Sister (slow updates)

Chapter Six

The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, struggling to shine through the trees of the Forbidden Forest. I couldn't stop thinking about the dream. About how real it felt. James, dead? I looked around my dorm at the rest of the fifth year girls, still fast asleep. I grabbed my silk robe from my trunk, pulling my arms through it and wrapping it tightly around my body as I descended the stairs of the girls' dorms and headed for the boys' dorms.

"You're up early." I whipped around. Remus.

"So are you," I said suspiciously.

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. "You?"

I sucked in a breath, wondering if I should tell him. I mean, he was one of James' friends. He was part of my dream. What would he think? Perhaps that I'm crazy, and James should look into sending me to St. Mungo's?

"Jocelyn? Are you okay?" His voice pulled me back to reality.

"I, uh, I was just going to see James."

"He's asleep." His voice was suspicious and concerned.

"I know that, I just..."

"Wanted to feel safe?" he offered, one eyebrow raised. I shrugged. "Want to talk about it?"

"I don't know. I- it's nothing. Just a strange dream, is all. James always helped."

"Perfectly understandable. You are twins, after all. Honestly, it's to be expected that you would end up in our dorm whenever things were, well, strange."

I glanced back at the door to the dorms and sighed, walking over to where Remus sat on the couch, a book in hand. I sat next to him, facing him with my legs crossed and back against the arm of the chair. "Do you have strange dreams, Remus? Ones that feel so real, but couldn't possibly happen in real life?"

"I supposed on occasion," he shrugged. "Is everything alright?"

"My dream, it just... I don't know what to think about it. I guess I just needed someone to tell me it wasn't real. Usually that's what James does, so I just wanted to talk to him."

"I know I'm not James, but I hope my word is enough to help," he smiled softly. "I'm sure your dream was just that, a dream. But I do know that many times, dreams reveal to us the things we fear."

"Strangely enough, it does help a bit. Perhaps it's just this specific dream, though. Something about you being here talking to me like this kind of counteracts the dream, I guess."

"Do you want to talk about the dream?"

"I'm not sure we're that close just yet, Remus," I laughed.

"I suppose not, but the offer will always stand," he smiled. "If you still need James, I'm sure he won't object to a visit this morning."

"Thanks, Remus," I smiled, standing. "For a lot of things. You're a good friend to James."

"You're welcome, but I'm your friend too, Jocelyn."

I gave him another small smile before heading up the stairs of the boys' dorm. I quietly slipped into the fifth year dorm and found it dark and peaceful. They were all still fast asleep, and I could hear Sirius' light snoring. It didn't take long to find James' bed and move the curtain enough to climb in next to him. I laid facing him, gently poking his face. He startled awake a little bit and yawned, looking at me.

"Jo? What time is it?" he yawned.

"Early," I whispered. "I'm sorry to wake you up."

"What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," I murmured. He sighed and pulled me into his arms.

"It's okay, I'm right here. You're safe. It's just a dream, I promise," he murmured into my hair.

We laid like that for several minutes. James ended up falling back asleep, but I didn't move. I needed the safety and security of James' embrace. I couldn't even fathom not having him in my life. And after that dream, I didn't want to.

"Shhh, she's sleeping," I heard James whisper harshly. "I don't want to move her."

"We have to get to breakfast, Prongs," Sirius' voice whispered back. "She'll have to get up anyway. Come on, just wake her up or something."

"There's still time, Padfoot. I don't think she slept much last night. A few more minutes isn't going to hurt anything."

"I can hear you," I muttered, not opening my eyes.

"Great, see? She's awake. Now let's go."

"Are you okay?" James murmured in my ear, not yet letting me go. I nodded. "The truth?"

I sighed. "Please don't ever leave me, Jamie."

"I would never." He slowly released me and sat up. "We should get ready. We get our schedules this morning, and classes start tomorrow." I nodded and got up. "Before you go," he said quickly, watching the others disappear into the bathrooms, "do you need to talk about it, Jo?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to ever lose you. You're not allowed to die before me, Jamie, or I'll kill you."

He grinned. "Of course. You're never going to lose me, Jo. I promise."

James began digging through his trunk for clothes while I made my way down the stairs and headed for the girls' dorms. I met Lily at the bottom, in the common room.

"There you are!" she said. "What were you doing up there? I got up this morning and you were gone."

"Oh, it's nothing. Just needed to talk to James."

She looked slightly skeptical, but didn't comment. "Well, hurry up and get dressed so we can go down and get our schedules!"

"Okay, I'll only be a minute," I smiled, climbing the staircase to my dorm and pulling on my uniform.

I tightened my scarlet and gold tie, adjusted my skirt, and slipped on my shoes before quickly running a brush through my long, dark hair and looking in the mirror. I let out a slow breath and grabbed a hairband from the counter, pulling half of my hair straight back and securing it. I pulled my skirt down a bit, worrying that it was too short. I could hear James yelling for me all the way down in the common room. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag from the end of my bed, slinging it over my shoulder as I made my way down the stairs.
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I was going to say something witty and funny but it's been a long week and I'm tired haha. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be FAR more interesting, I promise. Whether that's in a good way or bad way is for me to know and you to find out next week...