Author's Note: Hey all! I wrote a bunch of "What If's" with my friend Kay a LOOOONG time ago (try 2004... oye). Anyway, I felt as though they should be, well, resurrected, so to speak. This one was one of the first ones we did (I think) and it is pretty intense. This is an AU because we wrote it a year after OotP came out and a year before HBP was released, so, obviously this is not HBP compliment. It features a very pissed off Harry (courtesy of yours truly) and our favorite characters (who were pretty much split.) I've changed a lot from the original piece. Hope this turns out okay. -Crosses fingers-

Disclaimer: If I owned it, Peter would have been in Azkaban, not Sirius and James and Lily would never have died.

What If:

James and Sirius visited the living world as Ghosts?

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SIRIUS! SIRIUS!

Harry's screams echoed in the blackness around him as he fell into a seemingly never-ending pit. Alone he fell, stiff as a board, gaining speed as he plummeted downward. As a chilling cold came over him, the man felt his body relax and flop lifelessly as he continued his journey downward, soon being joined by others - men, women and children alike- as they all fell for what seemed like an eternity...

Crunch.

Sirius moaned as he felt his body hit the ground, hard. The crunching sound had been that of his arm breaking. "Damn," he gasped, slowly sitting up, ignoring the searing pain in his back, as well as his head. He swore loudly as his arm twitched from the pain jolting through his nerves. What the hell had happened? Ignoring the pain as best as he could, Sirius closed his eyes, grimacing, trying to remember what had happened. Where the hell was he? What had happened? Where was Harry?

Harry...

Images flashed before his eyes. The Department of Mysteries. Death Eaters. Harry's friends. The Order. Remus. Tonks. Kinglsey. Moody. Bellatrix. A duel. A flash of light. Harry.

Sirius' eyes snapped open as he gasped. Bellatrix had sent a curse at him - but what? He closed his eyes again, screwing up his face as he struggled to remember, but his memory was so cloudy that he couldn't remember the curse. He knew it had been something - Reducto, maybe? No, that couldn't have been it. Not unless something had blown up behind him and knocked him out, or the curse itself had hit him. But, Sirius opened his eyes with a laugh, that was impossible. Reducto would have killed him. He didn't remember the light being green either, so it wasn't Avada Kedavera, was it? He stood up, and ran a hand through his hair with his right arm. His broken arm.

Sirius froze. His arm had been broken, hadn't it? Slowly, he extended his arm, staring at it in shock. It felt and looked as good as new, as though nothing had happened to it. No pain; no swelling; no redness. Come to think of it, his body didn't even hurt anymore. Someone brushed by him and Sirius realized, for the first time, that there were others around him as well. As he gazed around at all the people, all of whom looked as though they were perfectly normal, his eyes landed on a sign hanging above a long row of tables.

Welcome to the Afterlife.

"What the hell...?" Sirius whispered, slowly backing away from the sign as though he was afraid it would bite. Turning his back from it, Sirius gazed around that the swarm of people who were walking every which way as though in a very crowded Diagon Alley. This time, he really took in the way the people looked. Most people looked totally normal - Sirius assumed that these people were killed with the Killing Curse - whereas others were covered in blood, dripping water or even carrying heads. It wasn't until a man with an axe through his skull passed him that it hit him.

It couldn't be...

"I'm..." Sirius's voice died in his throat as the realization dawned on him.

He turned and stared at the sign again. "Welcome to the Afterlife..." he read in a shaky voice.

"Oh my God..."

I'm dead.

He didn't know how long he stood there, shaking, emotions rising in his chest, wishing to be spilled. Harry. He left Harry...

"WAIT!"

A voice near him made him jump. Sirius broke from his stupor and glanced around at a man who was pushing through the crowd frantically. Poor guy... Sirius thought dazedly, must be new here, like me. Curious, and not knowing what else to do, Sirius followed the figure, whom, he realized, had dark hair.

"WAIT!" The man cried, rushing towards a desk, "Don't close it just yet!"

A woman at the desk sighed and pushed her glasses closer to her face as the man reached the desk.

"I am sorry sir, but you still do not have a friend from your life who is willing to accompany you to Earth."

"It shouldn't matter!" The man slapped his palm on the desk.

Sirius saw his back tense in anger and he frowned. What portal? What did the woman mean, 'accompany you to Earth?' Besides all that, why did the man look so familiar?

"I haven't seen my son since I died," the man hissed, "You have to let me through."

The woman sighed and shook her head. "Sir, I must ask you to leave before I banish you from the portal for eternity."

The man seemed to freeze for a moment, then he spun on his heel facing Sirius. It was then that Sirius caught sight of the dark-haired man's furious face.

"Oh my God..."

Sirius tensed as the man stormed his way, looking fierce in his anger.

What do I do? Sirius bit his lip as the man continued towards him, absorbed in his own thoughts. What do I say?

Before Sirius could make up his mind, the man was level with him, then passed him.

"W-wait!"

Not even thinking about what he was doing, Sirius reached out and grasped the man's arm with both of his hands. The man stopped and turned, looking directly into Sirius' eyes. Sirius's mouth fell open as he stared into the eyes of the twenty-one year old James Potter.

"James," Sirius breathed, his hands slipping from his dead friend's arm.

James had not changed. He still had the same glasses, same face, same jet-black hair and the same bright eyes. He was still the same hight Sirius remembered him being and wore the same clothes, Sirius assumed with a heavy heart, which he had died in.

James' eyebrows knit together in a puzzled frown. "May I help you?"

Sirius bit his lip. He couldn't believe he was seeing -hearing his voice!- James again. "Y-you're dead..." he croaked.

His friend's eyes narrowed. "Thanks for noticing," James replied coldly, "now, if you'll excuse me-"

"James!" Sirius grabbed James' arm again as he turned away. "It's... James, its Padfoot," he whispered, suddenly feeling weak.

James stared at him for a moment as though he thought Sirius was insane. After a few moments, James' eyes met Sirius' again and Sirius saw his eyes widen. James gasped and stepped back. "Sirius?" he gaped.

"It... it's really you," Sirius whispered.

"Merlin's beard." James' eyes traveled up and down his friend, taking in the state of him. James hesitated, seeming to struggle with his words for a moment. "What in Merlin's name happened to you?" he managed at last.

Sirius couldn't help but grin in spite of himself. He had expected that, and yet...

"Azkaban," He replied, brushing himself off self-consciously.

James stared at Sirius in what looked like shock and horror. Then, suddenly, a new emotion emerged - something Sirius hadn't expected.

Anger.

"You bloody well deserved it," James snarled suddenly, clenching his fists.

Completely taken aback, Sirius' mouth fell open. "What-?" he was thrown to the ground as James' fist came in contact with his face.

"Too bad we can't feel physical pain, right Black?" James sneered as Sirius slowly stood, completely dumbstruck. "It shouldn't matter if I bash your head in then, right?"

"James!"

Of the two, James had always been leaner but Sirius had been stronger, and he was currently thankful for that as he held James by his shoulders at arm's length, completely bewildered.

"James - STOP!"

"You - Stupid - Son of a -" James struggled against Sirius' hands as he tried to get at his face.

"James, I -"

"You deserved it!" James spluttered in his anger, stepping back from Sirius, his chest heaving. "You deserved Azkaban after killing Lily and me! You betrayed up to Peter - you knew he'd-"

"I didn't know!" Sirius roared suddenly, desperate to make James listen. "None of us knew! I thought you'd be safe!"

"BUT WE DIED!"

Sirius closed his eyes, emotions rising inside him again. He had always thought that eternity wouldn't be too bad if James was there with him. If James was there to forgive him, it wouldn't be so bad.

Sirius inhaled deeply through his nostrils and opened his eyes. To his great surprise, there were tears in his friend's eyes.

James never cried.

Sirius hesitated, not sure whether he should try to comfort him or not, but then he realized that there were tears leaking down his own cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Sirius whispered.

James opened his mouth fiercely and Sirius braced himself for the blow. It never came. James slowly closed his mouth and then his eyes, which made stray tears run down his cheeks. He ran a hand through his hair and placed the other on his hip. James opened his eyes and eyed Sirius for a moment.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

Sirius nodded, relieved James wasn't turning him away.

James shot him another angry look. "Come with me," he grumbled, turning his back and stalking away, Sirius following nervously behind. They walked for quite some time -or so it seemed to Sirius. At last they came across a familiar village. Sirius stopped, staring up at the cottage.

"James?" He asked uncertainly.

"Yes, Sirius," James snapped, opening the gate, "this is Godric's Hollow."

As they entered the yard, Sirius gazed around at it. The flowerbeds hadn't changed and the grass in the yard was as green as ever. The only thing that had changed was there were no more children's toys strewn all over the yard. Sirius assumed James and Lily had brought the toys inside the night they died.

"Lils?" James called as he and Sirius stepped over the threshold. Sirius took a moment to look around. He could see the living room hadn't changed. In fact, Sirius thought as his eyes roamed over what he could see of the house, the house hadn't changed at all.

"James?" An auburn haired-woman came from the kitchen, running a cloth over a frying pan. "Did you find out?"

James shook his head bitterly. "They wouldn't let me through."

Lily sighed. "James, just wait for someone to come."

"I can't Lily." James wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face into her hair.

Sirius felt his cheeks redden slightly as they always used to when his friends were alive. When James and Lily showed affection in front of him and their other friends he always got embarrassed.

Looks like that stayed the same as well, he thought with a grim smile.

As the couple broke away, Lily looked around. "James?" she whispered, "Who is that?"

James glanced at Sirius then turned back to his wife. "Sirius Black."

Lily froze, taking in Sirius just as James had done. He glanced at James who crossed his arms and looked away.

"YOU PEICE OF -"

Lily had seized her frying pan and had started towards Sirius menacingly.

"Lily!"

To Sirius' surprise, James had grabbed his wife's arm.

"Lils, wait -"

"Let go James, I'm going to kill him!"

The corners of James' mouth twitched.

"Sweetie-"

"No, James!"

"Lily, leave it!"

"Leave it? Leave it?" Lily turned back to James, staring at him in shock.

"James, you do realize who this is, don't you?"

"I -"

"HE SOLD US OUT!" Lily shouted, throwing Sirius a very nasty look. "SIRIUS TURNED US IN!"

"I did not!" Sirius snapped, rising to his own defense.

"Don't even think of lying, Sirius!" Lily shouted, wrenching her arm out of James' grip and turning to glare at Sirius. "We trusted you enough to make you our Secret-Keeper and you betrayed us! You gave us to Voldemort through Peter! You were supposed to be James' best friend! We trusted you!"

Tears started to fill Lily's eyes.

"WE TRUSTED YOU!"

James walked up to Lily and pulled her into him. Lily turned to him and sobbed into his chest. James looked up at Sirius, his jaw set. "You have some explaining to do, Sirius." He said coolly.

Sirius swallowed. "Shall we sit?" he asked weakly, gesturing towards the couch.

Eying him suspiciously, the Potters sat on the sofa while Sirius sat on an armchair. Lily set the frying pan aside and had begun to wipe her face on the sleeves of her shirt. Sirius looked down at the arm of the chair. This had once been his favorite armchair. It had been the most comfortable armchair in the house, had once belonged to James' parents and was the armchair he would sit in when he used to hold Harry.

Harry...

Sirius swallowed hard and looked up at his friends.

"So," James began slowly. "You ended up in Azkaban after we died."

It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Sirius said, ignoring the looks the couple were giving him. "I'm going to tell you my version of events as I know it, and please don't interrupt," he added pleadingly, "It will make it a lot easier."

When the couple didn't speak, Sirius took a deep breath and began his tale.