an:this is the second to last (possibly third to last...lol, but most likely second to last) chapter of shadowed veil...it is coming to an end (tear)...but, at the end of this chapter, in my final an, I will be reminding you all of my plans for after this (in case you forgot)...so, although we may be nearing the end of shadowed veil...I don't think we're nearing the end of me writing...aren't you all so happy? lol
reviewer responses (ha ha...i love you guys):
Mithril-Moony:yes, it is ending...i'm sorry...hey, but you never know...someone else has suggested a sequel...maybe one of those will happen. Thanks for reveiwing
emuerz: naw, I wouldn't leave you not knowing where Sirius was off to...I'm not that mean. lol. thanks for reveiwing
forestofgreenjello: yes...what was Sirius thinking? he can be rather stupid...lol. it's been a while since you last reviwed...where have you been?lol. As of right now, there is no sequel planned...but I do have a, er, prequel of sorts in the works
legolasfanxoxo: of course he's endangering his chance to be with harry again...he's Sirius, this is what he does...lol. anyway, i'm planning on posting the last chapter right before youth conference(in other words, before HBP)...if you don't get a chance to read it, let me know, and I'll print you out a copy for the bus ride...lol
dweem-angel: oh yes...Sirius's 'chat' with Actaeon...i hope you like it...thanks for reviweing
Dante Lweis: thank you for your oh-so-wonderful review. Actaeon is finally getting whats coming to him. As you said, Sirius is playing out his role as best friend...
katie: did you realize that you reviewed twice? saying the exact same thing in both? lol. its ok, tho, because it boosted my reviews up to a glorious 99. thank you for reviewing
disclaimer:see previous chapter (heh heh...I'm getting kinda lazy)
Sirius didn't exactly know where Actaeon would be, but drawing from what he knew of the man, he was safely betting that he would still be at the Ministry, even though it was late at night. People like Actaeon were often over-dedicated to their work and, because of it often stayed at the office for as long as they possibly could manage. After acquiring James's invisibility cloak, Sirius apparated to the Ministry. Once at the Ministry, he realized he had another problem: if Actaeon was here, where exactly in the building was he, and how did he expect to find him? He sighed and drew the invisibility cloak closer around him. He silently wished that he had the Marauder's Map with him, if only it were a map of the Ministry, rather than Hogwarts. There's no point wishing over something that you'll never have, he told himself. You need to find Actaeon, and standing here isn't going to help you any. Sirius sighed again and looked around the Atrium where he was standing.
"If I were an evil psychopath, where would I be?" he muttered quietly under his breath. "Well, not here." He looked around again, and spotted the row of elevators at the other side of the Atrium. Decidedly, he walked over to one of the lifts. He was about to press the button to open the elevator when it suddenly opened in a loud clatter. Sirius's jaw dropped as he saw who was in the lift: It was Actaeon himself. Luck, it would seem, appeared to be favoring Sirius tonight. Sirius remembered just in time to move as Actaeon stepped out of the lift and headed straight towards him. Actaeon walked passed him, grumbling under his breath. He walked over to the security desk at the other end of the Atrium and set a stack of parchment down on the desk, still grumbling.
Please don't disapparate. Please don't disapparate, Sirius pleaded silently as he watched Actaeon move across the room. He knew if Actaeon disapparated, he would have no way of finding out where he went. He let out a sigh of relief as he watched Actaeon move back towards the elevator. In an annoyed manner, Actaeon walked back into the elevator, and Sirius, being very careful not to accidently brush against the other man, followed him in. At the fifth level, Actaeon got off again, and Sirius followed him silently underneath the invisibility cloak.
Actaeon stepped into an office down the hallway. Sirius just barely managed to get through the door before Actaeon shut it with a wave of his wand. Sirius stood just inside the door, observing Actaeon before making any move. When the other man sat down at his desk, and busied himself with paperwork, Sirius started to move around. It wasn't until he was absolutely sure that the man was paying full attention to his work that Sirius started to make his move. He picked up an old, burned-out oil lamp, held it for a moment, and then let it drop. He smiled as it shattered upon impact, creating a very loud noise.
Actaeon's head shot up from his desk. "What was that?" he demanded. "Who's there?"
Sirius's grin grew wider from under the cloak. "No one is here," he said in a sweet, simpering voice. "You're all alone."
Sirius tried to keep from laughing as Actaeon looked around wildly, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. "Who are you? What do you want?" he said, his voice shaking nervously.
Just as I thought, Sirius thought bitterly, he's a bloody coward. "Who am I?" Sirius asked from under the cloak, his voice still falsely sweet. "Why, don't you know?" Sirius pulled the cloak off of himself. "You've only been looking for me since July."
Actaeon stood up, knocking his chair over as he did so. "Black," he snarled.
"Actaeon," Sirius commented. His eyes followed Actaeon's arm as it slowly reached for his wand. "Now, now. None of that," he spat. "Expelliarmus."
Actaeon's wand flew from the desk beside him. Sirius caught it deftly. "You and I are going to have a little chat," Sirius said. "I think, however, that you are not going to do much of the talking, though."
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"I want to know where he went," James said, for what seemed like the millionth time in fifteen minutes.
"Wherever he went," Lily said comfortingly, "I'm sure he'll be fine. He can take care of himself."
James looked at Lily with his eyebrows raised. "With his luck? I doubt it," James complained. "I wouldn't put it past him to go and get himself killed on accident." James threw his arms up in the air in exasperation and started to pace around the room.
"James, he'll be fine," Lily said again, watching James pace from the couch.
"I really want to know where he went," James moaned.
"I know you do," Lily said.
"Do you know where he went?" James asked, turning around to face his wife.
"I have no idea," she said simply. However, she didn't really mean what she said. She had a shrewd suspicion of what Sirius might have been planning, but she wasn't going to say it to James.
James looked at her, almost as if he knew she wasn't exactly telling the truth. "Yes you do," he said.
"I do not," Lily said, smiling at the look of suspicion of her husband's face.
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"Black," Actaeon growled. "How nice of you to make your way over here."
"Did I not just say that you weren't going to do much of the talking?" Sirius asked menacingly.
"It doesn't matter what you say," Actaeon snapped harshly. "You see, I have been waiting for months for you to show up. I knew from the moment I threw Potter in Azkaban you would show up to seek revenge. People like you are so easy to predict."
"I don't see what you're going to do about it now," Sirius said dully, "seeing as how I have your wand."
"I don't need my wand," Actaeon replied snidely. "So long as I have–"
"Shut up!" Sirius snapped, his impatience getting the better of him. "I am getting sick of listening to you talk. So, you are just going to be quiet, and let me get on with my business."
"Oh really?" Actaeon asked incredulously.
Sirius's eyes narrowed. This man was getting on his nerves. Sirius drew himself up to his full height and, with a rather menacing look on his face, took a step forward. "Yes, really," he spat. Actaeon took a step back nervously. Anyone who had ever gotten on Sirius's bad side could tell you how terrifying he could be when he wanted to. And right now, Sirius did look rather terrifying. Actaeon gave out a small squeak in response.
"Good, now we can carry on," Sirius said. "You see, I'm leaving in a few days, and when I'm gone, I want to know that my best friend is not going to be bothered by you. It would appear that you chose the wrong people to mess with. No one messes with my friends without having to answer to me in the end."
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James looked closely at Lily. "You have an idea of where he is, though," he said, looking Lily in the eye.
"Yes, I do have an idea," she replied.
"Where do you think he is, then?" James asked.
"I'm not telling you," Lily said sternly.
"And why not?"
"Because if I do, you're going to run off and do something incredibly stupid," Lily retorted.
James stopped pacing. Where would Sirius have gone that would make Lily think that I would run off and do something stupid? he asked himself. His eyes went wide as the answer came to him. How come he didn't see it before? It was typical of Sirius to do something like this. James turned slowly back to Lily. "You think he went to deal with Actaeon, don't you?" James asked.
Lily sighed. Now that James had guessed, there was no point lying to him. "Yes, I do," she replied wearily.
"The idiot," James muttered under his breath. "He's going to get himself killed. I've got to go help him."
"James," Lily said in warning. "Don't even think about it."
She spoke too late, however, because James had already disapparated.
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Sirius looked at Actaeon. "So, let's get this straight. You are going to leave the Potters, in particular James, alone. And when I actually die, if I hear that you have been causing problems– and trust me, I will heard about it– you will wish you had never existed," Sirius threatened cooly.
Actaeon seemed to regain some of his courage as Sirius spoke. "And what, may I ask, is going to stop me?" Actaeon asked snidely. "That lousy piece of filth you call a friend deserves everything he gets."
That was the last straw for Sirius. No one insulted his friends without suffering the consequences. This man had hit on Lily, thrown James in Azkaban multiple times, and still had the audacity to insult James in front of Sirius. Not a wise move. Sirius dropped the wands he held in his hand. He closed the gap between himself and the despicable man across from him in a few lone strides. Gripping the front of Actaeon's robes with his left hand, Sirius let his right fist soar into his face. Actaeon stumbled back, even though Sirius still had a firm grip on his robes. Sirius latched onto to Actaeon's robes with his other hand and drove him back towards the wall, pressing him firmly up against it.
"Now listen to me, and listen to me well," Sirius growled. "You are not worth the light of day. The only reason I am even here is out of loyalty to my best friend. He is more of a man than you could ever hope to be, you low, despicable, good for nothing bastard. The second I find out you so much as looked at James or Lily wrong, your hide will be mine. Just the thought of what I will do to you should be enough to keep you away. And if it's not, well, you'll regret that choice for all of eternity. Do you understand?"
Wide-eyed, Actaeon nodded.
"Good," Sirius said, letting go of Actaeon's robes. "Don't bother to keep in touch."
Sirius turned around and, after picking up his wand and James's invisibility cloak, left the room. Feeling very satisfied with himself and confident that Actaeon would keep in line, Sirius did not apparate back to James's place, but decided to take the long way back. He headed back up to the Atrium and, for the second time that night (well, morning now), he was confronted with someone he did not expect when the door to the elevator opened.
James turned around to face him as he heard the lift open. "Sirius," he yelled from across the empty Atrium.
"James?" Sirius called back in confusion. "What're you doing here?"
"I came to find you," James said as Sirius walked out of the elevator towards him.
"I knew where I was," Sirius said, grinning broadly. "I didn't need to be found."
James looked at Sirius with a strange look of disbelief. "What did you think you were doing?" James asked.
"I was dealing with a little pest control problem for you," Sirius said brightly.
"You could have got yourself killed," James cried incredulously. "You jeopardized your chance to get back home."
"Yes, I could have," said Sirius reasonably. "But, you see, I didn't. In fact, I arranged it so Actaeon will no longer be a problem for you."
James smiled and shook his head. Despite all they had been through in the past 15 years, Sirius was still very much the same person he always was. "You couldn't have waited for me to come along, could you?" James asked.
"And risk the only person who really knows how to work the spell to get me home getting arrested? I don't think so," Sirius mused.
"You always have all the fun without me," James complained lightly. "This is just like the time you died Snape's robes pink without me in our third year."
"If I remember correctly," Sirius said, "you sought revenge for that on Pork Day."
"You're right. I did. This time, though, I'm not bothering with revenge. I'm just getting rid of you," James teased.
Sirius gave out a bark-like laugh. "Come on," he said. "Let's get back to your place before Lily has a canary. I doubt you had her approval when you left."
James ginned, and disapparated back to him home, followed shortly by Sirius.
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The day passed quickly as the entire household made final preparations for the next day. Both Lily and James, though neither of the mentioned it to the other, had something in mind for Sirius to take with him the next day. They both desired very much to be able to speak with their only child and regretted the fact that they were unable to. James, in particular, found this very aggravating. He wanted very much to be able to give Harry some advice, to be able to talk to him, to be a father for him. He figured that since Sirius was going back anyway, he might as well take something with him from James to Harry. Lily had generally the same train of thought.
Both of them, coincidently, chose to write a letter for Sirius to carry back to their son. They each spent hours, James in his study, Lily in their bedroom, writing these letters, trying to accurately convey their thoughts to their only child. Lily took the more organized approach and thought about what exactly she wanted to say before she wrote it. James, on the other hand, was all over the place, as he often was. He went through draft after draft, trying to say all he wanted to without writing a novel; when he was finally done, his study was littered with discarded parchment.
When he was sure he had written exactly what he wanted, he left his study. He found Sirius and Lily, who had finished an hour earlier, sitting in the kitchen. They were having a conversation about what Sirius planned on doing when he got back.
"Hey, Sirius," James said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Hey what?" came the reply.
"Do you think you could give this to Harry for me tomorrow?" he asked, holding out his letter.
Sirius laughed and took the letter. "You and Lily have been living together for much too long, mate," Sirius said.
"What makes you say that?" James asked.
"I also wrote a letter to Harry as well," Lily explained. Sirius, meanwhile, was busy opening James's letter. "What're you doing?" Lily asked.
"I'm seeing how long his letter is," he said, pulling the letter out of the envelope. He counted the pages. "His is longer."
"See?" James said. "It means I love Harry more," he teased.
Lily grinned. "All it means is that you have really big handwriting," she commented.
The light-hearted banter between the three continued late into the night. It wasn't until Lily pointed out that it was nearing one in the morning that they all decided to turn in. There was definitely a feeling of finality in the house. It was apparent to all of them that Sirius really was leaving, and he wasn't going to come back– at least, not for a couple of decades. That night, neither James nor Sirius got much sleep. They both lay on their beds that night, and simply stared at the ceiling, thinking.
Sirius, as much as he wanted to go back, was rather reluctant to leave James. He was torn across two worlds, with people he loved in both. He had always thought of James as a brother, ever since they met, and in the recent years, he had started to regard Harry as a son and a brother. Sirius cared about Harry more than anyone else in the Living World, and would have done anything to protect him, to be there for him. He had felt the exact same way about James; he still did, in fact. He would go to the ends of the earth for either of them. He knew though, that at this present moment in time, he couldn't be with both of them. He had to chose: James or Harry, and he had to admit, Harry needed him more than James did.
James, meanwhile, had other things to think about. He didn't really want Sirius to leave, now that it came to it. He had always felt more complete when Sirius was around. He was pretty sure it was Lily who had once said that the two of them shared a brain and one couldn't function properly without the other being nearby. He knew, though, Sirius needed to be with Harry more than anything else. His son needed a father-figure in James's absence. As far as James knew, there had been no talk in the Living World about Sirius's name being cleared. He wanted Sirius to be able to carry out his role as Harry's godfather as well as he possibly could, and he doubted if Sirius could do this when most of the wizarding community thought he was a mass-murderer. James wanted Sirius to have something with him that would clear his name once he was back amongst the living, but he only knew of one such item.
At about six o'clock in the morning, James rolled out of bed and crept downstairs. Trying not to wake anyone upstairs, he walked quietly into his study and started searching his shelves. He was looking for a book that had been dubbed The Marauder Memoirs. The Memoirs had been inspired by Remus around their third year. A healer at St. Mungo's had told Remus that his emotions preceding a full moon might affect his transformation; the healer had suggested that Remus keep a journal to help him sort out his emotions that were typically going haywire before the full moon, in hopes of making his transformations slightly easier. When the rest of the Marauders found that Remus was keeping a journal (and once Sirius finally stopped teasing him about it), they all agreed that it would be rather cool to have a journal of sorts for them as a group, where they could all write whatever they felt like, without being mocked, and preserve part of themselves for future generations.
They kept the Memoirs throughout the rest of their time at Hogwarts, and, after they graduated, they still kept them. They passed the book around whenever they felt like it. The book had helped keep them together when it seemed like the rest of the world had been falling apart. In retrospect, James supposed that it hadn't kept them as together as they had originally thought, seeing as how Peter had betrayed him. But still, the book detailed the last years of their friendship, and wherefore, had always held sentimental values. The book had been given to James to hold right before he, Lily, and Harry went into hiding. Sirius, Remus, and Peter had agreed that James should have it for at least the first few weeks while he was in hiding. Consequently, James had the last entry in the book. In it, he wrote about how Peter was actually their Secret-Keeper, how Sirius had convinced them to switch right before the spell was cast. He wanted some sort of written evidence of what had transpired, just in case things went awry. Unfortunately for them, the Memoirs had been destroyed when Voldemort attacked.
James found the Memoirs on the bottom shelf, hid behind several other books. He flipped open to the back, and sure enough, there was the last entry written by himself, a testament to Sirius's innocence. James took the book back out into the living room and flopped down on the couch. He flipped through a few pages, reading entries written by himself and his friends. Some of the entries where rather amusing and humorous, while others had a serious tone to them, as the writers had expressed personal fears, disappointments, and revelations about themselves and others. James was reading one of the first entries written by Remus when Sirius walked in.
"What're you reading?" Sirius asked, sitting down next to James. James handed the book to him, and he looked at the front cover. "The Marauder Memoirs. I forgot you had this," Sirius commented.
"Yeah. You all decided that I should have it when I went into hiding. It was destroyed when Voldemort attacked," James said. "I want you to take it back with you."
"What? Why?" Sirius asked.
"Look at the last page," James said. He watched as Sirius flipped to the back, and find his last entry. He read it and looked back at James.
"This will clear my name," he said quietly.
"Yes, it will," James replied. "I think it might be easier to be my son's godfather if people didn't think you were a mad mass-murderer. You can give it to Remus and he can 'pretend' to find it for you"
"I think you're right," Sirius said, smiling. Sirius dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out the mirror. "And I want you to keep this. I'm sure we'll find someway for it to work with the one Harry has, even though you're dead."
James didn't take the mirror. "I can't take it, Sirius," he said.
"Why not?"
"Because it would confuse things too much," he answered. "I was meant to be dead. As much as I don't like it, there has to be some bizarre reason why I never got to really talk with my son. I don't want to mess things up like this. In the end, it would probably do more harm than good. Besides, you need it so you can talk to Harry."
Sirius nodded; James had made a valid point. "All right, James," he said, pocketing the mirror again. "Keep your hair on. I'll keep the mirror and the Memoirs. But, I suppose this our goodbye, then."
"In a way, you're right," James said. "I don't think we'll be seeing each other much for a while."
"No, I don't think we will. But we'll see each other in the end," Sirius said seriously.
James grinned. "So it's not really 'goodbye' after all. It's more like 'I'll see you in a few decades'," he said.
"Once again," Sirius said wryly, "you're right. Like always, you're right."
James grinned and stood up; Sirius did likewise. Since they did not know exactly when Remus was planning on starting the spell, they felt it wise to get the necessary farewells over with now. They embraced each other like the brothers that they felt they were.
"I'll see you in a couple of decades, then," Sirius said.
My final an: ok, lets divide this into sections...just to clarify things.
on my next update: alright...I'm going out of town(hee hee...we're going to the beach!)with my family for a week (starting on saturday) so I will not be bale to post the next chapter until I get back. I plan on having it written before then, so I'll beable to post around tuesday or wednesday before HBP come out. If it turns out that I'll need two chaps instead of one to tie everything together, they'll be posted on the same day (most likely)
on future work: alright...some of you have asked about a possible sequel or what not. I mention this earlier (but I don't know how many of you paid attenion then). As of right now, there is no sequel planned. I need to wait for HBP to come out, and see if i can adapt it to what I have written so far. If I can, then I might come out with a sequel, I don't know. I am, however, currently working on a prequel of sorts. You know, a fic written during the Marauder Era and what not. Sometime in August, I plan on posting part of the first or second chapter as an epilogue for this story...just to give you all a taste of what it is going to be like...see if you want to read it or whatever. If you have any questions (or suggestions for titles...lol) just let me know in your review.
anyway, as always, please forgive any mispellings, typos, gramatical errors, whatever. you may now click the purpleblue looking box and reveiw...
Delano