A/N: Sorry. I really meant to update last Wednsday, but the site wasn't working for me at all. Would have updated sooner then this as well, but I haven't been able to get to a computer. So, without further ado, here's the next chapter. Slight warning; I found it rather hard to write part of this, but I want people's opinions on this chapter.

Chapter 9: Memory Nightmares

Again, Arion had to wait a moment before opening her eyes. On Sirius' other side, Aly was having no problems whatsoever.

"That was fun! Can we do it again?" Aly asked Sirius.

Sirius gave a little bit of a laugh. This girl would do fine in the magical world! Sirius turned to make a comment to Arion, but found her with her hands on her head with her eyes shut.

"Arion, are you all right?" he asked.

Arion stayed in that position as she said, "Stop the world, I wanna get off."

Aly looked at her and said, "She'll be all right. She's just dizzy. I like spinning in circles, so I don't get dizzy as easily."

Arion was able to pick her head up, but her complexion almost had a greenish tinge to it. "I'll be fine if I can get a glass of water," she said.

"Ok, we're at Moony's place now, so let's go in," Sirius said. He knocked on the door and Nymphadora answered the door.

"Hey there, Sirius, Arion. Who's the extra passenger?" she asked.

"Some little munchkin that ran after us and wouldn't leave us be. Honestly, muggles…" Sirius started.

"What are muggles?" Aly asked.

Remus came from the next room in time to hear Sirius try to start a rant again, but have it interrupted again. By the same question.

"A muggle is a person who is unable to use magic," Remus answered, laughing.

Sirius shook his head. "Not only do I get interrupted again, but your answers are getting more and more professorish. What happened to you?" he asked in mock sadness.

"Lovely seeing you all again, but can I please have a glass of water before I get sick?" Arion asked, still looking green.

Remus looked at her and nodded. "Just put her on the couch, Padfoot, and I'll get some water," he said.

Sirius picked her up and moved Arion to sit on the couch. Aly followed and sat on Arion's other side while Nymphadora sat on one of the chairs across from it.

"So, who is the little munchkin?" Nym asked.

Sirius answered, "Her name is Aly and because they are like sisters, I couldn't leave one behind. So, I adopted Aly."

"I'm surprised they let you since you were just cleared of those charges," Remus said, handing Arion a glass of water. Which she drank slowly.

"I feel a little better. Now can we go to bed?" Arion asked.

"Actually, I have a couple of questions for you, Ari," Remus said.

Adri crept out from behind the corner and sat in Arion's lap, purring, before Arion said, "Go ahead and ask them."

"What happened today with the veriterserum?" he asked.

Now Sirius was interested in the question. "It was weird about how she only answered in specific detail, but I have a feeling you're talking about something else," Sirius stated.

"I am. When she started keeling over, I caught her and felt a huge shock. What was it?" Remus asked.

Arion sighed. She did not want to get into specifics tonight, especially after having to explain it once, but figured her dad at least needed to know. "It's weird. Whenever I touch someone I had a close bond with at some point after a long period of time from seeing them, I see the important flashes of their life. Of course, it takes me a while to organize them, especially seeing as how many people I've re-met today," Arion explained.

Sirius looked guilty, figuring it was because of the portkey. It was thought that people with the portkey in their shoulder would have some imbalance in their magic, which would have to come out in some other way. "Was there anything else?"

"Just be careful whenever you write a note and hand it to me. I might not be able to read what you wrote, but I can tell what was happening around you when it was written, seeing as how I can see what happened when it was written," Arion added.

Aly, who had been starring at Nym's hair, asked, "How does your hair stay like that? Is it magic?"

Nym, who had been paying attention to Arion's story, looked at the redhead. "Sort of. I'm something called a metamorphmagus and can change my appearance at will. Watch," she said, changing her nose to become smaller and changing her hair. In moments, it looked like there were two Remus' in the room.

"Neat! Can I do that?" Aly asked. "I know Arion can because she changed her hair and eyes, but can people learn to become one?"

"I'm afraid not, munchkin. Metamorphmagi are born, not made. But, there are potions and spells to allow you to change your appearance," Nym told Aly. "And, I think we should be going back to my apartment since the girls are staying at my apartment for a couple days and would probably like to sleep in beds."

"Why? I'm not tired. I could stay awake for a couple more hours," Aly said.

"Yes, you can, but Arion is already out for the count," Nym said, bringing everyone's attention to her.

Arion was, in fact, asleep. She was leaning on Sirius' arm with Adria sleeping on her lap, curled in a ball. She was muttering in her sleep, but no one could tell what she was saying.

"Well, we should bring them, then. Where do you live?" Sirius asked, shifting Arion and the cat so they were in his lap and he could apparate them.

"I live at 42 Applegate Road in London. It's an apartment complex, but you have to apparate outside of the complex," Nym answered, offering her hand to Aly to take, which she did.

"All right. I'll be crashing here with you, Moony," Sirius said, apparating to the complex.

"Bye, Remus," Nym said, apparating with Aly.

When they landed at the complex, Nym brought them up three flights of stairs to where her apartment lay. Inside was a warm looking room, decked out in Gryffindor colors.

"I guess I don't have to ask where you were put, do I?" Sirius asked, still carrying a sleeping Arion. Adria jumped off of her and walked around the room.

"Yes, I was put in Gryffindor. Go to the first room to you left and that's the guestroom. You can put her in there," Nym directed.

Sirius looked at a bit of a loss, though. "What about pj's?" he asked.

"Ari doesn't always wear pj's. When she thinks of it, she'll put some on but otherwise, she feels more comfortable sleeping in her jeans," Aly answered.

Sirius nodded, think that was a little strange, and set Arion down on the bed. As he turned to leave, he could hear her muttering again. "Aly, can you tell what she's saying?" he asked.

Aly came into the room. "She seems to be saying something about someone named Harry. I don't know what exactly, but it doesn't sound like something bright and happy," she answered.

Sirius restored the trunks and bags to their normal size before exiting the room with Aly trailing behind. "You know, I never introduced you to. Aly, this is Nymphadora. Nym, this is Alyssa," he introduced, a bit late.

"Hello," they both said.

"Now, I have a couple things I want to talk about and I wish Arion was awake, but I think sleeping is her way of sorting through all of the memories she gets, right Aly?" Sirius said.

"Right. I never knew exactly why she always fell asleep faster on days when school started, but that would make sense," Aly said, knowing to be serious at the moment.

"I'd have to ask her or McGonagall, but I think Arion met Harry today at Diagon Ally. And if his Aunt and Uncle have raised Harry I think they have, he will not have had a happy life. Now, one of the things I want to talk to Dumbledore about is getting custody of Harry," Sirius said.

Nym looked a little surprised while Aly looked confused. "Who's Harry?" she asked.

"I forgot you didn't know. Harry is my best friend's son. They were killed by a man who was against a certain group of people in the wizarding community, known as muggle-borns. I won't get into the specifics this late at night, but Harry's father and his parents pretty much adopted me when I was sixteen and ran away from my parents," Sirius said.

"That's why you adopted me as well as Arion," Aly said, solving that puzzle.

"Right. Plus, you look a lot like someone I used to know, so I was thinking of trying to find out who your parents were," Sirius said.

Aly looked a little unhappy about that. "Will you make me go with them?" she asked.

"No, I wouldn't do that. Why don't you go to sleep and I'll see you two in the morning. Night, Aly," Sirius said.

"Night…daddy, Nymphadora," Aly said, running over to Sirius and giving him a hug before doing the same to Nym and then going to her room.

Nym looked over at Sirius who had a smile on his face. "You really missed that sort of thing, didn't you," she said.

"Probably one of the things I missed the most in Azkaban. Well, I'm going to go back to Remus'. Come over if there is a problem," Sirius said. "Good night."

"Good night, Sirius," Nym said, watching as he walked out of the apartment.

Arion's Dream (POV)

'Why is it so dark?' I asked myself. 'I've never had a dream where nothing happened.'

All of the sudden, there was a loud pounding on the door. I think I jumped about 10 feet. "Harry, wake up!" some woman yelled from outside the door.

'So, I'm going through Harry's memories tonight. Joy,' I thought. A light was turned on and I got a look at my surroundings.

'WHAT is he doing in a CUPBOARD!' I yelled, but no one could hear me. Harry looked to be used to these surroundings. Looking at him, he looked to be about five.

Harry exited the cupboard in too large of clothes. They looked to be two times as big as he was. Harry just walked into the kitchen where a family of three was sitting around.

"Don't burn anything. We want everything to be special for Dudley's first day of school," the woman said.

Dudley looked about the size of a six-year-old, but that was mainly because of the fat. 'Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon don't even acknowledge that today is my first day as well,' I heard in my head. That must be Harry and what he was thinking.

Harry was cooking the breakfast. 'What person makes a five year old cook breakfast?' I asked myself. In my head were all of the ingredients needed to make the breakfast and try not to burn it or ruin it, which I knew was from Harry thinking.

Dudley, who was bored having his parents talking around him, came up behind Harry and yelled "Boo!" in his ear, obviously making him jump.

Harry knocked over the eggs and milk he had on the counter that he was just about to put on. Then, his hand landed on the hot frying pan, which he had melted butter on so the eggs wouldn't stick as he was trying to get his balance on the chair pulled up to the counter.

There was a big mess on the floor. 'Uh oh, now I'm in trouble,' Harry thought. Watching his Aunt and Uncle's expressions, I was scared for him.

"Now you've done it, boy. We've been nice enough to lend you space in our house and clothes to wear and this is what you do. In your cupboard," Vernon said.

'Nice enough to lend him space? Not only is he your nephew, but his parents are dead. It's not like he can go to too many places at the moment. And, what about food?' I thought, enraged. 'It was their son's fault in the first place.'

"But, today's the first day of school. Don't I have to go?" Harry asked, smally.

"GET IN YOUR CUPBOARD! AND you're not coming out for four days!" Vernon yelled.

'WHAT! You're tub of a son doesn't get any punishment while Harry is restricted to where he can even go? I am so going to come out of here and teach you a thing or two.' Words can't even explain how angry I was.

I followed Harry into the cupboard where the door was locked. Once his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin were gone, I heard him singing to himself.

"Hush, hush, my little one,

I'm here for you.

Always here for you, even when I seem gone.

Never forget that I love you" he sang, over and over to himself as well as rocking and crying.

I thought I was going to cry. The scene shifted again, and I saw flashes of when he got in trouble for defending himself against Dudley's attacks, apparently climbing the school building (must have been his magic kicking in), turning the teacher's hair blue, and the events of Dudley's birthday and Harry's birthday.

I was appalled at what was happening. Then I saw him meeting me and the scene shifted to someone else's memories.

These showed a man in his twenties with already graying hair blowing apart objects. 'Must be Uncle Remus,' I thought.

"Sirius! How could you do that to them! Lily, James, and Peter all gone and no one will even tell me where Harry is! And no one can even find Arion! What did you do?! I can't believe it!!!!" he yelled, crying.

Looking around, I could see dozens of pictures of people. The marauder's, Lily, probably his parents, and two babies. 'That's me and Harry,' I thought with a shock. Looking outside, I thought it was middle to late fall. 'So, probably a couple days after our meeting with Peter,' I guessed.

I watched as Remus blew apart all of his furniture, then repaired it, sobbing. Eventually, he just collapsed, not having the energy to move to somewhere comfortable.

I saw hundreds of his transformations, painful and unfriendly as he scratched and bit himself. I saw the moments when he considered taking his own life, only to stop as he looked at the picture of me and Harry to say, "I have to stay alive to help them when I can see them."

I was in tears by this point. A reason I could never stand bullying people just because they're quiet and can't defend himself. I watched as he despaired every time that Umbridge woman did something to make it harder for werewolves to get a job. Then it got even darker.

I knew who it was this time. I was watching what my dad had to go through. I heard people screaming for their mom's, screaming for a lost friend. I watched as my dad paced and seemed to mutter in his sleep. "Arion…orphanage…Adria, I'm sorry," was what he muttered along with, "I'm sorry, Lily, James. I…couldn't help you…"

It was horrible to watch the transformation in dad. I couldn't take anymore and I just screamed. Screamed and screamed to wake up.

Updated May 28, 2007: I realized not only did I have to fix Alyssa's name, but I had to fix the number. I put '6' instead of '9'. Oops!