Disclaimer: I own just Rowena.
Rowena slowly turned her head, her brownish-black hair slightly swishing at the being behind her. Her eyes met the hazel orbs flecked with green of the other person. It couldn't be, this was impossible. . .
Sirius Black was looking at her, his eyes round in surprise, his jaw dropped. He stood there, just slightly awkward, not knowing what to say or do. Rowena stood up, and walked over to him. She was shaking, trying to stop, but failing miserably. She was afraid of crying, especially in front of Sirius. He was such a strong person, who kept his control on some of his feelings, though his anger was never on a leash.
She breathed slowly, taking in the person in front of her. He had changed a lot since she saw him. His hair was longer, and more unkempt. There were circles under his eyes, as though he were only a shadow. He was paler, his lips were chapped, and he had lost the lively spirit he once had. Just like Dumbledore. . .
Finally she spoke, feeling her stomach stop churning.
"Sirius, it can't be you. . . who are you? Did you take Polyjuice potion? What kind of sick joke are you playing on me?! Get off!"
Sirius tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she threw him off. She sat back down, and felt the weight of Sirius sitting down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulders quite comfortably, and she let him, for this was what the old Sirius used to do.
"This is dark magic. This isn't real. It's an illusion. . .", Rowena said softly, hoping this statement would be proven false.
"Let me explain. . .", Sirius said, his voice the same from fourteen years ago, bittersweet, perfectly balanced.
Rowena didn't answer. What could he explain to her? What did he know? Someone was trying to trick her, that was it.
"Prove to me that you're Sirius Black, the good friend I've known since I was eleven, do something, anything!"
"Ask me something only I would know.", Sirius suggested gently, a playful smile on his face. It was rare for him to smile, Rowena now knew.
"What did you tell me when you first saw Harry?"
He grinned, "'I don't want to have a son, for I might love Harry more.'"
Rowena nodded, but replied, "That was much too easy."
"Ask again!"
"Fine!", she thought for a few minutes, then asked,
"What was your first insult to me?"
Sirius started laughing so hard, he could not say the words, and was practically falling on the floor in hilarity. Rowena refused to laugh; she remembered the insult well, and she never found it funny.
"Well?"
Sirius, breathing heavily, and giving another grin, said in a slightly higher voice,
"Well, you were by yourself in the Three Broomsticks, during our. . . Third year, was it? Anyway, you looked sad, and you sat alone and I said, "Why are you so sad, Flintwood? Does Malfoy have a crush on someone else?"
Rowena cleared her throat angrily. She still took it to heart, for she ALWAYS despised Lucius Malfoy. Despite all her Transcendentalist ways, her meditation, her spirituality, she still hated Malfoy beyond compare. She sighed, finally and said,
"Ok, so you ARE Sirius. . . but, you're dead. . .you can't be. . .Dumbledore said."
"Look, Dumbledore knows I'm alive. Right now, Remus, Dumbledore, and you are the only ones who know."
"Explain everything!"
Sirius looked at her thoughtfully, adding, "You just won't quit, will you?"
"I deserve to know.", she said coldly, "I was crying over you in Dumbledore's office. . . my heart broke practically, I was so shocked, I didn't know what to say, what to do. You owe me an explanation."
Sirius said, with a mock sad face, "I'm so. . . touched!"
Rowena rolled her eyes.
"Well, you've made your point. Dumbledore told you about Bellatrix hitting me with the spell and me falling threw the veil right?", he stopped, waiting for Rowena to nod, then continued, "It hurt like Hell, as though it was sucking the soul out of my body. Though everyone was under the impression that the veil would bring about your death, but that isn't exactly true. It hasn't been used in many a century. What it does is it stops your heartbeat and your breathing, for how many hours it takes to replenish your wellbeing. So it gives the impression that you have died, but what it really is doing is stopping your body from working, as though time has stopped, so you can rest and rebuild what is lost."
"Then shouldn't you look younger, Sirius?"
He shot her glare, as though he was throwing daggers at her, and ignored her.
She smirked, "So then what happened?"
"Finally, I guess after a few days, I woke up. I was in the Department of Mysteries still, and no one had noticed I was alive. I wanted that way. So I changed into my Animagus form. You know, the dog. I ran out, and got out of the Ministry as soon as possible, so they wouldn't figure out anything. I felt so. . . new. Like I had just been born, and nothing had happened, and like I never dueled Bellatrix. Mind you, she wasn't that good. . .
"Then, I came straight here, though I didn't want to, and I waited till about two in the morning, and then I sent him a message through Floo Powder, and told him everything. He was the one who explained the 'healing process' bit."
Rowena stared at Sirius, watching him examine his feet.
"Who else knows, besides Dumbledore?"
"Remus. He saw me here, he had to pick up something. Dumbledore said it was alright. Remus was an awful liar, though. He talked to Harry, but he told me Harry yelled at him for not caring about my 'death'.", Sirius said, chuckling a little.
Rowena looked pensive, and then asked, "Why did Dumbledore tell me you were dead? Why did he lie?"
Sirius gaped at her, and said, "Honestly, you can't be that thick! Anyone could be listening! He could never tell anyone out loud about my being alive. If the Ministry found out, I would be back in Azkaban."
"Yes, about the Ministry, why didn't they drag out your body? Why wasn't there a funeral?"
Sirius laughed, saying, "They weren't aware that I was in the Ministry at the time. They still think I'm an enemy at large! They didn't look over the evidence in the Department until a week after the Voldemort incident, because they had to deal with the Death Eaters they caught, and I was gone by that time. No one who knew of my body dragged me out, because it would incriminate someone and would 'tamper with evidence'."
"Oh, now I see.", Rowena answered slowly, things making much more sense than before.
They were both quiet for a while. Rowena finally found a question that needed answering.
"Why must Harry think you're dead?"
Sirius frowned, his eyes softened, overflowing with pain.
"It would endanger him. Voldemort thinks I'm dead, and so does Bellatrix, the old battleaxe. Even Voldemort isn't old enough to know the true nature of the veil. If he did know, he would've used it to regain his own power. And if Harry wants to fulfil the Prophecy to his advantage, killing Voldemort, neither can know I exist. As you must have figured out, Voldemort would use me to hurt Harry. Now Harry doesn't have any connections Voldemort knows of yet.
"I remember just a few weeks ago, Harry tried to reach me with a two-way mirror I gave him. But Dumbledore had forbidden me any contact with Harry, so I had to ignore it. I broke the mirror. It was very tempting to talk to Harry, to tell him everything was alright, that I was ok, and that he didn't have to worry.", Sirius looked down dejectedly, "I wanted him to know that I was here, and I would always be here for him."
Rowena's heart sank, watching Sirius break down. He was tormented by the thought of being able to see Harry, but knowing that if he did, Harry was in harm's way. She scooted over next to Sirius, putting her arms around him, saying ever so softly,
"Things will work out, ok? Don't worry."
She held Sirius for what seemed an eternity, wanting to be like the veil, healing him and ridding him of worry. Rowena suddenly felt the closeness of their friendship within a few minutes, the warmth of him being near her.
Finally, Sirius broke away, unable to speak, looking at Rowena hopelessly. She gave the smallest smile, and said,
"Once Harry defeats Voldemort, which could be very soon, you can talk to him, right?"
As though the thought had never occurred to him, Sirius's face lit up and said, simply,
"Yeah, that's right. I could. Anyway, where have you been, Rowena?"
Rowena smiled, and told Sirius all about Nepal, the people she lived near, what she did, everything. . .that is, with the exception of her visions of Sirius as a raven. Sirius laughed at the thought of Rowena meditating, for she was very feisty and lively in his opinion.
Rowena asked after a while, "Where's Remus?"
Sirius jerked his head towards the stairs, "Sleeping. Like an infant. He would be glad to see you too."
Rowena suddenly asked, yes, another question.
"Why did Dumbledore allow me to know?"
Sirius shrugged. "What did you say to him?"
"Well, he asked me if I wanted to stay at Hogwarts, and I told him there was someone I wanted to talk to, so he said, "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place". He handed me this.", she said, holding up the silver unlighter. "Do you think he just wanted me to see Remus?"
Sirius shook his head. "I think he knew very well you'd run into me. I mean, he might have plans for you, Dumbledore. . . it's no harm, really. Just don't tell anyone, no matter what. Because, if anyone finds out, even if it were a house-elf, it could endanger Harry." Rowena nodded.
"That reminds me, where's Kreacher?"
Sirius's face became sour and had a tinge of green.
"Dumbledore sent him to live with Tonks, my cousin's daughter and a member of the Order. I feel bad for her. But Dumbledore did so because if he sent Kreacher to Narcissa, he'd blab all the Order's secrets to her, because, as I am 'dead', he does not have to obey me anymore. But Tonks has been trying to be kind to Kreacher, that filthy traitor, thanks to damn S.P.E.W.! He told Harry I was gone, and made him endanger his own life! He injured Buckbeak!"
When he saw Rowena's confusion, he answered, "My hippogriff. It lives upstairs."
Rowena laughed at this outright, "Are you sure Hagrid isn't your cousin, too?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, adding, "They're really gentle creatures, you know."
Rowena scoffed, "Well, so are house-elves, but we've seen Kreacher!"
"Indeed.", Sirius thought for a second and asked,
"Rowena, are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you need anything?"
"Just a bed. I'm exhausted! And I don't have much, so anything will do." She pointed to her small black bag.
Sirius nodded, walking with her upstairs.
"Pick a room, any room."
She smiled, and took the one farthest away from Remus's room, for she could hear him snoring.
"Where are all your robes?"
Rowena sighed, saying, "Donated it to the "Help a Witch" foundation."
Sirius added sarcastically, "How good of you."
She smirked, "I know. I have such a big heart."
They looked at each other for the longest time, and all of sudden laughed so hard, to the point where they were leaning on the wall to stop themselves from toppling over. Finally, they stopped themselves from having a seizure, and retired for the night.
"G'night Rowena!"
"G'night Sirius!"
She laid down on the bed, hearing his footsteps down the hall to another bedroom. She heard a door open, and then a close. She felt the weight of her eyelids closing down, and slipped under the covers, feeling a bit chilly. She didn't realize it, and never remembered, but said softly before she went to sleep,
"My love. . ."
Rowena slowly turned her head, her brownish-black hair slightly swishing at the being behind her. Her eyes met the hazel orbs flecked with green of the other person. It couldn't be, this was impossible. . .
Sirius Black was looking at her, his eyes round in surprise, his jaw dropped. He stood there, just slightly awkward, not knowing what to say or do. Rowena stood up, and walked over to him. She was shaking, trying to stop, but failing miserably. She was afraid of crying, especially in front of Sirius. He was such a strong person, who kept his control on some of his feelings, though his anger was never on a leash.
She breathed slowly, taking in the person in front of her. He had changed a lot since she saw him. His hair was longer, and more unkempt. There were circles under his eyes, as though he were only a shadow. He was paler, his lips were chapped, and he had lost the lively spirit he once had. Just like Dumbledore. . .
Finally she spoke, feeling her stomach stop churning.
"Sirius, it can't be you. . . who are you? Did you take Polyjuice potion? What kind of sick joke are you playing on me?! Get off!"
Sirius tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she threw him off. She sat back down, and felt the weight of Sirius sitting down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulders quite comfortably, and she let him, for this was what the old Sirius used to do.
"This is dark magic. This isn't real. It's an illusion. . .", Rowena said softly, hoping this statement would be proven false.
"Let me explain. . .", Sirius said, his voice the same from fourteen years ago, bittersweet, perfectly balanced.
Rowena didn't answer. What could he explain to her? What did he know? Someone was trying to trick her, that was it.
"Prove to me that you're Sirius Black, the good friend I've known since I was eleven, do something, anything!"
"Ask me something only I would know.", Sirius suggested gently, a playful smile on his face. It was rare for him to smile, Rowena now knew.
"What did you tell me when you first saw Harry?"
He grinned, "'I don't want to have a son, for I might love Harry more.'"
Rowena nodded, but replied, "That was much too easy."
"Ask again!"
"Fine!", she thought for a few minutes, then asked,
"What was your first insult to me?"
Sirius started laughing so hard, he could not say the words, and was practically falling on the floor in hilarity. Rowena refused to laugh; she remembered the insult well, and she never found it funny.
"Well?"
Sirius, breathing heavily, and giving another grin, said in a slightly higher voice,
"Well, you were by yourself in the Three Broomsticks, during our. . . Third year, was it? Anyway, you looked sad, and you sat alone and I said, "Why are you so sad, Flintwood? Does Malfoy have a crush on someone else?"
Rowena cleared her throat angrily. She still took it to heart, for she ALWAYS despised Lucius Malfoy. Despite all her Transcendentalist ways, her meditation, her spirituality, she still hated Malfoy beyond compare. She sighed, finally and said,
"Ok, so you ARE Sirius. . . but, you're dead. . .you can't be. . .Dumbledore said."
"Look, Dumbledore knows I'm alive. Right now, Remus, Dumbledore, and you are the only ones who know."
"Explain everything!"
Sirius looked at her thoughtfully, adding, "You just won't quit, will you?"
"I deserve to know.", she said coldly, "I was crying over you in Dumbledore's office. . . my heart broke practically, I was so shocked, I didn't know what to say, what to do. You owe me an explanation."
Sirius said, with a mock sad face, "I'm so. . . touched!"
Rowena rolled her eyes.
"Well, you've made your point. Dumbledore told you about Bellatrix hitting me with the spell and me falling threw the veil right?", he stopped, waiting for Rowena to nod, then continued, "It hurt like Hell, as though it was sucking the soul out of my body. Though everyone was under the impression that the veil would bring about your death, but that isn't exactly true. It hasn't been used in many a century. What it does is it stops your heartbeat and your breathing, for how many hours it takes to replenish your wellbeing. So it gives the impression that you have died, but what it really is doing is stopping your body from working, as though time has stopped, so you can rest and rebuild what is lost."
"Then shouldn't you look younger, Sirius?"
He shot her glare, as though he was throwing daggers at her, and ignored her.
She smirked, "So then what happened?"
"Finally, I guess after a few days, I woke up. I was in the Department of Mysteries still, and no one had noticed I was alive. I wanted that way. So I changed into my Animagus form. You know, the dog. I ran out, and got out of the Ministry as soon as possible, so they wouldn't figure out anything. I felt so. . . new. Like I had just been born, and nothing had happened, and like I never dueled Bellatrix. Mind you, she wasn't that good. . .
"Then, I came straight here, though I didn't want to, and I waited till about two in the morning, and then I sent him a message through Floo Powder, and told him everything. He was the one who explained the 'healing process' bit."
Rowena stared at Sirius, watching him examine his feet.
"Who else knows, besides Dumbledore?"
"Remus. He saw me here, he had to pick up something. Dumbledore said it was alright. Remus was an awful liar, though. He talked to Harry, but he told me Harry yelled at him for not caring about my 'death'.", Sirius said, chuckling a little.
Rowena looked pensive, and then asked, "Why did Dumbledore tell me you were dead? Why did he lie?"
Sirius gaped at her, and said, "Honestly, you can't be that thick! Anyone could be listening! He could never tell anyone out loud about my being alive. If the Ministry found out, I would be back in Azkaban."
"Yes, about the Ministry, why didn't they drag out your body? Why wasn't there a funeral?"
Sirius laughed, saying, "They weren't aware that I was in the Ministry at the time. They still think I'm an enemy at large! They didn't look over the evidence in the Department until a week after the Voldemort incident, because they had to deal with the Death Eaters they caught, and I was gone by that time. No one who knew of my body dragged me out, because it would incriminate someone and would 'tamper with evidence'."
"Oh, now I see.", Rowena answered slowly, things making much more sense than before.
They were both quiet for a while. Rowena finally found a question that needed answering.
"Why must Harry think you're dead?"
Sirius frowned, his eyes softened, overflowing with pain.
"It would endanger him. Voldemort thinks I'm dead, and so does Bellatrix, the old battleaxe. Even Voldemort isn't old enough to know the true nature of the veil. If he did know, he would've used it to regain his own power. And if Harry wants to fulfil the Prophecy to his advantage, killing Voldemort, neither can know I exist. As you must have figured out, Voldemort would use me to hurt Harry. Now Harry doesn't have any connections Voldemort knows of yet.
"I remember just a few weeks ago, Harry tried to reach me with a two-way mirror I gave him. But Dumbledore had forbidden me any contact with Harry, so I had to ignore it. I broke the mirror. It was very tempting to talk to Harry, to tell him everything was alright, that I was ok, and that he didn't have to worry.", Sirius looked down dejectedly, "I wanted him to know that I was here, and I would always be here for him."
Rowena's heart sank, watching Sirius break down. He was tormented by the thought of being able to see Harry, but knowing that if he did, Harry was in harm's way. She scooted over next to Sirius, putting her arms around him, saying ever so softly,
"Things will work out, ok? Don't worry."
She held Sirius for what seemed an eternity, wanting to be like the veil, healing him and ridding him of worry. Rowena suddenly felt the closeness of their friendship within a few minutes, the warmth of him being near her.
Finally, Sirius broke away, unable to speak, looking at Rowena hopelessly. She gave the smallest smile, and said,
"Once Harry defeats Voldemort, which could be very soon, you can talk to him, right?"
As though the thought had never occurred to him, Sirius's face lit up and said, simply,
"Yeah, that's right. I could. Anyway, where have you been, Rowena?"
Rowena smiled, and told Sirius all about Nepal, the people she lived near, what she did, everything. . .that is, with the exception of her visions of Sirius as a raven. Sirius laughed at the thought of Rowena meditating, for she was very feisty and lively in his opinion.
Rowena asked after a while, "Where's Remus?"
Sirius jerked his head towards the stairs, "Sleeping. Like an infant. He would be glad to see you too."
Rowena suddenly asked, yes, another question.
"Why did Dumbledore allow me to know?"
Sirius shrugged. "What did you say to him?"
"Well, he asked me if I wanted to stay at Hogwarts, and I told him there was someone I wanted to talk to, so he said, "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place". He handed me this.", she said, holding up the silver unlighter. "Do you think he just wanted me to see Remus?"
Sirius shook his head. "I think he knew very well you'd run into me. I mean, he might have plans for you, Dumbledore. . . it's no harm, really. Just don't tell anyone, no matter what. Because, if anyone finds out, even if it were a house-elf, it could endanger Harry." Rowena nodded.
"That reminds me, where's Kreacher?"
Sirius's face became sour and had a tinge of green.
"Dumbledore sent him to live with Tonks, my cousin's daughter and a member of the Order. I feel bad for her. But Dumbledore did so because if he sent Kreacher to Narcissa, he'd blab all the Order's secrets to her, because, as I am 'dead', he does not have to obey me anymore. But Tonks has been trying to be kind to Kreacher, that filthy traitor, thanks to damn S.P.E.W.! He told Harry I was gone, and made him endanger his own life! He injured Buckbeak!"
When he saw Rowena's confusion, he answered, "My hippogriff. It lives upstairs."
Rowena laughed at this outright, "Are you sure Hagrid isn't your cousin, too?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, adding, "They're really gentle creatures, you know."
Rowena scoffed, "Well, so are house-elves, but we've seen Kreacher!"
"Indeed.", Sirius thought for a second and asked,
"Rowena, are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you need anything?"
"Just a bed. I'm exhausted! And I don't have much, so anything will do." She pointed to her small black bag.
Sirius nodded, walking with her upstairs.
"Pick a room, any room."
She smiled, and took the one farthest away from Remus's room, for she could hear him snoring.
"Where are all your robes?"
Rowena sighed, saying, "Donated it to the "Help a Witch" foundation."
Sirius added sarcastically, "How good of you."
She smirked, "I know. I have such a big heart."
They looked at each other for the longest time, and all of sudden laughed so hard, to the point where they were leaning on the wall to stop themselves from toppling over. Finally, they stopped themselves from having a seizure, and retired for the night.
"G'night Rowena!"
"G'night Sirius!"
She laid down on the bed, hearing his footsteps down the hall to another bedroom. She heard a door open, and then a close. She felt the weight of her eyelids closing down, and slipped under the covers, feeling a bit chilly. She didn't realize it, and never remembered, but said softly before she went to sleep,
"My love. . ."