Summary: After he fell through the veil, Sirius finds himself in another dimension and time. With no way back he lives with and has to protect those most important to him. / family/adventure/SB-JP-slash/
Warning: Slash, but that's more a sidestory.
Question: Since I'm not a native English speaker, is anyone interested in Beta-ing this story?
He fell hard on the floor. His body ached like he was hit bye the cruciatus curse. Especially his head hurt after he had hit it on the massive floor. He let out a groan of pain and slowly opened his eyes that he had closed before due to the shock of falling – falling through the veil.
Sirius had tried his best to jump out of the way of the deadly curse that was send at him by his dear cousin Bellatrix. Unfortunately he didn't look where he was jumping to and so he fell right though that mysterious thing in the department of mysteries.
After he regained his sight he took in his surroundings. He was definitely still in the same room with the veil. He only lay a few meters away and he could hear the silent whispers behind the flowing curtains.
Because of the pain he made a grimace when he finally stood up. Patting down his body he came to the conclusion that he was still alive though even if it looked like it at first, he couldn't be in the exact same place as before anymore. He thought that because he saw small differences to before like the absence of several dozen people trying to kill one another for example.
So maybe he was kind of dead. The veil had been used for the death penalty before after all. ‚Damn it' he thought, after all he had planned to become a poltergeist after his death so he could haunt greasy Snape till he died. Well, if he would start finding out where exactly he really was, he thought, maybe he could still fulfill his plans.
So Sirius started to look around. The place itself had the same architecture like the one where the fight was but then he saw a desk in one corner that shouldn't have been there.
He searched the drawers and found what he was looking for: Research about the veil, but what he read didn't help him a bit. All they said was that whatever went in never came back, so he could be anywhere. Well anywhere regarding time and space because he was sure that 'here' was somewhere.
He decided to check out the outside world. It was probably the easiest to switch into his animagus-form for it was less difficult to sneak around if you look like a dog. After he transformed, he went through the exit and another room, out of the department of mysteries. Lucky for him, a quick tempus charm he used before had revealed that he still had a few hours till the first employees would start to work. He went down the dark corridor and to the elevators, took the first one that came and pressed the button for the main hall. He didn't think anyone would more then notice him because in a magical world like the one he lived in, a dog wandering around alone was the least abnormal thing you would find.
While waiting for the elevator to bring him to the hall, he thought about his situation. The aches of his fall started to fade and he slowly began to get a very bad feeling in his stomach. Since nearly everything in the ministry looked pretty normal until now, he thought that maybe he just made a little trip for a couple of days and then the veil decided it didn't like what the ex-convict tasted like and spit him out again. Or something like that, but it just didn't fit.
He couldn't really describe it but it was just all wrong. It felt wrong and because of that, his fear started to grow. What did he expect to find out? If he is still in the Ministry after falling through the veil, how come everyone is gone and the research says that no one nor anything ever came back through the veil? He was puzzled and immediately ideas of portals to other realities á la muggle-science fiction began to form in his head. But honestly, he smirked in his thoughts, how ridiculous was that? Most likely someone just played a really stupid prank on him by leaving him in the veilroom unconscious. Then he imaged falling through and now everyone was waiting for him upstairs, right? Though he admitted that his craziest alternate-universe-populated-by-talking-toads-theory was more likely then the prank-theory. So he settled on looking around and on taking the things as they came.
The elevator stopped at the Auror-department and a tall man stepped in. Sirius in his dog-form didn't bother to look up until he was hit on the back by several documents. He wanted to give a growl of complain but stopped when he lifted his head and was staring at non other then his very dead best friend: James Potter.
He was shocked and not alone with that feeling. The expression in James face spoke volumes. "S-Sirius? W-what.. w-when did you escape?" said the shocked supposedly dead man and before Sirius could react in any way he was embraced in a very tight hug bye a sobbing James. "Why didn't you tell me? They declared you dead!"
Sirius froze, how could a dead man be hugging him and who could be sick and cruel enough to impost James and do this? He decided it was enough and transformed back into his human form. He pushed the imposter away and made a step backwards to get as far away from him a possible. "Who are you? What's going on?" he shouted at the man angrily.
The man that looked like James Potter only for the exception that he looked like he had never died and he was in his thirties now, looked totally confused but understanding crossed his face. "What did they do to you?" he asked in a whisper and with fear in his tone "It's me, James, your friend."
"You can't be James." He just stated and added 'because James is dead' in his thoughts.
"Of course I am. We are in the ministry, how could an imposter be in the ministry?"
That didn't assure Sirius one bit. He was an escaped convict after all so if he could be here, so could an imposter but just for the sake of his aching heart he wanted to give the man a chance. "Proof it!"
James had a thoughtful expression. The face he made was so damn perfect James-like that Sirius felt his heart hurt – he missed these facial expressions so much! Then the James started to talk: "Well, remember in fourth year when everyone thought I got to date that sixth year Rawenclaw around March? You were the only on I ever told that I wasn't actually dating her but she tutored me in charms because I had problems with the subject back then."
Yes, Sirius remembered that because James was so embarrassed about it. The almighty James Potter, master in transfiguration and one of the best duelers around had had problems in charms under one of the easiest professors ever. But that alone didn't convince him, he didn't know if that Rawenclaw girl kept her mouth shut about it and James seemed to understand that as well because he continued talking. "And then remember after fifth year when you were thrown out by your parents and went living with us we went to the muggle-cinema for the first time and watched this totally awful movie with the guy who looked like a woman and all the singing and we swore to never ever tell anyone we actually went there and watched that? What was it called... right, I think something like "Rocky horror pictures" and we went there because we thought it was a scary horror movie?"
Remembering that, the Black had to laugh. A real, slightly rough and quiet but still an honest laugh of joy "Merlin, it was so horrible! We literally fled, but not before watching it to the end!" He stopped laughing, thinking and begging his toad-universe-theories weren't all that wrong. So what if? Was that James in front of him real? That would actually be really good, wouldn't it?
James looked relieved after what Sirius' said. "Why don't we go to my office
and you can tell me what happened and how you got here?"
Too curious to say no, he nodded. After all, an imposter would never know all that secret stuff.
James pressed the button for the Aurors Department and the elevator went down again. Not knowing what to say, an uncomfortable silence settled in the small room. It let to a nearly unbearable tension because both men knew that something was off. When the doors opened, James pointed Sirius to lead the way. Sirius however had no idea where the office was and thus, acted like he knew the way. He confidently went into one direction, but was soon stopped by a puzzled James whose office was the exact opposite way.
They went down the corridor turned left once and right twice and then entered a large office that indicated that James was more then just the ordinary Auror. Sirius looked around curiously and he couldn't hide his amazement when he saw all the Family Pictures hanging on a wall to his left. There, messy but lovingly arranged hung dozens of pictures that showed not only old pictures of James, Lily and baby-Harry or the marauders, with the exception of Wormtail(he should be standing there but it looked like someone hexed him out of the picture), in their teens but also some like where James seemed around thirty and a ten-year-old Harry stood next to him. He also spotted one where it was only him and James and they seemed to have just got their Auror certificates.
He didn't notice James eyeing him suspiciously. The other man frowned and became unease seeing his supposedly best friend staring at all the Pictures as if he never saw them before even though he took several of them himself. Then he also noticed Sirius appearance. Not only was he wearing a kind of ragged robe but his hair was also longer, he had grown a beard and his eyes looked dark and haunted. This all made him look a lot older, but was it really only that? Of course, Sirius standing here would mean he was able to escape the enemy and looking ragged was expected but he looked like he was already near 40 even though he should be only 32. He decided to start the conversation so he could finally get his answers. "Sirius... " he started in a low voice "Why don't we sit down?"
They sat down and Sirius turned his head and looked at James, taking in every wrinkle in his face. It was just so real, not anything like a dream or an illusion. He just couldn't comprehend why this here was and what was happening.
Sirius couldn't help thinking that James looked exhausted. With dark rings under his eyes, he reminded him a lot of himself. He still had them from his time in Azkaban and he would probably never get rid of them. Something terrible must have happened to that James in front of him.
Before he could think of a logical lie, and that would have been really hard because he was still THE Sirius Black, James startled him with a conclusion: " You aren't really Sirius, are you?" he said in a low, disappointed voice.
"I am Sirius. I'm Sirius Orion Black." He just stated lamely.
James sighed and looked even sadder at him then before. "Maybe you are, but you are not my Padfoot. You are too different."
At this Sirius became unsure of what to say. "I don't think I get what you mean, but I suppose not…"
Suddenly James had a cautions glint in his eyes looked directly in Sirius eyes. Sirius met that glint with a new calculating look but ended the staring match by looking down. Still hoping it was a nightmare and not hoping at all at the same time, he started to talk. "Ok, I'll just tell you what I know… until I wake up." he received a raised eyebrow from James for the last part but James pointed him to continue.
"First of all you were murdered on Halloween in 1982 when Harry was 1 Year old and they framed me because they thought I was your secret keeper" He waited for James for an objection but none came so he continued. "I was thrown into Azkaban without a trial for 12 years. I was imprisoned until I escaped in Harries third year." He grinned telling that part. Of course he was proud of escaping, he was on of the first to ever do it since they used Dementor and that was pretty damn awesome! "I wanted to find Harry and take revenge from Wormtail. After a long search I met first and found second, he hid in his rat-form, but unfortunately the fucking coward escaped again. Remus and I hunted him down but we were in such a rage that we totally forgot it was full moon and I think you can guess what happened. Anyways, I went into hiding again." He made a grimace. It hadn't exactly been fun alone at Grimmauld place.
"Two years later or like two hours ago for me, there was a battle in the department of mysteries." At this James listened up. "I forgot to mention that Voldemort came back a year earlier. Anyways, Harry and his friends thought someone was being tortured down there and left alone dying, which happened once before, but they ran directly into a trap. Before they new it they were attacked by Deatheaters. They did their best in fighting them off till me and some Aurors joined them. I fought my cousin Bellatrix and she used a killing curse. I intended to dodge it and long Story short: I fell through the veil."
James, who had listened carefully blinked at this " The veil?" he asked.
"Yeah, the big creepy thing with the whispers." he admitted ruefully.
Then James eyes widened as if everything suddenly made sense. "Could it really?" he quietly asked himself and went to a drawer on his left. He unwarded it pulled and it open. It opened two meters long even though the cupboard itself was only twenty centimeters thick. He searched a while and then he took out a folder, which looked very top secret. With that he got Sirius full attention because 'very top secret' usually meant 'exciting'. Seeing James unward the Folder itself also made him even more curious.
"Listen closely Sirius." And Sirius nodded seriously, well as serious as a Sirius Black could. "Five years ago a woman suddenly appeared in the veilroom in the department of mysteries. The Auror office was called and they sent me and some others too to arrest her." He made a pause to give Sirius the folder so he could skim through it and then went on with the story." We interrogated her and she told us she came through the veil. When we used verita serum because we didn't believe her, she still said the same. Then she told us everything: How she was a new Unspeakable several years earlier and went through the veil in order to commit suicide after her baby-son died.
But she didn't die, she just got transported to another dimension! Since then she had been through the veil over a hundred times only to get transported to different worlds over and over again. When she realized she wouldn't be able to go back to her own world she intended to continue traveling until she'd find a world in which her son was alive and needed her. But that wasn't the case in this one so she left again a few days later."
James had stopped his story and it seemed like he expected Sirius to say something so he did. "Are you telling me that I'm in a different world now and also that I won't be able to get back?"
James nodded "Exactly."
"Ok." Was all he said with an indifferent face.
"That's all?" Asked James wondering hearing that unexpected answer.
"Hey now give me a break! You are the dead guy who just told the impossible and I definitely won't accept it just like that." Now that was a logical argument but the more seconds past in silent, the more the bad feeling in his stomach started to grow. Yes, he was a little hungry but he grew familiar to real hunger in Azkaban so he was sure that wasn't it. He became more and more nervous. "Oh damn, it makes fucking sense." He thought hard about everything and yes it all seemed so damn possible. "Is it really real?"
"Yes"
"Really?"
"Really."
"You are sure?"
"Yes I'm sure."
"So you are really James? No imposter?"
"Yes I am. No imposter."
Then it all came up and he started to tremble and suddenly tears rolled down his cheeks. He started to shiver and his look was that of frustration. He began to breath heavier and his heart pounded faster he looked like he was having a seizure.
James was alarmed. "Hey Sirius!" he said but the other didn't seem to hear him. "HEY!" he shouted, "Come on calm down!" then he made a move and shook Sirius hard by his shoulders. The other finally looked up and his breathing slowed down. He blinked a few times shook his head a little and calmed down again. "Are you ok?" James asked worriedly.
"What? oh right, yes I think so.. it just came clashing down on me I think I just realized that you told me the truth… but I still kind of can't believe it." he sounded frustrated.
James let go of his shoulders and made a step back. "Let's take a break. It's already 1 am so I'll go get us some coffee and then we can sort out what to do next. Ok?"
Sirius nodded and James left the room, but not without locking it to make sure Sirius didn't leave. He was a suspect after all and James was still an Auror.
Sirius didn't mind. He was to busy comprehending anyway.
Did you like it? New chap every week.