James, who was being dragged in by the ear, glances at me sheepishly, "Hey, Reg, could you help me out here? I'm kind of…stuck."

I raise an eyebrow and look at the woman holding his ear. She has light brown hair and bright blue eyes, which were currently held a narrowed gaze on James. She wore a light blue shirt and a beige skirt, and, in all, looked like someone not to mess with when she was pissed.

I clear my throat, "Pardon me madam, but might I ask your name and why you are holding James by the ear?"

The woman looks up and shock causes her to let go of the messy haired man, who scurries to hide behind Lily.

"Sirius? No…you're not him. I'm Dorea Potter, James's mother. My son was causing mischief, as usual, and I decided to bring him back. Who are you?" Dorea asks.

I have a bad feeling about responding, but the annoying voice in my head tells me to be polite.

"Regulus Black. I was Sirius's younger brother."

In an instant I'm thrown against one of the back walls and am held up there by magic. Dorea is watching with the glare of a mother lion as her hair whips around in the magically created breeze. Definitely not someone to mess with.

"Ma'am, please put me down so we may discuss the problem you have with me like civil-"

"Civil? CIVIL? After what your damn family did to Sirius, you dare tell me to behave civilly? How dare you?" the woman screeches, "When he came to our house that summer he was practically beaten! It took a couple of weeks for him to recover physically, and a hell of a lot longer to recover mentally! I receive letters from James telling me that you are being positively rotten to Sirius, who is practically my son, and you have the nerve to tell me to act civil? Like hell I will!"

'Be nice, don't yell. Don't let your temper get the better of you. She's only saying this because she knows only one side of the story. Don't yell, don't yell, don't yell…' I turn these two words into a mantra as she keeps yelling at me.

James and Lily look like they want to help, but are stuck on the outside of the wind vortex that the matron Potter has created.

"And you know what? At least Sirius tried to get away from those evil people! You just lapped up everything that they told you and accepted it without complaint! You never helped your brother and I bet you never wanted to! You didn't care about him at all!"

Something snaps and all of a sudden the vortex stops and Dorea is watching with wide eyes.

"Listen to me and listen well. I don't give a damn what you say about me, but get one thing straight. I tried to protect him, I did every damn thing I could in that house to protect him. But he wouldn't take it. Want to know why? Because he was eldest, and thought he had to protect me all the time. When he ran away who do you think packed his trunk? Who do you think managed to give him some potions to help him have some energy to get away? Who do you think sent him to live with you because they knew he could not live in that house a minute longer?" My voice is low and I try to stop myself from yelling, "Don't you dare say that I never cared for my brother."

Dorea looks at me with wide eyes, and she seems rather tongue tied.

That's when I've had enough and give her my best sneer, something I'd learned from Sirius, "I've had enough of dealing with you. Leave this house and don't come back."

With that I leave the house, the Black rage in full swing.

James Potter's POV

I flinch as the door slams shut behind Regulus. It was scary when one angered Sirius, and Regulus is apparently no wuss either. Sighing I look up at my mother and frown.

"I told you not to freak out and start attacking him. He isn't as bad as Sirius, but you sure as hell don't want to piss him off." I run a hand through my hair after observing the carnage that the room had gone through. A wave of my wand sets everything right again and I turn back to my mom.

"You might as well leave. Reg wasn't kidding when he said that he wanted you gone."

She scoffs, "So he lost his temper, how bad can he be?"

Lily raises an eyebrow, "Mrs. Potter, you've seen James when he has been extremely angry, right?"

She nods.

"Well, take that and multiply it by at least ten, and you have Regulus's temper on a good day. I've only seen Regulus become half as angry as he was today, and even then it was all it took him to not curse who he was yelling at. Please give him some space until he calms down," Lily says, being the diplomatic person she was. It is hard for me to believe that she can have a pretty bad temper herself.

Mom nods and leaves, yet I know that it isn't the last time that we'll see her today. She's bound to come back, and she's bound to do something that will either endure her to Lily and my new friend or will cause him to hate her for eternity. Which, seeing as we're all dead, could be quite a while.

"So, it's not even our first day here and the house has almost been blown up," Lily mentions, "I'd say that's a first."

I smile at how chipper she sounds and give her a hug, "Never believe in the expected in this family."

Lily grins, "That I learned a long time ago."

I sigh, then look over at the screens to Earth. I really wish that I could talk to my friends for some help.

Regulus Black's POV

I walk past the abandoned parts of the neighborhood, only glancing at the old house once, and continue past. I had to keep moving or else I would end up seriously hurting someone.

'How dare she say that? She doesn't know me! None of them do! James and Lily are nice though, so the automatic assumption thing must just be a trait of his mother's.' Frowning I try to dispel the thoughts, but that's when there's a trail of black smoke and someone starts to walk along side me.

"What do you want?" I growl.

The man smiles, "What's wrong? Can't a dad talk with his son?"

Forcing my face blank I turn to him, "I don't care if you're my father, Orion, but you were never my dad. Hell, Sirius was more of a dad than you ever were. Now what the hell do you want?"

Orion's face darkens, "I would appreciate you keeping your manners while speaking with me. I am still your elder, no matter how much you disrespect me."

I scowl and start to walk again, "While I simply adore chatting with you, I'm going to ask that you leave. I'm not in a social mood at the moment."

"Fine, but let me tell you something that you and Sirius forgot. That Blacks do not fall without a fight. We give everyone who goes against us hell. I have no chance to give hell to those who wronged me, but you do." Orion leans in and whispers in my ear, "Figure out a way."

I spin around, ready to throw a punch, but he's already gone. Letting out a string of curses that would make my mother roll over in her grave, if she had one, I start walking away again. Thoughts start to storm through my head and, after checking to see that I was alone, I send out a barrage of curses at a nearby tree. When the onslaught is over I sit on the ground and look up at the sky.

Lily and James had come to the netherworld at the end of October on Earth, so the evening sky is quite visible. As such the moon, stuck at the phase right before a full moon, was in the sky and slowly moving up. The stars, no matter if one was in the city or in the country, were perfectly visible.

"What to do?" I mutter. A moment later a twig snaps and a large stag walks out of the forest. I smile at it and wave him over. If stags could show complete and utter shock this one did. Walking over to me the stag turns back into James Potter and sits down next to me.

"Sorry about my mum from earlier. She's rather opinionated and I can't change that for the life of me. "

"The life of you? You're dead."

"It's an expression!" James huffs.

I laugh, "Sure thing, Jamesie."

James looks at me in horror, "You did not just…how…what…damn it!"

"There are some things that remain hidden and some that do not. Ways to annoy a James Potter were most definitely noticed while in the halls of Hogwarts."

"You're too observant, you know that?"

"Yep. Now other than apologizing for something that is not your fault what is it that you need?" I ask.

"About those screens in the house…is there a way for us to go through them? I mean, not so that we interact with the people on Earth, but…"

"I know what you mean. Yes you can. All you have to do is touch the screen and poof, you're there. As far as interacting with those on Earth, I'm not sure." I glance at the stars again and think about what happened this afternoon.

"What do you mean not sure?"

I shrug, "I'm not sure. Let's go back to the house. That way Lily doesn't feel left out of this. I'm sure she'd want to know."

James nods, "Absolutely."

We return to the house and Lily, who seems to have a sixth sense of when James enters the place, comes down from upstairs. After a quick kiss on her husband's cheek she turns to me.

"Are you alright?" she asks.

I blink in surprise, "I'm under control now."

Lily frowns slightly, "That's not what I asked. Do you boys want some tea, or should I grab some Butterbeer?"

"Butterbeer would be great, Lils," James says.

I nod in agreement and sit down on a sofa. When Lily arrives with the drinks I take a sip then clear my throat.

"Alright. Lily, James came to me earlier with a question about the screens. He asked if it were possible for us to…to drop in, on those who are on Earth. It is. All you have to do is touch the screen and it allows you to blend in with the world. Now I am not sure if we would be allowed to interfere, so to say, on Earth, but something that happened this afternoon might point out to the possibility.

"You see after you left I dropped in on Sirius. Well after pretty much talking to myself for a half hour or so a Dementor came. It started to bug Sirius, and I told it to get away from him. T be honest I don't know why this happened, but something tells me that it might have been because I've been in the netherworld so long that my magic has grown powerful enough for some people to hear me if I speak with enough effort."

Lily's eyes are wide, "So with each passing day we gain more energy here?"

"Yes, I'm not sure why though."

"I wonder….Ghosts in the Wizarding world are common, but not in the muggle world. What happens in the muggle world are apparitions of spirits. Ghosts. I wonder if they're people who have actually moved on, but are able to cross between the two worlds. I wonder…"Lily trails off.

James blinks, "You know, I hate it when you do that."

Lily doesn't respond.

"Yep, she's gone into her Ravenclaw mode." James snaps his fingers in front of Lily, but gains no reaction from her.

"Her Ravenclaw mode?" I ask.

"It's when she's figuring something out. The other house that the hat was thinking about placing her in was Ravenclaw, but figured that she had more chivalry and courage to be in Gryffindor," James explains.

I nod, "What do you think she's figuring out?"

"Dunno, could be anything really, but I suspect that it has something to do with the difference between wizard ghosts and muggle ghosts." James sips his Butterbeer. A moment later he spits it back out and glances at the bottle, "What the-how the hell did this become prune juice?"

I bite my lip to hold back a smile, but as he keeps looking at the bottle I lose it and just start laughing.

James glares at me, "Switching spell?"

"Yep."

"I really can't believe that you are like this. All I can remember is the prank abhorring Slytherin."

"Prank abhorring? You've really been spending too much time around Lily."

"What can I say? She's my everything."

"Wow…I think I'm gonna be sick."

James is about to respond when Lily snaps her fingers.

"I've got it! Alright, so you remember what I was saying about the muggle ghosts? Well ghosts don't just disappear. They can turn invisible, but they never disappear."

"Lily we know this already."

"Hush! Is it a trait of the Blacks to be impatient? Like I was saying, ghosts can turn invisible, but not disappear, but muggle ghosts will disappear before reappearing in an area. This must mean that they aren't ghosts, but spirits from this world. If that's true then people who are on this side of death might be able to do more than we think! Look at it this way, you were able to cause a Dementor to leave Sirius alone, and he in turn thought that he heard you. Hearing the dead is can be seen as being psychotic, but there are also events known as EVPs," Lily explains.

"EV whatsits?" James asks, eyebrows coming together in confusion.

Lily rolls her eyes, "EVPs, also known as an Electronic Voice Phenomenon. They're usually only heard on an electronic device, such as a radio or a tape recorder. It's something that the muggles use to show that ghosts exist. Another way that they do so is through an EMF, Electromagnetic Frequency, but that doesn't matter. Going back with what happened earlier I believe that Regulus managed to have enough energy to control what was going on. In fact I wouldn't doubt it. You see in the muggle world ghosts are known to do weird things such as moving stuff, breaking objects and even whisper into people's ears."

I lean back and think about what she just said.

"Well that makes sense, in an odd way," James says.

"What do you mean 'in an odd way'?" Lily asks.

James, apparently realizing that he's entered possibly dangerous territory, smiles, "Not that you're explanation was weird, but that the concept is odd to me. After all I'm used to ghosts and not this whole spirit thing. Add onto it that muggles can detect us and wizards cannot and it's just strange to me. Just an odd situation, not an odd theory."

Lily nods and leaves the room.

"That was a very nice save," I comment.

James shrugs, "After living with Lily for eleven years I think I know how to avoid having her yell at me."

"And yet you two argued all the time while in school."

"What can I say? She's gorgeous when she's angry."

James Potter's POV

I glance at Regulus, unsure about actually going through with this. He nods once, so, taking in a deep breath, I touch the screen. It's almost like walking into another room, only I can tell that I can't affect anything here. Glancing around the room I notice where Remus has holed himself at. It's the corner with the bookshelf built into the wall. He's got a blanket wrapped around himself and is reading one of his books again.

Walking over I glance at the title and grin.

"Haven't you read every book with Sherlock Holms twenty times by now?" I ask, even though I know that he wouldn't hear me.

"Come on Remus, why are you just sitting here? I understand being depressed, but come on! I want you to live!" I frown again as he flips another page, "Why the hell did I say I'd go through with this? I've been in that nether world for a shorter amount of time than Reg, how the hell am I supposed to do anything? And why am I cursing like this, am I back in fifth year or something?"

Turning back to Remus I try to focus my energy, but find myself distracted by the story that my furry little friend is reading.

"The Hound of Baskertsville huh? Why are you reading that story again? Isn't that the one that we managed to snag from you, cast that one charm, and write notes that appeared in the margins?" I look at the page and smiles when I see the handwriting at the sides of the pages, "Yep. Why are you looking at it Remy?"

There's no response from the werewolf, but he starts to read something out loud, "Remus, why don't you take your nose out of this book and come help us with this prank? Or better yet, why not come and entertain me? Signed by the bloody bastard who ruined everything."

I feel my anger flare up, "Damn it Remus! He didn't do it!"

Remus's head snaps up and he glances around the room, eyes wide, "What's going on? I thought…no, it can't be…impossible."

Blinking at the realization that he was responding I try again, "Remus? Testing, one, two, three? No? Merlin's boxers! "

"Alright, get a hold of yourself Remus. Reading this book has you reminiscing a little too much," Remus murmurs, "But that sounded way too clear to be in my head. What am I saying? I'm starting to go insane! Too much exposure to James and Sirius…DAMN IT!"

I jump back at the sudden yell, "Remmie? Hey, calm down. It's alright, it's going to be alright."

Remus begins to pace the small room, "Why did we trust him? Why? Why did they have to die? Lily said something about a prophecy, what does that have to do with anything?"

I glance around the room and try to see if I can find something, anything, that will help me with convincing my friend to believe me. I see a picture of the four of us on the fireplace and walk over to it. It's one of the few pictures that evaded his rampage, and I'm hoping that maybe I can do something to help Remus.

"Why would he do that? Why?" Remus keeps muttering.

I roll my eyes and focus on the picture, and, more importantly, on the portion with Peter in it. Luckily it's not in a frame, so all I have to do is rip it. Placing my hands on one end of the picture, and the other between Wormtail and the three of us I pull as hard as I can. A loud rip occurs and the picture is torn in half.

"Holy crap, that took a lot of energy." I feel really drained, much like that one time when we had turned the potions lab into a disco room, and watch as Remus runs over to the mantle. He picks up the pieces, and notices that Peter cannot return to the group because he was ripped cleanly from the page.

"James."

I turn and see Regulus standing in the room, he's watching me worriedly and I give him a half hearted smile.

"Come on, I think you've accomplished enough for now. Time to get back to the netherworld so that you can rest," Regulus says, pulling me from the room.

Collapsing on the couch I watch as Remus sits down, looking at the pieces of the picture with interest.

"JAMES POTTER! Don't you dare scare me like that again!"

I'm engulfed by red hair and breathe in the scent that is only Lily. When she pulls back she looks like she wants to yell some more, but also looks so proud, and I can't help but sit in wonder.
I'm turning into Hallmark card.

I glance at the two people in the room and grin, "So did I pass?"

Lily's jaw drops, "This was no test! It was just to see if we needed more energy to accomplish things on Earth! That was a reckless thing that you did and you almost made it so that you were stuck on Earth!"

"What is she talking about?" I ask Regulus. The young man has started to pace the floor and is muttering under his breath, "Regulus!"

His attention snaps to me.

"What is she talking about? Being stuck on Earth?"

"If a spirit uses too much energy on Earth they will not be able to return to the Netherworld until they gain that energy back. Now since the timeframe is different on Earth it would take years, not the days or minutes it does here, to gain back the amount of energy required to get back to Earth. That's what makes a Poltergeist," Regulus explains.

"Peeves. So he was really a dead guy who came to Earth, used all his energy and has to remain there until he gets it back?" I ask.

"Yes and no. Peeves really likes to be on Earth, and he's able to travel back and forth between the two planes, but by making himself visible he gets stuck on occasion. So he has to wait a year or two to come back. That's why he's more powerful some days than he is on others. There are other things that affect how you'd gain energy while on Earth, but I'm not too sure about how they work."

"Interesting, so how long am I stuck here?"

"For at least a couple of hours. I'd stay a day just to be on the safe side."

"But, what happens in the meantime?" I ask.

Regulus looks at me and smiles, "I think that it's time that the three of us learn about what's going to happen in the future of our friends and of your son."

Lily's eyes narrow," How do we do that? Divination is an extremely hazy subject."

"No need for divination. Just need someone who is good at…acquiring objects they shouldn't be able to get." Regulus's grin grows before he gives us a wink and heads upstairs.

"What is he talking about?" Lily asks.

"I believe that he's talking about stealing." Standing up I head upstairs and walk down the hall. Regulus's room is marked with a plate as is Lily and mine, and I step into our room. It's painted like the one we'd shared at Godric's hallow and the furniture is the same as well. Stepping across the hall I knock on Regulus's door.

"Open."

I open the door and look around for the man. A closet door is open and a moment later Regulus walks out dressed in all black. What he's wearing looks like a copy of the Auror's robes that I wore on occasion.

"What do you need, James?"

"I want to help."

Regulus raises an eyebrow, "Alright, but here's what you need to understand. We're going into the Hall of Prophets. I know it's a corny name, but don't blame me. Inside is everyone's life written out in all the different ways that they can live it. The people who work in the Hall are consistently checking what's happening with what they have written down. If something happens that they don't have written down then the workers have to write down a new destiny."

"So our deaths are preplanned?"

"Pretty much. There are the occasional exceptions, but those are few and far between. Now the fact that we are going to break in and steal every scroll they have on at least three people, means that we'll be carrying at least sixty rolls of parchment." Regulus ties his cloak, "But we're not ready for that yet. We need more Intel, which is why you can stop trying to hide in the shadows Lily."

I turn around and watch Lily come out from the shadow by the doorway. She looks rather determined and I smile at that look.

"We want to help, and you're going to need our help to pull this off successfully," Lily points out.

Regulus nods, "I will, but I also need to meet with someone who will help me get the blueprints of the hall. I don't want either of you two coming with."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going to travel to the other side of the Netherworld. Dark spirits live there, and it wouldn't do for either of you to be caught in that. You're too light and would be seen too easily."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a Black."

With that Regulus leaves the house and Lily and I sigh. A moment later and there's a knock on the door. Descending to the first floor I open the door to see none other than my mother in the doorway.

"James, I want you and Lily to come and live with your dad and me. I don't want you to live with this man anymore. I've thought about it all day and I don't care what you say, but he's a dangerous man and I don't want you mixing with someone like him," mom says.

I raise my eyebrows, "This is a surprise. Mum, I love you, but you can't dictate where I do and do not live. If I want to live here, then I'm more than welcome. Besides this is already my home while here. Regulus isn't dangerous, you just don't like him because he's not normal to your standards."

"I don't want my son mixing with a traditional Black."

"You said the same thing at the beginning of my first year at Hogwarts too."

"I was wrong with Sirius, but not with his brother! That man travels back and forth between the Dark and Light!"

I roll my eyes, "And? There are many people who quote unquote travel back and forth between the Dark and Light."

"James, please, do this for your father and my peace of mind. After what's happened I don't know if I could stand having them get a hold of you here too."

My eyebrows knit together, "What are you talking about?"

Mom leans in, "Son, listen to your heart. The Dark side wants you and Lily badly. Even here they wage war with the Light. It's a never ending battle. The Dark side wants you, and if they got a hold of you here and managed to corrupt you, then I know that the scales would be tipped forevermore."

My mother leaves me in confusion and I think about what she just said. If what she said was true than I'm not the only one in danger here, and this is just the beginning of a very long afterlife.

A/N: Hello chillins! So my computer decided to delete what I'd written for this chapter, so it's not as magnificent as it was (I'd really liked this chapter because you would have gotten a full blow account of Regulus's power and whatnot, but that is life.), but gets the overall point across. I've decided that I'm going to go kinda AU with this, but I'm not sure how far I will go. Part of the AU-ness is shown with Remus and the torn photograph. Anyway I'll update ASAP, but in the meantime please review! They make my day!
Speaking of reviews, I would like to thank...
bookfanatic01: Ask and you shall recieve! Thanks for being a consistant reviewer!
kaitlynnnx3: Glad that you like it!
Tallie: I'll try to add more dialogue, but it depends on what the charcters want. At the moment Regulus really wants a nice cup of coffee, Sirius wants to be let out, James wants a cookie and Remus wants a quiet place to read (the Marauders tend to be my muses.) As for people going back to Earth, we shall see.