Title: An Unexpected Visitor

Characters: Sirius Black and Harry Potter

Prompts: Write your character in an AU scenario – Sirius Black goes forward in time. [Colour] Navy blue, [word] expensive, [word] broken, [setting] a kitchen & [emotion] exhausted.

Warnings: TimeTravelAU. Slight bashing of Dumbledore and some light dissing of the Weasleys.

AN: So, I used a slightly different and very confusion version of time travelling. Here's what happened. Sirius went back in time when he fought Bellatrix. He lived in this alternate time zone for a few months and then went forward in time to two years after his death (the timing was random because he couldn't control how far he could go). The time that he lived in this alternate time zone caused the future to change. If you've seen the Flash with Grant Gustin and others you might recognise this as "Flash Point". Basically, Sirius went back in time and his changes created an alternate universe. No biggie. Let's start!

Word Count: 2, 279

Sirius Black often ended up in situations that he did not expect to. Like that time when he was arrested for indecent exposure with James, Remus and Peter. Sirius himself couldn't really agree with the word indecent because of the look on people's faces as they passed his drunk self while he took a much-needed bath in a fountain. But even that situation was more expected than the one he found himself in.

The last thing Sirius remembered was being hit with a spell from his horrible, crazy cousin Bellatrix. There were meaner words he could have called her but he was too exhausted to come up with anything. Sirius knew that he was different. He could feel it in his body as he walked down the street. Because even if he was exhausted to the core of his being, it somehow felt easy walking. It reminded him of when he was younger and in spite of having been drunk of his ass the previous night could go out and fight death eaters the next day like it was nobody's business.

He was in Godric's Hollow. That much he knew. He recognised the little village as he always expected he would if something were to bring him back to the place where he lost the man that was nothing less than his brother. James Potter. Sirius didn't understand why he was there. But he kept walking down the street in spite of the fact that his legs were begging him to give up. Sirius didn't look up from the snowy street until he heard the sound of someone singing Christmas carols.

"It's Christmas?" he whispered. Even if someone had been on the empty street no one would have heard his harsh voice.

He looked through a window and saw his own reflection staring back at him. Sirius assumed that he would see the same face as always looking back at him. He didn't think that he would see a younger version of himself. Because that's what he saw. The wrinkles on his face were gone, there were no dullness in his grey eyes and his brown hair looked like it did when he was in his early twenties.

"Holy…"

"Sirius," Harry. Sirius would have recognised his voice anywhere, any time. He turned around towards the end of the street where the young man stood. Sirius frowned when he saw his godson. Because he had changed. Harry Potter looked nothing like he had the last time Sirius had seen him at the ministry. And in that moment Sirius forgot his exhaustion. His legs didn't ache but rather the opposite. He wanted to run to his godson and make sure that he was okay.

"Harry," he said and released a deep sigh. He ran his fingers through his hair, a habit that only came forward during rare moments of deep distress. "What's going on? Where am I? How long have I been gone? Why do I look like I'm getting younger instead of aging?" '

Harry's hair was longer than normal. It was almost so long that it was getting straight and not messy. That it was uneven and reached different parts of his face told Sirius that someone had done a bad job at cutting it. His cheekbones were prominent and his green eyes were haunted. When Sirius saw that it felt like someone punched him in the gut. There were few things that could bring out that expression. Sirius had once looked like that and he knew that whatever Harry had gone through it hadn't been easy.

"I don't know," Harry raised his hands and approached his godfather slowly as if he was an animal that could attack at any given moment. Sirius ignored the tears that filled his godson's emerald eyes and the way his wounded hands shook. "I don't know what happened to you but we'll fix it okay? We'll go back home and we'll sort everything out. Okay?"

Sirius felt like his head was wrapped in a cloud. Not because it felt like he was floating on cloud nine, which was an expression he still didn't understand, but because everything felt fussy. He was still aware that the house he walked into belonged to James and Lily. He noticed that the pieces of an expensive navy-blue vase were spread in the hallway. It had been broken for a very long time and Sirius was the one who was responsible. He could never forget the look on Lily's face when it broke. He didn't remember it so well because she was angry. No, Sirius remembered it because she was blank. She just looked at the vase as if she truly didn't care. That was the time he came in touch with true exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded but quickly remembered that Harry couldn't see him. "Yeah."

That was such a huge lie that Sirius knew he hadn't fooled Harry. Thankfully his godson continued his way into the kitchen where he sat down on a chair that Sirius knew had not belonged to Lily and James. Sirius sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the table that he knew wasn't supposed to be there. The house, although it looked as if someone had lived there on and off, were still completely ruined. Sirius didn't know if he wanted it to be or if he wanted someone to fix it.

"So, what's the last thing you remember?" Harry asked.

He leaned back on the chair, making it dangle, and he came as close as he could to falling without actually doing it. Sirius frowned and for a moment forgot to answer the question. It was the slight raise of Harry's eyebrows that reminded him.

"I remember fighting Bellatrix and then then everything kind of went dark." Sirius couldn't look away from Harry and he didn't want to either.

Because there was something so different about him. Sirius almost wanted to say that Harry reminded him of himself. There was a nonchalant about his godson that had never been there before. It felt almost as if he no longer cared if he was hurt or not.

"That was about two years ago," Harry said. There were no emotions on his voice but Sirius noticed the way his voice broke in the middle of the sentence. He leaned his head to the side just a little bit and blinked several times. His arms were crossed in front of his torso as if he was protecting himself. One side of his mouth twisted upwards. "A lot has changed since then…"

"Yeah," Sirius nodded as he looked around in the kitchen. He had been there so many times before that he could almost imagine what it used to look like. He looked back at Harry. "I've noticed."

Harry then did something that reminded Sirius of his younger brother the second before they began arguing. It was a slight roll of the eyes; his arms were lifted further up so that they covered his chest and a breathy laugh escapade his lips just before they turned into one thin line. Sirius hated it. When he was told by James and Lily that they wanted him to be Harry's godson there were several things that he wanted to protect him from. One of the most important things were bitterness. Sirius did not want Harry to be beaten down by life and even before Harry was one-year-old Sirius had decided that he was going to do everything he could to prevent that from happening.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," Sirius said and leaned forward so that his arms rested against his legs. Harry pulled his arms higher up his chest. He bit his lower lip and then tears appeared in his emerald green eyes. "I would have been there for you during… whatever happened. I would never have left you. Not like…"

"No one left me Sirius," Harry quickly wiped away the tears that spilled from his eyes. He still smiled. "I got sick of being on the team that always lost. So, after you … I left them."

"Oh," Sirius frowned. "That was…"

"I had to." Harry harshly interrupted him. More tears fell down his cheeks and Sirius saw the way he opened his mouth ever so slightly. He could almost hear the wheels turning around in his mind as he thought but no words came out.

"Okay," Sirius said and Harry sighed as he leaned back into his chair. "So, you're taking this whole thing very well?"

"What thing?" Harry asked with a frown.

Sirius gestured towards himself. "This whole me coming back to life thing."

"Yeah well," Harry shrugged. "You coming back to life is just another thing I never thought would happen. It's kind of like the Weasley's separating like they did a year ago because they couldn't cope with losing Bill and Percy, Hermione leaving Hogwarts…"

"Hold on one second," Sirius eyes had doubled in size. "Are you kidding me?"

"About what?" Harry almost sounded amused. Sirius managed to whisper everything. "No, I'm completely serious. Pun intended."

If Harry thought that Sirius would laugh then he was sorely mistaken. A heavy silence followed. It wasn't the comfortable one that Sirius was used to experiencing with Harry. It was the kind of silence that reminded him of the war before James and Lily died. The only difference was that Sirius wasn't waiting for Harry to betray him but rather tell him anything else that had happened during the two years when he had been gone.

"I left well before any of that happened though. But I check up on them from time to time," Harry looked faraway. "Hermione and her parents moved to France recently. She goes to Beauxbatons."

Sirius wanted to ask about Voldemort. He wanted to know what was going on. Were they still fighting or was he dead. But he didn't ask. It didn't matter in that moment. Nothing mattered but his godson whom, in spite of trying, were failing miserably in keeping the pain hidden. It wasn't too obvious but Sirius saw it in the way he held his hands together and the way his eyes flashed downward to the floor.

"You left," Sirius stated. "Explain to me again why you did that?"

A flash of pain flickered across Harry's face and he nodded. "I left because you died Sirius. You were the only real family that I had left."

"What about the Weasleys?"

"That's not the same and you know it," Harry leaned forward so that his arms rested against his legs as he frustrated ran his fingers through his hair. His words came out rapidly and harsh, like bullets from a gun. "Because, oh fuck it, because I was your first priority and I have never been anyone's first priority. So, when you died, when I lost you, because of something I did. Something I did because Dumbledore kept the truth from me, I decided to give up so I left and I…"

"Came here," Sirius sadly added.

Harry glanced at him. Sirius had gone through many heart breaking moments but this was one of the worst feelings he had ever experienced. He kneeled in front of his godson and took his hands. But when he tried to say something the words didn't come out. His mind was blank so all he did was sit there. Then it struck him. "How have you managed to stay away from everyone for two years?"

Harry laughed. "Well, I don't know if you remember but just before you went away I asked you how you managed to stay away from the ministry for so long. I remembered what you said when I decided to stay away and so far, so good."

Sirius released his hands and leaned them back against the dirty floor. "I never wanted this for you kid."

"Oh, believe me, I didn't want this for myself either," Harry replied and laughed with Sirius. "Other than the unregistered animagus thing. I'm going to be completely honest and admit that I kind of wanted to become one since I found out that you and dad were."

"You're an animagus?"

"A wolf."

Sirius hummed. "That makes sense. Did you know that the wolf is both a pack animal and a loner?"

"I didn't know," Harry said and shook his head. One corner of his mouth turned upwards. "But that has been my experience so I'm not surprised or anything."

Sirius laughed and leaned forward to hit him on the knee. In the back of his head he couldn't help but think that this was an odd situation. He had gone back in time and then forward in time, he was looking younger but couldn't understand why, and here he was talking to his godson like this was all normal.

"Don't think about it too much. I've stopped wondering why things happen a long time ago," Harry said once they stopped laughing. "Strange things happen every day and we're not always supposed to know how and why."

The pain that laced his words told Sirius that there was a reason behind those words but he couldn't bring himself to ask Harry what that story was.

"What do you think about this?" Sirius gestured back and forth between them. "About me being back?"

"I think that it's crazy and maybe I'm just hallucinating. But I'd rather have the hallucination version of you than not have you at all. So," Harry laughed and in that moment, he looked just like he did before Sirius went away. "I'm going to think of you as an unexpected visitor."

The end