Another World
By Moony
I do not own anything that JKR has created.
Ah, after reading Half-Blood Prince, I'm afraid that this little fic is written so awfully compared to it. Jo makes me jealous. –Moony
Chapter 10
James blinked.
"Wow Moony, you're starting to sound like Sirius," he said, shaking his head. "Like the way he always got a gleam in his eye when he said 'other means'."
"Do you mean to say you're going to travel all the way to Tsudnwot? That's at least three angel days away, and I don't think the Spirit World Bus Service travels there," Lily said.
"I mean to say I am. And I hope you come with me?"
"Awesome! I've always wanted to go there, but I never found an excuse…" James said, and his eyes glared at Lily.
"Well it's a dangerous place! Very weird!" Lily protested.
"But we're really old spirits, I don't really think anyone in that town has the capability to destroy spirits," James moaned.
"You never know!"
James rolled his eyes.
"What say we come by tomorrow in the morning, and then get started for Tsudnwot?"
"Sure. But, how are we going to get there? Lily said the bus service thingy doesn't work…"
"That doesn't mean we can't take the bus to the closest station to it," James said. "I think you're going a little less sharp than you were a lot of years ago. C'mon Moony, I was never smarter than you…"
"Must be old age. I say there's a bit more stress down in the Living then up here you know," Remus replied, smiling.
"Oh right. There you go. Outsmarted me again. Anyhow, me and Lils better be going. See you tomorrow!"
"It was really cool to see you again, Remus," Lily nodded.
Then with two cracks, they were gone.
Remus stared for a while at where they disappeared, then got up to take a shower and go to bed. Then he noticed the broken mirror, and the parcel Tonks had given. He didn't know why those shards and that parcel bothered him so much. He stared at them for a while, trying to reason with himself, but that plunging feeling in his gut just wouldn't leave him alone. There was something weird about that mirror. Shaking his head, he scooped up the shards in his hand, and went to look for a bag to put it in. He opened one drawer, and found a small velvet maroon bag and loosened the drawstring and poured the jagged shards in. Just as he was about to tighten the string again he noticed that the shards seemed to be glowing? His heart thumped quickly as he pulled the loose the drawstring with force. They were just normal shards. Remus shook his head as he tightened the string again. He must have just been tired and was imagining things. He picked the parcel by the coffee table up and then headed into the bedroom.
It was a nice room, a full-sized bed, a large window with a view of a river, and white curtains, also a good sized desk and night-table and a dresser. It was certainly more homely and cozy than his flat had ever been. He dropped the shards and the parcel onto the table and realized he hadn't any clothes or pajamas. That was a problem. Maybe they've provided some? Remus thought. He pulled out one of the drawers of the dresser. Sure enough, there were three clean, simple black robes and a set of pajamas. There were also socks, and a set of every simple every day clothing needed. Remus looked at the clothes. They were brand new! It was a good change to the shabby robes he had been wearing for years. He had never owned so many new clothes. He took out one of the robes gingerly, he was afraid to ruin it. It was so just so new. So starchy, so stiff, so clean. He then picked out the pajamas, which were made of flannel. How wonderful. So heaven was what it was cracked up to be.
Just as Remus had lifted the pajamas, he noticed a small bag, similar to the maroon one he had dropped the mirror shards in, but a bit larger. Carefully laying the pajamas and robes on his bed, he picked up the bag. It was a bit heavy, and when he shook out, he heard a merry jingling. He loosened the drawstring and emptied its contents on the top of the dresser. It was a bunch of galleons, sickles, and knuts. Remus gazed happily at this pile of money. He hadn't really remembered having so much money since Hogwarts. There was also a small bit of parchment.
Dear Remus,
Since you were my assignment, I thought I might be nice. A lot of new spirits that come here have to make their money with jobs and whatnot, before they can actually get clothes and such. Well, knowing how it was for me, I decided to buy you some. Just to be nice. I can't stand the thought of someone else bearing what I had went through. (Same clothes for a week! The horror!) So I bought you some. And some money, just to get around the first few days, you know? Before you can find a job. Also, I'd very much appreciate if you could uh – mention my helpfulness to you to the Council?
-Aisling
Remus smiled. Thought Aisling was very annoying, she did seem to be quite nice. New robes! How wonderful! And money too! Then with another happy thought, he realized that he could get a job here without any problems. After all, he didn't quite seem to think he had to transform here! There weren't even Anti-Werewolf Legislation laws. For a moment, he was so happy that he forgot what he was doing here in the first place.
Then he turned his head and saw the parcel, and the bag with the mirror shards. And his heart sunk. What were they thinking down in the Living? It had been nearly nine hours since had come, that was 540 minutes. And in Living time, 108 years – WHAT? Then had he failed already? Harry couldn't possibly have lived for more than one hundred years. The happy feeling over new clothes and money vanished, and he forgot about showering. He closed his eyes and tried to think of Aisling's home again. Her aunt was in the Council, she could help.
After opening his eyes, he saw the small cottage of the home. He knocked urgently on the door.
"Who would be here at night?" he heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door, as Maria Poroir opened the door.
"Oh hello Mr. Lupin! Did you forget something?" she said in a friendly manner.
"No – no. I have something urgent to tell you."
Her face turned hard for a moment, then she smiled nervously.
"Well come in then."
He walked behind her into a living room and sat down on one of the couches.
"When you say urgent, it has nothing to do with Sirius Black… or your assignment, does it?" she asked..
"Sort of, in a way. I won't ask you to help me look for him or anything, but I must know something," Remus gasped.
Maria stared for a moment, then nodded. "Carry on."
"Aisling informed me that Living Time is very slow compared to Spirit Time. She said that five minutes in Spirit Time is equivlaent to one year in Living Time. But… how can Aisling still be fourteen if in Spirit Time, it is so fast? And… 108 years have passed alone today in the Living, which means that – the world might already be doomed…" Remus's voice shook a bit.
"Oh don't worry! It's all right! The time was changed to Living Time hours ago! And honestly, we don't keep Spirit Time all the time. We change, for the many spirits who are entering our world get very confused. So it's all right. I'm sure only about… six years have passed in the Living."
Six years! That was still quite too much, though better than one hundred eight, he supposed Six. Harry would be twenty-three now, probably seeing Ginny. They probably all thought he wasn't coming back now. And perhaps he never would. But he would try as hard as he could to bring Sirius back. Had Harry confronted Voldemort yet? Or was that possible, because he hadn't brought Sirius back yet?
"Is that all you need to know?" Maria asked suspiciously.
"No. No, that's all, thank you!" Remus said, nodding, then stood up.
"You're quite welcome."
As Remus turned to leave, Maria stopped him for a moment.
"You still remember my advice from earlier?" she said, in a hushed whisper.
"Yes."
"Good. It is the most helpful information I can give you," she said, nodding.
"I thank you for that."
And Remus exited out the door, and squeezed his eyes shut as he thought of his apartment.
As he arrived, he sighed. He felt too lazy and tired to shower. I'll take a shower in the morning, he thought, as he changed into his new flannel pajamas. They were very comfortable.
Being dead has benefits, he thought, and slowly drifted into sleep.
ooooooooo
"Wake up!" a voice called cheerfully.
"Wha?" Remus asked groggily.
"Wake up, we have to catch the bus."
Remus sat up, as James' figure came into view.
"This early? What time is it?"
"Five am. The bus comes at six."
"Doesn't it come at a later time? I'm so tired…"
"Nope. One time only, that's six am."
Remus rolled his eyes and climbed out of the bed.
"Nice pajamas. How'd you get them?"
Remus explained about Aisling and the note and the money.
"Wow! She never buys me stuff! And she has a crush on me!"
"But she's fourteen! You're… like thirty-three!"
"You should know that Aisling isn't stopped by anything."
"And you're with Lily."
"You haven't known Aisling long enough."
Remus rolled his eyes and grabbed a set of robes, and headed into the bathroom for a shower. The bathroom was certainly just as cozy as the bedroom. Everything was clean and sparkling white. Remus had never been in such luxury. And the water was hot. Definitely better than the cold showers he had had to endure in the Living. He stepped out, clean, in new robes, and feeling wonderful for the first time.
"What time is now?" he asked.
"Five thirty. Get some breakfast. Then we'll go," James said, nodding.
As they walked out, he smelled a delicious smell coming from the kitchen.
"Is that pancakes I smell?"
"Yeah, Lily's doing it."
Remus smiled, as he headed into the kitchen.
"Have a stack!" Lily said, waving her hand to the stack of pancakes on a place.
After a breakfast, they headed to the bus station.
"How come we don't apparate?" Remus asked.
"Can't," James shrugged.
"Why?"
"Crazy Muggles get jealous, so there's all these public places where you're not allowed to apparate. A load of crock if you ask me. But you know, crazy people out there…"
At last they arrived a dingy looking street. It was very deserted and eerie, and there were only a few people walking about. Strange people too. Dressed in ragged, dirty clothes and not appearing to see where they where going. And it was extraordinarily quiet, compared to where they had come from. It was the kind of quiet that made you nervous, and that was just how Remus felt. Almost distrusting of the whole place. He shivered and continued to follow James, then stopped at a corner that lookd thoroughly neglected. The flowers were wilting and shriveled, and the wooden bench's wood was splitting and rotting; splinters were sticking up in all places, and green mold was growing on it. It also seemed to be eaten by some termites. There was a rickety, dilapidated sign over the bench. The pole under the sign was nearly split in half, and the sign itself was hanging dangerously from the pole. The words and picture on the sign was illegible. Remus stared at it for a while, trying hard to decipher the words through the smeared dirt and graffiti all over it.
"It used to say bus stop," James said, noting Remus's squinted eyes.
"I hate coming here, it gives me the creeps," Lily said, shivering like Remus.
"Not too many people use the bus, do they?" Remus asked.
"No. Not at all. What's the point? I mean, wizards can apparate, and Muggles have those weird… car things."
The silence was suddenly broken by a loud whistling and bright headlights. Many of the oddly dressed people looked up, and glared angrily at the thing that was coming to the stop. As it got closer, Remus realized it was a bus. But the bus was just as rickety as the whole bus stop itself. It was impossible to see through any of the windows except for the front, because of all the dirt smeared over it. It also seemed that parts of it were falling off, as weel as it being covered in dust, dirt, and mismatched colors of paint.
The doors of the bus opened, and it revealed an odd looking bus driver. His hair was wild looking, even more wild than James' hair could have ever achieved. It was so dirty that it was impossible to ever tell what color the hair had been before. The driver's face was covered in soot and mud, and his smile revealed teeth that were rotted and chipped. He stunk too.
"How long will we be on this bus?" he asked James as they looked for the cleanest seat they could find (most of them were covered in something peculiarly similar to vomit).
"About twelve hours," Lily said. She was holding her nose. The bus smelled awful.
"Scourigfy!" James said, pointing at a row of seats.
"Why don't you just do that to the entire bus?" Remus asked, trying hard not to breathe through his nose.
"It doesn't work. Or this bus would be pretty clean. I think it only works on this row."
Remus decided to try anyway. Aiming his wand at the windows, he also said, "Scourigfy!"
For a moment, it seemed that the windows were clear. But then the mud and dirt slowly moved its way over the windows, so that it looked as if nothing had happened.
"I hate traveling by bus!" Lily said, as the bus bounced up and down and shook and turned and swerved sharply.
Remus felt nauseous. The Knight Bus was mild compared to this. He wouldn't have been surprised if the bus ran someone over.
"I think I'll just rest my eyes…" he said.
"Good idea," Lily said. She was looking a bit green.
And again Remus drifted into sleep. He had an odd dream…
Harry was thrusting the mirror shards in front of him.
"Fix my mirror!" he yelled.
Remus reached into his pocket for his wand, but it wasn't there. "I can't! I don't have my wand!"
"FIX IT!"
"I can't!"
"FIX IT OR SIRIUS'LL NEVER COME BACK!"
"I can get Sirius back without it!"
"FIX MY MIRROR!"
"No… no…I can't."
"Fix my mirror or you're going to die!"
Harry threw the shards at him, and they were glowing a sinister green. They were almost laughing, as they pierced Remus's skin…
"Now you're going to die and Sirius'll never come back!" Harry yelled.
Remus woke with a jolt, panting. His hand immediately went to his pocket, and touched the velvet bag and the parcel. They weren't attacking him. No. To assure himself, he took the bag out and loosened the draw string.
See, they're not attacking you. You can fix them later. He thought.
And then, as he tightened the drawstring again, he saw them glowing. The same green glow in his dream, the same glow he had seen last night. But it was less sinister than the green in the dream. He let out a small gasp.
"Something wrong?" James asked, as he appeared from the front of the bus.
"No, no," Remus said, hastily tightening the string and stuffing it in his pocket. "How long has it been?"
"About three hours. I wish I brought something to do. It's so boring," Jame said, settling back into the chair.
"You think you can get to Tsudnwot fine? We won't get lost?" Remus asked.
"Yeah. It's not that hard."
"Ok. I think I'll just settle back into sleep," Remus said.
ooooooooo
Remus felt a gentle hand shaking him awake. He opened his eyes groggily. Night had fallen, and it was almost impossible to see in the bus.
"Where are we now?" he asked.
"We're at the last stop, Uilatan. C'mon, let's get off," Lily's voice said.
Remus scrambled to his feet, and fished his pocket for his wand and muttered, "Lumos!"
"That's better," Lily said.
The two of them walked down the aisle and out the door into the chilly night. James was there waiting.
"I thought you two might like to have more shut-eye, so I waited a bit," he said.
"Thanks," Remus muttered. It had been a wonderful sleep.
"We can't visit Mrs. Black now, can we? I mean, it's so dark! And you know, I don't think it'd be nice to just ring her doorbell so late."
"You're right. We should just stop at hotel," James said.
The threesome walked down a deserted sidewalk. Nobody was walking along it, and there were no lights at all. It looked as though no one had walked here for ages. The night air was very chilly, only adding to the creepiness of the street.
Finally they entered a city. Remus could see homes and buildlings that looked very rundown. There were no streetlights, and every buildings' windows were blocked out with tightly shut curtains and blinds.
"Is there even a hotel here?" Remus asked. He was beginning to doubt that there was a place for them to stay.
"I'm sure there is. I mean, tourists used to come here all the time – ah here!" James stopped in front of the most dilapidated (I like that word! –Moony) building he had ever seen.
Much more ugly than the bus they had ridden, and much more ugly than the bus stop. The paint was peeling, so it was an ugly color of puce. A sign that read – 'Hotel' was nearly falling off. Not only that, there were large cracks in the bricks that held it up. It also seemed to be wobbling, as if it were to collapse any second. The flowerbeds that might have once grown beautiful flowers had been conquered by weeds, and the lawn's grass was so high that it went up to Remus's knees. Not to mention worms crawling around the grass…
"James, I'm not sure this place is safe…" Remus said apprehensively.
"Don't worry! It'll just hurt if it crumbles. We won't like die, since we've already died."
That was true. Remus relaxed a bit.
The inside of the hotel was much more cozy than the outside. Squashy chintz armchairs were placed in different various corners and places. Lamps gave soft warm glows, and there were magazines on coffeetables. Soothing music was also playing.
"Hello! Welcome to the Tsudnwot hotel! Sorry for the… rundown looking way its built, but we are getting a new facility next year! Our rooms, however, are the coziest you will find! How many?" a lady asked.
"How many people to one room?" James asked.
"Two."
"All right, we'll take two rooms."
"That'll be forty galleons!"
James handed the gold, and she handed them the keys and their room numbers.
"Me and Lily have 204, and you have 205," James said, handing Remus his key.
"Ok."
At last they reached their rooms, and Remus opened his door, bid James good night, and stepped in. He was so tired for some reason, and the bed looked so clean and fluffy, the sheets all crisp, the pillow all soft, that when he sank into bed, he immediately fell asleep. And yet he had another dream…
"I fixed the mirror," Remus said, putting the mirror next to the mirror Tonks had given.
Sirius suddenly appeared in front of him.
"We have to go back to the Living, Sirius," Remus said.
Sirius nodded, then one of the mirrors fell to the floor and smashed. Sirius disappeared.
"No! Sirius! Wait!" Remus yelled.
He picked up the shards and tried to fix them. But when he tried, they just kept smashing, and smashing, and smashing… and then there were no more shards.
"No!"
SHOUTOUTS:
IamSiriusgrl: Is this chapter longer? Enough? Yes, I am trying to give lots of info and clues to help you think about all the mysteries.
PadfootGal: Thank you! I am dearly complimented!
Sirius-Black-Sfan: I wonder too! You just have to keep reading to see!
GMUXMenSoaps: Thanks! I can't wait for Sirius either!
Erin: Oh yeah, I write a lot on the plane. I dunno – what kind of cookie do you want/offers peanut butter, M 'n' Ms, sugar, chocolate chip, oatmeal, raisin/