Life is But A Dream by Pondering.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Chapter VI: Sorry
One Week Later
Sirius’s head felt like someone had left it in a Muggle blending device and left it on at full speed. The blood pounded in his ears. He was reminded of a summer’s day at the beach, a seashell pressed to his ear. He thought he could hear the ocean, but when he told Lily about it later she had laughed and said he was only hearing his blood pumping through his body. He guessed that this was what he was listening to now.
The world was still dark, and for a moment he thought that he was still stuck in the Realm. But then he became aware of the soft sheets he was wrapped in; the warm bed he was lying on was very comfortable.
He felt as if he should tell someone that he was awake, but he couldn’t even feel his tongue, let alone control it to form decipherable words. He tried to open his eyes to see where he was, but his eyelids refused to budge.
“Gilderoy, leave me alone!” a female voice said sharply. It sounded abnormally loud to Sirius, but he supposed that was due to his pounding headache.
“I am not mentally unstable!” the same voice yelled. Sirius wondered why the voice sounded so familiar.
“If you don’t leave now, I’ll hex you.” The voice was filled with determination. Sirius had no doubt that whoever was speaking would carry out her threat.
A low male voice started speaking, most likely in response to the threats the female was throwing. “Oh, my dearest Monday, will you not tell me who hurt you so?”
Monday. Of course.
Sirius wanted to do nothing more to jump off the bed and figure out what the hell was going on, but the various parts of his body that would have allowed him to do so were still not responding to him.
The male continued speaking. “I leave the cabin for twelve hours to speak to the Daily Prophet about an upcoming press release and I come back to find you with three strange men in the room. Monday, darling, what am I meant to think? “
“Personally,” Monday said scathingly, “I don’t think you know how.”
The man ignored this comment, and continued.
“Monday, I think that we should take you to St. Mungo’s to get you looked at. You just haven’t been acting at all like yourself this past week.”
“We?” replied Monday’s scathing voice. “I don’t see anyone with you. Are you planning on dragging me in? There’s a room full of witnesses you know.”
“Yes, but they’re all unconscious.”
It was at this point in time where Sirius had regained enough control of his bodily functions to elicit a small groan.
“Not as unconscious as you think, Gilderoy.”
Sirius felt his mouth being forced open and a bitter liquid was trickled down it. He coughed and gagged. “Ow,” he said. His tongue felt as soft and useless as a marshmallow in his mouth.
“Welcome to the land of the living,” Monday quipped. “Can you open your eyes?”
Sirius fluttered his eyelids. They refused to stay open. “Urgh,” he muttered.
The male spoke again. “I will be back, Monday, you can count on it. If I have to involve Aurors in this to make you go to St. Mungo’s, I will.”
Sirius heard the door slam.
“I can’t believe this,” muttered Monday.
Sirius made a small affirmative grunting noise.
“Out of all incompetent and bumbling fools who could have been Minister for Magic, they just had to choose Gilderoy Lockhart.”
“Lockhart!” Sirius shouted. Then he was amazed. He had just managed to say a full word. He was sure this was an achievement to be proud of.
“You know of him?”
Sirius wanted to rant at her, to tell her that the ‘incompetent and bumbling fool’ had nearly Obliviated Harry in his second year, how all his stories were stolen off other people, that in general, Gilderoy Lockhart was just a big fake. But all his energy had left him. He grunted again.
“If you want to know why you feel like this,” Monday began chidingly, “it’s because you messed with the natural order of time and this timeline had to reconstruct your body. That is why you have no energy to move and speak. I’ve had you three at my old house for the past week, but moved you all here today because Gilderoy kept asking where I was.”
There was a rapping noise on the door. “I swear,” Monday muttered, “if that’s him back again, I’ll send him to St. Mungo’s. I’m sick of being called dearest and darling all the time. I don’t know what I was thinking when I married him…all right, I’m just going into the hallway to answer the door, Sirius.”
Sirius wanted to point out that it wasn’t really she who had married Lockhart, but lacked the energy to do so. He heard a soft creak as Monday opened the door.
“Oh, Mrs Potter. What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think you were ever going to come.” He could hear Monday’s voice clearly, even from the hallway.
Sirius’s heart leaped in his chest. Lily? So Snape had not been lying in the Realm, Lily was still alive and safe. Had she come to visit them? Or did she have a bone to pick with Monday?
“What can I say?” Lily’s voice was deadpan, as if she was trying her best to avoid any emotion leaking into her words. “You intrigued me.”
“Well, I told you a week ago!” Monday exclaimed. “What took you so long?”
Sirius imagined he could hear Lily’s temper flare. “What took me so long?” Lily shouted. “I’ve just had one of the worst weeks of my life!”
“I...I’m sorry to hear that,” Monday said sincerely. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“I…what? No, I don’t want any tea! I want Harry! I want you to tell me where he is!”
“You want me to…what?” Monday sounded as if she had been caught off guard. “I don’t know anyone called Harry.”
“My son,” Lily said icily.
“Oh.”
“I think he must have overheard Remus and I talking about your little guests, who I am still not convinced actually exist. He was angry that we hadn’t trusted him with the information and didn’t talk to us for five days. Then I woke up in the morning and he was gone! He must have gotten some foolhardy plan in his head to go find his father by himself, and we haven’t seen him since. We have no idea where he is! He could be hurt! This is all your fault, you spreading your malicious lies everywhere—“
“They’re not lies,” Monday said softly, so quietly that Sirius almost didn’t hear her.
“And…what?” Lily sounded flustered.
“They’re not lies. It’s the truth.”
“You…you mean…they are here? Who else is here apart from James and Sirius? I thought you had three people with you.”
“I do,” Monday replied. “The third person is the man you call Peter.”
Sirius growled internally. The little rat had managed to live! He wondered if he could rectify that. He knew that James wanted to turn him over to the Ministry, but Sirius wasn’t sure if the bungling oaf in charge would do little more than let the rat run free.
“Can…can I see them?” Lily asked.
Monday must have responded non-verbally, because the next thing Sirius heard was, “James? Sirius? I…need help.” Lily’s voice quavered and he felt something wet drop onto his eyelids.
This seemed to be the motivation his eyes need to finally open. His eyes did not seem well adjusted and the room looked blurry. He wondered if this is what the world looked like to Harry when he wasn’t wearing his glasses. However, he was able to make out the shape of a bed across from him. Lily was bent over the other bed, crying.
Sirius’s heart thudded. Something must be seriously wrong with Harry, and he was too weak to help. He hated himself then, for not being able to pick himself up and dust himself off, ready to fight another day immediately. He wanted to save Harry; he wanted to make sure he was all right. But he couldn’t, and he was angry.
He focused his attention on speaking. “Lily?” he said hoarsely.
She spun around. Sirius looked at her. She looked different somehow. Then it struck him- she was older. He had never seen this older version of Lily, and this made him feel sad. “Sirius?” she questioned, her bright green eyes widening. “Is…is this real?”
Sirius wondered what the answer to that question. “…think so,” he replied.
“Oh Sirius, I’m so so sorry.” Sirius didn’t know it was possible, but she started crying even harder. “I’m sorry that I didn’t believe Mrs. Lockhart when I told her. I’m sorry I didn’t come along with Remus to see you three days ago…I…”
“Remus?” Sirius asked.
Lily nodded. “He came here three days ago,” she reiterated. “He wanted to see if you could tell him anything, but…you were all unconscious. I was busy trying to get Harry to speak to me, but he wouldn’t…and then…then…Harry was gone…”
Harry had just disappeared without giving his family any warning? That didn’t sound like the Harry he knew. Of course, this wasn’t the Harry that Sirius knew. This was another Harry, who could be very different from the teenager he knew.
“Voldemort.” Sirius wondered if he was involved somehow. He had no idea what had happened to the evil wizard in this timeline. Things were very, very different.
Lily looked at Sirius strangely. “No. It can’t…can’t be him. He’s gone. He’s been gone for ten years.”
Sirius closed his eyes. Relief washed over him. He had been frightened for a moment that he had entered a world where Voldemort had been at large for fifteen years. Not that he was scared of Voldemort, but he was scared of how many people he could’ve killed in that time. How many people that Sirius knew, and loved. The first war had gone for five extra years here. But the second had not started yet. He was glad of that.
“How?” Sirius asked without opening his eyes. Had it happened differently here?
“Harry…” Lily’s voice choked, “Harry has a small scar on his forehead. Shaped like a lightening bolt.”
No differently then. Sirius wondered how that had happened, if Lily didn’t die to save her son. But then he realised that it didn’t matter why or how it occurred, just to be happy that it did.
“Sirius, what should I do? How can I find Harry?” Lily looked at Sirius pleadingly, as if she expected him to have all the answers.
“I’ll help.” He took in deep breath and tried his hardest to propel himself from the bed. This did not have the desired effect and he fell to the floor with a thump. The stone floor of the cabin was cool to the touch and not nearly as comfortable as the bed. He briefly wondered why a cabin would have a stone floor, then realised it had been Gilderoy Lockhart who had called it a cabin. Sirius supposed that this ‘cabin’ was in actuality a small mansion.
Lily almost smiled at Sirius. “I’m not quite sure you’re in a position to help.”
“I want to!” Sirius yelled sharply. He immediately wished he hadn’t, as his throat felt quite sore and he wasn’t sure he would be able to speak again.
“Sirius, look at this rationally. You can’t even stand up. How are you meant to help me find Harry?” she asked kindly. “I just wanted to know if you had any advice. Remus is already searching some of the places he recently frequents, except that I don’t really expect Remus to find Harry there, you know? I just get this feeling…that something bad has happened.”
Sirius had a bad feeling that things were about to get a lot worse, and his perspective wasn’t helped much by lying on the cold floor.
“Help me?” he asked Lily.
“Oh, sure.” Using her wand she cast a quick charm at him and floated him harmlessly back on his bed. “How’s that?”
“Better.”
“I…think I should go…I really have to look for Harry. I’m sorry.” She stood to leave when someone rapped on the door.
Sirius heard Monday open the door. “Oh, Gilderoy, you’re back. I see you brought a few guests.”
~*~
Harry Potter was not happy. He had been circling this forest on his broomstick for five hours now and there was still no sight of the cabin he supposed was meant to be there. Of course, the way Minister Lockhart’s honeymoon cabin had been described in the Daily Prophet it sounded more like a mini castle. Harry didn’t know why he was looking for his father. He presumed that it gave him a sense of purpose if he had a goal in mind. If truth be told, he had just needed to get away from home for a while.
Neville and Ron had only stayed for a few hours. They had flown around in the field, and Harry had tried desperately to pretend everything was normal. He could not work up the enthusiasm he usually had for flying, though, and this concerned him. He had skulked around the house while his mum tried to speak to him. She told him that she was sorry for keeping secrets from him. She seemed to be apologising a lot lately.
Harry grew tired of flying around and landed a brief rest on the lush grass of a nearby meadow. He heard voices emerging from the woods, but he didn’t let this concern him. He guessed that this might be a popular spot for Muggle families to have picnics. Harry wondered if he could ask them for some food. He hadn’t managed to filch enough from the cupboards at home and he was worried if the supplies he had would last him longer than a few days.
He wasn’t quite sure how long he intended to be hiding from his mother for. He was angry at her, but he was still worried that she would be extremely upset about his disappearance. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he didn’t really see how he had any choice. How could he be with her and pretend to be happy when he knew that she was keeping things from him?
The voices were louder now. Harry could hear the crunching of twigs as people stepped on them. There were people emerging from the forest now, into the meadow he was standing in. He watched them closely. One of them pulled out a wand. Harry gulped. Had he been found so quickly? Should he run? Or should he give himself up and let himself be returned to his mother? He was sick of running, and he didn’t really want to have to beg strange wizards for food.
“Okay, okay, I give up. I’ll go home now, I promise.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, Potter.”
Before Harry had a clear idea of what was going on, he had been hit with a non-verbal binding spell. He dropped his broom as the slender ropes tightened around his arms and legs. He struggled against them, but they only grew tighter. He should have known better then to run off into the woods. In fact, his mum had even warned him that their might be people who had it in for him after what he did to You-Know-Who when he was younger.
As five cloaked and masked people surrounded him in a small circle, Harry realised it was too late to start following his mother’s advice. He wondered what would happen now. His mum would be driving herself completely insane with worry if he didn’t come back soon. He hadn’t really meant to leave home for too long. He hoped he got to see her again so he could apologise for being a stupid idiot.
Then one of the cloaked people hit him with a Stunner, and he thought no more.
Life is But A Dream by Pondering
Chapter Notes: I'm back! And so is this story :) Thanks to all who have supported me so far, I really appreciate it.