Work Text:
It had all happened so quickly.
The fighting, spells thrown just past his head, sudden screaming, the kids running for cover, an order member tackling a death eater, Harry refusing to budge from his side (just like his father, that boy, too stubborn to stand down from a fight), and Bellatrix’s bloody laughter. Her horrid cackle that reverberated around the room as she taunted him. It felt like her shrill voice was drilling into his mind, drawing out a hysterical desperation to stop that bloody noise from continuing on. He furiously whipped his head around, eyes searching the room for her dreadful figure.
Harry made a sudden movement and Sirius turned his attention back to the boy, just to keep him in check, when he heard someone scrambling behind himself.
Sirius didn’t even have time to react before he heard her shriek out a spell. He stumbled back, a chill starting from the center of his back and slowly overtaking his limbs. Harry’s eyes widened and Sirius wanted to ask what was wrong? The spell didn’t seem that bad, at most it was a minor inconvenience, what with the cold feeling and all. It felt like a weak Glacius charm and Sirius almost laughed at that. Bellatrix probably mucked up her spellcasting, she was never the best at light charm work.
Sirius went to shake Harry out of his fright but found that his arms wouldn’t move. Neither his mouth, or his legs. His whole body just went.... numb? Was he mistaken about the spell and had been hit with a variation of the body bind curse?
Shit, his vision was starting to blur. A body bind curse wasn't able to do that. What in merlins beard did that crazy bat hit him with?!
He watched as Harry reached out to pull at his arm, but it was as if a thick fog was pulling him back faster than Harry could grab him.
And with that, everything went hazy and he was alone.
What in the ever loving fuck?
Everything changed so quickly that he had no idea what was happening. He was just standing next to Harry and within the span of a few seconds he's in… where is he?
His body refused to budge as wisps of colors shot past him. They were dull and translucent, mixing and passing by each other harmoniously, quite similar to the steam that rose from a brewing potion.
He realized as the swirling grew faster that he couldn't hear anything. All sounds of the battle were completely gone and Sirius drowned in the silence.
Quite a jarring transition from the battlefield and a big contrast from what was going on in his mind as he tried to figure out what hell was going on.
He tried to look around more, but seeing as he couldn't move his body, it gave him an overwhelming feeling of helplessness as he lost all sense of being. Was he upright? Had he fallen? If he was standing, what was it on? Is this the afterlife?? Was he dead?!
For fucks sake, he had just made the promise to become Harry's legal guardian!
If he could, Sirius would have let out a growl of frustration, but alas his body was basically comatose.
Well, wasn't this all dandy. Here he is, stuck in this blasted place without any mobility. What was he supposed to do? Just, stay here? Alone? With no bloody way of knowing what was happening?
Hell, he'd probably go insane all by himself. At least in Azkaban he was distracted.
He mentally chuckled. Might as well make light of what happened to him since he's dead, Sirius thought dryly.
It was quiet, and he didn't like that. Too much thinking and he would actually go mental, all jokes aside. He hadn't even been here, wherever here was, for that long, and he already felt like a crazed man. Again.
He should just accept his fate. The fate of floating in the middle of nowhere with dulled wisps of… whatever they were, flowing by him. All alone, with his thoughts, the impending doom of madness. Lovely, quite lovely.
Before Sirius could continue on in his quickening descent of derangement, his surroundings began to change.
The swirling started to lessen and the fog thinned out. It took a minute before it cleared enough and he could see what was before him.
It seemed to be… the sky? It was a bright hue of blue with fluffy looking clouds scattered across it. A much lovelier sight than the smog filled sky he saw in London an hour prior.
In his peripheral vision, he could make out a variety of leaves connected to tree branches.
Could he turn his head and- aha, he could. It was a major comfort, having his mobility back. He never enjoyed the sensation of powerlessness.
He started looking around. More trees, and grass. He seemed to be laying down.
Alright then.
A startling sensation came over his body as he became acutely aware of every single blade of grass he was laying on.
Sirius jolted up and started to swear a bit as a shiver ran up his spine. He tried to shake the sensation and grumbled in annoyance. Going from senselessness to having thousands of tiny grass blades poking at him was a shift he was not prepared for.
That aside, he slowly started to lift himself into a standing position. He felt… fine. The fatigue and aches of injury seemed to be gone. In fact, it seems he kept a sense of weightlessness from the swirly mist experience.
Sirius tilted his head back and groaned, "Right then, must be dead. That's the only explanation. Am I alone? Is this just what the afterlife is? A bunch of trees and.. more trees?"
No answer. Sirius didn't really expect one though. He actually thinks he'd die, again, if some voice did answer his question.
Though, it would be a tad helpful as he was confused and would appreciate the explanation.
All he ever got told about the afterlife was that souls either got to wander the world, if they had an anchor, or left to go to wherever the magic resided. Did it reside here? In a random forest?
It did look quite lovely.
Sirius stood in the little clearing for a little while longer, taking it in.
It was peaceful at this moment, sounds of leaves rustling and faint bird chirps echoed through the area. There was a slight breeze that balanced the warmth of… the sun? Or an imitation sun? He didn't really care at the moment. He felt almost content.
Not fully though. No, the peace here could only do so much until his worries flooded him again. Was he actually dead? What about Harry? The Order? War preparations? What about… Remus?
Would he be okay? He was just given a task by Dumbledore but had yet to tell Sirius the specifics, and that really nagged at him.
For all he knows, that bloody idiot could of been convinced to march to his death on some silly mission and Sirius wasn't there to convince him otherwise.
As much as he appreciated the lovely forest, those thoughts and worries only grew. He had to figure out if he was actually dead or just… in some random ass forest. He hoped it was the latter.
Well, might as well get going then. No way to figure out where he was if he didn't find somebody, if there even was anybody out here.
Looking at the terrain ahead of him, Sirius decided that going forth as his human self would be foolish, as his canine counterpart would have a much easier time navigating.
He swiftly shifted into his animal form and started his trek onward.
—
It was calming, being out in the wilderness again. He tried to remain on task to find any signs of a human but got distracted easily by the wonders of the wilderness.
At one point he had found a stream and spent an hour trying to catch fish and just relishing in the cold water against his fur.
He then found a warm rock and spent, merlin knows how long, drifting in and out of sleep.
He was very on task.
Currently, Sirius was following the stream at a leisurely pace. It was nice out and he was enjoying this casual stroll.
He doesn't know how much time has passed since he arrived, but it couldn't have been too much. His surroundings were starting to dim a bit and he assumed he arrived in the afternoon. Not much time at all.
As he continued on, his eyes caught sight of some suspiciously placed rocks. His eyes widened and he swiftly stumbled over to them.
They were grouped together and seemed to almost form a path that led away from the river.
Aha, he finally found something.
Sirius began making his way down the stone steps. He relished in the scraping of his claws against the stone surface and the whole ambience of the forest. Wind rustling leaves, a stream trickling nearby, the sound of chirps echoing from a bird with a response coming seconds after.
It was calming. Calming in a way Sirius hasn't felt in a long while.
Sure, he had spent some time outside in the wilderness after his prison escape, but that was… different. He had been so on edge. Nervous that the slightest mishap would land him right back in that hell on earth.
The thought of taking in the nature around him never crossed his mind. It was too cluttered with anxiety, hysteria, and the adrenaline of finding and tearing the throat out of fucking Peter Pettigrew.
He still regrets not immediately taking the action of killing the man right then and there in the shrieking shack.
Nevermind all that though. What Sirius was surrounded by now, it reminded him not of his time on the run but of when he was in Hogwarts.
When he and Remus would walk down to the forbidden forest to scout out new locations to explore during the next full moon. James liked to call it their "romp in the woods" but he was a bloody idiot.
All they even did was stroll around and talk about whatever was on their minds. Sure, they held hands here and there, but that was precious to Sirius. Moments like those were rare, moments where he and Moony could just be together.
Plus he became a blundering fool at even the thought of taking things further back then. Sirius scowled at how ignorant he was back then. Acted all charming and flirtatious, yet would melt whenever it was just him and Moony.
He shook his head to break that line of thought. That was all in the past. After the war started, they both got too caught up in the action to stay in contact that much. It especially didn't last because they both went their separate ways, if Remus going into seclusion and him to Azkaban counted as 'going their own ways'.
His steps faltered as he spotted a cabin.
A whole cabin, in the middle of the woods. Well, that was easy to find.
He slipped into his human form and quickly flicked his wand out of his arm holster and into his hand.
A precaution, if you will. For what? Who's to say.
He drew closer to the structure hesitantly. It was a quaint looking building. Made out of red bricks with a rounded door and two windows in the front. It extended at the back a slight bit and was covered in some sort of ivy. The roof itself was hard to make out due to the amount of moss that made itself home on it.
Off to the side seemed to be a small garden, full of random plants. Some for sure magical.
So a witch lived here. A bit stereotypical if he's being honest.
"Oh my, I wasn't expecting your company so soon."
Sirius let out a perturbed yelp as he spun around to face where the voice had come from, and came face to face with- "Wha- Pandora?!"
Oh bloody hell, he was dead as fuck.
The woman chuckled as she watched the conflicting emotions pass over him one after the other.
She looked eerily like her daughter, Laley? Lana? Luna? Didn't matter.
She was wearing a light sage green blouse with pale yellow embroidery along the top, and it was tucked into a long dark green skirt that had a pattern of orange swirls. Along with all that, she was wearing a dark brown cotton jacket that went to her waist and had loose sleeves that tightened around her wrists.
Stray trinkets scattered her person, most notable were what seemed to be hand crafted rock necklaces and a pair of round glasses, tucked into her pale white hair, which was as curly and messy as the last time Sirius had seen her. Only difference was that it was in a half updo that was tied together with a yellow cloth.
She looked older than when he saw her last though. A more mature look on her face. However, still far too young for a witch to die. He still didn't know what had happened.
She walked towards him and handed him a basket. He instinctively took the basket as she passed by and looked into it, baby chickens? What.
"I saw them wandering with no mother and thought I'd take them in. They haven't been here long. Tea?" Pandora opened the cottage door and motioned him inside.
Sirius stood there confused, not knowing what was going on.
She beckoned him forward before entering the house herself. He quickly decided to follow, "You- you live here? I uh, where- where exactly is here? Is this the afterlife? You're dead right? I'm dead, I think."
He stumbled in and saw a cozy looking kitchen/dining room area. The kitchen had an assortment of herbs hanging from various dark wooden cabinets and an old looking stove. There were trinkets scattered across the counters along with a huge stack of cookbooks. At least he assumed they were cookbooks. You never know in a magical household.
On the other side of the room, there was a small dining table with ornate looking chairs.
Pandora motioned him to it, "Set them there and then go through that door, it's the tea room. We will talk over tea."
Sirius did as we were told, ignoring the chirps of the chick's as he left them alone.
Going through the doorway he was ushered towards, he entered a smaller room. It had a round window looking out into the forest that took up a fair amount of space.
Bookshelves took up the rest of the walls and the only other furniture were two cushy looking chairs made of a fuzzy purple material and a small coffee table between them.
He hesitantly sat on the one facing the door and waited.
Sirius was still processing what was going on when Pandora marched in, holding a teapot. She had two tea cups and biscuits floating around her.
They flew to the coffee table and Pandora slowly poured the tea before taking her own cup and sitting down across from him.
It was silent for awhile, Sirius staring at the cup in front of him and Pandora happily enjoying her tea and biscuits.
Sirius coughed a bit before speaking up, "Is this, is this the after life? Where magic and souls go to reside? How long have you been here?"
Pandora tilted her head in consideration, hair sliding off her shoulder, "Hmm, I've forgotten how long it's been. Eight years maybe? Well, long enough for this to be my home."
"Right, well is this the afterlife?"
"I guess so."
Sirius grumbled, "So I'm dead, actually dead. Didn't think I'd make it this long to be honest."
She smiled at him, "Neither did I."
Sirius glared at her, affronted. She only continued to smile before taking a sip of her tea.
Sirius looked down at his.
He hesitantly picked it up. It'd been a long while since he had tea. Never picked up the habit of brewing it.
He looked into the cup. The tea was amber in color and smelled like jasmine.
A lull took hold of the conversation as he observed his tea, not knowing what to say. Sirius hesitantly leaned back into the cushy seat, grimacing when it creaked.
He brought his cup close to his chest, trying to avoid spilling its contents.
Pandora continued to look at him. Her wide grey eyes glimmered as she raised her teacup to her lips again.
Trying not to show how pensive he was feeling, Sirius turned his gaze to the window of her little bungalow. The mellow scene of the forest was now covered in a glowing evening mist.
"Do you want to go back?"
Sirius scrunched his brows, "What?"
Lovegood tilted her head and smiled warmly at him, "You know, you don't have to stay."
The words were not processing in his head. Where would he go back to? He was dead. "I don't understand, do you want me to leave your house?"
He turned his head back to look at her just in time to catch her rolling her eyes.
She reached for a biscuit, "No silly, I mean here, the afterlife."
That made him scoff, "But, I'm dead, how can I leave? Just waltz on out of the magic realm? Trick the world into considering me alive? That would be so easy, I'm sure"
It was her turn to scoff. She didn't seem to find his sarcasm all that amusing, "That's funny, considering you didn't die."
Didn't die? What in Merlin's name is this lady on? He knows he fell through the veil of death and last time he checked, that meant it killed him. Dead. Gone. Withered away.
Staring at Pandora, Sirius started comparing her to that crazy old bat of an astronomy teacher.
He considered telling her she could be related to that lady, but a deadpan stare and a singular, "What," was all he said in the end.
Pandora sighed, leaning forward to level her gaze with his, "You never truly died, you just entered the after life through a gateway"
"Right, well- but, doesn't that mean I died? You know, since it was a veil of death. Gateway of death. You know, death. The thing dead people go through."
She chuckled and rolled her eyes, again, before answering, "Not necessarily."
Wow, how helpful.
Sirius groaned and hit his head against his seat, "You aren't making sense."
His tea splashed a bit in his hands and he flinched, quickly setting it back down.
"That's rude to say, isn't it?."
"Well," Sirius drawled, "it's the truth."
"Perhaps it is." She smiled softly, and dusted her hands, seemingly done talking.
Sirius hurried on before the conversation was lost, "Nevermind that, if I'm not dead and can somehow be alive again, how do i achieve that?"
"Just find another gate," she said as if it was the most obvious thing.
"Yeah, but, where? When I woke up here, nothing but the wilderness was around me."
She hummed, "They are a bit finicky on where they show up, aren't they? I guess you just have to wander."
Sirius groaned
That could take ages. It would be worth it if what she was saying was true though, "Will it bring me back to when I died?"
"Hmm, that's up to you and it to discuss."
"It? The gate? Is it sentient?"
Pandora nodded, "Isn't all magic? It's not too odd when you remember that."
Sirius paused, "Well, I suppose so."
He remembers being told something like that by Regulus. Before they had stopped talking to one another.
A slight clink sounded as Pandora set down her cup and stood, "You should go now."
Sirius, for the second time this conversation, looked affronted, "Well, aren't you in a hurry to make me leave."
"I'm not, but I have the feeling you are. I also have to tend to the chick's. Don't want them feeling too abandoned, now do I?"
Sirius shook his head, "I suppose not."
She led him back out to the door, and before he left, unhooked one of her small rock charms and gave it to him, "This may have been a brief interaction, but I enjoyed it. Happy living to you."
He gingerly took it and nodded, "Uh, thanks. Happy… happy day?"
She smiled at him, "You tried, now off you go."