Author's Note: Tortall/Harry Potter ficlet written for the LiveJournal tortall100 challenge. August 1's (or somewhere around that) subject: crossovers. Length: NUMBER words. SPOILERS FOR THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, so read at your own risk. Otherwise, enjoy.
Reunion
By Trisana McGraw
Sirius stared out at the dark, barren land stretching for miles before him. He would've thought Heaven would be a lot brighter and welcoming to all the poor souls passing through its gates. Unless, of course, he were in Hell. Well, he wouldn't blame whoever had decided to put him here.
Next to him stood the tall, cloaked figure that had summoned him here immediately after he'd fallen through the veil at the Ministry of Magic building. The man hadn't said a word as they'd walked through the equally silent landscape. Now, he nodded his hooded head slightly, and Sirius turned to see what the other man was looking at.
A hideous hag limped toward them, using a gnarled stick for support. "Enough of your slow traveling," she rasped. "You probably want to see your friends, hmm?"
Sirius blinked at her, not understanding what she meant. He opened his mouth to ask, but an instant later four other people had appeared next to them. Upon recognizing the man with rumpled hair and the woman with green eyes, his jaw dropped even further. Making a strangled noise, he rushed to them, and they embraced him.
"Ugh, too sickening," he heard the hag mutter, but he didn't care. Even when James and Lily had stopped hugging him, he remained clasping James' arm. He swallowed and decided to make another attempt at coherent words. "Have you guys been here for all these years?"
"Actually, we've been in a more grassy, forest kind of place," Lily said, glancing at the dark sky overhead with narrowed eyes. "With more sunlight. That's where we met Sarra and Weiryn."
For the first time, Sirius noticed the other two people who had appeared. The blond woman wore a flowing green dress; the tall, tanned man beside her had only a loincloth on. Antlers protruded from his dark, curly hair.
Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Would you look at that, Prongs?" he said. "You've found a kindred spirit, no pun intended."
"They showed us around the Realms of the Dead," James said.
"And Sarra told me that there are ways to look down on our children," Lily added excitedly. "Thanks to her, we've been able to check on Harry once in a while."
"Sounds like you've got it made up here," Sirius commented. "But if you've two found your perfect matches, who am I supposed to get paired up with? Tall, dark, and silent over there, or this beauty?" He flashed a charming smile at the hag, whose expression remained as if she'd swallowed a pickled lemon with beetles on top.
His friends didn't share in the joke, either. James said, "You won't get a chance to, because you're the lucky one; you get to go back."
"I'm what? But how? And when?"
James shrugged. "We don't know that. But this is only a temporary stay for you."
Sirius nodded solemnly. "Then I better make the best of it, huh?" This time he got some smiles.
