The Missing Marauder: A Harry Potter FanFiction

Epilogue Part Two

The spell sent a shock through Sirius's system.  

Well, geez, he hadn't been expecting that.  

It was sort of terrifying, the feeling of falling. He couldn't even do as much as to catch himself. He was, in a way, completely paralyzed.  

And his deranged cousin smirked at him evilly as if to say: I won. Haha.  

He couldn't even glare at her, express his hatred. All he could do was stare at the people around him.  

Harry.  

The expression on his face was enough to make Sirius want to reach out and tell him everything would be okay. It was a strange expression, one of confusion and frustration and desperation. And then realization.  

And then Sirius was gone.  

Not really gone, but through the arch, through the veil. Or, at least his body was. Sirius was still standing there. Nobody seemed to see him. They were all watching as his body disappeared.  

He was dead.  

And then Harry started to move toward the veil. He was saying something, but Sirius couldn't hear. Somebody was saying something to him...whispering things in his head. It was giving him a headache.  

But he was dead. He couldn't have headaches.  

And then Remus-his old friend, Remus-grabbed Harry. He held him back. And then Harry started screaming.  

But he still couldn't hear anything besides the whispers.  

Suddenly, it all disappeared. He wasn't a part of it anymore. He wasn't whole, he wasn't there. He was just watching, as if it were some wild scene on a television screen.  

And someone else was there.  

Not just one person, but many people. They were just shadows in the darkness, but he knew he wasn't alone. And they were all talking, and doing things. They were all different sizes and shapes, and they were talking. Not to him, but to the other people.  

No, not even to the other people.  

They were talking to people who weren't there.  

People who weren't dead.  

"Liza, where are you, Liza?"  

"If only you were here, Gregorio, you would know how incredibly crazy this place is."  

"How did I get here, Brian? Brian? Brian?"  

And then a small, shrill voice rang out among all the rest.  

"Mommy! Mommy, is that him?"  

"I think it is. Should we tell her?"  

"I'll get her!"  

"Are you sure, Robert, dear?"  

"I'll be right back, Mommy!"  

"Hurry along, dear, before he leaves."  

"I'm going, I'm going!"  

Sirius didn't look around. It was just a strange delusion, it wasn't real. He was dead, and all these people were just fragments of his own dead imagination. They weren't real. Soon all of it would be gone and he'd be where all the spirits go.  

Strangely, he wasn't afraid.  

And then, two more voices he recognized were muttering behind him.  

"There he is," Lily Potter's voice whispered, "Poor Harry..."  

"Poor Padfoot," James murmured back, "He's the one who just died!"  

"That can be considered a blessing or a curse," Lily reminded him, "He doesn't have to deal with Voldemort anymore, remember?"  

"But he's dead," James argued, "And he's thirty-six. Thirty-six and dead aren't a good combination."  

"You're twenty-one and dead," Lily said, "And that's worse by fifteen years."  

"But I had everything I could've wanted in my life," he countered, "I didn't want to die, but I did. I died a happy man. He died a fugitive; he had no chance at a good life!"  

"At least he doesn't have to worry anymore," she muttered, "No one is going to get ten thousand Galleons for his head."  

"That's right," James agreed, "Because his head disintegrated into a big, creepy, black veil thing."  

"Well, that's just a lovely way of putting it."  

Sirius couldn't help but smile. Delusions or not, their bickering always made him laugh. Actually, anybody's bickering aside from his own made him laugh.  

"Sirius?"  

The voice he hadn't heard in twenty years forced him into stillness. He didn't dare turn around in fear of what he would see.  

But why should he be afraid if it was just a delusion?  

"I'm not a delusion!" Rowan cried in defense, "You don't have to be such a git about being dead."  

"Did you just call me a git?" Sirius asked, turning around a little but not looking at her. "Naughty girl."

"Delusions don't insult people," she said, "So I'm not a delusion. Look at me, Sirius."  

Hesitantly, he looked up to see the young girl with reddish-brown hair and murky green eyes. She was looking at him with a pleasant smile, and her arms were crossed. Her eyes seemed to scream; I told you I'm not a delusion.  

And then he smiled back.