Thank you for all my lovely reviews ( It's nice to know that people
actually enjoy the drivel I produce occasionally.
Standard disclaimers apply.
*
Sirius, James and Lily were lounging around outside James and Lily's lodging, Sirius glaring around him with an expression that suggested that everything was not to his liking. He idly sipped his drink and pulled a face. Everything that existed here was just a pale imitation of what it was back on Earth. Nothing had any texture, any flavour, any substance . . . Sirius glared at a tree, and thought that it made much more effort to look like a real tree the longer he stared at it.
"What's up, Padfoot?" asked James. Sirius shrugged. He couldn't stay here. Everything just felt so . . . so utterly and completely bland! He didn't know what he was expecting the Afterlife to be like; he just knew that this wasn't it.
"It's not like this forever, you know," said James, accurately guessing Sirius' thoughts. "This is just where we come to wait for those we wish to see again. Then the fun begins."
"What sort of fun?" asked Sirius, trying to summon some enthusiasm into his voice.
"A journey of some sort. A long road, or a desert or something, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention."
"James!" sighed Lily, rolling her eyes. "What have I told you . . ?"
"What?" demanded James, genuinely bemused.
"You're not at school anymore you know, you actually have to listen to what people are telling you sometimes."
"Well, it's not like it was anything important or anything!"
"James!" Sirius laughed as his friends bickered good-naturedly. It was good to see that even after death, some things didn't change. But even so . . . he just could not shake off a feeling that something awful was going to happen to Harry, and he wouldn't be around to help . . . he couldn't accept that, he couldn't just relax here and wait for him to die . . .
"So, how do you go about getting back?" he wondered, unaware that he had voiced the thought out loud.
"What?" James and Lily stopped bickering and turned back to him.
"You can't go back, I've told you before," said Lily. "James tried to get back to Harry once."
"Only once?"
"Yeah," James confirmed, with an involuntary shudder.
"What happened?"
"James doesn't talk about it," said Lily sharply. James, who had opened his mouth to speak, closed it again and shot Sirius a sheepish grin.
"The way she goes on sometimes, I'm surprised the Auditors haven't tried to get her to join," he said with a laugh.
"Auditors?" asked Sirius. Lily shot James a dark look.
"Yeah, they're like . . . they're the beings who see that everything goes as it should. They don't like wizards much, they say we're tinkering with things we don't understand, and they reckon we'll bring about the destruction of the world. They don't even like sentient life much, to tell you the truth. Their job is to watch, and if they see anything untoward they're supposed to deal with it."
"Then why haven't they done something about Voldemort?" demanded Sirius.
"Because the way they see it, that's how things should be," explained James. "They say it serves as a warning to humans everywhere, and sometimes they go on about how it could be used as an example to prove that human beings need instant eradication from the face of the planet. I just think they're vindictive bastards and they like watching us suffer." James jumped up suddenly, and a second later a bolt of raw magic hit the place where he had been sitting. He grinned. "They're also very, very predictable."
"James, you know you shouldn't annoy the Auditors!" said Lily sternly, but Sirius thought he detected a hint of amusement around her eyes. They fell silent, watching where the magic had turned the ground into a marshmallow- like substance.
"How do people become ghosts?" asked Sirius after a while.
"You either have to have a burning desire to stay on Earth, or just frightened of what comes next. I caught something about the process of applying to be able to appear to a chosen one, but I think the waiting list for that is a couple of millennia."
"So that's out then," sighed Sirius, glaring moodily at the marshmallow ground.
"Cheer up, Padfoot! You'll think of something," said James cheerfully. "And when you do, tell me, will you?"
"James! You've already been cautioned once; you heard what they said they were going to do . . ."
"Look, Lil," explained James patiently, "if Sirius does manage to find a way back, I want to know too. It would be good to go back. Think of it, we'll be able to see Harry, to be a proper family! And if I get a hold of Wormtail I'll . . ." James broke off and made violent ripping motions with his hands.
"It would be nice, I'm just saying . . ." Sirius sighed and tuned his friends' bickering out, trying to think of a way to get back to Earth. If only he could find a way around that invisible barrier . . .
Hang on. What if the path back wasn't the only way to the archway? What if there was another way? A back way, so to speak? He grinned.
"Hey, guys - look, just shut up for a moment, will you? I've got an idea . . ."
Standard disclaimers apply.
*
Sirius, James and Lily were lounging around outside James and Lily's lodging, Sirius glaring around him with an expression that suggested that everything was not to his liking. He idly sipped his drink and pulled a face. Everything that existed here was just a pale imitation of what it was back on Earth. Nothing had any texture, any flavour, any substance . . . Sirius glared at a tree, and thought that it made much more effort to look like a real tree the longer he stared at it.
"What's up, Padfoot?" asked James. Sirius shrugged. He couldn't stay here. Everything just felt so . . . so utterly and completely bland! He didn't know what he was expecting the Afterlife to be like; he just knew that this wasn't it.
"It's not like this forever, you know," said James, accurately guessing Sirius' thoughts. "This is just where we come to wait for those we wish to see again. Then the fun begins."
"What sort of fun?" asked Sirius, trying to summon some enthusiasm into his voice.
"A journey of some sort. A long road, or a desert or something, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention."
"James!" sighed Lily, rolling her eyes. "What have I told you . . ?"
"What?" demanded James, genuinely bemused.
"You're not at school anymore you know, you actually have to listen to what people are telling you sometimes."
"Well, it's not like it was anything important or anything!"
"James!" Sirius laughed as his friends bickered good-naturedly. It was good to see that even after death, some things didn't change. But even so . . . he just could not shake off a feeling that something awful was going to happen to Harry, and he wouldn't be around to help . . . he couldn't accept that, he couldn't just relax here and wait for him to die . . .
"So, how do you go about getting back?" he wondered, unaware that he had voiced the thought out loud.
"What?" James and Lily stopped bickering and turned back to him.
"You can't go back, I've told you before," said Lily. "James tried to get back to Harry once."
"Only once?"
"Yeah," James confirmed, with an involuntary shudder.
"What happened?"
"James doesn't talk about it," said Lily sharply. James, who had opened his mouth to speak, closed it again and shot Sirius a sheepish grin.
"The way she goes on sometimes, I'm surprised the Auditors haven't tried to get her to join," he said with a laugh.
"Auditors?" asked Sirius. Lily shot James a dark look.
"Yeah, they're like . . . they're the beings who see that everything goes as it should. They don't like wizards much, they say we're tinkering with things we don't understand, and they reckon we'll bring about the destruction of the world. They don't even like sentient life much, to tell you the truth. Their job is to watch, and if they see anything untoward they're supposed to deal with it."
"Then why haven't they done something about Voldemort?" demanded Sirius.
"Because the way they see it, that's how things should be," explained James. "They say it serves as a warning to humans everywhere, and sometimes they go on about how it could be used as an example to prove that human beings need instant eradication from the face of the planet. I just think they're vindictive bastards and they like watching us suffer." James jumped up suddenly, and a second later a bolt of raw magic hit the place where he had been sitting. He grinned. "They're also very, very predictable."
"James, you know you shouldn't annoy the Auditors!" said Lily sternly, but Sirius thought he detected a hint of amusement around her eyes. They fell silent, watching where the magic had turned the ground into a marshmallow- like substance.
"How do people become ghosts?" asked Sirius after a while.
"You either have to have a burning desire to stay on Earth, or just frightened of what comes next. I caught something about the process of applying to be able to appear to a chosen one, but I think the waiting list for that is a couple of millennia."
"So that's out then," sighed Sirius, glaring moodily at the marshmallow ground.
"Cheer up, Padfoot! You'll think of something," said James cheerfully. "And when you do, tell me, will you?"
"James! You've already been cautioned once; you heard what they said they were going to do . . ."
"Look, Lil," explained James patiently, "if Sirius does manage to find a way back, I want to know too. It would be good to go back. Think of it, we'll be able to see Harry, to be a proper family! And if I get a hold of Wormtail I'll . . ." James broke off and made violent ripping motions with his hands.
"It would be nice, I'm just saying . . ." Sirius sighed and tuned his friends' bickering out, trying to think of a way to get back to Earth. If only he could find a way around that invisible barrier . . .
Hang on. What if the path back wasn't the only way to the archway? What if there was another way? A back way, so to speak? He grinned.
"Hey, guys - look, just shut up for a moment, will you? I've got an idea . . ."