So there were two ideas I was torn between for the ending of Past The Veil. I went with the happy ending, because Sirius had been through enough and as Sirius thinks in P.T.V, 'where was the salvation he was owed?', so he got the nice ending.

But I'd written a little of the alternate ending and just decided to finish it to see where it went. It's a little bittersweet, sort-of sad, strays into AU territory, and is one for the Lupin fans.

If you have read Past The Veil, this carries on from the end of chapter thirty two and is an alternate to chapter thirty three.

If you haven't read Past The Veil, to summarise, Sirius falls through the veil and finds himself sixteen years in the future because the veil is a time turner, and this story carries on from Sirius returning to the veil and wondering what will happen if he steps back through.

From Past The Veil Chapter Thirty Two (abridged)

He could see the sheet of cloth rippling in the archway, and Sirius knew that this time, it was different. There was something on the other side. When he had first fallen through, he had held the sheet back and thought that nothing was there, but now it had changed.

Would the veil lead him somewhere else? Would it lead him back, or would he head even further into the future?

He'd disappear from the past and this future timeline. But really, was it any worse than now? If he went further forward, he'd still feel as out of place. And if he never came out- well, at least he'd have good company.

What was really behind the veil?

Not for the first time, the voices of his friends were whispering the answer in his ear. He summoned all his courage. Reaching out a shaking hand, he held the veil aside, and stepped through.

Chapter One

The veil fell behind him with an ominous stillness. He stumbled forward, blinking heavily to adjust to the dark room, to see through the smoke that seemed to cling to the air. It was dim and the archway stood behind him, with stone steps layered all around. It was the very same room, but it was no longer deserted and still; it was alive, inhabited.

He had returned to the very scene he had left behind so long ago.

It was the end of the battle, the Death Eaters were grouped motionless to one side oblivious to his reappearance, Harry had disappeared. There was laboured breathing coming from across the room and someone was talking calmly. Sirius coughed on the smoke and walked forwards, the soles of his shoes tapping against the cobbled floor, and the voice stilled. A wooden wand clattered against the stone floor as it was picked up, held out in caution. Sirius willed his legs to move as he swiped at the air to bat away the clouds of smoke distorting his view.

A lone voice echoed through the dark, the great stone surroundings of the room giving it a faraway, hollow sound. "Sirius?"

It took him a moment to remember that this was a timeline in which everyone had just witnessed him fall through the veil seemingly to his death; in this world, he was still a fugitive trapped in his mother's house, and he was now standing in the Ministry of Magic which he knew- due to Harry's recollections- was filled with the Minister and countless Aurors upstairs. He pulled himself up to his full height, and he seized his senses. He shook his head as if to shake out the foggy feeling he felt. "Disillusion me, Remus!" He called back immediately, sounding strained.

"Sirius?" Lupin repeated. "Is that you? What happened? The veil-"

"No," Sirius interrupted, striding towards his friend. "Not now. Disillusion me."

"You're not dead?"

"Disillusion me. Quick!" Sirius grabbed Lupin by the shoulders and he flinched, surprised, as if he had been expecting Sirius's hands to float across him like a ghost. "We're in the Ministry, Remus!" He urged. "The place is filled with Ministry officials! If they see Voldemort and me in the same place, I'll be back in Azkaban!"

"Voldemort?" Lupin stuttered. "In the same place? He's here?"

"Remus! Disillusion me!"

Lupin's arm shook as he lifted his wand over Sirius's head, and Sirius felt as if a stream of water was passing over him as he slowly disappeared from sight. He grabbed Lupin's arm again and tapped it twice in thanks- a trick that had always been James's when he had been hidden under his cloak, and he hoped Lupin still remembered. There was a shadow of something behind Lupin's eyes, and Sirius looked down to see Tonks lying motionless on the ground, and knowing everything he did now- knowing the future, knowing Teddy- Sirius felt as if he was invading on an oddly personal moment.

"She'll be fine," He whispered, quiet enough for only Lupin to hear. "I promise."

# # #

The disillusionment charm did not last long but it had given him enough time to escape from the Department of Mysteries to the Atrium- he held back his desire to run at Harry and seize him as he lay shaking on the ground as the startled Minister for Magic stood watching helplessly- and having managed to successfully dodge the crowds, he made his way to the Floo network and sneaked out without anyone noticing; he never thought that he would be glad of the distraction offered by Voldemort but thankfully they were far too preoccupied and no one saw the flames in the Floo blaze suddenly green.

Once back within the safe confines of Grimmauld Place he could think clearly. He was in the oddly unique position of knowing everything that would happen- he knew the Ministry would soon be overthrown, he knew Harry would defeat Voldemort, and he knew every death that would soon happen.

What could he do? How could he stop it?

He was chock full of knowledge that could save so much heartache but he didn't know how to act on it- because he could not, of course, do too much damage. Everything must end as it was required to end and Voldemort must die. If, for once in this war, he could be of some help, then he must not be reckless and foolish and he must not interfere.

But he would be of help- he must be of help. He had gotten to know the future, and there was only one thing he could do equipped with the knowledge he had; he knew what happened to them. If he could only ensure that the final battle at Hogwarts occurred then he could save as many casualties there as he could. He would sit it out until the final battle came, and when it did, he would fight in the battle like a soldier, and he could save them all. He'd throw away both his knees, his arms, even his heart, if he needed to. He would save them.

# # #

Whilst he was filled with the worry that the tiniest change could upset a whole timeline, keeping his survival a secret proved a difficult feat regarding the members of the Order. Questions were raised as to why the ownership of Grimmauld Place had not changed following Sirius's supposed death and when Dumbledore called by a few days later, Sirius was forced to admit the truth regarding his renewed existence.

"A time-turner?" Dumbledore had asked, amazed.

There was a sudden knot in Sirius's stomach when he looked at Dumbledore and thought of the man falling from the top of the astronomy tower, as Harry had told him. "I know everything that happens," he began, but Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.

"You must keep that information to yourself. The consequences of our actions are so complicated, so diverse, that you cannot guarantee you will not change the course of the future if you interfere."

So the Order- including, against Sirius's wishes, Snape- were the only people to know about Sirius's secret existence. As for the Death Eaters, Sirius Black had fallen through the veil, and as the ones who had been in the Ministry that night had been stunned and bound, they did not see him return. Dumbledore alone was privy to Sirius's secret foray into the future, but as far as anyone else was concerned, Sirius had merely fallen through and stepped back moments later. And that's how it would stay- at least, for now.

# # #

The days passed by and Sirius counted them down with the grim knowledge of what was to come. He watched as Dumbledore was reinstated as Hogwarts Headmaster, as Fudge was removed from the Minister position and Scrimgeour appointed, and as the Wizarding World finally accepted the return of Lord Voldemort. Tonks delivered him The Daily Prophet whenever her schedule would allow- as she was stationed outside Hogwarts, her visits coincided with her lunchbreaks or evenings off when she was free to apparate back to Grimmauld Place- and he sat in the kitchen reading the propaganda he knew to be false, monitoring the slow downfall of the Ministry, and completing the paper's crosswords.

He watched Tonks sink into a depression as Lupin risked his life underground with the werewolves, and as she sat at his kitchen table and he offered her his sympathy he wanted more than ever to tell her about the future, but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't help himself speaking in aloof riddles, which she attributed to the madness of Azkaban and it made her laugh, so for that he felt a little less useless.

He continued to write to Harry over the school term but made sure that he did not reveal too much of the Order's activities in his letters, instead asking about lessons and apparition training and Hogsmeade visits; dull queries that were the much needed calm to Harry's storm. He pacified Harry's concerns about Draco Malfoy with easy reassurances, and when the fateful letter arrived reporting of Dumbledore's death- which Sirius had been awaiting with unease- he did his utmost to console Harry. Sirius had wondered whether to foreworn Dumbledore but as Harry- his Harry, from the future- had informed him, Dumbledore had seen his death as part of some great plan and so Sirius could not intervene.

As the next summer rolled along and Harry's seventeenth birthday arrived, he did not interfere when Molly Weasley demanded that Sirius take more interest in Harry's secret mission.

"He's of age now, Molly!" He had argued.

"But he's still your godson," she had shot back.

But he ignored her, and he did not stop Harry because he knew that Harry must go on his mission, and he must be successful. It had been hard to see Harry, seventeen-year old Harry, frightened and ill-prepared and with far too much responsibility, but he had to let it happen. After all, Harry would be alright.

# # #

With Dumbledore and Mad-Eye dead, Harry soon to be on the run, Lupin and Tonks safe together and Molly Weasley driving him up the wall, the remainder of the summer looked set to be a quiet one. He had been advised not to attend the Weasley wedding but he knew its outcome, so it was of little surprise to him when Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place in the early hours of the morning following the wedding, nor was it a surprise when they informed him that the Ministry had fallen and that Death Eaters had crashed the party.

He did not ask questions or get involved, but left the three to their own devices planning a secret mission they didn't realise he knew all about. His plan was to sit alone in Grimmauld Place, drowning his sorrows in firewhisky and with the eerie silence broken only by Kreacher's grumbled insults, waiting and counting down for the war he knew would happen.

# # #

As Sirius was privy to the knowledge of when the final battle would be, he was able to arrange his schedule around it. The night before, he finally broke his self-imposed house arrest- the world was going to fall tomorrow, people had worse things to worry about than catching a fugitive- and visited the town where he knew Andromeda lived, casting anti-apparition charms around the whole village.

He loped silently down the dark streets, thankful for the absence of streetlights, and turned off into the secluded lane. The protective enchantments surrounding the house were Lupin's own, and Sirius could undo them as easily as if he had placed them himself; no one knew Lupin quite as well as he did. He walked along the stone path leading to the front door, and as his firm knock on the door echoed against the wood, the voices that floated from inside stilled, and the house was enveloped by a ghostly silence.

It was broken only by a baby's cry.

Sirius couldn't help but smile to himself; the fifteen year old Teddy he knew in the future had an inability to keep his mouth shut, too. He knocked again on the door, quicker this time, eager to be let in.

There was a clicking of locks and sliding of chains, along with tapping that Sirius knew was coming from a wand against the wood. The door pulled forward slightly, and a beam of light spilled out onto the top step. Lupin's face appeared between the gap.

"What did you say to me," he breathed, so low that Sirius had to strain to hear. "In the Department of Mysteries, after I had disillusioned you?"

Sirius smiled, his mouth pulling into his familiar, lopsided grin. "She'll be fine, I promise."

Lupin nodded tightly and pulled the door open further to let him through. Sirius stepped over the threshold, still smiling. "Well, I'm surprised." He said, walking further into the hallway as Lupin shut the door again and replaced the charms and enchantments. "The way my security questions have been going when you visit Grimmauld Place, I felt sure you were going to bring up the incident in the girls bathroom during fourth year, and I was going to have to shamefully admit that-"

Lupin stopped him before he could finish. "-that'll do, Sirius. I know it's you. You don't have to prove to me that you know my favourite flavour of jam,"

"Blackberry," Sirius interrupted.

"Or my dearest ambition,"

"To display Dolores Umbridge's severed head on your wall,"

"Or that you remember what happened in the girls bathroom when we were fourteen."

A gentle tutting came from behind Sirius's back. "It's stories like this that start rumours," the voice teased. He turned to greet Tonks, whose hair was vibrant pink and whose smile was bright enough to light the night sky, but he couldn't drag his eyes away from the bundle of blankets lying in her arms.

"Hi, Teddy." He whispered to the blankets, and the sleepy face blinked back.

Lupin clapped a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "We've got a favour to ask."

"Whatever it is, you know the answer." Sirius replied.

Lupin grinned. "'Yes, absolutely, unless there's a chance I'll get caught'." He recited, rolling his eyes. "But you and James always got caught, that was the problem."

"Oh, Moony, you know me too well."

"Of course I do, I spent seven years sharing a room with you."

"Which is why," Tonks interrupted, elbowing Lupin carefully in the side. "We wanted to ask-" She glared meaningfully at Lupin.

"You'll be Godfather?" He said, a strange dazed look in his eye.

Sirius felt overwhelmed, astonished, delighted; but this was not his title to take. "Godfather? That's Harry." He stuttered.

"What?" Lupin shook his head. "No, we'd like you to be Teddy's Godfather. We- Dora and I- we think there's no one better!"

"There's no one else, more like." Sirius pointed out. "Look, you should pick Harry, he'll be a better Godfather. Honestly, Remus, I've not been much of a Godfather to Harry, I won't be much of a Godfather to Teddy, either."

"But we want it to be you." Replied Lupin, sounding crestfallen. "You're my best friend, Sirius, you're all that's left."

Sirius could not look at Lupin. "Can I hold him then?" He asked instead, nodding at the baby in Tonks's arms. Very carefully, Tonks passed him over, and Sirius held the bundle tightly as Teddy wiggled, trying to make himself comfortable in the stranger's arms.

Lupin disappeared into the living room in search of Firewisky and Tonks followed, offering to collect the glasses, leaving Sirius standing alone in the hallway cradling the tiny baby. The baby stared back with wide eyes and as Sirius looked at him, he thought of the Teddy Lupin he had met in the future, the fifteen year old who had been so much like his friends and who had dragged Sirius from his despair. He knew what the future held for the baby lying in his arms, knew that he'd be an orphan after tomorrow if Sirius didn't stop it. Teddy had saved him in the future, he deserved better. He owed Teddy so much, and Sirius was going to give him his world back.

This is a two-parter so chapter two will go up on friday! (when I've finished it haha)