Double Trouble

Through the Veil

No! It wasn't true! It couldn't be true! Sirius was fine! Sure, he had fallen through the veil but that didn't mean anything bad had become of him. His godfather would reappear any second now, smiling and ready to rejoin the battle. But as the seconds painfully ticked by, Sirius had yet to return. Harry struggled violently to free himself from Lupin, who was holding him back.

"Harry, he's gone. I'm sorry but there's nothing you can do. Bellatrix hit him with the killing curse. He's de-"

"NO! No, he's not dead! How can you say that?! He's fine! He has to be okay! You'll see! Sirius! SIRIUS!"

"Harry, listen to me! Sirius- GET DOWN!" Lupin flung himself to the floor, dragging Harry along with him as the number of curses soared over their heads.

Lupin's hold on Harry had slackened from the force of the fall. Seizing the opportunity, Harry leapt to his feet and tore towards the veil as fast as his legs could carry him, ignoring Lupin's screams of protest for him to come back. Skidding to a halt, he frantically searched for any signs of his godfather. A loud crack of apparation sounded from behind him, which was immediately followed by a high, cold laugh. The same laugh that belonged to Sirius's killer, the same laugh that belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange.

Before he could react, a pair of hands roughly forced him forward. Harry flung his arms out in an attempt to grab onto something, anything that would stop him from toppling over into the veil, but his hands were met with nothing but air. A split second later, he was being drawn through what felt like an airless tunnel with heavy pressure pounding in from all sides. His ears were ringing. His head was pounding. His lungs were going to burst. And as soon as it had begun, it was over.

Solid ground came up to meet him and he landed with a loud smack. As Harry began to lose consciousness, the sound of rusty, iron gates being pushed open came from somewhere up ahead of him. His rapidly drooping eyes searched for the source and found it. What appeared to be a tall skeleton wearing a suit walked through the gates, taking no notice of the teenager sprawled out at the foot of a tombstone.

The last thought that ran through Harry's mind was, What the hell have I gotten myself into this time? Then the oh-so familiar black oblivion swept over him. And at that exact moment, the skeleton froze mid-step, his eyes, or eye sockets, open wide as he finally saw the unconscious teenager face down in the dirt.

xxxxx

Author's Note: Yay! Cliff hanger! Ha ha! No I'm kidding. I hate cliff hangers as much as the next person, but this seemed like a good place to cut it off when I was writing it.

*Reposted