Beyond the Veil

Falling

Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" He yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.

The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock….--

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch….

And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place. -

(OotP- 805-806)

Shifting gray shapes, whispering their secrets in a language he couldn't understand. He didn't want to understand. He needed to get back to Harry and the others of the Order.

"They need my help…" He thought as he finally blacked out, carried away by a sea of faceless voices.

As the darkness stopped swimming at last, Sirius Black found himself looking at a field that reached as far as his eyes could see. Flowers strained his eyes to the very distance of his vision, and he wondered where he was. He stood up slowly, still taking in his surroundings. No one was around. He could hear faint sounds, similar to the whispers he had heard before, although they seemed to have a melodic quality about them.

'I must be dead…' He thought to himself. The place was peaceful and beautiful, tranquil and ethereal. He couldn't stand it. This wasn't where he should be, so it was more of a nightmare than a dream.

"Well dead is a bit of a strong word…" A voice said, startling him. He stumbled backwards, almost falling. He looked around wildly, trying to find the voice that sounded so familiar and yet so distant.

"Who are you?" He questioned, still looking around for the source of the voice. "And what do you mean." He took another step backwards, spinning on his heel to turn again. A soft wind blew his hair into his eyes, causing him to blink. When he opened his eyes again he was standing on the Hogwarts grounds.

He stood near the steps that led into the school, and memories washed over him of all the times James, Remus, Peter, and he had stood around talking, and in later years when Ivy and then Lily joined them. Those had been the best times of his life. It was all so simple when they were younger.

Bad things had happened, sure, but they weren't earth-shattering. Friendship had been strong enough to outlast any hardship back then…but growing up had changed that. Marriage, jobs, danger…things had certainly changed.

Sirius gritted his teeth as spectral images of each of them appeared, talking and laughing animatedly, so lively and full of fun. James ruffled his hair with one hand, his other arm around Lily's shoulder. Lily laughed at a joke that Sirius told her, green eyes alive with sparkling sunlight. Remus had a book before him, but it had been abandoned when the conversation had gotten interesting. Peter stood to the side, listening rather than contributing. Ivy sat on the step next to Sirius, her deep brown eyes rolling back at the stupidity of the joke, and the sunlight catching the bright green locks that highlighted her hair.

The sight of Ivy stirred something inside him he had long hidden away, even from himself. It brought back more memories, ones he had kept away for so long they almost seemed unreal.

He was back in the apartment…

Splinters of wood covered the darkened room, the silence pressed in like a pillow over the face. He fought back returning tears as he saw himself run through the broken remains of the door to clean the shards off of Ivy, her normally lively and sarcastic expression lost to a moment of fear and pain, her eyes still open, staring eternally at her final horror. Sirius watched in a detached sort of way as he cradled the love of his life, the memory making him want to scream out, and he heard his own voice calling out curses against Voldemort and Dumbledore, and Snape for not watching out for her. He felt the tears and his shoulders shuddering, and watched as it happened before him. It faded slowly, and he agonized for what seemed forever, the darkness of one memory hurting his heart.

Author's Note:

I knew I would do another story about Ivy, and now that I've finally gotten around to it I'm very happy. I hope everyone else enjoys it.