Sirius Black woke from another dreamless sleep.

Same old waves crashing into the prison walls. Same old scraping breathing of the Dementor passing his cell. Same old tiny, stone chamber.

His vision focused, and the haggard young man gasped, his body jolting and smashing his head into the wall he had been sitting against. The young, vibrant figure of James Potter leaned against the opposite wall, grinning.

"Alright, Padfoot, mate?"

"Ja - James?" Sirius' voice was a weak croak, the vision of his best friend stunning him into a dwindling silence.

James shook his head, his rectangular glasses glinting, his black locks of hair getting even messier with the motion.

"Mate, you're a mess! Where's the witch-magnet gone?"

Sirius' body begged to laugh, but his lips stayed pursed, his eyes flitting over his best friend's body, taking in each feature hungrily; every crease of James' clothes, the exact shade of hazel in his eyes, the way he so casually held himself, yet still retained a degree of nobility and grace.

"You're… you're not real." said Sirius bluntly, his throat suddenly parched, desperate for water. "I… I was there. I held you. I… I tried to wake you up…"

The dark, sunken eyes flashed at the memory of cradling James Potter's corpse, closing the cold, dead eyes, feeling the heavy weight of a lifeless wizard in his arms.

James frowned slightly, uncrossing his arms and stepping towards the prisoner cautiously.

"I know." He said softly, as if he were talking to a trapped, wounded animal. Which, of course, he was. "I'm not real, Sirius. I'm just a figment of your imagination."

No dressed-up lies. No trying to be comforting. Just the straight truth. Same old Prongs.

Sirius watched James approach warily. The grin hadn't left the messy-haired wizard's face as he got closer.

"Seriously, though. What happened to your hair? The girls used to loveyour hair."

Sirius allowed himself an amused snort.

"Girls kinda dropped in my list of priorities, Prongs. What with the war and - and you and Lily." He swallowed, willing his voice not to crack again. Sympathy and understanding exuded from James, who was now crouching to meet his best friend's eyes.

"You were always too loyal for your own good."

"Says you? You'd consider it the height of dishonour to mistrust your friends."

Sirius cracked a small smile, before fully realising what he'd said - his face dropped with the speed of a Thestral.

"You're not here anymore." He said uselessly to the figure crouching before him. James said nothing, just continued to stare at Sirius with regret and concern etched into every feature of his face. "You never will be."

Silence.

"I miss you."

Sirius blinked. James Potter was gone.