Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Harry Potter. If I did, there would almost definitely be more than seven books.

Key: "Speech", "Thought", §Parseltongue§, Quoted Directly From Book

A/N ~ 8/2/2016:
Hello everyone! You probably do not recognize me, seeing as I am a newbie to writing fan fiction. Don't expect loads upon loads of spelig or grammer errors though or plott holls thouh :)
However, I will be doing my best to write the best, and am pretty confident.

Three Back Two - Chapter One: The Veil

*All quotations are directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling*

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 had just reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out again...

But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry-"

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"It's too late, Harry-"

"We can still reach him-"

Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go...

"There's nothing you can do, Harry... nothing... he's gone."

Harry stopped struggling as soon as he heard this, and Lupin let him go. Harry immediately resumed running toward the dais, running toward where he knew Sirius to be, where he would do what no one else wanted to do, and help Sirius...

He grabbed the veil and thrust it aside, and was met with the other side of the archway, with Sirius not in view. Harry ran through. And promptly disappeared.

Hermione Granger woke up, feeling pain all over, and saw Harry vanish through the veil. She screamed.

Luna Lovegood saw and heard all this. She rushed over, explaining to the wailing Hermione that Harry was not dead, but that the two of them would have to go with him if they ever wanted to see him again. Hermione looked at her as if she was completely bonkers, but Luna grabbed Hermione, dragged her to the stone archway, and pushed her through. This was actually quite a feat, seeing as Hermione weighed more than Luna, and was trying desperately not to be tossed through the veil, but Luna managed to dodge Order members and Death Eaters alike, making it all the more astonishing. Either way, after Luna finished with Hermione, she walked through after her, both of them vanishing like Harry had.

∆•∆•∆

Harry Potter woke in a hospital bed. He looked around and saw that he was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He also noticed that the beds were larger than he remembered, unless he had shrunk.

"Shocking business... shocking... miracle none of them died... never heard the like... by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape..."

"Thank you, Minister."

Harry was now really confused. As far as he could tell, Snape had not been at the Department of Mysteries. And where was Sirius? All he remembered was running through the veil, and then waking up here... Had it been a dream of some sort? He was really glad of that.

"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

Did this mean him? Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to get an Order of Merlin. He knew for sure he didn't want Snape to get an Order of Merlin, either. And the only class he wanted Snape to have was one on proper etiquette, and hair cleaning. His questions, though, were answered in a single sentence.

"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

This was bad. And Snape had done nothing but sneer at Harry when he had asked for help.

"Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"

Now that really infuriated Harry. Didn't the Minister know that Sirius had been killed by Death Eaters? He kept his mouth closed though. He wanted to figure out what was going on.

"As a matter of fact, it was Potter, Weasley, and Granger, Minister..."

"No!"

"Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape... They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've gotten away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves... and of course Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster-"

Harry knew what was happening now. He was somehow in third year again, before Hermione told him about the Time-Turner.

"Ah well, Snape... Harry Potter, you know... we've all got a bit of a blind spot where he's concerned."

This was true. Everybody had one. Everybody. Even Snape did, though his was more about ignoring the good Harry did, as compared to other people.

"And yet - is it good for him to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try to treat him like any other student. And any other-"

"That's a lie."

Snape and Fudge looked down at Harry, who had gotten up by now.

"Sorry, my dear boy, what did you say?"

"I said, 'That's a lie.'"

"And what did you mean by that?"

Harry glared at Snape. "Snape does not treat me the same way as everybody else. As a matter of fact, he shows extreme favoritism to the Slytherins. He openly and deliberately encourages the house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin."

Fudge looked taken aback. "Is this true, Severus?"

Snape was glowering at Harry. "Not a word of it. Potter has obviously been Confunded."

Harry glowered right back. "Ask any Gryffindor. They will tell you the same thing, and I doubt they have all been Confunded by Sirius."

Snape looked at Fudge. "See? He is on first name terms with Black. He is obviously either Confunded or delusional."

Harry snorted. "Thanks for that. Maybe you and Rita Skeeter should get together sometime. I have the feeling she will love your stories."

Hermione, who Harry had forgotten about, spoke up. "Minister, listen. Sirius Black is innocent. Is there a way you can see our memories of the conversation we had? A potion that would make us tell the truth of the conversation?"

Snape replied, not giving the Minister a chance to answer. "I do not know of any way to relive memories perfectly, and there is absolutely no such thing as a truth potion."

Just at that moment, however, Dumbledore walked in, looking quite amused. "Really, Severus? I happen to own a way to see memories in perfect detail, down to the last speck of dust. And I know for a fact that you have been asking for at least two years now for permission to use Veritaserum on the students.

Harry had a feeling that there was only one student Snape wanted to use Veritaserum on.

Snape looked flustered "I... uh... yes... no..."

The Minister finally said something. "Well, then, Snape. Get us some of this potion."

Snape quickly left the room, muttering incoherently underneath his breath.

Dumbledore turned to Fudge, saying, "I would like to have a private chat with Mister Potter and Miss Granger, please."

"What?" Fudge said. "You don't really believe this tosh about Sirius Black being innocent? There were dozens of eyewitnesses..."

He left the room.

However, Dumbledore's wish for a chat was not yet to be granted. Madam Pomfrey entered the room from her office, shouting, "OUT! EVERYBODY OUT! MY PATIENTS NEED PEACE AND QUIET!"

Ron, who had previously been out cold in a nearby bed, jerked awake, rolled over, and conked out again, and Dumbledore chuckled. "You seem to be ruining all hopes for either of those things. Now, if you would please excuse me..."

Madam Pomfrey went back into her office, albeit grudgingly and Dumbledore magically closed the door behind her, then turned to Harry and Hermione, and, conjuring a chair, sat down and spoke to them.

"Now, then, I think we have something to discuss. I believe that Sirius told you that he is innocent, and that Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper for James and Lily, but also that Peter Pettigrew is alive."

Harry and Hermione nodded in affirmation.

"Tell me your story."

So Harry and Hermione did just that. Well, they didn't include being from the future. When they were done, Dumbledore sat back in his seat.

"I see. You will need to get Sirius away from the castle, in case anybody tries anything before his name can be cleared."

"How exactly will we do that?" Harry inquired. "Madam Pomfrey won't let us out of here, that's for sure."

"Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. Seeing as we need a little more time for you to pull this off, you will need to... yes... three turns should do it... actually, seeing as it is a quarter to one, four turns. Make sure you aren't seen. Good luck. And remember, if all goes well, the life of an innocent can ensure Sirius' safety... tell him that there is a cave on the side of the nearby mountain, not far from Hogsmeade. I repeat, you must not be seen, and good luck, in case you need it."

He walked over to examine Ron. Turning around, and seeing Harry and Hermione still there, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

A/N: Well! What do you think? Please review, and if you like it, like it! If you don't like it, however, there is no need to read it.

Signing off,
Mistivir