Spells were flying haphazardly around the Death Chamber, empty save the lone stone archway and the many battles raging around it. Order members fought against the Death Eaters, neither able to maintain the upper hand. Harry saw none of this. It was like tunnel vision and the only image filtering through was Sirius falling towards the archway. He didn't hear the spells being cast or the shrieks of pain or victory or the taunts being thrown about. His ears were ringing too badly. He might've been screaming his godfather's name but couldn't be sure. Why wasn't he coming out the other side?

"NOOO!" Bellatrix bellowed.

Sirius had all but disappeared, the dark flimsy veil wrapped around his godfather's body like a welcoming friend. On either side of him, peeking out from the veil, were four pale fingers gripping for dear life to the archway. His form shimmered around the edges before he was forcibly thrown to the floor a few feet away. In the span it took for Sirius to hit the ground, the veil shimmered once more as another form followed closely behind him and landed in a crumpled heap not far from where Sirius lay prone. It gasped and retched and shook most violently underneath a pale matted mess.

"Sirius," Harry yelled, now in joy and hope rather than desolation.

"It can't be," Bellatrix screamed in absolute rage. She sounded like a wounded banshee as she shook her head vehemently and repeated the phrase.

Harry sprinted away from the shock-slackened grip of Remus who had been trying to restrain him. He landed beside Sirius, ignoring the pain in his kneecaps from the rough landing on the stone, and rolled the man over. He saw with relief the way his head kept lolling side to side. That had to be a good sign, right? Seizing him by fistfuls of his robes Harry began shaking the dazed man. "Sirius," he called although his face was less than a foot from his. "Sirius, you have to wake up," he commanded.

"H-Harry?" He mumbled, eyes rolling unseeingly.

He couldn't stop the grin from splitting his aching face even if he wanted to. "Yes," he breathed out. The relief of hearing Sirius saying his name melted the unbearable weight that had been crushing his chest before.

"What happened?" The words came out blurry but it looked like Sirius was at least trying to focus his gaze.

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But you're alive and that's all that matters. I thought- I though that Bellatrix…"

At that moment, Bellatrix chose to scream at the top of her lungs, "How are you alive?! I'll kill you, I swear it; I'll kill you!" She raised her wand, her dark eyes glazed over with the maddest look Harry had seen.

Jumping to his feet and brandishing his wand, Harry said, "No! You'll be back in Azkaban before I let you near him. Stupefy!"

Remus was suddenly there and so was Kingsley. They flanked him in attempt to shield the boy. Both men flung spell after spell at the mad Death Eater. She was quickly becoming overwhelmed and sent a killing curse their way so they had to duck to avoid it, giving her time to turn tail and run. Only thinking about how she almost – it pained him physically to think it – killed Sirius, Harry ducked behind the men and chased after her.

"Harry, don't," Remus called after him but it was too late. Harry was gone, hot on Bellatrix's heels.

"I'll go after him," Kingsley declared then gestured to Sirius. "You take care of him." Unable to argue, Kingsley was a fully trained Auror after all, Remus nodded and went to his best friend's side.

"Harry," Sirius groaned, trying to push himself into a sitting position.

Instantly Remus was pushing him back down. "Easy there, Pads." He didn't know what had happened to him but he was pretty sure that Sirius was unfit to go chasing after a duel.

"Moony?" Sirius asked as he stopped struggling against Remus's steady hands. "Where's Harry?"

"He-" He stopped short to gaze around the room. Dumbledore had roped the defeated Death Eaters in the middle but there was no Dumbledore to be seen. He assumed that the great wizard had gone to help Harry so to Sirius he said, "he'll be back soon."

A noise erupted from Remus's right drawing his attention to the crumpled heap of a person that had fallen silent some time ago. Glancing down at Sirius to make sure that there were no fatal injuries in need of attention, Remus crawled over to the heap. His hand paused over the highest point of the heap, caution suddenly seizing him. He had no idea who this was, if they were dangerous or even human.

In a voice raspy from disuse, the mysterious newcomer hissed out a few choked syllables. "Lu. Loosh." The newcomer erupted into a fit of coughing that racked their entire body so hard that they came up off the ground. Once finished, they collapsed back onto the floor and didn't try to speak again.

He patted what he guessed was the person's back. The lumpy thing covering them turned out to be hair, hair so matted nightmarishly that it was nearly impossible to discern as such, and he felt a ping of revulsion. "It'll be okay. Hush now," he urged as he moved to pat the elbow that stuck out awkwardly instead.

The person shifted onto their side, panting from the effort, and sluggishly moved the hair from their – her – face. Remus scanned her length and noticed that the dull yellow and green plaid dress had probably gone out of style about the time he was born. He thought absently that his mother might've worn something like it as a teenager. Hesitantly he moved the strands of hair that clung to her face behind her ear then grimaced at the evidence of vomit on her chin. He settled back onto his heels, taking the time to examine her. Her features were pointy and aristocratic and the distant familiarity about them itching at his brain. She was deathly pale and even skinnier than Sirius had been after escaping Azkaban, cheeks sunken in and lips chapped painfully. Her lavender colored eyelids fluttered open two or three times to reveal grey eyes that once again whispered a faint recognition. He couldn't place her though so he pushed it away.

It was Mad-Eye Moody that interrupted his quiet contemplation. Supporting a half unconscious Tonks against his side, he hobbled over and plopped down with a huff. "Alright there, Lupin?" He grumbled after making sure that Tonks's head didn't smack the stone as he set her down.

He nodded mutely then glanced at Sirius who was sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. They made accidental eye contact and Sirius offered a lopsided grin. "Didn't scare you too bad, did I there, Remus?"

Again he shook his head. "You're alive and that's all that matters, Pads." Mad-Eye gave a snort that could've either been in agreement or contradiction but Remus didn't feel like inquiring further.

The electric blue orb that served as Mad-Eye's magical eye swiveled to the heap of plaid and matted hair that Remus assumed had once been blonde. His lip curled in a sneer. "Who's that? More Death Eater scum?"

"I'm not sure. She pushed Sirius out of the way," Remus explained to the best of his ability.

Sirius's face scrunched in confusion. "Out of the way of what?" Remus merely gestured to the archway, the flimsy material still rippling ominously despite there being no breeze. Realization dawned after a moment and then his face went ashen. "Oh," he said quietly looking at his boots.

"Is she alright?" Remus asked, gesturing towards Tonks.

"She'll be fine," Mad-Eye said, looking down at his fellow Auror with a gruff kind of admiration. "She's tough."

"She can hear you," Tonks said blearily. The three men just laughed. Well, Sirius barked, Remus chuckled under his breath, and Mad-Eye kind of grunted. Still, it felt good to laugh.