A/N: Well, here it is then. Chapter four! Sorry it took me so long to finish it, but I was short of inspiration. Thank you to my friend Katrine, who helped me to make Sirius look silly and come up with some great song titles and writers. But anyway, on with the story!

Chapter 4

The after-life life

"Well, that was enlightening" Sirius said, eyes still rooted to the spot where Dumbledore had been only seconds before. There was not a single trace on the wooden surface of the smoke-like substance, all was still and the happiness of the moments before had vanished and then James spoke: "I think we should go to bed, after all it has been a long day for you Sirius it must be late in the living world. We were lucky that Albus gave some of his time tonight".

Sirius looked at them both. Had death made them modest? James would never have said anything like that when they were at Hogwarts. He wouldn't have waited around for Dumbledore to contact him. He would have gone straight to the Headmasters office. Sirius smiled at this. And then he would have said the password and be cheered by the portraits. They had been there too many times.

With the cruel realisation that comes with maturity, Sirius knew that it wasn't just death that had changed Lily, James and him self. It was responsibility. The responsibility of having a real job, being in the Order, and in the particular case of James and Lily, getting married and having a child. When it came to Sirius, he hadn't matured as much, only when they had made him Harry's godfather. A job he had so miserably failed. No, Azkaban had made Sirius realize what was important and what wasn't. He had been right in going to the Ministry of Magic to save Harry. Even if it had let to his own death.

Days passed without any significant things taking place. Sirius told James and Lily news from the living world they hadn't heard from Dumbledore. This mostly involved news of Lupin and the questionable behaviour of Snape.

"I really can't see why Dumbledore keeps him" James said, after another long discussion. Lilly looked up from her book took a deep breath and then said: "I think, James, it would be foolish to question the actions of Dumbledore. We are a bit beyond that point aren't we? In so many ways".

Sirius simply couldn't understand the fact that Lily also stood up for Snape. He had betrayed her family and still she was protecting him. "I'm not protecting him you know" Lily said. "I'm just saying that we should trust Dumbledore's judgement. In any case, we are not in a position where we can do anything about it." She ended.

Sirius had forgotten what it was like being with people who knew you so well, that they knew what you where thinking.

He liked it in a way, but it also frightened him a bit.

Some days later, Sirius sat with his head in his cupped hands, elbows on the table. He was bored. It was as simple as that. He had never thought of how it would feel like to be dead. Although he had had a lot of problems and not exactly an easy life, it had been fun and being dead simply couldn't catch up with it. The backdoor of the house creaked opened and James and Lily entered.

Broad smiles were threatening to break on their faces. They sat down opposite Sirius and James began to talk, "Listen mate, there's something you've got to do, now that you're dead." He said it very solemnly and Lily looked down and started to scratch in the table. "We're all entitled to do this because it's some fucked up fantasy that everyone alive has." James continued.

Sirius looked from his best friend to Lily and back again. "Well, what is it? I mean, it can't be that bad. It's not like I have to grow wings or something like that, right? Because, you two don't have wings. Unless you're hiding them somewhere and only let them out on special occasions." He said this with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

His last words left the kitchen silent, until Lily spoke: "Well, you have to play the harp." She said. "The what?" Sirius yelled and stood up. "You must be joking," he continued. If he, Sirius Lee Black, started playing the harp in public, his reputation as a real man would be gone.

"No, we're not joking" Lily said, "we talked to the man that leads our orchestra and he's willing to let you in. That's why we were gone for so long today. James, if you please." She added and James got up, walked to the back door and opened it. He stepped outside and came in again seconds later, with an enormous harp.

"I'm not playing it" Sirius said. "Oh yes you are" Lily replied. "James got one too, same size as yours now that you are men and I've got a smaller one. It's unbelievable. Even when you're dead you have to suffer from discrimination, just because you're a woman!" she ended. Sirius looked pleadingly at James as if begging him to say this was all some big misunderstanding. But James just gave him the harp and showed him how to hold it.

"There," he said, "now, try strike a tune." Sirius put his finger on one of the strings and it made a sound. "Very nice" said Lily, with a satisfied look on her face. Her smiled widened and she looked to James, he too, smiled. "What?" said Sirius, "you don't think I'm good enough for your little orchestra? Well, what about this then, eh?"

And he then played the full arrangement of the famous no. 1romantic hit from their school days: "Heart of Magic" by Adobe Allister. When he had finished the song, he looked up triumphantly. Lily and James looked at him in awe. They hadn't expected this to happen.

"I've got one for you too, Lils" Sirius said, and he then began to play the favourite song of all the girls in their year: "Whatever Makes You Magic" by the young Celestina Warbeck. He looked up halfway through the song. Lily and James were laughing hard, Lily supporting herself to James' arm.

"What?" Sirius said again. "It was a joke, mate," James panted, "honestly, we didn't you would be this good at it, we just wanted to see the look on you're face when you found out you had to play the harp."

"Where did you learn it?" Lily asked. She had seated herself at the table, clutching her side. "Grandmother," Sirius answered quietly and continued, "that wasn't funny" "Oh yes, it was. You should have seen the look of concentration on your face, Merlin, that was priceless" James grinned.

Sirius put the harp aside and stood up, armed crossed. "Oh, don't be such a bore!" Lily exclaimed, "Did you think we had changed completely, just because we died! Yes, we have a bit more sense of responsibility, but we can still make a joke." She ended. "Oh, piss off!" Sirius said, but then couldn't help it and joined the laughter.

They spend the rest of the day teasing Sirius with his excellent harp playing, and listening to his pathetic and continuously protests, that they were just jealous.

A/N: Hoped you liked it. I can't remember where I've read that Sirius' middle name was Lee, but I think it's quite funny, so I used it too. If you liked it, please review and if you didn't, please review anyway and make suggestions, on how I can improve my writing. Still looking for inspiration for chapter 5!

Ida.