Comment Fic
Nothing serious here, just a silly Bring Back Black comment fic that I wrote for ignipes. (And no, I haven't forgotten the OTHER comment fics I owe everyone.)
make it the Veil of Death.'>"Not dead?" said Remus, staring at Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was standing in Twelve Grimmauld Place's parlour looking decidedly uncomfortable. "What do you mean, he's not dead?"
"Precisely what I said," Shacklebolt replied. "Sirius Black is not, and never has been, dead."
Remus shook his head in a desperate attempt to clear it. "Look. Whoever put you up to this, it's not funny."
"It's not a joke, Lupin." Shacklebolt, shuffling his feet, gave Remus a shifty glance. "And I'm afraid that the fault was mine. I simply accepted what the Ministry told us, without confirming it."
"I don't understand."
Shacklebolt sighed. "The Ministry called it the Veil of Death. That didn't make it the Veil of Death."
"What? Then what was it?"
"A Portkey."
Remus abruptly sat down on the couch. "A Portkey?" he echoed. "Where to?"
Shacklebolt looked even shiftier than he had before. "New Delhi."
"New Delhi?" Remus stared at the Auror. "I don't think I heard you. The sun was in my ears."
"The Portkey was created in the early days of the British Raj," Shacklebolt said, a tad defensively. "It was a convenient way for Ministry officials go to India without having to fly over the Alps and Urals. And don't forget--Floo Powder hadn't been invented yet."
"What I'm trying to wrap my mind around," said Remus, with what he considered to be heroic patience, "is that the Ministry had this marvellous invention and then forgot about it."
Shacklebolt sighed. "Apparently no one has used the Portkey to travel to India since the Sepoy Rebellion. It drifted into disuse. People forgot what it was for. They sent some small animals through, but of course none of them returned..."
"Of course not."
"And then someone--Albus Dumbledore, actually--dubbed it the Veil of Death, since nothing seemed to survive crossing it. Once he named it, the concept of it being lethal was just taken as fact."
"And no one ever experimented with it."
"Never. For the past hundred years, the only thing it's been used for is a rubbish bin."
"A rubbish bin."
"Most employees thought it was a good way to get rid of things that no one ever wanted to see the light of day again."
Remus mulled this over for a few minutes. "Yes, I can believe that." He paused for a moment, then continued. "What I don't understand is why Sirius stayed away for so long."
"Because he didn't walk into the Portkey. He fell into it--backwards."
Remus winced, imagining Sirius's skull cracking against a New Delhi street. "Concussion?"
"Among other things. Between being Stunned and the fall itself...he was badly hurt. If he hadn't been a wizard, he probably wouldn't have survived. As it was, it took him a long time to heal, and an even longer time to regain his strength and stamina. And the fact that he was in a Muggle hospital didn't help. Most of his memories--first, they thought he was delirious. Then they thought he was delusional."
Remus winced. He couldn't help it. "But you did find him? He's all right now?"
"No. Neither the Aurors nor the Order found him. A man who's provided me with information in the past found him on a visit to that hospital. He saw Sirius coming back from physical therapy, recognised him, and signed him out of the hospital so fast that I believe the heads of the Muggles are still spinning."
Remus's mouth was dry. "Where is he?"
"Here with me," said a voice from the doorway.
Remus glanced toward the voice...
...and there was Sirius. Worn, tired, paler than he'd been since his escape from Azkaban--but very much alive. And grinning at him.
"So sorry to put you through all this, Moony," he said in a husky voice. "I tried a thousand times, ten thousand, I swear, but Muggle hospitals don't have Floo Networks, they only have telephones, and you can't call someone in another country, and I didn't KNOW anyone in India, and can you ever--"
But by then Remus had reached him, and was hugging Sirius as tightly as he dared without breaking him.
How long they stood like that, Remus never knew. Eventually, though, the same man who had spoken before interrupted them.
"I understand he's a free man now. Do him a favour, and yourself too, and get him the hell out of this prison." A rough laugh. "Believe me, he still hates it. I practically had to put him in the Full-Body Bind to force him through the door."
Remus thought of countless things to say in reply...until he looked the other man in the face. Then all he could do was stare.
Shacklebolt nodded toward the man. "Remus, may I present one of my finest informants, Stubby Boardman?"
Somehow, Remus managed to force two words from his Novocained lips. "Hello, Regulus," he said.
make it the Veil of Death.'>"Not dead?" said Remus, staring at Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was standing in Twelve Grimmauld Place's parlour looking decidedly uncomfortable. "What do you mean, he's not dead?"
"Precisely what I said," Shacklebolt replied. "Sirius Black is not, and never has been, dead."
Remus shook his head in a desperate attempt to clear it. "Look. Whoever put you up to this, it's not funny."
"It's not a joke, Lupin." Shacklebolt, shuffling his feet, gave Remus a shifty glance. "And I'm afraid that the fault was mine. I simply accepted what the Ministry told us, without confirming it."
"I don't understand."
Shacklebolt sighed. "The Ministry called it the Veil of Death. That didn't make it the Veil of Death."
"What? Then what was it?"
"A Portkey."
Remus abruptly sat down on the couch. "A Portkey?" he echoed. "Where to?"
Shacklebolt looked even shiftier than he had before. "New Delhi."
"New Delhi?" Remus stared at the Auror. "I don't think I heard you. The sun was in my ears."
"The Portkey was created in the early days of the British Raj," Shacklebolt said, a tad defensively. "It was a convenient way for Ministry officials go to India without having to fly over the Alps and Urals. And don't forget--Floo Powder hadn't been invented yet."
"What I'm trying to wrap my mind around," said Remus, with what he considered to be heroic patience, "is that the Ministry had this marvellous invention and then forgot about it."
Shacklebolt sighed. "Apparently no one has used the Portkey to travel to India since the Sepoy Rebellion. It drifted into disuse. People forgot what it was for. They sent some small animals through, but of course none of them returned..."
"Of course not."
"And then someone--Albus Dumbledore, actually--dubbed it the Veil of Death, since nothing seemed to survive crossing it. Once he named it, the concept of it being lethal was just taken as fact."
"And no one ever experimented with it."
"Never. For the past hundred years, the only thing it's been used for is a rubbish bin."
"A rubbish bin."
"Most employees thought it was a good way to get rid of things that no one ever wanted to see the light of day again."
Remus mulled this over for a few minutes. "Yes, I can believe that." He paused for a moment, then continued. "What I don't understand is why Sirius stayed away for so long."
"Because he didn't walk into the Portkey. He fell into it--backwards."
Remus winced, imagining Sirius's skull cracking against a New Delhi street. "Concussion?"
"Among other things. Between being Stunned and the fall itself...he was badly hurt. If he hadn't been a wizard, he probably wouldn't have survived. As it was, it took him a long time to heal, and an even longer time to regain his strength and stamina. And the fact that he was in a Muggle hospital didn't help. Most of his memories--first, they thought he was delirious. Then they thought he was delusional."
Remus winced. He couldn't help it. "But you did find him? He's all right now?"
"No. Neither the Aurors nor the Order found him. A man who's provided me with information in the past found him on a visit to that hospital. He saw Sirius coming back from physical therapy, recognised him, and signed him out of the hospital so fast that I believe the heads of the Muggles are still spinning."
Remus's mouth was dry. "Where is he?"
"Here with me," said a voice from the doorway.
Remus glanced toward the voice...
...and there was Sirius. Worn, tired, paler than he'd been since his escape from Azkaban--but very much alive. And grinning at him.
"So sorry to put you through all this, Moony," he said in a husky voice. "I tried a thousand times, ten thousand, I swear, but Muggle hospitals don't have Floo Networks, they only have telephones, and you can't call someone in another country, and I didn't KNOW anyone in India, and can you ever--"
But by then Remus had reached him, and was hugging Sirius as tightly as he dared without breaking him.
How long they stood like that, Remus never knew. Eventually, though, the same man who had spoken before interrupted them.
"I understand he's a free man now. Do him a favour, and yourself too, and get him the hell out of this prison." A rough laugh. "Believe me, he still hates it. I practically had to put him in the Full-Body Bind to force him through the door."
Remus thought of countless things to say in reply...until he looked the other man in the face. Then all he could do was stare.
Shacklebolt nodded toward the man. "Remus, may I present one of my finest informants, Stubby Boardman?"
Somehow, Remus managed to force two words from his Novocained lips. "Hello, Regulus," he said.