disclaimer: see previous chapter...it still hasn't changed

a/n: thank you so much for those of you that reviewed, and for those of you who read, and enjoied, but didn't bother to review...I'm trying to update this as soon as I can, but it takes a bit...anyway, enjoi

Sirius lay on the bed. His mind was fogged over, and he couldn't remember what was happening. He opened his eyes briefly and was confronted with darkness. He was cold...unreasonably cold, or so he thought. He was sore, and it hurt to even try and move. And he couldn't think. He tried desperately to remember where he was, but he couldn't piece it together. The Ministry of Magic was the one thing that kept coming to his mind, but he couldn't figure out why. An idea hit him suddenly, and instantly filled him with dread. Azkaban. If he had been caught, they would have taken him to the Ministry first, and then shipped him away again, just like they had fourteen years ago. It explained why he was so cold, and why everything was dark. Sirius's breathing became quick and shallow; he didn't want to be back here. It had almost cost him his life to escape once, he wasn't going to be able to try it again.

"No," me muttered to himself, his voice trembling. "No. Not again. Not now. Harry...I've got to help Harry."

With a valiant effort, he pushed himself up and opened his eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, it wasn't to what he had expected to see. He was probably in the furthest place from Azkaban. He was in James's place. How on Earth did I get here? he thought to himself. The room was exactly the same as he had last left it. The picture of him, James, Remus, and Peter still stood on the night stand; posters of Remus's favorite quidditch team still hung on the wall. A picture of the four of them at James's wedding still hung in a frame near the door, as did a picture of them on graduation. He didn't understand. How could all of this still be here? Their home was destroyed when Voldemort attacked. Sirius massaged the sides of his head with his hands. He didn't understand how. He heard music float up through the air vents. It took him a minute, but he recognized it soon enough. Is this the real life, is this just fantasy. Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the sky and see. Queen. It was not the first time he had woken up to hear the muggle band playing. It was Lily's favorite, if he remembered correctly. Straining his ear a little harder, he could hear her singing along. She had a beautiful voice.

Another thought hit him, just as hard as the first one had. He was in Lily and James's home, which had been destroyed years ago.Lily was singing downstairs when she had been dead for just as long. Was it possible that they were still alive, and everything had been just the workings of his mind? Strange things like this had happened to him before, especially if he had gotten drunk (which he did, occasionally. Mostly only when he was depressed).He had once woken up thinking that he was still living with his parents; it wouldn't have been the first time that his drunken mind had come up with another alternate reality. The only explanation that he could come up with was the he was dead. And that couldn't be possible, could it? Surely he would have remembered he had died.

He had to find out for himself.Slowly, he dragged his aching body from the bed. His mind raced as he headed down the stairs. He tried not to get his hopes up too much. He couldn't believe that it was all a dream. He couldn't have imagined 12 years of Hell in Azkaban, and remember it all so clearly.He stood at the foot of the stairs, looking into the kitchen. Lily had her back to him and was still singing. He had forgotten how pretty she was, with her long red hair, her bright green eyes, and her small frame. As if she had felt his presence, she spun around and saw him watching her.

"Sirius. It's about time you woke up. You've been worrying James into a coma," she said kindly with a smile.

"Lily," he said quietly. "I don't understand. What's happened? What's going on?"

"James wants to be the one to tell you; we discussed it earlier during the day."

"How...how long have I been here?" he asked.

"We brought you here around4 or 5 in the morning, and you've been sleeping all day," was her reply. "And it's honestly about time that you woke up. As I said, James is practically ripping his hair out over you."

"Lily, can you answer me this one thing, though. Am I dead?"

"No, Sirius, you're not dead. James and I still are, but you are as alive as you can get."

He was about to ask what she meant by "and alive as you can get" but the words stopped dead in his mouth as he looked up into the doorway that led to the living room. James stood there, frozen, staring at Sirius in disbelief. Thoughts ran quickly through both men's heads, yet neither of them could find anything to say. Sirius's eyes had stared to well with tears, and he hardly noticed that James's were doing that same. Fourteen years. Fourteen long miserable years, for both of them. That's how long it had been. It had been less than two decades, but felt like an eternity. But now, now they were together again. Without words, both strode to the middle of the room and greeted each other with a firm embrace.

Lily leaned up against the counter and smiled. They were like brothers, those two. And now, as they reunited in the middle of her kitchen, she couldn't help but start to tear up as well. She had always known that James was somehow different when Sirius wasn't around. He had seemed to be missing a part of himself, and now that part was back.

Sirius and James pulled themselves away from each other and sized the other up. James looked exactly the same: untidy black hair, standing up in all directions, he still wore what Sirius had claimed were the dorkiest glasses known to man kind, he was still skinny but he was definitely taller than his son by at least three or four inches. People had always remarked how much harry looked like James, and Sirius had to admit (again) that they were right. Sirius had changed a great deal since James had last seen him. Azkaban had ruined his looks, no doubt about that. He hardly looked like the same person, except when he smiled. When he did, it sort of broke through the mask of a face Azkaban had created for him and you could see the real him again.

After enduring a good five minutes of silence, Lily kicked, or rather nudged with her foot, her husband behind his knee prompting him to speak.

"Sirius," he said quietly. That was all he could manage to say for a moment. He took a deep breath, and tried unsuccessfully to regain his composure."How...how are you, mate?"Instantly he thought to himself how stupid a question it was. He hadn't seen his best friend in fourteen years, and all he could ask was "How are you?" Pathetic.

"I...I'm...I'm confused...really, really confused."

"Confused like how? Like confused in potions, when you didn't posses enough skill to read the directions in order, and screwed it up? Or like when Lily finally agreed to go out with me confused?" James asked.

Sirius cracked a grin. Trust James to bring up stupid times like that at a time like this. "A mix of the two, but leaning more towards the confused-in-potions-confused."

"I see," he muttered in a manner like a psychiatrist.

"Got any answers for me?"

"Got any questions?"

"Yeah...where am I?"

"You're, well, you're in a sort of alternate reality, composed of wholly out of dead people," James said bluntly.

"Huh?"

James chuckled. "My thoughts exactly. When people died, they're first offered the choice of staying dead, or becoming a ghost. Once their choice is made, they either go back to Earth as a ghost, or come here."

"Is this heaven or something?" Sirius asked. James was one of the few people who he didn't mind asking questions that might sound stupid to. He knew James had probably wondered the same thing at one time, and would therefore know the answer.

"I wish. It's kind of like a waiting place, between Earth and heaven or hell. You can stay here as long as you like, until you're ready to move on."

"Oh, alright. But how'd I–"

"Get here?" Lily responded. "You fell through the veil, in the Department of Mysteries. Don't you remember?"

Sirius thought for a moment. Slowly, images started to return to his mind. He and Bellatrix in the Death Chamber, dueling with each other. He had taunted her, letting his pride get in the way fo his better judgement. He had felt rejuvenated there. It had been so long since he could do anything really useful. He had forgotten how proud his cousin had always been, and how Azkaban probably had left her a bit unbalanced. He had been momentarily distracted by the sudden quiet that had overcome the room, and hadn't had the time to dodge Bellatrix's stunning spell. And then he went through. He could vaguely remember a falling sensation, but he could have dreamed it up, seeing as how he was unconscious at the time.

"So, am I dead?" he asked, still trying to make sense of all this.

"No. You were stunned, and the veil didn't kill you. This is going to sound really strange to you, but hear me out," James said. "In all other recorded cases of people falling through the veil, they've always been dead by the time they come through this end, and it normally takes them a day or two to get here. You, you're still alive, Padfoot, and you came through on this end simultaneously with when you fell in on the other side. I'm not sure why, but I think that it might actually have something to do with the fact that you were unconscious when you fell through. Everyone else wasn't."

"So what happens to me? I mean, I can't stay here forever, not that it would be a terrible thing, but I feel like an old man next to you James," he claimed with his bark-like laugh.

"Well, for the time being, you're stuck here, old man," James said, smiling broadly. "Think of it as a vacation from Grimmauld Place. Glory knows you need it."

"How'd you know that we were using that as headquarters?"

"It's really cool, if we want information about the living world, all we have to do is go down to the Ministry, and look up stuff in the Living Being Department. It's incredibly convenient. they have everything down in there. I'm sure that if I wanted to, I could find out what Voldemort does in his spare time when he's not trying to kill everyone. He probably watches American muggle soap operas," he said. It was indescribably fun to poke fun at Voldemort. And as one of his victims, James felt fully entitled to that right.

"Wait, you guys have a Ministry here?"

"Unfortunately. I mean what harm can a bunch of dead people cause?"

"When that dead person it you, James, a lot," Lily teased.

"But that doesn't make any sense. There can't be that many of you, can there?" Sirius asked.

"There's a lot more than you'd think, actually. I mean, millions of people die everyday, and most of them don't leave immediately. Others stay here for a long time, waiting for loved ones to come and join them, who in turn, wait for their loved ones to join them, etc. Other people stay here until they find what they're looking for, and others stay here simply because they're too prideful to admit their dead. And who're are the most prideful people you'll ever meet? Politicians. Honestly, they stay here forever, forming an over-structured government and forever stopping me, and others, from doing what we would like to. It's a pain, really."

"So in other words, there's an insane amount of people here just passing time, simply because they have nothing better to do?"

"Precisely."

"How much trouble do you think we can cause these ego-maniac politicians?" Sirius asked with a wry smile.

"More than our share, most definitely."

"You two aren't doing anything for the next week," Lily said. "I want to catch up with Sirius before the two of you go off and get yourself arrested multiple times."

"Yes Mrs. Potter," Sirius said, as though he were talking to James's mother, rather than his wife.

"How about some dinner, then, if we can't go off and terrorize the Ministry?"

"Sure."

"Will there be chocolate cake?" Sirius asked hopefully. He would kill for Lily's chocolate cake.

She laughed. "There'll be cake."

"Nice."

Laughing amongst themselves, Sirius and James helped Lily to make the first dinner they'd share in years.

a/n: please review...ty....