Chasing Time (sirius black)

DROP OF US

The nightmares started that night. I went to bed, hoping I'd fall asleep like a normal human being and not be plagued by the insomnia that had been keeping me up for the past two weeks. Tonight, I'd managed to only stay up until 2am, my Transfiguration book getting blurry as I finally closed my eyes to rest.

Flashes flickered. Yelling. A stone archway. Smoke swooping. Sirius. Manic laughter echoing loudly. Green light. Harry screaming.

I sat up with a gasp, sweat coating my skin. My breath swooshed in and out, loud in the quiet room. Tux whined softly next to me. I ran a hand over his head, comforted by the fact that he was there. If he was there then what I just saw hadn't happened. Sirius was fine. Asleep in his dorm.

Glancing down, I realized my hand was trembling. I closed my eyes and focused on slowing my breathing, reminding myself that the future could change. Alphard was alive. There was proof right there. The man should've died a year ago but he was out there living his life with a wife who loved him. Because I did something to change his future.

What could I have done though? And what could I do to ensure that my friends lived long enough to see their own grandchildren? It was overwhelming every time I tried to organize those thoughts. Voldemort, Bellatrix, Regulus, horcruxes, Dorcas, Emmeline, Marlene, - I smacked myself in the forehead. There was a god damn Basilisk in the basement that I hadn't told anyone about.

Maybe I should start writing these things down. Check off my to do list as I did them. The issue though was what if someone found it? What if I wrote down the future events and then someone saw those things? Mainly Peter.

Peter. I still couldn't figure him out. He didn't speak much when I was around. At first I thought that he was just quiet, overshadowed by James and Sirius, but I caught him talking with pretty much everyone else.

Not that I really wanted to chat with him but...it was strange. I knew my own feelings of mistrust could possibly be part of what he shied away from but there was just something else I couldn't explain. I'd caught him staring at me a few times in a creepy way. Mostly when Sirius was around. We'd be sitting next to each other and when I glanced over, I found Peter inspecting us. A shiver ran over me just thinking about it.

It was probably nothing. I was probably reading too much into things. Considering what I knew about Peter, well future Peter, it didn't surprise me that I found him...off.

Running both hands through my hair, I sighed. There was just so much to do. So many people who would be affected by all this. Alice let out a snore next to me and I glanced over at her.

Alice. And Frank. Bellatrix wouldn't just kill Sirius. She would torture Ali and Frank into insanity. To the point where they didn't recognize their own son. A shiver ran through me just thinking about it. What if my parents didn't know who I was? How horrible would that be? Being alive, being there but not there. Neville deserved to grow up with loving parents just like Harry.

Wetness dropped onto my hands and I looked down in surprise. Bringing my fingers to my face, I pulled them away to see tears shining in the moonlight. Wiping my face off, I threw the covers off and went down to the common room with Tux. I settled on the couch, closing my eyes to at least try and rest them. Even if I wasn't sleeping, I could let them rest for a while.

I really should write down what I needed to do though. My mind always remembered things better once I wrote them down. If only there was a way to hide my writ-