Disclaimer: This story is for entertainment purposes and no money is
changing hands. I do not own any of the 'Harry Potter' characters.
He couldn't stop laughing. The stories Sirius had told him were just so funny. This was something he had yearned for his entire life. To just sit with someone who he knew cared about him. To be told stories that would make him laugh just for the sake of sharing time and joy. While listening to his Godfather there was nothing to draw his attention away. No worries, no thoughts of things that needed to be done. This was a time to be shared and nothing else mattered. "I wish I could have seen my mother's face. Hagrid made me a photo album with pictures of my parents but I would really love to have seen her face after that."
Sirius finally got his own laughter under control enough to respond. "Well, Moony got pictures. We used them to blackmail her into making each of us our favorite meal."
A movement drew both of their attention off to the side. A short distance away they could see Madame Pomfrey talking to someone and not looking entirely pleased.
"I'm sorry Harry, but I have to stop telling you stories now. I really shouldn't have told you so many, but this time has been something I've wanted for so long."
Sirius was still smiling but his face showed that there was something important that he had to speak of. Harry didn't want to give up the happiness he had found. His life had so few moments like this in it. He finally accepted the fact that no matter how much he wanted it to, this time couldn't go on forever. "I think I understand Sirius. It's time for that decision that you told me about earlier isn't it?"
"Yes, there are two options for you. I think you already know what they are, but I have to explain them before you can decide. When I finish telling you about them you will have to decide. There isn't a time limit after I finish speaking. You really will need to think about this." Harry could see that his Godfather was waiting for some response before continuing. He couldn't bring himself to speak at the moment so just nodded to show he understood.
"Right, the simple way to put this is that you have to decide if you want to go back to being alive, or if you want to leave that behind and cross to the lands of the dead. Of course I can't just leave it with a simple choice though. You need to know more about both options. I'll start with death. If you choose to die you will move on. No one but you has the right to ask anything more than what you have already done in life. You haven't known much friendship or love, and you have suffered far more in your short life than anyone much older than you should. You have given of yourself and in so doing saved many lives. Passing out of the world of the living will free you from the pain you have felt and nobody will think less of you. Hermione has the rings you made and they will be used to prove that you are innocent of the crimes people think you committed. Madame Pomfrey will carry your body back to the world of the living so that it can be buried, and people will know through it as well as the rings that you have done nothing wrong."
Sirius was now looking unhappy with his task. "The other choice is to go back to being alive. If you do that you will have to face Voldemort. We don't know what the end result of that confrontation will be. People will be brought to this place so that you can continue studying, and Madame Pomfrey will work to repair your body." There was another pause as the man gathered his thoughts.
"There is more to these choices that you need to know before you decide. When Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest acted to stop you from dying the bound themselves to you. If you live they and several other beings like them will look to you for guidance. When a judgement needs to be made about someone or something, you will be the one who decides. It's like what happened when you banished Malfoy. Normally the most Hogwarts could do to someone is to change the stairs, hide a hall, or maybe move a room. Now you will be asked to look at what has happened and choose the how a person is to be punished or rewarded. You won't be able to just pass judgments on a whim; you have to be approached by one or more of the beings like Hogwarts. Another change is that you will no longer be under the authority of the ministry or any other government in most matters. This isn't to say that they have no authority, it will just be very limited, and you will have some power to affect or override their decisions as well. The final and hardest thing to tell is that we don't know if your body will ever be fully healed. There is some very old and powerful magic that Madame Pomfrey will be able to use on you here, but we don't know how well it will work."
Harry was stunned by what he had been told. He had thought that his choices were going to be just life or death. Now it seemed he had to choose between leaving the life of pain and loneliness he'd had, or going back to this changed life, possibly in a damaged body. "Can I ask some questions before I choose?"
Sirius smiled. "I'll answer what I can, but I don't know everything. The questions you ask will have to be about your choice." The grin suddenly grew mischievous. "I'm sorry but you aren't allowed to ask about the first time your dad took you flying on a broom, or what your mother did to him when the two of you got back to the ground."
Harry almost laughed at those last words. He was now very curious about the story behind his first flight. He would love to just ignore the need to make a choice and just return to talking with the Godfather he had known for such a short time. This decision was important though, and he knew it had to be made. "I guess my first question has to do with what happens out there, in the living world, if I die. Will Voldemort win or will someone else defeat him?"
The smiling face became serious once more. "If you die old Voldy will continue to gain power. There will always be some people who will fight against him and any other evil that comes around. Eventually someone will be in a position to face him like you. We don't know if you will win, and we don't know about this future person either. Eventually he will be beaten, it may take ten years or ten thousand, but someone will eventually beat him. I can also tell you that sometime in the future another Dark Lord will rise and have to be fought by people that refuse to allow evil to rule. By going back you might, not will but might, be able to shorten the time that Voldemort is able to cause suffering in the world."
Now Harry faced another burden, the choice got even harder when it was his freedom from the pain he'd felt and leaving others to suffer and maybe die. "Can I send any messages back with Madame Pomfrey if I choose to die? I have an idea of how to hurt, or maybe even beat Voldemort. That could let someone else fight him now, or at least sooner."
"No, if you die you take anything you know with you, just like anyone else. If you live you can use all your knowledge and skill to fight, just like anyone else. I know this is hard but there isn't a third option." Harry could see the pain in his Godfather's face as he spoke.
"You keep saying 'We' Sirius. Who are the other people you keep speaking about, and who would come here to teach me?" Harry had been wondering about this each time he heard the word, he also wanted to know what he could expect from the people who would be teaching him.
The smile now returned to Sirius' face. "Well, I don't know all of them but I can give you a bit of information. 'We' includes Hogwarts and others like it. There are also some ghosts, and people from the other side of the 'Veil'. As to teachers? Well, there are a few ghosts, and some live people, you have never met before. Most of what you will learn will be the same as if you were still in school. You will get a bit extra in the area of fighting, but not much and maybe a few other little things. Because of your injuries a lot of this stuff will have to be lectures and demonstrations. As you get better there will be some practical work, but what it is and how much depend on how well you heal. Time can work a little differently here. You will be given a few more months to heal and learn than the people outside this place. Oh, you also get to do the decorating if you decide to live. I recommend you avoid fluorescent pink, but that's just a personal thing."
This time he did laugh. It was just so silly that he couldn't help himself. Seeing the smiling face beside him and laughing he discovered that the weight of his decision was lessened. He knew what had to be done. He didn't want it but the cost of taking the path away from pain would cost others too much. There was one other question he needed to ask before putting into words what he felt had to be said. "So if I live I stay here for awhile? Can I bring people here to help me get ready for facing Voldemort? I need to know if I'm right about something so I need to see Snape. I also have a couple things I need made."
"Yes, you can ask people to come here. This place will stay to let you heal and learn for a time. At some point in the future you will have to leave here, but until then you can ask a very few people to come and help you. Only the teachers and Madame Pomfrey can come here with any frequency, or for long periods though." Harry could hear in Sirius' voice that he knew what the answer to the question would be. It held a combination of pride, concern, and pain for the decision Harry was about to make.
Hearing this lifted the burden further from Harry and he knew the time for deciding come. "I'll live. I can't abandon people to suffer. There never really was an option for me, was there?"
Sirius got to his feet after a moment of thought. "No, being the person you are, there wasn't a real option. I had tell explain things so that you could understand that." Harry heard pride in his godfather's voice and felt even better about what he had done. "I have to go and do some things for a while. I'll send Snivellus here for you. When I get done talking to people, and such, I get to come back so we can talk some more. Knowing Madame Pomfrey you'll be asleep, but I get to wait and we can speak for a long time. I won't be able to come back after that though. I'm sorry that I have to leave you again, but I promise that someday we will see each other again."
A new voice cut through the silence after Sirius had finished speaking. "Black, I'm not to happy with you for tiring out my patient. I'll be talking to you about this after I've started treating Mr. Potter's injuries." Harry looked up to see the nurse who had repaired his damaged body so often in the past. There was a stern look on her face that he was familiar with. He wanted to explain why it had been so important for him to talk with his godfather, but she continued to speak in her strictest voice. "I know it had to be done, but Harry needs to rest if he's going to heal. I'll see you and Sir Nicholas in my office after I've finished here so we can discuss how the two of you kept me away from my patient. Do you understand Mr. Black?"
Harry was surprised that Sirius could look so innocent and harassed at the same time. As his Godfather moved off he spoke softly once more. "Of course Madame Pomfrey. I will try to be waiting for you there." He then turned to Harry and his grin returned. "When I get back I'll tell you about how I took you flying on my motorcycle while your mother was distracted by yelling at your dad for taking you up on his broom."
Harry was overcome with laughter at the audacity of his godfather and the look that came over Madame Pomfrey's face. He could hardly hear her shouts as he watched a Sirius Black who showed no signs of his former imprisonment walk off with a smile on his face.
**
A/N: I am going to end this chapter here. The next part is going to jump around and I can't think of a good place during that section to put a chapter break.
Once again I want to thank my Reviewers. I'm not going to do it individually this time, because I'm going to start the next chapter tonight and hope to have it up quickly. I do want to say that the reviews make this worthwhile. The support of readers, and getting this dratted idea out of my head, are what let me keep going with the story.
Thank you.
He couldn't stop laughing. The stories Sirius had told him were just so funny. This was something he had yearned for his entire life. To just sit with someone who he knew cared about him. To be told stories that would make him laugh just for the sake of sharing time and joy. While listening to his Godfather there was nothing to draw his attention away. No worries, no thoughts of things that needed to be done. This was a time to be shared and nothing else mattered. "I wish I could have seen my mother's face. Hagrid made me a photo album with pictures of my parents but I would really love to have seen her face after that."
Sirius finally got his own laughter under control enough to respond. "Well, Moony got pictures. We used them to blackmail her into making each of us our favorite meal."
A movement drew both of their attention off to the side. A short distance away they could see Madame Pomfrey talking to someone and not looking entirely pleased.
"I'm sorry Harry, but I have to stop telling you stories now. I really shouldn't have told you so many, but this time has been something I've wanted for so long."
Sirius was still smiling but his face showed that there was something important that he had to speak of. Harry didn't want to give up the happiness he had found. His life had so few moments like this in it. He finally accepted the fact that no matter how much he wanted it to, this time couldn't go on forever. "I think I understand Sirius. It's time for that decision that you told me about earlier isn't it?"
"Yes, there are two options for you. I think you already know what they are, but I have to explain them before you can decide. When I finish telling you about them you will have to decide. There isn't a time limit after I finish speaking. You really will need to think about this." Harry could see that his Godfather was waiting for some response before continuing. He couldn't bring himself to speak at the moment so just nodded to show he understood.
"Right, the simple way to put this is that you have to decide if you want to go back to being alive, or if you want to leave that behind and cross to the lands of the dead. Of course I can't just leave it with a simple choice though. You need to know more about both options. I'll start with death. If you choose to die you will move on. No one but you has the right to ask anything more than what you have already done in life. You haven't known much friendship or love, and you have suffered far more in your short life than anyone much older than you should. You have given of yourself and in so doing saved many lives. Passing out of the world of the living will free you from the pain you have felt and nobody will think less of you. Hermione has the rings you made and they will be used to prove that you are innocent of the crimes people think you committed. Madame Pomfrey will carry your body back to the world of the living so that it can be buried, and people will know through it as well as the rings that you have done nothing wrong."
Sirius was now looking unhappy with his task. "The other choice is to go back to being alive. If you do that you will have to face Voldemort. We don't know what the end result of that confrontation will be. People will be brought to this place so that you can continue studying, and Madame Pomfrey will work to repair your body." There was another pause as the man gathered his thoughts.
"There is more to these choices that you need to know before you decide. When Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest acted to stop you from dying the bound themselves to you. If you live they and several other beings like them will look to you for guidance. When a judgement needs to be made about someone or something, you will be the one who decides. It's like what happened when you banished Malfoy. Normally the most Hogwarts could do to someone is to change the stairs, hide a hall, or maybe move a room. Now you will be asked to look at what has happened and choose the how a person is to be punished or rewarded. You won't be able to just pass judgments on a whim; you have to be approached by one or more of the beings like Hogwarts. Another change is that you will no longer be under the authority of the ministry or any other government in most matters. This isn't to say that they have no authority, it will just be very limited, and you will have some power to affect or override their decisions as well. The final and hardest thing to tell is that we don't know if your body will ever be fully healed. There is some very old and powerful magic that Madame Pomfrey will be able to use on you here, but we don't know how well it will work."
Harry was stunned by what he had been told. He had thought that his choices were going to be just life or death. Now it seemed he had to choose between leaving the life of pain and loneliness he'd had, or going back to this changed life, possibly in a damaged body. "Can I ask some questions before I choose?"
Sirius smiled. "I'll answer what I can, but I don't know everything. The questions you ask will have to be about your choice." The grin suddenly grew mischievous. "I'm sorry but you aren't allowed to ask about the first time your dad took you flying on a broom, or what your mother did to him when the two of you got back to the ground."
Harry almost laughed at those last words. He was now very curious about the story behind his first flight. He would love to just ignore the need to make a choice and just return to talking with the Godfather he had known for such a short time. This decision was important though, and he knew it had to be made. "I guess my first question has to do with what happens out there, in the living world, if I die. Will Voldemort win or will someone else defeat him?"
The smiling face became serious once more. "If you die old Voldy will continue to gain power. There will always be some people who will fight against him and any other evil that comes around. Eventually someone will be in a position to face him like you. We don't know if you will win, and we don't know about this future person either. Eventually he will be beaten, it may take ten years or ten thousand, but someone will eventually beat him. I can also tell you that sometime in the future another Dark Lord will rise and have to be fought by people that refuse to allow evil to rule. By going back you might, not will but might, be able to shorten the time that Voldemort is able to cause suffering in the world."
Now Harry faced another burden, the choice got even harder when it was his freedom from the pain he'd felt and leaving others to suffer and maybe die. "Can I send any messages back with Madame Pomfrey if I choose to die? I have an idea of how to hurt, or maybe even beat Voldemort. That could let someone else fight him now, or at least sooner."
"No, if you die you take anything you know with you, just like anyone else. If you live you can use all your knowledge and skill to fight, just like anyone else. I know this is hard but there isn't a third option." Harry could see the pain in his Godfather's face as he spoke.
"You keep saying 'We' Sirius. Who are the other people you keep speaking about, and who would come here to teach me?" Harry had been wondering about this each time he heard the word, he also wanted to know what he could expect from the people who would be teaching him.
The smile now returned to Sirius' face. "Well, I don't know all of them but I can give you a bit of information. 'We' includes Hogwarts and others like it. There are also some ghosts, and people from the other side of the 'Veil'. As to teachers? Well, there are a few ghosts, and some live people, you have never met before. Most of what you will learn will be the same as if you were still in school. You will get a bit extra in the area of fighting, but not much and maybe a few other little things. Because of your injuries a lot of this stuff will have to be lectures and demonstrations. As you get better there will be some practical work, but what it is and how much depend on how well you heal. Time can work a little differently here. You will be given a few more months to heal and learn than the people outside this place. Oh, you also get to do the decorating if you decide to live. I recommend you avoid fluorescent pink, but that's just a personal thing."
This time he did laugh. It was just so silly that he couldn't help himself. Seeing the smiling face beside him and laughing he discovered that the weight of his decision was lessened. He knew what had to be done. He didn't want it but the cost of taking the path away from pain would cost others too much. There was one other question he needed to ask before putting into words what he felt had to be said. "So if I live I stay here for awhile? Can I bring people here to help me get ready for facing Voldemort? I need to know if I'm right about something so I need to see Snape. I also have a couple things I need made."
"Yes, you can ask people to come here. This place will stay to let you heal and learn for a time. At some point in the future you will have to leave here, but until then you can ask a very few people to come and help you. Only the teachers and Madame Pomfrey can come here with any frequency, or for long periods though." Harry could hear in Sirius' voice that he knew what the answer to the question would be. It held a combination of pride, concern, and pain for the decision Harry was about to make.
Hearing this lifted the burden further from Harry and he knew the time for deciding come. "I'll live. I can't abandon people to suffer. There never really was an option for me, was there?"
Sirius got to his feet after a moment of thought. "No, being the person you are, there wasn't a real option. I had tell explain things so that you could understand that." Harry heard pride in his godfather's voice and felt even better about what he had done. "I have to go and do some things for a while. I'll send Snivellus here for you. When I get done talking to people, and such, I get to come back so we can talk some more. Knowing Madame Pomfrey you'll be asleep, but I get to wait and we can speak for a long time. I won't be able to come back after that though. I'm sorry that I have to leave you again, but I promise that someday we will see each other again."
A new voice cut through the silence after Sirius had finished speaking. "Black, I'm not to happy with you for tiring out my patient. I'll be talking to you about this after I've started treating Mr. Potter's injuries." Harry looked up to see the nurse who had repaired his damaged body so often in the past. There was a stern look on her face that he was familiar with. He wanted to explain why it had been so important for him to talk with his godfather, but she continued to speak in her strictest voice. "I know it had to be done, but Harry needs to rest if he's going to heal. I'll see you and Sir Nicholas in my office after I've finished here so we can discuss how the two of you kept me away from my patient. Do you understand Mr. Black?"
Harry was surprised that Sirius could look so innocent and harassed at the same time. As his Godfather moved off he spoke softly once more. "Of course Madame Pomfrey. I will try to be waiting for you there." He then turned to Harry and his grin returned. "When I get back I'll tell you about how I took you flying on my motorcycle while your mother was distracted by yelling at your dad for taking you up on his broom."
Harry was overcome with laughter at the audacity of his godfather and the look that came over Madame Pomfrey's face. He could hardly hear her shouts as he watched a Sirius Black who showed no signs of his former imprisonment walk off with a smile on his face.
**
A/N: I am going to end this chapter here. The next part is going to jump around and I can't think of a good place during that section to put a chapter break.
Once again I want to thank my Reviewers. I'm not going to do it individually this time, because I'm going to start the next chapter tonight and hope to have it up quickly. I do want to say that the reviews make this worthwhile. The support of readers, and getting this dratted idea out of my head, are what let me keep going with the story.
Thank you.