Well, well, well… on the last chapter, the last thing you read was:

She smirked. She smirked and I felt all color drain from my face. "I didn't say I would limit myself to nothing." But me, I was flabbergasted. I was shocked beyond any talking.

I swear to God, she grinned just like James.

So, on from there, right?

This chapter goes to Ramzes, my favorite author, whose support drove this chapter to life :D.

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"Are you ok, Sirius?" she asked, blankly. To be honest, I was feeling rather dizzy. In my mind, scenes flew at a vertiginous speed. It was like seeing a magic photo move all too fast, as if falling into a Pensieve and seeing all the memories together. I grasped hold of the sides of my head, feeling my brain crushed under the enormous amount of information…

I saw James' corpse behind the front door, staring lifelessly to the eternity; I saw Lily's lifeless figure up in the baby room, in her face still a plea. I saw myself going into their almost-crumbling house and getting little Harry out, cradling him into my arms regardless of my own tears of rage and scorching pain. I saw my supposed 'trial' and how I was tossed into an Azkaban's cell. I saw myself punch and yell at the walls: 'It was me! I killed them!' each time more anger arousing from me. I saw myself age old in the very same spot, in the very same corner, in the very same posture… and the newspaper in which I saw that filthy, traitorous rat. I saw myself slip between dementors in my Animagus form. I saw Harry, the day he was about to be crushed under the purple bus. I saw him almost get killed by dementors while trying his hardest to save me… and how much he resembled James that very moment…

And then I saw my prior years at Hogwarts. How I met James in Hogwart's Express. How he saved Peter from been pranked by seniors. I saw my selection ceremony and the howler with the Seventy Reasons Why Sirius Was to Get Nowhere, courtesy of all the living Blacks, that came the morning after it. How we met Moony… when we realized he was a werewolf and the first time we saw him transform. I saw the first time we all took our Animagus forms. I saw the Infamous Prank. I saw my graduation…

And suddenly, it all stopped.

As suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

I was breathing heavily, in the corner of the room again. My eyes were so tightly shut that tears had formed at the corners. When I could open my deadened hands, that still gripped the hair at my temples, I found it amazing that all of it remained in place. Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around in the room. It was blurry and my eyes hurt, but everything was in place. I must have looked like a lost puppy, shying in a corner looking for my mom…

"Sirius! What are you doing there?" Remus exclaimed, as he had opened quietly the door and instantly spotted me in my corner. He rushed towards me and kneeled, obviously concerned.

"I… well, I'm fine now, that much is certain." I was getting real tired of these episodes, and even though Remus didn't mind picking up my pieces, I was not going to become his burden. «As if been cursed to become a mindless beast wasn't enough». I rose on my feet, swaying a little as if drunk, but I held to the wall and gained some balance. "Snivellus is gone, ain't he?" I said, quickly changing the subject.

Remus sighed, half relieved half suspicious. "Yes, Pads. Severus is gone and won't scare you anymore." He teased… then I suddenly realized something I had momentarily forgotten. Alarmed, I turned to the desk on the other side of the room. I was expecting to find the girl there… but she wasn't. She was placidly sleeping on the naked, wooden floor. I faced Remus questioningly, but he only shrugged. "I was going to ask you." was his sole reply.

I thought it'd be better to let it go. Instead of pondering in the matter, I chose to tell Remus: "Think we should wake her? The floor isn't the best place to nap, you know?" I happened to stretch my tired back right then, and Remus cackled.

"You'd know everything about that, wouldn't you?" he said while we reached the girl and kneeled. "I say we place her on the bed. I, myself, wouldn't like to be woken up." He suggested staring at me in the eye, still looking for whatever made me crawl back into Pity-Me Land. But he's concerned, and I'm still not fully recovered, so I let him be.

"True. But I don't want to touch her. I'm afraid one of her arms might pop off or something." I joked, achieving my goal and making Remus laugh. "I say we Levitate her to the bed." I recommended as well, staring at the slightly curled figure between me and Remus.

Oddly, said Remus smirks. "Is that right? Do so." he says, letting himself fall cautiously on the floor after making sure it wouldn't get his beige pants dirty. For a second, I think of telling him that blood was copiously hurled in that very same spot, but somewhere in my mind a giggly voice convinced me that he shouldn't be bothered by such trivialities. I vaguely point my wand at the lying girl and say in my mind the spell…but against all dreamed expectations, I'm the one lifted in the air. Taken entirely by surprise, I let out a curse that makes Remus stop in his crescent laughter.

"For the love of... Sirius, the last time I heard you say that you were giving Snape the finger!" he said, reassuming his laughter soon after. Unavoidably, I joined him.

When we finally could stop the flow of hilarious memories (helped, I guess, by the fact I was turning blue); Remus kindly reminded me that, as he supposedly had told me several times, 'few spells worked on the girl'. Of course, he might have told me so… and I might have ignored his words like I was to do right now.

After I remembered how to put myself back on my feet, I stared at Remus. "I hope you enjoyed this, Moony," I reprimand him with the look he used to give me when I was doing something fun like painting James' finger and toe nails with Three-Weeks-Guaranteed-to-Stay magic nail polish. "To keep on purpose this sort of information from me in order to amuse yourself… I'm so ashamed of you." I kept on, whilst we both squatted at each end of the sleeping girl.

Even though I was really enjoying my one-sided quarrel/monologue, the glare Remus shot me killed the fun out of my game. "We'll lift her on three, ok?" he asked, looking himself for a spot by her shoulder that wasn't injured. As expected of Lord Fuzzy, he didn't wait to see me nod tiredly in agreement, answering his order….

"One,"

«… but to be precise and in fact, I was having a bit of a hard time myself finding…»

"Two,"

«…such a spot, but, oh! Here it…»

"Three" «…is. »

As I grabbed hold of both her knees, I felt myself spin uncontrollably while everything around me faded in blinding light. It was the most frightening sensation, for no matter how tight I closed my eyes, the radiance engulfing the room would still remain as strong. To make it simple, I felt as if drowning in a sea of shining light. Suddenly, all fear dissipated and joy filled every inch of my body, blossoming out my every pore. I felt like the sun, like a lightning, like all-consuming Fiendfyre… and as unexpectedly as it had all started, it ended. I wasn't spinning anymore, and the glow diminished until it became the faintest and most warm sunray.

Not frightened at all, but bubbling still with joy I looked around me. It was a place I had never heard of in my life. I stood on spiky green grass watching mesmerized how everything else just floated. Trees swaying smoothly were attached to the ground solely by the roots, giving the illusion to be tip-toeing in a ground that, though muddy, seemed like gold-dust. Some creature very much like a fish graced my ankle (that I was amazed to not feel naked), but it wasn't properly a fish. It swam over the grass, and it didn't have scales; instead, it had some sort of cloudy fur that made me think of cotton-candy.

I fell to my knees, unable to stay on my feet while a faint breeze seemed to soak me with peace. I breathed it in, feeling it run through my lungs, through my veins, into my heart… I could have cried, I swear. Never had I been this content. Not even once…

"Sirius?" I heard Remus' voice call out. I sighed with disappointment. I just had the feeling this was too great to be actually real.

«Do I must be woken up right now? This is such a nice dream…» I thought, opening my eyes to find Remus staring at me, a smile on his face I had never seen before. It was sheer happiness written all over his now young and un-scarred visage. Frowning, I rubbed my eyes with a soft and unmarked hand. I could not believe what I was seeing, given the fact that my conscience was kicking in. but it was blissful confusion. I felt like I didn't understand, didn't recognize… but didn't care either.

"Sweet Merlin… Remus, I'm a teenager!" I stated, between worry and delight. In front of me, my best friend's smile widened.

"No joke!" he teased, turning around and letting himself fall on his back by my side. In his face I could see that he, neither, had ever been this happy in his life. "Do you know where we are yet?" he asked, in the slow yet bursting voice I had so long forgotten.

"Not a clue" I answered, overpowered by a feeling of 'just let it go' that compelled me to lie over the ticklish grass, realizing that it didn't matter where I was, just that I didn't want the happiness to end, the joy to yield… I didn't want that peace to leave me ever

"So, are you enjoying your stay, gentlemen?" a sweet voice asked, some feet from us.

Even thought the natural response would have included some flinching (at the very least), easygoing as we now felt none of us did such thing. In fact, Remus and I merely stared at each other a second. «Are we enjoying this?» I thought to myself, staring back at pristine white clouds against an all blue sky above our heads. Remus laughed and said: "I can hear your thoughts, so you better watch yourself out." I stared at him in disbelieve out of the corner of my right eye. After a while I decided he wasn't lying (for some odd reason) and looked around for the source of such a heavenly sound when two male ones replied: "Now that you're here, even more."

«Merlin, that's the cheesiest line ever! » I couldn't stop myself from thinking, standing up and motioning the giggly Remus to follow me. "Well, while I have no idea where we might be; I'm sure that Doctor Fuzzy does. Don't you doctor?" I asked him, a never-yielding smile on my lips. Remus stopped for a second, and lowering his voice, said:

"I think we're on the girl's mind."

Actually, he said it with such a peaceful and glimmering face that I expected him to burst in laughter and make fun of me anytime, but that didn't happen. I stared at him skeptically. "And just what drove you to such a conclusion?" I asked again into his eyes. After a second, I saw him grin and point at my immediate right.

A few bushes away, three kids sat staring at the changing horizon. There were two boys and a girl, and while I could hear some whispering, I couldn't quite catch what was been said—

"Yeah, me neither. Lets get closer, shall we?" Remus proposed, not waiting for my answer and rising to his feet. He held out his hand and helped me up without taking his eyes off the threesome, fourteen feet from us. "If my theory is right, then they shouldn't be able to spot us." Remus explained absentmindedly while I shook off some dust from the exquisite gala robe I wore to my Hogwarts graduation ceremony. Remus turned to face me and apparently add something to his speech, but instead he just looked at me head to foot and backwards and snorted. I raised an eyebrow as he said: "«This guy's such a chick» Interesting choice of clothes, mate. You make me feel underdressed." And yes, I heard his thoughts too. That wasn't a nice thing to think.

Actually, while Remus was dressed in his usual, sloppy, brownish clothes; I did was wearing my fine, black gala robes. But I wasn't at all uncomfortable, not at all. I loved the way I felt in them. It was the only thing me and my dearest, loving mother ever agreed on. It was a superb fabric, almost glided on my skin. It was warm, but not heavy; gleaming, but not sparkly; sophisticated, but not arrogant; damn expensive, but totally worth it.

I turned back to Remus and waved him my smug-almost-naughty smile right before handsomely putting a hand in my chest and the other in my pocket saying: "You very well should feel so, my esteemed… erm… mister" It was my most infallible weapon: imitating my psycho-rigid, society-driven mother. Remus cracked in laughter. I, nonetheless, kept my dramatization and said: "Is there something funny in my words?! Or has your nervous system collapsed and, as a result, put you to this ridiculous, almost bipolar episode?!" Remus was literally roaring with laughter by now, so I couldn't keep the play any longer. I joined him as he leaned to the widest root of the nearest tree and we just laughed.

I had forgotten how fun it was to be a teen. To be realistic, I didn't make such a big joke; but the atmosphere, the place, and the company seemed to be perfect. After the first laughing episode, Remus was about to add his piece of humor to the conversation when two hands appeared right in front of our faces. Startled, both Remus and I gasped, resulting in our heads bumping into the very hard aforementioned root.

"Sorry to have distressed you." Two identical voices rang in my ear while I rubbed the back of my head. I looked up to see two boys about our age (physical age, I mean to say), spiky dark purple hair messy on their heads, identical grins and mirrored postures.

"Yes, twins." The same voices repeated at unison, while I took one of the hands and was heaved to my feet. Remus was already up, and had started explaining about what had happened to us when they raised their hands in a 'stop' gesture. "We need not to know, but it's getting dark already and you shouldn't be out by then." They explained, easygoing smiles playing in their identical lips. "Are you looking for someone? Perhaps we might help you." They offered wholeheartedly, moving at the same time to put a hand on their respective hip. It was too odd, now that I think of it. Not even Fred and George are that scary.

I was at a loss of words and so was Remus. We looked at each other for a couple seconds, deeply confused. Moony, the better mannered of us, politely asked for a word with me and excused us both. It was then that I noticed that the girl was no longer with them, and I was about to tell Remus when—

"Yes, I know she's not." –he cut me half thought. I rolled my eyes.

"Why is it that you can so well hear my thoughts but I can't hear yours the same way?" I inquired, crossing my arms on my chest as Remus stared perfunctorily into the distance. My question fell, seemingly, on deaf ears since the so said Moony didn't even retort back. I pocked twice at his cheek until he snapped out of his trance and said:

"My theory was wrong, mate. Now I'm starting to think we might really be dead."

Well, dead or not, we were in so much a better place!

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In the end, we chose telling the boys that we knew neither where we were, nor who we were supposed to be looking for, nor why were we in this place. For any response, they smiled, patted our backs and said: "You guys feel free to tell when you are ready."

I, of course, was shot an 'I told you so' look by Moony. It had been my idea to not tell anything because, Remus Lupin had lost his mind and now I was the sane one of us. I had been forced to play the Moony the Prefect in this place, since Moony himself was all into telling his life story to complete and absolute teenage strangers. "I'm sorry to be distrustful, but may I ask you a few questions?" I asked as nicely as I could. Moony was already chatting and laughing with his twin while we walked towards God-knows-where.

He stared at me with child eyes for a while, and then lowered a bit his head to faintly chuckle. "Of course you may, man." He said, a broad smile in his face that somehow was too infectious to resist. I smiled as well.

"I'm Sirius. What is your name?" I offered as we turned west and started walking down the hill I had not yet noticed we were at. From there, an impressive countryside revealed to our eyes. I was marveled by the whole scenary. We seemed to be at a hill on top of a mountain, and at it's skirt lay a series of small houses. The cottages were painted in dim colors, melting onto the surrounding nature, but noticeable, standing proud amidst the paradisiacal garden all around. Actually, it was all so great, everything so magnificent as if in a canvas.

"Kronos, pleased to meet you Sirius." He said extending a hand towards me that I shook. He had neither a strong nor loose grip, it was quite adequate and that gave me a feeling of ease. "Next question!" he laughed, shooting a furtive look at his twin brother.

"Where are we?" I said, not wasting any time.

He stopped a bit in his tracks, and for a fleeting instant I saw a tinge of sadness in his grayish eyes. "I'm afraid I'm not the one suited to provide you that information, I am sorry."

I shrugged. "It's ok." «I had figured». "Then, why is it that you're inviting us to your place? I mean, you don't know us, we could be fugitives from the law for what you know."

At this, he chuckled once more. "I understand your astonishment. Everyone that is not born in this place asks the very same question." He explained as we reached flat ground. He stopped a second, sighed and turned around to watch Remus and the other twin walk calmly towards us. Then he turned to face me. "No ill-spirited individual can reach by itself this place. Thus, there is no danger in us letting you guys into our home." He finished, putting a hand on my shoulder and shaking me up a bit. "Let me help you out." He adds and right then, something definitely happened.

By that simple motion, I felt as if a considerable weight had just fallen off me. Instinctively I reached for something to hold myself to and Kronos offered me an arm. My breathing was so much lighter, and my head was almost weightless on my shoulders. I suddenly forgot what it was that made me always so grim and apprehensive. There wasn't a reason to anymore. No reason to worry about anything. I felt muscles in my forehead I didn't know I had un-tense. I felt, cheesy as it might sound, as the personification of the word 'light'.

Khronos smiled, pat my cheek, and motioned me to follow him towards a small fountain I had yet not noticed. By then, Remus and his twin had reached us. But I was still taking in the new found feeling that soared and spread all through my body. It was too hard to describe, too great to be put into words…

"So you've ascended at last!" The second twin noted, ruffling my hair and then tapping my shoulder. "Your friend over here was so much more precocious!" he joked, making Remus laugh. After that, he excused himself and joined his brother, who was squatting and picking water to pour into his mouth.

I stared at the gleaming Remus, who seemed to understand all of this much more than I did. "Ascend?" I dumbly repeated, not knowing what had actually been said.

"Kosmos (that's his name) just explained me that 'ascension' is when you release what ties and 'chains' your mind to things you need not to be worrying about, or can no longer change." He explained, and in my eyes he was the same know-it-all I crawled to when I needed an essay to copy from. I laughed.

'These guys sure have odd names."