lily stayed at Godric's Hollow. Two months later, she had moved in.
Sirius trembled as he walked slowly through the gate and onto the front porch. This was where she had dragged her two stupendous bags of luggage across, before growing frustrated and deciding to levitate them inside instead. After her luggage, then came an entire wardrobe, and her own key. This was where he had met her, catching her in his arms and spinning her around before kissing her fiercely. This was where she had stomped out after a huge argument between the two of them, sobs threatening to break free from her. He had followed soon after, swearing under his breath, kicking any stray flower pots away as he strode towards his motorcycle. And that was where they had stumbled upon Apparating, both of them giggling like children, after they had apologised and reconciled and patched up, and Sirius had entertained her tremendously with some good old-fashioned pranks on unsuspecting Muggles.
He couldn't hold it in anymore. Sirius was a strong-willed man, and as nigh-indestructible to break as his best mate James Potter, but he met his weakness when it came to her.Tears slid down his face in cascading torrents as he began sobbing.
"Sirius?"
His breath caught in his throat as he saw who was standing in the doorway. She was just as Sirius remembered her before the Death Eaters murdered her and her entire family. Long slim legs, pale skin, yellow-blonde hair that went way past her shoulders, and those captivatingly familiar blue eyes that always made Sirius weak in the knees like no other girl could. She was gaping at him, a hand clasped over her mouth, her eyes glistening with tears as she and Sirius locked eyes with each other.
"M-m-marlene?"
Marlene McKinnon gave a strangled sob as she threw herself at Sirius, who wrapped his arms around tightly, almost as though he was trying to choke her. She sobbed into his shoulder while he took in her scent, her sweet marigold-flavored perfume that he had missed sorely for more than 14 years. He clutched her, terrified that this was all a dream.
"Marlene...Marls..."
"You're here, Sirius. You're finally here." She said, as she let herself out of the embrace and stared into his eyes.
"Marls, I'm sorry..." His lips trembled and tears began falling out again. "I'm so, so sorry...if only I had been there sooner... I'm sorry..."
"Shhh... it's okay, Sirius. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't your fault at all, I don't blame you one bit." Marlene said tenderly, stroking her beloved's cheeks. Her face fell. "If it's anyone who should blame it was me..." She let out a sob, "I caused you all so much pain, so much grief...I saw you all at the funeral... James was crying, Lily was crying... but most of all, you were crying, so hard, I'd never seen you looking so broken before..."
Sirius held her as it was her turn to sob unabashedly. "It's alright Marls, I'm here now. I'm here now. Nothing else matters. Can we forgive each other? It's obvious we caused each other so much pain."
Marlene sniffed and wiped her tears. "Of course. I forgive you, Sirius."
"I forgive you too, Marlene."
Marlene giggled as Sirius pulled her in, meeting his lips with hers in a long, passionate kiss that expressed all the mutual love, care and affection that could not be described with words.
When they broke apart, Marlene sighed happily and rested her head on Sirius's.
"Are James & Lily here?" He asked.
"Yep, they're here, and they'll be thrilled to see you. Which reminds me..." Marlene raised her head abruptly and glared at Sirius, who recoiled in shock.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL HARRY THAT HE HAD A GODMOTHER?!"
"I...I..." Sirius stammered.
"You were always going on and on to him about how wonderful and in love James & Lily were, but you never once told him about us?! It had to take him a visit to your old closet to find out!" She ranted angrily.
(Before starting his fifth year, Harry & Ginny had been cleaning out one of the old cupboards when they had came across an album of photographs featuring his parents, Remus, Sirius, Marlene and their other friends. It was only through old photographs of Sirius and Marlene kissing by the Black Lake, dancing as best man & maid of honor at James & Lily's wedding, and Marlene posing in a photograph with an engagement ring on her finger did Harry find out about Sirius's never-before-mentioned fiance.)
""I'm sorry, Marlene!" He blurted. His expression was so broken that Marlene's heart melted, and her expression softened as a result.
"I didn't want to mention you, because... I was afraid...I was afraid of being consumed by grief and sorrow over your death again..." He said truthfully, and Marlene's heart went out to him.
"Oh, Sirius..." She pulled in, kissing him more slowly, more lovingly this time around. When they finally broke apart, they rested their foreheads against each other. Sirius couldn't have been happier. He was back with Marlene, the girl with a will as strong as steel and a heart full of love, tenderness and compassion for those she cared about.
"Wow, I feel so ignored here."
Sirius and Marlene turned to see James and Lily standing there, looking exactly the same as their 21-year-old selves when they died. James was grinning and Lily was smiling serenely at them.
"We were going to interrupt you, but seeing as we're just as mushy and in love as you two, we decided to give you guys some privacy." James smirked. Lily rolled her eyes and swatted his arm playfully.
"Really, James? You were the one who wanted to interrupt them."
Sirius grinned at his friends.
"Prongs, Evans." He said, bowing slightly to Lily.
"It's Potter to you, Black." Lily said, unable to hide her smirk. They had constantly played this game with each other.
"You'll always be Evans to me, Evans. Even when our dear Jamsie insists otherwise."
James shook his head in exasperation, before laughing. "Padfoot, it's great to see you." He stepped forward and wrapped Sirius in a crushing hug, which Sirius eagerly returned.
"Thanks for taking care of my son." James said gratefully.
"Yeah," Sirius said, breaking apart from the hug before punching him playfully on the arm. "Thanks for dying on me. Mr Invincible "dwell the Brave at heart" my foot!"
The four of them burst out laughing. Lily stepped forward and wrapped Sirius in a hug as well.
"Thank you too, Sirius. For looking after Harry."
"Anything for you and James, Lilykins." He said jokingly, but Lily knew him well enough to hear the absolute sincerity in his voice.
They broke apart, and James clapped Sirius's shoulder. "Come on, Pads. We have a lot of catching up to do."
Marlene laughed, as she and Lily hugged each other. "Get in line, James. He owes me more than just catching up."
As he and Marlene wrapped their arms around each other, following James and Lily who were doing likewise, Sirius couldn't have felt more at peace. He was home, with his one and only love, and his two best friends. Life couldn't have been better.
Author's Note: A reminder that this is purely fan-FICTION and that my story in no way represents what the afterlife is going to be like. In fact, the Bible is very clear that after death, for the human soul, there is only Heaven for those in Christ Jesus, and Hell for those that are not. Please do not take the concepts of afterlife in this story seriously, please, do not.