Sirius Black is laughing.
He stumbles, falls backwards, and he is still laughing.
Time stops, and Remus cannot move, he cannot think, all he can do is stand there staring. Staring as Sirius's hair flies and his robes flutter as if stirred by some invisible wind, as his lips part and his eyes shine with mirth.
A second later, he's gone. The hair, the robes, the eyes, the lips, all of it gone in an instant.
Sirius just fell through a curtain, Remus thinks dumbly. And now he's gone.
Sirius is gone.
He hears Harry scream from somewhere nearby, and Remus still cannot think right, but he restrains Harry nonetheless as the latter tries to go after Sirius. No, Harry, Remus tries to say, you can't go after him, Sirius is dead-
Sirius is dead.
Remus lets go of Harry. He watches the other Order members trying to console the boy.
He fixes his eyes on the curtain. No, Veil.
Sirius Black is dead.
Remus blinks. Why am I not crying, he asks himself. Why am I not shaking with grief and rage, why am I not screaming and tearing the place apart?
He sinks to the floor and puts his head in his hands. His finger twitches and he closes his eyes.
Sirius Black is dead.