Prologue
Sirius was enjoying himself. He had panicked, at first, when he heard Harry and some of the other children had run off to the Ministry. Anything could happen; it was a trap! They'd let Harry go - he'd been forced to stay back, you see, and been reassured that Harry would be safe, that the Order's current system worked. And now Harry was out - So Sirius and the Order members who were around at the time, cobbled together, rushed through the Floo to the Ministry.
They weren't sure whereabouts the kids were, but they knew where they were headed: Voldemort wanted the Prophecy. They split up a bit, He, Kingsley, Remus, Tonks, Arthur was there too - and others- through that wretched foyer that spun and spat you out into rooms that shifted position - all the quicker to find them.
Where was Mad-Eye?
But he couldn't think of that - had to find Harry.
The Death Eaters were on the kids; they'd split up too, it seemed, Sirius thought grimly as he stopped one such scumbag from cursing the Granger kid; he shot a blasting hex at another. Oh wow, he felt viciously pleased, as that one crashed into a cabinet that held watches, and shattered them, each spilling golden dust into the air all over the place. The thing was bursting with the stuff. Whilst at the same time he deflected a nasty hex, sending more of that sand cloud all over the place, he rushed through it, practically flying to the next space and movement and spell combo. Once downed, he had to ensure they're kept down, after all. Or the scum would get back up.
The kids were okay. Something within Sirius relaxed then. They'd passed through the Time room and into the - the room with the Veil, he deduced with a quick scan. A lot of the kids were gathered together here. The Death Eaters wouldn't be able to pick them off, not whilst he and the Order were here! They made their entrance almost at once - funny, that, how it works, in sync even all these years later and with new faces like Arthur's lad Will -, no matter where they'd come from in the Ministry, and each chasing and fighting, pretty well, if he said so himself, Death Eaters. In sync, Tonks went passed him, as the Order split up and tore through the Death Eaters. With a wink, Sirius was off, fighting and protecting.
Sirius ducked and weaved as he flung hexes and jinxes around at the various scummy Death Eaters surrounding the kids. Satisfaction and joy flowed through him now; this he could do, fighting is what he could do. Everything moved so fast, he had to rely on his body to know what to do. The old Auror training came back.
He'd been stuck inside for so long. The joy and freedom he felt, ultimately, distracted him though. It had been so long. He felt shock still edged with joy, as he slipped backwards, pushed by the jinx Bella sent and his last sight was a snapshot, clearer than even all the fighting had been: Harry's shocked face and Remus' grieved one, holding Harry and Bella's ravaged gaunt face lit with glee.
He felt a cool ripple pass over his skin and then -
He woke up.