Sorry for not updating for two weeks, but I'm taking far more credits in two months than is healthy. So be glad you're getting this. Also, I realize that this chapter leaves some questions hanging, but they shall be answered in time.

It was quite satisfying to hear Percy scream as he disappeared behind the pulsating black cloth. Ron smiled to himself, imagining what horrors might be waiting there. Of course, he knew perfectly well he'd have to follow sooner or later. Of all the unfair things. . . why couldn't Percy do this alone? Still, he took a habitual breath of air he didn't need, closed his eyes, and slid through the curtain.

It was like ice, a sharp blade of ice cutting right through him. He gasped, his eyes flinging open. The curtains were gone, along with their icy feel and he was surrounded by darkness. Not as if someone had turned out the light darkness, but as if someone had taken a knife and gouged his eyes out. He spun, hoping to see something, and only felt a dizzying loss of balance as he fought for something to cling to. Of course, he was growing use to not touching anything. But this sensation was different, like he was hopelessly lost. No wonder Percy had screamed.

Percy. . . Ron calmed himself enough to listen. Nothing. Just unearthly silence. Where was Percy?

He had barely time to wonder when a gigantic sphere of light swirled out of nowhere, threatening to envelope him like some killer meteor. He shouted and closed his eyes, waiting for it to pass through him. And then. . ..

BAM! He struck something hard. Something hard, painful, and completely tangible.

"Ow," he murmured. It felt almost like falling off his broom during a Quidditch match onto the grass. Back when he had been alive. He wasn't going to experience that anymore. . . Something pleasantly warm tickled against his face, and he reached out a hand to feel exactly what he had crashed into. Rough, bumpy, grassy. . . He opened his eyes.

He was lying in a field of grass. As far as he could see, there was nothing but the field under a dazzling blue sky and an occasional tree. And Percy, lying about fifty feet away and gingerly rubbing a bump on his head.

"Bloody," Ron said, sitting up and yanking out a blade of grass to stare at. "Where the hell are we?"

"I don't think this is hell," Percy replied stiffly, looking around with restrained curiosity. "Hell's not supposed to have fluffy white clouds. Of course, that just might be what they want you to think. But why would I be in hell?" He frowned at Ron. "You pushed me?"

"So you think you're in hell because I pushed you?"

Percy shook his head, frown deepening. "I think you might go to hell for that."

Ron allowed himself a laugh. "Not bad, Perce. Not bad at all." He crumpled the blade of grass between his fingers and let it drop back to the ground. Instantly it straightened itself out and jumped back into the earth. "I guess. . . I guess this is it. The spirit world."

"That's right!" exclaimed a new voice. "You've officially passed on to the other side."

An instinctive wave of horror that he couldn't quite place came over Ron. He turned around to see a man strolling across the field towards them. He was short, middle-aged, but with an impressive head of red hair.

"So wonderful to see you both again," the man said happily. "I mean, it's been years. I do regret that you both died so young, but those things do happen."

"Uncle Bilius?" Percy asked dubiously, eyes widening behind his glasses.

"Oh, no." That's where he recognized the voice.

"So you do remember me!" Bilius said. He was now just before them, black robe floating just above the grass. "I suppose I didn't die that long ago, so I shouldn't be too surprised, but it's still flattering just the same."

Ron stared at Percy, hoping he would do something about the old dead relative who had suddenly popped up. Percy just shook his head. "Er. . . what are you doing here?"

Bilius frowned. "I thought that would be obvious." Then he burst out laughing. "After all, I am dead and this is the spirit world."

The man was so bizarre that Ron felt almost tempted to join the laughter.

"Oh, just let it be, Bilius! You're driving them nuts." From above swooped down a second man on a broom, cloak fanning out behind him. "You're driving me nuts. On the bright side they'll never let you do the greetings, relative or not." The man hopped gracefully to the ground and pushed off his hood. A handsome and very familiar face smiled at Ron. "So you had to go and get yourself killed, eh?"

"Sirius!" Ron heard himself shout.

Behind him Percy let out a swear word.

But Ron didn't care. It was Sirius Black, standing right before him. But at the same time it wasn't. During the time Ron had known the man, he had always been an escaped convict, starved, desperate, and barely sane. But this man before him was different. Healthier, calmer, brighter, and some how more Sirius than he had ever been before.

Sirius laughed, his dark eyes sparkling. "Hello, Ron. It really is good to see you. I just didn't think I would be seeing you nearly this soon." The humor left his face. "So it was Voldemort. That really is terrible. I'm sorry."

Since he had died, Ron had received several bits of sympathy from various people. But those had been almost in fascination, like Ron was some sort of minor celebrity for getting killed by the Dark Lord. Yet when Sirius said it, he was sincere, like he was actually sorry. It was an interesting idea. Ron felt himself blush. "It's okay," he muttered. "Not your fault."

"You-Know-Who, eh?" Bilius mused. "Yeah, I think your great-grandmother said something about that. I didn't think much of it."

"Harry beat him," Ron said to Sirius, ignoring his uncle. "He was fantastic."

"That's what I heard," Sirius replied, smiling again, almost sadly. "How I would have loved to have seen it."

Of course. Sirius had deserved to be there. As much as Ron liked Sirius, it was Harry that was Sirius' godson, and Ron felt rather awkward at trying to assure Sirius. "I don't think he would have wanted you there."

"How like Harry."

Percy was ogling Sirius, mouth hanging open. "You really are Sirius Black?"

After all the discussion, the comment seemed utterly pointless. Sirius winked at Ron, then nodded. "I am," he said cheerfully. "And you are Percy Weasley. The one that worked for the Ministry. No offense, but those people didn't do a very good job of catching me."

Percy echoed the nod, still dazed. Ron almost expected him to suddenly whirl and around and take off running in terror. "Ron was saying you weren't really didn't massacre all those people but. . . "

"Perhaps your brother lied?"

He gave at tiny scream, eyes jumping to Ron.

Ron and Sirius laughed.

Strange. Ron really hadn't had anyone to laugh with for awhile….

"Very funny." Percy swallowed back his panic, his face glowing red. "Well, the Ministry isn't all the great at a lot of things. . ."

"Like poisoning," Bilius put in. "Yes, we all heard about that tragic incident." He smirked.

Sirius shook his head and actually offered Percy his hand, which Percy, after a moment of hesitation, shook. "Well, Percy, it is nice to finally meet you. And I did hear about what you did for the Order."

Percy reddened again. "That wasn't really anything. . ."

Bilius gave an impatient sigh and kicked at a patch of grass. "Well, this is turning out to be just dandy for my first time greeting anyone. Thank-you, Sirius, for butting in. When Pete gets back I'm going to. . ."

"Pete doesn't care, Bilius!" Sirius snapped. "And Ron is also a very close friend of mine, so I think I get just as much credit to greet him, and I'm sure Pete would agree with me?"

"Who's Pete?" Ron asked.

"St. Peter," Sirius explained. "He's usually the one that lets everyone in, but every so often he has these meetings, so they close the pearly gates, send everyone here, and let family members and whatever greet the newbies outright."

"Newbies?" Percy echoed in distaste. "You call dead people newbies?"

Both Sirius and Bilius stared blankly at him. "Why not?" the latter asked.

Percy shook his head.

"So what is this place?" Ron asked, gesturing at the field. "I mean, this isn't it?"

"It's going to be the new Quidditch field," Sirius said happily.

"You guys have a Quidditch field?" A wave of jealousy passed over Ron. Of all the shallow things to miss from the world of the living, how pathetic it was that he had to miss Quidditch! His fingers suddenly itched to hold a broomstick. Just one quick flight. . . The Spirit World apparently had a Quidditch field. Why couldn't there be one he could have?

"This will actually be the third. The Muggles just love the game and want to play as well, so we have to build more Quidditch fields."

"Muggles?" Percy looked around, as if expecting to see some mundane non-wizard approaching him. "You have Muggles here?"

"Of course!" Bilius exclaimed, offense written over his face. "We all go to the same place. Unless you go to hell, of course. But both wizard and Muggle go there as well."

"You should come see Raphael Stadium," Sirius said, ignoring Bilius and Percy and focusing on Ron with surprising friendliness. "It's the biggest field, and is really fantastic. You could play there, even."

Play Quidditch?! He opened his mouth to give an enthusiastic yes, but Percy shook his head.

"Sorry, but this is hardly the time for games."

"But—" Ron started.

"No,' Percy said firmly. "Mr. Black, Uncle Bilius, perhaps you could help us. We came here to find this ghost council for the other world. . . ."

"Ghost council?" Bilius echoed.

"What do you need to see them for?" Sirius asked, eyes narrowing. "Ghosts don't usually cross over to this world until they're ready. Of course, that usually takes centuries. . ." His voice trailed off as he stared at Ron. "Oh, no. I didn't think. You're here way too earlier. I guess I never thought of you, Ron, as becoming a ghost."

"I didn't exactly pick it," Ron replied dryly. Then another thought occurred to him. "Why didn't you become a ghost, Sirius?"

Sirius forced a smile, a distant look filling his eyes. "I don't know. In a way, I wanted to stay there. But. . .not enough, I guess. It's not really a conscious choice. Nothing much was keeping me in the other world. . ."

Memories of a distraught Harry after Sirius' death rushed through Ron's mind in a sickening storm, and he felt his temper snap. "Nothing keeping you? What about Harry?!"

A gasp issued from Sirius' mouth as he stared at Ron, and he turned away momentarily before whirling back with fresh resolve.

Ron felt sudden fear.

"Harry is strong," Sirius stated. "He survived fine without me. He's a tough young man and he's just proved himself by destroying Voldemort. Besides. . ." He sighed deeply, eyes dropping to the grass. "It's my fault he went to the Department of Mysteries that night. If I hadn't been so troublesome. . .a lot of things wouldn't have happened that night."

Ron stepped back, nearly stumbling against the fresh solidity of the ground. It felt so strange to be touching things… but that wasn't what was on his mind. Something else. . .but the look on Sirius' face told him the subject was closed.

"I'm confused," Bilius said.

"You're always confused," Sirius said. "Now, would you be interested in taking your nephews to the ghost council?"

Bilius made a face and shook his head. "It was great to see them again, but if they don't plan on sticking around. . .I see no point in visiting the ghost council. Don't like some of those members. Well, nice to see you, boys, and I hope you might actually stick around later." He turned and darted across the field, fading out in the distance.

Percy watched him, face expressionless. Then he turned to Sirius. "We might stay here? In the spirit world?"

Sirius sighed and started walking across the field, broomstick forgotten. Percy and Ron hurried to catch up with him. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Percy. If you chose to be a ghost, there's a reason for that. Sometimes those reasons can be changed, resolved. God's always willing to help out in that department. But it takes time. And then… sometimes people just prefer being ghosts. You'd be amazed how many ghosts don't even really know about the spirit world."

The landscape melted away from the sunny field into a dusky city street. Ron stared around him, amazed. It was a city, but no city like he had ever imagined. Not that he had seen many cities besides London. But this made London look like some putnick fishing village. Gold and silver buildings curving into themselves like no architecture he had known about. Hermione might have known but. . thank goodness she wasn't there. And yet he almost wished she were. The city was beautiful, in other ways than the buildings. Trees and flowers and vines clung impossibly to the buildings and thrust themselves out of the cracks in the street. Above stretched a tapestry of stars and yet the place was a light as early sunset. And all around them were people. All sorts of people, talking, laughing, wearing all variety of clothing. He hated to think such thoughts, but the city was very beautiful.

Percy kicked at the street with a scrutinizing sniff. "Gold," he said in awe.

"Of course," said Sirius. "What did you expect? Not the best pavement, though. There's this other great place that has chocolate streets."

Chocolate. That was even better.

"I still don't understand where we are," Percy said. "We did Apparate or Vaporate or anything. How did we. . .?"

"Moving in this world is much easier than that. And the spirit world is huge. Stretches on to near infinity."

"I always imagined it would be just. . . fluffy clouds."

"Fluffy clouds?" Ron smirked. "Percy, come on."

"Some spots have that whole fluffy cloud thing," Sirius admitted. "There's a huge variety of places. But. . . this just happens to be where the ghost council actually meets. And I still don't understand why you need to see them."

"Oh, it's important." Ron pushed back his sleeve, shoving the rope almost into Sirius' face. "This."

Sirius blinked and pushed Ron's arm back. "A bracelet?"

"I'd hardly call it a bracelet," Percy said angrily. "It's torture, an embarrassment, and completely unjustified punishment."

"Wearing a bracelet?"

Ron felt a strange urge to laugh, which he forced himself to repress.

"It's a chain device, set up to. . ."

Ron rolled his eyes. "He's not getting it. Watch." While Percy scowled at him, Ron ran down to the opposite end of the street, dodging smiling people.

He kept running, aiming for the necessary fifty feet. He felt various dead people watching him. Well, they didn't know what it was like, so they shouldn't stare. But there was one person he glimpsed, and Ron gasped. No. It couldn't be. Harry was alive and perfectly safe.. . .

His feet dug into the ground as the rope snapped at his wrist. The vision of Harry was gone.

"See?" he heard Percy saying.

Harry. . .Ron searched the crowd one more time before heading back to Percy and Sirius.

Sirius didn't seem all that impressed. In fact, he was laughing as if it were but a good joke.

"It's not funny," Ron said, only half caring.

"The two of you chained together like that. . ." Sirius brushed away a tear of laughter. "That's just too. . . . Well, I can see why you need to see the ghost council. Who did this?"

"The Bloody Baron," Ron replied, glancing back into the passing people.

"The Bloody Baron?" Sirius echoed. "Is he allowed to--?"

"No," said Percy, frowning. "And I really would prefer this thing off."

Sirius nodded, still grinning. "Well, we're not that far off. But that would be so good for some quality time—"

"Sirius," Ron interrupted. "You seemed to know that we were both dead. . ."

"Yes. Word travels fast here."

Ron nodded, his mind whirling. "Okay. Erm….would you know if someone else died?"

"Like?"

"I think I saw Harry."

Sirius stared at him, but Percy gave a soft cry of delight.

"Just back there," Ron said, pointing. "But I don't see him anymore…."

Sirius stepped past Ron, looking. Then he laughed again. "James!"

James?

A figure stepped out of the crowd at Sirius' call. At first glance, it seemed to be Harry. But it wasn't, Ron realized. This person was taller, older. The eye color was different. And, hopefully, the guy was deader than Harry. But the similarities were so uncanny. . .

Then it hit him. James. James Potter. Harry's father.

He froze where he was, staring in horror as James moved closer, waving at Sirius. James Potter. The father Harry didn't remember. Ron had always felt sorry for Harry not having a real family, but then again, Harry might as well have been one of the Weasleys. Ron simply couldn't properly sympathize—the concept of not having a father was just so foreign. Harry's parents had been nothing more than bittersweet memories for both of them. But now here Ron was about to meet his best friend's father.

First Sirius, then James. All people that meant more to Harry than Ron. Harry should be there.

"Sirius!" James said once he was in range. "I didn't expect to run into you here."

"Didn't expect to see you here," Sirius replied. "They usually don't like us together in flashy cities like Celio here. . . not since that angel disaster."

Both men laughed. Ron felt completely in the dark.

"Yes, well, Lily just had to do some shopping," James continued. "She saw this robe when we were in Valhalla the other day and she just had to have it."

Lily was here?

"Lily's still a shopper even here," Sirius said. "I'll never understand women. Oh, I'd like you to meet some people."

For the first time James seemed to notice Ron and Percy.

"You're Weasleys, aren't you?" James asked, smiling and offering a handshake, which Ron took while wondering what Harry would think of all this. "I recognize the hair."

"Percy Weasley," Percy said in a dutiful introduction. "I've heard such wonderful things about you, things you did while you were alive. One of the best head boys Hogwarts has seen."

"Clearly you didn't hear about my years before that," James said with a laugh. "And I've heard about you, too. The one that choked on the poisoned broccoli or something?"

Percy ended the brown-nosing. "It was an accident."

"And you," James said, turning back to Ron. "I haven't been introduced to you yet, but. . ."

"That's Ronald!" cried a female voice.

Ron turned to see a lovely red-haired woman approaching, her arms full of shopping bags. Her eyes.. . . just like Harry's.

She didn't even pause as she threw her arms, shopping bags and all, around Ron. "I've heard so much about you, Ron! It's so tragic you had to die, but I want to thank you so much for all you've done for Harry, I really do."

Ron gave a suffocated thank-you.

"Ron?" James repeated, glancing at the woman who had just let go of Ron. "Lily, this is really Ron Weasley?"

"It is," Sirius said. "I told you about him, remember? Your son's best friend. . ."

James went through a moment of confusion before his face brightened in understanding. "It is you! Lily, how did you know?"

"Because I'm a woman," she replied airily. "Ron, we really need to get to know each other. You need to tell me all about Harry. You're his age—I can't get everything out of Sirius." She stuck out her tongue at Sirius.

"Don't you get to see Harry?" Percy asked. A bated question; Ron suddenly realized that he wouldn't be surprised if Percy wanted to find all the laws on ghosthood and the spirit world.

"Of course we do," Lily said, poking through one of her bags and cramming a silver-wrapped bar at each boy. "Here, I bought some chocolate. It's absolutely heavenly." "We get to look in on him every time we want. It's just that. . .well, it's not really the same as interacting with him, like you and Sirius got to do," she finished sadly.

James nodded in agreement. "Sad my idiot of a best friend got more experience with my son than I did."

Ron wasn't sure how to reply to that.

"We don't have time for any of this," said Percy.

"I'm taking them to the ghost council," Sirius explained. "They've. . .a problem." He explained about the bindings.

To Ron's horror, Lily and James found it just as funny as Sirius did.

"Then you should be on your way, then," Lily said. "But still, if you can. . ."

"Right after," James said. "The ice cream parlor. Sirius will take you there."

"But," Percy protested.

Ron stepped on his foot. "Shut up."

"Well, I guess I'll continue shopping." Lily frowned at the bags she carried. "James, do you need anything?"

"Not really—"

"Of course you do. Bye, Ron, Percy. I'll see you afterwards."

Ron watched them head down the street, Lily's red hair glinting in the sunset light. Even then he barely understood what had happened. Harry's parents. They were here. He continued after Sirius, dazed.

They stopped in front of a large building, onyx black and set with what seemed to be rubies. Ron didn't like the look of it—it was too sinister to belong in the city.

"This is it." Sirius frowned, studying the building. "You'll just go right in there. . . and they'll probably direct you further."

"Are you not coming with us?" Ron asked.

"Oh, no. Besides. . .you're the ones with the bracelets."

"But—"

Percy shoved him up the steps. "Thank-you so much, Mr. Black." He almost sounded sincere.

Shout Outs!

Very impatient reader: Hey, no problem picking and choosing chapters! And so I demonstrated my views about the veil.

v babe24: - I love you, Dani!

Tru Lys: Yes. Don't eat broccoli. Even though I like broccoli. Thanks for your comments!

The Chosen One: Thanks for being honest. Hmm… people have told me I've been keeping true to the characters. Do you have any suggestions for me? And the plot does sort of start coming together in the later chapters…

Tabitha78: Do you dare laugh at Percy's death? Do you find it funny? Huh? (kidding) Thank-you so much for all your reviews and comments, you rock! And here's the update (finally).

starsmiles: Thanks so much! Glad you liked those lines. I really liked your last chapter, by the way.

Severus's bane: Yeah, the Grey Lady is a lot of fun to write. Though you should watch her. She has more up her sleeve than being a mind-changing brat. As for Peter Pettigrew… I'm not sure if he's dead yet or not. We'll have to find out.

rosepetal13: I'm so sorry about last time with the shout-outs! I don't know why you got skipped! Can you ever forgive me? I'll give you brownies! And you'll see what they do to Fudge…

Rayn: Don't worry, it's not finished! Thanks so much! The story actually is a lot more dramatic than I intended…

Potterlvr1212: Thanks!

Phillipa of the Pheonix: Wow! I gave you an insult idea! That makes me feel happy!

Pline: Aww… you're one of the nice people who actually feel bad for Percy!

pIPPENpIRATE: Whoa. I can tell you don't like Percy.

Percy Fangirl: I did Percy's death that way because 1) it was funny and 2) it made a nice contrast about the noble help he actually did. Don't worry, he'll be portrayed in a much nicer light. But he's kind of in a bad mood about the broccoli and a few other things. Thanks!

NeoAddctt: Sorry about the slow update! But Thanks!

Muses' Advocate: You really liked it? Thanks! And you're a decent person for pitying Percy.

moonylover2000: Great name by the way! I'm not 100% sure Percy deserved that, but… what would it do to him? Yeah, I think you're right.

MoonCheese: You read the whole thing? Wow, I'm flattered! Thanks for your comments! This is actually a very difficult story to write, so I really appreciate what you said. And yes, Ginny will forgive Harry. Eventually.

miss chris: Thanks!

Midnight Dove: Yeah, Poor Percy. Mean Fudge.

meenyrocks: Yeah, it was a cruel death. But funny. I'm sure getting a lot of different reactions.

loonygrl90: Out of curiosity… why else should broccoli be illegal?

liseli: Cliffhangers are friends. Teehee.

LJ Fan: You cried? Wow…. You may be one of the few decent people that read that chapter. I'm impressed.

Lady Peregrine: I actually originally wanted him to choke on a chicken bone like in this book I read, but broccoli is funnier.

Lady Meriadoc: That's called anticlimax. No big dramatic death for Percy. And this Grey Lady isn't the one in London… but I'm pretty sure they're related. Rebeccah is my very own twisted and manipulating ghost.

Krenya-alanak: You're right to be wondering about Rebeccah. I'll tell you outright that she wanted them going the whole time. She has something up her sleeve, and you should watch her. She's very manipulative. Oh, and about the Macbeth witches? I just thought it'd be funny if the Rowling wizards thought the Shakespearean types to be satires.

Jellybaybee555: Yep. They met Sirius. What did you think? =)

hydraspit: Thanks! I did have a lovely 4th! Did you?

Hydrangea777: thanks for being honest! So you really think death-by-broccoli suits him?

HotDog-Jo: Hey, he has to be Ron, and Ron's still holding a bit of grudge. And, yeah, Percy is getting better at not being all evil. And I've decided to just let the humor comes as it comes. My first plan was to make this Humor/Drama, and then I noticed the supernatural genre and couldn't resist. Thanks!

Hi I'm Crazy: Kinda sad how everyone laughs at the poor guy's death.

HiddenFlame42: You're laughing at Percy's death?! You mean person! (kidding) Yeah, I guess it is in-character for Fudge. I just thought Fudge would be a dufus with the poison and all that…

From the Silent Planet: Thanks! Update your story!

Ellsie: Whoa! Demanding! Here ya go!

db: Yeah, Percy was fairly heroic. I had to redeem some how. And I'm glad you found his death satisfying. I liked the contrast between a stupid death and something noble. And you're right about other's dying. The deaths were very hush-hush.

Crystal Lightning: You and your hunches. You aren't psyhic, are you?

A little birdy told me: thanks!

aja liebe: I don't think I'd be a good assistant for J.K. I'd probably kill everyone off. Though she seems to be doing a good job of that herself…