Only one couple were still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. 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. Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the dais too.
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 felt himself scream to his godfather, panic on his own face as he watched him grip tightly onto the stone wall.
"Sirius!" he shouted, hurrying towards the veil as the man he had become to trust almost like a father struggled to get out of his prison. As he leapt closer, however, he felt a protesting arm reach out and hold him back.
"Harry, no!" came Remus' voice from behind him, reaching out to keep him away from the dais.
"He's right there! Can't you see him?" Harry asked with a sudden anger that he hadn't felt in years. "I can get him out!"
"Yes, but at what cost?" his old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor questioned, eyes suddenly showing his regret at leaving his friend there. "I can't let you risk it! He has been lucky, he caught onto the stone. But if you go over there, whose to say that you won't go tumbling in to your own demise."
"How would you know what it does?" Harry suddenly demanded, looking towards Sirius in a frenzy. How could Remus, his godfather's only friend left, leave him like that? Just hanging onto the end of the veil for his life. If it had been Ron, he wouldn't have spent a moment's thought on it. "Do you not even care that he might die? SIRIUS!"
And as he struggled, he managed to break free from the grip Remus had on him. Ignoring the protests from behind him, Harry only had getting Sirius out of the veil's reach in his mind.
Sliding forward, he nearly crashed directly into the veil. Holding onto the surrounding sides, he threw his hand to grab Sirius' hand that still clenched onto the side tightly. Harry's eyes were wide and full of hope that he could save his godfather, and as he pulled, he felt a sudden failure rush through him. He wasn't nearly strong enough to lift him up.
Not willing to risk the chance to letting go to grab his wand, he pulled at his arm more urgently, closing his eyes while hoping that maybe he would be strong enough to lift him up. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. Just as he was about to give up hope, he suddenly realized the burden wasn't as hard as it had been. Eyes opening in shock, he turned to spot Remus, who was pulling on Sirius' arm as well.
"I will not lose my only two friends to pointless deaths," was all he said before he pulled, and slowly Sirius emerged from the veil. As all three of the men collapsed onto the floor, they looked towards each other with a sense of accomplishment and closeness that only the best of friends share.
"What do you say we finish this battle together?" Sirius suggested, pulling out his wand with a grin as he looked towards his retreating cousin. Bellatrix's eyes had widened upon his return from beyond the veil, and she shrieked in anger.
"Just don't fall through any more of these things," Remus' response was, a slight attempt at making the others happier. "I don't know if I could handle lifting you up through two of them in one day."
"I'd much prefer it that way, anyways," Sirius returned it with a laugh before they looked towards Harry who had, for the most part, been silent.
Noticing that the other two were looking at him, Harry frowned. "She almost killed you. She tried to, and she almost managed to. I don't know what I'd do if you hadn't gotten back from there—I lost my parents, and I don't really find happiness in staying with the Dursleys for the rest of my life."
"And maybe, if everything goes well," came Sirius' sudden smile, "you won't have to. Now, perhaps, they will see that I am no criminal. And maybe I'll be free to let you come back and live with me."
"They'll have to. After all, with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named back, they have to believe what you tell them about, and after all that has happened. Not only that, but we all know now that Peter's alive with him too," Remus stated, giving them a nod. "If the
Ministry doesn't believe it, I don't think that they should be able to hold office for much longer."
"Either way, let's hope they're not. They sent Umbridge to watch after us, I don't know how much more of her I could have taken," Harry said with a shudder before looking around. "Should we see if we could still go after her?"
"Who?" Sirius asked before frowning. "You mean Bellatrix? No, leave her to her master. They've failed, all of them have. They'll be punished by him worse than if they were sent to Azkaban. For now, we should just get you back to school before You-Know-Who shows up and decides to make up for his Death Eater's poor job in getting rid of the Order."
"Yeah, besides Harry you don't have to watch over anything anymore. Dumbledore's here, and he'll take care of everything," Remus stated with complete reassurance. After all, everyone could feel safe when Dumbledore was around.As Harry sighed, nodding his head, he agreed. "Alright, we all have to get back.
And Neville, he has a broken nose. Not to mention what happened to Ron with the brain, and Hermione got stunned…" he trailed off before sighing. It was all his fault that they were there. He had put his friends in danger, along with the Order. Not only that, however, but he had almost lost his only parental figure, Sirius Black.
But as they gathered everyone together, namely the students amongst each other, they were all set to transport back to Hogwarts. Harry, however, couldn't help but feel very lucky.
Voldemort hadn't gotten the prophecy. His friends, although injured, were going to be okay. And Sirius…well, Sirius was alive.
And now, after fourteen years of being on the run, Sirius Black was free.