Chapter Title: Hole in the Ground
Author Name: fuzzyalligator
Chapter Rating: G
Word Count: 2,414
Warnings: None that I can think of.
Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately. They be J.K.'s -sigh- I has a sore throat... TT_TT

A/N: Notice anything new? Yeah…I decided to use a new beginning for my stories.

--

Sirius sprinted down the path and heaved the big wooden doors leading to the main square open. He quickly turned left and ran down the street that led to the kitchen. He waved at people as he passed by.

He saw the kitchen just up ahead. He glanced back and didn't see James behind him. He figured he got distracted and started to slow his pace. He came to a stop right outside the door and looked around for his friend. After waiting a few minutes, he shrugged and went inside.

His grey eyes swept the large room. He saw lots of people sitting and chatting at the many tables. He found Lily talking to a little red headed boy. He walked up and sat next to Fred. The little boy turned and grinned at him. "Did ya win?"

Sirius nodded, returning the smile. Word must have gotten here fast for them to hear about it. He looked down at their food. "What's for lunch today?"

Fred followed his gaze to the plate. "I wanted a pb and j sandwich and they gave me this." He pointed to the large sub overflowing with different fillings. Sirius laughed and cut the sandwich with the knife Lily offered him.

"Better?" he asked as he handed half of it to the boy. Fred smiled just before he took a bite.

Lily cleared her throat. Sirius looked at her to find her pointing to the door. He turned and saw Albus Dumbledore standing there talking to another angel. Sirius slowly slid under the table in hope of hiding from him. Before he had left the other day, he had gotten into a little argument with the bearded man.

He could see the man walk up to the table and greet Lily. "How are you today, Lily?"

"I'm fine, Albus. And yourself?"

"Same. Can you tell Sirius to come see me when he's done playing under the table?" Sirius heard Fred giggle. He tapped the boy's knee, resulting in an accidental kick to the face. Fred ducked under with a frightened look on his face.

"I'm so sorry!" he almost cried. "Are you okay?"

Sirius crawled back into his seat, touching his nose to find it already healing. He nodded to the boy, "Nothing a bite of that sandwich won't help." Fred visible relaxed as he handed over half of it.

Sirius gladly took a bite and looked for the other man. He saw him standing by the door by the cooking area. "Only you could get into a fight with that man," said Lily sounding a little miffed. Sirius turned to her and smiled cheekily at her.

"It's just one of my many talents."

"It's his only one." Sirius turned to glare at his best friend. James sat down and took the sandwich out of his hands. "Sorry I'm late. As I passed the double doors, I ran into someone. Literally." Sirius looked to the front door and saw a grumpy man walking through.

"You ran into Dursley?" He watched as the large man walked over and plopped next to a skinnier woman. Vernon glanced their way and glared at him, as if to say it was his fault. Sirius turned without responding.

"Yup," said James as he took a bite of the sub. "We both fell to the ground and he started to yell at me like I was my fault!" He scoffed before he took another bite, while still chewing.

Lily rolled her eyes and stood to leave. "Will you be alright, Fred?" The little boy looked at the angels and nodded with a big smile. "Good. I'll see you two later." She turned and left the building.

--

After lunch, Sirius left the two behind and headed to Albus' 'house'. He walked down the stone street with his thoughts focusing completely on the man he left behind. Maybe he could ask Albus about the thumping in his chest. It hadn't happened since he left Remus' place.

He walked up to the little house and knocked on the door. While he waited for the man, he looked around himself. Albus' house was at the end of the stone road surrounded by houses similar, yet at the same time, different. The 'town' they lived in was bordered by a bunch of trees.

When Sirius first started out as an angel, he would wander around the woods for hours, just exploring and finding his way around his new world. He had discovered the other 'towns' nearby.

Over the years he had met and gotten to know a lot of new people. He liked this life much more than his old one.

He was brought out of his memories by the door swinging open. Albus stood there with his regular smile shining right at Sirius. "I'm glad you could take time out of your busy schedule to talk to me." He moved so Sirius could step inside.

The brunette walked in and was astonished by how many candy dishes were around. And in every one was a different type of candy. He walked over and pulled out what looked like a sour piece of candy. As he popped it into his mouth, he knew he was right. He quickly took the candy out and looked for someplace to hide it.

He heard the other man walking towards him, and finding nowhere to stash the candy, popped it right back in. He tried to hide the look on his face as he turned to Albus. "What did you need to talk to me about?" he asked as he tried to move the candy somewhere in his mouth.

Albus gestured to a seat as he took the one across from it. Sirius sat right down and was glad to find a garbage pail sitting just off to the side. He pitched it in quickly, but when he turned back to his host, he saw the hint of a smile that meant he knew what Sirius had just done. Albus grabbed another candy dish and offered it to Sirius. He took a piece and sighed contently when he saw that it was chocolate. The sweet taste covered up the sour left behind.

As Albus set the dish back on the table, he said "I would like to discuss what we were talking about before you left in a rush last time." Sirius knew this was coming. Every 12 years he and Albus had this conversation. And every 12 years it ended the same way, with his avoiding the other man for a week. "Won't you reconsider?" Albus continued.

Sirius shook his head, "I really don't want to Albus. Why must you keep pestering me about it?" He stood up and looked out the window to see a woman looking down the hole in her garden. 'Must be nice looking down at your family,' he thought almost cynically.

Everyone who died was given a home to live in. They had everything they could ever want or need; it was almost like the house was built for the occupant specifically. He was almost positive that that's what actually happened. Although he was hardly ever there, Sirius' house consisted of everything he loved when he was alive.

He watched as the woman wiped away a tear and covered up the hole. That hole allowed the person looking at it to see anything they wanted. Most chose to see their families. Sirius didn't get that pleasure. His family was …

Sirius shook his head; he didn't want to think about them. The woman turned to him and waved. He returned it before facing his host. "Is that all that you wanted, Albus?"

The man sighed, "I really wish you would think about this again. You-"

Sirius smiled as he interrupted the man. "Really, Albus. Why would I even want to? I have everything I could ever want right here."

Albus looked at him warily. "If you say so…" He walked Sirius to the front of the house after offering him more sweets.

When the door firmly closed behind him, Sirius started down the stone road.

He wandered around, just taking in the sights. Even though he had seen them every day for many years, he was never bored with them. He always thought the flowers and even the buildings were fascinating to look at. As he walked past the road back to the middle of the town, a thought struck him.

He hurried down the path and headed straight to one of the largest buildings in his town.

--

Sirius stood outside the large brick building. The door and window sills were all painted white and looked lovely surrounded by the red brick. He walked up the wooden steps and slowly pushed open the door. As soon as he stepped inside, he was overwhelmed by the scent of all the books.

He never liked this smell, so he spent most of his time outside or somewhere more cheerful (in his opinion). He walked right up to the round help desk in the middle of the large hall. Sirius had always found it amusing that heaven pretty much looked like earth did.

He was told to go up three floors and go to room 342. He did as he was told, and when he got there he found another person already sitting in the room reading a file. He walked past her and to a random shelf. He wondered where he should start. He went to the L's and skimmed to Lupin. He found a few names there but couldn't find Dora or Nymphadora. Then he remembered that his son's name was Teddy. He quickly found the little boy and took it to the table.

The file wasn't very big, seeing as the boy was young. It took Sirius a few minutes to read it a couple of times. Before he closed the book he made sure to jot down his mother's name. He left Teddy's file by his seat and searched for his mother's.

It took him a few minutes longer to locate the woman's. When he took it back to his table he found the woman from the other table looking through Teddy's file. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

The woman quickly looked up with a blush. "I was…uh…just wondering what you were looking at." Sirius looked at the woman closer, he thought she looked familiar. "What?"

"Have we met before?" he asked as he sat across from her, still examining her features. Then it clicked, "You're the woman from yesterday!"

She smiled, "Yes. My name is Minerva." She held out her hand and Sirius gladly took it. He introduced himself. "Right. That lovely red head named Lily told me about you."

He sat back in his chair, "What did she tell you about me?" Before she could say anything, there was a knock on the door. It opened to reveal someone else Sirius didn't know. Minerva stood up and hugged the other man.

"Good afternoon, Horace." The plump man hugged her back. "How was your walk?" she asked as both of them took a seat farther away. Sirius rolled his eyes and went back to his research.

--

When Sirius was done with his research, he knew some interesting things about the pink haired woman. He was tempted to go talk to her, but his stomach had other plans. He quickly replaced the files he had pulled out and made his way back to the kitchen. Once there, he saw how packed the place was. Soon, all eyes were on him. That's when he noticed Albus was standing near the cooking area holding a piece of paper.

He quietly took a seat and everyone's attention returned to the older looking man. Albus looked back at the list and started to call out names. Sirius watched as the people who were called walked up next to him and stood there, staring at the large group. When everyone was called up, they waved and were lead out the back.

Most of the group left to do other things. Sirius searched for someone he could hopefully get some food from. Seeing no one, he headed to the front. He grabbed a tray and told the woman serving what he wanted to eat.

Instead of getting the cup of soup he asked for, he received a large bowl with two fat pieces of bread. He thanked the woman as he carried his heavy meal to the closest table. He sat down and speculated if he could eat it all.

Before he could dive in, someone sat next to him. "Don't you just love getting your own food?" asked James as he stole a piece of the bread. Sirius pushed the bowl in between them and took a spoonful.

"Regulus saw you walking into the library earlier," James said offhandedly. Sirius stiffened when he heard his brother's name. He hadn't spoken to him in…years. He took a second to wonder how he was.

"Yeah," he finally answered. "I was looking some stuff up."

"What stuff?" probed his friend. Sirius turned and gave the other man a look. James shrugged and took the spoon then slurped up some soup.

Sirius ignored his question as he stole his spoon back. "Go get your own silverware." James rolled his hazel eyes as he took the other piece of bread.

They sat and talked for a bit. When the soup was gone, the bowl disappeared along with the spoon and tray. The two men stood up and waltzed outside. They looked into the same cloudless blue sky as before. "I'm glad you didn't do it again," James said randomly.

Sirius rolled his own grey eyes as he smiled. "What time is it?" he asked instead. He never wore a watch. He had decided years ago that they were useless, especially when he had other people around him.

"Where?" asked James.

Sirius looked at his friend, "You're trying to make this difficult, aren't you?" James smirked but held up his watch for him to look at. "I'm gonna go. See you later."

James waved him off and headed off to do something. Sirius walked toward the double doors he had run through before and into the beautiful field that was now filled with white lilies.

He took a deep breath and imagined Remus' apartment. He appeared right outside his front door just as planned. He knocked on the door and waited patiently.

--

A/N2: Well? Tell me what you thought -looks hopeful-