Harry sat for long moments, letting every cell in his body feel the warm weight of Sirius slumped in his arms. Then he stirred, if he remembered rightly the area around the veil would now be deserted, and he could leave and put things to rights.

A quick peek from around his own false veil told him his assumption was correct, and he gently lifted Sirius through the veil to lie safely distanced from the thing that had almost killed him.

Harry slipped trembling fingers to touch Sirius' pulse. It was a little unsteady, but not too bad, and after a fight it was only to be expected really. He ran careful hands over his chest and shoulders seeking any obvious injury to his torso. Nothing. Satisfied for the moment that all Sirius was really suffering from was lack of consciousness, he draped his still form with his invisibility cloak and turned to dismantle his creation.

He was scooping his handkerchief back into his pocket when he simultaneously heard three voices. Two were coming from the doorway, but one was coming from under his cloak.

With a fervent but whispered apology Harry dropped to his knees, stunned Sirius and scooped him up into his arms, somehow managing to tuck them both under the cloak. As neither of them were small men it was no easy feat.

He had them covered not a moment too soon.

Two aurors were fast approaching.

They stood barely an arms length away from the two men huddled invisibly by their feet, and looked around for something.

"Nothing here we can use to get those bastards." Muttered one as he looked around at the only slightly damaged room.

"Wonder what they were here for?" The second added uncomfortably.

The first shrugged and headed for the exit. "Beats me."

Harry drew a shaky breath as the two exited as abruptly as they had entered.

He would have to be more careful than he had imagined. Not that he had really thought any further than getting Sirius safely into his arms again.

Harry stared thoughtfully down at Sirius wondering just how he was going to manage to get them both out unnoticed. Then he shrugged and recklessly decided that as he hadn't noticed the world come to an end, then they couldn't possibly have been noticed escaping… and if he was wrong, then he had got pretty good at memory spells anyway during the war and could easily fix any random people stumbling over him. No, being caught wasn't going to be a problem.

His theory made perfect sense to him until he turned a corner and found himself nose to nose with Albus Dumbledore.

Harry promptly began to panic, and simply stood stupidly clutching his wand instead of using it – so much for his vaunted seeker reflexes. He was frantically wondering if he could actually get away with obliviating the wretched old coot when Dumbledore twitched up the side of the invisibility cloak to reveal Sirius' face.

Before Harry panicked completely Dumbledore smiled slightly. "I might have known you would someday find an unorthodox way to bring him home."

Harry gaped. Suddenly there wasn't enough oxygen and he found himself gulping for enough air to form all the hundreds of words that wanted to tumble out.

He settled for, "I need him."

A silver brow rose fractionally. "I see."

"Do you?" Harry asked desperately, his eyes searching the inscrutable old face.

"I am old Harry. I may not always be right, but I can see the difference between two boys who care for each other, and two boys who can be everything to each other. Yes. I see a great deal." He smiled brightly and tweaked the cloak back over Sirius' face. "And on other occasions I see nothing at all. In fact, I rather think I saw nothing tonight, so I suggest you hurry on your way to wherever you belong, and I will very quietly look forward to the time in the future that you announce Sirius has been returned to us."

Harry stared. Had he just been given license to break a dozen different laws?

"I'm sure I will have thought up a reasonable explanation for Sirius' reappearance by the time you get back to whatever time you are from now, and will ask you for explanations then." Dumbledore continued calmly. "Off you go Harry."

Harry began to totter away, too dazed to ask questions of his devilish former headmaster. Then he turned back, "I- er, thanks ever so." He managed inadequately.

"Not at all dear boy. I am sure there will be celebrations at his return, and I do like celebrations. Especially wedding celebrations. The cakes are always wonderful."

"Huh?" Harry gaped.

But Dumbledore just twinkled enigmatically and gleefully waved him on his way.

Really, Dumbledore was very irritating, and completely batty Harry decided fondly as he shoved Sirius to the site of the spell. He sat with Sirius cradled in his arms, and as he waited impatiently for the spell to kick in he had to wipe more than one tear away from Sirius' face and hair.

As the world finally rippled and light began to swirl Harry clung tightly to Sirius, almost unwilling to trust solely in the power of the magic.

But in a dizzying burst of energy they were both flung to land with a bump in the same small nondescript room.

Harry lay panting for a moment, Sirius draped limply over him. He kept his eyes closed, too afraid to open them. Had he done it right? Were they both in the future?

Then he realized that it hardly mattered where or when they were. Being lost in the past wouldn't be a good thing, but he could deal with it.

Sirius was alive.

He could handle anything.

Harry eased himself up on his elbows; he could see his newspaper by his left foot. He could see the date on it. The headline was the same as the one he had read that morning.

He slumped back and wept silent tears of gratitude, his arms automatically snaking around Sirius. Sirius was alive, and he hadn't wrecked anything and they were finally where they were meant to be.

Harry would have been content to lie there all day with Sirius in his arms, but he knew that the sooner he got them both away the better it would be.

The escape from the ministry was easy, because nobody in his or her right mind would question a respected auror striding purposefully out of the building… and because nobody knew that Harry was bringing along an invisible Sirius who was still out cold and swathed in the folds of Harry's invisibility cloak.

Once free of the ministry Harry paused uncertainly. He couldn't just cart Sirius off home with him, because he had no idea what things Severus Snape might be telling people in power. He felt bad about his lack of trust in Severus, but had to admit that he wouldn't be overly surprised to discover that the man had reported him. The two of them had understandably never seen eye to eye over Harry's overwhelming love for Sirius Black.

But unfortunately, he couldn't just disappear to some far off place until the fuss died down, he had to stay nearby and get in touch with Remus, Hermione, Ron and Tonks and let them know what had happened. It would be unkind to just leave his closest friends wondering what he had done and where he had gone. Albus of course was a different matter, as the old devil already bloody well knew what he had done… and as Albus was the one who had sent him on such a closely related mission in the first place he couldn't help but realize that Albus must suspect what would be coming.

Harry grinned to himself, for once not remotely irked by the machinations of the meddlesome old devil. If he gave Dumbledore enough time then the manipulative old codger would most likely smooth the way for him. So all he needed to do was stay out of trouble for a day or two.

Really, even for Harry Potter that should be manageable.

Almost without conscious decision he set out for Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron. Tom could be trusted to keep quiet and he could easily hole up there for a day or two at least.

Harry soon found that it was very helpful to have personally saved Tom's livelihood, and indeed his life during the war. The grinning innkeeper showed Harry and his invisible burden into a chosen room with the minimum of fuss, promising to send up food as requested and not to admit to Harry's presence in the Inn to anyone except Dumbledore. Harry didn't mention Sirius as he checked in. He thought it best not to stretch Tom's generous hospitality too far by mentioning a companion who was not only an ex-con, but legally supposed to be a dead man.

Safe for the moment, Harry carefully lowered Sirius to the bed, lifted aside the invisibility cloak and stood back to look at him.

Azkaban and the years had certainly wrought changes on the man. Harry could compare like no other could, and he had to admit that Sirius was much changed from his sensually beautiful teenaged self.

Yet, there was still a certain familiar proud curve to his jaw and Harry found he desperately wanted to put his mouth to it. There was still that elegant set to Sirius' lean shoulders that Harry wanted to smooth his palms over as he had before. He knew that when Sirius woke up, he'd find his heart jumping and himself pinned by those quicksilver eyes, and those long artistic fingers just begged to be twined with his own.

Harry reached out hesitantly and took Sirius' unresisting hand in his own. Such a simple touch, but the feelings it provoked in Harry could not be expressed with mere words. Minutes stretched before Harry reluctantly released his godfather's hand.

He could not indulge himself like this.

He had no right to touch Sirius when he was unconscious, and Sirius had a right to be awake - and probably angry with him. Firstly, for losing him so many years of his life by leading him into a trap that led to his almost-death behind the veil. Secondly, for their sexual experiences in this very room all those years ago, because in all honesty, however willing Sirius had been, and however much they had both liked it, it simply hadn't been a good idea.

But he was rather good at having bad ideas Harry mused ruefully.

Now he thought about it, it probably hadn't been such a good idea to ask Tom if room 3 was available. But having asked Tom for enough favors already, he couldn't now go swapping it.

Harry shifted uncomfortably as he prepared to enervate Sirius. Being punched on the nose by his angry godfather seemed like one of the more promising scenarios he could envisage. He doubted very much that Sirius was daft enough to look at the room (which looked exactly the same as it had done thirty years ago) and at him (who also looked precisely the same as he had thirty years ago) together and not make the connection.

"Enervate."

Sirius twitched and groaned softly, his left hand moving slowly up to his forehead and through his hair, his right hand flattening out on the soft blanket beneath his body.

Harry was suddenly staggered by the plunging feeling of deep, raw emotion that hit him with unexpected force.

This was his Sirius moving in front of him. The one he had originally loved.

Meeting and making love with the younger, handsomer, more carefree version had been amazing, and an experience he would always treasure, but the man he really loved was finally right in front of him.

A man battered by his terrible experiences, but shaped, not destroyed by them.

A man who was at last free to live as he chose.

He was the one Harry admired and loved.

It was a momentous couple of seconds of revelation, and it actually caused Harry to almost slip off the bed in surprise. He got to his feet and stared down at Sirius in disbelief as he suddenly fully appreciated the enormity of what he had done, which of course was the moment Sirius Black chose to open his eyes and squint up at the bed canopy in a total state of bewilderment.

"I'm not dead?" He gasped.

"I managed a last minute save." Harry responded shakily.

Sirius' eyes quickly tracked to the direction of his voice, and widened at what they saw. "You look just the same!" He burst out.

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I think I have some confessions to make. I only ask that you don't actually kill me until you've heard me out."

Sirius was looking at him in puzzlement. "Does the veil not kill people then? Am I back in the past with you? I can think of worse places to be." He glanced down at himself with a grimace. "But not with me looking like this."

Harry sighed as he ran a hand over his stubbly jaw. "You're as sexy now as you were then." He paused as Sirius blinked at him in shock, before sneering slightly in disbelief.

He found himself almost unable to find the words to tell Sirius the truth. He deliberately rumpled up his already slightly untidy hair and fumbled for the unnecessary glasses he carried in his pocket and put them on. His glasses combined with his contacts made his vision swim uncomfortably, but he ignored the discomfort for a moment. "Do I really look so different now I am ten years older Sirius?" His voice cracked. "Don't you recognize me?"

Sirius looked blankly at him for a moment, before a faint flicker of something started in his unfathomable grey eyes.

"I don't look as much like my dad as I did back then, but I thought I still looked like myself." Harry pushed as he re-settled his glasses nervously.

Sirius inhaled sharply and sat up.

Harry nodded and thankfully pulled off his glasses. Sirius had figured it out.

But how would he react?