Chapter 3: A Welcome Stranger

Harry just stared. Stared and stared. He couldn't drag his eyes away. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be. Yet there he was, piercing blue eyes looking back into his own, with more troubles and worries than Harry had ever seen within them. He knew those eyes so well and yet he couldn't. Harry pulled away from their intense gaze and looked around the room; the Weasley's were watching him intently, waiting for him to react, and those eyes were studying him, watching his every move, concerned and fearful.

"Sirius?" Harry croaked, his voice threatening to leave "But, how? What happened?" Harry was becoming more hysterical, "You're dead!" he cried breaking down "I saw you die!" He had given up all pretence, he was sobbing, he was so confused. This didn't make sense, it couldn't be happening, wait, of course! This wasn't real. It was all a trick. That wasn't Sirius, his godfather, returned from the dead, it must be an impostor. Voldemort. It must be him. He had somehow found out about Headquarters and was trapping them all. Harry turned to face Arthur, "Mr Weasley! We have to go, this is a trick, its Voldemort, he's trying to trap us, come on we have to go!" Harry was screaming now, and everyone was staring at him, looking panicked.

"What?!" exclaimed Ron

"It is, it must be!" cried Harry "I saw him die!"

Just then Remus Lupin stepped into the kitchen "No, Harry, you only thought you did"

"You mean you knew? And you let me think he was dead?"

"No, I just found out a few hours ago, and believe me, it was quite a shock." Remus replied calmly

"But, it can't be." Screamed Harry "He fell into the veil, you told me he couldn't come back!" and with that he ran outside. Harry didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he was running, and he was going to get as far away from Number 12 Grimmauld Place. "No" he thought to himself "that is not Sirius, Sirius is dead."

*

Back in the kitchen, Sirius was preparing to follow Harry, stopped only by Lupin. "No Sirius just let him go."

"But I.I can't leave him like that, it's my fault!"

"He'll be back soon enough, when he's ready to know what happened." Remus consoled his old friend.

"Speaking of what happened" Interjected Ron "do we get to know?"

"If you don't mind I would rather only tell the story once."

"Well, ok, I guess, but I'm going after Harry."

"I think that's a good idea Ron" agreed Molly "He needs to come back."

"Right, I'm off then." Said Ron, completely confused as he went out the door, he couldn't understand what was going on. Sirius was dead. Or he had been. How does someone come back from the dead? What had happened? The only way to find out would be to get to Harry.

*

Harry couldn't run anymore, he hadn't gotten very far, but the heaving of his chest as he cried made it impossible to run any further. He leaned against a tree at the back of the garden and slid to the ground. He couldn't get his mind around it. That couldn't be Sirius back in the kitchen yet it was. Those eyes, that haunted look, concealing the horrors of Azkaban, was one not easily replicated. And Remus, he was convinced. Sirius was one of his oldest friends; surely he would've been able to spot a fake. Harry knew in his heart that it was Sirius. His mind just wouldn't accept it, just in case. He couldn't lose Sirius again, he couldn't. Harry heard footsteps behind him, and wiping the tears from his face turned to see who was approaching. It was Ron. In a way Harry was glad, Ron wouldn't force him to talk, or to go back.

"Harry?" Ron asked hesitantly "are you ok?"

"Am I ok?" started Harry "I just saw someone that claims to be my dead godfather, do you really think I'm ok?!"

"No, not really" said Ron "but I couldn't think of anything else to say. But seriously, I think you should go back. You need to hear what he has to say."

"I don't want to." Harry replied stubbornly "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" asked Ron bewildered.

"What if it's not him? I can't lose him again. I just can't." Harry broke down into tears again. Furiously he wiped them from his face; he didn't want Ron to see him this way.

"I know this must be awful for you. And I know I can't really understand it, but I'm willing to try. If you'll let me in." he blushed slightly. "But if you don't want to talk about it, fair enough, I won't force you to."

Harry was startled. He had never seen Ron so honest, not about such personal matters. "Well I guess if anyone deserves to know what's going on it's you. It's well; I don't know where to start. Obviously I missed Sirius. But it's not just been that, I guess I feel responsible for his death, you know? If I hadn't been so stupid to be tricked then he wouldn't have died. Or well, whatever happened, and I guess I sort of panicked, I think I thought that he would be mad at me. For making him go to his death. And also it was just weird. I couldn't really accept that he was back. Couldn't understand. And I didn't really want to let myself believe it. In case it wasn't true. It almost killed me to lose him the first time, if I thought he was back and he wasn't, then I dunno, I just couldn't do it." Harry exhaled; it felt good to get all that off of his chest.

"Wow." Said Ron astounded "I can't pretend to understand what you felt when he died, and I know it would be awful to lose him again, but Lupin cares about him too, he's his best friend. Surely Lupin wouldn't open himself to the possibility of hurt if he wasn't sure. I don't think Lupin could lose him again either."

"I never thought of that" said Harry brightening slightly "But still..."

"But still what?" asked Ron "You have to go back, you have to know what happened, Sirius won't tell anyone, until you're there."

"Really?" asked Harry "I suppose we should go back then." He grimaced. He would have to, eventually, he just didn't know if he could actually go through with it or not.

"Right, you ready?" Ron looked at him anxiously

"Yeah, let's go."

*

When Harry and Ron returned to the house everyone was seated around the fire, a definite unease between them. Most of the Weasley's were fidgeting, desperate to know what had happened. Sirius was sitting, intently watching the doorway, and as soon as he saw Harry his expression brightened considerably. Harry simply walked to the couch and took a seat next to Remus, and Ron sat on the other side.

"I suppose you want to know how I'm here then?" Sirius started, drawing everyone's eyes to himself instantly.

Harry nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak.

"Well as you all know I was hit by a spell from Bellatrix Lestrange. It didn't kill me, but it knocked me backwards, and before I could do anything, I was in darkness; I thought I was dying, but it was just pitch black. I couldn't see a thing, but I could hear voices, whispering, but getting louder all the time. My chest hurt, where the curse hit me, the pain was bad, but bearable, after Azkaban. I think I fell asleep then, or maybe I fainted, maybe I'll never know. When I came around the pain was gone, completely, I truly thought I was dead then. But I opened my eyes, and it was no longer pitch black, but it was still dark and I could see something moving, not so far away, I tried to call out for help, my voice was very crackly. You'll never guess what I heard next. I heard James, and he was close. "Lily" he said "Lily, he's waking up." I realised he was talking about me and managed to croak a "James?" That's when I saw him. He was a ghost or a spirit or something, but it was James. At that time I still thought I was dead, I thought I was in the land of the dead, and that I could be reunited with Prongs. I was upset of course, who wouldn't be after they died, but I was desperate to see James and Lily again. Not that I wouldn't have missed any of you lot, because I would, especially you Harry, and you Remus."

At that point Sirius paused and looked at both of them lovingly.

"Anyway, then I saw Lily, looking exactly like she did before she died. She hugged me, sort of, it didn't really work, her not being solid and all, but the gesture meant enough. She and James explained to me that I wasn't dead, but if I stayed there too long then I would be. They told me I couldn't be there any more than a month. And I had been there a little over a week already. We talked for hours and hours, days in fact, they had questions about everyone, especially Harry, though they already knew most of the answers, apparently it's true that the dead can in fact watch over us. Personally I find it a little disturbing that they can be looking at any time, when you're in the shower or anything, and I told James as much."

Sirius laughed a happy laugh that Harry had missed so much.

"James simply laughed and said that no-one would want to watch that! They wanted me to tell you that they miss you Harry and they love you. And they can't wait to see you again, but hope it won't be until you're good and old. Anyway, time behind the veil is strange, it moves quicker than it does here, and with every hour I got weaker, the air was literally sucking the life out of me. I had to leave. That place is designed so you want to stay though, it wants living people to feed off of, and I had to fight to get out. James and Lily helped of course, but we got lost. It looked for a while like I wasn't going to make it back on time but luckily James came up with a scheme. He and Lily had discovered that they could take the energy from the air, and feed it back to me; I was on the verge of death for days. I felt awful and I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay there, with James, gods I miss him. But James wouldn't let me. He told me what he saw of you Harry, and you Remus, that both of you were blaming yourselves for my death. I couldn't have that; filled with a new sense of direction I fought the place. I fought with every fibre of my being and I made it. I got to the veil and I think it took me days to actually walk through it, the other side kept pulling me back. Lily and James couldn't be there, it hurts to be that close they said, but when he saw I couldn't do it, James came to me, and he told me I had to go back that I had to do it for Harry, that I owed him, and he was right, and it was enough, I forced myself through and then I was back. It took me a few days to get back here to Grimmauld Place; I couldn't allow myself to be seen, not after what I had been through, so I only travelled for a little while at a time. And then this morning, I made it, I was home, and I have never been so glad to be back. "

Harry got up from his seat and threw himself at Sirius, his godfather, and hugged him, and Harry wished that moment could last forever. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should've known it was you." The tears were streaming freely from his face, this time though they were tears of happiness. Remus decided that it was a good time to leave Harry and Sirius to catch up, and left the room, hoping the Weasley's would take the hint and leave too. He was not to be disappointed; as he reached the doorway he noticed Molly and Arthur discreetly remove themselves and their children from the scene.

Sirius hugged Harry back and replied "its okay, honestly, it must have been quite a shock to see me when you thought I was dead."

"I'm glad you're not dead."

"So am I" Sirius laughed, it had been a while since Harry had seen him happy, even before he "died" and he was glad to see it.

"Would you mind if I, if I asked you about my mum and dad?"

"Of course not!" Sirius replied "In fact I was hoping you would."

"You were? Why?"

"Well because I want to tell someone about the time I spent with them, and all they did was talk about you, so I figured you'd be the one to tell."

"Really? What did they say?"

"Of course they did, you're their son, what did you think that just because they died they would love you any less? They've been watching you your whole life, they were there when the Dursley's locked you in that cupboard, they were there when you set that python on your cousin, and they were there when you got your letter to Hogwarts. They saw you make the quidditch team, James told me that story so many times, I think he enjoyed that more than when he made the quidditch team. They were there when you saved the Philosophers Stone from Voldemort, they were there when you saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets, they were there when you saved me from the dementors, and when your patronus took the form of a stag, another of James' favourite stories. They saw all the tasks you did at the Triwizard Tournament, and they saw you win. They saw you last year set up the DA and earn the respect of your classmates, and they saw you when you fought so bravely against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I bet they're even here right now."

"That's so weird to think that they're watching what I'm doing, I mean it's great that they can, and that they can know what I'm doing, but they are my parents, and well, it's just a bit weird if they see everything I do. You know?"

"I don't think they keep 24 hour surveillance on you, they just like to check up, and make sure things are ok, I suppose it's just coincidence that they've seen all the best points, good luck, who knows?"

"Yeah, I guess, I just wish that they were here too."

"I know Harry, I do too, but they're okay where they are, and they're so proud of you and they wanted to know that and also Lily says that she's so sorry that her relatives are so horrible. I told her you didn't blame her for that of course, but she made me promise to tell you, and well, your mum was never one to be reckoned with in full health, and I was almost dead." Grinned Sirius

Harry joined him in a grin, smiling about the thought if his parents knowing what he had achieved, and that they were proud of him. It seemed to make all his other problems seem completely insignificant in comparison. "Could you tell me more about my parents, and what you guys did together?"

"Yeah, sure, you won't get bored listening to all these old stories though?"

"No!" Harry exclaimed, "I love hearing about mum and dad, it's not like the Dursley's ever talked about them much."

At that point Remus looked in at the doorway. "How's it going in here?"

"Good" grinned Harry in reply

"In fact we were just about to tell stories of the old days, back at Hogwarts, want to help out my memory, Moony?" asked Sirius

"But of course" Lupin replied as he took a seat next to them on the couch.

*

Many hours later when all three were exhausted they decided to make their way to bed, Harry crept into the room he shared with Ron, trying not to wake him; he discovered that was unnecessary however as Ron was awake, reading a letter.

"Who's that from?" Harry asked

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed startled "Emm, it's from Hermione."

"Really?" said Harry, a smile appearing on his face. "What's she say?"

"Well, firstly she says that she hasn't sent any other letters so if I got any they weren't from her, weird eh?"

"Very" replied Harry fighting to keep a straight face. "What else?"

"Well she says that I should take your advice!" Ron said, very confused "What the hell is she on about?"

"Well."Harry started "Do you want my advice?"

"I guess so" said Ron dubiously

"Ask. Her. Out." Harry said grinning wildly

"What?!" yelled Ron

"Ron, people are sleeping"

"Oh sorry, but she knows I would want to ask her out??"

"Well, yeah."

"But! Why did you tell her?"

"To prove to you that she does want you to ask her out."

"But why wouldn't she just ask me?"

"Well I think this was her last way of making sure you would say yes."

Ron was beginning to smile. "So she's really interested then?"

"I've been telling you that all summer."

The smile covered Ron's whole face. "I'm going to write and ask her out then." He sounded much more confident than he looked.

"Good" said Harry "and don't worry it's not like she's going to say no"

"Uh, yeah." Said Ron who was looking more nervous by the second. He got some parchment and quickly scrawled a reply. He sat looking at it for a long time after he had finished.

"You all right?" Harry asked

"I think so." Said Ron, who was looking sick now, "I just don't think I can send it."

"Course you can!" exclaimed Harry who grabbed the parchment and gave it to Pig, who was so glad to be out of the cage that he flew away instantly.

"Well, I guess it's done then." Said Ron

"Yes, it is. About time too."

"Oh Harry I meant to ask, how'd things go with Sirius tonight?"

"Really good, we talked about my mum and dad, and all the things the marauders used to get up to. It was really nice to have someone to talk to about that stuff. And well, Sirius told me some things from my parents, from when he saw them, behind the veil."

"Really? That's so cool!"

"Yeah, I'm so glad Sirius is alive."

"Me too, he's a lot of fun, when he's not miserable."

"I know, he seems to be in a better mood since his brush with death though."

"Well, if that's all it takes." joked Ron

"I know."

"Tired?" asked Ron as he saw Harry yawn

"Yeah, a bit, mind if we go to sleep?"

"Not at all, in fact I was just about to suggest it."

"Great minds think alike and all that" Harry smiled, for the first times in months he felt truly happy.

"Ah, yes, G'night Harry!"

"Night Ron!" Harry fell asleep quickly and it was mostly a deep peaceful sleep that Harry hadn't felt the likes of for years; it was interrupted only by a short pleasant dream, where Harry could see his parents watching him, and talk to them. How he wished they were here. Still, at least he had Sirius.

A/N: When I posted this last night, I said I had no reviews, but after that I received plenty. So I would just like to say thank-you to you all! I will reply to individual reviews in the next chapter which should be up in a few days. I am so glad that you like my story!! Anyway I hope you keep reading and continue to enjoy the story.

One thing I'd like to ask your opinion on though - the new DADA professor, I was thinking of making it an old school friend of Lily's, but is that too much of a coincidence, seeing as there has already been an old friend of James'? Please give me your opinion, the story is for you guys after all, and any suggestions would be appreciated. Well, thanks again, see you all next chapter!