Chapter 1

He was falling, falling, falling, through the darkness. He was conscious that he had just been Stunned, but his mind was still refusing to register what that meant. The blackness of his surroundings was all-encompassing, stopping him from thinking about anything. Then, it gradually started to glow, until he became bathed in warm sunlight. At last, he floated gently down onto a blanket of meadow grass, fresh with the scent of wildflowers. It felt just like the meadow behind James' country house, where he and James used to play for hours at a time. He lay there for a moment, reluctant to move. He just wanted to stay there forever, without a care in the world. It was a very familiar voice calling his name that made him eventually open his eyes.

"Sirius! Sirius!"

Sirius slowly opened his eyes. He saw a face surrounded by a mess of black hair.

"Harry? Is that you?"

For one wild moment Sirius thought that perhaps he had made a mistake, that in fact he was still alive. The expression on the other's face, however, dispelled this idea. He was smiling, but his hazel eyes (another clue) were full of pain and sadness. Suddenly Sirius understood. He was in Heaven, and this was his best friend, his dead friend, James Potter, looking down at him.

"James?"

"Yes, it's me. Welcome to Heaven, Sirius." And the two men embraced.

"Oh, James, I'm so sorry I failed you. I promised you that I'd look after Harry and now look at what I've done…"

"Sirius! Don't say that. You've made Harry so happy recently, given someone that he can really trust and look up to. We will never be able to show how grateful we are to you, giving him a little bit of love, when we couldn't." This was Lily talking now, looking at him with eyes filled with gratitude.

"But…I spent most of his life in Azkaban, how was that helping him?"

"You were trying to avenge our deaths. It shows your loyalty as a friend extends beyond the grave. Trust me, Sirius, we owe you a lot."

Sirius smiled at him weakly. "Your son is wonderful, you know."

"I know," James replied, smiling. "Here, come back to our house with us. We want to know about what you've been getting up to recently. I mean, we've been checking in once in a while, but still, I want to know more. What's the world like nowadays?"

And with that, the three people left the meadow, walking slowly up to a little stone cottage in the distance, linking arms and laughing.