Soon All the Suns Will Rise

Bad Dreams Become a Screamer

Chapter title from "You Make My Dreams (Come True)" by Hall and Oates.

Sirius could feel his limbs twitching against the mattress but was powerless to open his eyes. He wore his tattered prison stripes once again, hands magically bound behind his back. He could tell it wasn't a memory, for as he drifted back and forth between being himself and seeing himself, he could see he was strong, with defined muscles and a slight tan; longer, shinier curls; his facial hair neatly shaven. And he wore a gold band adorned with etched moons and diamond stars. His captor was walking him through a crowd of jeers and pointed stares. An owl flew overhead, and he could hear her grating squawk; it looked like Hedwig, but with red eyes.

Next thing he knew, Sirius was on a small, rickety wooden boat being tossed through the giant waves of the North Sea. A man sat on his right, his face completely hidden by lank, greasy black curtains of hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. He was also in Azkaban-issued garb, though his looked newer. He wore a glowing green ring overlaid with braided black metal, studded with emeralds. Sirius knew both rings would be taken the minute they arrived at the door of the imposing dark gray tower that loomed ahead. He saw a vision of Colleen with tears in her eyes, and he pushed it away.

The hooded figure piloting the boat through the roaring sea was rather small compared to most Azkaban prison escorts, and was quiet and stoic rather than the usual boisterous braggarts who rather enjoyed taunting new prisoners. When they reached the rocky shore, the escort pointed to the tower ahead with a youthful hand. Sirius charged forward as if under the Imperious Curse, knowing what was going to happen and how powerless he was to stop it. His companion in the boat remained seated and hidden behind his curtains of hair.

"Come along, Snape." The voice that emerged from the hood was impatient, but not unkind. Familiar, but older.

"Harry?" Sirius heard himself ask shakily.

The figure removed its hood, and Sirius was left staring into Harry's sad eyes, the boy's mouth held in an expressionless line. The air around them was filled with disappointment, guilt, and regret. Two shadowy figures slid over what was left of the setting sun, and Sirius's bones were immediately chilled from the inside with an inhuman cold.

"Sirius?"

Hands gripped his arms firmly but somehow tenderly, yet he jumped and threw them off. He couldn't trust any touch in this place, this watery pit of hell.

"Sirius, please wake up. Everything's fine...you're home."

The hands were back, this time with gentle lips on his forehead. He opened his eyes to moonlight filtered through sheer sea blue curtains, an enchanted candle with its faint dancing flame, and Colleen's eyes fixed on him, full of fear, concern, love, and an effort to understand. His hand was shaking as he reached for a curl of her hair, drawing it to his face, breathing in her rosemary shampoo mixed with the faded notes of the perfume he'd smelled in his heart before he even knew her. He allowed the scent to hover in his mind and bring him back to the present. The present, though, wasn't just nestled with Colleen in a perfect seaside house. It was also Harry, now an adult, off on his own and hunting down pieces of the Dark Lord's soul in an effort to save them all. And Sirius had officially missed out on his very last chance to be a part of his childhood.

Sirius buried his face in his hands to shield Colleen from the tears that were threatening to break through. Colleen was powerless in these dark times, and she needed him to be strong, always. She had to be able to have faith in him not to fall apart.

"Sirius, whatever it is, it's not real. You and I are real. Ben. Our family here, in this house." She pulled him back to lean against her, smoothing his hair with one hand while the other grasped his fingers in hers.