A/N: Erm, I dunno if Lucius Malfoy died in the sixth book, but here, he's dead, 'right? And I also dunno if Sirius appears OOC here, tell me. And as a warning, foreword, whatever, Nami is based on an anime character, and she's not exactly Japanese legend. R&R peepz!

Okay, I dunno why I ain't getting' any reviews for chapter fifteen, but I'm posting chapter sixteen now, anyway, hoping to get reviews SOON, people. I hope after you've read this you can post up your comments for the two chapters. And hey, it's up to you if post your comments by chapter or one review for these two chapters but please 100X review! Chill!

Chapter 16: Nami's Kingdom

Harry was glad... Glad to see his godfather… But then… It might be a trick… A trap… Sirius was dead… He could not go back… He could not possibly be standing in front of Harry at the moment…

"What's wrong with you?" Sirius asked.

"Who are you?" Harry said, his voice shaking. He could not explain what he felt. Mixed happiness and anger. If this man was really Sirius… But it could be a trap, and whoever had set it had not respect for Sirius' memory.

"Potter, we have to talk– " Malfoy came down from the stairs and halted at the sight of Sirius. "You – you're dead!" he exclaimed, pointing at Sirius. "What – what are you doing here?" said Malfoy again.

"I'm here to visit my godson, Draco Malfoy, and I don't think I need your permission to do so," Sirius snapped back.

"Sirius," Harry started. "Is it – really you?"

Sirius laughed.

"You're doubting whether I was sent by Voldemort or something?" Sirius shook back his shaggy hair. "Why don't you ask young Malfoy there whether his mother has heard of anything about using my corpse. Of course, it would be better to ask his father, but then his father is already – "

"Don't you dare speak ill of my father!" Malfoy yelled. "He died for a cause!"

"For a sick cause, boy!" Sirius yelled equally loud.

"Sirius, what're you doing here?" Harry stepped forward, closer to his godfather.

"What? You don't believe I wanted to visit you?"

"But – you're dead – you can't – "

"Listen, I don't know how I got here, all right?"

"You people are sick," Malfoy said.

"And so are you. Shut your mouth, Malfoy," Sirius said again.

"Okay, you don't know how you got here," said Harry, dismissing the topic. "But where did you come from?"

Sirius smiled grimly before replying.

"Ever heard of the place of the dead?"

This is impossible. I am dreaming. I will wake up and find myself in bed, Harry said to himself, to no avail.

He sat on a couch and closed his eyes, willing himself to "wake up" from his dream. But he had not been dreaming.

Malfoy had fled the common room after Sirius mentioned the place of the dead, to Harry's delight. But his worry returned when he was left alone with the supposedly risen Sirius.

"That is so silly, Ron," came Hermione's voice from the stairway to the girls' dormitories. Ron emerged at the foot of the stairs, followed by Hermione. "Harry would tell us if he – oh god."

Ron had almost stumbled off the stairs and Hermione clasped a hand to her mouth.

"Harry? Is he – "

"Here we go again," Sirius muttered.

"Who are you!" Hermione actually yelled.

"You're a clever witch, Hermione. Tell me if I'm real."

Sirius raised his hands in the air as though surrendering. Hermione surveyed him for a moment before taking out her wand.

"Jitsugen Suru," Hermione chanted with her wand.

Blue sparks softly drifted from the end of her wand to Sirius, encircling the entirety of his body. The blue sparks turned red as they made contact with Sirius' skin. As slowly as they had appeared, the sparks faded into thin air.

"Since when did you learn Japanese spells?" Ron asked, amazed.

"I have been reading, Ron, unlike you," Hermione said irritatedly. "And by the way, Harry, he's real."

"You serious?"

"A hundred percent," Hermione grinned.

"I told you I was real," Sirius slumped on a chair and stared at the trio.

"Why did you come back, Sirius?" Ron asked, settling on a chair himself.

"So how was the place of the dead?" Harry grinned. Ron gave him a confused look, and then a scared one, and Harry laughed.

"Who has heard of Nami?" Sirius said.

"Nami? As in, Nami the pirate?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Exactly."

"Who's Nami the pirate?" Harry asked. Hermione launched as she usually did when she was full of information and was well too eager to share it.

"Nami is a legendary female pirate who came from Japan. She was wicked. I've read stories about her said sailings throughout the world, and what she and her crew did to their victims was revolting. Hanging, burning alive, cutting out of the – "

"Okay, okay… She was evil. What does it have to do with the place of the dead?" Ron said.

"Nami was also regarded as a witch," Sirius said grimly. "She was one of the reasons why Muggles regarded wizardry as evil. Our kind had confirmed that she was indeed a real witch with evil powers. Some say she had been working hard in her lifetime to build some sort of kingdom for herself.

"Her idea of a good kingdom, however, is very different. Through her powers, she managed to create a kind of spiritual world. She took in souls, whether good or bad and simply enjoyed the party. She killed all around the world just to place souls in her creation. The place came to be known as – "

"Hell," Hermione said. "But they said hell burnt?"

"It doesn't," Sirius said simply. "And there's no such thing as heaven either. There's only one place where all the dead go to… and it's Nami's Kingdom."

"So you mean – you mean you've met – " Harry started excitedly. Sirius seemed to have read his mind.

"Yes, I met Lily and James there, and everyone else," Sirius said, relaxing on his chair. "Luckily too. Mind you, that place was vast. Larger than earth itself."

"What did they say?" Ron asked interestedly.

"They got mad at me for leaving Harry behind."

"What!"

"No, let me rephrase that," said Sirius thoughtfully, waving Harry's reaction off with his hand. "They got mad at me because I died and was not able to protect you longer. They did not get mad at me for not taking you to hell with me, all right?"

"Wait a minute," Ron suddenly said. "So this hell place was created by Nami? Then, before she created it, where did the dead go?"

"They remained here on earth," said Hermione smartly. Harry was simply stunned and slightly chilled by the fact. "Some chose to be unseen, but others exposed themselves, so ghosts came to be known."

"Did you see Lucius Malfoy there?" Harry asked Sirius, changing the subject purposefully.

"Oh, yes."

"Was he mad at you?"

"Mad is an understatement."

"Did you fight?"

Sirius laughed.

"Fights are not allowed down there. Nami controlled everything."

"I've a question, Sirius," Hermione asked with the tone of a student asking a teacher.

"What is it?"

"Well, if Nami's Kingdom is real… Then, it proves that heaven and hell don't exist, right?"

"I guess so."

"So, with that, it means God doesn't exist as well, doesn't it?"

"God exists, Hermione," Sirius replied earnestly. "Only, His existence is far more complex than man can explain at this point in time."

(A/N: Sorry for the interruption here, I just need to say this. I am in no way interested in making this fic a crossover with the issues on Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I just felt like Hermione needed to throw the question in, as she's a real intelligent woman and she can't leave the topic untouched, or maybe I just felt on a personal conviction that I needed to clarify this thing. I mean, I believe in a god somehow, and I don't think Harry and the others in the magical world are all godless. But then, I've been wanting to ask JKR if the magical community had a religion at all! And since this fic is in no way religious, I have no plan of ending the chapter with sentence like the one above the A/N, so on with the chapter!)

Harry had forgotten why he had come down from his dormitory early, or what he was supposed to do for the day because he was so absorbed with hanging out with his godfather.

A knock on the door woke Harry up from his sentiments. He had been staring out the window of his room for a few minutes now. He had left Sirius in the care of Hermione and Ron, who were eagerly asking questions about death and the like. Harry simply felt like he needed some time alone.

"Harry? Are you in there?" a female voice called. Harry opened the door. It was Iris Lair.

"Oh, hey."

"Um, Hatori-sensei asked me to hand this to you," Lair said, handing Harry a folded piece of paper. What on earth could Hatori be writing to him about? Harry took it. "Um, I guess it's very unlucky of you to have to serve detention with Ashworth, but you'll handle it!"

Lair walked away.

She had obviously not heard the on-goings between Harry and Rose, for her to have said that, but Harry was even more stunned that she seemed so sincere in stating Harry's "misfortune." Does she really hate Rose enough for her to be sorry like that? At least Malfoy was just acting when he shows people how "yucky" Harry was.

Great. Harry was tired. And Hatori chose the exact time to make him serve detention. Look at the bright side, Harry told himself. At least you can talk to Rose.

"You're late, Mr. Potter." Hatori's icy tone echoed around the cold Muggle classroom as Harry entered.

Harry checked his watch. He was a minute late. How cruel could this man get?

Harry looked around and found Rose sitting idly behind a desk. Hatori was sitting behind the teacher's table.

"Feel relieved, both of you, that I have not found a particularly hard task for you tonight," Hatori said, standing up. "I am rather dismayed that this is the hardest work anyone will find in the campus at the moment. But you will do your work the Muggle way."

Hatori got out of the classroom, his sleek black shoes clacking with him. Harry did not understand what they were supposed to do.

He turned to Rose, who had stood up and was rummaging in the drawer under the teacher's table. She produced a pen, and two thick stacks of test papers. She took one of the stacks and sat down on a far corner and started reading the first paper.

Harry decided to mimic Rose and took out a pen from the drawer too. He took the other stack from the table and set them down on the desk beside Rose's. He stood for a moment, waiting for Rose's reaction. It worked, and Rose looked up at him.

"Wha'?"

"What?"

"Get tah work."

"I am."

"Why're ya standin' there?"

"Nothing."

"Then get tah work."

"I am getting to work. You just talked to me before I was able to sit down."

Rose shrugged. She returned to reading the paper in her hand. Harry sat down and started reading.

Recently developed curses have far more violent effects than ancient ones… New Japanese curses are especially gruesome… Magic from other countries fail to modernize without leaving the core value behind… Modern Japanese torture curses convey the same power as the ancient ones, though with sometimes added effect… Though the Council prohibits the development, underground groups continue to produce and publish such new curses…

Harry put the paper down.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Rose looked up at him again, a look of irritation now present on her pale face.

"I thought ya we're getting' to work."

"Do not play numb with me."

Harry took the paper from Rose's hand and placed it on her desk.

"Listen, I'm sorry for how I acted. I didn't mean to – "

"Shut up," said Rose suddenly. Harry stopped speaking in surprise. She did not sound angry with Harry, however. It was more like she wanted Harry to quiet down.

"What is it?" Harry tried not to whisper but still produce less sound.

"Someone's – watching… listening…" said Rose. She looked around the room, searching.

"Senses haven't failed I see," said Sirius' voice from behind the door Harry went through. It opened, and Sirius went in. Rose stood up.

"Sirius?"

Rose called Sirius by his first name.

"Long time no see, Rose."

Sirius called Rose by her first name.

"Is it really – him?" Rose now asked Harry. Harry managed a nod.

What is going on here?

Without warning, Rose almost ran towards Sirius and hugged him. Sirius received her happily, like a father welcoming a daughter back. Harry stared open-mouthed and completely bewildered.

A/N: Okay, I think this is record breaking. I've never made a chapter this long, have I? Anyways, hope you guys liked it and reviews people! Chill! \m/ punks not dead