Disclaimer: I own nothing but my warped imagination. Although I wouldn't mind having Severus...

Author's Notes: This story is my very first attempt at a HP fanfic. It's always been special to me. I hope you enjoy it as well. I also need to say here, in case you haven't seen it on my profile page that this is not a Mary Sue. It's a chicken or egg question. The character, Kyrie, came first. I liked the name so well that I decided to use it as my penname and in no way intend to imply that she is me.

A/N2: Sorry for the problems. For some reason when I was uploading this, the entire thing became scrambled and I've been trying to sort it out. Also, I need to give a big thanks to my friend, Abigail Lupin, for her assistance in the editing as well as coming up with the summary.

All comments and reviews are welcome, and all flames will be used to keep me warm.

Dreams

The sun was high in the overhead sky with only a wispy cloud occasionally floating by. The grass was green and lush, teeming with life and ahead lay a beautiful forest. Even from a distance, Kyrie could hear the birds singing and the insects buzzing among the flowers and bright green leaves of the trees. To the left was an open meadow with deer grazing languidly and on the right was a lake, so clear that it was reflecting the clouds as they floated past. Looking at the man walking at her side, Kyrie couldn't remember ever being this content.

As they grew closer to the beautiful forest, the path narrowed down so that it was impossible for them to continue walking hand in hand. Rus gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it and moving to take the lead. As they neared the forest, Kyrie became uneasy. She looked around, trying to decide what was causing her anxiety, but to no avail. Everything was the same as when they were walking hand in hand, but she was overcome by a feeling that if they entered the forest things would never be the same. She stopped suddenly.

Rus stopped walking and turned to look questioningly at her. Shaking her head, Kyrie started to take a step back away from the forest which had only moments ago looked so inviting, but now looked as if to enter it invited certain death. She looked into the face of the man she had given her heart to and saw amusement. Rus again took her hand and squeezed gently to reassure her before turning and pulling her gently toward the forest.

Suddenly Kyrie found herself alone… completely and utterly alone. Where had Rus disappeared to? She turned in a circle, but saw no sign of him. Her pulse was racing and it felt as though her heart was trying to gain entrance to her throat. Raggedly she called, "Rus?" But her plea was met only with silence.

Feeling the tears burning her eyes, she blinked to hold them back. "Rus?" she called more desperately as she turned in a circle. Suddenly she realized that this forest wasn't the same as what she had seen earlier. This wasn't a place teeming with life. This was a place of death. There were yew trees so close together that it would be impossible to walk between them. The light and airy forest was now dark and the air was so heavy she felt as though she couldn't breathe.

Suddenly she heard the mournful cry of a bird. It was such a haunting sound that it caused her to freeze completely. Once she could breathe again, she whipped around looking for the source and there off to her left in a large yew tree it sat… a lone raven. It looked at her maliciously with red eyes before taking to flight. She realized that it was flying directly at her, so she did the only thing she could in her panicked state. She ran.

Tree branches snagged her clothes and scratched her face and hands. She stumbled over rocks in the path that she hadn't even realized were there. She ran for what seemed like hours, finally stumbling into a clearing in what appeared to be the centre of the forbidding forest. And she wasn't alone, for there in the centre of the clearing stood Rus, looking just as handsome and serene as he had before they entered the forest.

"Rus," Kyrie sobbed, causing him to look up at her. He flashed her a smile that was more of a smirk, as he was known to do, and then held out his hands towards her, beseeching her silently to join him. But she had taken only two steps before there was a sinister clap of thunder causing her to stop and look at the sky, which again was clear with not a cloud to be seen. As she looked back at Rus, a bolt of lightning tore from the sky and struck the exact spot where her lover was standing.

"RUS!" she screamed as she watched his body crumple to the ground. Without realizing it, she was racing to his side. Once she reached the centre of the clearing, she dropped beside of the body of her soon-to-be husband, tears coursing down her face. She reached a hand toward his slack face. She stared at those unseeing onyx eyes. How could he leave her? How could he do this to her? He was her life. He wasn't supposed to leave her… not now! They were supposed to grow old together. Suddenly she was pounding her fists on his unmoving chest, sobbing, "Don't you leave me, Rus! Don't you leave me!"

Awaking abruptly, Kyrie felt her hands being grasped as she was pulled into a tight embrace. She breathed in the smell of sandalwood and something musky that was unique to her fiancé. She felt a hand rubbing soothing circles on her back, sobs wracking her slim frame. As they began to subside, she felt a rumbling from the chest beneath her cheek just prior to hearing the low silky voice of the man she loved to distraction.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rus asked softly.

Safe in her lover's arms, Kyrie quietly told Rus what had occurred in her nightmare. By the time she finished, the tears were flowing down her face again and again she was being comforted by her rock. She knew what the dream meant. That it affected her that strongly only proved how deeply rooted her fear of losing Rus was.

Rus was her life. He was her rock, her anchor when things were crazy. She knew he had a dangerous position in this war, so her fears wasn't unfounded, but she also knew that Rus was resilient and had a quiet strength that would get him through where others would fail. But should he make a slip, could she go on? That was the real question. If he died, would she have the courage to go on alone?

"You're strong and you'll get through anything," said Rus quietly, as if he had read her mind.

Kyrie looked into those midnight eyes and pleaded, "Promise me you won't leave me. Promise you'll be here to grow old with me."

Rus looked sadly at Kyrie. "You know I can't promise that. I would be lying. I promise you that I'll always return to you as long as there is breath in my body. I promise to remain faithful to you in all ways. I promise to love you… heart, body, and soul... until death and beyond, for all eternity. And I promise to do everything within my power to return to you at the end of each day."

Kyrie allowed herself to be pulled back down into the bed, safely ensconced in her lover's arms. She knew she had been irrational in begging him to make those promises and she knew that she would always fear the day that Rus would go on a mission and not return, but his promises would be the anchor that would help her face another day of uncertainties. His even breathing told her that Rus had slipped back into sleep.

"I love you, Rus," Kyrie whispered to the sleeping man, before placing a gentle kiss on his temple and then following him into the oblivion that was sleep.