A/N I'd like to apologise to all both of you who have read this story. I just sort of lost interest in it. I just realised today it's been almost a year since I updated. For right now, I'm going to post this chapter, the last one. Hopefully, when Half Blood Prince comes out, I will be inspired to finish this story properly. I have a whole bunch written already, but my writing style has changed immensely since I started, and the entire story needs an overhaul.
So, enjoy this chapter, remembering it is the last one in the story.
Sirius lay awake in bed. It was too early to get up. He couldn't see much point in doing so even if it weren't. He wished things were the way they had been, before everyone had gone and died. 'It's not their fault.'
School would just about be over; maybe Harry would be able to come stay for a while this summer. 'Fat chance'
He rolled out of bed. So what if it was too early, he couldn't lie around doing nothing all day. 'I'll get up and do nothing instead.'
He stumbled down the stairs and past the house-elf heads to the kitchen. He was mildly surprised to see Remus already at the table. Sirius made himself some coffee and sat down at the table.
"Good morning" Remus said.
"Is not." Sirius let his head fall onto the table. He was just so sick of this, being in the house all day, every day.
"Remus, do you miss the way things used to be?"
"Are you drunk Sirius?"
"No, just answer me," Sirius picked his head up from off the table.
"I suppose I miss it. Don't really think about it much, there's no point. We can't go back."
"You know, I've been meaning to ask you, how much has Hogwarts changed since we were there?"
"You know, they still don't have dances any more because of what we did. Well, what you and James did."
"It was worth it, seeing all those vegetables playing quiddich in the Hall. There was butter everywhere." Sirius recalled happily. "Which team won?"
"The baked potatoes. It was a very close game." Remus laughed.
"It was a very short game, you mean."
"That too. You might have gotten away with it if it weren't for the fireworks."
"Hey, a game well played deserves a celebration, whether the players be human or vegetable."
Remus just shook his head while they both laughed. Just then an owl came in carrying a letter. It dropped it in front of Remus, who picked it up and read it quickly. He sighed.
"I've got to go."
The happiness Sirius had felt moments before died.
"Yeah, alright."
"I'll be back soon." Remus said, getting up from the table.
"Whatever." Sirius took another sip of coffee. Remus disapparated, leaving Sirius alone in the kitchen. A sudden anger overtook him and he threw his coffee at the wall, the mug shattering into a hundred pieces. "Fuck you Peter, FUCK YOU!" he cursed, putting his head on the table again. This wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair.
Remus did not return, putting Sirius in an even worse mood. Late in the afternoon, he went upstairs to find that Buckbeak was injured. As he was tending to him, Sirius could have sworn he heard Kreacher talking to someone downstairs. Once he had finished, he went down.
"Whom were you talking to just now?" he demanded of the elf.
"No one sir, it was wrong fireplace sir. The young man must not have spoken clearly."
Sirius did not believe him, but it was no use to argue. Perhaps he had just been talking to himself. Still puzzled, Sirius went into the kitchen to make himself some supper. He was just about to sit down when a voice came from the fireplace.
"Black, are you there?"
Sirius dropped to his knees in front of the fireplace, only to see Snape looking back at him.
"What do you want?"
"I never thought I'd say this, but to see if you're still alive." Snape sneered.
"And why would I not be?"
"I just talked to Potter, who was convinced that you were dying in the Department of Mysteries."
"What!"
"I believe he's gone to take Dolores Umbridge out to the forest before setting off for a rescue mission. I shall try to stop him before he goes."
Snape's head disappeared from the fireplace. Sirius's heart was pounding in his ears. He hoped Snape would be able to stop Harry before he did anything daft. Suddenly, he found he wasn't hungry any more, and took to pacing the kitchen instead. A quarter of an hour later, Moody, Remus, Kingsley and Tonks came in. Before Sirius could tell them what had happened, Snape's head appeared once again.
"Potter's gone off to the ministry, I'm almost sure of it."
"We need to go." Moody said, and turned to go out again. Sirius made to follow the others.
"Black, it would be best if you stayed here, you can tell Dumbledore when he comes."
"I'm going."
"Sirius, he's right," Remus said, "stay here and fill Dumbledore in."
Before he could object, the others had left. Panic and anger overwhelmed him. Harry was in danger, and what was he supposed to do? Stay inside. He couldn't do that. He just couldn't.
"Kreacher!" he called.
"Yes master,"
"When Dumbledore arrives, you will tell him that Harry Potter has gone to Level Nine and we've all gone to get him. Alright?" He said very slowly, so as to get through to the elf.
"Yes sir, Kreacher will tell Dumbledore."
Sirius, heart pounding, left the house and disapparated.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Remus asked in a whisper as Sirius joined them in the round hall. Moody was considering each door, trying to decide which was the right one.
"Same thing you are."
"Snape said to stay put."
"Don't worry about it. There's someone at headquarters to tell Dumbledore."
"Who?"
"Kreacher"
"Are you mad!"
At that moment, Moody had chosen a door and they entered into a large, circular room with an arch in the very centre. Sirius had seen this arch before, in a drawing, where he had gotten the drawing, he could not remember. But that didn't matter now. Inside the chamber was Harry and a round-faced boy he recognized as Neville Longbottom, amongst a dozen or so Death Eaters.
Once they realised they were there, a battle broke out. Sirius felt back in his element. If he hadn't been so worried about Harry, he would have thoroughly enjoyed it.
"I want you to get out of here," he said, after Harry had saved him from being hit by a rather nasty curse by Dolohov. "Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville and run."
Tonks fell, and Sirius went to take care of Bellatrix. As they duelled, they came dangerously close to the arch.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" he taunted her, suddenly aware that everyone else had stopped fighting.
In his brief lapse of concentration, Bella hit him with a full body bind. Too surprised to speak, he fell through the arch and hit the ground on the other side.
'What the hell is this?'
"Hello," an aged wizard said, coming around a desk and releasing him from the curse, "this certainly is a different approach."
"Thanks," Sirius said and got up. The wizard had gone back behind the desk.
"Here you go," the wizard handed him a small, shallow bowl, reminiscent of a pensieve.
"But-" Sirius started, but the wizard went out a door. Sirius turned around to see fifty or so witches and wizards sitting in chairs. He took his bowl and sat down next to a witch with long, blonde hair and large eyes.
"Hello," she said, shaking Sirius's hand, "I'm Petra Lovegood."
"Sirius Black." he replied. He wished someone would tell him what was going on. "Uh, I don't mean to be rude, but what is this place?"
Petra laughed and Sirius continued to look at her. He couldn't see anything funny about this at all.
"You mean you really don't know?" she said, after a moment.
"Er, no."
"You have got to be the first person I've seen who ended up here by accident."
Sirius just stared blankly at her.
"There are only two kinds of people back here, inventors and criminals. I would have thought you were the latter."
"I don't understand."
"Ages ago, this arch was built as a way for wizards to visit with the dead. It provides sort of an Antechamber, a gateway into the afterworld. Problem is, no one's ever been able to get back once they've gone through. So many wizards have tried too. For a while, they started pushing prisoners through. I was the last one to develop a way back. But as you can see, it didn't work. So I have to wait here with everyone else."
"What's with these bowls?"
"It's a way to see what's happening to those who we left behind." Mrs. Lovegood said sadly.
Sirius looked down into his bowl. Harry was in the Atrium now, and Fudge was standing there looking like a fool. Sirius smiled.
'He's finally figured it out.'
Dumbledore gave Harry a portkey and he disappeared from view. Sirius looked up and around the room. Other than the desk and chairs, the room was empty. On one wall was a door.
"Does that go where I think it goes?" he asked Mrs. Lovegood.
"Yes,"
Unable to resist, Sirius got up and went to the door. He hesitated for a moment before opening it. What would he say? He took a deep breath and walked through the door. He found himself back in London, and for a moment, thought that he had walked straight out of the ministry.
It was growing dark, and Sirius looked around, trying to decide where to go. He began to walk, and after a long while, reached the house he had been looking for. The last time he had seen it, it had been in ruins. It was not a large house, just big enough for a small family. It was white, with brilliant purple trim. He went to the door, turned the knob, and went in.
"Who's there?" a man's voice called from another room. Sirius could hear his footsteps and a moment later, James Potter appeared. When he saw Sirius there, he grinned.
"Bloody hell Sirius, don't you ever knock?"
Sirius grinned too. "You know I don't."
"Lily always said if someone broke into the house, we wouldn't know until it was too late. We'd have assumed it was you."
Sirius laughed as a red-haired woman entered the small kitchen. "Quoting me again are you?" Lily said, and then did a double take. "Sirius, is that you?"
"No, I'm actually Voldemort pretending to be Sirius."
"Oh very funny," she said, and hugged him, "but this means you're…"
"I'm not."
"I never would have thought you'd be the denial type Padfoot." James said.
"But I'm not, at least not according to Petra Lovegood."
"Who?"
"It's a long story."
"You look terrible mate, have a seat." James said, offering Sirius a chair. Sirius sat down while Lily made some tea.
"Have you seen Ellie yet?" Lily asked.
"No," Sirius replied quietly.
"You should, she's been having kittens over you the last few months. She's worried, and so were we." Lily set down a cup of tea in front of Sirius.
"I don't know what to say, it's been so long." Sirius said, and took a sip of tea.
The three of them chatted idly for a while about past happenings, about Sirius's escape from prison, and about Harry's adventures. It had grown dark outside when Sirius finally got up from the table.
"I'm going to go see Ellie. I'll be back later."
"Good luck Padfoot."
Sirius left the house and walked a few more blocks to another familiar place. This house looked the same as when he had lived there. It was quite small, but he had always considered it home. He walked into the house to find it dark. It looked exactly as it had years ago. Very quietly, he crept through the house until he came to the living room, where there was a dim light. Ellie was sitting in the armchair, legs over one of the arms, fast asleep. A bowl like his was in her lap, emitting a faint light. She looked the same as she had all those years ago. It hit him that she must still be nineteen, while he was almost thirty-six and he knew he looked the worse for wear. Sirius brushed a lock of hair away from her face. One eye opened, and then suddenly, she was wide-awake.
"Sirius Black, what the hell are you doing here?" she said in borderline panic.
This was not the welcome Sirius had expected. Ellie put the bowl down on the floor, got up from the chair and hugged him.
"I go to sleep for an hour and you manage to go and get yourself killed!"
"I didn't."
"Could've fooled me. You left the house didn't you?"
"Yes, but if you'd just let me explain…"
"What's there to explain Sirius, you're dead."
"NO I'M NOT!" Sirius shouted.
"Yes, you are. Unless…" Ellie's eyes widened. She grabbed the bowl off the floor and looked into it. Sirius looked too, and saw the chamber he'd just been in, the veil covering the archway swaying slightly.
"Did you go through that?"
"Yes!"
"Then you aren't dead."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you."
Ellie fell silent for a moment.
"How long have you been here, outside the Antechamber?" Ellie said suddenly.
"Dunno, a few hours."
"Alright. But you can't stay here for more than eight hours at a time or it'll become permanent and you'll die."
"Right now, I don't think that would be such a bad idea."
"Sirius, how can you say that! There are people who need you. Harry needs you."
Sirius looked back into the bowl and saw Harry, tearing apart Dumbledore's office. His heart twisted and he tore his eyes away from the bowl.
"But what does it matter if I'm here, or in this 'Antechamber' that I'll never get out of?"
"Because there is a way out, at least if I'm right."
"What?"
"I'll tell you later, but right now, I think you should go back to the Antechamber. I need to do a bit of thinking."
Sirius didn't know what to say. Ellie walked away from him and started to rummage about in another room. Reluctantly, he left the house and went back to the Antechamber, questions swimming in his head.
When he was back on the other side of the door, he found the other occupants of the Antechamber asleep. There were considerably more of them now. Sirius sat down with his bowl, but he couldn't bring himself to look into it. He couldn't bear to know how much pain Harry was feeling.
He couldn't have slept even if he'd wanted to. How did Ellie know about this place? She worked in the Muggle Worthy Excuses office, how would she know about something in the Department of Mysteries? Was there something she'd never told him? As he sat there, a piece seemed to fall into place. When they'd lived together, all those years ago, he used to come into the kitchen early in the morning to find Ellie asleep at the table slumped over a large pile of papers. That was where he had seen that arch before.
Hours later, Sirius went back out the door and to his house. When he went in, he found Ellie sitting at the paper-strewn table.
"You were an Unspeakable at one point, weren't you?" he said, and sat down opposite her.
"I'm sorry for the way I reacted last night," she replied, "I've just been so worried about you for the last fifteen years."
"Did you work in the Department of Mysteries?" he demanded.
Ellie looked him in the eye. "Yes. I became an unspeakable just after we left school."
"How come you never told me?"
"I couldn't! That kind of defeats the term 'unspeakable'." she smiled, " It's not like I didn't want to tell you. I almost let it slip a couple of times."
"Is that what you were always working on, when you'd be asleep at the table in the morning?"
"Yes. I believe you've met Petra Lovegood?" Ellie said and Sirius nodded. "She and I, we were working on a solution to the arch problem, trying to get the people in the Antechamber out. We both had our own ideas about what would work, and we ended up falling out over it just before I died. She continued to work on hers, until about five years ago, when she thought she'd perfected it. She tested her method, and…"
"Now she's gone too." Sirius finished.
"Yeah," Ellie said, "I knew her plan was flawed."
"What about your method?"
"I'm getting to that." she gathered the sheets of parchment scattered across the table and handed them to Sirius.
"I don't get it." He said after a few minutes.
"You don't have to. I've already got some solution made up. That's this here." she took the pages from him and handed him a recipe for a potion.
"Wow, I doubt old Snivellus could brew this even."
"Believe me, it is difficult, but not impossible." Ellie grinned at him. Sirius was having trouble absorbing all of this. He still couldn't believe that she had been doing secret research projects under his nose, in his house, without him knowing.
"Where is it? This solution?" he asked.
"I knew Voldemort would be after me for it, after all, quite a few of his supporters are in that Antechamber, although most of them have reverted by now. They've all died, chosen to stay here rather than hang in limbo. I gave it to Dumbledore for safekeeping. I don't know if he still has it, or even if it's still potent, but it's worth a shot. I don't even know if it would work, even if it were still good."
"If it means a way out, I want to try it."
"It won't be easy," Ellie said pensively, getting up from the table and starting to pace, "we'll have to contact Dumbledore somehow and the only was is through dreams."
"But Dumbledore shuts his mind at night, at least I assume he does."
"I know, that's the problem. Can you think of anyone else we could contact?"
"I suppose we could try Remus." Sirius said, wracking his brain.
"What about Harry?"
"No. He's got enough to think about. And besides, if it doesn't work, he'll be heartbroken all over again."
Ellie nodded. "Why don't you try Remus tonight then. If it doesn't work then… we'll deal with that then."
Over the next few hours, Ellie taught Sirius how to visit dreams. It wasn't particularly difficult, but it required a fair bit of concentration. Once he'd mastered the skill, Sirius went back to the Antechamber. He gazed into his bowl, watching Harry. After a while, Sirius watched Remus for a while, waiting until he went to bed. Once Remus was asleep, Sirius visited him in his dreams.
"Did you get through?" Ellie asked Sirius anxiously when he returned the next morning.
"Yeah."
"Then all we can do is wait."
"I suppose."
Over the next few days, Sirius spent his days visiting with Lily and James, the nights were spent back in the Antechamber, watching various people and visiting dreams. After almost a month of going back and forth, it looked as if he would be going back.
"Sirius, you need to go back to the Antechamber!" Ellie exclaimed as soon as Sirius had gotten through the door."
"What?"
"Remus, he got the solution off Dumbledore and he's on his way to test it."
"Goodbye Ellie." Sirius said, and hugged her.
"I'll see you later." she replied. Sirius left, but did not go straight back to the Antechamber. He knew before he went back, he had to say goodbye to Lily and James.
"Take care of yourself mate." James said, hugging Sirius.
"And tell Harry that we love him." Lily said tearfully.
"He already knows." Sirius replied and hugged her too.
When Sirius got back to the Antechamber, he watched Remus through his bowl as he entered the ministry with Dumbledore. He still wasn't sure he wanted to leave. Remus was carrying a small bottle of glowing, bright white liquid. Or was it vapour?
Sirius's heart beat faster as the two men went into the Department of Mysteries and entered the room where the arch was.
Remus uncorked the bottle, poured the contents into his hand, and threw it at the arch. Grains of the solution hit the arch, but nothing happened. Sirius walked over to where he had fallen through. The curtain was swaying slightly and he stuck his hand through it. His hand penetrated the fabric of the veil, and Sirius knew it was on the other side. In the bowl, he could see his own hand poking out of the arch and the startled looks on Remus and Dumbledore's faces.
"Sirius?" Remus called. Sirius tried to walk through the arch, but he found he couldn't. He pulled his hand back and tried to walk through again. Something was wrong. Remus and Dumbledore looked at the arch for a long while, calling his name, before finally leaving. After they had gone, Sirius left the Antechamber once more.
"It didn't work?" Ellie said, disappointed, when Sirius turned up again.
"Almost, I could get my hand through, but I couldn't get out."
Unexpectedly, Ellie grinned. "Then it works, it's just been so long the solution has lost its potency. All we need to do is get someone else to brew some more and you're free!"
"This is going to require me to visit more dreams isn't it?" Sirius said flatly. He was disappointed; he'd been so close.
"Yes, but do you want to go back or not?"
"I suppose. How long does it take to brew?"
"Six weeks. Four if you work more than a few minutes at a time and know what you're doing. I can do the visiting this time if you'd like."
"Would you? Somehow, I don't think Remus would enjoy any more visits from me right now."
Over the next couple of weeks, Ellie persuaded Remus, who in turn persuaded Snape, to brew the solution. Sirius wasn't particularly happy about enlisting Snape's help, but he wanted out. The longer he stayed, he knew, the harder it would be to leave.
A month later, Sirius was saying his goodbyes for what he hoped would be the last time.
Again, a bottle of bright white, vaporous potion was brought to the Department of Mysteries and again the vapour turned to solid crystals, which were thrown at the arch.
Taking a deep breath, Sirius put his hand through the veil again, then, closing his eyes, tried to walk through. Cautiously, he opened one eye, then the other, to find Dumbledore smiling at him. Remus seemed too shocked to speak. He was out.
Sirius moved aside as witch after wizard began to file through the veil. Some were crying with happiness, others seemed overwhelmed by their new freedom.
Remus, finally coming back to himself, hugged Sirius fiercely.
"Good to see you again mate. Thank you." Sirius said.
"It's good to see you too Padfoot."
"Ah Sirius, welcome back," Dumbledore said, shaking his hand.
The next few hours were a blur. The Daily Prophet, hearing about the story, appeared, badgering the newly freed occupants of the Antechamber. Sirius began to worry when Fudge showed up to see what had happened for him.
"Sirius Black!" the Minister said, coming towards them.
"Fudge, do you remember what we talked about a month ago?"
"Yes I do. You said this man was innocent."
"And I assure you he is."
"All the same Dumbledore, this is a matter which will need to be settled formally."
"I couldn't agree more. He will stand trial later in the month. Until then he will remain at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Unless of course, you have some objection to that."
"Of course, yes." Fudge said, flustered.
"I will be in touch later to arrange a time for the hearing."
Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius left the Ministry. When they arrived at Headquarters, they found most of the Order seated around the table in the kitchen, Snape included.
They all greeted Sirius warmly, except Snape. Sirius noticed his godson wasn't with them.
"Where's Harry?"
"Upstairs, hardly comes out of our room any more." Ron said.
Sirius left the kitchen, transformed into a dog, and went upstairs to the room Ron and Harry shared. The door was slightly ajar and he pushed it open with his nose before going in. Harry was lying on the bed, one hand hanging over the edge. Sirius went over to him and nosed his hand. Harry withdrew his hand and sat up.
"Sirius?" he said, confused.
Sirius turned back into a man and grinned up at Harry from on the floor. "I'm back"
"But how? Everyone said you were dead."
"It's a very, very long story. I had a bit of help from an old friend."
"Did you see my mum and dad?"
"Yeah, but they weren't the ones who got me back here."
"Then who?"
"A woman by the name of Eleanor. And Snivellus." Sirius made a face at mentioning Snape's name.
"Snape?"
"Yeah, but don't let him make you believe it was his potion, he wasn't the one who developed it."
"So are you free now?"
Sirius grinned again, "almost, I'm on trial later in the month, but according to Dumbledore, they captured Peter, so I'm sure to get off."
"That's fantastic!" Harry exclaimed and got off the bed to hug Sirius.
Two weeks later, Sirius was cleared of all charges with a formal apology from the ministry. The house at number 12, Gimmauld Place didn't seem so bad anymore. The entire house had been cleaned out and given a new coat of paint, paint that wasn't olive green. The tapestries and portraits (except for Phineas Nigellus') had been taken down and destroyed. Kreacher was gone, he had died of old age, much to Sirius's disappointment, he had hoped it would be a painful death.
A couple days after he had seen Harry and the others off on the train back to school, Sirius went out to the graveyard. He wandered through the maze of headstones until he found the ones he was looking for.
"I'm free," he told Lily and James' graves. "I can look after Harry properly now."
On his way out, he passed Ellie's grave, and stopped for a moment.
"Thank you."
A/N so there you go, the end. I'll maybe fill in the chapters in between later, once I've done revising what I've got. I think this is the most I've ever written in one chapter, nine pages! Wow. Thanks to everyone who has read and left a review.
