Behind the veil
By Maria Mihaylov
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Sirius Black, or the rest. Harry Potter and the other characters belong to J.K.Rowling.
A/N: In memory of Sirius Black, also known as Padfoot who will be greatly missed.
Behind the Veil:
Chapter Three: Meeting in the headquarters
«Remus, you have to come. I know it won't be easy but as a member of the Order you ought to attend the meetings. »
Nymphadora Tonks has tried her best to cheer up Remus; and for two weeks Remus Lupin was sitting on the same chair, in the same room, Sirius's room, and had paid no attention to her.
Once again Remus didn't answer nor moved.
«I'm sure that if he was alive he wouldn't want you to sit here and ....
Just look at yourself! You haven't moved from that chair from two weeks, you haven't eaten anything. You have to get over it. Anyway I'm sure Dumbledore will be disappointed if he finds out what you've been doing all this time. » She glanced at him one more time and went out.
As she closed the door, Remus slowly stood up, he looked at the mirror and saw a rather young man with greasy hair, his clothes were old, and scars were deforming his face. He had no job, no money, no friends, and no future. He was wondering why was it he that survived. He had always thought that he would be the first to die, after a full moon night. His health has never been good and the fact that he was a werewolf was not helping either. Who had expected that James Potter, that born to win, the leader, the cool guy, and the most populate of the school should die several yeas after he had left Hogwarts. And Sirius Black, who would have expected that he, would be in Azkaban for fourteen years of his life.
Peter Pettigrew, he had expected him to marry, have five children and work with the Ministry of Magic. But nobody had thought that Remus Lupin, the werewolf, that shy boy always standing in the shadow of Potter and Black, that intelligent boy for who there was no hope of future had survived .
"In the beginning there were four Marauders.
James, you were the first to leave
But death was waiting for you at the corner,
Sirius, they took you away
But when you came back death greeted you,
Peter, your time will come
And the last face you will see will be mine,
And when my turn arrives
I shall be happy to know that behind the Veil
There will be people waiting for me." Said Lupin to himself.
Then he walked out of Sirius's room, went in his, changed his clothes, washed his face, went downstairs and took a deep breathe before opening the door of the living room .
«Ah, just in time, Remus» said Dumbledore's voice
Remus sat on the only free char left and listened to what Dumbledore wanted to say:
«Four days ago I received a letter from Petunia Dursley, Harry's aunt. She said that they were at table when Potter began crying. This, of course, we do all know the reason.
"Dumbledore looked away."
He fainted and was driven to the hospital. Muggle doctors said he nearly died. I sent Severus Snape to check if the boy was all right. I also decided that it would be necessary that the boy should master Occlemuncy. That's why I sent Potter and Snape to Hogwarts. Professor Snape could teach him Occlemuncy until the comeback of the students on September. I think Occlemuncy will help him to avoid accidents like the one in the Department of Mysteries.
"So Dumbledore thought Padfoot's death was an accident. Thought Remus Lupin"
Remus, I really would appreciate if you could spend the rest of the holidays at Hogwarts, Harry will need you.
Then I would like to say that Sirius Black's funeral will be in a two weeks. His will'll be read Monday, in three days.
I'd like to add also to Molly about her son Ronald, who became a prefect last year that ...»
"There's no point listening to all this rubbish. Dumbledore was
of Sirius as if it was his mistake. Dumbledore should feel guilty. If Sirius is dead that's only his fault. It was him that kept him locked in this house.
Going to Hogwarts to cheer up Harry wouldn't bring Sirius back to life. He was gone; the last of his friends was dead." Thought Remus Lupin.
The meeting continued. Remus didn't even bother to hear what the others said.
Suddenly Remus stood and asked the question every one wanted to ask and didn't have the courage to do:
«Why did Sirius have to die? What was that veil he feel trough? Whose fault is it that he's dead? Everybody here wants to know the answer, Dumbledore» asked Remus.
Everybody looked at Dumbledore.
«I always knew that time should come. Your questions shall be answered when time comes. »
Mr.Weasley, who until now had said nothing, asked:
«And when will that time come? We're not children, Dumbledore»
« Sirius had to die because his time had come. He didn't die on purpose. He died for the same reasons like James and Lily did. I expected you to understand. He died fighting against Death Eaters who, unfortunately, were more powerful than himself.
That veil, Sirius Back fell trough was the Veil of Death. All dead go there once they're dead. No one knows what and who is waiting for them on the other side. When Sirius fell, he joined the dead. Once you pass trough the Veil there is no going back. And I must unfortunately remind you that before Sirius fell he was cursed by Bellatrix Lestrange. That curse killed him. As you may have noticed, it was not Avada Kedavra. But we can be sure that Sirius was dead before reaching the other side of the Veil.
And it was nobody's fault if he died. It was only his and Bellatrix Lestrange's fault. He shouldn't have left the Headquarters as I had told him.
It was his choice.
I think we should fix on the Death Eaters we caught. I'm sure they'll get out of Azkaban in a very short while. I shall have to talk to Cornelius Fudge, tonight.
Now, as I was telling you before, Lucius Malfoy won't admit that .....»
Remus Lupin, finding useless to continue hearing Dumbledore's speech, tried to think on what he had said. He only knew one curse that could kill and that was Avada Kedavra. He remembered the colour of Bellatrix's curse and was sure that it was not Avada Kedavra.
But if it wasn't Avada Kedavra, what was it?