Luci had taken Harry up to see Wormtail right away, and they had been checking on him frequently ever since. She had had him bound in a ridiculous variety of knotted ropes, so when he awoke from the Draught of Living Death, nearly two days later, they could hear him screaming all the way in the kitchen.
Harry, Hermione, and Luci dashed upstairs. They found Wormtail struggling, hissing frantically, having a go at the bindings. Luci immediately put him back to sleep.
“I thought he had to be awake?” asked Harry.
“When you get there, but I don’t think he’d cooperate on the trip if he were awake. So, Hermione, a little rousing spell oughtta do the trick.”
Hermione nodded. “We’re going now then?”
She looked to Harry, and he considered the question.
Ron was in no mood to do a great deal of anything and spent most of his time soaring forlornly around the Quidditch pitch, which is where he could currently be found. He didn’t eat or sleep much. The rest of the Weasleys had long since returned to their assorted places of residence, but Mr. Weasley had allowed Ron to stay with Harry, hoping that it would help with the grief. It wasn’t helping, however, but perhaps the flying was. Harry couldn’t tell.
Luci and her mother, who was staying in Malfoy’s old room, had made all of their plans to return home the following day. Luci had been going over with Harry and Hermione the spells that they would need to swap Wormtail for Sirius, and they felt prepared, but he still wanted her there.
“If you’ll come with us,” Harry finally said in response to Hermione, but his eyes were on Luci’s face.
She vacillated, giving him an exasperated glance.
“What if something goes wrong?” he proposed.
“I’ve told you everything that I know.”
“But you’re the most powerful of the three of us.”
“Please!” she scoffed. “The Boy Who Lived, Defeated Voldemort, and Then Lived Some More? And Hermione, the smartest witch I’ve met since I got here? I’m just the oldest!”
Hermione beamed, her cheeks flushing.
“I think you’ll be fine,” Luci concluded.
Harry stepped closer to her, lowering his voice. “What if I just need you to be there?”
She gazed up at him and smiled. “There you go again; you always know what to say to a girl.”
“I’m rubbish with girls, actually.”
“Rubbish,” she replied simply.
“Hermione and I, we both have bad memories there too,” he exhorted.
Luci looked to Hermione, who concurred, “It’s a dreadful place.”
“Does it really mean that much to you?” Luci asked Harry, tilting her head musingly.
He nodded.
She pressed her lips together and then sighed. “Well, who am I to be such a coward in the face of two brave souls such as yourselves?” She smiled. “Shall we go, then?”
“What about Ron?” queried Hermione. “He won’t come with us. We can’t just leave him.”
“We won’t be gone long. And my mom’ll be with him. Why don’t we meet back here in ten minutes?”
Not half an hour later, the three of them were trying to stuff themselves into the telephone box. Harry’s arm was almost fully healed, thanks to a burn salve, and he was pushing Wormtail’s unconscious body through the little door. His heart was pounding, nothing to do with the effort. This was the only chance he’d have to get someone back, for once. The excitement was igniting his nerves, but it was mingled with a nibbling doubt.
“We’d better go in pairs,” came Luci’s voice, merging into his thoughts.
Wormtail was far too round for both Harry and Hermione to get into the booth along with Luci.
She turned and dialed the numbers, obviously remembering them from her first visit here, and smiled, “See you inside,” as the door clanked shut.
“Hogwarts is reopening,” said Hermione abruptly when the box had disappeared.
Harry glanced at her.
“All of the seventh year students can complete the term and then take our N.E.W.T.s, as if nothing had happened.”
“As if nothing had happened?” snapped Harry in disbelief.
“Well, a lot has happened, obviously,” said Hermione mildly. “But only to us. The rest of the students have just had a very long holiday.”
The telephone box reappeared and they climbed in. Harry punched the keypad and the woman’s cool voice flooded his ears. They took their badges and the box began its journey downwards into the Ministry.
“You know, we never did hear anything else from Zacharias Smith,” said Harry, desiring a change of topic. “Guess that whole thing with the Dementor shut him up.”
“Oh!” piped Hermione. “While you and Ron weren’t looking, I erased his memory. He doesn’t know we broke in; he just knows we were there. He was so confused that I doubt he told anyone what happened.”
“You’re good to have around, Hermione,” said Harry fondly.
“Lucky you,” she answered with a grin. Then, “You know, it’s curious.”
“What?”
“There’s this joy in your eyes that’s never been there before, but I can still see some kind of sadness, as well.”
Harry shrugged. “Voldemort is gone. I’m head over heels for a great girl. We might get Sirius back. But I’m just having a hard time seeing anything as a victory. I’m not a hero. A lot of people are dead, because of me.”
“No, a lot of people are alive because of you, Harry,” she said gently. “Some terrible things have happened, but you can’t blame yourself. The Order existed long before we were even born, and it was created so that its members could fight. You couldn’t have prevented any of those deaths.”
“I guess.” He couldn’t keep the angst from his voice.
“Oh, Harry,” Hermione cooed, throwing her arms around him. “It’s all going to be all right now.”
He embraced her but returned, “Ron is destroyed.”
She pulled away and blinked at him. “He’s… A piece of him is destroyed, yes, but he’ll come back to us. He has to… Right?”
The pain that was obvious in her expression put Harry’s to shame, and he feigned assurance, saying, “Right. You’re always right.”
The telephone booth came to a halt, the doors clinking open.
“The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day.”
“Hi there,” said Luci, who was levitating Wormtail effortlessly. “Lead the way, Harry.”
Harry took them along the corridor of fireplaces, into the lifts. They traveled to the ninth floor, where the grills clanked apart, revealing that familiar black door. The three of them, escorting Wormtail, marched silently into the rotating room. After being shut in with the darkness, Harry demanded, “The room, please,” just as Bellatrix and Luci had done, hoping that it would work.
Fortuitously, a door flew open and he led everyone through it. It was, indeed, the correct room, and they stepped down the stone benches towards the Veil.
As they drew nearer, Harry could hear the voices chasing each other around, indecipherable and otherworldly.
When they reached the bottom, Luci propped Wormtail against the wall. “Hermione, got that left-over asphodel?”
“Of course,” answered Hermione, who handed Luci a dry, blackened leaf.
“What’s it for?” asked Harry.
“It’ll make the transition between the worlds a little smoother, I think,” responded Luci. She began to crush the leaf in her hand, and then she rubbed it on Wormtail’s forehead.
Harry took the mirror from his pocket and called into it, “Sirius?”
“Harry! Thought you weren’t coming back!”
“Don’t be daft,” said Harry cheerfully.
“Hermione? Did she find a way to get me out of here?” Sirius asked hopefully.
“Someone else did, actually.”
“Ron? He couldn’t possibly have…”
Harry laughed. “No, not Ron.” He glanced at Luci and they exchanged a smile.
“We’ll get you out of there and I’ll introduce you,” Harry said to the mirror.
“Jolly good,” replied Sirius. “I am long past ready to get out of here.”
“Just give us a few minutes,” finished Harry, pocketing the mirror.
When he nodded towards her, Luci tapped Wormtail gently on the forehead. “Evigilo,” brought him to his senses and he immediately began to writhe instinctively. Then he stopped, realizing that the ropes were no longer binding him.
“Where am I?” he managed, thick-tongued. Then, “Oh, no, not you!”
Luci smiled at him. “And you remember Harry and Hermione, I’m sure?”
Wormtail took one look at them, sucked in a stifled breath, and bolted for the benches.
“Not so fast,” said Harry, who then employed the Leg-Locker Curse.
Wormtail hissed. “You tried to kill me and now you have some new sinister thing up your sleeve? What happened to your mercy, Potter?”
“Ran dry, I’m afraid,” answered Harry.
Luci was now standing before the Veil, reading a small scrap of paper. Clearing her throat, she began, “We humbly request an audience in order to propose an exchange for one of your captives.”
Then she glanced over at Harry and Hermione and added, “I feel silly.”
They both gave her an encouraging smile.
“No, no, I will not be exchanged!” Wormtail was squeaking in fear. “You let me go! The Dark Lord will be furious!”
“The Dark Lord?” said Harry mockingly. “Haven’t you heard?”
Wormtail ceased his squirming and replied suspiciously, “Heard what?”
Harry grinned. “Voldemort is dead. His killing curse backfired again, but I guess you missed it this time, yeah?”
Wormtail was frowning. “You lie, Potter,” he hissed in a low voice.
Shrugging, Harry answered, “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?”
Suddenly, to his right, the Veil released a gush of wind, and Luci stumbled backwards due to the force.
Harry intuitively darted towards her, but she held up a hand, saying, “No, that’s supposed to happen.” She regained her composure and continued, “Bring Peter over here.”
Harry tipped Wormtail onto the stiff heels of his feet, and he and Hermione dragged the heavy man back towards the stone dais. He was flailing his arms interminably and they both had to duck multiple times to miss the blows. One of them caught Hermione in the chest, knocking the breath out of her, but she heaved on. Wormtail ranted and raved about the wrath of the Dark Lord when he found out what they had done to him, and Harry could only smirk.
They set him upright before the Veil, and Luci stepped in front of him, saying, “We offer the soul of Peter Pettigrew in exchange for the soul of Sirius Black.”
Then she moved out of the way and gestured to Harry, who pushed Wormtail forcefully through the curtain. He toppled over, shrieking, with his feet sticking out, due to his legs still being locked together. The three of them had to scoot him the remainder of the way through the Veil.
Another devouring blast of current, this time drawing inwards, and then the archway went still and silent. Harry had never seen it still or silent, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
A long while passed, with all of them staring silently, expectantly, at the Veil.
“Shouldn’t something have happened by now?” Hermione eventually asked in hushed tones.
“Yes,” replied Luci softly.
Harry looked at her in panic. “What do you mean? He’s not coming out?”
She shook her head. “Maybe I missed something.”
Muttering to herself, she scanned the paper in her hand multiple times. “According to Craig’s instructions, he should have emerged by now…”
Harry blinked at her.
“Try him in the mirror,” she suggested.
Harry retrieved the small square and summoned, “Sirius.”
There was no response. He repeated his godfather’s name. The mirror was silent.
“Where is he?” he asked Luci in fright. “Did something happen to him?”
“I… I wouldn’t think so…”
“You wouldn’t think so?!”
Her expression was rueful and poignant. “I’m… so sorry, Harry. I can’t think of any reason why Craig would lie to me…”
“He’s a Death Eater!” spat Harry angrily. Then he swore and kicked the archway. Pain shot up through his foot and died away somewhere along his shin.
“Life will simultaneously surprise and disappoint you,” Luci commented resentfully.
“Look at the pair of you!” exclaimed Hermione. “You’re both so… emotional!”
“It didn’t work, Hermione!” Harry retorted.
“Well,” she began meekly, “there was always a chance of that, wasn’t there?”
He growled in response.
“I mean, it was a long shot, wasn’t it?” she continued.
“This is my fault,” Luci cut in. “I should have never gotten your hopes up, Harry. It was a long shot.”
Shaking his head, he was at a loss for words and merely ran his fingers through his hair. His heart was like a stone, weighed down by disappointment.
Luci came to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. He surrendered to her and tugged her closer.
“I’m so sorry,” she said again.
“You tried,” he said softly. “What more can we do?”
“Wonderfluff!” exclaimed Hermione, out of the blue.
Harry pulled away from Luci. “Huh?”
“That stuff you told Ron and me about… the purifier!”
“What about it?”
“Maybe Wormtail’s soul wasn’t as tortured as Sirius’s. But if we could get that Wonderfluff in there to him, maybe it would purify his soul and he could be released!”
Luci looked skeptical, and then pensive.
“What are you thinking?” Harry asked her.
“Just mulling it over,” she responded, “but this calls for more research, because I don’t know how to get something in there to someone specific. And I’d be worried about the effects of something like that on someone’s soul.”
“Hermione does research for fun,” he said, glancing at his friend.
“Well, it was my idea,” agreed Hermione.
Luci sighed. “Back to the drawing board, then.”
It was Luci’s last night at Grimmauld Place, and Harry was lying in his bed, wishing that they were together “ here, there, in the drawing room; it didn’t matter. She was going to leave him tomorrow, and though Ron and Hermione would still be in the house until Hogwarts reopened at the start of the next week, he somehow sensed that her absence would make him feel very alone.
Ron was still up at the pitch, and the room was dark and silent. He had been verbally upset that they had been unable to retrieve Sirius, but Harry could tell that Ron wasn’t very interested in the events at all.
Harry’s optimism was dwindling. There didn’t seem to be a foolproof way to recover Sirius from the Veil. He wished that he hadn’t gotten his hopes up, because the fresh disappointment was much worse than the aching loss to which he’d grown accustomed over the last few years.
All of the sudden, Harry heard a crash that seemed to come from downstairs, followed by a loud curse. He bolted upright. Throwing on his glasses, he seized his wand and headed out to the landing.
“Lumos,” he said, and then, “Who’s there?”
“It’s me,” called a familiar voice. “Bloody table, always hated that thing.”
“Sirius?” asked Harry in incredulity. No, of course not, you dolt, he told himself.
“Who else?” came Sirius’s voice. Then he continued to swear at the furniture.
Harry stood frozen, his hands gripping the banister, his illuminated wand pressing into his right palm. It couldn’t possibly be… He was far too stunned to speak, far too elated to move, far too… far away!
Grasping his awareness again, he dashed down the staircase, shining his wand over the room. Finally, the light landed on that face. It was no longer lined and tired; it was… joyful.
Harry managed a gagging sound, but that was all that he could force.
“No ‘Welcome back, Sirius’?” his godfather asked with amusement.
Harry opened his mouth, but there were no words.
Sirius laughed and embraced him jovially. “It’s good to see you too!”
“B-But how?” choked Harry, pulling away and looking up into Sirius’s face. It was downright surreal, as if he were in some kind of dream.
The man shrugged. “Just a little while ago, I flew right out of that bloody Veil. Do you know, our old friend, Peter Pettigrew, showed up? Oddest thing. Something about the Dark Lord being dead?”
Harry nodded.
“Now it’s my turn to ask “ how?”
“I have to sit down,” muttered Harry, fumbling in the dim light of his wand. Finally, he just leaned precariously against a table.
“Did you do it?” Sirius asked cautiously. “Kill Voldemort?”
“Sort of,” said Harry. “It’s a long story.”
He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself, and then slowly told Sirius about his battle with Voldemort.
Afterwards, Sirius was silent for a long while. Eventually, he said gently, “James and Lily would be so proud of you, Harry.”
Harry felt his throat closing up, the tears prickling at his eyes.
“I’m very proud of you,” continued Sirius.
Harry remained silent with emotion.
“Well, then!” Sirius chimed hastily, altering the atmosphere. “It’s just more good news that your little friend managed to spring me from that Veil then, eh?”
“Girlfriend,” Harry corrected him.
“Sorry?”
“She’s my girlfriend,” he repeated.
Sirius halted, giving Harry a perplexed look. “How old are you now? Seventeen?”
Harry nodded.
Sirius frowned, and then shrugged. “Eh, seems about right. A girl from school then? A very bright one, no doubt.”
Harry laughed. “Another long story,” he began, and then he recounted how he’d met Luci and how she’d plotted to get Sirius out of the Veil of Voices. When he mentioned that she was Malfoy’s sister, Sirius spat, “A Malfoy? You must be mad, Harry!” To which, Harry explained that Luci hadn’t grown up with the Malfoys and, therefore, was remarkably different from them. Sirius finally sighed in defeat and commented, “You must really like this girl,” and Harry answered, “You could say that.”
The night accelerated from there, flying by as the two of them shared their tales of the last two years. Sirius hadn’t been up to much, of course, but he described what it was like inside of the Veil, and he was thrilled to hear Harry’s stories.
When Harry mentioned his mother and Snape, Sirius looked disgusted but entirely unsurprised, merely snarling, “Snivellus,” in distaste. He seemed indifferent to learning of Snape’s death. He was infinitely more outraged at Wormtail’s plan to hold Lily prisoner under a love potion. In fact, he slammed his fist into a piece of furniture and went on a brief tirade about trust and how livid James would be if he’d known. Harry sat silently through this and then continued on about the events of the year, going into detail about Bill’s wedding and Hagrid’s death and the fact that his two best friends were now dating. “Everyone grew up!” Sirius commented, evidently upset that he’d missed out on this.
Finally, they came to the subject of the Horcruxes. Sirius was visibly stunned but listened intently as Harry told him about the locket that his own brother had retrieved, and about the wings, the cup, and Nagini. “You’ve had some year,” he had breathed. Then Harry went on, regarding the battle that had taken place in the Ministry, just before they had initially contacted him in the Veil, and how so many people had died, including Mrs. Weasley. “What a terrible shame,” Sirius had muttered sadly.
At this point, Harry had realized that Sirius had also missed the previous year of his life, so he went on about the Half-Blood Prince and about everything he’d learned that year with Dumbledore. He told Sirius about briefly going out with Ginny and about Malfoy’s plot to kill the Headmaster. And then he got to Dumbledore’s death, whereupon Sirius gasped, “Malfoy killed him?” Harry had shaken his head and explained, going into detail that made his blood feel cold, but he knew that it was important for Sirius to know. Afterwards, Harry felt exhausted just from the effort of recalling the events.
Eventually, stirring could be heard upstairs, and Harry jumped to his feet, chiming, “Come on; I’ll introduce you!”
Once he and Sirius were on the second landing, Harry knocked firmly upon Luci’s door. It swung open, and suddenly, Harry was jerked through the doorway and thrown backwards.