Disclaimer- Certainly not mine.

Author's note- Thanks to:

Excessivelyperky- Okay, so here's the thing. In regards to the actual book series I do think that there is something going on with Snape. There were just too many weird occurrences in book six for me to completely accept that he's evil. Definitely not saying that he really isn't, but some of the things he said were just a little too suspicious. So basically, I do agree with you. In this story, I should be incorporating this theory but I'm not completely sure how yet. Guess we'll both just have to see where it goes. I think you're right about Sirius, though … I need to make him rant more. Alex202- Thank you, thank you, thank you! KillinBuddy- I don't know how I'll show the final battle yet … it'll be a while before I get to that point anyway. I KNOW it won't be from the Longbottoms' point-of-view you weirdo. I could just picture them, insane, breaking out of St. Mungo's. Sorry, but no. CowsLovePennies- We'll make Snape gay in our stories - I have a slightly different plan in mind for mine. So glad to hear that I "put the fun back in funeral." You're a freak, we all love ya (like a sister), and keep reading! (Not comprehending, but at least reading.) Blusgr2- Hey, I think you'll find this chapter interesting … it has a lot of "Kaelyism" in it. Don't get weirdly offended by any of the freaky theories that I have, because you gotta remember that I'm pretty much ignorant to all religions except my own mess of beliefs. The bagels are coming, and thanks for the review! Oh, and as you so often tell me, get your mind out of the gutter!

Thanks, everyone, for stopping in!

The Next Great Adventure

Chapter 4

"Would you slow down?" shouted James to Sirius as he led their way through a thick grove of aspen trees on the far side of the courtyard. "Really, Sirius, it's not like we're going to die … you have plenty of time to say whatever the hell it is you need to tell me!"

"It's more fun this way," said Sirius grimly, "gives the illusion of an urgent meeting or something."

"Mmhmm … and what exactly would be discussed at this 'meeting?'" asked James, pushing past a curtain of leaves clinging to the spidery tree branch in his path.

Sirius stopped abruptly, causing James to run right into him as he turned to speak.

"Do you think Dumbledore is keeping something from us?" he asked.

"What?" said James, bemused.

"All that stuff he just said - it doesn't add up. 'A mistake…' I don't think he's telling us everything."

James shrugged. "I guess it didn't really make any sense," he said. "I mean, there's just something about the whole situation that I still don't understand."

"Like how if he was 'meant to die,' then why did he plead for his life?"

"For example," nodded James.

"There's definitely more to that slimy idiot's betrayal than Dumbledore is letting on, but why doesn't he just tell us?" said Sirius, sitting down on a nearby rock. "He's dead, it's not like it'll make much of a difference."

James moved to sit beside him before beginning slowly, "The dead keep secrets too, as you should already know, Sirius. Maybe Dumbledore suspects something … that might explain why he hasn't told us."

"Maybe," said Sirius absently. "That man has always been way too damn perceptive."

"Yeah," James began, "not to mention the fact that when you're not constantly sitting at the edge of the basin, you're dwelling over that stupid veil. That could've tipped him off."

"You think?" said Sirius with a smile. "You know what amazes me is that I've been here a year now, and Lily still hasn't had any suspicions. Dumbledore, meanwhile, has been here three days and already he may know what I'm really doing." He paused for a moment and then exclaimed suddenly, "Wait, I'm not amazed! I'm creeped out."

James laughed awkwardly and paused to consider his words before beginning again. "Padfoot?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly is it you're doing?" he stopped for a moment as Sirius glanced at him questioningly. "I mean, I know your death was, well, unconventional, but it happened, there's no going back. Why can't you just let go of the veil when, no matter how you died, you're dead – it's done?"

Sirius sighed, picking up a small golden aspen leaf and twirling its stem between his fingers while he pondered his answer. He knew that it had been somewhat pointless for a while to keep such a relentless hold on the mysteries of that veil, but there was something that just wouldn't let him let go. It fluttered through his thoughts and he knew, somehow, that he would figure it out.

"Because I just need to know, James," he said finally. "I've needed to know exactly how that archway works, what happened to me when I went through it. Your son called out to me from the other side of that veil; I heard him as I was being ripped from Earth."

James looked over at Sirius soberly, but didn't say anything, allowing him to continue.

"The living get over the dead far faster than the dead get over the living," he said. "It's easier for them because they obviously have life to contend with…. I've been dwelling over it all this time, James, so I can help him – so I can help Harry."

"But you just said yourself that you've been here a year, Sirius," said James, "and you haven't figured out anything."

"Oh, but I have," Sirius said, a slight smile curving the edges of his mouth.

"What are you talking about?" asked James.

"And the next issue up for discussion -."

"Cut it, Sirius," said James, becoming irritated as his friend smiled again. "What do you mean you did figure something out?"

Sirius didn't say anything for a moment. He felt a drop of water fall onto his hand, but it wasn't as though he really felt it. It wasn't cold and it wasn't at all earthly. Slowly and steadily, it began to rain.

Ignoring the weather, Sirius turned back to James. "Have you ever seen a baby up here, Prongs?"

"What?" James sighed.

"A baby – have you ever seen a baby in Heaven?"

"Well, no I guess not," said James, completely at a loss for where Sirius was going with this. "I suppose I just always thought they moved on immediately; they never got attached to the world so they never had to let go of it."

"Yeah, see, that's what I thought too," said Sirius and James didn't like the expression that had suddenly appeared on his face. It was the look of someone about to divulge an insane, unfounded, marauderish theory. "But don't you think we would have seen their souls pass through as they moved on?" he asked. "I mean, you would think that we'd at least feel them go by as they went on their way."

He looked at James expectantly, clearly anticipating a response of some sort. When all he received was a look of pure confusion and disbelief, however, he continued, "I don't think babies do come up here, James – I think they go back."

"What?" spluttered James, dimly realizing that he'd probably asked this question at least ten times within the last hour.

"I think that, because babies die so young and have never gotten a chance to live a full life, their souls don't come all the way through the veil. They go back for a second chance."

"Reincarnation?" said James.

Sirius nodded. "It's like all those religions that maybe don't even believe in Heaven, or people that don't believe in God at all. Maybe they fulfill their own theories and beliefs … maybe they go back."

"Okay," James began, "You do realize that this has got to be the craziest thing you've ever come up with, including that time in sixth year when you were convinced that Snape was really a girl, right?"

Sirius sighed. "Look, the point is that if this idea of reincarnation is real, then there may be a way that we can use the veil to get back to Earth."

James stared at Sirius blankly, his dark, messy hair plastered to his head with the rain that never felt wet. Sirius had always been reckless, daring, and sometimes frankly stupid, but there was something with this idea that was different than any of the others he had developed over the years of his life. Through the sudden blazing determination that had sprung into his eyes, James could tell that he really, deeply believed in whatever he was talking about now. Reluctantly, not sensing an end to this conversation any time soon, he managed to sigh, "Explain please."

"Well," began Sirius, with a little more enthusiasm than James was feeling at the moment. "I figure that, since I died going through the veil in the Department of Mysteries, there must be a way that people can go through it up here to get back to Earth. You can hear the people on the other side of it from both Heaven and Earth, James. You can hear the souls moving through it, whispering, and moving it ever so slightly. That archway has to be a two-way passage between the two places - it makes sense."

"Alright," James began slowly, trying hard to comprehend what Sirius was saying, "so you want to go back through the veil so you can be reincarnated and live again?"

"Not exactly," said Sirius. "If I was to be reincarnated, then I would have to start all over again, which would be completely unhelpful and a little bit weird." He winced slightly. "No, what I'm thinking is that if we can get someone close enough to the other side of the veil down on Earth, then maybe one of us can go through it and in to them."

"Excuse me?" James choked, hoping he hadn't just heard what he thought he did.

"Look, it's like I just told you, the archway and the veil are a passageway. The people on either side of it are simply lurking out of each others' sights. I think somehow, if there was someone directly on the other side, we could sort of use their body by just going into it, instead of floating away or something like that to be reincarnated."

"You think?" said James, standing up now. "You think? Sirius, for something like this you better be pretty damn sure! This isn't some school-boy prank – this is someone's life we're dealing with! We don't even know if this would work! What if you get stuck in someone else's body? What if their soul somehow gets lost or reincarnates itself? What if -."

"What if it does work?" Sirius broke in. "What if we simply go into their body, and they switch places with us and spend some time in Heaven? What if you could help your son?"

James was quiet for a moment as he stood there glaring at his friend. "You don't know that it'll happen that way," he said at last.

"Funny thing about Heaven," Sirius began, "sometimes the answers just come to you. Definitely not all the answers, mind you, but there are some things that you can feel with the utmost certainty. There are some things that you can't explain, but you just know. This is one of those things." He grinned suddenly, knowing exactly how to hit James next. "I don't know why you're arguing anyway," he continued, "you already know you're going to help me. You always do … we always do."

James sighed heavily and sat back down with his head in his hands. Without looking up, he said, "But what about fate, Sirius? What if everything does happen for a reason? Maybe we weren't meant to help in this war, and that's why we died."

"Or maybe we were meant to die so we could help. Isn't it possible that I went through that veil so I could figure out how to use it? You just have to look at it from a different point-of-view, Prongs."

The rain had slowed to a gentle drizzle now, and the sky was beginning to open up into a deep blue, already shadowed with a faint rainbow. James glanced up at Sirius with a look of resignation on his face. There was no way around it.

"Fine," he said. "Whose body do you want to hi-jack?"

Author's note- Well, the next chapter should (meaning in all hope) be up soon. I know it's redundant to keep asking for reviews, but just remember that I love them, and anytime you want to share anything I would greatly appreciate it.