Misery Loves Company

Rating: MA – Eventually

Authors Notes: Little shout out to Joss Whedon in this chapter. Those of you who are familiar with him might recognize it but if you don't its not a big deal. I am a huge Whedonist and this is my little way of showing my never ending love and support.

Warnings: This is Slash people!! Don't like, don't read. Simple.

Misery Loves Company

Chapter three

By: Kitty

"Level Nine, Department of Mysteries" an automated voice intones as the elevator doors slides open.

I am the first to walk out of the elevator, letting my feet carry me down the stretching corridor. I don't have to look behind me to know Ron and Hermione are following. Our footsteps echo eerily against the floor as we wind though the maze-like hallways to the deeper areas of the level. I thought I would be nervous or even scared of my own death but at this moment all I can feel is a strange tug around my shoulders that is leading me.

A familiar door looms in front of me and I stop short. Why am I here? I am supposed to be hiding for a while. It's too soon!

"Harry, don't you think we should find somewhere else to wait?" Ron asks, breaking the silence that entombed us since we got on the elevator. I began shaking my head as soon as my name was past his lips.

"No, we need to wait in here" I reply absently, hand stroking down the door without my permission.

"Your acting strangely, Harry. Maybe we should just…" Hermione starts, grabbing me by the elbow and tugging gently.

"NO! We need to wait in here, Hermione" I roar, tearing my arm from her grasp in the process.

"Alright, fine. We can wait in here" She recants, stepping back beside Ron almost instantly. I cannot turn my head and even give her so much as an apologetic glance; all I could do was continue staring at the door I have seen so often in my dreams. Even recently I can still see it, see everything that happened that night.

I never see it the way it actually happened anymore. Don't get me wrong, I used to see him fall every night and every night it killed me. I would see the elegant way he arched back into the Veil and the mingled look of shock and just the hint of his previous mirth as he mocked his cousin. Some nights he would even say my name as he fell, those were the worse nights. Now though, I always save him. I make him leave with me, or I push him out of the way at the last second and sometimes I even take the hit for him and fall into The Veil myself. Hundreds of different times, hundreds of different ways but it always ends the same. Every night I save him.

"Mate, we should get out of sight. Someone could walk by at any moment" Ron cuts in, sufficiently ripping me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, alright" I reply, my hand closing over the handle and turning slowly. The door opens without a sound and the Prophesy Room fills my vision. The air is stale with broken glass and dust, there are orbs missing from the shelves but all the evidence that a battle went on here is gone.

"Its strange being back, isn't it?" Hermione asks from right beside me. Neither Ron or I speak but the response is there in the tense set of Ron's shoulders and in the clenching of my jaw.

The three of us walk between the shelving, glancing briefly at the names adorning each remaining orb before moving on to the next. Poor souls, I bet most of them don't even know that they have a prophesy made about them…like I didn't.

"Should we just duck behind a bit of shelving then?" Ron asks, gazing about and looking rather lost.

"I think we should find a corner and huddle together for the hour until the offices close. We'll be less likely to be seen" Hermione suggests, making her way to one of the many corners in the Prophesy Room.

"Sounds like a plan" I state, following behind her slowly. We squeeze into the small space and make ourselves as comfortable as possible for the remainder of the hour.

"Harry, when I was reading the instructions… well it's not quite as simple as the original passage led us to believe. For this to work, you must be totally focused on Sirius when you pass through the Veil. You must think only of him otherwise the magic wont know who to send you to. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of people in the same situation as Sirius but you mustn't think about them. Focus entirely on Sirius. Do you understand?" Hermione instructs quietly, looking at me intensely. I have a feeling that something very bad would happen if I don't think only of Sirius.

"Yes, thank you. I understand" I reply wearily. I haven't slept well in so long.

"Good. I think that this should go rather smoothly if the Veil does what this book suggests. I cant say I'm not concerned but I've been with you all through this and I see how… broken you are. I told myself that if I could ever find a way to help you, I would do it. Well, here we are and I finally realized what happened. You fell in love with him, didn't you?" she asks, staring sadly into my eyes. To say that I am shocked is an amazing understatement. In love with Sirius? Me? My Godfather? Sure, I love him…I loved him almost as soon as I met him. I suppose I do like to hug him a lot, I like the way he smells and I want to spend as much time with him as possible. I was absolutely crushed when he went through the Veil. I mean, it's Sirius! He was the first person ever to escape from Azkaban, he evaded the Ministry and Dementors for three years and yet he always found a way to help me when I needed it. Funny, kind, smart, loyal, wonderful Sirius. I adore him, miss him and need him with everything inside me. So the question remains…Am I in love with Sirius?

"I don't know. Maybe" I sigh, bringing my fingers up to massage my temples.

"It's alright to be in love with him, Mate" Ron supplies, looking very awkward with the words that came out of his mouth.

"Pardon?" I ask.

"He didn't raise you, he isn't your blood and he's a decent bloke. Sure, it would have been nice to tell your best mate that you were gay but… The heart wants who the heart wants" he finishes, smiling crookedly.

"Ronald, I am so proud of you! That was very mature" Hermione praises, patting the top of his hand.

"Yeah, well…It's not like the other things are important in our world" he quips sheepishly.

"What do you mean 'the other things'? What other things are there?" I ask in mild alarm. It isn't enough that he is my Godfather and absolutely way too gorgeous to want me. Wait a minute! Since when did I consider Sirius gorgeous? Handsome, certainly…but gorgeous? Oh hell, who am I kidding? He is an Adonis among mortals. Even after Azkaban. Looks like I'm gay after all…

"In the muggle world, the age difference might be considered a problem…but here, well, it's not such a big deal. I mean, we can live up to three times the muggle life expectancy so an age difference would have to be sixty years or more before it became a real problem" Hermione explains, glancing to Ron for confirmation. At his nod, she smiles and pats my shoulder gently before facing forward and crossing her hands in her lap.

Oh. I didn't even think about the age difference. Merlin, he went to school with my dad! Now I know he wont ever want me. He always says how like my dad I am, how like his best friend I am. Doesn't it just describe how messed up I am that I don't care that he went to school with my dad except for the fact that he wont want me because of it.

"Its six o'clock. The offices are closing now and we should be able to make our way to the Death Chamber in a few minutes. Is everyone clear on the plan?" Hermione asks, shifting slightly in her seat. Looks like I'm not the only one who's a bit anxious.

Ron and I nod, glancing towards the door leading to the chamber with trepidation.

"Good. Harry, you must promise me that you will come back to us. We cant do this without you" Hermione pleads, pursing her lips as though to stave off any further words.

"I promise that I will do everything I can to come back… but if something should happen to me, you need to get Lupin. Tell him everything and let him help you. You're right, you cant do this by yourselves" I request, frowning to show the seriousness of the situation should I not come back.

"Not that we will need it, but it's always good to have a contingency plan" Hermione states with a polite nod of her head.

"Is it time?" Ron asks impatiently, bouncing a bit on the floor.

"Good as any" I reply, standing hastily and helping the other two to their feet.

Silently, we make our way between the rows of prophesies. I can feel the coldness of the floor beneath my trainers, the small gusts of conditioned air flowing past my fingertips, the tightness in my chest. Everything is clear again; I can see and hear everything around me. My heartbeat thunders as we approach the chamber door and my palms itch to grasp the handle and swing the entry open.

I open the massive door slowly and walk with hesitant steps to the middle of the room, to step lightly onto the dais.

"Ward the doors, Harry" Ron reminds me softly. I nod, grasping my wand in my right hand, and point it at each door with the proper incantation. Hermione is muttering softly, kneeling on the stone floor over the rope. Everything is moving so slowly, like we are all submerged in molasses. I know it's just me, Ron and Hermione are looking flustered as though things are moving too fast for them.

"Harry, I need to tie this around your waist and then we will anchor it to both of us to ensure proper tension in the rope" Hermione explains, her voice uncommonly loud in the empty stone room. I lift my arms a bit and allow her to fasten the rope around my middle, looping it several times.

"Right. Er… be careful, Mate" Ron declares, slapping my back in a friendly manner.

"Come back" Hermione demands, face a mixture of worry and determination.

"See you soon" I say, smiling tightly and nodding.

I watch them wind the rope around themselves and then each other before I turn to face the Veil. I always had the fleeting notion that once this whole war was over, I would return here and join Sirius wherever he was but now… I just hope the book was right. I couldn't stand it if I abandoned everyone when they needed me most. Get a grip, Potter! You are a Gryffindor, damn it! Gather your courage and stop acting like a whining, cry-Hufflepuff.

With a deep breath, I begin to step towards the Veil and allow my mind to become lost in memories of Sirius Orion Black. How terrible he looked that night in the Shrieking Shack, how his eyes shone when he asked me to live with him, "The ones we love never really leave us, you can always find them… in here", his reassurances during the Triwizard Tournament, how magnificent he looked when I finally saw him again at Grimmauld Place, the way his hair smelt, the way his arms felt wrapped around me, how sad he looked when he talked about his family, the way his laugh sounded, the way Padfoot's fur felt under my fingers, the sweet way he would smile when he was proud of me…

Darkness, whispering voices, fluttering all over my skin, air whooshing past my face and then nothing. Absolute stillness in the overwhelming darkness. I move my arm to ensure that I did not fall victim to the stasis charms and find it mobile. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and look for any source of light. There, to the right! It's a soft glow emanating from…something. Its too far to make out clearly. Guess that's where I need to go…

I step over the nothingness, gliding effortlessly towards the glow. A figure is emerging from the formless light. I can see a person encased in the brightness and I know without having to think about it that it's Sirius. The stasis is trying to take me, but Hermione's spells are strong and my will too fierce.

Finally reaching him, I reach out my hand to trace his beloved face. His skin is flawless and waxy but it's his! Oh Sirius, I have waited so very long to see you again. I fumble, trying to grasp his hand in my own. His limbs are stiff with the spell but I manage alright. Gathering him close to me, I glide back to where I came from and allow myself to think of my friends on the other side. I don't exactly realize what I'm doing until I feel a strong tug around my shoulders again. I hold Sirius' hand tighter, unwilling to accidentally leave him behind.

We whiz through the darkness without as much as a twitch from Sirius. Faster and faster until I feel the weight of gravity around me and we tumble to the floor in a heap.

"HARRY" I hear somewhere to the left of us but I pay it no mind.

"Oh Merlin, he did it. It's Sirius!" A male voice mutters close to us and I try to focus my eyes, shake the lethargy from my mind. Sirius, Sirius is here with me. GET UP FOR SIRIUS!

I squint up at the two blurry figures hovering over me and slowly the familiar forms of 'Mione and Ron come into focus.

"Did I do it?" I croak, looking to my right where Sirius is lying.

"Yes, Harry. You've done it but we need to get you both back to Grimmauld. Grab onto this, alright?" Hermione says, shoving something into the palm of my hand. Instinctively, I grab Sirius' hand in mine again and place it on the old horseshoe. With a hook in my navel we are back in the recognizable sitting room.

We made it back! Thank Merlin!

"Harry, can you stand?" Ron asks, and with my nod he helps me up and away from Sirius.

"Herm, why isn't he waking up?" I blurt, staring at his prone form on the floor.

"We just need to reverse the spell. Ennervate!" she says firmly with a flourish of her wand. Yellow light erupts from the carved wood and hits Sirius in the center of his chest. His middle lifts off the carpet and with a thud he lands back on the floor.

With a great shudder, his chest begins to rise with a deep breath and I can hear a choked sob coming from somewhere. Oh, it's me. I throw myself back onto the ground and place his head in my lap. I want the first thing he sees when he wakes up to be me.

With a great effort, swirling blue eyes flutter open. He snaps his eyes around him, taking in his surroundings, before locking onto mine. His chest sucks in another deep breath and I smile gently at him.

"Harry" he sighs, shutting his eyes for a long moment before latching on to my own again.

"It's alright, Sirius. Your home" I supply, stroking my fingers through the silken black curls soothingly. It seems to relax him briefly but after a minute he shoots into a sitting position and whips around to face me.

"What the bloody hell happened?! Is everyone alright? Oh Merlin! Are you alright? Oh Harry, I got there as soon as I could. Did that git Malfoy hurt you? Godric help him if he did. Ron! Hermione! Are you alright? I saw the Death Eaters had you but I was a bit pre-occupied, yeah?" he rushes out, grabbing onto my forearms tightly.

"Siri, everyone is fine. Calm down" I soothe, anchoring him by grabbing both his hands.

"Why do you look like that?" he exclaims, blinking rapidly.

"Like what?" I ask, frowning with the unintentional insult.

"I dunno. You're different. What happened?" he explains with a shrug, sharp sapphire eyes boring into my own.

"Almost a year and a half happened, mate" Ron blurts, rejoining the conversation.

"WHAT?" he roars, ripping his gaze from mine to stare at Ron incredulously.

"Um…What Ronald meant to say is you had a bit of an accident back at the Ministry and we were just now able to… er… help you" Hermione says gently, elbowing Ron in the ribs sharply.

"Remember that creepy Veil?" I ask and at his nod I look pointedly at him. His eyes widen comically and then snap shut. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he grimaces and reopens his eyes to meet mine again.

"A year and a half, eh? Let me look at you…" he sighs and places his hand under my chin, turning my head left and right before stopping again in the middle.

"Sirius, I'm so sorry it took me so long. But with Dumbledore and the pensive and The Half-Blood Prince… I'm just so bloody sorry" I blather, horrified to feel my eyes filling with tears.

"Hey, now. None of that! Come 'ere" he coos, bringing me into a powerful hug that freezes the breath in my lungs and forces a sob from my throat.

"Now what's all this about Dumbledore?"

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A/N: Terribly sorry for the delay! Well, no matter, I got it out for you all anyways! I hope you've been enjoying this story so far. If you do….REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! Please. Tee hee. If you have something you would like thrown in or have some constructive criticism for me, I would love to hear from you! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! The story should be getting a bit more romantic soon but I planned this to be a slow, gentle relationship… so not a lot of steamy sex scenes for a while. I do believe I have rambled enough for one chapter, so REVIEW PLEASE!!

Oceans of Love,

~Kitty