Thank you for taking the time to read this! First off, I have no desire to change anything at all from J.K.'s books. So that makes it simple, nothing has changed. Also, I am going off of the movies as well as the books, since the differences are not too drastic. Like many of us out there, I was devastated when Sirius fell behind the curtain in the Department of Mysteries. So enjoy my attempt to save him^_^

Chapter 1: Unknown

"Nice one James!"

James….James….James…

Everything was a twist of dark and blinding colors as Sirius fell into the depths of the unknown. The air felt alive as it wrapped its non-existent arms around him, breathing on his face as if trying to whisper something lurid and forbidden. Sirius thought he could make out some kind of image lurking in the distance. It looked like marble stairs leading up to a translucent archway, but it was too hard to tell while he was falling through all the chaos.

...

A small, discolored hill rested in the distance. There was nothing unusual about the hill, unless you took into account that it was gently holding a young boy of about 15 as he lay asleep. He was relatively thin, a little on the tall side, with deep brown spiky hair, which made his insensible countenance quite dreamy as it rustled in the wind. Slowly, his azure eyes began to open; he closed them tightly again.

"Where…what just….I can't think, what just happened? Cold….my head feels so cold….almost….empty…empty…as if something is missing…aghh…why can't I think straight?"

He covered his face with his hands, as if it would help him to remember something. Maybe this was a dream. Then why did it feel so real? Finally recovering his courage, he opened his eyes again. The grey sky looked real enough, although its stillness made him shiver. So then, if this was not a dream, where was he? He heard footsteps nearby. Instinctively he reached inside his cloak for his wand. As he tried to sit up and retrieve his wand at the same time he suddenly felt dizzy and fell back down.

"Who are you?" he distantly heard a voice ask.

He couldn't think. His mind seemed to have completely lost any grasp it may have had on reality. Hooded figures surrounded him; taunting him. They appeared to be part of some sort of sect. Their words came out unclear, but he knew whatever it was that they were saying, it wasn't good. He felt one of the figures nearest him touch his arm. They were so full of evil-of death.

"NO!" the boy screamed jerking up and blindly looking around. "Death Eaters! Bella—" He clutched his head in pain. "Aghh, I can't—remember"

"What are you talking about? And what are 'Death Eaters'?" A woman's voice asked.

As the boy's vision came back into focus he looked up at a woman that had knelt down besides him and put her hand on his arm. Apparently she had been trying to help him up. She was young, and it seemed like she was once quite beautiful, but her face was dim now and her eyes had a sad look in them.

"I'm…not sure" he replied, still holding his head.

"Well," she said, apparently as confused as he was. "Could I at least get a name?"

"I…" He felt dizzy again. Someone was calling his name, he could almost hear it. "Nice one James! James….."

"James" he told her.

"Well James, what are you doing here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that."

"You mean you don't know?"

"No I…can't remember anything" He said quietly.

"Perhaps you hit your head or something. Either way, a storm is coming and you should not be out sleeping on a hill in a world like this, it's dangerous. Why don't you come to my house? I was just making supper when something moving over here caught my eye." She offered him her hand again. After shaking and almost falling over again James was finally able to stand and gaze around him. Everything seemed normal enough. There was a small house at the bottom of the hill and beyond that a narrow path leading into the woods. Yet, somehow, the whole place gave him an unnerving feeling, as if a most horrid kind of darkness had draped the whole world. Carefully the woman led him down the hill, because he was still shaking a little.

"Umm, sorry but did you say it was dangerous to sleep in a worldlike this?" he asked. The woman stopped.

"Oh. I understand now. You are new here."

"What do you mean I am 'new' here? I have lived for awhile you know, I'm 15!" he argued. "…at least…I think I am 15"After awhile he asked "Are you implying that this is not my world? Then what is it?"

"I should have known," she replied. Your face shows that you are full of life. You must be new here."

"Are you saying that I am going to lose that life?" James asked, becoming more bewildered by the minute. She did not respond, but he could see that he had said something to bring that sad look in her eye even more to life, if that was even possible. After awhile she spoke up.

"It would be better if you ate before I explain anything"

Seeing that he was not going to win this argument James sighed. His mind was spinning too fast for him to argue. "Alright, I do still feel dizzy and I am hungry now that you mention it."

"Good, because I always make too much anyways" the woman said as they approached her house. It was perhaps the saddest place James had ever seen – not that he could remember seeing any others. The stone steps leading up to the door were cracked or missing altogether, the garden around the house was full of dead weeds. The few flowers that had managed to find their way into the rubble were also dead. Even the house itself was worn and faded.

"It seems like everything else in this…world"

"I hope you like potatoes, they are one of the few things that grow around here." The woman said almost cheerfully.

"Uh…yeah potatoes are fine." James said blinking, realizing they were at the door. "Thank you ..uh…I don't even know your name."

"It's Merry."

...

The inside of the house was much cozier. Warmth flooded over James as he stepped inside. From what he could tell, there was not much there. A small couch and a couple old chairs lay to his right, the kitchen, which was where most of the heat was coming from, to his left.

"Are you hurt?" Merry asked, looking him over with a worried expression.

"No," He blinked, not realizing that Merry had come around and stood in front of him. "Just dizzy."

"Did you fall or something? Oh, never mind" She said seeing the vacant look upon his face. Behind her, the oven went off. "Why don't you go wash up while I take the rolls out?"

"Yeah, okay" James said, turning away. "Where is…"

"Down the hall, first door on your right" She answered before he could finish. James thanked her with a half smile. Stumbling through the door, he let out a huge sigh.

"I don't want her to see me like this, she has been so kind already, but what could be wrong with me? Why do I feel so empty inside?" Slightly refreshed by the cold water, James straightened up and stared at his reflection in the mirror. "I look different somehow." He looked at himself more closely. Same clean skin, (annoyingly clean, as he thought) same deep blue eyes but something was different." Maybe I am just hungry, that would explain how empty I feel." He thought, laughing to himself, though he knew as he closed the door and walked back towards the kitchen that that wasn't the truth.

Merry was setting the table when James returned. The sweet smell of freshly baked rolls, potatoes and chicken filled the entire house. (Though that was not hard to do, because it was such a small house)

"Feeling any better?" Merry asked.

"Umm yeah" he lied. "Do you need any help?" he asked, hoping to change the topic.

I think we are about ready, why don't you put this on the table," she said handing him some butter "while I pour the drinks? Oh and James, if you want me to wash your cloak you can put it on the couch over there." She added, pointing to his left.

"Yeah okay" he complied, looking down at his cloak. He had not realized how dirty it was. "But why is it dirty?" he wondered. "What happened to me? Well at least we are ready to eat, then I want answers." Laying his cloak aside, James walked over to the table and placed the butter down; it was after a large gust of wind blew through an open window, chilling him all over that he remembered.

"My cloak! My—"

"What is it?" Merry asked closing and locking the window. "Are you cold now? I have another cloak you can borrow until I wash yours if you would like."

"No, it's not that, I just remembered…" He ran over to his cloak and began searching through it, Merry staring on in wonder. "No! It's not here, but it has to be!"

"Calm down! What is not there? What are you talking about?" Merry asked.

"My wand! It's gone!" Giving up, he tossed the cloak aside and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Merry said

"If it is not in my cloak it must have fallen back on the hill when I…well when whatever happened to me happened. I have to go look for it."

"A storm is coming! You can't go out in this weather!"

"All the more reason for me to go find it now, what if the wind blows it further away? I'm sorry but I have to go. If I hurry, I am sure I can make it back before the storm." He began opening the door.

"But your wand is useless here!" Merry cried, as if in one last vain attempt to persuade him to be reasonable.

"What do you mean it's useless here?" He demanded, turning around to face her.

"Well…I…I just meant…" She stammered awkwardly. Obviously she had no idea how to explain herself.

"Well? You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"No please, let me explain…"

"There isn't time. I have to go."

"At least let me come with you then."

"If it is as dangerous as you say it is then I don't want you to risk yourself for me." With a smile he added, "Don't worry, I've survived a lot worse then a bad thunderstorm before." With that, he shut the door behind him.

...

The brutal wind whipped around his face as James slowly made his way back up the hill. "Why didn't I bring my cloak with me?"

Cursing under the harsh wind James continued back up the hill. Coming to an abrupt halt he stared around him. He was sure he had seen something move out of the corner of his eye. A loud crack of thunder roared, making James jump. It was then that he saw it again. A black streak had run past him again. Captured in fear, James stood there staring at it. At first he thought it was smoke, or some sort of black vapor, but as looked into the heart of it he realized it was someone—or something—merely covered by the murk. It slowly advanced towards him.

A sudden burst of red light made both James and the dark figure jump. James jerked around trying to see where the light had come from. Turning back, he realized that in that second he had looked away his predator had disappeared. He tried to decipher which way the strange figure had run away. More sparks flew up, this time purple, and he was able to catch them coming from just on the other side of the hill before they faded away. As another crack of thunder threatened him, he changed his direction and started up the hill.

"Why would I want to chase that thing anyways?" Feeling a jolt of guilt for being so afraid James hesitated. Maybe he should go after it. Another huge wave of purple light went up again. "I wasn't even sure which way it went." Deciding that pursuing the light was an acceptable reason for not chasing that living nightmare, he continued on his way. Reaching the top of the hill he peered around. It was getting so dark he could hardly see a thing. He felt something cold fall on his hand. "Rain. Great, I don't have much time now. I have to find my wand." He had barely finished his thought when a loud yell came from right in front of him. James could just make out the build of someone about his size hiding in the shadows. A flash of lightening gave James a quick view of a teenage boy fiddling with something in his hand. Whoever was standing there, he had James' wand. Without thinking James tackled him, a little too hard he thought when he his head crashed onto the ground as they fell over.

"Wha-ahh!" James heard him say as they tumbled over.

"Blimey just knock a guy over why don't you?" The thief gasped when they had stopped rolling.

"Why do you have my wand?" James demanded, still pinning the thief to the ground.

"Your wand…this is yours?" he said as he pushed James off him and held up the wand. "Look I just found it on the side of the hill, I didn't…I mean I just found it and was trying it out I..." he stuttered "Who are you?"

"J—James" James said, but the minute he had said it he became dizzy again and fell back over. "And you?"

"Chester" the teenager replied. For a moment they just sat staring at each other, and then both of them laughed, and helped each other up.

"So did you see that shadow thing while you were goofing around with my wand?"

Chester looked puzzled. "Shadow thing? Did you hit your head or something?"

"But you must have seen it, it was nearly on top of the hill….and then you sent up red sparks and it ran away."

"Red sparks? I only sent up purple ones, at least, that is all I could get this thing to make" Chester added, waving the wand around carelessly.

"What do you mean? I saw red sparks fly up." James insisted. Though the look on Chester's face clearly told him that he thought James had hit his head pretty hard. Chester opened his mouth to say something, probably to confirm the look on his face when the rain started to fall harder.

"We should go back" James said, hoping to cover up the awkward moment.

"Do you live around here?" Chester asked.

"No but I have a friend, come on." James said tugging him down the hill.

...

Merry had obviously been waiting for James at the house, because as soon as they reached it, she opened the door to let them inside.

Did you find your wa—who are you? Merry asked as Chester came in behind James. "And why are you two so dirty?"

"This is Chester, and we sort of….fell down." James explained.

Merry let out a sigh. "Well at least you are safe from the storm, I was about to come looking for you myself, well, come on now." She gestured with her hand that they should go to the table. "Don't worry about washing up, we'll eat first. Goodness knows you both could use the weight on you." She added looking them both over.

A short time later the storm was obviously furious that the boys had escaped its grasp, and was showing off its rage against the window with as much wind and rain as it could throw at them. Trying to ignore this disturbance, they were all seated around the table. (Merry had set another place for her second unexpected guest) As Chester was attempting to eat his entire meal at once while at the same time sip his drink James eyed Merry with a look that clearly showed that his appetite lay with the answers he so desperately wanted at the moment.

"You have barely touched your meal, I thought you were hungry?" Merry said calmly.

"Well…"

"Yeah are you going to eat that roll?" Chester interrupted James.

"I want answers okay!" James stood up. Where am I? What happened? Why can't I remember anything?

Chester finally stopped eating long enough to swallow. "You didn't tell me you just got here."

James felt his stomach cave in from anger, (or possibly hunger since he still had not eaten) "Does everyone but me know where I am?"

"Just got where?" he demanded standing up and pushing his chair back with a jolt. "Are you going to give me answers or what?"

Merry remained calm. "Please sit down dear" she asked.

"Don't call me that."

"Please…James, sit down and I will try to explain, but try to eat something okay? You look like you are about to pass out."

"What do you—" James wavered backwards and grabbed his chair for support. Chester had remained quiet until now; he jumped up to help his friend.

"I'm fine" James persisted.

"You are shaking all over, Merry is right you should sit down and eat." Chester barely had to help James as he fell back into his seat.

"Fine but one of you had better start talking." James grabbed his roll back from Chester and crammed it into his mouth. He immediately felt better.

Chester leaned forward. "So what is the last thing you remember?"

"Re—remember?" James stuttered.

"Yes." Merry said. "How did you die?"

James coughed up his food.

...

Business was quite slow tonight in the young barkeeper's pub, perhaps because of the storm. He yawned loudly as he finished washing his last table. He looked over longingly at his magazine which awaited him in his comfy chair, and then at his broom. He sighed.

"No one cares anymore how dirty a floor is," He said aloud to himself. Convinced he had done enough for the day he retreated to his chair.

He hardly read through the first sentence when his eyes began to falter from lack of sleep. Just as he was drifting off something outside one of the windows caught his eye. Immediately the barkeeper was wide awake and out of his chair. Cautiously he approached the window and peered outside into the blinding rain.

"Merlin's—" he put his hands in front of his face for shelter and ducked beneath his window in shock as the window he had been looking through only a moment before shattered inwards.

...

"How I what?"

"Died." Chester repeated Merry's question.

"What kind of rubbish is that?" James looked between them, glaring.

"Wait you mean you don't remember?" Chester asked.

"It appears that he can remember his name alone." Merry answered.

"What are you two going on about?" James demanded.

Merry leaned forward. "James, this is not a game, I need you to listen carefully and try to keep yourself under control. If James had not felt so sick he would have stood up and started yelling at them again. Instead he tried to remain calm.

"Fine." he replied. "What are you two going on about? You don't seriously mean to tell me that I'm…" he couldn't finish. This was too absurd.

"Dead?" Merry finished for him. "No, not exactly. Think of yourself as more of a—"

"Lost soul" Chester cut in.

"A what? What am I a ghost?"

"No, a ghost is dead; a ghost can find rest." Merry leaned back and looked away with a somber expression.

"Exactly. You aren't dead, at least…not yet anyways…so we can't find rest. Well…we can but it is very hard and complicated." Chester said all this in a rush.

"So where exactly are we?"

"In the unknown." Merry looked back at James. When she didn't say more James looked to Chester for an explanation. Chester shrugged.

"It really is the best way to put it. I only came here recently but I have learned a lot. We can't die and we can't live. Time doesn't matter…it is almost like another dimension."

James was silent for a moment. "So, if I am dead"

"Not dead…I mean you died but you aren't dead…if that makes sense" Chester said.

"Fine then "lost" or whatever…how did I get like this?"

"Through only the darkest and most eerie of deaths." Merry said quietly.

"So...I'm really…" James shook his head in denial. "No. It can't be. I mean I can't be…I couldn't have—"

"I am afraid it is true James." Merry said.

Chester put a hand on James' shoulder. "I'm sorry mate."

"But…how? I mean…"

"It is quite strange that you do not remember anything." Chester observed.

"I agree, you are the first one I know of to not even remember how you came here." Merry said.

"Yeah but I mean…nothing at all?" Chester asked curiously. "I mean how can you not remember how you left reality? It is a pretty major event so you would think you would remember you know? What is the last thing you remember?"

"I don't know…I can't remember anything." James said, clutching his head once again.

"Hmm…" Chester looked at James eagerly, as if he had been waiting for something strange like this to happen. "Yes that is strange."

"Well you said that to get…here…you had to die a strange death right –or dark—or whatever right?"

"Yes well…there are several ways to get here…I've heard of quite a few anyways" Chester said.

"Well maybe if you…" James sighed. "This is crazy. I'm not even sure I believe it all, but maybe if you tell me some of the ways someone can come here it would help me remember something."

"Anything that can help." Chester said "Let's see. Well there are-" Just then what seemed to be hundreds of terrifying screams pierced through the wind, making all three of them jump back in fear.

Thank you again for reading my first chapter I hope you enjoyed it. Like I said above I will be going off of both the Harry Potter movies and J.K.'s books. (as you may have noticed by my opening) Feel free to reveiw, this is my first attempt at writing a story and I am sure I need the criticism.