A/N - Hello! First off, I'd like to say thanks for reading my fic, and I'm gonna warn you that this will be short - only 5 chapters long. And yes, in case you hadn't already noticed, it is another post ootp harry-veil-sirius fic (and no, there's no slash). It's as error proof as I could make it, and I've tried to make it as original as possible. That being said....

If anybody reading this is one of my reviewers from my other fic, TwoWay Mirrors, I'd like to warn you that this is not a humor fic - au contraire, I'm trying to write it so that by chapter 4 people will be sobbing hysterically and unable to read any further. Probably won't happen, but I'm trying. I like to explore different genres and this is my attempt at action/angst. You have been warned!

Alright - time for the disclaimer. JK Rowling owns everything you recognize, including the wording in the dream Harry has in the latter part of this chapter (with the exception of the last paragraph). The quotes belong to the people who, er, said them...(Epicurus, Edgar Allan Poe, and Madam Swetchine, in that order).

Death is Nothing

Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.

- Epicurus

Chapter 1: Slices of Death

Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loathe them.

- Edgar Allan Poe

We deceive ourselves when we fancy that only weakness needs support. Strength needs it far more.

- Madame Swetchine

Harry leaned back against the tree, tilting his head back slightly so the wind could dance across his face, and closed his eyes. More than anything right now he wanted to sleep, to really sleep, without fear of what he'd see when he dreamed.

"Oi! Big D! It's Potter!" Harry groaned inwardly and opened his eyes. Dudley and his gang were standing at the other end of the park, large rocks clutched in their hands and stupid grins plastered over their faces as they started towards him. Last year Harry would have welcomed the chance to humiliate Dudley in front of his friends, but now he wanted nothing so much as to be left alone.

He didn't bother standing up as they grouped around him. Glancing up, he saw Dudley, a cornered look on his large, piggish face, glance around as though looking for some way out, and Harry managed a small, humorless grin. "What, done vandalizing the park already? It's not even 7:00 yet."

"You'll speak when spoken to, Potter." said Gordon mulishly, a look of brutish delight on his face as he stepped in front of Harry menacingly. Harry looked up at him, unperturbed.

"What, wait for you lot to say something? We'd be here 'til midnight."

It took Gordon a second to understand what Harry had said – when he did, he stepped forward and growled threateningly, but was cut off by a light, pleasant voice.

"Good evening." A man stepped out of the shadows behind Harry, his hands in the pockets of a rather shabby overcoat and a weary smile on his face.

Harry's heart leapt. "Hullo, Professor Lupin."

"Who're you?" asked Dudley rudely. He, Peirs, Dennis, and Gordon were all eyeing Professor Lupin with a kind of disdainful scorn; not one of them seemed to have noticed the fact that Harry had called him Professor.

"Remus Lupin." he said, smiling very slightly as Harry stood up to stand beside him. "I am, er, was a teacher of Harry's at school.

Dudley seemed to have finally remembered that he had seen Lupin before. A look of fear coming into his tiny eyes, he backed up almost unthinkingly, then stepped forward again, as though afraid of what his friends would say if he ran away.

Gordon, who hadn't noticed this, said boorishly "Then why are you here?" It was apparent from his tone that he thought Lupin, whose dress was threadbare, to say the least, didn't belong in neat, prim, well-groomed Little Whinging.

Harry snarled and started forward, but Lupin placed a warning hand on his shoulder and said pleasantly "I really do not think that is any of your business, –"

"Gordon."

"Gordon." finished Lupin with a small smile. "Now, if you'll excuse us...," He turned around and walked back the way he had come, Harry close behind him. As soon as they had struck the winding, tree-lined path that ran down the middle of the park they could hear Dennis, Gordon, Piers, and Dudley erupt in jeering laughs, talking scathingly of "Potter and that beggar tramp".

Harry clenched his fists angrily. "I hate them...," he muttered under his breath, striding forward to walk side-by-side with Lupin, who smiled wryly.

"Don't worry; I'm used to it by now."

"Yeah, but –"

Lupin waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it." he repeated. "So, how have you been?" He gazed at Harry intently, and Harry, unsure of what to say, shrugged.

"Alright." he lied. "I'm...alright." Lupin frowned but didn't say anything. After a moment Harry said "Why'd you come here, Professor? I mean, I'm glad to see you and everything, but...."

Lupin laughed softly. "What, you thought we'd just abandon you with the Dursley's for your birthday? I came to your aunt and uncle's house looking for you – your aunt said I might find you here. She seemed rather glad to send me away from the house, to be honest." Lupin shook his head. "She's nothing like Lily....Anyway, the Weasleys, Ms. Granger, Tonks, and virtually everybody in the Order, with the exception of our esteemed Potion's Master, wish you a happy 16th birthday, and look forward to seeing you soon. Not tonight," he added, responding to the question in Harry's eyes. "Not yet...but soon, I promise. And," he said, after a short pause, "I wanted to see how you were doing."

Harry's heart sank. He had been expecting this, of course, but now Lupin had actually said it.... "Like I said, I'm fine." he said, in a voice of forced cheerfulness that didn't deceive either of them. "Really."

"Are you sure?" asked Remus, looking at him closely.

"I –" But Harry found he couldn't finish the sentence. "Well, no, I guess I'm not, but I'm...better."

Remus nodded, and they walked on in silence for about a minute. The sky overhead was growing steadily darker, and up and down the street ahead streetlamps were sputtering into life. "May I tell you a story, Harry?" asked Remus at last, not looking at Harry but at a small pond in the middle of the path ahead that reflected the crescent moon.

Unsure of where this was leading, Harry nodded. Remus sighed. "16 years ago your mother, father, Sirius, and I were members of the original Order. Our headquarters were at Hogwarts then – I'd had to leave a meeting early one day, because there was a full moon that night." Remus shivered very slightly. "Lily, James, and Sirius stayed for a while later, talking to Dumbledore and a few other members of the Order." Remus smiled faintly. "I found out what happened next from James and Sirius afterwards. James and Sirius were talking to Hagrid, Lily with Gideon Prewett, when Arabella Fig burst out of Dumbledore's fireplace." Remus glanced over at Harry, who, though he had no idea where any of this was going, was listening raptly all the same. "She was supposed to have been baby-sitting you that night, and Lily was a bit upset when she saw her there – however, she wasn't near as distressed as Arabella, who was frantic." Remus gave another small smile. "Apparently when she was refilling your bottle Death Eaters broke in and kidnapped you."

"What?! Death Eaters –"

"The whole room was, of course, instantly in an uproar." continued Remus, a light smile playing across his face. "Lily was sobbing hysterically, James was in shock, and Sirius –" Remus stopped walking and looked at Harry, his voice softer and somehow gentler, "– Sirius grabbed his cloak, wand, and a handful of floo powder, and before anyone else had quite realized what had happened he had gone to your home to try and find you." The sky was almost pitch-black now, and overhead the stars glinted pale white. They had stopped before the pond, it's still surface broken only by the sighing wind, and Remus put his hand on Harry's shoulder, bent down slightly to look him in the eye, and said softly "It wasn't your fault, Harry. He would have done the same for you. He did do the same for you."

Harry found that he could only nod and say huskily, "Was I really kidnapped by Death Eaters?"

Remus smiled and straightened. "No," he said, turning around and starting back towards Privet Drive, "He found you in the guest room where he sometimes stayed, trying to find 'Padfoot.'"

:::::

They walked the rest of the way back to Number 4 in silence, until at last they reached the small set of steps leading up to the front door. Then Remus turned to Harry, pulling something out of the inside of his coat. "Here." he said, handing Harry a small package wrapped in brown paper. "Sirius got this for you before he, before he died...," Remus looked rather lost for a moment, then shook his head and smiled at Harry. "Good bye, Harry."

He turned to leave, but Harry said quickly "Professor, wait!"

"Yes, Harry?" said Lupin quietly, turning back around.

"Thanks." said Harry, grateful that it was too dark for Remus to see how bright his eyes were. "Thanks for everything."

Remus gave another small, tired smile. "Happy birthday, Harry. I'll see you again soon." He began to walk back down the street, and as Harry, unwilling to go inside and face his aunt and uncle, stood watching, he passed beneath a streetlamp and was gone.

Harry sighed and turned around, wiping his eyes before pulling open the door and stepping inside.

:::::

Only one couple were still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

The second jet of red light hit him squarely on the chest.

The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

Harry released Neville, though he was not aware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the dais too.

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch....

And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place.

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing – Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second....

But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, "SIRIUS!"

He was running as hard as he could now, but like sand thrown to the wind it was all blowing away – the archway was disappearing, and instead Harry was running towards a pit of absolute blackness....

Harry woke with a start, drenched in sweat and panting. His blankets were thrown half off the bed, and he was shaking slightly.

He fumbled on his bedside table for his glasses, then put them on and sat up. Glancing over at the alarm clock beside his bed, he saw that it was 2:30 in the morning and groaned. He didn't know why he should be surprised – he hadn't gotten more than a few hours sleep a night since he had gotten back from Hogwarts – but he had hoped that yesterday's talk with Professor Lupin might have helped. No such luck.

His eyes wandered over to the package Lupin had given to him – he hadn't opened it yet, just thrown it onto his desk and collapsed into bed before his aunt or uncle could bombard him with questions about Lupin. To be honest he wasn't sure whether he wanted to open it or not – the memory of Sirius was still painfully fresh, and the last thing he needed at the moment was something to give him more nightmares.

He lay on his back, debating with himself for a few minutes. At last, making up his mind, he stood up, walked over to his desk, picked up the package, and walked back over to his bed. Sitting down, he stared at it for a moment, then tore the rather thick brown paper off.

An envelope fell out of the paper and onto his bed – picking it up, he slit it open and pulled out a short note in Sirius' handwriting.

Dear Harry;

Happy Birthday! Your dad gave this to me

on my 16th birthday, so I guess we're both

giving it to you now. There's a note from him

to me on the back, if you want to read it.

See you soon,

Sirius

Harry gave a hollow laugh that turned into a heaving sob. The feeling of guilt that had been threatening to overwhelm him since Sirius' death was now overpowering, and he suddenly felt so lost he wanted to scream.

He closed his eyes and leaned back against his bed, breathing heavily – he did not know how long he lay there, but when he opened his eyes again the first tendrils of light were creeping onto the horizon, and the birds had started their raucous, early morning welcome, though their song was almost completely masked by the huge, grunting snores of Dudley.

Harry wiped his eyes and picked up Sirius' present. It was a black-and-white wizarding photograph in a rather tarnished silver frame: His mother and father, Sirius, and Remus were all beaming and waving up at him – they couldn't have been more than 15 years old when it was taken.

Flipping the frame over, Harry saw a faded message scribbled onto the leather back.

Padfoot –

Messrs. Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail have

determined that, as punishment for ever

doubting in Prong's ability to woo Evans, this

is all you get as a birthday present. Notice the

photograph. Prongs. And Evans. Together.

And Moony. Can't forget him. And some

stranger off the street. No idea who he is.

- Prongs

P.S. – Happy birthday, mate.

Harry had to laugh, though he knew that his eyes were unnaturally bright. "Thanks, Sirius." he whispered, putting the picture and note on his bedside table and taking off his glasses. "Thanks." He closed his eyes and finally allowed his weariness to carry him off to sleep.

Only one couple were still battling....

A/N - Well, that's it for now. I hope you liked it - if you did, then please review. You have no idea how much I love getting reviews.

Oh, and I think I forgot to mention this - the title really has very little to do with the story. I just thought that was about the best death quote ever and had to include it. I love quotes. Strange, I know, but true. Anyway....

Hope you liked it, hope it was original, and PLEASE REVIEW!!!!