Disclaimer: what belongs to JKR belongs to her.
Due to Fanfiction's policy, this is a censored version. You may find the full version with the same title on AO3 under my username GreyWolfandMoon.
Walk in, walk out. Walk in, and walk out. Walk in again, walk out…
All this time Sirius Black had been repeating those exact moves. How many years had he spent behind the veil? How many dimensions had he visited? And how many times had he been disappointed, realising that it was just another parallel dimension instead of Home?
Home. It was an abstract concept, yet so familiar; it was clawing at his throat, threatening to rip him apart from within. He'd lost count of time long ago – to be precise, he'd given up counting long ago. The more he counted, the more depressed he'd become. But he never gave up trying. Every day at dawn he would close his eyes and step through the veil, let the silky veil brush past and a dimension unfold. Then, if it was not Home (so far it hadn't been the right dimension) at night he would go back and wait for tomorrow. Because there's always a tomorrow, there's always a chance and it meant that, someday, he might go home.
When Sirius stepped out of the Ministry building, it was twilight. Since the Veil was always located at the Ministry, no matter which world he'd gone to, the starting point was always the Ministry of Magic. As a result, after days and nights of sneaking out and entering the Ministry, the vast construction of the Ministry was already imprinted in his mind that he suspected no other person in the universe, not even the Minister, was more familiar with the floor plan than Sirius Black.
Not this one. Three minutes into the new world, he had already concluded that this was yet another failed attempt. Glass panels – not brick walls – reflected a rather handsome but unkempt man rounding the corner. Most people were a small, rectangular box, those that gave out 'ping' sounds from time to time which reminded him of Moody's dark magic detectors.
He pulled up his leather jacket to combat the icy wind. He took the first left and then the second right, which brought him to a long, narrow alley. Okay, at least the roads are the same. He breathed a relieved sigh as he neared the bar he used to go as an Auror with James, Remus and Peter trailing behind, sometimes with Remus alone … Ah, those good old days. But then, having the same setting meant nothing. It could simply mean that this alternative universe had a similar environment and that was all.
''Scuse me, a shot of straight vodka please. Make it a double.' Sirius winked at the heavily tattooed bartender, who threw him a flirty sidelong glance in return. Just because Sirius Black was an escaped convict who happened to be trapped behind a bloody veil, it didn't mean that he couldn't go clubbing and have fun.
'Make it two, if you please,' said a voice behind him. 'What do you say this round's on me, love?'
Sirius smirked and turned to see a young man with flaming bluish-green hair leaning against the counter behind him. He was humming a tune, peering at Sirius with a faint smile. Despite the cold weather, he wore a tight V-neck t-shirt and a studded jacket with sequins sprinkled on it like stars in the sky. The black leggings accentuated his lean torso and wiry muscles, folding into a pair of khaki boots with chunky heels.
'If you say so,' Sirius looked up into the brown eyes of the young man, which instantly reminded him of Remus. A lifetime ago, they would go to bars and party until dawn, Sirius would look down and feel his lips against Remus's. Even after Azkaban, when Sirius was thin and his back slightly arched, he was still half a head taller than Remus, not like this, looking upwards. Where is he now? Still looking for me? Has he given up waiting already? Because I haven't.
'Oi, are you here? Hello?' The young man's waving hands brought him back to the present.
'Sorry, you said something?' Sirius shook his head to clear his mind. 'You're too pretty, I lost focus.'
'Am I?' The young man smiled mischievously. 'It seems that you're thinking about someone else. Your partner?'
'My …' Sirius hesitated. Boyfriend? Fiancé? Husband?
'Look, it's easy to tell,' the young man laughed. 'No one minds it anymore. Well, most don't. But it's okay to be gay. And it's okay to have some fun too. That is, if he doesn't mind.'
'He probably does,' admitted Sirius. 'But a drink won't do much harm, I guess.'
'A drink? I thought –'
'Hullo gorgeous, come and dance with me? It's a waste that you sit here.' Another man approached the table Sirius was sitting at, his hand extended, his polished nails gleaming under the dim lights.
'Piss off, Eliot,' the young man said offhandedly. 'He's taken. No one touches Teddy's things.'
When the man walked away, the young man – Teddy – leaned across the table and into Sirius's neck. 'A drink? That's all? I thought you would rather spend a night with a wizard than under a Muggle bridge.' He purred, his blue hair brushed aside, exposing his moon tattoo on the side of his neck.
'How did you know?' Sirius trembled when Teddy's hot breath swept pass him and into his jacket, brushing his skin. The tingling sensation travelled from his neck, to his trunk, to the region between his legs.
'I saw you walk out from the Ministry. I followed you.' He chuckled and leaned back, tossing his empty glass at the poor waiter who just walked by. Crossing his legs, he ruffled his hair, making it even messier than it already was. 'So, home?'
'Home,' Sirius echoed emptily. 'Good, home.'
Sirius dived his fingers into the rich turquoise hair, back pressed tightly against a bookshelf. It's funny, the way his mind worked: a portion of his brain focused sharply on the half-naked young man before him, who was licking his earlobe and sucking his bottom lip, while the rest of it resisted the urge to order his body to turn and take a look at the books that lay behind him. Is there Grimm's Fairy Tales, his and Remus's favourite children's book? Is there Advanced Potions Guide, the book he always resorted to when brewing the Wolfsbane potion, knowing how rubbish he was at it?
'May I?' Teddy's hands rested on Sirius's waistband, the question hung in the air like heavy black clouds before a storm. They grinded, rocking back and forth; Sirius could taste alcohol and smoke and chocolate on the tongue that was occupying his mouth.
'Do I… oh…' Teddy said into his mouth between breaths and kisses, '… measure up to –ow!… h-him?'
'He's not as fit as you,' said Sirius hoarsely, and honestly. 'Not as young as you, not as talkative as you,' he made a kneading movement with his hands, which prompted another moan from Teddy. 'He's unpredictable. One night he was all wild and worked up, the other night he was soft like a kitten. He's scarred and quiet and bony and old.'
'Good,' Teddy growled, pulling Sirius away from the bookshelf and pinning him down onto the sofa. They moved like two animals battling in the wild; while Teddy shouted all sort of obscenities, Sirius remained silent and swallowed his screams, though his breaths were heavy and loud.
'So quiet, aren't you,' Teddy said playfully when they had finished. Through the half-drawn blinds, light from lamp posts poured in, highlighting the tattoos on Teddy's body. There were moons, stars and flowers, even; using the tiny amount of light available, Sirius could make out the constellation that got tattooed onto the broad chest was Vulpecula, the Fox Star, and it actually lightened twinkled once or twice in the dark.
'I love him,' said Sirius, his voice raspy from breathing heavily and stifling his moans. 'I love his everything, even though he doesn't half measure up to you.'
On top of him, Teddy stirred. 'Me, too,' he said into Sirius's neck. He didn't explain whom he was referring to, and Sirius didn't push. After a moment of rest, he rolled down and lay next to Sirius on the small sofa, his left leg still wedged between Sirius's for support so he wouldn't fall down. They held onto each other like that, drifting off, each into their respective dreams.
A/N: Tonk's full name is Nymphadora Vulpecula Tonks.
To be continued...