This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Word Count: 1312

Title: Behind The Veil

Note: canon divergence.

Warnings: Apparent death, trauma

Beta: Herochick007

Quidditch League:

[Team]:Ballycastle Bats

[Position] Seeker

[Theme]: Write about a magical invention that doesn't work as expected

[Theme] Quidditch Supplies

[Prompts]:

[Theme]: Book Club

[Prompts]:

[Theme]: Pokemon

[Prompts]:

Summary: AU- Sirius can't be dead, he can't be gone forever, so where is he?

It felt like time froze as the green light from Bellatrix wand hit me square in the chest, I felt my body fall backwards, weightless, through the archway. My last smile was shot at Harry as everyone seemed to be paused from the fight.

Was this what Death felt like? It was oddly peaceful. But no, as soon as my body went through the veil, I felt something solid beneath me. Surely I shouldn't feel anything? I looked around, and I was on a sandy beach. "No! I have got to get back! Harry needs me!" I pushed against the veil, trying to force my way back into the Room of Prophecies, but the portal was gone. A lighthearted voice distracted me.

"That's not how it works in here, I'm sorry to say," I turned to face a blonde haired woman, who looked like a much older version of the Lovegood girl, the friend of Harry's.

"Who are you?" I asked, yet I suspected the response was not going to surprise me.

"Pandora Lovegood," she said softly.

"Your daughter is your spitting image," I said before I could help it. I wasn't sure what compelled me to volunteer this information. It seemed clear this was some kind of afterlife, and if that happened to be the case, I could have done worse, and also she would know this already.

"My daughter?" Pandora asked, puzzled. "She looks just like Xeno, with her chubby little cheeks."

I ignored the odd comment for the time being, looking around. "Why are you here, and not Lily and James?"

"Oh," she laughed again whimsically. "You think you are dead, don't you?"

"Well, aren't we?" I looked down at myself, and I started to wonder. I was covered in sweat and scares from the battle, and suddenly the thought that I might be alive started to cross my mind.

"No silly," she said. "I am sorry about the Potters though, they are dead, but we are simply trapped in the veil."

"Trapped? No, that's worse…" I muttered, pushing against the veil again with all my might and felt my legs cave beneath me.

"One could argue that, I suppose," Pandora said, giving me a hand and pulling me into a seated position. "I do miss my little girl, she only just turned nine, I was a little taken aback you have seen her."

"Nine? Um, with all due respect, Pandora, can I be that informal?"

She nodded amicably.

"Your daughter is probably about sixteen, she is fighting in there right now," I pointed weakly at the veil.

Pandora finally seemed at a loss for words. "Sixteen?" She said simply, and started pacing, her face losing some of the whimsy it held upon first seeing me. "That can't be," she added eventually.

"It is, so how do I get out of here? Because I haven't five years to wait." I said.

"Mr Black, it's not that simple, I'm afraid."

"You can call me Sirius."

"Sirius, I have tried everything, and the only thing I have discovered is the veil cannot be opened from this side. It's like a one way passage, you see, someone needs to open it from the outside to be able to free us, and being here, well, as you can see, it doesn't really have options to communicate with the outside world."

"You must know something!" I cried, flinging my hands up in desperation.

"Well, I know it wasn't supposed to work this way," Pandora said idly, sitting down beside me, and taking my hands into her pale, soft ones.

"How do you know?" I asked, letting my hands be held, it made me feel a peace I haven't felt in ages.

"I helped create it," she whispered. "It was meant to kill on contact, but we aren't dead, we still hurt, we cry, time passes outside, but we are frozen in time…" she wanted to continue but her voice broke, and I saw the tears fall down her cheeks. I moved one hand from beneath hers, and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"It's okay, tell me everything," I insisted. There must be a loophole in the development somewhere.

"It was meant for Death Eaters, people so evil that nobody could ever love them, that it would punish them, kill them upon impact, I have seen…" Pandora paused, as if wondering if I could handle her coming words, she must have deemed me worthy, because she nodded slightly and added. "I have seen bad people fall." She shuddered.

"And?" I urged.

"They scream and vanish."

"So, we didn't die? Have there been others?" I asked, suddenly looking around.

"There was one, a man named; Rome McDonald; he was here with me for a while, and then, I don't know what happened precisely."

"Try and picture it, tell me what you saw, where is he now?"

"One day, his wife was sobbing by the veil, you see, and she was saying how she would die to save his life, she would rather be dead than without him," Pandora rolled her eyes slightly. "All very Romantic."

I nodded eagerly. I think I was noticing something she hadn't seen, but I needed to be sure.

"So, he leant up against the veil, as if to comfort her, and he went back through, as if she opened the portal with her confession."

"I see, so all we need is for a loved one to wish for Death to bring us back?"

Pandora seemed startled. "I never considered that before."

"I mean, it seems logical that someone who is evil or cruel wouldn't be brought back, because they wouldn't have someone to mourn them, despite the fact that we aren't truly dead, you know?" I asked.

Four years later:

Harry was sitting in front of the Veil, tears welling up in his emerald eyes, he never knew a loss as great as losing his godfather Sirius, and it had been the most traumatic loss he had ever faced. Of course Harry was too young to know his parents were gone, he mourned for those who died during the war, but Sirius, Sirius just vanished…

"It's all my fault," he cried, putting a hand against the edge of the veil, as if teasing with the thought of jumping into it. "I should never have let him in my head. I'm so sorry Sirius…"

The Veil glowed, and I saw an older, broken, Harry standing beside the Veil. What was he doing there? How much time had passed?

"Pandora, Harry's here!" I cried, and she looked eagerly towards the scene unfolding.

"Do you think he can save you?" She asked.

"He is Harry freaking Potter, if anyone can, it's him," I almost jumped in excitement, my wounds had long since healed, but it felt like only weeks had passed in my beautiful prison.

"I love you, Sirius," Harry was saying. "I never got to tell you that, you are the closest thing to a father I've ever had. I don't know what I'm doing." Harry sighed, and I reached, wanting to comfort my godson, knowing I had never been able to before, and I felt my hand slide right through the veil, and I gasped.

"Sirius?" Harry gasped too. "You're not dead!"

"I was trapped in there," I nodded towards the mirror, and took the boy, now much older, into my arms. "I love you too, boy, I missed you so much." I ruffled his hair.

I knew behind the Veil, Pandora was smiling at our reunion, but she didn't know I was planning on bringing her husband and daughter here soon enough, we have been away from our families for way too long. "I can't believe this," Harry said.

"So, what did I miss?" I grinned. I had all the time in the world to be with my family now.