Disclaimer- Yes, we all know I didn't make up Harry Potter.

Welcome back Padfoot

He stood up straight and looked around. He was in some sort of common room with tables and chairs arranged around a large fire roaring in the grate, a flight of stairs at each end. All the furnishings were red and gold and a large banner of a lion was draped above the fireplace. Sirius felt happiness well up inside him; he ran his hand along the back of one of the chairs, then walked over to the window, looking out across wide green lawns and a bright blue sky. In the distance he could see a large lake and a forest, hazy with mist. Birdsong and rustling leaves filled the air, creating an ache deep inside Sirius, why couldn't he remember? He dropped his gaze to the windowsill, trying to control the tears, which pricked his eyes. Under control again, he turned his attention to the people walking around outside, laughing, talking, relaxing under one of the trees. Sirius was really confused, why was he here, in a place he used to know but somehow forgot?

Looking around the common room again, he noticed a hole in the wall; different from the hole he'd entered, which had disappeared the moment he stepped through. He walked over to it and crawled out into a passageway. From what he's seen of the building out of the window, Sirius had realised that he was in a castle of some sort and this was further strengthened by the suits of armour and burning torches lining the walls. Following his instinct, he walked down staircases and through doors, some which looked like walls until he touched them, until he eventually walked out across a large stone entrance hall and towards a set of heavy wooden doors.

Pulling one open, he stepped out into the sunlight, a welcome relief from the darkness of the castle and over-bright lighting of the Hall of Doors. He looked around; groups of people passed him, glancing and smiling before walking away. Some of them he thought he recognised, but they were gone before he could think of their names. He walked out onto the grass, down towards the lake, glittering in the sun. He felt peaceful and safe, a deep sense of belonging, but he also had the feeling that he was here to do something specific. From out of the depths of the lake a large tentacle reared before hitting the surface with a splash and disappearing again.

Sirius smiled and turned away, intending to ask one of the people sitting on the grass where he was and what he was supposed to do. While looking for a person to question, he noticed a couple sat under a tree. The man was tall and skinny, with messy black hair, the woman shorter, with auburn hair. Something lurched within Sirius, and as he watched them laughing about something the man had said, he felt a great wash of anguish, and joy that had him stumbling towards them before he realised what he was doing. He saw the woman break off the conversation and turn to look at him. She touched the man on his arm, who turned round too. Sirius saw recognition in their faces, but he wondered at the sadness he saw there too.

They stood up and faced Sirius, who walked slowly up to them and stopped, looking from one face to the other, desperate to know whom they were. Before he could speak, the man suddenly pulled him into a bear hug, smiling at him while the woman hugged him close. Sirius could not help it, the tears rolled down his cheeks and he saw the woman start to cry as well as she stood back and took the man's hand.

"How are you Padfoot?" the man asked.

'Padfoot', thought Sirius, 'is that my name?'

"It's okay, Sirius," said the woman, "death is a shock to most people. We're so glad to see you."

'She called me Sirius, is Padfoot a nickname? Why Padfoot?' All this was rushing around Sirius' head, but the main question, which he spoke out loud was, "I'm dead?"

This seemed to confuse the couple, and concern filled their faces. The man, sensing something was wrong, asked in a worried voice,

"Don't you know where you are, who we are?"

Sirius shook his head and looked at them both with a pleading expression,

"Who am I? Where am I? Why do I know that I've seen it all before, but I can't remember it?"

The man looked back in shock, and the woman's bright green eyes once more filled with tears.