"The waking up is the hardest part."
The mystery woman with the brown hair and sapphire eyes was walking ahead of him, dressed in an flowing dress pulled from the Middle Ages. She turned around and giggled, peals of laughter ringing through their surrounds.
Sirius followed her through a copse of trees; he knew exactly where they were. This had been his favourite place back in school, at the very heart of the Forbidden Forest, where the trees were sparse and thicker that on the outer rim. A stream snaked around the trunks, lined with rocks until it broke out into a clearing.
He used to visit this place once a month, never more, never less. Always to sit by the pool of water in the center, and stare into his reflection to ponder life, and the apparent lack of meaning to it. Even in his dreams he felt emptiness, like the beauty of the place sucked him dry of his spirit.
Mystery woman winked at him again, and when she reached a large rock on the edge of the pond, she lowered herself gracefully and crossed her legs with her skirts tucked around her. She bent forward, elbows on knees, then head in hands.
With her eyes so wide and gorgeously blue like that, it was amazing he didn't jump her then and there. But it was a dream, and dreams did as they liked, which included not what its host wanted.
A dazzling smile slipped over her face as he stepped closer to her. He was wearing a black suit, all prim and proper, and his hair wasn't falling into his eyes, which meant it must've been shorter, or pulled back. There was a certain weightlessness about his scalp that told him it was the former.
Sirius grinned back at her, and plopped down next to her, not caring that he might dirty or crumple his fine clothing. After all, it was only a dream.
"You're not happy," she stated, looking at him with defiant eyes, daring him to contradict her.
"I'm perfectly happy here. Look at you, you're gorgeous."
A faint blush coloured her cheeks at the compliment. As though looking on, Sirius wondered whether the woman was like that in real life, blushing at a simple word.
"Thank you," she said modestly, but shook her head of distractions. "No, I mean. Your life. You're not happy. You're miserable."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Then tell me, O Wise One. How could you deduce that I am oh so very miserable?"
"You live with your best friend and his girlfriend. You can't get a job, because every wizarding place sends you away as a cohort of Voldemort. Every muggle place sees your extensive criminal record and dismisses you as pure trouble.
"No matter how hard you try, you can't get in the good books with your real family, so you live off of your friends'. You miss Hogwarts, and Dumbledore. And not seeing Remus and Peter. And even though you love James like a brother, you get sick of his happiness, and just wish he was a little bit like you. Completely, utterly, terrifyingly depressed.
"So you drink to cover the sadness, pretend that it's just the effect of a depressant. You sleep with every beautiful woman who decides you'd be good for a one night thing, but never anything serious. You're lonely, Sirius."
He raised his chin, trying to act like he didn't have a clue what she was talking about. "You don't know what you're talking about, I'm perfectly happy. It's not like I don't function. I keep things clean, do washing, and cook every so often." He acted like he took her revelation lightly, though it had hurt to hear her say everything he felt.
"Liar," she said seriously, dark, slender eyebrows meeting over her nose in a frown. Her mouth crinkled in the corner as she pursed her lips.
Sirius stood abruptly, offended that she would think of him as dishonest. But he got to his feet with such speed and lack of footing, that a rock rolled under a shining shoe and caused him to fall backwards.
Before he could hit the floor, he jerked awake
Sirius stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, disgusted and appeased at the same time. He pondered the self he had dreamed, with the afternoon sunshine pouring through the small window, bathing him in winter light. The black hair that fell to his shoulders was tidy and freshly washed from his shower, but it seemed heavy and thick.
Something wasn't right about his appearance either. The worn clothing hung limp on his form, making him look scrawny and skinny, not at all attractive. Figuring this was more than just a droop in self-confidence, he made a decision then and there.
When Lily got home from work, Sirius would ask her for a haircut. He would get it cut short, neat. Tomorrow, he would go through all of his old clothes and throw out anything with a hole in. He feared that this might be all of it, including his underwear, but he could borrow something of James's. At least until he got a job, and bought some new ones.
He heard the door creak open, while James's voice yelled out in greeting and Sirius left the bathroom.
"Hey man, what's for dinner? Smells good," James said, nose raised in the direction of the kitchen. Pots bubbled and hissed, an aroma scenting the whole apartment.
"Oh, spaghetti. I thought it would be a nice change from those microwave meals Lily keeps making us," was the smirked answer, and an outraged "OI!" was heard from the doorway.
James laughed and turned away, dumping his stuff on the coffee table, before falling unceremoniously onto the beat up couch. He switched on the television, and started watching the news.
There was more about the mysterious disappearances, random, mass-murders. Buildings falling for no reason, bridges collapsing. The muggle government had no explaination for that, they offered rewards in exchange for information, arrests for those involved.
Lily shook her head, "It's so terrible… It has to have something to do with us. Remember a few months ago, there was that massive movement in the air. Almost as if something was being drawn from it?"
There was a loud hum of agreement from the kitchen, where Sirius was, and James sat up to see her better.
"Well, I was talking to Dumbledore about that. It was magic, someone strong used a spell to pull the magic from everything and use it for another spell…"
Sirius exited the kitchen, frowning. There was a pot of pasta in one hand, sauce in the other. "So, that means that there's some mega-wizard rising… But we don't know if they're on our side, or someone else's."
"Right, but either way, what they did was wrong. What Dumbledore also said, was that raw power, drawn from the earth and into a person, it's dangerous. More powerful than what we have. So when it's used, there's no stress on the person using it. They don't get tired from it."
James whistled, Sirius set down the pots with a clatter. "I speak the truth," she muttered, and slunk down onto one of the worn dining chairs. With tired, slanting green eyes, she dug into the pasta before James had even gotten off of the sofa.
"Rough day?" Sirius asked, taking the serving spoon from Lily's hand.
"Yeah," she started, haphazardly swallowing a mouthful of food. "Dealing with all those murders, disappearances, strange things happening around town… Covering them all up with lies, lies and more lies.."
"Must be tough…"
"It's hell… You never know what someone else is saying, so you have to find out before you accidentally say the wrong thing to the wrong person."
James shook his head, "It's a bad way to run a country, even the magical one. We're hiding the truth from other wizards too you know."
As Sirius scoffed, and silence reigned over the table as everyone began to eat. It was a regular night's dinner conversation, quiet but for the clang of cutlery on china, the occasional slurp of a drink, or crunch of the salt or pepper grinder.
Author's Note: Yes - the story is still going! I have no idea why I didn't post this sooner, it's not like it wasn't written or anything... Bah. I don't know why I have been so inspired about this particular story lately. I used to have the whole thing planned out in my head, but it just felt like a useless thing. Eh. Whatever. I'll probably do that thing that I always do, and take it down after a year, given up on it or something. It should resurface though. It always resurfaces.
Song is John Mayer's "Dreaming With A Broken Heart" - love that song people.