A.N: I cannot believe this is the end I am so sad to upload this :( Thank you so so much to everyone that read and reviewed and liked and favourited, it's so nice knowing what people think, and I'd like to think that this whole idea of Sirius's post-veil experience makes reading 'Behind the Veil' in Order of The Phoenix that little bit more bearable knowing that Sirius does not die, he is transported sixteen years into the future... haha!

Your feedback is ALWAYS welcome, I'd love to know what your favourite chapter was, which your favourite flashback was, your favourite line, etc, and mostly if you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear what you thought. Thank you so much for reading and it has been a pleasure writing for you all!

Epilogue: The golden age is before us, not behind us

"The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities. Look up at the stars not down at your feet." Stephen Hawking.

#

"I appreciate it, Andromeda. I really do."

Andromeda Tonks' earnest smile shined at him from across the kitchen. Sirius couldn't help but be reminded of his Hogwarts sorting, all those years ago, when he had wished for nothing more than a friendly smile from a family member to calm his nerves, and had got it in the form of his formidable but dependable cousin. Sirius stood at the counter and stirred the water in the teapot. Andromeda had once again saved him from despair and provided a lifeline by offering him refuge in her home.

"I know. You tell me every morning." She hummed. "You're more than welcome. I just never thought I would see the day."

He frowned. "Harry means well, but I just couldn't cope being back at Grimmauld Place. It made me think too much."

She nodded knowingly. "And the children are lovely, but they'd drive you round the bend."

"I'll be back at Hogwarts in a few weeks, I'll be out of your hair." He poured the tea into two cups and added a splash of milk.

"Nonsense!" Andromeda waved her hand dismissively. "You can stay as long as you like." She took a sip of tea from the cup Sirius had levitated to her. "You'll be returning then? Teddy will be pleased."

"I'm safe at Hogwarts. I can keep out of the way." He smirked.

"You'll come back home for the holidays, though." She replied firmly. It wasn't a question.

He took a seat beside her at the small, round kitchen table. "What do you think they'd say?" He grinned, taking a piece of toast from the rack on the table. He smothered a layer of orange marmalade over it. "The old and decrepit Black family, I mean. If they could see us now! Their noble pureblood line, whittled down to a blood traitor, an Azkaban loony-"

The door swung open and a bleary eyed teenager fell through.

"-And whatever Teddy is." Sirius finished. He raised his teacup in a mock toast. "Toujours un coeur pur."

"Morning Gran, Sir." He sat down on one of the empty chairs.

Sirius sighed in dismay. "Teddy, I've been staying here since school finished and that is as unfunny now as it was then." He stretched his arms out on the table and rested both his elbows on the edge, holding his cup of tea between his hands and taking a sip.

Andromeda tutted, and swatted at Sirius's arm. "No joints-"

"With dishes. I know, I know." He let his elbows slide off the table top, and glared at his cousin.

She gave him a pointed look in return. "When you stick your elbows on the table like that, you look like a hag who's guarding her dinner, terrified someone might come along and snatch it." She stated.

Teddy cackled loudly, making Sirius jump. "You look like a hag," Teddy repeated.

Andromeda rose from the table and carried her dirty crockery to the sink. She shook her head at Sirius and Teddy, who had fallen about in laughter at the idea of Sirius looking like an ugly old hag. Boys, she sighed to herself. She never thought she'd be so glad to think such a thing.

She listened to them chatter inanely as she set her breakfast things to wash themselves in the sink and she busied herself with tidying the kitchen. She had not heard what Teddy had said, but evidently, it had shocked Sirius. She could hear him tutting.

"You'll never become a Prefect with a mouth as foul as yours, Teddy Lupin."

"Me? A Prefect?" He asked disbelievingly, layering two slices of toast with thick, melted butter.

"Well, why not?" Replied Sirius. "Your dad was a Prefect."

"Yeah, but my dad was perfect." Teddy rolled his eyes. "And besides, his competition was you and James Potter. Not exactly difficult."

"Well, I have it on good authority that you are definitely in the running."

"'On good authority'? Come on Granddad, who even says things like that anymore? Anyway, I spend way too much time in McGonagall's office, she won't pick me."

"McGonagall doesn't pick the Prefects, your Head of House does."

Teddy narrowed his eyes and looked suspiciously at Sirius across the table. "Gryffindor haven't had a Head of House this year. McGonagall was standing in." He told him.

"That was this year. Just wait until September." Replied Sirius slyly.

"It's you?" Teddy scoffed, the slice of toast he had just picked up hanging from his hand and the butter dripping onto the plate. "You're my new Head of House?"

Sirius frowned. "How did you work it out?"

"How could I not?! You're about as discreet as an elephant. Why didn't you just tattoo 'I'm going to be Gryffindor Head of House' across your forehead?"

"Oi, you cheeky git." He swatted Teddy playfully. "Maybe I won't pick you."

"Please, you'll pick me because I'm the only Gryffindor you know."

"That's not true."

"Then name another."

"Elvendork." He plucked out the first name he could think of.

Teddy raised one sceptical eyebrow in a perfect mirror of his father. "Really? Is that a boy or a girl?"

"Ah, well, that's the great thing about Elvendork. It's unisex."

He shook his head, but Teddy couldn't repress his smile. "So you're coming back next year? Are you still going to be Professor Boardman?"

Sirius snatched the second buttered slice of toast from Teddy plate and stuffed it into his mouth. "I don't know. I've sort of grown attached to him."

Sirius followed obediently behind Harry like the naughty child on the school trip, traipsing through the winding corridors of the Ministry until they reached Harry's office. From there, he'd find his own way back down to the draughty hall at the heart of the Ministry, in which stood the mysterious veil.

He had come to terms with his new situation. He had not skipped sixteen years, but rather, he had not lived through them. The veil was a portal that could transport him anywhere, and as Master of Death, that even meant he could cross from the world of the living to the world of the dead. He could, if he so wished, dip and delve and pick and choose through the spectrum of both the past and the future, but he had been reluctant to experiment with time travel. The possibility was there, certainly, but if he returned to before the second war, the first war, to when they were all still children at Hogwarts, was he certain he wouldn't change anything? Every action, no matter how indistinct, had a reaction, and it just wasn't worth it.

So he stayed with what he knew. He had spent the summer with Andromeda and he would return as a teacher when September came around. He had made sure to keep himself busy; he met with Harry's family every week, he visited Ron and Hermione, and he kept a close eye on Teddy Lupin at all times. He whiled away hours with Arthur Weasley, as the two had become fast friends thanks to Arthur's affability and easy going nature, and the same friendliness that Sirius had first observed in Teddy. The two men shared the same sense of befuddlement; Arthur's confusion came from too many children and grandchildren, Sirius's from skipping so much of his past. They remembered the same people, they were baffled by the same things, they waxed lyrical of 'remember whens' and 'back in my days', and they viewed the past as though it were gilded in gold. Their fond reminisces were sixteen years apart but Sirius's vividly clear recollections complimented Arthur's tired one, and the two men filled in each other's gaps.

Whenever the chance arose, when Harry needed to visit the Ministry for work related commitments, Sirius would accompany him, and he'd sneak off to visit his friends on the other side of the veil. Today Teddy has asked to visit as well; he wanted to see the veil.

"Aren't you worried?" Asked Teddy, as the two stood in front of the wavering veil. "Aren't you worried that you'll go in one day, and get stuck? You'll never come out?"

Sirius shook his head simply. He was not worried at all; he was with his friends. He wouldn't mind getting stuck with his friends, and he wouldn't mind getting stuck here in the future, either. He had the freedom to choose wherever in his timeline he wanted to be. For the first time, he felt like he was free.

"Nah, I'll only get stuck with your dad and James. They're alright." He ruffled Teddy's hair playfully. "And you're alright, too."

"Tell him," Teddy hesitated. "Tell him I said hi." He finished quickly. He'd have successfully hidden his embarrassment were it not for the tell-tale ends of his hair turning bubble-gum pink once more. He quickly turned and caught one foot on the other, gracefully stumbling, tripping on nothing at all.

"Alright there, Tonks?" Called Sirius.

The pink began to fade up through his hair. "I'm fine, Granddad." He teased in return.

Sirius smiled after him and he passed through the veil, his mind filled with the wish that Teddy could have had the chance to really meet his parents.

He was getting used to the strange atmosphere. It felt like a sweeping, vast nothingness, but there was always some sort of environment around them that was just out of focus and fuzzy. There were always other characters around who didn't realise they were there. Usually it was Harry, and whilst Sirius didn't know what he was up to, James always had a good idea. But when it was more serious, and in times of great need, Sirius could make out the blurry figures more clearly.

Today, it seemed like he was in the forest again; he had been here before, so he recognised it. It was brighter than last time, though- too bright, almost dazzling, it made him squint.

"Padfoot!"

They were always glad to see him and he couldn't explain how happy he was to see them.

"I needed to come back. I think I'm losing my marbles!"

"You've never had any marbles to lose, Padfoot." James snorted.

"Look at me!" He announced dramatically. "I've had to get a haircut because the damn stuff kept getting in my eyes. I woke up with a stiff shoulder because I slept on it funny. I walk around with my hands behind my back because I find it more comfortable. Honestly, I'm an old fart and I don't like it!" He pouted. "And if that bloody Teddy Lupin calls me Granddad one more time I'll drag him through this veil by his turned-up collar and you can deal with him!" He pointed a finger at Lupin. "Merlin, I miss you both. The future's a solitary place for the lone Marauder."

Lupin frowned. "What about Teddy and Harry?"

"I like you two. You're my best friends. You've seen me at my best and you've seen me at my worst "

"And we could never tell the difference."

"Prongs, I was trying to be serious!"

"You're always Sirius."

"That joke's never been funny."

"That was only when you said it."

Lupin sighed, world-weary and far too used to the familiar squabbling. He rolled his eyes. "So other than becoming a miserable old sod, how is the future?"

"I don't like it. I have to be responsible. Lily wasn't very impressed when she asked me to check for monsters and I pretended there was a troll in her wardrobe." He heard Lupin tut disapprovingly, but he chose to ignore it. "Anything I do will impress James. And anything I do, James will copy. Poor Albus wasn't happy when I taught James how to play fifty-two card pick-up." He looked at his old friends with a guilty smile. "But Teddy's too old and too clever for any of that."

James snorted. "Old and clever- are you sure he's Moony's son?"

"He just talks so much, I don't think he's ever stopped. He probably talks in his sleep. I've been tempted to use a silencing charm but it wouldn't be powerful enough to shut him up. He'll meet Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates and talk so much that they won't let him in. We'll send him up against the next Dark Lord- Teddy will talk and talk and it'll drive him mad. We'll use him as a bartering tool- if he promises to forget his dreams of world domination, we'll get Teddy to shut up." He heard Lupin make a strange distressed noise. "He's got a mouth on him that would make a sailor blush- when Ginny or his Grandmother aren't around, of course- he listens to songs with titles like 'Smack My Witch Up', and he's never yet lost a game of Exploding Snap but I think he's cheating."

"Something he's picked up from you, no doubt." Replied Lupin scathingly.

Sirius pouted. "Oi! You cheeky bugger."

"You cheated at everything!" Lupin retorted. "You became a tax exile in Monopoly. Your deck of cards had six kings. The victim in Cluedo was not your uncle and you did not know the truth about his death." He sighed, offering Sirius a withering look. "And you're the only person who'd ever cheat at Solitaire."

James laughed at his friends' bickering. "Have you found out the significance of sixteen years, yet?" He asked.

"Why I went forward sixteen years?" Sirius shrugged. "I've got no idea."

Lupin stroked his cheek thoughtfully. "All I can think is that you arrive the same place as you left. So since you left fourteen years after the first war, you arrived fourteen years after the second."

Sirius grinned fondly, an almost dreamy looking crossing his face. "I always loved being sixteen. If I had to be stuck at any age I think I'd be stuck at sixteen."

"Well it's a shame you never made it past the mental age of nine, then."

"Oi, Prongs! I've aged. I've matured. I'm vintage, like old firewhisky."

"You smell like old firewhisky." James shot back.

"You're more like an old fish." Announced Lupin. "Rotten."

"Do you remember my leather jacket?" Said Sirius wistfully.

Lupin snorted. "How could we forget?"

"I miss it."

"Padfoot, it was ugly!" James teased.

"No it wasn't!"

James crossed his arms. "It was hideous. No one liked it. Except perhaps blind people but even they could sense its ugliness as you passed them by."

"If all you're going to do is mock me then I won't come back again. I mean, I'd love to stay and chat lads, but I've got a future to finish."

"Come off it, Padfoot. You couldn't stay away."

"No, that's true." Sirius admitted. "Anyway, since I'm now your son's Head of House, Moony- and seeing as your son is a bloody pain in the neck- I imagine we'll see a lot of each other."

James shook his head. "I couldn't believe they made you a teacher. But now Head of House! Blimey, they always said Dumbledore was a mad old coot."

Sirius laughed. "What was it you always said, Prongs? 'We've seen off that many professors that Dumbledore must be getting desperate. He'd hire a-"

"'Deranged Azkaban escapee if one wandered his way'."

Sirius flourished his hands at himself, demonstrating his point. "It's not Dumbledore anymore, though. It's Professor McGonagall."

"Well then, clearly she's just as mad."

"That reminds me," Sirius shoved his hand into his back pocket and pulled out a crumpled sheet of parchment and a quill that had snapped in half. "I have to send out Hogsmeade permission slips, and I reckon I could spare one." He shrugged, holding the paper out to Lupin.

Lupin wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "What is this?"

"It's Teddy permission slip. He needs it signed by a guardian- or a parent." Sirius smirked.

"What year is he in? I thought he was old enough to go to Hogsmeade. Did no one ever sign his form?"

"Well, yes. His Grandmother did. But that's not the point."

Lupin shook his head incredulously, and motioned for Sirius to pass him the quill. He bent down, resting the paper on his knee, and wrote his son's name out across the top of the page. He wrote a short note, signed his name with a flourish, and folded the paper back up. "You'll pass it back to Teddy?"

"Sure. He's already allowed to go to Hogsmeade anyway. He doesn't need to hand this in. He says hi, by the way."

"Hi?" Lupin scoffed. "Is that it? He gets the chance to pass on a message to his dead father, and he chooses, hi? Give me that note back, perhaps I should add something."

Sirius stuffed the note quickly into his pocket. "Not a chance. I know you- you'll put something about coming back to haunt him if he doesn't pick something slightly more eloquent than, hi."

They laughed; they always laughed. They couldn't disobey orders like they used to, they couldn't wind people up like they used to, and they couldn't drink enough Firewhisky to drown a boat like they used to. They weren't making any new memories. But they had enough to reminisce over to last a lifetime, and stretched out before them was a lifetime in which to reminisce.

Finish.

Extra A.N: (I just can't stop!) I think I mentioned it before but there is an alternate ending to this and I'll probably upload it soon so if you do want to know how else it could have ended, keep an eye out for that! It is a bittersweet, alternate ending, and I don't want to give too much away but it strays into AU territory at the end. See you soon hopefully!