A/N: Trying not to overthink this one - just write! All the warnings are the same as before. James has a foul mouth ;D (Then again, so does Sirius).

Disclaimer: Sirius isn't mine:( Neither is anyone else you recognize. Oh well.

Chapter 2

"What the – what the fuck did I do?"

Sirius was beside himself in anger. He'd lost James nearly fifteen years ago, he'd been imprisoned for a decade, endured the Dementors, a year on the run as Padfoot, another year holed up in his parents' house and he'd just been killed by his evil cousin. And those were the first words out of James' mouth?

"Why in Merlin did you taunt that bitch?" he chastised. "You knew she had no qualms about killing you. Heck, she tried twice before, when you were barely out of nappies! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

Sirius' mouth hung open. He groped in his mind for an answer but the shock of James telling him off for doing what he was sure his mate would have done – wouldn't have been able to resist doing – left him speechless.

"Fucking hell."

Almost.

James ignored the aside. "Well?"

"Evans, is that you?"

For this, he received a punch in the arm. The tension broke immediately.

"You berk, I love you, and I'm glad I can see you again but I didn't expect to see you for decades."

"Same here," he said with regret.

James gave a sad smile.

"So?" He wrapped an arm around Sirius' shoulders. "Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to ask?"

It took Sirius a moment to understand. "Oh, he's brilliant, mate. He looks just like you, except he's got Lily's eyes, and thankfully, her brains, too."

James reached up and pulled at his nose with one hand while the other poked him in the ribs.

"Oi! Watch it!"

"Why? It's not real, anyway."

"Feels real enough – "

The sound of a throat clearing caught their attention.

"Oh, hi," James said, noticing Abiel for the first time.

The angel was standing at the edge of the path, having silently watched the scene unfold before him.

"G'day," he said, making a gesture as if tipping a hat. He then turned his attention to Sirius. "Well, I reckon it's time we finished up."

"What?"

"The guidelines. You need to know the guidelines."

"I can fill him in," James replied, his arm hooked around Sirius' neck.

"Well," Abiel hesitated, "I do have somewhere to be … " He fell silent, deciding what to do. "Can I trust you to let him know all the, uh, pertinent information?" he asked, sounding a bit sceptical.

Sirius wondered just how much pertinent information he needed to know.

"Of course," James piped up, "we've been here long enough. We'll fill him in."

Sirius felt his heart leap at the word "we". He wondered how many of his fallen mates he would see. He wondered about his brother.

"But he's got no place to stay yet – "

"That's fine. Lily and I have plenty of room." He turned to Sirius. "My parents' house," he said by way of explanation.

Abiel still looked sceptical but he agreed to let James be Sirius' guide to the Afterlife with the proviso that he fill him in on every aspect of life on the celestial plane. He took his leave hesitantly, shaking Sirius' hand once more and disappearing into the horizon.

Sirius watched him become smaller rather quickly before he was just a dot on the landscape and turned to follow James as he led him down the path to the end, where Potter Manor stood in all its splendour.

As they walked up the little stone path to the door, it was thrown open and Lily, looking as beautiful and young as the last time Sirius saw her alive, rushed out and threw her arms around him. He swept her up into a bear hug, the feel of her soft, red hair against his cheek instantly comforting. Again, he didn't want to let go.

"Uh, Padfoot," James interrupted, "that's my wife you've got in your arms. Let her go. She needs to breathe."

"No, I don't," came Lily's muffled reply.

Sirius came to his senses, and slowly placed her back on the ground.

"Gods, Lily, you look – "

"Stunning?" she asked, smiling cheekily.

A grin spread on Sirius' face. "Exactly."

"Oi! Stop flirting with my wife!"

"What wrong, Prongs," Sirius said, turning to his mate, "you afraid I'll finally steal her away from you?"

"Unless you've changed your shirtlifting ways, not a chance!"

Sirius froze for a moment, fear stealing over him. Did James know? His mate grinned goofily at him, a look of mirth on his face. Sirius quickly dismissed the comment as harmless ribbing and threw out an arm, cuffing James on the back of the head.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Thought it wasn't real."

"Real enough."

"Alright, you two," Lily interrupted, "let's go inside and have some tea. We can fill each other in about what's been happening."

Sirius suddenly remembered the battle he'd been killed in.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, "I don't know what – Harry's fine is all I really know." He knew Remus was alive as well, but he couldn't bring himself to say his name.

"I know," she responded. "It's alright. Let's just go in and talk, shall we?"

Sirius nodded and followed Lily, James close behind him.

They entered the house, which looked exactly like James' parents house, with a few exceptions. There were photos of Harry at different ages lining a table by the door and as they entered the sitting room, he was struck by how much it looked like James and Lily's sitting room in Godric's Hollow.

Lily sat on the plush settee and gestured for Sirius to sit beside her.

"James," she said sweetly, "get us some tea."

James looked flabbergasted but quickly recovered. "Yes, love," he answered before he disappeared from the room.

Lily turned to Sirius and he did the same, their knees bumping together.

"Oh, Sirius," she sighed, cupping his face in her hands, "I've missed you so, but I really wish you weren't here with us now. Not yet."

"I know," was all he could say. He felt exactly the same way.

"An angel's been round with the late edition," she said, pointing to a folded newspaper on the coffee table. "Harry went after her."

"Bellatrix?"

She nodded. "He wanted to avenge your death but Voldemort showed up."

Sirius let out a startled, "No!"

"He did, but thankfully, Dumbledore got there in time, they duelled and Voldemort got away. Fudge saw him, though and the Ministry finally believes the truth."

Sirius sat quietly, taking it all in.

"Harry's already back at Hogwarts, mind. Thank goodness for Dumbledore."

Sirius, who'd been staring at his feet in contemplation, jerked his head up to meet her eyes.

"Oh, I know how you feel about him. Or I imagine I do, but he's been protecting my son for all these years, how could I not be grateful?"

Sirius conceded but didn't say anything. Even dead, his grudge against their old Headmaster held firm. His eyes strayed to the newspaper on the table. It was probably the oddest thing about Heaven so far. "So, what's that called then?" he asked, curious.

"You'll laugh," she said, doing just that, "but it's the same."

"The Daily Prophet?"

"More fitting up here, though."

"I suppose." He reached for it and glanced at the front page. The newspaper's name was emblazoned in bold, archaic lettering at the top. "Why?"

"We're not allowed to visit the Living, we can't have any contact with the ones we love, so they keep us informed."

Sirius gave her an inquisitive look.

"The first page is always world news, you know, things they think we should all know, and the rest is personalised. It has all the latest on our loved ones."

He flipped the front page and a photograph of Harry, looking grief-stricken, caught his eye. He immediately shut it and set it down.

"The day you escaped from Azkaban, I was still asleep when the paper came. James woke me up with his loud whooping. He went mad with glee." She sat back and tucked her legs up under her. "Since then, we've been waiting to hear news that you've been cleared but that day never came."

"And now I'm here," he finished.

"And now you're here."

She sighed, looked over to the door then looked at him once more. "All that time, we hoped and prayed the truth would come out that it was Peter, not you. I hoped that Remus at least would figure it out somehow." They heard the distinct noise of china breaking coming from the other room. Smiling briefly, she continued. "When James found out you were going to prison, he demanded they put things right. Even tried to get an audience with the Big Man himself."

Sirius couldn't help but smirk at her use of the term. "Has anyone ever met 'The Big Man'?" he asked.

"No one's ever seen him – not even the angels."

"Then how do you know he exists?"

"I just do. I was born a muggle remember?" She shifted on the settee. "Besides, just because you can't see something doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Doesn't it?" he asked, thinking back to Hermione and her exasperated diatribe against the existence of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack during her stay at Grimmauld Place over Christmas holidays.

"Love exists but we can't see it – "

" – Except when Prongs is making eyes at you."

"—Or faith in your friends. You had faith in Remus, didn't you?"

Sirius' jovial mood disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"Even when he believed you were guilty."

"Peter fooled us all," he whispered.

"Exactly. You never held it against him."

Sirius felt a pang of guilt as he thought back to the last few months and how he'd treated Remus.

"He never held what I did in school against me."

"What did you do?"

Sirius frowned.

"Specifically?"

"The incident," he said, "in sixth year." He was sure she knew he was referring to his colossal mistake with Snape.

"Which one?"

A lump formed in his throat. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure.

He was relieved when James walked in, balancing a pot of tea and three cups on a tray. He set it down gingerly on the table and beamed proudly at his wife.

"What took you so long?" Sirius ribbed, eager to change the subject.

"If you must know, you git, I was giving you time to talk in private."

Lily giggled. "How very considerate, my dear." She poured the tea and passed Sirius a cup. "You know what would be perfect, James?"

"What's that, love?" he asked, settling on a chair adjacent to the settee.

"Biscuits. On the top shelf. Could you get some?"

James' smile disappeared. "Right," he said and walked away.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh. Even dead, James was still whipped.

He watched as Lily dropped a lump of sugar into her tea, stirred gingerly and took a tentative sip. Her actions were familiar, deliberate and frankly, very strange.

"What is all this?"

Lily set down her cup. "What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"I mean," he answered, "all this. The tea, the biscuits, the settee, this house – why is it all here. We're dead."

"Didn't your guide explain it all to you?"

Sirius felt at a disadvantage. He shook his head. "James is supposed to fill me in."

Lily looked surprised. "James?! Oh Merlin, what idiot thought that was a good idea?"

"His name was Abiel."

"Abiel!" she chirped delightedly. "He was my guide, too!" She immediately jumped up and began to pace the room. "He really shouldn't have left it to James to fill you in."

"Why not?" he asked, a little offended on his best friend's behalf.

"Well, it's all very complicated. It takes a while to get used to how things work up here." She stopped pacing as James entered the room, placed a plate of biscuits on the table and swept her into his arms.

"I was just about to tell Sirius about how things work up here."

"He's got plenty of time to figure it out," James said dismissively, pulling her closer.

She pushed away and glared. "Really? You think that's fair to him. He can figure it out as he goes along?"

James looked sheepishly at his wife, and cast an apologetic glance towards Sirius. "No," he mumbled, "guess not."

"Of course not." She settled back down next to Sirius on the settee and pointed to the armchair adjacent. "Sit," she commanded her husband. She then turned to Sirius and took his hand in hers. "Are you ready?" she asked, because it's a lot to take in."

Sirius felt apprehensive and slightly worried. The Afterlife was starting to sound ominous.

"Ready," he said though he didn't really feel it. He glanced at James and turned back to Lily. "Tell me everything."

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