For a moment, there was heavy, suffocating silence, and Sirius could see nothing. Then a bright light erupted around him, and he was knocked off his feet by some invisible force. He must have blacked out then, because next thing he knew he was sitting slumped on a bench, with a stranger slapping him in the face. As soon as he opened his eyes, the stranger's anxious expression changed to a broad grin.

'Sirius Black.' The voice was so familiar, it was odd to see its owner in the flesh. Nigel Oakridge was a tall, gangly fellow with blonde-red hair, intelligent brown eyes and a nervous habit of chewing his lower lip, which he was doing just then, while he waited for a response from Sirius.

'Nigel Oakridge', Sirius said in reply. He extended his hand, because it seemed like the right thing to do. Nigel grabbed it and shook it eagerly. It felt strange to have physical contact with someone again, and Sirius let go quickly.

He stood up slowly, shakily, and stretched. He blinked slowly, and finally began to take in the room around him.

He was in the chamber of Death - he would never forget that room. But now, where the archway had stood on that dreadful day, there was only a pile of rubble and dust. Sirius' eyes widened.

'The Veil! What happened?'

'It's all destroyed', Nigel replied softly, 'you were out cold for a while, I had to drag you away from where you were lying when it started to collapse. I've done it Sirius. I've brought you back to life!'

'But…what about the rest of them?' Sirius whispered. 'Are there others?'

'Certainly not', Nigel answered smugly, 'my spell was focused entirely on you. Look, I don't want to rush you, I know this a lot for you to take in, but we need to get out of here without anyone seeing us, and I'd rather do it sooner than later. I've managed to clear the department for an hour, and that time is running out.'

'How did you clear the department?' Sirius asked curiously.

'Oh just a reminder spell', Nigel replied mildly, 'they all suddenly realised they'd left the fire burning at home. Come on, Sirius. Follow me.'

So having no choice but to do as he was told, Sirius followed Nigel towards the exit. His mind was whirling, and he felt nauseous, sweaty and confused….but alive, he kept reminding himself silently, alive.

They reached the end of the Department of Mysteries, and Nigel halted. 'Beyond this door Sirius, you are a dead man', he said seriously, 'I'll need to conceal you as we walk through the Ministry.'

Sirius' sense of unease deepened again momentarily. 'I'm not a criminal anymore am I?' he said impatiently. 'Everyone knows the truth. I'm not hiding. What was your master plan after hiding me then?'

'I hoped to bring you to the Minister', Nigel replied honestly, 'only because I want him to see what I've been able to do - this is a huge success for the Department. He didn't believe I could do it, y'know.'

'Who's the Minister?' Sirius asked curiously, 'anyone I know?'

Nigel flashed him another grin. 'It's Kingsley Shacklebot', he informed him, 'so I thought you might like to see him anyway. He can help you much more than I can. He can set you up with somewhere to stay, re-orientate you to…well, life, I suppose.'

Much as every fibre of Sirius' being wanted to rush out into London and find Harry, he knew Nigel was right. His resurrection would be a big shock for people; best to introduce the idea to one or two people at a time.

'Okay', he conceded, 'bring me to Kingsley. But no concealment.'

Nigel nodded his agreement, relief flooding his features. Sirius was momentarily disgusted by his weakness, but buried this feeling underneath his much-deserved gratitude.

The walk through the Ministry was relatively uneventful. A number of people did double-takes as Sirius walked by, several stopped and stared, open-mouthed; but Nigel ushered him through the corridors quickly, not allowing anyone the chance to stop them.

They arrived at the Office of the Minister for Magic, and Nigel stopped in front of the witch sitting at the reception desk. 'I have important business with the Minister', he said imperiously, 'is he alone?'

The witch looked up and stared at Nigel, taking in that he wore the robes of an Unspeakable. She slid her gaze sideways, to Sirius, and her eyes widened to saucers. 'I…yes…I…' she gaped and spluttered, and pointed to the door into the Minister's Office, 'go ahead!'

Nigel and Sirius smiled at each other, and after a brisk knock, Nigel flung the door open.

Sitting at a large wooden desk, with legs made of gnarled branches, and owls decorating its edges, mountains of paperwork surrounding him, head bent over a document and scribbling furiously, was Kingsley Shacklebot. He did not look up, but waved a hand at the two newcomers. 'I am extremely busy and you have no appointment', he said, 'please come back tomorrow, or make an appointment with Martha.'

Sirius grinned and cleared his throat. 'Oh now Kingsley, that's no way to speak a long-lost friend.'

Kingsley stopped scribbling and slowly raised his head as Nigel quietly closed the door behind them. The Minister stared at Sirius in disbelief. After a couple of seconds he rubbed his eyes furiously, then stared again.

'Sirius…Black. No, is it…wait…Sirius!' He leapt up from his seat and in two strides had his arms around Sirius, hugging him tightly. Sirius returned the embrace stiffly, completely lost for words. But as Kingsley held on to him, he felt all of his fear and anger dissolve. He almost collapsed against him, and to his annoyance, felt tears course down his cheeks.

'I had to come back, Kingsley', he whispered, 'I couldn't die like that.'

'I know', Kingsley replied, releasing him and guiding him gently to a chair. He did not offer one to Nigel. 'Sirius, will you give me a moment to compose myself. Happy as I am to have you back, Mr Oakridge here has flouted my authority in doing this and I do not wish to act rashly in my treatment of him.'

'What?' Sirius was confused. 'Did you tell him…not to save me?'

Kingsley sighed heavily. 'Unfortunately Sirius, I feel a very high price will have to be paid for breaking this fundamental law of magic. I do not know what it will be, but I fear it. As your friend, I would have traded almost anything to have you back. As the Minister for Magic, I have to consider the risks to the wider wizarding community.' Now, finally, he looked at Nigel. Sirius had never seen him look so angry. Nigel raised his chin and stared back at Kinglsey defiantly.

'Minister, forgive me, but you are too short sighted to understand the important of this…of bringing Sirius back to us-'

'Do not make this about Sirius', Kingsley interrupted, his nostrils flaring, hand twitching towards his robe, towards his wand. 'Do not use an old friend of mine to justify meddling with the oldest powers of all. The last wizard who did so met his end too recently for you to have forgotten.'

A shiver ran down Sirius' spine. He stood up, next to Kingsley, and looked at Nigel thoughtfully. His nervousness and awkwardness had taken second place to rage and arrogance now, as he stood with clenched fists before the most important wizard in the country. A young Tom Riddle might have been just like this, he thought, though he hated himself for even allowing the thought.

'I have no choice but to fire you, Mr Oakridge', Kingsley said, his deep voice shaking. 'Leave immediately. Your belongings will be sent to you. Do not darken the doorway of the Ministry again. You are lucky I am not having you arrested.'

Maybe you should, thought Sirius.

Nigel's jaw dropped. 'But…but you can't fire me!' He exclaimed, half pleading. 'Sirius, talk to him!'

Kingsley raised a hand to stop him. 'You have used Sirius for your own ends enough already, I think.'

'But I need to hand over my work to someone else…I'll need a month at least-'

'Now, Oakridge!' Thundered Kinglsey, 'Out of my sight!'

Nigel said nothing for a moment, his face twisting in fury and shock.

'You will regret this, Minister', he said quietly. He looked at Sirius again. 'I will send you a message Sirius. We are not finished.'

And with that, he ripped his Unspeakable badge from robe, threw it on the floor and stormed from the room.

Kingsley sighed again and bent to pick up the badge.

'What has he done, Kingsley?' Sirius asked, half afraid of the answer.

'Sit, Sirius', Kingsley replied wearily, 'I have much to tell you.'