Sorry it's been a while. Been reading and writing pretty much everything non-HP related and got caught up in a spiral of distraction. Hopefully I'll be quicker with my updates, but I can't promise anything. Real life is busy :(
Ow.
That was the first thought Amelia had when she began to wake up. There was something digging into her back, her arm felt numb, as if it had fallen asleep, and she must have tossed and turned during the night because it seemed she had half fallen out of her bed. None of that compared to the pounding in her head, however.
She tried to remember last night. She could count on one hand the number of times she had gotten drunk in the past, but such an occurrence would explain her present situation.
There was light behind her eyelids, so clearly it was daylight outside already, but it was coming at an odd angle, not where it should have been if it was coming through the windows in her bedroom. Had she gotten turned around amidst her tossing?
It took some effort to get her eyes to open. It took even more effort to understand what she was seeing, because it certainly was not her bedroom. It was, however, her living room, for all that it was upside-down. Amelia was sprawled, half on, half off, her couch. The half that was "off" consisted mainly of her head and shoulders; her head was leaning against the carpet, which was part of the reason it ached as much as it did. Her arm had gone numb and something was digging into her back because there was someone else sprawled irregularly on her living room couch with her.
She had to blink a few times to make sense of the upside-down image, but there was no mistaking Sirius Black's face, even if it is half covered by his tangled hair.
Right. The Veil. The Department of Mysteries. The image of the battle. The falling. Why did there have to be more falling? Ow.
Under the throbbing ache in her head, Amelia could tell she was hungry, and that she needed to use the bathroom. Mundane concerns compared to the notion of we're out of the Veil, but it had been apparently been some time since she last attended to such mundane concerns.
"Blimey," she blurted out, dropping back onto the floor, thankfully on her back this time rather than her head. It had been two years since she last had anything to eat. Talk about putting things in perspective. A voice in the back of her head pointed out that she had clearly spent too much time alone but for Sirius, because now she has acquired some of his speaking habits.
And speaking of Sirius, her audible exclamation caused him to stir.
"Amelia?" he asked, somewhat groggily. "Where are we?" He blinked. "Why are you on the floor?"
Amelia laughed, but stopped immediately when her aching head protested. "We are in my living room," she answered. "And I'm on the floor because apparently Apparitions suspended for two years in the Veil are not gentle when finally allowed to complete." As the words left her mouth, a new concern occurred to her. "Damn. Two years. I hope my family didn't sell my house."
"Would they have?" Sirius asked, looking around with a concerned expression.
"I don't know. I've never been written off as dead before." A quick investigation (still upside-down) revealed the room still has all her knick-knacks. And Amelia had yet to meet anyone else who packed their bookcase in quite the same way she did, so it was a safe bet Will, Sarah, and her mother had not sold the house. "Doesn't look like it, though. Still my stuff everywhere. Hmm, I wonder if they've cleaned out my cabinets yet."
"Food?"
That time Amelia kept laughing, regardless of her headache. "Trust that to get your attention." She disentangled herself from the couch and stood up. She stood still for a few moments after getting to her feet because all the blood rushed from her head and grey sparkles invaded her vision. Amelia waited until her vision cleared before cautiously shaking her head and going to check the pantry.
The pantry, as it turned out, was not significantly emptier than it had been the last time she checked it, two years ago. Sirius walked in as she was fishing a pot out of the cabinet. "I should have figured," she said as she dumped a couple of cans worth of soup onto the pot. "I have so many spells running all through this place, they probably couldn't have sold it without a lot of undue hassle. Said spells also mean the water and electricity should still be running."
"Electricity?" Sirius repeated with raised eyebrows.
"It's better than gaslights and candles," Amelia retorted.
Following lunch, Amelia dug an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants out of her closet because it was just about the only things she had in the house that would fit Sirius. She then proceeded to take a quick shower. When Sirius finished his shower, Amelia was back in the living room with the television on.
"News hasn't changed much," she noted. "But then, it's Muggle news. It's well into July, though," she said, pointing to the date and time on the screen.
"We saw the end of the battle, but that was during the school year, wasn't it?" Sirius asked.
"Yep, so whatever happened in the aftermath should have stabilized by now." Amelia sighed. "We need more up-to-date information. And we need to let people know we're alive. Don't even think about it," she added, seeing the grin on Sirius' face. "You are staying here, out of sight."
"Hmph," Sirius snorted. "That's no fun." Then he became more serious. "You should check out the school. If there is any reason left in the Ministry, Minerva will have been appointed Headmistress. She can catch us up on what we've missed."
Amelia nodded. "That's a good idea."
"I'm going to need a wand at some point," Sirius reminded her.
"We're going to need to make sure you aren't still on the 'wanted fugitive' list when you come back from the dead, first," she pointed out.
"Hmph," he snorted again. Then his eyes widened. "While we're clearing up my status with the Ministry idiots, we're going to have to do something with Grimmauld Place."
Amelia's eyes widened at the idea. "That's a good point. If you're not dead anymore, is it still Harry's?"
"I have no idea," Sirius admitted. "That's why I'm hoping the Ministry will make itself useful for once."
It was Amelia's turn to snort. "Don't hold your breath on that one," she replied.
"I don't want it back," Sirius said.
"We will figure something out," Amelia replied.
She dug out a pad and pen. "Pens, the Muggle improvement on quills," she announced as she scribbled a few words. "Remember, stay out of sight. Feel free to raid the pantry or watch telly."
"Got it," Sirius replied, but it was said to a Barn Owl. "I suppose you would like help with your message?" The owl bobbed its head. He glanced at it before rolling it up. "Really?" he said with a raised eyebrow, offering the note to the owl who merely clacked her beak at him. He shook his head. "See you later."
The owl flew off through the kitchen window. Amelia meant to head to Hogwarts, she really did, but there was someplace closer she felt the need to visit first. She was still trying to rationalize her detour up until the moment the owl rapped her talons on the window.
The witch inside turned away from the stove to let the messenger owl in. She took the note from the owl's talons and stared at it for longer than the two short sentences warranted. Pulling her gaze from the note, she stared at the owl instead before dropping her eyes back to the note.
It's a long story. You should sit down.
Clarissa Zeraff dropped into one of her kitchen chairs with a thud, staring at the owl in disbelief.
"I'm sorry," Amelia told her mother, having changed back to human. "I only just got back."
"Got back?" her mother repeated. "Got back?" she repeated more shrilly. "They told me you were dead!"
"I was," Amelia admitted, "sort of. Well, technically, I was alive, but behind the Veil, so it was like I was dead. But I'm back now.
"Albus Dumbledore came here, more than two years ago, to tell me you had gone through the Veil. That you had been present at that battle in the Ministry and you had gone through trying to rescue Black."
"He's back, too," Amelia said quietly.
"I thought you were dead. Two years, Amelia! I thought you were dead for two years."
"For all intents and purposes I was," Amelia admitted reluctantly. "We only just got back. Time moves differently behind the Veil," she added.
Clarissa just stared at her daughter.
"I heard Heather went to Ravenclaw, though. And that she was safe. And I – I saw the battle. I know you were there."
"Those bastards brought about the deaths of two people I cared very deeply for," Clarissa said fiercely. "Like hell was I going to let them get away with it; there was very little that could have kept me from that showdown."
Amelia did not know how to respond to that. "How are you?" she finally asked.
Clarissa stared at her for a long moment before her expression softened. "I'm better now, Amelia." She took her daughter's hand, as if to reassure herself. "You're safe. You're alive."
"I am," Amelia replied. "What can you tell me about the aftermath?"
"Well, it's a lot like it was seventeen years ago, it most respects. Well – the castle was a disaster."
"Hogwarts castle?" Amelia asked. Although, come to think of it – "I thought it looked damaged."
"You saw it?" Clarissa asked, confused.
"Er, sort of," Amelia equivocated. "When we were, ah, behind the Veil, we, er, met some old friends. They showed us the final battle."
"Old friends?"
"Ah, Harry, er, called for them, when he was going to let Voldemort kill him. He called for Sirius, too. That's how we met them. We were only in-between, after all."
"So . . . the Potters?" Clarissa supplied.
"And Remus. Tonks and I just followed along," Amelia admitted.
Clarissa furrowed her eyebrows.
"They . . . explained a few things to us. We saw everything from the moment Neville Longbottom followed his parents' footsteps in defying Voldemort to when Voldemort fell in the Great Hall. We . . . we left shortly after that, but, again, they told us time moves differently."
"I'll say," Clarissa exclaimed. "That was two and a half months ago!"
Amelia's eyes widened. "I hadn't realized it had been that long. What's happened since?"
"They've called in practically half the wizarding world to repair the castle. Minerva McGonagall was named Headmistress; you know her, if I recall. Er, right! The Minister! We're just getting a new Minister every damn year. Fudge was sacked after the incident where you, er, uh, disappeared. He was replaced by Scrimgeour, a heavy-handed prick who was killed last summer. He was succeeded by Thicknesse, who was an Imperiused flunky. Kingsley Shacklebolt is Minister now."
"Kingsley?" Amelia exclaimed. She laughed. "We have a decent Minister for once. I must say, I'm impressed. They finally gave the job to someone competent for a change." She laughed again. "That certainly makes things easier. Here I was worrying it would be a bureaucratic nightmare to come back from the dead, and instead I get Kingsley. Sometimes you do get lucky, after all."
"I thought I recognized the name. He was Order of the Phoenix?" Clarissa said.
"Yes. He was also the one hampering the continuing search for Sirius. Of all the people who could make Sirius' return simplest, I'd have picked Kingsley. And he's Minister! Haha! Oh!" Amelia exclaimed. "This just became that much simpler!"
Clarissa laughed at her daughter's exuberance. "I'm glad that worked out!" She shook her head. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Uh, head to Hogwarts, I guess, to talk to Minerva. I was, technically on my way there, when I stopped here instead. I couldn't . . . not . . . come here."
Clarissa smiled. "It's good to have you back." She swapped her daughter lightly on the shoulder. "Now hurry over to Hogwarts and have Minerva put you in contact with the Minister, so I can officially have my daughter back from the dead!"
Amelia laughed. "Yes, mother."
"Do you think you'll be back in time for dinner? Will is going to come over tonight. You can bring Sirius," she added.
Amelia laughed. "Was this a long-standing plan or will you invite him five minutes after I leave?"
"Who says I'm going to wait that long to call your brother?" Clarissa retorted. Then she laughed. "No, it was actually planned a few days ago."
"That's good. But I have no idea how long being declared officially not dead is going to take. I don't know if we will be able to make it tonight."
"Tomorrow, then? I can plan a dinner for tomorrow. It can be a welcome back dinner," Clarissa immediately responded.
Amelia laughed, shaking her head. "We can probably come tomorrow, but I have to run it by Sirius after I get back from Minerva."
"Excellent! You're not going to fly the whole way there, are you? Hogwarts is a long way away from here."
"Yes, mother, I am aware. I know a place on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Hardly anyone goes over there. I'll Apparate there and then fly the rest of the way. It's just a short flight to the castle," Amelia said with a shrug.
"All right, then," Clarissa agreed. "But be careful."
"I'm always careful," Amelia replied. "It just works better on some days than others," she continued with a grin. Clarissa shook her head. "I love you, Mum. I will talk to you later."
"Safe journey."
"Of course," Amelia responded. She nodded, then disappeared with a pop.