Chapter 1: A Stranger Named Lily

Harry panted as he stared up at the veil, horror clutching at his heart like Professor Lupin was clutching him. He could only stare, as Sirius made eye contact with him, for just a second, the surprise still written on his godfather's face as he fell, his back arching. For a few seconds, the world seemed extremely silent, sounds were muffled. Only the faint cackle of Bellatrix's laughter ringing in his ears. No-no he refused to believe it. Sirius couldn't be gone. How could the only adult present in his life who cared for him be gone? Hadn't he done enough?

For what seemed like hours passed in a few seconds. Anger bubbled in his thoughts, chasing away the now too familiar feeling of grief. A scream of pure pain and anger tore from his throat, as the animagus started disappearing from view. That-that damn arch was not going to steal his Sirius. Not something as stupid, as plain looking as that! He started struggling in his professor's arms, determined to get his godfather back. The arms tightened, in an almost supernatural strength. He struggled fruitlessly, his throat hurting from the scream still coming out of him. Using his legs as leverage, he slipped away from the man's arm, and ran to the arch, never once looking back. He didn't register the screams from his friends or the stunning spells grazing his head and his back. He dove into the arch, determined to get Sirius back.

XxX

Nothing. Their senses were dulled, they couldn't touch, feel, see or hear anything. Were their eyes closed? How did one open their eyes again? Jumbled feeling floated to their awareness, flashes of a life that they didn't recognize. But … there! A laugh, a fond, toe-curling feeling of contentment washed over them. Who made them feel that? They wanted to know. Just as the thought manifested itself, the feelings manifested more clearly, in an assortment of colors. They-he knew those people, those landscapes. His memories were blurry, not definite. He was … a freak a wizard. He had friends, friends who made him feel warm, fond, like he belonged. He … wait who was he?

Yer, a wizard Ha-

Are you really Ha—P-

-er. Our new celebrity.

All right -ry?

Famous -y Pot-

Going to kill me Ha-?

-arry, take the prophecy and run!

Harry!

Harry gasped aware, clutching his head, the pounding becoming near unbearable. He sat there for a few minutes, simply breathing as his headache became an uncomfortable lull in the background. The boy stared for a few seconds through his fingers which were still covering his eyes, frowning slightly at the red ground beneath him. He should be seeing stone not red dirt. The chamber for the Veil was made of stone after all. Harry shot upright, ignoring the pain in his head in favour of looking around. How could he even have forgotten about Sirius? He was in some sort of weird forest. Fog could be visible in between the trees, as water lapped at his ankles. Trees with curvy trunks and umbrella-shaped leaves were dispersed around him. The sky was cloudy, and orange light could parse through, as if a constant sunset. He looked down, the ground was covered in giant roots, rising and twisting for all to see.

Harry stood up, brushing a dangling tree root out of his way with curiosity. This was the weirdest thing he had ever seen, and that was saying something. Adrenaline was still coursing through his veins, keeping away the fear and exhaustion. He would have Accioed Sirius, but with the number of trees, he would reach him dead.

He started walking, shouting Sirius's name as loud as he could. Every instinct was screaming at him to keep quiet, but finding his godfather was more important than whatever shred of self-preservation he still had after five years of Hogwarts. He walked for more than an hour, shouting his heart out. His throat was about ready to give up, having endured too much strain in the past two hours only. His foot caught on a branch and he stumbled, his knees giving out as his hands caught him on the surprisingly soft ground below.

Harry pursued his lips, his eyes starting to burn. This place was massive! How was he even supposed to find Sirius? The forest never seemed to end, and some trees were so tall they breached the clouds. His godfather could be literally anywhere! "Well, well, you're quite a mess." An amused feminine voice sounded from behind him, he stood up on shaky legs, whirling around to raise his wand at the stranger.

A tall woman with dark skin was staring at him, an eyebrow raised in amusement. She wore a deep purple tunic that framed her figure, deep blue and green brooches hanging the fabric together. Her dark eyes held a mysterious air, and her whole figure was emitting a strange aura. "No need to treat your saviour like a common stranger."

Harry stared at her, uncomprehending. "Who are you? I've never seen you before, how did you save me?" he asked, his wand arm wavering due to his exhaustion. The woman smiled at him, her smile triggering a sense of familiarity in the wizard. "You can call me… Lily." She stated, her face still gentled by her smile. Harry, on the other hand, tensed, did she know what that name meant to him? Was she messing with him? Before he could voice his questions, she started speaking again, circling him all the while.

"You must be curious as to where you are, and where your godfather is." Harry's body gave an involuntary twitch. He'd never said anything about Sirius. "All that will be explained in time. It is… a pain that he is not here for you, and for that I am sorry. I could not have grabbed you both" Lily's face had softened, her smile disappearing. Harry looked at her, confused and suspicious. "What do you mean you could only grab me? Grab me from where? What did you do to Sirius?" He shouted, his warm giving a dangerous glow. Harry didn't know what spell he wanted to use. But right now, any that could give him answers and Sirius would be appreciated. The stranger only stared at him for a few moments more before she sighted. "I will do my best to explain this to you. But as a mortal out of this world, it will not be easy. You must have patience." Lily said simply, "and no threatening me every single time I say something you don't like. Because there will be plenty of times." She stopped walking, and sat down on a giant root. Harry stared at her until she pointed to the root in front of her. Slowly he sat down as well, his wand still pointed loosely at her. She arched an eyebrow at the magic stick, and her arched one back. "This is the best you're gonna get." He said to her gesture. While he wanted to jump and make her get Sirius, he doubted that would work. Walking for an hour had mellowed him out a bit. Just a bit.

"I will start with the less … shocking news. A few hundred years ago, the wizards of your time discovered a hole in dimensions. One in which humans could not see nor interact with normally, but due to their experimentations, they managed to create a safe way to open and travel with the tear." She started, looking at him, her face gravely serious. She's talking about the Veil, realized Harry as he listened to her. "Sadly, they didn't understand to what it connected. They sent some people through, but after realizing that nobody came back, they correctly assumed that they had died."

"How aren't I dead then? Or Sirius." Harry asked, dreading the answer. "Wait, earlier, you said you had saved me. Did you stop me from, from dying?" he whispered. Lily nodded. "And you didn't save Sirius?" The anger which had been locked away by exhaustion came back, clear as day. She nodded again, no shame or sadness in her eyes. Harry saw red. He stood up, pointed her wand at her again.

"WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HIM! WHY DID YOU SAVE HIM AND NOT ME?" he screamed at her, grief warring in his heart. If it were anyone else in any other circumstances, he wouldn't have believed them. He would have denied it until he didn't have the energy. But the unnaturalness of this place, the otherworldly feeling that Lily gave him, and the deep pain in his heart, led him to believe that she was telling the truth. Sirius was gone, and he wasn't coming back. He so badly wanted to scream right now, to hide in the Gryffindor Tower under his blankets or fly around the castle, anything that wouldn't be this moment. But he couldn't. He could only talk to a weird lady that presumably killed Sirius. Left him to die, whatever. She had killed his family, and he would not let that slide.

"To tell you my reasoning, I must explain to you what this is. We are currently in th—" "No you will tell me why you left Sirius to die!" interrupted Harry, his eyes blazing. He wanted to hurt her so bad, to make her suffer, show her that she was messing with the wrong person. Before he could even think of a spell, an immense pressure forced him back on the root, his head aching at the sheer pressure that it was withstanding, his arm dropped and all emotions except fear disappeared. A rough hand grabbed his chin and lifted it so he could look into the eyes of the stranger. But they weren't normal, they were glowing purple, rage being practically thrown at him. She's not human, Harry finally realized.

"YOU WILL SHUT UP AND LISTEN! I have been patient enough to let you have your temper tantrum and I even let you yell and interrupt me but it has gone long enough! You will stay silent and obey me, or I will have no problem killing you like the insect you are!" she spit the words, her face so close to his own. "AM I UNDERSTOOD?" The pressure eased enough for him to nod. Before he could blink, she was back in her seat, her eyes the same black as before, with a serene face once again. As if nothing happened.

"Good, as I was saying, we are currently in a realm called the Spirit World. The name speaks for itself, here resides spirits, protected from humans. The Spirit World is linked with the human realm, but not the one you come from." Harry frowned but didn't dare interrupt her again. "There are multiple universes out there, yours is simply one of them. The tear that you wizards made led directly to the Fog of Lost Souls. He will not come back from it. I managed to pull you in, because your mind was less attracted to the place than his was. I would not have picked him anyway." She explained. Honestly, Harry still didn't get most of what was happening, but this was a … better explanation. Knowing if given the chance, she'd still have let Sirius die made him angry, but it's not like there was anything he could do about it without immediate pain and loss of movement.

"We are right now in the Realm of Koh," she continued, not letting the wizard ask his questions, "This place seemed the most isolating it could get, and so I pulled a few favours so that Koh would not disturb us. Now, there is a reason as to why I saved you." Lily leaned forward looking at him, her eyes intense and otherworldly. "The world connected to this one is in danger. An evil man is looking to destroy the spirit of the moon, and that cannot happen." Her eyes flashed purple on the last sentence, and Harry couldn't help but flinch back. She took a breath and continued, "Your form of energy bending is quite unique. Your skills could help the fight tremendously. I am confident you will help in the fight. I expect you will not debate me on this." The pressure reappeared slightly, making Harry bow his head in pain. He had opened his mouth to protest, as fighting for random people was not his priority. Now that … that Sirius was not his priority, Voldemort was at loose, his friends left to fight the monster. Sadly, it did not seem like he had any opinion in all of this. The pressure disappeared, allowing him to respond.

"Yes, I will … fight for you. Will you take me home afterwards?" Lily stared at him for a few seconds, as if he was an idiot. "Why would I take you home? Rescuing the moon spirit is your mission, but the fight will not be over. Perhaps I have not been clear enough. I do not have the power to send you back either way." She shrugged, indifferent to her condemning him to this new realm, "I merely stopped your descent. The avatar might have the power to send you back on his own, but I am not sure." Harry's mouth opened and closed, not quite comprehending.

"Are-are you saying I'm stuck here!" he raised his voice, the now too familiar anger tainting his voice. The stranger only stared at him, before he sat down, quietly fuming. Merlin, he wanted to lash out at her soooo bad. "If I had not saved you, you would've been dragged to insanity in this realm; at least you have a chance to go back home" she reassured him, in a weird show of sympathy. Wind started up around them, a shriek of anger raining from above. Lily looked up in annoyance, before sighting. She stood up before offering Harry his hand, which he took warily. She pushed him up, so they could be face to face.

"It looks like I've run out of time. I will give you my eyes to recognize spirits, else there is no chance for a mortal like you to ever succeed." Before he could even feel offended, she tapped his forehead, immediately triggering a headache as his eyes started to burn, tears streaming down. He tried to touch his eyes, but she was holding him up looking at her. For the first time since they met, she smiled a sincere smile, "Goodbye, and good luck Harry Potter." Lily whispered, before his world went dark.

Chapter 2: Saving a Super Fish