Chapter Two

Sirius disentangled himself from the wall's remnants, cursing colorfully, throwing pieces of dusty wood to the side as he went, and not caring he was in unknown territory making excess noise. Not ready to give up on the veil just yet, he stormed back up to the archway and stopped just short of the point where he had been thrown back previously. Forcing himself to think through the haze of his frustration, Sirius contemplated the veil's mysterious barrier. Auror training from decades previous awakened in his mind, telling him to ascertain his situation, analyze the magic of the barrier, and so much more – strategy after strategy, I could've used this clarity after Azkaban.

The veil whispered in an invisible wind as Sirius cautiously probed the magic surrounding the object. Anxious moment after anxious moment passed, and Sirius' trepidation was gradually transforming into irritation and befuddlement.

"What is this…?"

Whatever the veil was protected by, it was no magic that Sirius had ever encountered. Unbidden, a memory of Mad-Eye Moody from Sirius' auror days was conjured up in Sirius' mind. "Don't mess with something if you can't identify whether it's dark or light based. Grey magic is fickle, and that makes it dangerous, boy." Sirius had never asked why grey magic was so fickle; he regretted that a little. If only he could figure out how the barrier worked, he could dismantle it….

Apparation! That could be his ticket out! How on earth had he forgotten about apparation? Happily, Sirius thought of where he wanted to apparate - just outside the ministry, can't just apparate into the Department of Mysteries - and commanded his magic through the familiar routine of apparation.

Sirius' excitement died quickly when he failed to apparate to lovely, familiar London. He cursed and wallowed in hopelessness for a few moments before returning to his previous activity of analyzing the veil's protections.

Sirius spent the next hour attempting to understand the protections that encased the veil, but it was a fruitless endeavor. He ended up punching several more holes in the wall, which wasn't as irritating as it could have been. Knowing that the barrier had a consistent, repetitive effect meant that the magic surrounding the veil was simplistic. But knowing that didn't do a damn thing to help Sirius get through the barrier and back to Harry.

Mussing his unkempt dark locks, Sirius huffed, searched out the exit, and left the sitting room to find himself in a gloomy hallway; he had no choice but to explore. For a single moment, Sirius stood motionless as he surveyed the gloom – dark, just like Grimmauld Place, just like Azkaban – before incanting a quiet lumos. Dust permeated the passage, coating every surface, but no creatures left a trail in the dust whatsoever. Odd, that. Sirius pushed the oddity from his mind and pursued a random direction – left, right, left, right… to the left.

Within five minutes of exploring the building, Sirius came to the conclusion that he was inside an opulent mansion of Eastern styles – Japanese maybe? – that was severely abandoned by all life forms. He peeked into four rooms, each completely abandoned, dusty, yet bizarrely unmarred by time. Strange magic, dead magic, had left an imprint on every object. Anxious anticipation crawled into Sirius' belly as he trekked further, exploring the palatial home and holding his breath; each room he looked into was just as uncanny as the last, and he didn't dare disturb any of it. Finally, Sirius sensed tendrils of live magic stretching sinuously along a particular expanse of wall; the live magic was in highest concentration around the door that was there.

Sunlight trickled in underneath that door, and birdsong could be heard through it. An exit!

Sirius wouldn't rush, couldn't rush, toward that exit, even though he so badly wanted to escape the eerie manor. The door was surrounded by grey magic – fickle, annoying, incomprehensible grey magic. But even as he drew ever closer to the exit, there was no activation of the magic; he was not thrown back, maimed, cursed, stupefied, or anything of the sort. The grey magic harmlessly slid over him as he approached the exit; apparently, he was no threat.

Trembling hand extended toward the door, Sirius held his breath as the magic continued to bypass him. His fingertip touched the varnished wood, and nothing happened that Sirius could perceive. He could have leapt for joy then, but instead chose to calmly, quietly, open the door. The door opened easily, and Sirius basked in the afternoon sun as he stepped onto a porch surrounded by woods.

Behind him, the manor's door began to close on its own. When it snapped quietly shut, Sirius turned toward it, suspicion and caution written on his expression. He extended his hand toward it once more, but the grey magic was not to be so kind this time. An electric jolt coursed through Sirius' body, painful and brief, and he yelled in shock as his knees buckled beneath him.

"What the hell?"

Sirius nursed his numb hand back to life as he stared, incensed and confused, at the manor's entrance. His confusion only grew as he observed the door; above it was a proud plaque displaying the single word "Shiba." The door itself had a simple, yet official, plaque nailed to it. He quickly skimmed it, barely noticing the edict's finer details – betrayal, fall from grace, to live excluded from born privilege – and was horrified to find the house forever sealed, unless a soul was one of these curious "death gods."

Sirius was beyond unhappy. He was barred access to his one way home, and it seemed he would have to contend with death gods to find a way back.

Notes (3/21/2011): And so we get the first hint of Bleach! Shorty chapter, but mostly because I want to get more content out quickly. Please review; I enjoy constructive criticism, and I can take it if you think something is horribly wrong and needs fixing. I also don't have a Beta… so all mistakes are mine :D Lack of language barrier will be explained in due time.

The site was being lame and glitchy; I had this ready two days ago and would have updated, but errors would not permit...