December 2006

Ch25: Out of the Veil

Christmas vacation came just in time. Both Dianna and Lilly were anxious to spend some time with their baby brothers as well as with the rest of the family. Their "unofficial" visits during weekends were just too short and they were not willing to attract undue attention to their abilities by making their absences from school too evident.

Both girls were going through a growing sprout. "My robes are too short already," Lilly complained, "and I need another bra as well."

"I seem to wear my shoes out going up and down all those stairs," Dianna said.

Harry was not the kind of father to let these complaints go unnoticed. "I'll take you shopping. I have no plans for tomorrow and I can just as well spend it with you two."

He wasn't surprised when they both hugged him warmly. "Thank you, Dad," they said in unison.

As they were getting ready the next morning, the fire flared and a female voice asked to speak urgently with Lord Potter-Black. A few minutes later, a very ashen faced Harry joined the girls. "I'm sorry, dears, but there is an emergency meeting of the wizengamot and my presence is required. We need to postpone our shopping to another time."

"How long is that meeting going to take?" Lilly asked.

"An hour. Maybe two, but one can never know in advance."

"Can we come to the ministry with you?" Dianna asked. "I've never been in there," she added, looking imploringly at Harry.

"Oh, well. If you promise to behave then you can join me. We'll go shopping as soon as it's over."

Once they reached the ministry, Harry was informed that the minister was held and the meeting would only start an hour later. "Can you show us the ministry, please? Especially the places where you and Mom fought Death Eaters," Lilly asked him, using her version of his puppy-eye expression, one he could never resist.

Harry had no problem getting permission to show the girls all the rooms at the Department of Mysteries. They were only warned not to touch anything.

Harry showed them the different rooms: the time-turners room, the brains room, the prophecies hall and the veil room.

They didn't go close to the veil. Harry didn't want to take any chances and kept them no closer than the third row of benches. Lillian chose to sit there for a few moments, gazing at the veil. Harry didn't even notice the pale yellow beam emanating from her forehead towards the veil. It only lasted a few seconds and he was quite distracted by the memories from that room and the veil itself.

Lillian didn't talk about that room until they were home, after spending the afternoon shopping, first in muggle London and then at Diagon Alley. She was quieter than usual, though Harry didn't notice.

It was already after dinner. The younger kids were sent to bed while Lilly and Dianna stayed a bit longer.

"Dad, you haven't told me anything about the battle in the chamber of the veil," she noted.

"It's in the history books. I've already told everything," Harry replied.

"Not really. I've only heard from Neville about the injuries Mum had suffered there and about Uncle Ron's injury. I knew your godfather died there, but even Neville wouldn't tell me how. Will you?"

Harry sighed. This was one of the memories that haunted him the most. He remembered how he had felt seeing Sirius stumble and fall through the veil to never be seen again. "Well, you've seen the veil this morning. I told you it's named 'The Veil of Death' and it was used for executing convicted criminals. They were just pushed through the veil and they vanished forever."

He sighed once more before continuing. "During the battle in the ministry, we eventually arrived to that room and were surrounded by Death-Eaters. We thought everything was lost, when suddenly members of The Order arrived and engaged the Death Eaters. Sirius came with them. He was dueling Belatrix near the veil. They were both experienced duelers and none managed to get the upper hand. Then, while fighting, Sirius stumbled and fell through the veil…" He could say no more.

Lilly thought for a moment before talking. "I don't think he's dead," she said.

Harry was stunned. He would have dismissed her words, had she been anybody else, yet he knew that Lillian wouldn't say this if she didn't have a real reason. "Why do you think so?" he asked.

"I've studied the veil when we visited. I could sense a few people waiting there to be called back. I was unable to identify any, but I'm quite sure he is one of them."

Harry didn't dare hope. It was too fantastic to be true, yet… Could he really dismiss even the slightest chance to see Sirius alive once again?

"Is there any way to bring them back?" he asked with trembling voice.

"There must be. I'm not yet sure, but I believe that one must call them, showing true love and putting a lot of power as well. I'm not sure that's enough, but it's worth a try…"

Harry had no doubt about it. "Can we try it?"

Lillian smiled. "Sure, we can! I think we should take Dianna, Rose and Helen to join us. Along with you, this should give us enough power."

"I don't like taking Rose there. It could be dangerous for such a small child."

Lillian had no doubts about it. "Rose may be young, but she's already about as powerful as I am and she's sure to be much more powerful as she grows up. It may not work if we don't tap some of her power for this."

It took Harry a few more days to make the arrangements. It was quite difficult to get the approval from the DOM, even for The Man Who Conquered, yet he got it eventually when he promised to let the DOM have its people present during the ritual. Everybody was curious about the possible results.

Convincing the three mothers was an even harder job. None of them wanted her child too close to the veil, trying some unknown kind of magic. Both Hermione and Narcissa were quite aware of the dangers such unprecedented ritual may pose while the Grangers didn't think a young child should even know of such things. It took Harry two days to convince Hermione, and then it was much easier to persuade the others.

They arrived early and were promptly escorted to the veil room. Lillian asked Harry to sit on the floor in front of the veil, leaving about ten feet distance. She had Rose and Helen sit at his sides with her and Dianna at both ends, forming a shallow arc in front of the veil.

Lilly took command. "We should now hold hands. Once we start, we should all try to pump as much magic as possible towards Harry, while you, Dad – you should concentrate on pushing your love towards Sirius and calling him to come back. Try to concentrate only on that and remove any other thought from your mind. It may take some time to accomplish, so you must be patient and not lose concentration. Remember – this is for Sirius!"

Harry nodded solemnly and felt two small hands grabbing his, making his spirit rise. He concentrated for a short time, recalling all the happy moments he had spent with Sirius, and then he said quietly "Now!"

Nothing seemed to happen for a while. Harry and the four girls were holding hands and closing their eyes in concentration. Everything was still. A few minutes later, the group started to glow. It was first a faint bluish glow, like an aura close to their bodies. It slowly became wider and stronger until the group seemed to be covered by a light blue haze, making it look like a single being. The glow became brighter and then a wide beam shot from the center towards the veil. Nobody could see its exact origin.

Time seemed to stand still. Nothing moved and only the crackle of the tremendous magical energy used in the chamber could be heard. Then it all happened almost at once. A loud shriek was heard and somebody came flying through the veil, falling face down in front of Harry. The blue haze disappeared, revealing the five exhausted members of the group. People all around were running towards them. Some wanted to help them recover, others to question them and still others to check the person who came out of the veil.

Harry looked at the person in front of him. He couldn't identify the man until somebody turned the fallen man around. Harry could only mumble "Sirius!" before he passed out of exhaustion.

Harry opened his eyes, finding himself in the infirmary at the ministry. He looked frantically around, noticing five more occupied beds. He couldn't see who was in the beds from his position. He tried to sit up.

"Not so fast!" he heard, as a hand pushed him gently back into the bed. "You still need to recover. Drink this…" He was handed a vial with some orange liquid which had a distinct taste, not really covered by the fruity additions, and then a glass of pumpkin juice to wash the taste out.

"Did we get Sirius?" he asked.

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