Beyond the Veil

Harry stood on the worn stone dais, staring at the archway, watching the tattered black curtain flutter gently. He wondered vaguely if anyone at Grimmauld Place had noticed his absence yet. He'd left in the middle of the night, taking the Knight Bus to the Ministry of Magic. Under the Invisibility Cloak, he had taken the lift down to the Department of Mysteries and waited by the plain black door until an Unspeakable had opened it. He'd slipped through before the man could shut the door.

Now he was here, standing in front of this stone archway, the last place he'd seen Sirius before his godfather had disappeared. After weeks of arguing with himself, he'd finally made a decision: he was going to come down here and get Sirius back. He was going to go through the archway.

Harry gripped his wand tightly in his hand as he began to walk slowly toward the archway. The black curtain beckoned him closer. He could hear the whispering behind the curtain...

He was now standing right in front of the old stone archway. He put out a hand and touched the fluttering curtain. Instantly, the whispering grew louder. He could hear the urgency in the voices. They were pleading with him to join them, to walk through the veil and into the mystery that lay beyond...

If he went through, what would he find?

Taking a deep breath, Harry took a step forward. His foot was now hidden behind the black veil. Squeezing his eyes shut, he prepared to step through.

"Harry, no!" a voice shouted behind him.

Harry jerked in surprise and fell to his hands and knees. His wand fell from his grasp and rolled away. The stone was very cold beneath his palms. Someone must have turned out the lights, because he couldn't see a thing; darkness pressed against him from all sides. The whispering had also stopped abruptly; an oppressive silence loomed around him.

He stood up and turned around, looking for whoever had shouted.

He saw nothing but darkness.

He reached out with his hands, searching for the archway. He took a few steps forward, but his hands didn't scrape against rough stone; his fingers grasped at emptiness.

He turned around and took several steps in that direction.

"Hello?" he called. His voice echoed strangely through the dark. "Who's there?"

Only the echo answered.

I must have gone through the veil, he realized.

"Sirius?" he called hopefully.

"Sirius Black is not here," a voice said directly in his ear.

Harry gave a yell of surprise and leapt backward, away from the voice. "Who are you?" he asked angrily.

"We are the keepers of the Veil," another voice said, this one directly behind him.

Harry quickly moved away from this voice too.

"It was not your time to come through, Harry Potter," said yet another strange voice. They've got me surrounded, Harry thought.

"I've come to bring Sirius back," he said defiantly.

The voices were silent for a moment. "You cannot bring him back," the first voice said finally.

The other voices whispered in agreement.

"You don't understand," Harry pleaded. "He's my godfather. He's all I have... I lost my mum and dad when I was a baby..."

"We know your story, Harry Potter," said the first voice. "You are the Boy-Who-Lived, the prophesized conqueror of Lord Voldemort. We know the losses you have suffered in life."

"Can't you just... give him back?" Harry asked hopelessly.

The voices seemed to murmur among themselves. "You have come to us before your time, young Potter," the voice repeated.

"I came to find Sirius," Harry said.

The voices conferred again. "We may be able to help you," said the first voice.

"A trade," said another voice.

"Your life for Sirius Black's," said a third voice.

"That is our offer," the voices said together. "Choose."

My life for Sirius's, Harry thought, slightly panicked. I don't want to stay in this dark place forever... and Sirius would miss me just as much as I miss him...

"You're not being fair," Harry said accusingly.

The voices muttered again, this time in outrage. "We have never suggested an exchange before! Only the sensitive nature of the case - your premature entrance to the Lands Beyond - warrants an offer such as this! It is a generous offer, Harry Potter. Your life for Sirius Black's. Choose."

Harry didn't know what to do.

"Can I... can I at least talk to Sirius, can I see him?" Harry asked.

The voices conferred for a short while, then fell silent. Suddenly, a dim light appeared about three feet to Harry's left. Harry squinted against the sudden brightness, watching, wondering...

Slowly, a tall, dark figure moved into the light.

"Sirius," Harry whispered.

Sirius Black looked like he had been through hell. His black hair was tangled and matted, his robes were torn, and he looked as though he'd been starving for weeks. He managed to smile when he caught sight of Harry.

"Harry... how did you get here?"

"Sirius!" Harry cried, horrified at his godfather's appearance. "Sirius, what have they done to you?" He moved toward the circle of light, but it was as though a wall had been put up between Sirius and himself; he couldn't step into the light.

Sirius laughed weakly. "It doesn't matter. After Azkaban, this place is nothing."

"Sirius," Harry said hesitantly, "they want me to... to trade..."

"I know what they offered you, Harry," Sirius said, frowning at his godson. "Harry... there were so many things I didn't get to say..."

"I want you to come back with me," Harry said.

Sirius laughed again. "I can't, Harry. I'm stuck here. Unless you decide to trade with me." He regarded his godson with gentle, loving eyes. "And I could never let you do that, Harry. Listen to me. I lived a long life, and most of it was good. My best memories are of my school days with your dad, and my days in Grimmauld Place with you. There's nothing I regret, except that I never had the chance to say goodbye to you. Now I do. That's all I wanted. I don't need to go back, Harry. Now is your time to live."

"But, Sirius..." Harry said weakly.

Sirius shook his head sternly. "I love you like a son, Harry. And I could never live with myself if you gave your life for me. Go back, Harry. Go back and be happy, and most importantly, live."

The light was beginning to fade; Sirius disappeared.

Harry stood in the pitch-dark, his mind a whirl of confusion.

"What is your decision, Harry Potter?" the voice said.

Harry hesitated, remembering how tortured his godfather had looked. Pain and love swelled up inside of him as he recalled his godfather's lasts words. He blinked tears out of his eyes and squared his shoulders.

"Send me back," he said.

Abruptly, the darkness vanished. He was standing on the dais again, the stone archway directly behind him; on the edge of the dais stood Lupin, looking at Harry as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Harry... you're all right," Lupin gasped, rushing over to pull Harry away from the archway.

Harry nodded, his head swirling with the memory of what he'd seen behind the veil. "I'm okay," he said faintly. He clung to Lupin, suddenly feeling tremendously tired.

"What did you see, Harry?" Lupin asked, staring at Harry's unfocused gaze with a worried expression.

Harry's reply was faint. "I saw Sirius... alive. But I couldn't save him." He stood up straight as a wave of pain washed over him, shocking him fully awake. Tears streamed down his face. He looked up at Lupin. "He wouldn't let me save him," Harry whispered.

Lupin put his arms around Harry and held him tightly. "Sirius Black was one of the best friends I ever had," he said gently. "I will never stop missing him, or James, or your mother. But we can't dwell on those we've lost, Harry. If we do, we'll miss out on all the wonderful things that make life worth living."

Harry sniffed, smiling despite his tears. "That's what Sirius told me," he said.

Lupin nodded. "He was right, Harry."

Harry turned and stared at the stone archway. It was already hard to believe that he'd fallen through the veil, seen Sirius again, and managed to come back from the other side.

...most importantly, live, said Sirius's voice in his head. Harry nodded his head. I will, Sirius, he thought. I will, for you.

"Let's go home, Harry," Lupin said. He walked over to the dais and picked up Harry's fallen wand, which Harry pocketed gratefully.

Harry and Lupin climbed up the stone steps, away from the mysterious archway that, Harry mused, wasn't so mysterious anymore. At the top of the steps, they slipped through the door, and neither one looked back.

The black veil fluttered innocently in the empty room.