Building the Yellow Brick Road by LittleOne94

Chapter 1 : Through the Veil

Harry wondered why he didn't feel tired. He must have been running for hours now, not getting anywhere as the darkness kept spreading out in front of him. Maybe he should stop, but the young wizard quickly shook his head. What would that accomplish? Absolutely nothing. So he kept on running, waiting for the light to appear at the end of what appeared to be an endless tunnel.

Memories of why he was there in the first place were starting to fade away. The scene which had kept playing itself over and over inside his head had come to an halt. All Harry could see now were a pair of startled grey eyes as they disappeared before him. The young wizard stretched out his arm, the name that belonged to those eyes slowly dying on his tongue. He remembered pain and despair, a sudden wave of hope and relief, before numbness took over. That numbness now remained within him as hands brushed against his clothing, over and over again.

When the eyes faded completely the name suddenly came to him and he screamed it aloud at the empty and dark tunnel. "SIRIUS!" Harry squeezed his eyes shut as soft fabric passed over and through him, leaving his panting. The young wizard had finally stopped running, wanting to scream and cry in desperation as the memory of the night's events came flooding back.

The vision, which Harry now realised was a fake, and Umbridge who had threatened to torture him in her office in front of his friends and enemy's. How his friends accompanied him for the rescue mission and how he had let them to the Department of Mystery's. How he had cost them their youth and innocence even if Ron and Hermione had always been with him on his adventures. They had been attacked and in Neville's case tortured because he, Harry, had believed in the vision. His Godfather was dead because of him.

The fifteen year old cried in desperation as he realised what he had done, running after his Godfather through the Veil of Death. The Gryffindor could still feel Remus's desperate grab for his shirt, but it had come too late. Harry had already passed through, leaving everyone behind who had ever cared for him. The young wizard was clutching his knees close to his chest. Was this the end? Was this death? The endless dark tunnel which would go on and on? He would never see his mother or father at the end.

Harry looked up, almost startled by his own determination. If he was dead, then he could be reunited with his mother and father again and even have Sirius back. Beg him for forgiveness, all of them, for causing their deaths. He stood and continued on, walking first with uncertainty before making his mind up completely. It didn't seem to matter which was he went, as long as he went straight onwards. He would get there in the end. The Gryffindor was determent to see his parents and Godfather again.

Harry did not waver again. Someone clearly seemed to admire this because some time later (Harry wasn't quite sure how long he had been running as time seemed irrelevant in this place) a soft light began to appear in front of him. The strangest thing, Harry noticed, about death was that he actually started to feel tired and with each new step he took, he could feel pain in his legs. Even a stitch was slowly forming in his side as the Gryffindor continued to pant for air.

"Finally!" he cried out as he reached what seemed to be the end of the tunnel. "I'm… huh, did I miss a turn?" In front of him, or rather everywhere around him, huge frogs had gathered. The strangest thing was that they seemed to be wearing clothes, or rather jackets, and Harry could swear he saw a few with things as knives and pipes. There were a few stone statues and it almost felt like Harry had shrunk in size as giant butterbur leaves towered above him. "Don't tell me I landed in frog heaven. Someone is seriously having a laugh!"

That seemed to draw everyone's attention and all the frogs turned as one to look at him. The young wizard swallowed nervously and waved. "Uhm, hi," he said, feeling quite awkward. "I, uhh, I think something must have gone wrong. You see, I uhh I just died recently and now, while I was walking down the tunnel, I uhh…"