Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Beyond the Veil
Chapter 3
The grim.
Sirius was shocked. Sure, it was no problem to become a dog, but harnessing the powers of the grim? It was a task that not even Dumbledore, even Merlin, could perform. He suddenly thought that the task that Lily and James were asking him was just too much. If he invoked the Grim and couldn't control the power he was given, he and everyone around him was in danger. The Grim had the power to wipe out masses of people at a time! The bubonic plague was its last and very serious offense. He was credited with wars and disease, evil itself! The Grim was not a figure to play around with. The Grim was the most powerful Dark Magic invocation one could make. As far as he knew, Voldemort was unable to accomplish it. It was an omen, and omens were not to be messed around with lightly.
"I can't. That's too much. I can't put people in that danger." Sirius looked into his best friends' eyes, "Don't ask me to become something like that." He looked down at the floor.
"Sirius," It was Lily. She rested her hand on his shoulder. Her touch was cool and calming. "This is your destiny, the fates have already made up their mind. If you do not accomplish this, Voldemort will avail and Harry will be here with us, dead."
The hand on his shoulder started tingling. A trickle of visions started leaking into his brain. He looked at Lily. She had become stiff as a board. Her eyes were vacant and glazed. James lowered his eyes to the floor. Sirius felt his eyes drift closed and he fell to the floor.
+++++++
Sirius stood in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore stood in the dining room. Molly and Tonks sat at the table. Remus was pacing. He noticed the sadness hanging over the room, it was nearly tangible it was so thick. Molly had long sent the kids to their rooms. She cast a silencing charm around the room.
Dumbledore quietly told those assembled that Harry was indeed dead.
He bowed his head, those gleaming eyes showing no signs of happiness now. Remus collapsed into a chair. Tonks ran to him and buried her face into his shoulder. Remus had a blank look on his face, but the emotions going through his mind were clear as if Sirius were in his head. There was no one left of all his friends. Gone, all of them. His grief hit Sirius hard, a jackhammer pounding his brain, much as Harry's anger entered his mind. Molly wailed.
The scene shifted and Arthur was upstairs looking in the bathroom mirror. Suddenly Sirius was there next to him. Arthur had been there when it happened. He saw it all. He and Dumbledore. Then Sirius was feeling Arthur, unable to shake his helplessness and sense of failure.
I should have been able to stop it. I was trusted with him. I was his guardian after Sirius! Some great guardian. Arthur thought. Sirius wanted to reach out and comfort the man, but his hand slipped right through the other man, and he knew that he could do nothing.
With the touch of his specter hand, Sirius saw how it happened. All the spells in the world couldn't have stopped it. He was wondering how there could be a funeral. There was hardly anything left. And all the while he should have stopped it. Now Harry was gone and Voldemort was in control again.
+++++++
Sirius awoke again with a start. Lily was still as she had been when he nodded off. His stomach felt as though he would lose his tea at any time. James' breathing was unsteady and choking. Lily took her hand off of his shoulder and gasped. They must have been seeing what he was. Lily stifled a sob. "There's more." Her hand rested on his this time, and the scenes started again.
+++++++
Sirius looked around and found himself in Godric's Cemetery. All of Godric's Hollow had been swamped with Wizards and Witches. They were all here to pay their respects to the late Harry Potter. They filed past the closed casket. Sirius felt everyone's grief and dread. There was much appreciation for Harry, he had given them many years of an unsteady peace, but if he was fallen, who was able to end Voldemort's reign? The trepidation was thick in the air. He was amazed at the amount of people in attendance.
Dumbledore, the Weasleys and the rest of the Order stayed throughout. He suddenly was tugged into Molly's head. A single memory emerged from her tangled thoughts. She had found Arthur standing in front of the mirror about to send a curse to himself. He had gotten 'Avada' out when she threw herself at him.
Falling to the floor, she had burst into tears. She sobbed that she couldn't lose him right now; she and the kids needed him. He said nothing to his wife, simply stared at the ceiling and wondered why she had showed up when she did. He just wanted to go away. He was no longer sure if he was enough to protect his own kids. Sirius shuddered at the normally jovial temperament of the man, shattered.
The scene shifted again and they were in Hogsmeade. Sirius wished he had a moment to collect himself from the jumble of images Lily was making him see, but he couldn't speak to tell her to stop.
Sirius was in the Leaky Cauldron, alone. Hogsmeade had become a ghost town when the war had begun. This was a town controlled by the Death Eaters. The Dark Mark was seen more and more, people were becoming sadly complacent with it. He looked to the door when two men entered. An older one and what looked like a younger version of him.
They wore expensive robes and jewels. Sirius was struck by their arrogance. He knew their type. The younger one went around the bar and helped himself to a butterbeer.
"Well Draco, our visitor is late. Shall we hold it against him?" The older man smiled.
"I'd rather hold my blade against her throat. Snape said he would be here, he'll bring her." The young man confidently nodded to himself.
Just then, the door opened and Snape came through it. A woman was behind him. She was being dragged. She was unconscious and had her head down. Sirius strained to see who she was.
"Well Severus. What kept you? We thought you deserted us again." Draco sauntered up to him, obviously relishing the power to talk down to a professor.
"Sod off, you insolent insect. I will not have that thrown in my face. The Dark Lord was aware of my intentions, and I have no time to explain them to the likes of you." Severus heaved his large nose in the air and swiftly walked around Draco to the older man.
"Severus. It warms my heart to welcome a brother back to the fold. I trust she gave you a right fight?"
Snape nodded. "As touching as this moment promises to be, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Good day, Lucius." He gave an arrogant sniff as he passed Draco. He was met with a scowl.
Sirius gasped as he realized whom the captive was. Narcissa. He felt a bad feeling clumping in his stomach like old milk, what was this about? As he wondered, Lucius began walking around her. Her blonde hair was matted to the side of her face. Tears were coming down her high cheekbones. This was wrong; Narcissa was always void of emotion. She never let her feelings get the best of her. Sirius doubted she even had any. But here she was, putting on a spectacular show. Lucius removed the silencing charm and her sobs filled the room. Draco laughed. She raised her eyes to him, took a deep breath and became the Narcissa he knew. She stood to her full height. She composed herself. Lucius was the one to laugh now.
"Why the change, my dark Queen? Are we too low to see your fear? Is this the face you would rather wear as you die? I can guarantee that it will stay as beautiful as it ever was. I'll leave you your beauty. After I take your pride, integrity and threshold of pain, beauty will be the last thing that you care about."
Narcissa flinched. Or was it the angry twitch above her eye that only he and few others knew about?
"We had it all with you. I was at the Dark Lord's right hand. But you had to let your precious pride get in the way, why?" He spat out the last of the sentence.
"I don't care for you Lucius. Nor will I ever. I will not have you stand in the way of my Initiation. Now release me at once." She spat in his face. Draco made a move to strike her, but was waved away by his father. He had taken a handkerchief out and was wiping his face. Sirius noted how much older the man looked. Much had happened to the Malfoy family in a short amount of time, he was sure of that.
"As much as I admire that driving force within you, I will not allow my wife to be off playing house with another man-" He was quickly cut off by her dangerously low voice.
"Bite your tongue! He is the Dark Lord and will be addressed as so." She raised herself higher. Sirius was taken aback. What did Narcissa have to do with the Dark Lord? He always assumed Bella would be the one to throw away her marriage for their cause, not Cissy. He was almost amused at the situation that Lucius found himself in. But he alone knew what Narcissa was capable of. She looked to Draco. "And you. You petty little thug. Nothing more than Daddy's shadow, I offered you more. I offered you the world." Draco looked away.
"Well Love, enough of this petty banter. Time is limited." He raised his wand and incanted the Dark Mark. He then aimed it at her.
"How dare you call the Dark Mark to this place." She hissed the words. She had started to shake, but Sirius knew it was out of rage. "That is saved for the Master's kills, not the ones made for your own ego-"
She barely had the words out when he had his wand at her chest. She merely looked at it. "Strike me, my husband, you will not live to regret it." Draco moved closer. He was looking at his mother with unease.
Narcissa had been changing in front of their eyes. Slowly, her hair straightened away from her face and even Sirius gasped at her beauty. Where she shared her eye color with her husband and son, now deep black pools reflected them. Her hair began to flutter and the room picked up a strong breeze. She wrenched her arms up from where they were pinned at her sides. Her palms outstretched to her husband she began to rise from the floor. As she transformed, she screamed the killing curse at her husband. She did not need or use a wand. Lucius fell to the floor, his eyes fixed on her with wonder. Narcissa's hair began to darken. Her legs seemed to be shrinking. Her face was fixed on Draco, but any semblance of his mother was gone. Feathers, sleek and black began to erupt from her body. Neither of them moved. She was complete now. As she flapped her powerful wings, she hopped toward Draco. He raised his hands to ward her off, but she raised a razor sharp talon and slashed at his arm. He cried out and brought the arm to his body, blood dripping to the floor.
"You are no longer fit to bear that mark. Now go. I will not wait long to hunt you. I am the harbinger of death. Look at me and know that your days are numbered, my son." He fled out the door past her. As she started laughing, he felt Lily pulling him back.
+++++++
When he awoke, he was alone again on the cold stone floor. He felt as though he had slept for hours. His heart started beating double time as he remembered what he had just witnessed. He shook his arms and legs and started pacing, attempting to regain the feeling in them.
James' voice came to him, "Sirius, that is the future of the wizarding world. If Narcissa takes control, there will be dire consequences. Not even Dumbledore can overtake them both. Please help. Please Padfoot, I need you to help."
Sirius sighed as he realized that James and Lily were right. He remembered vaguely reading about the relationship between the Grim and the Raven. They both strove to be better than the other. The wreaked havoc on the world, attempting to outdo the other. If Narcissa was using her power to assist Voldemort, then there was a slim chance of stopping them. If he was the Grim, the odds would be even, somewhat.
"Sirius, need you see more to know that what we are saying is the only way?" Lily's voice was soft and yet demanding. "You were born to do this. As we said, Fate has made up her mind. Only you can stop these events from unfolding."
Sirius sat down hard on the floor as he tried to convince himself that he was strong enough for the task.
The grim.
Sirius was shocked. Sure, it was no problem to become a dog, but harnessing the powers of the grim? It was a task that not even Dumbledore, even Merlin, could perform. He suddenly thought that the task that Lily and James were asking him was just too much. If he invoked the Grim and couldn't control the power he was given, he and everyone around him was in danger. The Grim had the power to wipe out masses of people at a time! The bubonic plague was its last and very serious offense. He was credited with wars and disease, evil itself! The Grim was not a figure to play around with. The Grim was the most powerful Dark Magic invocation one could make. As far as he knew, Voldemort was unable to accomplish it. It was an omen, and omens were not to be messed around with lightly.
"I can't. That's too much. I can't put people in that danger." Sirius looked into his best friends' eyes, "Don't ask me to become something like that." He looked down at the floor.
"Sirius," It was Lily. She rested her hand on his shoulder. Her touch was cool and calming. "This is your destiny, the fates have already made up their mind. If you do not accomplish this, Voldemort will avail and Harry will be here with us, dead."
The hand on his shoulder started tingling. A trickle of visions started leaking into his brain. He looked at Lily. She had become stiff as a board. Her eyes were vacant and glazed. James lowered his eyes to the floor. Sirius felt his eyes drift closed and he fell to the floor.
+++++++
Sirius stood in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore stood in the dining room. Molly and Tonks sat at the table. Remus was pacing. He noticed the sadness hanging over the room, it was nearly tangible it was so thick. Molly had long sent the kids to their rooms. She cast a silencing charm around the room.
Dumbledore quietly told those assembled that Harry was indeed dead.
He bowed his head, those gleaming eyes showing no signs of happiness now. Remus collapsed into a chair. Tonks ran to him and buried her face into his shoulder. Remus had a blank look on his face, but the emotions going through his mind were clear as if Sirius were in his head. There was no one left of all his friends. Gone, all of them. His grief hit Sirius hard, a jackhammer pounding his brain, much as Harry's anger entered his mind. Molly wailed.
The scene shifted and Arthur was upstairs looking in the bathroom mirror. Suddenly Sirius was there next to him. Arthur had been there when it happened. He saw it all. He and Dumbledore. Then Sirius was feeling Arthur, unable to shake his helplessness and sense of failure.
I should have been able to stop it. I was trusted with him. I was his guardian after Sirius! Some great guardian. Arthur thought. Sirius wanted to reach out and comfort the man, but his hand slipped right through the other man, and he knew that he could do nothing.
With the touch of his specter hand, Sirius saw how it happened. All the spells in the world couldn't have stopped it. He was wondering how there could be a funeral. There was hardly anything left. And all the while he should have stopped it. Now Harry was gone and Voldemort was in control again.
+++++++
Sirius awoke again with a start. Lily was still as she had been when he nodded off. His stomach felt as though he would lose his tea at any time. James' breathing was unsteady and choking. Lily took her hand off of his shoulder and gasped. They must have been seeing what he was. Lily stifled a sob. "There's more." Her hand rested on his this time, and the scenes started again.
+++++++
Sirius looked around and found himself in Godric's Cemetery. All of Godric's Hollow had been swamped with Wizards and Witches. They were all here to pay their respects to the late Harry Potter. They filed past the closed casket. Sirius felt everyone's grief and dread. There was much appreciation for Harry, he had given them many years of an unsteady peace, but if he was fallen, who was able to end Voldemort's reign? The trepidation was thick in the air. He was amazed at the amount of people in attendance.
Dumbledore, the Weasleys and the rest of the Order stayed throughout. He suddenly was tugged into Molly's head. A single memory emerged from her tangled thoughts. She had found Arthur standing in front of the mirror about to send a curse to himself. He had gotten 'Avada' out when she threw herself at him.
Falling to the floor, she had burst into tears. She sobbed that she couldn't lose him right now; she and the kids needed him. He said nothing to his wife, simply stared at the ceiling and wondered why she had showed up when she did. He just wanted to go away. He was no longer sure if he was enough to protect his own kids. Sirius shuddered at the normally jovial temperament of the man, shattered.
The scene shifted again and they were in Hogsmeade. Sirius wished he had a moment to collect himself from the jumble of images Lily was making him see, but he couldn't speak to tell her to stop.
Sirius was in the Leaky Cauldron, alone. Hogsmeade had become a ghost town when the war had begun. This was a town controlled by the Death Eaters. The Dark Mark was seen more and more, people were becoming sadly complacent with it. He looked to the door when two men entered. An older one and what looked like a younger version of him.
They wore expensive robes and jewels. Sirius was struck by their arrogance. He knew their type. The younger one went around the bar and helped himself to a butterbeer.
"Well Draco, our visitor is late. Shall we hold it against him?" The older man smiled.
"I'd rather hold my blade against her throat. Snape said he would be here, he'll bring her." The young man confidently nodded to himself.
Just then, the door opened and Snape came through it. A woman was behind him. She was being dragged. She was unconscious and had her head down. Sirius strained to see who she was.
"Well Severus. What kept you? We thought you deserted us again." Draco sauntered up to him, obviously relishing the power to talk down to a professor.
"Sod off, you insolent insect. I will not have that thrown in my face. The Dark Lord was aware of my intentions, and I have no time to explain them to the likes of you." Severus heaved his large nose in the air and swiftly walked around Draco to the older man.
"Severus. It warms my heart to welcome a brother back to the fold. I trust she gave you a right fight?"
Snape nodded. "As touching as this moment promises to be, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Good day, Lucius." He gave an arrogant sniff as he passed Draco. He was met with a scowl.
Sirius gasped as he realized whom the captive was. Narcissa. He felt a bad feeling clumping in his stomach like old milk, what was this about? As he wondered, Lucius began walking around her. Her blonde hair was matted to the side of her face. Tears were coming down her high cheekbones. This was wrong; Narcissa was always void of emotion. She never let her feelings get the best of her. Sirius doubted she even had any. But here she was, putting on a spectacular show. Lucius removed the silencing charm and her sobs filled the room. Draco laughed. She raised her eyes to him, took a deep breath and became the Narcissa he knew. She stood to her full height. She composed herself. Lucius was the one to laugh now.
"Why the change, my dark Queen? Are we too low to see your fear? Is this the face you would rather wear as you die? I can guarantee that it will stay as beautiful as it ever was. I'll leave you your beauty. After I take your pride, integrity and threshold of pain, beauty will be the last thing that you care about."
Narcissa flinched. Or was it the angry twitch above her eye that only he and few others knew about?
"We had it all with you. I was at the Dark Lord's right hand. But you had to let your precious pride get in the way, why?" He spat out the last of the sentence.
"I don't care for you Lucius. Nor will I ever. I will not have you stand in the way of my Initiation. Now release me at once." She spat in his face. Draco made a move to strike her, but was waved away by his father. He had taken a handkerchief out and was wiping his face. Sirius noted how much older the man looked. Much had happened to the Malfoy family in a short amount of time, he was sure of that.
"As much as I admire that driving force within you, I will not allow my wife to be off playing house with another man-" He was quickly cut off by her dangerously low voice.
"Bite your tongue! He is the Dark Lord and will be addressed as so." She raised herself higher. Sirius was taken aback. What did Narcissa have to do with the Dark Lord? He always assumed Bella would be the one to throw away her marriage for their cause, not Cissy. He was almost amused at the situation that Lucius found himself in. But he alone knew what Narcissa was capable of. She looked to Draco. "And you. You petty little thug. Nothing more than Daddy's shadow, I offered you more. I offered you the world." Draco looked away.
"Well Love, enough of this petty banter. Time is limited." He raised his wand and incanted the Dark Mark. He then aimed it at her.
"How dare you call the Dark Mark to this place." She hissed the words. She had started to shake, but Sirius knew it was out of rage. "That is saved for the Master's kills, not the ones made for your own ego-"
She barely had the words out when he had his wand at her chest. She merely looked at it. "Strike me, my husband, you will not live to regret it." Draco moved closer. He was looking at his mother with unease.
Narcissa had been changing in front of their eyes. Slowly, her hair straightened away from her face and even Sirius gasped at her beauty. Where she shared her eye color with her husband and son, now deep black pools reflected them. Her hair began to flutter and the room picked up a strong breeze. She wrenched her arms up from where they were pinned at her sides. Her palms outstretched to her husband she began to rise from the floor. As she transformed, she screamed the killing curse at her husband. She did not need or use a wand. Lucius fell to the floor, his eyes fixed on her with wonder. Narcissa's hair began to darken. Her legs seemed to be shrinking. Her face was fixed on Draco, but any semblance of his mother was gone. Feathers, sleek and black began to erupt from her body. Neither of them moved. She was complete now. As she flapped her powerful wings, she hopped toward Draco. He raised his hands to ward her off, but she raised a razor sharp talon and slashed at his arm. He cried out and brought the arm to his body, blood dripping to the floor.
"You are no longer fit to bear that mark. Now go. I will not wait long to hunt you. I am the harbinger of death. Look at me and know that your days are numbered, my son." He fled out the door past her. As she started laughing, he felt Lily pulling him back.
+++++++
When he awoke, he was alone again on the cold stone floor. He felt as though he had slept for hours. His heart started beating double time as he remembered what he had just witnessed. He shook his arms and legs and started pacing, attempting to regain the feeling in them.
James' voice came to him, "Sirius, that is the future of the wizarding world. If Narcissa takes control, there will be dire consequences. Not even Dumbledore can overtake them both. Please help. Please Padfoot, I need you to help."
Sirius sighed as he realized that James and Lily were right. He remembered vaguely reading about the relationship between the Grim and the Raven. They both strove to be better than the other. The wreaked havoc on the world, attempting to outdo the other. If Narcissa was using her power to assist Voldemort, then there was a slim chance of stopping them. If he was the Grim, the odds would be even, somewhat.
"Sirius, need you see more to know that what we are saying is the only way?" Lily's voice was soft and yet demanding. "You were born to do this. As we said, Fate has made up her mind. Only you can stop these events from unfolding."
Sirius sat down hard on the floor as he tried to convince himself that he was strong enough for the task.
Sign up to rate and review this story