Yes, They're Seriously Back!
By: marauderette-47
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Am I JK Rowling? No? Then I don't own it:)
A/N: I just re-read Order of the Phoenix the other day, and bawled my eyes out :(( I miss Sirius! So I'm writing this fic to bring him back! And I figured that as long as he was coming back, Lily and James should have a shot at parenthood! This is hopefully a good twist on a way over-used plot:) Please enjoy! And reviews are appreciated :)
Chapter One: The Flaw In The Veil
In the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, there lies a secret. Most people do not know this secret, as no one is brave enough to go near the Death Chamber. In the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, there lies a Veil. This Veil is the doorway between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Very few people have gone through this Veil. Everyone who ever tried was never seen again.
Until now, that is.
Because on the night that our story begins, someone did come out the other side of the Veil. The man had stumbled backwards through the curtained archway hours before, because he had been thrown off balance by a curse that was thrown at him by his cousin, Bellatrix LeStrange. The man probably would have walked out of the Veil sooner, had the curse that had been flung at him not a Stunning curse. But yes, this man had been stunned, and so, he had not been able to come out of the archway for quite some time.
When he did walk out the other side of the Veil, he was quite confused. At first he couldn't remember anything that had happened .But slowly, the memories flowed back into his head. There had been a battle, he remembered, in the very room he was standing in. A battle between Death Eaters and members of the Order of the Phoenix. The battle had happened all because of a Dark Wizard, by the name of Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort had entered Harry Potter's mind. And everything had spiraled out of control from there. How did this affect the man who had stumbled backwards out of the archway of death?
Well, it affected him because Harry Potter just so happened to be this man's godson.
Thoughts of Harry Potter jumped into the forefront of the man's mind, and the man wanted to kick himself. Harry! He had to get to his godson, immediately! He knew exactly what had happened – Harry had seen him go through the Veil! Harry believed him dead!
"Harry," the man murmured painfully, clutching his heart. He felt so awful – Harry had already lost so much. How could this man have been stupid enough to allow himself to leave his godson?
Yes, Harry Potter had lost many things, his parents included. Harry's father – James – had been the man's best friend growing up. Naturally, the man was made godfather when Harry was born, and after Harry's parents were tragically killed by Voldemort fourteen years earlier, he was Harry's rightful guardian. He was the only parent Harry had ever known.
And he'd let his godson down.
This man's name was Sirius Black.
And he had to find Harry Potter before the night was through.
Using the last reserves of his strength, Sirius Apparated from the Death Chamber at the Department of Mysteries. He didn't know where Harry would be, so he settled for going home and finding out from there. Ugh. Home. The place Sirius was going to hadn't been home for a long time. But going there first was the only plan Sirius had, and so, he once again found himself on the street outside of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
Sirius panted, and clutched his chest as he sat himself on the sidewalk in front of the dark and gloomy house settled in between 11 and 13. Apparating took a lot out of a person, and Sirius had already been weakened from being stunned and flung into the very essence of death. He wasn't exactly having the best day.
When he was able to breathe normally again, Sirius stood up on shaky legs. He approached his old home cautiously, unsure if he would set off the security measures that had been placed there by Albus Dumbledore. When no alarms went off as Sirius grabbed the doorknob, he relaxed. Feeling safe and confident, Sirius opened the creaky old door and entered the hallway.
Where he was greeted by the cheerful sounds of his mother's ancient portrait screeching at him. Ah, home sweet home.
"Yoooou! Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"
"Who on earth forgot to close this wretched curtain?" Sirius grumbled to himself. With tremendous effort, the last Black alive managed to shut the thick curtains that surrounded his mother's portrait. When they were closed, the old woman's screeches and insults died down, and the hallway was left in an eerie, echo-y silence.
"Hello?" shouted Sirius hesitantly, as he made his way through his old house. "Anyone home?"
It was stupid to expect an answer, and Sirius didn't feel too disappointed when none came. Why did he expect anyone to be home? The only one who was always there was the Black Family House Elf, Kreacher, and it wasn't like he would have responded to Sirius's call anyway. Sirius didn't shout for anyone anymore, and explored the remainer of Number 12, Grimmauld Place in silence. The only place left for him to look was the kitchen. So silently, Sirius opened the old white door, and poked his head in. But he wasn't greeted by a crushing darkness as he had been when he'd looked in the other rooms. No, there was a single light turned on in the ancient kitchen. It was a small lamp, that was on a small table in a small corner of the room. At this table, there were two chairs. And seated on one chair, there was one man.
He quite obviously had neither seen nor heard Sirius enter the room. He had his head bowed, and Sirius wondered if he was dead. But no, Sirius saw the rise and fall of this man's chest. Upon noticing this fact, Sirius also noticed that the patterns of the man's breathing were very irregular. It was when he heard the silent sobs that Sirius realized who the man seated at the table was.
It was his best friend, Remus Lupin.
Sirius instantly felt awful. He didn't realize how much his death would affect everyone…and if Remus was this bad, then Harry was probably fifty times worse.
"…can't believe…"
Sirius's head instantly snapped up and he looked at Remus expectantly. It wasn't unusual that his old friend spoke to himself; he used to do it all the time. Except back in those days, Sirius never paid attention to what Remus said to himself. Now, however, Sirius was listening with keen interest.
"…after everything he's gone through…killed by a bloody curtain…"
"Hey!" Sirius defended suddenly. "I resent that! I was not killed by the bloody curtain; I was killed by my bloody cousin! If you're going to grumble about my death, at least get your facts right, Remus!"
Remus's head snapped up immediately, and he looked madly about the room for the source of the familiar voice who had addressed him. When his tired eyes fell on Sirius, Remus's red-rimmed eyes widened considerably, and he found himself at a loss for words.
"What?" Sirius smirked. "Not even going to say 'hello'?"
Sirius suddenly realized that he was being quite uncaring. But he'd never been good at displaying his emotions and feelings. For example, when the Ministry hauled him off to Azkaban Prison, Sirius had done nothing but laugh. What else could he have done? There was no emotion or action that could have properly displayed his wild grief. And so he had laughed.
"I'm sorry," Sirius apologized immediately, taking a seat at the other chair at the small kitchen table. "That was…mean. I just didn't know what else to say."
When Remus finally seemed to find words, they came out of his dry mouth slow and hesitant. He shook his head several times, and tried to steady his breathing. After all, he'd been crying. When he was sure his voice was rather steady, Remus whispered, "This is mad. I'm mad…Sirius, you're dead. This isn't real, this can't be possible…"
"It's possible," Sirius muttered. "And real, I assure you. If I wasn't alive, I wouldn't be this bloody sore. And I wouldn't want Firewhiskey so much."
"If you are a person," Remus stated matter-of-factly. "And you're not dead…then you're not Sirius…Death Eater!" Remus suddenly growled, and stood up. The lycanthrope within him suddenly seemed to take over, and Remus looked at Sirius madly. "Get out! OUT! How did you get here, hm? Kreatcher tell you where Headquarters is too? I DON'T CARE! STOP IMPERSINATING SIRIUS! HE'S DEAD, I KNOW HE'S DEAD SO JUST GET OUT!"
"Remus, Remus!" Sirius said frantically, standing up as well. "Relax! I'm not a Death Eater, look!"
Sirius pulled up the sleeves on his shirt, and showed his arms to Remus. If Sirius truly was a Death Eater, then an imprint of the Dark Mark would be visible on this area.
"Pollyjuice!" Remus growled. "Any number of things could hide that wretched mark! I saw Sirius die! You won't convince me otherwise! So get out, or I'll kill you!"
"You don't have a wand," Sirius pointed out slyly, trying to make Remus see reason. Since reason itself seemed not to be working, the only other thing that Sirius seemed to be able to do was to act as much like himself as possible. Maybe then, Remus would see the truth.
"Neither do you!" Remus shot back. Then, the realization of the truth of the words he just screeched seemed to dawn on Remus, and he sat back down almost automatically. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion, and Remus muttered, "Neither…do…you?"
"Exactly!" Sirius yelled victoriously, sitting back down as well. "If I was a Death Eater, then why would I come here unarmed?"
"You planned it!" Remus said quickly.
"Not that smart, mate."
"Sirius…is…dead…" Remus said, as though he was trying to convince himself and not the man sitting opposite him at the table.
"I'm not." Sirius assured his old friend. He held his right hand in the air, and swore, "Marauder's Honor, Moony."
That did it. The dam inside of Remus broke, and he stared longingly at his friend. Sirius seemed to realize when Remus believed it was truly him, for he smiled widely.
Remus stared unbelieving at Sirius and asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "How?"
"Dunno," Sirius shrugged. "I'd tell you if I knew, honest."
"You'll have to do better than that," Remus said, trying to remain calm and collected. "If it really is you, Sirius, I'll need to know how, exactly, you came back from the dead."
"Are you sure I really died?" Sirius questioned, raising an eyebrow. Remus seemed slightly taken aback; of all the things he expected Sirius to ask, that one definitely wasn't on the list.
"Yes, I'm sure!" Remus yelled, his red eyes and pale face making him look terrifying. "I saw you, Sirius! You fell through the Veil in the Death Chamber! I held Harry back when he tried to go after you!"
The mention of Harry shut Sirius up quickly, and he felt incredibly guilty. His stupid and rash thinking almost cost his godson of the only family he'd ever known.
"Is Harry…okay?" Sirius asked carefully, knowing the answer before Remus even opened his mouth.
"Okay?" Remus asked incredulously. "Okay? Well, I suppose he was 'okay' if you'd call allowing a fifteen year old boy to use a Cruciartus Curse okay!"
"He used Crucio?" Sirius asked, disbelieving. He'd never known Harry to be so cruel to anything, not even to the most evil beings he'd ever faced. He didn't bat an eye when he'd allowed Pettigrew to live. He didn't even use an Unforgivable when he'd faced down Voldemort. Who was awful enough that Harry would use the Torture Curse on them? And then it dawned on Sirius, and he murmured, "Bellatrix…"
"Exactly." Remus said, shaking his head sadly. It was then that Sirius noticed the half-empty bottle of Firewhiskey in front of his friend, and he felt even worse. Remus, however, continued. "When y-you went through the Veil," he began shakily. "Harry tried to go after you."
"No!"
"Yes." Remus said, nodding sadly. "I stopped him, but he was…difficult. He refused to believe that you were dead. And then Bellatrix began to…taunt him. And Harry was so maddened with grief he just sort of…lost it. There's too much detail to go into at the moment, however. I think you should speak to Harry yourself."
"And you think he'll react any better than you did?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "Harry has Lily's temper, Remus. And I think we both remember how that can be. I don't exactly want to be on the receiving end of that particular green-eyed glare again."
"Don't be so selfish." Remus snapped. "Harry misses you, Padfoot. He feels like you're the only family he's ever really had that he can depend on. And then you just…died. He needs you."
"Don't you think I know that?" Sirius asked. "I need him too, Remus! He's my godson! I just don't know how I'm going to go about making him believe it's me."
"You'll find a way, Sirius." Remus said conversationally, taking a long sip of Firewhiskey. "You always were the creative one."
Many miles away, more extraordinary events were taking place. The location: Godric's Hollow.
In Godric's Hollow, there is a house. This house once belonged to a family of three. Never before had a family consisted of such loyalty, love, and devotion. Oh, but the three people whom had once occupied this home had loved each other more than anything else in the world.
The three people who used to live in this house were Lily Potter, James Potter, and their one year old son, Harry Potter. Lily and James had been so in love that it was unfair that it ever had to end. And they loved their small son even more then they loved each other. They would have died to protect their baby boy…
In fact, that's exactly what they had done fourteen years previous.
But if you had been looking in the ruins of the old Potter House that evening, you would have seen a remarkable sight. Lying in the front hallway of the crumbled home, you would see James Potter, glasses broken and robes torn, blinking his eyes furiously. In the nursery, you would see Lily Potter, clutching her side as she struggled to stand up. This should have been impossible. But nothing was ever impossible, you see, because Lily and James – who had been dead – were now not.
James ached all over, but he was breathing. And as he stood up, he remembered the events that had caused him to be on the ground in the first place. Believing immediately that there was no hope, and that his wife and son were dead, James fell back to the floor, and clutched his chest as he sobbed. Unknown to James, however, was that upstairs his wife was doing the exact same thing.
Lily Potter could hardly breathe in between her manic sobbing. She had failed both her husband and her son. She lied on the floor, holding her son's scorched and musty stuffed stag close to her heart. She could not think. All she knew was pain as she cried and cried and cried.
The only thing that pierced the young woman's grief was the anguished cry that she suddenly heard from below her.
Utterly heartbreaking and undeniably James, Lily sprang to her feet more quickly than anyone in the world could have imagined possible. She dropped the stag on the floor, and tore down the steps as quickly as her weakened and petite legs could carry her. She almost passed out in relief when she saw James on the floor. Granted, he was crying like a madman, but he was breathing.
"JAMES!" Lily croaked. Slowly, James Potter lifted his head from the ground, and stared up at Lily in shock and disbelief. Eventually, his wife's terrible state broke through his stupor, and he pulled her down to his level by her hand.
"Lily…" he whispered, staring at his wife for all that she was worth. He pulled her close to him, and gently stroked her hair. Both knew what the other was thinking without having to say anything out loud, and they held each other and sobbed and grieved for the lost life of their little baby.
Unbeknownst to them, however, Harry Potter was very much alive. In fact, he was grieving himself. The events of the day ran through his mind over and over again, in a constant loop. The vision of Sirius being tormented by Voldemort…the Prophecy…Bellatrix's laugh as she killed Sirius…
Sirius. The only adult Harry had ever come to think of as a parent…the only parent he ever had…that he could remember, anyway. And he was gone, gone because of a stupid mistake…
"Gone because of me," Harry muttered to himself.
It was true, Sirius was dead because of Harry. If Harry hadn't been so stupid, and allowed himself to believe that Voldemort had truly captured Sirius, then his godfather would still be alive.
Harry wondered briefly what Sirius would have said to comfort Harry, if he wasn't dead. Harry wondered…would Sirius forgive him? Would Sirius not even blame him? Or would Sirius feel the unimaginable…would Sirius hate him? Blame him entirely? Wish once and for all that Harry was James and not Harry?
But I'll never know, Harry thought to himself miserably. Because he's dead. And it really is my entire fault.
A knock at the door knocked Harry out of his stupor. He wondered why any of the other boys would have bothered knocking at all – it was the boys' dormitory, they had every right to enter. And then he realized that everyone would know about his…er…state at the moment, and they would want to make sure he was okay before they just barged in.
"Come in," Harry muttered deadly, pulling his arms around his knees. He was seated on his bed, so he had a good view when his best friend – Ronald Weasley – entered the room.
"Hey mate," Ron said quietly, coming to sit next to Harry on his bed. "How ya holding up?"
"I'm fine, Ron." Harry assured his friend, not wanting anyone's pity.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked doubtfully. "It's okay to be upset, you know. We know how much Sirius meant to you."
"Do you?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't meaning to be so angry with Ron, but he was angry and hurt and had no other way to release his feelings. "You've had your parents your whole life, Ron. I never had parents. Sirius was the closest thing to one I ever had, and now he's gone. You don't know how this feels."
"I'm sorry, mate." Ron muttered uncomfortably, unsure of how to console his friend. For Harry was right; Ron didn't know how Harry felt. "I'll just…leave you to your thoughts then." And without another word, the youngest Weasley boy left the dorm.
Harry felt just awful, and fell back onto his pillows. Even though it was only six in the evening, the Boy Who Lived fell fast asleep…
Wow. Quite a lot happened there. So…yes! Please review! Basically, Sirius, James, and Lily are coming back to life and are going to help Harry a lot! AU after the Department of Mysteries, pretty much…parts of HBP will occur, but things are BOUND to be different with these three in the picture, ESPECIALLY over Summer! So…please tell me your thoughts!
~marauderette-47