DISCLAIMER: JKR has said that she likes it that her fans are out there reading other books and writing themselves, so I don't think she'll have a problem if I write one based on her characters.
Chapter 17: Letting Go
Ginny fell back on the ground, hard. She was about to get up when someone landed on her. "Oww," she gasped.
"Ginny? Oh, sorry," Harry stood and held his hand out to her. Ginny gratefully took it, and stood up.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You fell through the Veil," he answered.
"And you followed me?"
"Of course." Harry blushed slightly. "I didn't want to lose you."
Ginny smiled weakly. "That's sweet, Harry. Extremely stupid, and the dumbest thing in the world to do, but sweet."
Harry looked around. They were standing in the middle of a paradise, he thought. It was a never ending garden. There were trees surrounding the area, and all kinds of flowers, some that Harry had never seen before. A huge waterfall was roaring only feet away from them, and a river cut through the middle of the garden. He heard an intake of breath next to him, and he knew that Ginny was just as enchanted with this place as he was.
"Where are we?" Ginny said, going forward to smell the flowers.
"I guess this means we're dead. We fell through that Veil," Harry replied.
"Not dead, just stuck," a familiar male voice said behind him. Harry turned, his heart wrenching. Ginny gasped as she saw who it was. "Sirius," she whispered. Sirius Black was standing in front of them, smiling proudly. And besides him stood James and Lily Potter, also grinning at their son and his girlfriend.
"Oh my God," Ginny murmured. "Harry, are those-?" Harry still stood speechless, looking in awe at his parents.
"Harry," Lily Potter walked up to him and enveloped him in a hug. "I'm so happy to see you. Well, in person, I mean."
"And you are Ginny," James extended his hand to the redhead, who shook it. "Sirius told us about you."
"You know, you mother was Head Girl when we started Hogwarts," Lily informed her, one arm still around Harry.
"Glad you came to your senses, Harry," James said. "This beautiful lady is cause for a lot of fights between the male population at Hogwarts." Ginny blushed furiously at the comment.
"He's right, you know. We can see it all from here," Sirius put in.
"Where here?" Harry finally found his voice. "Where are we?"
Lily stopped smiling. "I'm afraid you're stuck between the worlds of the dead and the realm of the living."
"The what?"
"The Veils," Sirius began, "are a gateway to the world where the dead live. Well, not live, but... Well, you know what I mean."
James shook his head at Sirius. "This place is what's in-between. See, every Halloween, the Veils thin, so the dead can communicate with the living. But the dead can't go to see the living-"
"And the living can't enter the world of the dead. So this place is where they meet?" Ginny finished.
"That's right," he answered, looking rather impressed.
"Told she was smart," Sirius muttered.
"What's wrong, Harry? Aren't you happy to see us?" Lily asked.
"Yea, I am, it's just," he answered.
"Lils, do you think he's happy that he's dead?" James questioned.
"Well, he's not dead," she argued.
"Not yet anyway," Sirius murmured.
"Hey, I'm still here you know," Harry interrupted. James and Sirius looked down at the ground, and Lily apologized. "Now, you said we're not dead yet. What do you mean?"
"Well, you haven't entered the world of the dead. You still have a chance to get out through the Veil. Except we'll have to wait for a specific hour, when the Veil appears. It will lead you back to Stonehenge, through the black Veil." Lily explained.
"Okay, so why are you here?" Ginny asked. "You're all, well, dead."
"No, no, just those two. The rest of us are alive," Sirius clarified. "I've been stuck here for the past four and half months. Lily and James were given permission to come every so often."
"Yeah, and we came today to see him off today," James added, clapping Sirius' shoulder.
"Thank the Powers that be," Lily muttered. Ginny snorted, while James and Sirius managed to look hurt. "Don't you like me anymore, Lils?" Sirius' voice sounded sad, but his eyes were twinkling with laughter.
"It's not that I don't like you, Sirius, it's that you're a bad influence on James."
"Yeah, sure," Sirius mumbled, while James, Ginny, and Harry laughed at his expense.
They sat on the neatly cut grass, talking excitedly. James, Lily, and Sirius knew what had been going on with the war, and they discussed what they understood with Harry and Ginny.
"There's one thing I don't understand," Ginny said. "Why did Voldemort want to come here? What does he need the Veil for?"
"This place holds the secret to death," Lily explained. "Everyone that dies comes through here. People make the choice to die or become ghosts. Very few people have fallen through the Veil, and they get a choice. Either they can wait for Halloween to come, or they can move on and die properly."
"The water here makes you immortal. That's why you're not allowed to eat or drink anything here," Sirius said.
"And if you do?"
"Then, if you can get out through the Veil again, you'll be immortal," Harry concluded.
"That's right, but only a handful of people have ever fallen through, and most of them decide to walk straight to death rather than wait," James said.
"So how do we stop him from getting in here?" Ginny's voice sounded desperate, almost hopeless.
"Well, all you have to do is stall him," Lily said. "He's planning on getting in here, drinking the water, and then leaving again. You can only leave the Veil during Halloween. Any other time, it's too thick to get through."
"Dumbledore couldn't defeat him. What makes you think we can stall him?" she asked her. Lily seemed stunned, and had no words of encouragement for Ginny.
"Don't worry, Gin. I'll figure something out," Harry's eyes glittered in determination, and he held Ginny's small hand in his own.
"Harry, listen to me," Lily recovered. "Be careful. I don't want to see you in here again for a long time to come."
"Gee, Lils, you really can make a person feel loved," murmured James.
"I'm not joking!" She hit his arm hard before turning back to Harry. "The next time I see you in here, you better have stories to tell me about my grandchildren. I want you to live a full life, not die young like we did."
"Yeah, we want you to live a long, happy life," James said, talking to his son seriously. "Preferably with the beautiful woman sitting at your side," he added in a whisper.
"Don't worry, you two," Sirius declared. "I made you a promise sixteen years ago that I'd look after Harry, and I'm going to keep it. I know I wasn't able to before, but I haven't forgotten it."
Lily smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Sirius."
Sirius smiled back, then stood up. "Time to go, guys," he announced to Harry and Ginny. Everyone else stood up and tried to say their good byes.
"I'm going to count on you to take care of him, too," Lily said tearfully as she enveloped Ginny in a hug. Ginny nodded, not trusting herself to maintain control if she spoke. Lily then turned to Harry, removing a ring from her finger. "This is a Potter family heirloom. I was going to send it to you with Sirius, but since you're here-" She handed him the ring, a beautiful white gold ring with set with emeralds on the band, and a diamond sitting proudly on the front. On the inside, the engraving said, 'Until Forever.' "It's an engagement ring. It's been in the family for almost fifteen generations," she added. Harry thanked her, and they hugged each other tightly.
"I don't want to let you go, Mom," Harry said, silent tears rolling down his cheeks.
"You don't have to," she answered, crying as well. "We'll be watching over you. And now you have a somewhat happy memory of us to look back to." They finally let go of each other, and Lily moved on to Sirius.
"You know," James said with a smile to Ginny. "Sirius tells me that your twins brothers replaced us as the troublemakers of Hogwarts. And now that they are gone, and you seem to have been following their footsteps, maybe you can take over." They hugged, laughing. James then turned to Harry.
"I know you got a bad impression of me," he said, rubbing his chin. "That I was young and stupid, and that I didn't know any better doesn't excuse the mean things I did while I was at school. But I did change. I learned a lot of things while I was growing up- most of them from your mother- and I changed. For the better. I love you and your mother more than anything. And it'd make me feel better knowing that you don't hate what I was when I was younger."
"I don't hate you, Dad," Harry said. "Snape does, with a passion, but I don't." They hugged tightly.
James turned to his best friend, but couldn't find the words to say goodbye. Sirius seemed at a lost as well, but finally broke the silence between the two of them. "I just have one question for you, Prongs. What is the Potters' fascination with redheaded women?" Harry raised an eyebrow, and Ginny tilted her head questioningly. Lily, however, rolled her eyes. "What are you talking, Sirius?" she asked.
"James' grandmother had red head hair, his mother had red hair, his wife has red hair, and it looks like his son is also attracted to redheads. Isn't that a bit too much a coincidence?"
"Red is color of love and passion," James said grinning. Sirius laughed and they shared a quick embrace. "Go before it's too late," Lily hurried them. She gave Harry a last kiss and shared a hug with Ginny and Sirius.
"Remember, we don't want you here for a long time," James said. "And Sirius, if you break your promise, you'll regret getting here later."
"Oh, and Ginny, it's called rebirth,"Lily whispered to the other redhead. Harry was confused, but Ginny seemed to understand what his mother was talking about, as a bright smile replaced her tears.
They waved to each other as Harry, Sirius, and Ginny walked through the Veil, back to the battle that had been raging on just on the other side.
A/N: Did anyone get the allusion to my favorite story in Greek mythology? Let me know in a review and next chapter I'll make sure to let you know if you were right.
Love,
Amalia.