Only one couple was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Sirius ducked Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.
The second jet of light hit him squarely in the chest.
The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.
He released the other boy, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the dais too.
It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch…
And he saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on Sirius's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place.
He heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing—Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second…
But Sirius did not reappear.
"SIRIUS!" he yelled, "SIRIUS!"
He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he would pull him back out again…
But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward the dais, Remus grabbed him around the chest, holding him back.
"There's nothing you can do, Harry—"
"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"
"It's too late, Harry—"
"We can still reach him—"
He struggled viciously, but Remus would not let go…
"There's nothing you can do, Harry… nothing… he's gone."
"He hasn't gone!"
"James! Honey! Wake up, please!" A woman was pleading in his ear now. "Sirius is here; Sirius is safe!"
He fought against her. He had to get to Sirius; he had to save him before it's too late—
"JAMES! Wake up. It's me, Sirius. Come on, mate, wake up!"
Breathing heavily, James Potter slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times as he felt somebody push his glasses into his hands. He sat up and put them on. Lily Potter, Sirius Black, and Haya Sasaki were hovering over him with concerned and confused faces. He was lying in the middle of the kitchen floor in Sirius's home.
Rubbing his head, he squinted up at them, "What happened?"
"We sent you to go fetch some silverware, but when you never returned we came to your rescue only to find you passed out and thrashing about. It was mad." Sirius explained offering a hand which James took.
"Why did you pass out, James?" asked Lily worriedly.
"I… don't know."
"Easier question—why were you shouting on about my being gone?"
James hesitated. "It was a weird dream—more like a nightmare." He collected his thoughts for a moment before going on to describe the dream.
"And Remus held you back?"
"Yes, but that's not the oddest part—the oddest part is that Remus called me Harry."
"Harry? Why would he call you Harry? Do we even know a Harry?"
"No—"
"We know one," said Lily suddenly, her eyes unusually bright. "Harry Potter."
"Our first born," James said slowly, "but why would I have a dream about him… after all this time?"
"How old were you in the dream?"
"No more than sixteen."
Sirius stroked his goatee in thought. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped midway and looked over his shoulder. "Did you two hear something?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked into the living room quickly followed by Lily and James. "Ah, Remus! Rue!" he cried as Remus Lupin came tumbling out of the fireplace and nearly collided with Rue Miles-Lupin (though only a few knew her full title as all of her students called her Professor Miles), "You're late!"
"Accept our apologies," said Remus with a smile.
"I had to deal with a hysterical girl before I left," Rue explained as she hugged Lily and Haya in greeting, "and Remus refused to go ahead."
"Oh dear, I hope she was alright?" said Lily.
"Quite. She was just upset that she was being blamed for something that she insisted that she didn't do, though everyone in her class—including me—saw her do it."
"Is it tough being a teacher?" asked Sirius with amusement.
"Only sometimes, Padfoot."
Remus and Rue took a step out from in front of the fireplace as it began to turn once again. After a moment, Peter Pettigrew and Kyria Otis shot out and landed in a heap on the floor. Sirius chuckled as he helped Peter and Kyria to their feet.
"I'll never get used to that," grumbled Kyria, looking a bit shaken.
"Aw! Sure you will!" said Haya optimistically.
"Then it will take several more years of practice before I do," she said breathlessly. "Being a Muggle never gave me the advantages such as these. It's still all new to me."
"You'll get used to it," assured Lily. "I did."
"Thanks, Lily."
"Well, now that the pleasantries are over with—and we're all here and healthy—" he cast James an odd look here, "let us go eat!"
There were murmurs of agreement and everyone moved into the dining room and situated themselves. With a flick of Sirius's wand, the meal arrived. As they ate, the chatter around the table steadily increased and changed subjects every so often. As Haya was bringing in the desert (strawberry and apple pastries—her specialty) Peter cleared his throat and looked over at Kyria.
She smiled shyly and nodded.
He grinned. "Kyria and I have an announcement to make."
"People usually organize the gathering themselves when they have an announcement," said Sirius, his eyes twinkling.
Peter gave him a look.
"But this is fine."
Peter grinned again and put an arm around Kyria's shoulder. "We hope you aren't mad, but as you know, we haven't seen you all in nearly three months due to my job as a diplomat. Well, while we were in France—Kyria and I eloped."
There was a shocked silence.
Kyria cleared her throat and then added, "And I'm pregnant."
There was another shocked silence.
"Now," said Sirius, breaking the silence, "did you elope because you're pregnant, or are you pregnant because you eloped."
Kyria went bright red.
"Sirius!" Haya shrieked and slapped him on his arm.
"I was just wondering," said Sirius innocently.
"Neither," Peter said, "Kyria is only a month pregnant, we eloped two months ago."
"Well," Lily said suddenly, "congratulations!"
She shrieked like a school girl and pulled Kyria into a huge hug. Rue and Haya looked at each other before joining in the shrieking and hugging. As they pulled apart, they began talking about how Peter presented it to her and every so often the girls would stop talking to sigh romantically.
The guys grinned at their mate and finally jumped out of the shocked state to pat him on the back and congratulate him as well. He smiled proudly, feeling the best he had in a long while.
"Now," said Lily loudly, though she looked as if she was only speaking to the women, "the only Marauder who needs to get his act together is Sirius."
The women laughed and the men chuckled as they turned to look at Sirius only to see that he was no longer standing there. James spun around the room, "Sirius?"
It appeared that he had not listened to a thing that Lily had just said. He was staring out the window with a confused look on his face. After a moment he said, "James, do you have a relative—like a brother or something—that I don't know about?"
"No," said James slowly.
"Then why is your twin right outside my house?"
