Vision One - The Veil and Beyond
by: AegisX
Basically each chapter is an oneshot of things or ideas that I got that I kinda did something with it. As for this one, if something else comes to mind, I'll add to it but I don't know. It starts off right at the moment of the ministry battle during the Order of the Phoenix book. From then on, it's AU.
Only one pair was 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, too, turned towards the dais.
It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall; his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch.
Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place.
Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing - Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second...
But Sirius did not reappear.
"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled. "SIRIUS!"
He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out.
He sprinted towards the dais, his pounding heart loud in his ears. Several people shouted at once, their voice's melding into one loud "NO!" He didn't care; everything around him had fallen under a haze as he dived forward into the veil.
A cackle erupted from Bellatrix's mouth as she watched Harry dive into the Archway, ensuring his death. Her mad laughter was ended by a reductor curse that blew into her chest, spraying gore and blood everywhere as she fell to the floor, dead. Lupin snarled as he turned to the next death eater only to stop when Dumbledore stopped him. "He's coming. I'll secure the death eaters while the Order retreats."
There was no need to ask which "HE" Dumbledore was referring to. As the Order made their getaway along with Harry's friends, they watched Voldemort engage Dumbledore in a duel.
By the light of dawn, owls were delivering the morning edition of the Daily Prophet; whose's headlines announced the return of Voldemort to the entire magical community. While at Hogwarts, Dumbledore sat behind his desk, surrounded by members of the Order. "Where's Harry? What's happened to him?" Molly Weasley's panicked voice filled the silence that the room itself seemed to be layered in. "I didn't see him in the hospital wing and Ron doesn't know where he is either."
"Molly, what I am about to say must not leave this room. Everyone will have to make an oath to secrecy." The members that hadn't been present at the department of mystery nodded, taking in the somber expressions of Remus, Tonks and even Moody.
A slight glow enveloped the room as several oaths were made and Dumbledore cast several spells around them to insure privacy from everything including the portraits. "Yesterday, Harry led 5 students into the Department of Mysteries because of a vision he believed was real." Molly had frozen, considering that Harry had saved her husband's life because of a vision.
"They faced 12 death eaters, forcing them into a stalemate by the time we arrived." He motioned towards the members that were present, including himself. "Sirius was dueling Bellatrix in the chamber of the Veil of Mysteries when she struck him with a curse that sent him into the veil."
The Veil was a well known artifact throughout the ministry and to those members that had connections to the ministry itself. "It is with heavy heart that I must inform you, that Harry went through the archway as well. He did so in hopes of saving Sirius."
Molly burst into tears, while Arthur held her. Tonks was trying not to cry as she looked at the ground in shame, holding herself responsible for killing both Sirius and Harry. "This cannot be told to anyone. The Death Eaters present at the time were obvliviated." The only member of the order not in tears or with a sad face was Snape, who forced himself not to smile at the news.
"What about Bellatrix? Was she captured?" Emmaline Vance asked, dabbing the tears away from her face with a handkerchief. Molly looked up along with everyone else, their eyes filled with the promise of dark times for the witch.
"I executed her." Remus spoke for the first time since the meeting started. The members not present at the time were wide eyed with shock, while Snape sneered at him, dismissing the normally pacifist werewolf.
"Is this true Remus?" The question was from Tonks, who'd been originally dueling Bellatrix but had been knocked unconscious. "Is she really dead?"
"She killed Sirius and she may as well have killed Harry. She's dead for that and much more." His voice was cold, his eyes gleaming with hatred while they were fixed on Severus Snape, just begging him to say something in his scathing tone. Molly had gasped at the admission from Remus, surprised at the clinical voice he'd used to inform them.
"We cannot tell anyone and that brings us to the next item on our agenda. For this, we'll need Nymphadora's unique talents."
'Feel so cold... Feel so numb...' Brightness enveloped him, blinding him as he floated. 'What's... What's happpeeenniinngg...' his thoughts slowed down, along with his mind.
Snatches of conversations slowly reached him, leaving a strange colorful trail through the brightness.
"Does it bother you?"
'Bother mmmmeee?'
"It's a great place for you filthy dogs to be buried." These words were accompanied by flashes of battles, fighter jets flying in the sky.
'Where's Sirius? I got to find Sirriiuuuss...' Again everything seemed to slow down, stretching his thoughts as he tried to move.
"This is the Round Table. Dead Men's words hold no meaning." Flashes of reality briefly appeared only to be swallowed by darkness.
"WHOA!!! Check out the crater!" Several people gasped as they took in the football field sized crater. The green, grassy area that had been a recreational park was now gone, replaced by the afore mentioned crater. "It's dripping with magic, this area."
The leader stepped forward, steel tipped combat boots crunching through the now glassy ground. "Thermals and Sights show someone down there." With a small wave of his right hand, a blue glow enveloped his booted feet and he stepped into the crater. "It's still scorching. I can still feel it with the ice around my boots." There were a few looks of surprise among the crowd still standing behind him; all knowing how proficient their leader was at ice casting.
A low groan reached his ears as he got closer to the center of the crater. The heat seemed to flare and he encased his entire body inside the blue aura. "Don't come in here at all. I don't think you'd like burning alive." His voice smooth, deep with an air of command reached outwards.
He pushed past the flaring heat, reinforcing his ice as his boots crunched the glassed ground. Two figures lay on the ground, a thin underfed looking teenage boy while the other was an older aristocratic looking man. He reached forward, the blue aura surrounding him intensifying to the point of emitting wisps of chilled air. With a click of his gloved fingers, the red aura slowly dwindled away until it disappeared and he gently levitated both men.
"Oi! You left something back there!" The slightly melodic voice of his tracker/watcher reached out to him and he looked back. "Take them then..." he called out, the levitating bodies floating out of the crater slowly as he turned back. A pair of slightly smoldering sticks lay on the ground and their presence surprised him 'Wands? Those things are archaic...'
A/N: Basically that's it. I might do something else with this fic, but till then I'll file it away in with the other Single Visions.