Disclaimer: It's not mine. It never will be mine.
A/N: Quite a while ago, we had a debate in Compulsory Religious Studies that I dragged the RENT finale into in which a character dies and later wakes up claiming to have seen a "warm, white light". Everyone in favour of an after-life agreed that when we died, we would be met by family and friends. After that, we all had our own ideas of what happened. I said that I thought we would be given the choice to turn around and even the atheists got involved. How could we turn around if we didn't know what was waiting for us? We all came to the same conclusion…
Wherever he was, he was warm. That was something. He could feel a fire. Ah, so he was one of either three things; warming himself, in Hell, or being burnt at the stake. He was rather hoping for option number one.
Tentatively, Lupin opened one eye and took in his surroundings. No stake. That was a start. He winced, looking into brilliant white light. It was like staring at the sun. Slowly, his eye adjusted and he risked opening the other.
"Moony!"
Lupin's head shot up. He couldn't see anyone but he knew their voices. "Hello?"
"Back here!"
Lupin's eyes shifted from right to left hurriedly. He still couldn't see them.
"Oh for Christ's sake, Remus!" cried James. "For an intelligent man, you aren't half bloody stupid. Turn around."
And there they were; in all their former glory. James and Sirius were both wearing their school uniforms and grinning at him. He knew that he hadn't aged as well as he could have but he felt like a geriatric in comparison.
"Oh…hello."
"You don't look very happy."
Lupin forced a smile. How could he not be happy? He was with his best friends. He would no longer be plagued by Lycanthropy. He was home.
"Of course he's not bloody happy," said James, elbowing Sirius. "He's dead for Merlin's sake!"
"I am dead then? This isn't just one of my morbid daydreams?"
James winced. "It's a really long story."
"And we've only got twenty minutes to tell it."
Lupin raised an eyebrow. "Twenty minutes?"
"Something about the heart," said Sirius. "Lily's found all sorts of explanations for it and I'm sure she will be only too happy to share them with someone who actually knows what she's talking about as soon as we get back."
"Get back?" Lupin was dumbfounded. He had found his thoughts wandering off into this sort of realm in the past and never, not once, had the afterlife looked like this. He certainly hadn't gone anywhere. "Get back from where?"
James bit his lip and fell silent. It was obvious that he was choosing his words very carefully. "Actually, mate, it's a bit of a long story."
Sirius, who had adapted rather well to being a teenager again, elaborated somewhat. "Basically, Harry's about to die and he wants us with him."
Lupin gawped. He looked over at a grave James and realised that this was not an incredibly sick joke. He nodded. "Alright, but I don't know what use I'm going to be."
James sighed. "You can gag Padfoot for starters. Christ, Sirius, must you be so blunt?"
Sirius shrugged. "Blunt is what I do best. You know that."
