Prologue: Let There be Light
"Let there be light,
Now at last, let there be light.
We've been sitting in the dark for far too long,
An endless night."
-Next to Normal
Sirius sat bolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat, awakened in the middle of the night by yet another nightmare. Another twisted reminder of the past. In the dream version, he didn't escape the Dementors.
Sighing tiredly, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and kicked at the filthy floor with his bare feet.
Ironically, it was this dismal house, the site of so many unpleasant childhood memories, that so many people were now gathered in to fight for the Light. It had seemed impossible that anything good could ever come from this wretched place. Now this sanctuary against the forces of darkness and Ministerial meddling seemed all they had. Their own secret weapon.
Some weapon. To Sirius, it was like another Azkaban, particularly as Dumbledore insisted upon keeping him under house arrest.
Sirius waved his wand and released a beam of light into the pitch-dark room. It didn't help. The bright beam of light only seemed to throw the grime on the walls, the dust on the furniture, and his ancestors' grim taste in interior decorating into sharp relief. Half the room seemed to be in shadow now. That was probably the good half.
He sighed again, leaning his head back against the wall, knowing that he would spend another sleepless night worrying about the future. Worrying about the day the Daily Prophet would start reporting those little tidbits about Harry that Dumbledore had managed to keep quiet all these years. His fifteen year-old godson had been through enough without those stories coming out. Sirius knew all Hell would break loose if certain details were reported. Worrying about when Voldemort would come out of hiding and make his move on an unsuspecting, determinedly ignorant populace. Wondering how in Merlin's name the Light was going to survive all this.
Still, Harry had survived the Killing Curse as a baby. He did have a hand in keeping Sirius from being sent back to prison. Both of these things were thought to be impossible. Maybe, just maybe, they could bring light back into their world as well.
Meanwhile, Harry had slipped out of the room he was staying in and had snuck down to the kitchen for a sleepless night of his own. "Lumos," he muttered, waving his wand and illuminating the ancient haven of several generations' worth of House-Elves. It was, for the most part, cleaner than the rest of the house, and, as the owners of the house traditionally never set foot in the kitchen, the ancient members of the Noble House of Black had seen no reason to impose their unique approach to interior design on this room.
It would have been almost comfortable, a true sanctuary from everything that had been going on since before he found out about this stupid, wonderful, magical world.
He knew he shouldn't push it, knew that he had a trial coming up for using underage magic in a Muggle suburb, but he also knew that the Ministry would never be able to pick up on his magic usage in a Wizarding house. Besides, he needed the light.
All summer, he had only caught glimpses of the man who's helped him for so long. The older man was out now, fighting against the forces of evil (what Harry wished he could be doing at this moment), but Harry was determined to wait for him, staying up all night if he had to.
Harry wasn't even certain if the man would be back tonight; he had already waited up for him almost every night of his stay in Grimmauld Place, with only a few glimpses of the man's familiar face, a few words of conversation. Harry yearned for the man to appear and sit with him, put his fears to rest, reassure him that the light will vanquish the darkness.
"He'll be here soon-tonight; I know he will," Harry told himself. "When he finally comes, I'll wonder how I made it so long without him."
Harry hoped his mentor arrived soon. He lay on his back on the cold kitchen tile and brought his legs up to lean against the cupboard. A veteran of enforced sleeplessness, he knew that the deliberately uncomfortable position would prevent his exhausted body from falling asleep before he arrived.
Everything great he'd done since entering the Wizarding World- and probably even before that- had been thanks to this great man. The world thought it was the great Harry Potter doing all these wonderful things, but in truth, he could never have done any of those things without his mentor to guide him. Now that Voldemort was back again, everyone who believed in the Dark Lord's resurrection (who wasn't actively on his side) was looking to him to fight the coming war against darkness.
With what? His incomplete Hogwarts education and the shiny light of specialness in his heart? Harry didn't think he had any light except what that the man he was waiting for had given him.
He needed him. Now more than ever.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Chapter two is already done and will be uploaded momentarily. This story's timeline jumps around from one chapter to another, flashing back and fast-forwarding, but it'll still be understandable. Trust me, there's a method to the madness.
Next, I will finish writing the first chapter of "The Dark Lord's Sassy Gay Frenemy" (about ¾ of the way through that), and a good time will be had by all.
In real life news, I am now a Registered Nurse. Still looking for work, but I know I'll have a job soon. At least, I hope I will.
