Chapter 2

Secrets

Harry and Sirius fell onto the hard ground beyond the veil. Still disoriented, they sat for a moment letting their surroundings sink in.

"Wow," Harry said to Sirius who looked just as amazed as he did.

What lye in front of them was something incredible; something beautiful. The ground they had fallen on was green grass which was healthy and as far as they could see not one piece of it is dead. Beyond them were a healthy blend of trees and flowers and surprisingly enough; people, all of whom looked quite surprised to get so many visitors at once. Some stood up trying to get a glance at the two people on the ground. Before they could even get up, someone was thrown onto Sirius.

Harry stood up quickly and stifled a laugh at the sight before him. Sirius layed there looking at the person on his stomach before quickly pushing Remus off. Remus scrambled to his feet and grabbed both Harry and Sirius pulling them into a hug. He held them before pushing away with an angry look on his face.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU? YOU…YOU…" Remus began but trailed off as he looked around him. Before they could say anything, a woman walked up to them.

"Umm… hello. I'm Rose. Welcome to… well… beyond the veil I suppose. This really isn't my job to welcome people so I'm not very good at this. I have heard a lot about you all but especially you, Mr. Potter," Rose said not taking her eyes off of Harry. Harry broke eye contact from the red-haired woman and glanced at his god father.

"And how is that?" Remus asked skeptically pulling Harry a bit closer.

"You will find out soon enough and plus, just because were here and not out there doesn't mean we don't know what this young man can do and has done," she replied then turned to Harry, "you are an amazing boy Mr. Potter. It is, of course, an honor to meet you."

Harry stared at the woman a moment before sticking his hand out to shake hers.

"Thanks. Uhh… I guess call me Harry," Harry said shaking Rose's hand. She smiled and shook his hand happily. She looked at each of them before turning around and walking away.

Sirius gave the woman an odd look before turning to Harry. He took a step back at the look on Sirius' face.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Sirius whispered angrily, "Why did you feel that you need to save me?"

Harry thought for a moment. He didn't actually know why he did save Sirius. He just knew it was right. He looked at his god father, "Because I had too."

He said it so simply that Sirius knew it was true. He pulled Harry into a hug which he readily returned.

"Okay, so how about we take a look around before you kill Harry, Padfoot?" Remus said looking at Harry's now blue face.

Sirius finally let go and Harry took a couple of deep breaths before starting to follow Remus and Sirius.

As they made their way around the place, Harry noticed all the smiling faces. It made him quite uncomfortable.

"Why are they all smiling and staring? It's like school all over again just with well… happy people," Harry asked catching up with his god father and his best friend.

"Don't know Harry. Wish I did though. Their all sort of scary," Remus whispered back to the boy.

The three approached a large lake. Harry marveled at the hundreds of people's reflections rippling in the water. Just then, a chubby woman who resembled Professor Umbridge came forward and grinned.

"Hello," she shook their hands, "Someone here would love to meet you," the woman said with her smile growing wider by the second.

They nodded and waited apprehensively at the front of the lake. Taking another look around the lake, Harry noticed that every single person was gone. He glanced at Remus.

"Close your eyes," someone whispered to them. It startled them but they did as they were told and waited.

"You do know that I feel like an idiot standing here with my eyes closed with a werewolf and a fifteen year old kid," Sirius mumbled.

"Sirius, shut up. And I am not a kid," Harry said back.

Remus let out a snort.

"I resent that Professor," Harry said to him.

"Sh, someone is coming over here," Remus whispered hushing them up.

"Well aren't you pushy," Sirius said.

The footsteps grew closer and closer until they stopped right in front of them.

"Hello," a soft woman's voice said. Harry's breath hitched. Although he had never heard the voice it seemed oddly familiar.
Harry's eyes opened and he gasped at what he saw. A beautiful woman stood in front of him. Her fiery red-hair stood out most as it flowed down the front of her chest. She looked young and what caught Harry most was not her beauty or angelic voice but her eyes; those startling green eyes. They were his eyes.

"Mum," he choked. She gave him a watery smile and nodded.

Remus and Sirius' eyes popped open and they looked as though they were going to faint.

Before they could say anything more, someone walked up behind her. Taking one look at him, Remus and Sirius fell to ground with a soft thump. The man was Harry's image almost exactly. His messy black hair stuck out at odd angles and his round glasses fitted his face well. The only thing that differed between them was that his eyes were hazel colored and he was about an inch or two taller than Harry.

"Dad?" was all Harry could manage.

He smiled and Lily slowly walked towards Harry. When she finally reached him, she embraced him lovingly and began to cry into his shoulders mumbling into his shoulder. James walked up to him and joined the group hug. Harry even saw a tear fall from his eyes.

Still surprised, Harry pulled away and smiled at his deceased parents. They seemed so happy just looking at Harry; seeing him smile a real smile.

"Oh Harry. I can't believe that you're here. I mean you shouldn't be here now; not yet. You're too young," Lily said unhappily.

"Well, as long as he's here Lily might as well get to know our son. Or do you want to throw him into the lake?" James mocked to his wife who scowled him.

"You know, I'm rather surprised you didn't faint. Not too lucky for our friends here," Lily said checking over Sirius and Remus.

"Where did everyone go?" Harry said in a still choked voice. He still couldn't believe that his parents, James and Lily Potter, were standing next to him acting as if nothing had happened like they weren't dead. It was surreal.

"Well, when they found out you were coming, they decided to let us have some time to ourselves. We never really got to meet our own son," James said standing up and putting an around his son, "So how's life?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't believe that he was just asked such a question after he had actually died and the people who had asked the question just happened to be dead as well.

"Why is that so funny?" James asked Harry.

"Well, aren't we dead? I mean, were definitely not alive," Harry said as he finally stopped laughing.

"Harry, were not dead. We are not alive either. You could say that were in the middle," Lily replied.

"You know let's not talk about this right now. Once Remus and Sirius wake up they'll be asking the same questions so let's just talk about you Harry. We don't really know much about you and we've been well… dieing to meet you," James said laughing at his own words.

Harry nodded and he and his parents walked to the edge of the lake. Harry sat in the middle of the two and could feel hot tears welling up in his eyes.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Lily asked worriedly.

"Nothing. Nothing, just seeing you guys. It's a dream come true," Harry said wiping his tears of happiness away.

James smiled and clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"You know in this lake we can see in the outside world. That's how we've been watching you and everyone all these years. I see you are an amazing quidditch player!" James said happily.

Lily let out a snort of displeasure. "Is quidditch the only thing you can talk about with our son? Let's talk about that girl. Oh what's her name? Ginny! Yes! Ginny, that's it."

Harry turned a deep shade of crimson and examined his now surprisingly interesting hands.

"Mum," Harry pleaded.

"Oh! You called me mum!" she squealed hugging her son.

"Well, if you want him to call you Lilykins or Mrs. Potter that would work too," James said to his wife nudging Harry who laughed in response.

"Oh shut up James."

"Tell us about school Harry. Anything. And later when 'Ms. Quidditch-is-to-dangerous-and-stupid-to-talk-about' is gone we can play a game," James said giddily.

He gave them a very brief summary of his years at the Dursley's and at Hogwarts, hoping not to upset them too much. Even with the sugar-coated story, Harry's parents were outraged. Luckily, Sirius and Remus began to stir.

Sirius groggily got up and stretched. For a split second, Sirius looked like he didn't know where he was until his eyes came across Lily and James. He jumped up and grabbed both of them, hugging them fiercely.

Remus soon got up and joined his old friends in a friendly and loving hug. Harry stood to the side smiling at the love and warmth radiating from them all. He finally understood what it was like for Remus and Sirius all those years they were alone.

A week passed for the Marauders and company and all seemed to be going well. James had succeeded in being beat by Harry numerous times in quidditch and even got him to fall off his broom causing Lily to practically beat him. Sirius, James, and Remus began pranking random people all of whom seemed to enjoy it for some odd reason. Harry spent plenty of time getting to know his long lost parents and loved every minute of it. Although Harry was having the time of his life, there was something in the back of his mind that said something was not exactly right. Something about the veil and its many secrets. He knew that his parents knew and now was the time to ask them.

"Mum, dad. Can I ask you something?" Harry asked him parents as they sat by the lake with Sirius and Remus.

They smiled at hearing being called mum and dad. They loved looking at Harry. He was more than they would have ever expected. He was a thoughtful young man who was an exceptional wizard. He was his father's image but had his mother's even more sweet and caring heart and her piercing green eyes. Everyday they spent with him was a dream come true and they hoped it never had to end.

"Yes son?" James answered pulling Harry closer to him with an arm around his shoulder. He noticed that Harry looked much healthier than when he had come. A smile lit his face.

"Tell me about the veil," he asked simply catching everyone off guard, "I know you know. I'm not stupid. You've been here for a long time and you should know about it and all of its secrets."

Lily stood up and walked away slowly with her arms crossed. She sat down at a nearby tree. Harry and James followed leaving Sirius and Remus.

They sat down and no one spoke for a moment. Harry waited, a feeling of apprehensiveness and dread filling him.

Lily let out a sigh and began to speak.

"Well Harry, the veil does not automatically take you here. It really depends on whether or not your soul is pure. For example, if you were to be thrown here and you were a death eater, the veil has some way of indicating whether or not the person is a pure soul. If you do not have a pure soul, you will not come here. You will go to a hell. It's worse than anything Voldemort can do. You will pay for every death and all the pain you caused. Once you have paid your debt, you will be sent here. You will be like you were before you were corrupted. You will stay your age, the age that you came through and you will be a new person. But you will still remember the pain. Rose was one of those people. I believe you met her when you came in. She paid her debt and now she is different. She knows that what she did was terrible and she still regrets it," Lily explained.

"So," James continued, "We were quite happy to see that you guys made it through even though we knew you would. Anyway, the reason people never have come back from beyond the veil was because they didn't want to. Here, there is not death or pain or sickness. You still have emotions and such but you can't get hurt and die. I mean, why would someone want to go back? This place is the dream of so many people. It was the dream that your mother and I had for you Harry but we never managed to achieve it," he said a look of genuine sadness and pain on his face.

"Here, we are able to watch those we love in the lake. It's like a pensieve. If you want to be next to them then you will have to jump into the lake. You don't really get wet or anything but you get to follow the one's you love instead of just watching them. You could sit next to them if you wish or even sit on them but they won't notice because all though you feel solid you aren't in their world. We do that to you. We've been watching you and everyone else too but you can't watch them forever. You have a certain amount of time," Lily finished.

"Is there any way you can get back to the 'real world'?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes, there is. It is very difficult though. It takes away a lot of energy. If you have been here for a long time like we have it won't affect us as much because we have built up a sort of immunity. But if you, Sirius, and Remus were to go through you would become very weak; especially you. You're the youngest. The only way anyone is able to go back is if they have unfinished business and that is what you have Harry," Lily said to him. She hoped the conversation would go no further but she knew that Harry's inquires would not end.

"What unfinished business? What are you talking about?" Harry inquired.

James called Remus and Sirius over before explaining.

"You don't have a choice son about staying or not. You asked Professor Dumbledore many times why you were attacked as a baby. Well now is the time to tell you," James sighed before continuing his explanation, "Before you were born, a prophecy was made by Sybil Trelawney. I suppose you know her as Professor but that's beside the point. Dumbledore talked to us when your mother was about six months pregnant with you. He told us that someone heard a small amount of the prophecy; only the beginning about when you will be born and such. This is why Voldemort was so obsessed with the Department of Mysteries. The prophecy is about your fate along with his. The reason you were attacked as a baby and many more times before was because of this prophecy. This is going to be hard to accept Harry."

Lily took a deep breath before saying the prophecy that had plagued her dreams for years.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."

Lily brought her eyes to Harry's. He had a look of such shock that she couldn't keep eye contact for too long. James put a hand on his shoulder but was surprised when Harry brushed him off and went running. He just kept running.

Harry didn't know where he was running and personally, he didn't care.

A moment ago he just heard the looming prophecy that involved himself and Voldemort. He could feel tears rush down his face as he continued to run.

"So this is why he was after me? All these years. I'm the 'chosen one'," Harry thought sadly.

When he finally stopped running, the tree where the Marauders and Lily were sitting under was out of sight.

Harry fell to his knees and let out a muffled sob from inside his trembling hand. It was so much to bear. He was either going to have to kill or be killed. There was no way out of it. He had no choice in the matter. Harry sat there for a long time thinking and crying. He fell asleep there to surprisingly pleasant dreams.