Sirius felt like he was floating. He tried to touch the floor with his toes, but there wasn't anything there. He stretched his arm out to touch the ceiling, but there was nothing above him either.
He was surrounded by nothing.
He was alone. In an eternal white expanse of nothingness.
Great.
Was he dead? He didn't know. He remembered duelling his psycho cousin, getting hit with a spell and then falling through whatever the hell that archway was. When he got out of this place (was it even a place?) Bellatrix was so dead.
He didn't think he was dead. He was still breathing, his limbs and senses were all working as usual and he was clearly capable of thinking. So, no, not dead.
He was in limbo then. Purgatory. Whatever the hell you wanted to call it because this was certainly not the land of the living.
Was he doomed to stay here for eternity? Alone with nothing but his thoughts forever? Maybe this was hell after all.
…
Sirius was bored.
Whoever, or whatever, had created this blasted place could have at least provided some form of entertainment. There were only so many times he could hum 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love' before he started to lose his marbles.
It was worse than Azkaban and that was saying something. At least in Azkaban there were things to look at and the occasional person to talk to. Okay, so it felt like all the happiness was being sucked out of him, but at least he had felt something. Here, he just felt empty.
He went back to humming. So what if it meant he lost his marbles? Insanity might make things more bearable. Bellatrix had certainly seemed content with being insane. Wait, was he comparing himself to Bellatrix of all people? Marbles definitely lost.
…
How long had passed since he'd fallen? Sirius didn't have any concept of time anymore. It felt like an age had passed, but for all Sirius knew, it might have only been minutes.
Surely someone would realise, sooner or later, where he was and come rescue him. Remus was smart, he'd figure out what the archway was and find a way to return him to the land of the living and the sane. He thought of Bellatrix. Okay, maybe not the land of the sane, but certainly the land of the living. Don't take too long though, Moony, Sirius thought, because I'd rather not join the list of Insane Members of the Black Family.
…
The silence was the worst part. The nothingness he could almost, sort of, deal with because he could just close his eyes and imagine whatever the hell he wanted to. The silence, however, was pure torture.
He wanted to scream.
In fact, screw it, there was no one else here, so why shouldn't he scream and shout all he wanted?
So he did.
…
Where was everyone? Sirius couldn't be the only person here, surely? When he'd been on the other side, he could hear voices coming from the veil, so where were they all? Were they stuck in perpetual loneliness and nothingness like he was? Had they not really been there at all?
…
Come on, Moony, where the hell are you? Use that big brain of yours and get me out of this damn place…
…
Sirius started to count. There was nothing else to do here, after all. So he decided to count the seconds, minutes, hours. At least then he'd have more of a concept of time.
...
He gave up after an hour. It only made everything worse. He'd rather not have a concept of time at all, at least then he could fool himself into thinking he hadn't been here as long as it seemed.
…
Sirius didn't know how long it had been - didn't really want to know truth be told - but after a while he came to the realisation that no one knew where he was. No one was coming for him. He was trapped. Two years of freedom and now he was back to being imprisoned with nothing but his traitorous mind to keep him company.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He did both.