Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to JK Rowling.
Sirius Black, Behind the Veil
He was so afraid that Harry would be killed. Harry had been lured to Department of Mysteries by a false impression. When he found out what he had done and that Kreacher had told Harry he was not home, he was livid. Harry was in danger all for a prophecy. He and members of the Order of the Phoenix had arrived and were immediately engaged in a battle. Then Bellatrix was pointing her wand at him. He felt himself falling backward toward the veil and then the nothingness.
The room was large and white. He looked down and noticed that he was naked. He thought he needed clothes. A pile of neatly folded clothes appeared on the floor near him. "Hm-m-m-m, a lot like the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts," he thought. "I wonder where I am." He looked around and saw the foggy white atmosphere swirl and a solitary figure appeared.
"James!" he excitedly greeted. "Do you know where we are?"
"The waiting room," was the simple reply."
"Waiting room?" he asked. "What are we waiting for? What happens next?"
"We are waiting for our decision." James then proceeded to explain the choices. "This is where your soul gets its 'occupation' so to speak. If you are truly evil, the choice is made for you and you have no more opportunities. You can go on to your final destination like them. You can remain here for a while as a guide and greeter. These also are a guardian for a loved one. This is similar to a guardian angel in Christian religions. You can choose to be reincarnated and born again."
"I take it you have chosen to remain here and greet," Sirius said stating the obvious.
"I wonder what happens to those the dementors have removed the soul from," thoughtfully he continued. Suddenly a bright light appeared around them and they knew. "Whoa, that was strange," he commented on the experience. "So their soul waits here until they die or it is brought back to their body."
They walked on and then Sirius said, "I wonder if that's what is wrong with Bella. She killed me, you know?" He continued, not waiting for a reply, "I knew the dementors had gotten to her, but now she only has part of her soul. I thought she was entirely soulless my whole life. I guess that is the different between soulless and just plain wicked."
James turned to him and stated, "She was always wicked, but now she has only a fragment of her soul left. I didn't know that she had killed you."
"I think about the Longbottoms—they are still here, but not. Bella will definitely just move on to her final destination for the evil she had done." As an afterthought, he added, "But that is not for me to decide."
"Lily and I are both here and have decided to remain until Harry no longer needs us. We both have decided to be reincarnated after Harry fulfills the prophecy," James told him. "You don't have to make an immediate decision. Here's where I leave you with your thoughts."
In a blink of an eye James was gone and Sirius found he was alone again. Before he knew it, there was a comfortable looking chaise lounge waiting for him. He sat down on the seat, put his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his palms. Then a moment later he laid back and stared at the fog above him.
He contemplated his life. His youth had been troubling, rebellious, and angry with moments of joy, friendship, and love. His parents had been sorely disappointed in his views on life diverged from theirs. It had begun before he had gone to Hogwarts, but had been cemented when he was placed in Gryffindor. Even his aunt Andromeda had been a Slytherin and she had been disowned for marrying the muggle. James had replaced Regulus as his brother in his life, but never in his heart. He wondered where Reggie was. Sirius was certain that he was not as wicked or evil as others thought. After he disappeared in 1979 Sirius liked to think that maybe he was alive and living somewhere in freedom from the Death Eaters and their evil Lord.
Suddenly another shape appeared before him. He sat up on the chaise and the familiar 'person' drew near and sat beside him. "I'm still around," Regulus Black told his brother. "I have been waiting and trying to decide for a long time."
"I didn't want to believe you were dead," Sirius told him.
"When I discovered what Tom Riddle was doing, I tried to stop him," Regulus said matter-of-factly. "It was something, but not enough."
"But you must have been enough good that you have a choice."
"Redemption can come at any time in a life, but the longer it takes to discover that truth, the more it will take to achieve the final outcome," the younger brother replied. "Luckily, I didn't live long enough to have to repair a whole lot of that karma the Hindi talk about," he continued. "I have been watching you and was pleased to find you discovering, with a slight nudge, that the dementors could not reach your animagus form. You have tried to help Harry. He will be all right."
"I have missed you over the years," Sirius told his younger brother. "I often wondered what we would have been like if we had been anything other than sons of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. I gave Harry everything in my will. He is a Black and descended from Dorea Black and Charlus Potter. There are only five Blacks left now and three are not on the tapestry."
"Kreacher will help him," Regulus stated. "That is if Harry lets him. It will take a little work on Harry's part. You have turned Harry against him."
"You were always his favorite," Sirius said. "Kreacher hated me."
"No, he didn't hate you. He afforded you the same respect you gave him." Regulus went on, "House elves are beings like you and I on one level. Their purpose is to help. When they are respected they will help willingly, when they are given disdain or treated badly. Their nature is to obey, hence their punishing themselves when they don't. They are bound to their family and disobedience is not allowed. Respect is not obedience and that is why there is a nuanced difference in that obedience. If you order a house elf with a disdainful tone, they will obey, grudgingly. If you ask a house elf to do something in a kind tone, they will obey quicker and will be much nicer about it. They will even go beyond the request."
"I guess so," the older brother responded.
"I'll give you an example," the younger continued. "If you told Kreacher to fix you something to eat, you would get a sandwich made of two slices of bread and a piece of meat, probably the butt end of the roast where it is stringy and dry, and a glass of pumpkin juice. If I were to ask him for lunch, he would prepare a plate with sliced roast, potatoes and gravy, green beans with a dinner roll and butter and a pitcher of milk, which I prefer. It is all in how you treat those who you deem lesser than you."
"Do you want to know why I decided that Lord Voldemort did not deserve my devotion? He was cruel to Kreacher and treated him as though he were something disposable. That's when he became nothing more than Tom Riddle to me and I turned away."
The conversation continued for a time, but in the "waiting room" there is no time. Regulus left as James did and Sirius lay back down to contemplate the second lesson.
When he was next aware of something, it was a pull. He was being pulled to Harry. Next to him were James, Lily and Remus. His first thought was, "This is a Marauder reunion, minus Peter." Then they were in the Forbidden Forest and Harry was clutching the Resurrection Stone. They talked with Harry, who seemed to be resigned to death. Harry only wanted companionship of loved ones when he made the ultimate sacrifice. They promised to remain with him and they did until the end.
Suddenly, Sirius was back in the "waiting room". The strangeness of the whole experience was weighing on him. He was glad that it was Dumbledore's job to guide Harry. That would have been a great burden to bear. Sitting on his chaise he again contemplated his situation. Then he made up his mind. The room responded.
Sirius lay down and waited for the next lesson to appear, knowing that there was all the time in the world. When all the lessons were given he would return and live life again, hopefully as a better person.
Sirius was sitting in a large wing-backed chair across from his former antagonist, "No, that is wrong I was an antagonist in this case. Wait, I'm supposed to be giving a lesson to Sniv- Severus Snape! I didn't know that part of learning lessons was sharing knowledge."
Quidditch League Round 1
SEEKER: Write about your CAPTAIN's favourite pairing/character
From the Ballycastle Bats' Captain: my favourite character is Sirius Black, and pairing is James/Lily. Hope it's to your tastes. :D