Afterlife

"Padfoot?" No response.

"Pro-ongs?" No response.

"Lily?" No response.

"Mary? Marlene? Dorcrus?" No response. No response. NO RESPONSE.

"Hey hon, who are you looking for?" Remus spun around, finding himself face to face with a little old lady.

"Um... hi, who are you?"

"I don't really have a name, but you can call me Grace. Most people do."

"Ok-ay then. Hi Grace."

"So back to my question, who are you looking for? A wife, a parent, a child, a friend?"
What should he say? Shouldn't he be looking for his partner and the parent of his child? Instead he was running around, hoping to find his highschool boyfriend. He decided to say the easiest answer.

"Um, my friends. I can't seem to find them anywhere."

"Oh yes, your friends, James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black, Dorcas Meadowes and Marlene Mckinnen. Right this way, Remus Lupin." She promptly left, walking swiftly away from where Remus was stood, still frozen to the floor.

"Wh... how... what?" Stuttered Remus as he used his long legs to catch up to the small woman. "How do you know who I am? I never told you my name. And how do you know my friends?"

The woman, Grace, simply smiled, continuing to walk. Remus slowed to match her pace, his long steps twice the length of hers.

After a moment of silence as Remus tried to find anything in the empty white expanse, he thought of something. "Wait, if you knew my name, and my friends, why did you ask who I was searching for?"

"I knew who you were searching for, but I could also sense that you were torn between what you wanted, and what you thought was right." Grace answered plainly. She managed to speak engagingly and humanly, but still, with very little emotion in her voice. It wasn't as if she was bored, or annoyed, or happy. She just said everything as if it was a fact. Plainly, and simply.

"Oh..." Remus' mind was blank. As many questions as he had, he could not seem to think of any of them. Finally, a thought surfaced. "What is this place? Is it like heaven or something? Which religion was correct?"

"You are in neither heaven nor hell, nor any of the realms religions spoke of. You are simply in the afterlife." Grace responded, in the same steady voice.

"Oh..." Remus repeated. The bookworm in him longed for information, but he decided not to push it.

They continued to walk, moving forward through the strange, plain whiteness. It was like a story, he couldn't see anything but white. There were no walls, no ceiling, no end. Just whiteness. Everything was bright, but in a soft way, not in the harsh way hospitals always seemed to be, sterile and lifeless. It was in a comforting way, in which the white had a soft yellow undertone that gave it warmth.

Several moments later, they seemed to pass through a veil. It was like a white mist that engulfed Remus, making him feel comforted. Suddenly, Grace was gone, carried off by the white mist. Remus looked around, but he was not scared. The mist had a life of its own. It solidified in places, and changed in others, forming images of Remus' life. He was a child, being held tightly in his mothers arms. He was receiving his Hogwarts letter. He was shaking hands with James and Sirius, sitting in a carriage on his way to school. He was kissing Sirius, their hands were intertwined. He was holding his child, his tiny hands reaching towards his face.

The white mist was almost lifting him forward, simultaneously pushing and pulling him forward. Suddenly it opened. The mist split and lowered his feat to the ground.