It was suddenly a lot warmer, far warmer than it had been in the Death Chamber, where he was sure he had been only moments ago. He was laying on his back, the hard floor surprisingly comfortable. His eyes closed, he listened to his surroundings, but it was completely silent. Where was he, he was meant to be in the Department of Mysteries. Snape had called, Harry was there, looking for him.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and took in his new location.
It took Sirius a few seconds to recognize where he was. The shock of being blasted backwards by Bellatrix's stunner and into that damn curtain meant that the familiar location he had found himself in didn't register as quickly as it probably should have. But there was no mistaking the scarlet train that was parked in front of him.
He was at Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
The Hogwarts Express stood grand and impressive as ever in front of him, admitting a large blast of steam, despite its parked status. The surrounding platform was empty, otherwise the same as he always remembered it, wide open space to fit in all of the students and parents who would arrive there, a handful of benches pressed up against the wall that separated it from the Muggle world. Despite the lack of life, it felt just as inviting and welcoming as ever.
Clambering to his feet, Sirius vaguely noted that his body felt lighter somehow, his joints not feeling the aches and pains that had come with age and time in Azkaban. Looking down, he saw that the old robes that he had been wearing before were gone. Instead, he wore the simple black uniform worn by all Hogwarts students, complete with Gryffindor crest on the front and red and gold tie around his neck.
He glanced around and spotted the closed exit leading to Kings Cross station, however, despite his desire to move towards it, to go back to the Ministry, to find Harry and see if he was OK, he found himself moving forwards towards the train, looking inside to the empty compartments, all dark with their lights off and a distinct lack of students. Moving down the carriages, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror, almost not recognizing himself.
He was much younger, around sixteen or seventeen, his hair much neater than it had been in a long time and his face clean shaven. There was no sign of the thin or worn look that Azkaban had cursed him with.
Continuing his path down the platform, it was only until he reached the very end that he finally saw life. Two teenagers, sitting next to each other in the brightly lit compartment, could be see through the window, the boy with messy black hair and glasses, his arm around the girl with fiery red hair. Both were also wearing the Hogwarts Gryffindor uniform. His first thought was that he had run into Harry, and for some reason Ginny was with him, he raised his hand, almost called out, until the boy turned and looked his straight in the eye. And instead of the bright, emerald green eyes that he had been expecting, he recognized the familiar, dark hazel eyes of James Potter.
Sirius couldn't help but stand there for a moment, gaping stupidly as the girl also turned, revealing the green eyes of Lily Evens. The two of them both gave him sad but genuine smiles, and James waved a hand to gesture him inside.
Suddenly, Sirius understood where he was.
He stepped forwards and entered the train, moving through the small corridor and gingerly pushed open the compartment door.
James and Lily both looked up at him from where they sat, smiles still on their faces, slight tears in their eyes.
"We didn't think we'd be seeing you for a while, Padfoot," James looked surprised and disappointed, yet happy to see him.
"Prongs. Lily," Sirius swallowed the lump in his throat, "I'm so sorry. I..."
"None of it was your fault," Lily interrupted, "He fooled us all. You couldn't have know. And you did everything you could have for Harry. We couldn't be more grateful."
"So, are you going to come with us? The train isn't ready to leave just yet, but when it is, you're more than welcome," asked James.
"Where are we going?"
James smirked and held his arms out to gesture around them, "Where do you think? Look where you are. There is only one destination."
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Now he may not have been the smartest wizard who had ever lived, but even he knew where he was.
He could still feel it, the cold metal of his own hand clutched around his throat, choking out the life that he had worked so hard not to lose, all because of a seconds hesitation. He looked down at his right hand – no longer metal – instead the familiar soft flesh that it had been for the majority of his life. The only thing wrong with it being the missing finger, the one constant reminder of the single action that had shaped his future.
Peter looked up from the limb and stared into the window of the compartment that housed his once great friends. The three of them were sat talking, none of them had noticed him yet.
Against what little good judgement he had, he raised his mutilated hand and tapped lightly on the glass. All three of them turned in surprise, and when they saw him, they had the expected reactions.
Sirius' eyes hardened into a glare that could kill. Well, could kill if he wasn't already… yeah.
Lily's eyes immediately filled with tears, the look of utter betrayal gracing her beautiful face.
James barely glanced at him, refusing to look in his direction the second he registered who he was.
He didn't know what he had been thinking. They were never going to accept him back.
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There were only too regrets that the three newcomers had. The first was that they weren't going to get the pleasure of seeing Harry put that snaked-face son of a bitch out of his misery at last. The other was that they were not going to see the people they loved again for hopefully a very long time.
Remus and Tonks couldn't stop thinking about Teddy, who had barely come into the world and was now going to have to live in it without them.
All Fred could think about was George. He knew it was rather inconsiderate, after all, he should have been thinking about all of his rather extensive family, but Georgie was different from them. He was half of him, and it just felt wrong to be without him. Like part of him was missing. But likewise, he was so glad that he wasn't here with him.
The platform was deserted, with the exception of the one man sitting on one of the benches against the wall, looking longingly to board it, but making no effort to approach. Remus stiffened when he recognised him, and Tonks squeezed his had in comfort as they walked past without a word. Instead, they focused their attention on their reflections in the trains windows, which showed them as their teenage selves, the two men both in Gryffindor robes and her in her Hufflepuff yellow.
Tonks and Fred followed Remus' lead. He just knew were they needed to go. Heading towards the final compartment, he boarded and pushed open the door to the sight of James, Lily and Sirius, all also back to their teenage selves and dressed in their Hogwarts uniform. All three looked up at them.
"They'll all be OK," promised Lily, "They have each other. And they will move on."
The three newcomers all nodded and moved to sit in the seats opposite them, "are we going where I think we're going?" asked Remus.
"Yeah," Sirius grinned.
"Where?" asked Fred, looking confused. He didn't quite understand why it was these people he was with. Not that he had a problem with them, they just seemed like a random group for him to have been teamed up with.
"Hogwarts of course," said James in a 'duh' voice, "that's if you want to come with us? We are in need of a fourth man. So you can come if you want."
Lily and Remus both rolled their eyes, looking amused as Sirius spoke up, "if you want to come, all you have to do is solemnly swear that you are up to no good."
Fred's frown morphed into a grin as he understood the offer he was being made, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
At these words, the Hogwarts Express suddenly jolted forwards, and the six people laughed as they finally left the station and the lone man on the platform, and headed onwards to the one place that would always be home.