When Sirius saw his evil cousin's curse coming towards him he instinctively knew that he was done for but as usual his only thoughts were for his beloved godson. Sirius had lived a hard life so in all honesty was more than ready for it to be over but he hated the thought of leaving Harry alone in the world, especially with everything that was going on at the moment.
Unfortunately there was now nothing that he could do about it. He hadn't quite expected to stumble backwards through the Veil of Death, narrowly missing Bellatrix' curse but the end result was the same: Sirius Black's life was over. In Azkaban and in the long, lonely years after he'd escaped Sirius had spent a great deal of time dwelling on what happened after death and while he liked to think that there was some way he could be reunited with Prongs and Lily the last thing he'd expected was to find himself perfectly coherent and all alone in a painfully brightly lit white room.
"God," Sirius muttered in disgust, praying that he wasn't going to have to spend all of eternity like this. Sirius was a people person and disliked being alone which was what had made his twelve years in Azkaban and three further years on the run all that much harder. He'd always thought that he'd find some peace in death but now it looked as though he'd been wrong. "Oi! Is anyone there? Can anybody hear me?" he bellowed, praying that this was some sort of a bad dream. He wasn't afraid of death but he the idea of being alone forever didn't bear thinking about.
Feeling an even greater depression than the one he'd fallen into this past year creeping up on him Sirius was slowly beginning to give up hope when all of a sudden the light in the room changed from white to black, which while it was easier on Sirius' eyes it made things a whole lot eerier. "You have a choice to make, Sirius Black," an ethereal voice said.
"What?" Sirius demanded, snapping to attention and looking around for the source of the voice, his hand instinctively going for his wand which was actually an old one of Moony's.
"You have a choice to make, Sirius Black," the voice went on as though Sirius had never opened his mouth. The voice seemed to be coming from all directions so Sirius had no idea who or where the person talking to him was. "It is a very important choice that could well affect the fate of the entire world. You have suffered greatly and sacrificed much in life so the fates have taken it upon themselves to offer you a choice of two different options in death that will hopefully go someway to alleviating everything that you have been through."
"Right," Sirius said, still very suspicious. He'd long ago decided that fate had it in for him but he couldn't believe that fate was actually a coherent, sentient being capable of something like this, whatever this was. Still, for now he decided to play along with what was happening as it was a much more pleasant situation than the one he'd been imagining. "So what are these choices, then?"
"Sirius Black, your first option is to move onto the afterlife," the voice said. "You will be reunited with James Potter, as I know is your greatest wish and you will finally be at peace."
Sirius' heart leapt at the possibility. How many times over the past fifteen years has he wished for a chance to see his best friend, practically his brother, again? What wouldn't he have given? For Harry's sake, though he'd put aside those desires and kept fighting but now he was dead and there was nothing else he could do for his godson so he allowed himself to dream again. Was this real? He wondered. Could what this voice, which he was almost certain was female, was offering be real? If he agreed would he really be able to see James again, to apologise for how badly he'd let the Potter family down after everything they'd done for him or would he be subjected to yet another form of unspeakable torture and make things even worse than they already were?
Actually, especially now that he was dead Sirius couldn't think of any way that things could get worse so as far as he could see there was no choice to make. He regretted the fact that he'd left Harry but there was nothing he could do about that but hope that Moony would look after him. Now, it was time, at last, to think about his own needs and what Sirius needed above all else was to see his best friend, his brother again and hopefully to earn James and Lily's forgiveness. "That's what I want to do," he said in a definitive tone. "I want to move on. I just want it all to be over."
"Very well, Sirius Black," the voice said. "Listen to the second option and after you've heard that if you still wish to go on to the afterlife then it shall be so. The second option that the fates are offering you is almost completely unheard of. In thousands of years of magical history this opportunity has only been offered to two other people and one of them turned it down. What you are being offered is the chance to send your thirty six year old memories back to the past, to your younger self, meaning that you will still be reunited with James Potter but the two of you will be very much alive, as will be Lily Potter and many others who died in the first war. Using your knowledge of the future you will have the chance to save their lives and to make a better life for yourself."
"Oh my god," Sirius whispered, tears filling his eyes at just the thought of the mere possibility. He had no desire to go through all the crap he had done during the early part of the war all over again but it would be better than going to Azkaban again. He would be alive again. James would be alive again and there was a chance they could save the world from everything that had happened over the past fifteen years. There was a chance that Harry would grow up with his parents and maybe even siblings and a chance that he personally could have the life that he'd dreamed of ever since he was a young child and had finally realised that he could never truly fit in with his family who were pretty much all dark; a family of his own who loved him, a wife, maybe even children.
For the first time in years Sirius allowed himself to think of Amelia, his one time fiancée and the absolute love of his life. He'd never seen her again after he'd been arrested but he'd heard that she'd gone on to become the youngest ever head of the DMLE and had never gotten married. Free or not there was no way in hell that Sirius would ever work for the Ministry again but Amelia's lack of relationships after his own imprisonment gave him hope that maybe if he went back they had a chance at the future they had been planning on before James and Lily had died.
The possibility that he'd go back in time and have the same thing happen as what had happened before didn't bear thinking about. He'd spent a lot of time fantasising about what he would change if he had a chance to live his life all over again and here was someone offering him that very opportunity. No matter what happened, he had to give this his best shot.
"So what is your decision, Sirius Black?" the voice asked. "I'm sorry but I need an answer from you now. Time is running out."
Put like that there really was only one decision that Sirius could make. He couldn't believe that he'd actually been willing to surrender to death only moments beforehand. His choice would be the harder of the two options but if he could pull it off it would very definitely be the best one. He chose life, for them all. "Option two," he said firmly. "Send my memories back in time."
"Very well, Sirius Black," the voice said, sounding very pleased, as though he or she had known all along that that was the decision he would make once he'd had both his options laid out for him. "Your quest will not be easy but if you persevere I am sure you will achieve your heart's desire. Now, though to make your mission easier I offer you two pieces of advice. One, is to tell James Potter the whole truth. Even though it will be difficult to burden him with such knowledge you cannot hope to do this alone and like it or not you need him desperately. He is your brother in every way that counts and would want to know about this as he will be able to ease your suffering and protect the lives of his wife and son if he works alongside you."
"Sure," Sirius, who had been planning on telling James anyway, agreed. He didn't think that he would have been able to look Prongs in the face and not say anything. "And the second bit of advice?"
"My second piece of advice is to visit Grimmauld Place," the voice said. "I know you hate it there and you do not have to live there ever again but you do need to visit and go through your brother Regulus' things. Not long before he died Regulus Black renounced Voldemort after discovering the dark lord's best kept secret. You too, Sirius Black need to discover this secret or Voldemort can never be destroyed. Kreacher, you family house elf will be able to help you sort through Regulus' things and give you the vital information that you need."
"Oh my god," Sirius choked, struggling to digest that little gem. For so long he'd hated Regulus for joining Voldemort – a part of him probably always would but the knowledge that Regulus had eventually seen the error of his ways made the two brothers' volatile history a little easier to cope with.
"It is time," the voice said a second later. "It is time for you to go back and start living your life all over again. Sirius Black, I wish you the best of luck."