Chapter 18

(A/N: Manny your review had me cracking up laughing so hard. You rock. Hahahahaha. Ok sorry I just had to get that out. Anyway, on with the story!)

"Sirius..." her voice caught in her throat. There, standing before them stood a living, breathing Sirius Black. Or at least from what she could tell. Adalia barely recognized his older more worn features, his eyes seeming sunken into his head. She could barely remember to breath.

"Adalia." His voice was toneless, emotionless. It made her stomach curl. This wasn't right. He shouldn't be here. He wasn't even supposed to be alive! She took a deep breath, looking him up and down.

"How..." She trailed off as he stepped forward. She watched his gaze land on Harry who was stalk still. Adalia knew he was about as shocked as she was. They were silent for a time before Sirius walked closer still. Adalia took a step back, forcing Harry to do so as well.

"This isn't possible. You're dead."

"I saw Sirius die!" Harry yelled, pulling out his wand and pointing it at the man. His face was flushed, breathing hard.

"I didn't die Harry. Bellatrix didn't kill me..." he trailed off, his eyes seeming to plead for their cooperation.

"No," Adalia spoke firmly, taking out her own wand an pointing it at him, "You are not Sirius. Show your true face NOW!" She had yelled more for her own comfort than to scare him. And yet he did not change. He did not show what she had half hoped he would. Another person.

He took another step forward and put up his hand, palm facing towards them. Adalia looked at him strangely.

"Look, try and touch my hand," he said with a small smile. Adalia took a step forward and held out her own hand. Her fingers reached out to touch his palm, but instead of touching, passed through it, a shot of cold racing from the tips of her fingers to her elbow. She pulled her hand back with a gasp. Harry squeezed around her, his wand now pointing to the ground.

"Sirius..." he trailed off, tears welling in his eyes. Sirius smiled a sort of crooked smile that had always made Adalia melt. She choked back sobs. It was him, only...

"You are dead." The words were almost inaudible but she had managed to get them out. He shook his head sadly.

"I am not. I'm trapped between this world and the next. Something has kept me here, kept my body alive and yet my soul unconnected. The veil I fell into...it keeps my body from aging. Adalia...I need to to get my body. I need you to help it be free of this veil."

Adalia lay on her bead motionless, concentrating on making her breathing slow and soothing, her mind clear of all thoughts. But ideas of Sirius being able to come back alive! They leapt at her mind like a leopard on its prey. She sat up then, as the door opened. Remus walked in slowly, sitting down next to her on the comforter.

"You knew about him didn't you?" she asked softly. When he didn't reply, she growled low. She turned to face Remus defiantly.

"Why didn't you tell me he wasn't dead?! Why, Remus?! He could still be saved!!"

Remus looked at her steadily and though he tried to hide his emotions from her, she knew him too well not to see the pain and discomfort in his eyes. The longing and loneliness. It surprised her and yet, didn't at the same time.

She stood, gathering her hair into a ponytail and walking to her dresser while she waited for his answer. She retrieved her dagger, a red rose made out of rubies and its stem out of emeralds cascaded down the hilt. She slid it into her boot so the hilt was the only part visible, its background black so it blended somewhat with the top of the shoe.

"You were not ready then." It was the shortest, most frustrating answer she could have gotten and it made her anger boil.

"Not ready?! Screw this. I'm going to get him tonight. You've kept me away from him too long. You, Dumbledore, Riddle, everyone! You would not let me help before when Harry needed me most, and now this."

Remus stood and strode over to her, putting his hands to cradle her neck to look straight at him.

"I love you damnit that's why I didn't tell you! I don't want you hurt! Its worse enough to loose my best friends but then the woman I've never stopped caring for with all my heart and the only friend I have left! I wasn't going to let you go and kill yourself!"

She pulled back sharply from him. "Well I've never stopped caring for Sirius, and I will risk my life for the chance that he might live again."

With that she turned and dashed out the door, stopping at the fireplace and grabbing a handful of floo powder. With one swift movement she flung it down and mumbling a few choice words in Gaelic that meant, "Ministry of Magic," she was flown through the portal and landed harshly in her office fireplace. She had not realized, however, Harry standing in the hallway as she had down so, listening and memorizing her words so he could follow.

Sirius had left them suddenly after saying those words to Adalia, not telling her how she was to get him back. He had simply disappeared and Harry and she had been silent. He had finally said of course that he needed to be alone and so she had let him. That was how she had come to be lying on her bed. She had deduced that Remus knew, how she knew that she had not come to realize.

So now she strode out of her office, ignoring those she had known in her days working for the ministry. They, luckily, didn't notice her. She continued on to the elevator, taking it down to the level where they kept the experiments. The level where she had been told Sirius had been killed. There was a guard there, and he looked at her oddly as she came closer. She recognized him as one of the Aurors she had worked with. What had his name been? She couldn't remember. Strikingly enough, he didn't stop her as she continued inside.

It was a strange place she entered then and it took many wrong turns to point her in the right direction. She stopped short as she saw the veil. Before it was not just Sirius's body. A man stood there, waiting, red hair falling into his eyes. Clay.

Without another thought she was throw backward into a wall, it crumbling slightly, dust spilling onto her head. She groaned and tried to stand up but fell back down again.

"Pitiful," he spat, walking towards her, wand outstretched, "and to think my Lord wanted to choose you for his wife. Come back to save your precious Black, have you? Ill do you one better. I'll let you join him in the afterlife."

"You son of a bitch. You betrayed me. I trusted you! Trusted you with my life!" She yelled, coughing between every few words. He laughed sharply.

"Big mistake my little butterfly. If Lucius hadn't been so clumsy, I wouldn't have to be the one to kill you. But it seems, as always, I must clean up his mess."

Adalia looked up at him and with a swift movement, shot her hands out, sending him flying backwards just barely missing the veil. He slammed against the wall but got uo quickly, swaying on his feet. Adalia leapt up but she was too slow, not able to get out of the way fast enough from his spell. It caught her in the chest and she fell stiffly to the ground.

"A bit more of a pain in the arse than I thought you would be. I'll give you that much."

"Not as much of a pain as I'll be," came a voice from the doorway. Adalia barely registered the flash of light hitting Clay in the stomach causing him to fly back so hard into the wall he was knocked unconscious. Adalia looked to the doorway and there stood, above all people, Harry. He ran to her and mumbled a spell that freed her. She stood, looking warily at Clay, grabbing her wand from where it had fallen on the ground and spelling Clay into a sleep only she could wake him from.

"Harry how did you get in here! The guard, the security."

Harry looked at her strangely. "I used the words you did to get into the ministry, and from there...that's it. There were no guards to get in here..."

Adalia did a double take. That couldn't be right. She had seen that man standing there...

"Sirius..." Harry jolted her out of her thoughts and she looked at the body, head lying in the veil, sheiling it from view. They walked slowly to it, each holding their breath. Adalia knelt down next to it and took a deep breath, not sure what to do now.

"Adalia, Harry." Sirius's voice flew to them and suddenly he was there, visible and looking as if she would be able to reach out and hug him. And yet she could not. For if she tried it would only go right through him. There was an emptiness in her that yearned for his touch.

"Sirius...what do we do?"

He winced slightly. "Push me the rest of the way in."

She looked at him incredulously. "What?!"

He smiled sadly, "trust me."

She looked down at the body, running her fingers over his hand. She had to trust him. She didn't know why she did now, of all times. It didn't seem like the right thing to do. And yet, with a few heavy pushes, she and Harry shoved the body the rest of the way, disappearing into the veil. They both stepped back then, turning to look at Sirius's ghostly figure.

"Now what?" Adalia asked breathlessly. Sirius sighed.

"Now...I say goodbye..."

(A/N: I finally have it figured out what I want. I have direction! Yessss. Lol. Anyway, I didn't really know how to finish this chapter so sorry if it's a bit messy. Another cliffhanger...DUN DUN DUN!!! Hehe. I love doing that.

Manny2003: hehehehehe. MUAH HA HA!! I am evil I know. ï