Word Count: 1010
The great Sirius Black, dog Animagus, Marauder, survivor of Azkaban, killed by drapery. Sirius thought. Prongs and Lily-bean are going to have a field day over this. Prongs probably won't shut up about it for decades. He and Moony will have a laugh over it when Moony finally decides to join us. The thought of Moony silenced his thoughts. Merlin's teacup, no Moony. Prongs, Bean, Marly, Cassie, Fabian and Gideon, Edgar, Caradoc… but no Moony. Hopefully no Moony for a long time, but still…
He looked around. He was still in that in-between place, but as he looked around he saw a chair almost identical to the one he used to lounge on in Prongs and Bean's old place. He sat down.
"Goodbye Moony." He whispered. "We had a good run, didn't we?" The Marauders. Lasted a decade, we did, before Prongs, the tosser, decided he'd been around long enough and took Bean with him. Good riddance I say. No I don't.
We left you alone. Sorry about that. Did Josie ever come back? Why didn't I ask you that yesterday? Why didn't we tell anyone where she went? Did you ever find Honeybee? Why didn't I ask that yesterday?
I didn't want to die, Moony. You're the last Marauder now. Peter hasn't counted since '81. It's summer! Well, almost. The best season because no school! And the worst because only a nut job would want to spend two months with my parents. But I didn't want to die, to leave you alone. You don't function well without Prongs or Bean or Mama Mia or me to tell you to look after yourself.
Give Tonks a chance, Moony. If Josie hasn't come back yet, she won't ever. Move on. My little cousin likes you for whatever reason. Don't push her away. For a moment he remembered all the time he had with Moony, from their first meeting on the Express to right before the fight at the Department of Mysteries.
Then his eye caught a flash of gold and his mind went to his favorite professor, the only one who could get all three (four, his mind whispered, four. He shoved that thought away) Marauders to pay attention for longer than three minutes (Wiggins, who'd taught Muggle Studies, Babbling, who taught Ancient Runes, and their Fourth Year DADA professor McDevitt had all tied for second, each successfully keeping two of them entertained for one minute): McGonagall. McGonagall who'd been cursed with (hopefully) the most disruptive, chaotic, and creative group of pranksters in all of Hogwarts history, yet somehow managed to not murder them during their seven (and five-shut up, memories!) years under her instruction. I hope you think my soul deserves peace. Or perhaps you think I should have been given teens to attempt to guide and see how I like it. McGonagall, who had been the inspiration for him and Prongs (and Wormy) to become Animagi to help Moony. I hope we were worth teaching. We were eager to learn, just also impatient teenagers who couldn't sit still long enough to keep whatever House points we earned for our spellcasting. "It's summer, Professor." He said aloud. "New batch of Gryffindors in September. I hope you remember me when they turn their matchsticks into chopsticks by accident. And Prongs when they turn them into cutlery to show me up. And Moony when they turn them into needles to demonstrate what we're supposed to be doing (and Wormtail when they always master it, even if it takes three tries and a tail. Wormy was always good with tails and extra body parts hanging off the-no! Don't think about the traitor!).
Thinking about incoming Hogwarts students reminded him of Harry. "Oh, Harry." Suddenly he was angry. "What right did you have," he raged at nobody, "to take me away from my godson! He still needs me!" He deflated. He needs me-hah! I need him. The one person who never doubted me, who worried and fretted like his mother and grandmother, but never doubted me. He had faith in me, believed I'd be freed someday. He made me believe that too; he made me believe we could be a family-him and me with Moony to remind us to do our homework and pay the bills and not eat ice cream and Butterbeer for breakfast. Me and him and Moony. "Sounds like a song." He said aloud. He started humming it under his breath. "Me and him and Moony. Moony and him and me. Him and me and Moony. A dysfunctional family."
As he hummed, more things began to take shape around him. A fireplace was added in front of the chair, and a table, a couch, and a plate of cookies that looked exactly like Mama Mia's old caramel shortbread. A mantel appeared over the fireplace with photos he'd thought to be long gone, a carpet appeared under his feet, and he looked up to find a chandelier lighting up the room, just as the fire warmed it. Walls, a ceiling, more photos; a whole house was taking shape around him. The flash of gold became Gryffindor-themed wallpaper. He got out of the chair and went to look out of a window. Then he blinked. A street sign reading Potter Way intersected with one reading Gamp Court. "What the… ?"
His question was interrupted by a knock on the front door. Looking out the peephole, he saw two faces he never thought he'd see again. "Prongs and Lily-bean?" He threw open the door and twirled Bean around until Prongs pulled her back.
"Let go of my wife, you git!"
"What do you see in him, Bean? I mean, what's better than-"
"-my husband? Nothing, Sirius."
Prongs grinned at him. "Look, Paddy, she finally likes me!"
"Point, Deer."
"Shut up." And just like that, he knew he'd be okay. Prongs and Bean and him and (maybe, but hopefully probably, someday he'd find her) Honeybee and (someday in the distant future because enough Marauders have died young) Moony. They'd all be okay. He knew they would.
You know what I'm good at? Writing fanfiction. You know what I'm really good at? Avoiding the fact that I have to write two chapters for FNT by the end of February and I've barely started.
Anyway, yes, I imagine the HP universe afterlife as a city. Here's how it works: In the residential part, each family (pureblood or otherwise) gets a street. When the offspring of two families marry and/or procreate, the streets intersect. The longer a family has been around, the longer the street is and the greater amount of other streets that street intersects with. Each block of a street is a generation of that family. For instance, James Potter the First would be on Potter Way as it intersected with Gamp Court, because his dad is a Potter and I've always imagined that Euphemia Potter's maiden name was Gamp. Because Lily is a Muggleborn, though, she has to be on the same street as James because her side doesn't have a street exactly, since she's the first magical Evans. Sirius is on that street as well because he's always considered the Potters his family, not the Blacks. Helpful? I hope so, because this is what I'm going to use from now on as my HP afterlife template.
Also, Honeybee is Sirius's nickname for his fianceé, Phoebe Nightingale, one of my OCs, who disappeared about five months before Harry's parents were killed. Josie is Remus's old girlfriend who moved to California after they graduated to get a Muggle education too. Cassie is Dorcas Meadowes, Lily-bean/Bean is Harry's mum, and Marly is Marlene McKinnon, who I've always thought was one of Lily's best friends.
This took about twenty-two-ish days to write. The song this is based on is Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks, cover by Westlife. As usual, I don't put the lyrics to the song, but you can Google them.
Yes, I will get around to writing and updating FNT eventually, don't worry.
Ohhhkaaayyy byeeeee.