The Resolution
- Chapter Ten -

- Sirius Black -

Screams.

Screams echoing off the stone walls with undertones of anguish.

Screams that shook the very night itself – sending great shaking waves into the blackness of the dorm room I shared with my fellow Marauders. It echoed so badly, you'd think the cold room was empty. You might even surmise that this was in fact a dungeon… As if the Gryffindors had swapped living spaces with the Slytherins. You might think that the sudden pressing cold that intertwined with the screams, was a winter wind – not a cool autumn chill.

I stiffened beneath the heavy burgundy covers, and they suddenly felt oppressive with the fear that was settling in my chest. Despite the frigid air, sweat began to gather between my shoulder blades and under my thick flop of hair that stuck to my forehead.

These screams… they continued in the form of strangled sobs that seemed to travel under the heavy oak door, creeping into the cracks and fissures of mottled wood to assault the room within.

These were the kind of sounds any human would respond to – no matter what. I swear, in some way, some part of me, the primal part, said 'these are the sounds of danger, of genuine crazed torture and the screams you should hope to never recognize.'

Who knew my inner primal self was a poet?

Damn being a poet right now – I needed to figure this out.

To make it stop, if only to get some sleep.

A sleep – that wouldn't be woken by such… sounds.

My body was responding now, and I wasn't a stiff lump beneath the covers anymore. I was ripping off the fear-soaked sheets to snatch my wand off the wobbly night table.

Another scream erupted.

Bloody hell. I gripped my wand more firmly.

Light – moonlight splashed across my bed through the window as the clouds parted in the night sky. I lifted my face to it, feeling some semblance of peace as the dorm room was thrown into view – shirts thrown haphazardly across the floor, trunks open with their contents pouring out… This peace was ruined, by the abrupt smothering of the moon by more clouds – I was thrown into darkness yet again.

The sudden pitch black let my body clench with the fuzziness this sudden awakening possessed.

But this wasn't a dream… I couldn't fool myself into thinking that the shiftiness was my own mind playing tricks on me. Whatever dream quality it could have had, was abruptly evaporated.

I'd had confusing dreams... I think everyone does. Those dreams, where you wake up – breathing heavily, stomach clenched and twisting, the frazzled sort of line that reality was…being completely lost to you. Yes… I'd had those… half sitting up in bed and grabbing at my hair in frustration because I'd let myself fall so deeply into something so… fictional. Yet sometimes, my dreams weren't that fictional. When I told Moony about it, the whiz he was had explained it as a distorted reality – we dream what is in our lives, but our subconscious has toyed with it.

Subconscious.

Hah.

My subconscious had been bent on war lately. All through the summer, my warlike dreams had plagued me. Regulus – my stomach spasmed with something between shame and disgust – had been speaking of joining up with the other pureblood families in their loyalty to 'the Dark Lord'.

My brother – looking so much like me in my dream states – wand pointed at my throat. My pleading with him…

No.

Not tonight.

Not here.

That nightmare was nowhere to be seen.

This was no dream.

This was real.

The cries – they were words. So much like my dreamlike pleading.

A single word calling out, indistinguishable between the magical walls of the school.

Muffled…

I flicked my head back and forth. Black, c'mon. Focus.

I strained to hear it – this single word – but instead the rustling of Remus stirring in the darkness was all that I could find in the abrupt stillness that had come over the room. The air – without the screams, seemed to be holding its breath.

I copied it, and felt myself squeeze my wand even harder.

Moony shifted again. He had to be awake. Furry senses aside – the unknown yells could wake the dead. I searched him out; pointing my wand to where I knew his bed was, across from me.

"Lumos," I muttered, and in the soft emission of light, his blue eyes were watching me, mirroring my sheer uncomfortable surge of fear and curiosity.

Oh they were never a proper combination.

I think, if I were to do Muggle drugs, it would be something like this.

Not that they were out of the question but…

"What the hell was that?" Moony hissed. The sleep that would have normally clouded his features at this time of night was gone and his dishevelled hair was as wild as his expression.

Another sob shook the air.

I breathed out, and clenched my jaw.

"More importantly," I heard myself whisper in a growl, "who is that?"

Remus' eyes widened with my question.

Someone, here in Gryffindor, wasn't right.

'Wasn't right'… Merlin, real wordsmith I was. They were probably getting their bloody fingernails ripped out, and here I was thinking they 'weren't right.'

Forget my being a poet.

I was a tactless Marauder, and so be it.

Moony leaned over and grabbed his wand, still watching me with that questionable stare.

James groaned in his slumber, flipping over in bed to shove his face into the pillow. His leg was falling off the bed, and his mouth was open, spittle slick his cheek.

Trust my best mate to sleep through this.

With a scoffing noise emitting from my throat, I swung my legs over the edge of the high bed, and shoved a sleeping James with my foot. Carefully, I trained my wand on him.

I'd been with him in this dorm six years. A nice 'levicorpus' spell was sometimes needed to get him to class on time. The light from my wandtip might prove sufficient though. James shook his head – hair springing out everywhere, and eyes blinking angrily as he glared up at me.

"Ow! What the fu – "

I gave him another shove in the ribs. "Get up, Prongs. Something's wrong."

I heard a muffled grunt and a muttered epithet from the other side of the room. I flashed a grin over my shoulder and saw Remus dragging Peter's ass out of bed. I could always count on Remus in times like these…

Peter – he was easier to wake up than James though.

I watched as James shoved my foot away angrily. He groaned again, and rubbed his face with an air of a small child being woken by his mum during a much-needed afternoon nap.

Too bad I wasn't his dear sweet mum. "Up, before I tell Lily you said her name in your sleep."

He looked horrified, even with his eyes blearily searching my face. "'Kay. Fine. Don't please. Was' goin' on?" He moaned, and made a motion to lay his head back in the pillow. I nudged him again with my foot, and he scowled. Right charmer he was. "It's so early… Whatever it is… McGonagall won't get mad… She loves us… sorta… The Quiddich Cup… Yeah?"

I rolled my eyes.

Mental.

Never trust Prongs to be helpful when awoken. I mean, any other time, yes, I would trust him with my life.

I wouldn't trust him with a flobber worm in this state.

Another ear-splitting, scraping scream broke out and the soft scuffle of people going down to the Common Room gave the crescendo of pain soft undertone.

James eyes weren't so angry, or so glazed. "That wasn't McGonagall was it?"

I snorted, and heard Remus sigh in exasperation.

"No, James." Moony said as he came to stand beside James' bed. Peter laughed quietly from his place at the door. In the dim, magical light, Remus looked sallow. "Unless McGonagall is watching her tartan robes being shredded. Then it might be her."

My best friend nodded, and groped for his glasses on the night table, before I grabbed them and thrust them into his searching hand. He shoved them on his nose, they were immediately slipping off. "Thanks… So we're gonna check it out then, mates?"

I heard a chuckle from Remus. "Obviously."

James stumbled from his bed, shoving his wand in his pyjama pocket and clapping my shoulder as we rose to join Moony and Wormtail where they stood at the door.

I shoved the door open, watching as James raised a finger, in a bleary sort of way to his lips. I stifled a laugh and we quietly moved into the hall – my wandlight guiding us. It was odd to see the hallway alight this late. It was even more odd to not be hiding under James' cloak while we scampered over the cold floor.

The most unsettling thing though, was the whispers and voices of people coming from down the winding staircase.

The light was brighter than it should have been. The fire having obviously flared up with someone's attentions.

Oh, no way we were the only ones awoken and curious. This was Gryffindor.

Nosy buggers united.

Upon hearing the voices, we charged down the stairs, and I uttered a quick 'Nox' to rid myself of the unnecessary light.

I felt my brow lift. Almost everyone was there. What an odd gathering, this Friday night…

They were all in their jammies – how endearing, staring uneasily at the stairs that led up the girl's dorms. Muttering and rubbing at their eyes sleepily. Some of the girls were looking quite scared. The guys, had their wands out and were discussing very avidly by the fire.

The fire was lit, as predicted and the reds and golds on the room were lovely and warm in the flickering luminosity.

But the air… was cold.

What was this?

What was going on?

The confusion that had clouded me all day seemed to be swelling to near uncontrollable levels. I wanted to stomp around and shake everyone. I wanted to pull out my hair because I wasn't understanding why this day, this night was so freakishly out of the ordinary, because I was out of the loop.

James was radiating the same confusion… he leaned towards me, his words muffled in the talk that surrounded us. "Why isn't McGonagall here yet? I mean, she's not about to ignore some girl screaming like a banshee?"

Good question. Goody-goody Evans should have sent for her by now right?

I looked around, searching for a shock of red hair… and, I felt my throat constrict in an odd way – and of course, looking for the usual head of wild dark waves that accompanied it.

Nowhere to be seen.

She'd been here… What? A week? Not even. Just today, I reflected on how she had been here a mere five days – and yet, here I was, searching for her in vain.

Remus was on my other side, watching the crowd as I had, and his pale eyes were focused on mine when he found them both missing too.

We seemed to all be here…

A scream erupted.

Clearer than ever before.

More anguish-filled than it had been in the comfort of our dorm.

"FLYNN."

"FLYNN."

"FLYNN…" – a pained sob, which was wretched with its guilt – " I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY. SHOULD HAVE LEFT…"

Her voice dropped – so low, as if she were speaking to someone in earnest. As if she were trying desperately to explain to them, as if she were trying to repent.

I strained to listen, and felt my friends lean forward in an attempt to hear the one-sided conversation as well.

"Oh… Flynn. I'm sorry. So sorry. Please… Please let me go…"

James made a small confused noise. "What in the world could be going on in that girl's mind…"

I shot him a nasty look – I could be missing out on her words with his useless commentary shutting out her low penance.

Remus seemed to agree.

His blue eyes rolled, and he smacked James smartly on the head. "Shut up."

Prongs looked disgruntled but leaned even more towards the staircase to catch the quiet words that were once again pouring from one of the dorms upstairs…

"I want to die. I can't live without you."

It sounded as if she couldn't. Not ever.

"I won't live without you."

She loved them, whoever they were.

"I WON'T. I WON'T. I WON'T. DAMN IT, FLYNN. TAKE ME WITH YOU."

Utter devotion.

It was a scraping scream now. The voice was so used, overused.

The Common Room was quiet, other than a few gasps and cries of fright. The younger girls on the couch had squealed and shifted closer to their friends, and started to cry.

I had found the word she had been screaming.

A name.

Flynn.

I blinked, and felt a tiny lock of my hair move flicker with the movement.

What was I supposed to do?

What could any of us do?

Just listen, and wait?

"Sirius…" James said uneasily.

I shook my head. Feeling the hairs on the back of my neck rise with something I could not name.

"Please!"

This wasn't the screaming voice.

It was desperate, yes, but it wasn't gone past the point of sanity.

It was… familiar.

James, stiffened beside me – getting that, disgustingly worried look I'd seen very rarely. I mean, I knew my best mate like the back of my hand… He was no worry wart…

"Please! Someone get McGonagall! Someone get the Headmaster! PLEASE! I can't wake her up! SHE WON'T WAKE UP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!"

I barely took note of the third year who took off in direction of the portrait hole. A fourth year girl joining him.

It came from the depths of the girls dormitories, the helpful, non-anguished voice.

How often had I heard that voice nagging at me about History of Magic homework?

Lily.

I sighed, but more out of self-centred exasperation than anything else.

Why was I so damn slow today?

"Bloody hell…" Remus' voice was shaky.

I looked at James – he was paling, and his hands were running through the tangles of his hair.

"That… that was Lily… asking for the Headmaster."

I whipped around, seeing Alice looking quite traumatized, on the tattered red, quilt-covered couch. She was wringing her hands and watching James and I with a mix of embarrassment and very palpable fear.

Lily only shared a dorm with two other girls.

It wasn't the first time that day I had connected the dots and it came to the same person.

The girl I was looking for – the brunette I was always watching for. The girl that had scared the life out of me upon meeting her a few days prior…

Rowan.

Rowan was screaming…

My breath was pulled in sharply, with a painful huff. My nightshirt was sticking to me with sweat once more.

How could it be that tiny, doll?

How could that… voice come from that little quiet being?

It's ferocity… It matched her.

The stone steps that twirled upwards to where that girl, I was beginning to call a friend, lay in the throes of some dream, some incomprehensible labyrinth… were inviting.

I took a tentative step – unsure.

What could I do?

I couldn't even get up there… The girls dorms had protection charms.

I felt so useless.

Remus, beside me, twitched with something I could only call disquiet. James was watching the stairwell with a serious sort of intensity – like he was looking for the bloody snitch or something. Peter was staring at me anxiously, biting his nails.

Useless.

The screams, her screams started again…

"FLYNN."

Like a mantra.

"FLYNN."

As if it were the one word that she could remember.

"Flynn…"

A slam, made us all jump, and we turned to see the portrait hole wide open. That third year was running towards the mass of Gryffindors, a frown on her face.

"I-I- don't know when it started…" the girl stuttered.

Out of the darkness, of the corridor, a very stern McGonagall in a tartan nightgown was sweeping in. Her mouth was pinched and her dark eyes sharp.

She was as worried as we were.

Behind her, a tall form was coming from the shadows. An immediate stop to the chatter – as our headmaster came into the room. He looked just as concerned as McGonagall. His blue eyes were crinkled and his mouth turned down. He didn't wear his night clothes, but a flowing pearl grey robe. I think I'd be one of the very few in this world if I saw Headmaster Dumbledore in a nice velvety pair of button- up jammies.

He sped past the group, his movements quick, and he stopped to nod to James and I.

"Is Lily Evans with her, at the moment Mr. Potter?" I couldn't catch the look he gave my best friend, but it was something fleeting, yet his voice betrayed nothing: calm and derisive.

His blue eyes caught mine briefly when I nodded quickly.

"Yes, she's up there with Rowan…" James finally said in a respectful voice.

I couldn't blame him. I mean, we were a bunch of loud-mouthed blokes at times – but Dumbledore seemed to see right into you.

People couldn't deny that man anything, and I knew I was a part of that 'people' who were simply smart enough to put good faith in the wizard.

The Headmaster nodded. He turned away from us, and began to ascend the steps with a steady gait – long white hair flowing behind him.

I didn't care that McGonagall was shooing students to bed. I wouldn't be moved. I'd like to see her try to budge me along with that hawk-look. I wasn't going to move.

A quiet knock and frantic words from what I presumed to be Lily…

The screams began again, and I saw James flinch as they rose into a crazed shriek.

"NO! THEY LEFT! THEY LEFT! Oh… it's not your fault… No… Flynn…Sweetheart… Longer legs… They were too fast… I'm so sorry…"

A booming voice broke through the sobbing. It wasn't a yell, but a very soothing, strong command that could be heard from the Common Room.

"Rowan, wake up."

The sobbing stopped, and I heard a soft 'thank Merlin' from somewhere up the stairs.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

It was over…

She was awake.

Well there you are! I am sorry to have taken so long to update, I really do apologize. Exams are killer, don't you think? I do... Well I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and all will be played out within the next chapter! Have no fear! Please feel free to express your opinion, or leave your thoughts in the form of a review or private message.

Oh also! Before I forget - I found a very beautiful edit\song\video dedication to Harry Potter on Youtube - done by an incredibly talented youtuber - it was very touching. Usually I don't like these sort of edits, but her work is special. It really captured the essence of Harry Potter ... I wanted to share it with you guys, fellow die-hard Potterverse lovers.

I attempted to set up a link for you to copy paste here (spaces and everything) - but no matter the little spaces and little tricks, Fanfiction despises links. Sorry! So if you're interested, you can search 'Marchin On' by the user: dazzleme7 on you tube

Sorry if this was a bit of rant! Have a good day! Thank you for reading!