It was black, so black. It was empty, just an endless expanse of space. No sound, no light, no sensation of any kind as Harry entered complete nothingness and all of his memories vanished with one step. His mind blank, he tried to look around but the black was absolute, he could not even tell whether his eyes were open or closed. Harry felt nothing, whether he was falling or standing still, if he was upright or upside down. He desperately tried to explore his surroundings but his hands closed on empty air, his breath coming in quick gasps that were immediately swallowed by the oppressive silence that pressed in on his ears. Panic roared inside him, clutching his chest, choking him. Who was he? Where was he? What was he? Devoid of touch, smell, sight, gravity, his existence narrowed to a voice screaming inside his mind.

The water had gotten rough again and was pounding onto the sand so hard that James felt the vibrations travel up through his feet. He stood at the highest point of the small island, gazing out across the swelling ocean and watching the dark bank of clouds on the horizon rolling and building into a towering storm. The strengthening gale pulled great walls of water upwards and hurled them against the beaches so hard that plants were beginning to be uprooted. James watched this with a mixture of worry and hope because this was similar to the conditions that first threw him here but if this was just a storm then he could be swept out to sea to drift forever in a sea of emptiness. Soon the water was rising so high with every wave that James struggled to keep his feet under the shifting soil as the backwash tried to pull him forwards. Salt water filled his mouth as his legs disappeared from beneath him and he fell into the oncoming breakers, the entire island was downing and James was carried along with it.

He was being tossed about a frothing grey sea, spray blinding him and pushing him back under the waves. The sky was swirling above him like smoke, splintered by lightning flashes and a thick mist descended to enclose James in a cold, bleak blanket. Disorientated by the movement he struggled to keep afloat, the sky and the sea merging to form a seething grey mass. Around him the mist began to move in a circle, opening a way before him and he realised that he was no longer in water but back in the tunnel he fell from with Sirius. He eagerly looked around to see if the other wizard was there but the way behind was closing in. He began to run through the tunnel in case it collapsed around him again and before him appeared a bright white light.

Harry was rapidly losing his mind. Curled up tightly in a ball, his fists clenched and unclenched in his hair. He was nothing, just a small flicker of consciousness lost in oblivion. What was the point of it's existence? Then there was the light, the faintest pinprick in the absence of everything that Harry latched on to with his very sanity depending upon it. The light grew and moved steadily towards him, mesmerising Harry who reached out his hands to it. Somebody grabbed it from the other side and half dragged him through but as soon as his hand touched the living world he suddenly remembered why he left it and turned round to look back into death. Stretched out before him was a tunnel of swirling grey, flashes of colour streaked through it and at the end he saw his father running towards his mother and lifting her in the air.

"Harry!"

Sirius' voice was muffled through the veil and he felt his friends trying to pull him back into the Room of Requirement but he resisted and instead pulled Sirius' arm through so his head appeared.

"Ha-

"Look!"

Sirius pulled his eyes away from Harry's and looked down the tunnel to where James held Lily around the waist and was spinning her round and round, looking at her with such love it brought tears to Sirius' eyes.

"James, Lily…"

James lowered Lily to the ground and they both looked down the tunnel at Sirius' gasp, relief lighting up both their faces when they saw him, then they saw Harry stood next to him, both half in and half out of the breach between their worlds. Harry felt a fierce ache in his heart as he stared at his parents, who clutched each other tighter and gazed back, his mother putting a hand to her mouth. The tunnel was constricting and would soon disappear but just before it closed completely Harry saw his mum and dad smile at him with unconditional love, tears running down their faces as they waved him goodbye until one day they would meet again.

The scene of Lily and James framed against the silhouette of Hogwarts as the sun set behind them vanished behind a curtain of mist and Harry felt Sirius gently draw him back to where Hermione, Ron and Ginny were stood waiting. As soon as he left the veil Hermione leapt on him, pulling him into a crushing hug but Harry did not mind, all he could see was his parents together and smiling at him, an image that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

"Harry, I'm so glad you're alright! Where did you go?" Hermione's voice wavered as though she was desperately trying not to cry. An image of complete blackness filled Harry's mind and he shied away from it, the feeling of absolute despair and hopelessness was still to fresh. Sirius seemed to understand.

"Come on, let's all get out of here and somewhere a bit more pleasant before questions are answered and I'm sure Harry wants some time to organise his thoughts."

Harry looked up at Sirius and they shared a quick smile, Sirius putting his arm around his godson's shoulders before they all left the Room of Requirement, leaving the crumbling archway hung with a veil gently swaying in the dim light.

Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry sat down in the chairs they had left just an hour earlier whilst Sirius wandered around the Gryffindor common room picking up random objects and obviously reminiscing about his student days. Harry felt exhausted but jubilant at the same time, he had his godfather back and a whole lifetime to get to know him better, plus he had seen his parents. He closed his eyes and let the feeling of knowing that they were there and that they loved him sweep over him. A soft chuckle from Sirius as he remembered something brought Harry back to the present and he looked across at Hermione.

"Thanks for bringing me back."

Hermione took a deep breath and smiled, "I'm just glad we managed to quickly bring you back. From what Sirius was telling us, the presence of the living seemed to unbalance the forces in the world of the dead. Where did you go?"

Harry hung his head and studied a tear on the knee of his jeans. "There was nothing, it was a void. I…"

Ginny stood up and moved to sit next to him, resting her hand on his arm. Harry took strength from her touch and continued. "I would have gone insane if you hadn't pulled me out in time."

"If you hadn't cut your finger…"

Harry nodded his head. Ron looked ill, "How come you didn't go crazy?" he asked Sirius. Sirius turned away from the window and pulled up another chair.

"I didn't land in a void, I was in a room identical to the Department of Mysteries. They must be linked through somehow but the Room of Requirement is…different." He spent the rest of the afternoon describing to them his journey through the portrait in the hall of doors to where Lily and James were then their search for a way to get Sirius back to where he belonged. The sky was darkening by the time Sirius reached the end of his story and the others sat in astonished silence after he had finished. Harry sat in his chair and surveyed his friends and godfather lit in the dying rays of the sun and smiled to himself, it had been a very interesting summer indeed.