Only A Dream
by Epsilon Scorpii
written under an hour in response to a fanfic challenge by Clarilyn

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Harry Potter.

He'd always wondered why Peter had chosen to betray the Marauders to Voldemort. Curled up in his canine form, Sirius leans against the metal bars of his prison cell and falls asleep. And this time, what plagues him is not a nightmare, just a dream.

In his dream he returns to his First Year and Peter is there. They are in the corridor outside the Charms classroom, and the Slytherins are jeering something incorrigible in the background. He is about to leave when Mulciber grabs Peter's bag and spills the contents onto the floor. Immediately he stops in his tracks- he does not know Peter well, but he was aching for a fight, and an oppurtunity had just presented itself. In a flash he whips out his wand- he knows quite a number of nasty spells- and in the next second, Mulciver is yelping and rolling on the floor, painful boils sprouting from his face.

Peter gives him an abashed smile then, his eyes wide as though he were regarding a hero as he says a timid thank you. The Slytherins laugh and say it's cheesy, but all Sirius thinks is that no one had ever looked up to him like that before. And ever since then, Peter replaces Regulus as his little brother, and he takes the younger boy under his wing as the fourth Marauder.

In his dream, he returns to his Fourth Year. He is under a tree by the lake, and he tosses up a Snitch clear and high before catching it neatly between his fingers before it manages to slip away. Peter laughs and cheers, even though he's been doing just that throughout Sirius' many previous failures. James smirks; he is beginning to find Peter's hero- worshipping of Sirius amsuing.

At that moment, he sees Peter's brilliant smile, his eyes alight with wonder as he watches Sirius perfect the move again and again. He has a vague recollection of telling Peter to stop gawking at everything he did, it was no big deal- it was embarrassing. He remembers seeing that earnest, excited smile falter, remembers annoyance winning the battle against regret.

But in his dreams, he turns around and smiles at Peter, he says thank you.

In his dream he steps forwards a few years, and he is hurtling down the corridor, his face ashen, hands shaking, heart pounding hard and fast with panic- if anything happened to James, it'd be entirely his fault- he should not have sent Snape to the Shrieking Shack.

A few steps later he stumbles to a halt when he sees Peter, face pale just as his was, hands shaking uncontrollably. He knows he turned away, ignoring the other boy completely- his mind had only space for a single thought that was James.

But in his dream he manages to pause, and he notices the crimson on Peter's robes isn't Gryffindor red, but it's blood.

Peter becomes withdrawn, he is constantly bullied but Sirius and James are always too preoccupied to care. But it's fine, there's Lily, pranks, school work and Remus' furry little problem to think about, after all.

In his dream, he returns to their final year at Hogwarts. The Slytherins, future Death- Eaters most of them, start an impromptu fight in Hogsmeade. He is too proud; he naturally assumes that he and James, being the strongest duellists in their year would be their primary concern. They have a memorable time; they duel alongside each other, back- to- back, covering and complimenting each other- it's exhiliarating.

The duel ends quickly. But when they finally turn around to look for Peter, he's gone.

They find him much later, too late. He's already beaten up bloody, lying in some forgotten corner in a crumpled heap. When Sirius reaches him, Peter shrugs him off and snaps "I'm fine!", his tone harsh and forceful. Sirius has never seen him like that before.

He realizes now that it had been a set- up by the Slytherins, a test of the Marauders' unity which for all the years they lived through and the promises they made, he had failed.

So in his dreams, he returns to that moment, and when Nott and Mulciber come for Peter, he is there by his friend at that second, and so is James.
And when the duel ends, Peter smiles at him much like the timid First Year he'd met seven years ago, relieved, and says thank you.

The brilliant smile sears him, and he wakes up with a pang in his heart.

It had been a good dream, yet in a way it had been a nightmare.

For though some of the memories were real, most of them remained only a dream.

xxxxxx

Once again multiple layers were added to the characters, hope you found them. :)

Sirius' dream is actually something like a hypnosis- he notices and realizes things that only his sub- conscious had picked up before, which can really happen- just that it's not induced by a psychiatrist. I've had a dream like that before when I lost my calculator. I kept thinking about it when I fell asleep, and I replayed events of the previous day in my head, where I saw myself putting it into a black file. I woke up minutes later and got out the only black file I had- my file containing my piano theory stuff- and lo and behold, my calculator was in there. :p The power of the sub- conscious mind is a wonderful thing!

If you bothered to finish reading this, do review/ rate this story. I'd feel very pleased! Pleeeaaase? :p A simple 'Bad' / 'Good' would suffice! :)

Take care,
Epsilon Scorpii