"Kalopsia"
"Chapter Four"
Ginny sat at the kitchen table, her elbows propped up on the wood and her fingers massaging her temples. Luna hummed happily as she bounced Albus in her arms and scanned through the potion ingredients in Harry's report. Occasionally, she made a strangled noise in the back of her throat but didn't speak. Ginny didn't know how much longer she could sit there without Luna saying something.
"Luna, please. What are you thinking?" Ginny flopped her hands down on the wood, her head cocking to the side.
"Well, I'm thinking that whoever is brewing these potions isn't very happy with their life." Luna frowned. "Which is a shame. You should always make the best out of what you're given."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you said Demelza said there were hallucinogenic components in the toxicology. Look, ayahuasca is listed as a known ingredient. It's popular in South America and is known to give people some very interesting hallucinations. Sometimes people even find them quite distressing given how vivid and lifelike they can appear to be."
"So… these victims wanted a trip? To get a fix?" Ginny's eyes narrowed.
"Perhaps. Or maybe they wanted to forget."
"Forget?"
"There are several ingredients that are used to alter memories, sort of like a Memory Charm in potion form."
Ginny's heart hammered in her chest at the very thought of finding Harry only to have his memory altered. What if he didn't remember her or the kids? What if the potioneer took Harry because he knew too much and needed to make him forget? Ginny swallowed the sob in her throat, her eyes blinking furiously.
"There also seems to be some ingredients that would cause limited motor functions," Luna said with a frown. "It would keep the victims from overpowering the potioneer and remain compliant."
"You're telling me that Harry is probably locked up somewhere with limited mobility, having some crazy vivid hallucinations, and forgetting everything about his life?" Ginny bit her bottom lip.
"According to these ingredients, I'd say that's a fair guess." Luna trailed a finger down the list of unknown substances, a bunch of chemical numbers and letters with no known name. "I wonder what these could be. These must be the Muggle components in the potions that they can't identify."
"Can you identify any of them?"
Luna shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ginny, I can't."
Ginny leaned back in her chair, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. She wanted answers. She wanted to find Harry. Every moment that passed was one more moment closer to the end of what Harry had always called the critical period of a missing person's case. Odds of survival and finding said person dramatically decreased after forty-eight hours.
Teddy and James thundered down the stairs. Within thirty seconds, both boys burst into the kitchen, still clad in their pajamas. Ginny held open her arms, and James squealed as he ran to her.
"Mama! Mama!" James lifted his arms to be picked up.
Ginny obliged without complaint. She cradled the little boy close to her chest and rocked him. Teddy, whose hair was jet black instead of his normal turquoise, ambled over to her, wrapping an arm around her neck and leaning into her side. She freed one arm from around James so she could pull Teddy close to her. She pressed her lips against his cheek.
"I'll make some breakfast!" Luna chirped happily and rose from her seat with Albus still in her arms. "What would you like for breakfast, Teddy?"
Teddy rested his head against Ginny's and shrugged his shoulders. Luna hummed in response before pulling out more ingredients than seemed necessary for a breakfast meal. Ginny paid no attention, instead opting for appearing cheerful and carefree in front of the boys. James bought her false cheer while Teddy frowned at her.
"Where's Dad?" inquired Teddy as he took a seat next to her.
"Work." Ginny shrugged.
"DADA! DADA!" James bounced his entire body, his hands clapping as he grinned over at Teddy.
"What's going on? I'm eight. You can tell me."
"There's nothing going on, Teddy." Ginny ran her fingers through James' thick hair. "I thought he was going to be home, and he didn't come home when I thought he would."
"You were crying. That man was Dad's boss, right?" Teddy propped his elbows up on the table, his brows furrowing.
"Yes, that was Auror Robards," Ginny replied carefully. "Look, I was upset, I lost it a bit because my emotions are all over the place after giving birth to Albus, it just… it was nothing, alright? Your dad will be home soon."
"Aunt Luna was supposed to leave last night, but she's still here." Teddy frowned, apparently not buying Ginny's explanation.
"I wanted to spend more time with my favorite boys!" Luna chirped from the cooker. "I love the Potter and Lupin men."
Teddy rolled his eyes, though the corners of his lips twitched up. "If you just tell me what's going on, I can help."
"You can help by marching your backside upstairs and getting ready for school. Breakfast should be ready when you come back."
"Mum," Teddy groaned. "I'm not going to school."
"Oh, yes, you are. No arguing."
Before Teddy could argue, the fireplace sounded from the parlor. Ginny kept the groan from escaping her lips. She knew it was a family member coming to coddle her, to ask her what she needed. She silently prayed that it was one of her brothers or her dad. The worst person to walk through the kitchen door would be Molly Weasley, chief mollycoddler and hovering broomstick mum.
A few seconds passed, and Molly entered the kitchen. Ginny grabbed Harry's report and shoved it in her pocket so her mother wouldn't see. Molly stopped short of the table, her attention on Luna holding Albus while cooking. Ginny counted down from five in her head, prepared to hear her mother lecture about holding a baby near a cooker.
"Luna, dear, why don't you sit down with Albus," Molly said cautiously as she marched fully into the kitchen.
"I'm cooking breakfast!" Luna replied enthusiastically. "Albus is helping. Isn't that right, little mini-Harry?"
"Luna, please, I'll finish breakfast. Albus shouldn't be around an open flame!" Molly reached out for the infant.
"Nonsense, Mrs. Weasley. I'll cook breakfast. You sit with your grandson. He's very happy this morning! You deserve some baby cuddles!"
Molly didn't hesitate to take Albus. She held the newborn to her chest, rocking the gurgling baby close to her breast. She eyed the contents on the cooker, obviously displeased with whatever Luna was making, but ambled over to the table and took a seat next to Teddy. Her mother looked exhausted and seemed upset if she would allow someone else to cook for a change.
"Where's Dad?" Ginny asked as Molly leaned down to kiss Teddy on the cheek in greeting.
"HI! HI!" James shouted as he squirmed off Ginny's lap and toddled over to Molly, his arms held up high to be picked up. "Gwaa! Gwaa!"
Molly shifted Albus to cradle him in one arm as she used her free hand to hoist James up onto her lap. "He's with Ron and Hermione."
Ginny turned her attention to her eldest. "Teddy, darling, I don't see you going upstairs to get ready for school."
"Mum."
"I'll walk you to school, Teddy, dear." Molly leaned in close to Teddy and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll grab you something from the bakery for breakfast on the way."
Teddy looked like he wanted to argue but knew better than to take on Molly. He nodded his head and slowly rose from his seat. He kissed Molly on the cheek and whispered, "Thanks, Grandmum." He rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
"Mum, Luna's cooking breakfast," Ginny hissed in a low tone. "You don't need to take him to a bakery."
"I'll get him a crumpet or something. Merlin knows if Luna can cook," Molly whispered back, her eyes shifting over to the cooker.
"Mum," Ginny sighed, exasperated.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm the boy's grandmother. If I want to take him to a bakery, then I will."
Before Ginny could retort, someone knocked at her front door. She shot her mother a look that clearly read this isn't over before she made her way to the parlor. Opening the front door, Ginny's heart stilled at the sight of Gawain Robards.
"Good morning," Robards greeted her, a small brown pouch dangling from his fingertips.
"Any news on Harry?" Ginny stepped outside and snapped the door closed behind her, making sure Teddy couldn't eavesdrop on the conversation.
"A team went out to the field where Harry and Ron were found. They found Harry and Ron's wands and also Harry's glasses."
Robards reached into the pouch and produced Harry's wand and glasses. Ginny took them with shaking hands, her mind reeling at the thought of Harry not only being defenseless but also blind. He couldn't see anything without his glasses. He was blinder than a bat. Ginny attempted to swallow the lump that had lodged in her throat but was unsuccessful.
"Look, I know you're worried about Harry, but we are doing everything we can to find him," Robards spoke softly. "There is a full-blown wizard's hunt underway for him. You can't be breaking into Harry's office and taking classified documents."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ginny ran her thumb along the no longer smooth wood of Harry's wand. It had so many little knicks and blemishes from use over the years.
"Do you really think you could enter the Auror Department and I wouldn't know about it? Do you really think failed attempts to unlock an Auror's office would go unnoticed?" Robards raised his eyebrows, his hands shoving deep into his pockets. "There are spells and enchantments that keep track of all of that information. I know when you arrived, I know how many failed attempts it took to get into Harry's office, and I know exactly when you left."
"Then give me something! Don't just tell me Harry's missing and give me no information!" Ginny hissed.
"You are a civilian. You are not an Auror."
"My husband is missing! You're not telling me a bloody thing!"
"Because I can't compromise the case!"
"Fuck the ruddy case, Gawain! Harry could be dying!" Ginny's jaw clenched.
"Compromising the case could result in compromising Harry his life!" Robards challenged. "I don't even want Harry missing to be leaked to the bloody press right now! I want whoever this potioneer is to think we don't know about Harry and Ron yet. Let them think they've gotten away with it for now, so we can surprise them if we figure out the location!"
Ginny glared at Robards, her chest heaving. She fully agreed with him that an element of surprise would help Harry if they could figure out where he was being held. That didn't mean she had to be kept in the dark.
"I'm going to look for my husband," Ginny spoke softly. "You can't stop me from investigating his disappearance myself."
"The only good that could come out of that, Ginny, is you being taken as well. That helps no one."
Ginny didn't respond. She didn't want to be sidelined again. She couldn't wait around the house and long for information. She had to do something, be useful, research on her own. Instead of responding, she merely nodded and kept her face void of any emotion. There was nothing left to talk about with Robards if he wouldn't give her any information.
"We'll bring him home. I promise, Ginny. Just be patient while we do our job." Robards squeezed her shoulder before he turned to walk down the drive towards the Apparition Point.
Ginny sniffed, giving herself a few moments to school her emotions. She didn't want to worry Teddy. She wanted him to continue on with his life as normal. Once she had calmed herself down, she entered the house and closed the front door behind her.
She turned around to see George standing in the doorway to the parlor. He leaned against the doorjamb, his face drawn and grim. It was the look that had been permanently glued onto his face after Fred's death until Harry and Ron had managed to snap him out of his melancholy. It was a look that she hated, a look she hadn't seen in years, a look that she had hoped to never see on her brother's face again.
It was no secret that out of all their brothers, George was closest to Harry and Ron. The three of them often gravitated towards each other during family events, and they were together whenever they went out for a wizards' night. If Ginny was being honest with herself, she hadn't even thought of George once since Harry disappeared.
George's eyes flickered from her face to the wand and glasses clutched in her hands. He sniffed, his hands shoving deep in his pockets. Ginny walked towards him, closing the space between them. She rose on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck in a death grip. Burying her face into the crook of his neck, she felt his arms wrap around her waist.
"Oh, Georgie!" Ginny sucked in a breath.
His grip tightened. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I should have been here sooner. I just… I didn't want to think about not seeing him again, you know?"
"He's not dead," Ginny whispered. "The Healers will wake Ron up and he will know exactly what happened and he'll bring Harry home."
"Well, I'm a little more pessimistic than you are." George pulled away.
"Don't spiral. Harry wouldn't want that." Ginny tucked Harry's wand and glasses into her pocket.
"I don't think I've gotten the hang of losing brothers yet, Ginny, so a-spiraling I go." George forced a sardonic smile on his face.
"George."
"Who the hell Disarms Harry Fucking Potter? That kid has escaped more foes and enemies than anyone I could even dream of meeting. He's slippery and he's smart and he's quick. What the fuck happened, Ginny? Who got the drop on him?"
"I don't know. They don't know yet. He's a potioneer. A murderer."
"How the hell did he get the drop on Ron as well? Were they not together? Were they stupid enough to separate?" George shook his head. "They are that stupid, actually. We've known that since they were eleven years old. They are dumb as fuck sometimes, you know that?"
Ginny's brow furrowed as she looked up at George. He looked so broken, so defeated. Ginny forgot about her own melancholy at the look of devastation that had crossed over her brother's features.
"They'll be fine," Ginny stressed. "No giving up hope yet, alright? Have you seen Ron?"
George laughed bitterly. "No, I couldn't bear to bring myself see him. Ron and Harry… they're… they're my favorite people, you know? I love them. They're my brothers. They were there for me in a way no one else was when…"
Ginny reached out and grasped his hand in hers. She understood. George needn't say anything more. She could still remember how despondent he was after Fred's death. He took to drinking and separating himself from the family because he couldn't stand the constant coddling and sympathetic looks. Harry and Ron had treated him the same as they always had and often drank with him as well. It was exactly what George had needed to heal, even if it wasn't the best way to go about it.
"I love them, too."
"I'll bloody hex you if you tell Ron I said that about him. Merlin, he'd be unbearable about the whole thing. Harry would enjoy it, though. I think he needs the constant validation that he's loved and wanted, you know? I try to do that for him as much as I can. The little teasing about how he's Mum's favorite. I like to call him brother any chance I get. I think it makes him happy."
Ginny's heart swelled with love for her brother. "He does enjoy it. I think you're right; he does need the constant reminder."
"Yeah, because he's ruddy mental."
Ginny smiled. "No, because he wasn't lucky enough to have you as a brother for the first eleven years of his life."
The back of George's neck flushed. "The moment we ripped those bars off his window, I knew."
"Knew what?"
"Knew that I'd do anything for that kid," he admitted. "Why do you think Fr-Fred and I stuck up for him when people were calling him the Heir of Slytherin? We gave him our map over Ron and, granted, it turned out to be invented by his dad, so it belonged it him, but at the time we just knew he needed it more. He needed that reminder that someone cared about his happiness. Fuck, now I'm getting soppy." He dragged a hand down his face. "I hate just waiting around. That's why I'm not going to see Ron. I can't just stand over him and let my mind think…"
Ginny squeezed his hand. "Do you want to know what I did early this morning?"
"Fed the kids?"
Ginny rolled her eyes, her lips quirking up. "Before that!"
George looked at her with annoyance painted clearly across his face. Ginny waited a few more seconds before she spoke, enjoying trying his patience.
She dropped her voice to a whisper. "I broke into Harry's office at work and stole a report he was working on to try to figure out what case he and Ron were on."
George let out a bark-like laugh that oddly reminded her of Sirius Black. His lips quirked, his eyes sparkling for the first time since he entered her house that morning.
"Lemme see. What were they working on?"
"A potioneer experimenting on some illegal brews." Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded parchment. "Luna was looking at the ingredients and said a lot of them were pretty heavy stuff."
"Well, are you going to let me see it or what?"
Ginny snuck a look behind her. "Not here. Let's go into the office. I don't want Mum to overhear us."
"Merlin, she'd be a nightmare. I could hear her now, Ginevra Molly Weasley! You broke into the Auror office and stole classified information?"
Ginny giggled at George's impeccable impression of their mother. She pushed him towards Harry's office, shushing him. She shut the door quietly and took her wand out of her pocket. She cast some quick Silencing and Locking Charms on the door before making her way towards the desk. She laid out the report and anxiously waited for George to read through the information.
"Fuck, Ginny, what the hell were Harry and Ron involved in?" George shook his head as he flipped through the parchment to read all the various toxicology reports of the victims.
"Luna said there were some hallucinogenic ingredients as well as memory and immobilization components to the potions." Ginny chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced up at her brother.
"I'll say." George let out a low whistle. "The guy brewing these potions has Harry?"
Ginny nodded, her anxiety rising at George's worried tone. "What aren't you saying?"
"If this potioneer gave Harry a version of this potion, he's high as a fucking Quaffle right now and has no chance of being able to escape on his own."
"How do you know that?"
"Years ago, when we were working on the Daydream Potion, we looked into some of these more… illegal ingredients to see if we could find a more legal one with the same potency and desired effect." George pointed to a potion ingredient with a long name that Ginny couldn't even attempt to pronounce. "This one here is trippy, as it doesn't knock you out completely."
"What does that mean? Knock you out completely?"
George collapsed in Harry's office chair behind the desk. He grinned up at his sister, slouching down in the chair and resting his folded hands on his stomach.
"Say I was high as a Quaffle and imagining Ang and I in a nice open field and I'm nibbling on her naughty bits."
"You can skip the sex details of your potion trip," Ginny interrupted.
"I'm deep within my fantasy. Deep within Ang, too." George winked and Ginny rolled her eyes. "When I look up and I see my baby sister scowling at me. I'm confused. A second later you're gone."
"I don't understand. When you get high off potions, you slip into a dream?"
"With the ingredients being used, a very vivid and lifelike dream. Except, reality seeps in through the cracks of the dream, hence me seeing you as you are now – all scowling and serious. It can make a person very disoriented and fracture the vividness of the illusion."
Ginny frowned, leaning against Harry's desk. Her fingers curled around the wood, her heart hammering in her chest. If the potioneer gave Harry a version of the potion, then he probably was incapacitated.
"What's the potioneer's motive?"
"Honestly, it looks like he or she is perfecting a potion. This is the kind of stuff I do at the office every day. I have a concept for a product, I make the initial prototype, and then I tweak it ever so slightly. Some tweaks are good, some are bad, some don't make a bloody difference. When working with potions, it's a bloody nightmare trying to figure out how all the different ingredients are interacting with one another. You may have a disastrous interaction between two components and not realize it."
Ginny sighed. "So, Harry's rendered useless and being experimented on to perfect a potion?"
"Honestly, yeah, I'd wager to guess this potioneer isn't going to let a potential test subject slip by him." George frowned. "Knowing Harry, he's probably not having the most pleasant trip either."
"Do I even want to know why you think that?"
"Some of these ingredients rely on the power of suggestion or a person's desires. Harry's not exactly the type of person to allow himself to be truly happy. He's the glass half empty type of bloke. You really think Harry's mind is allowing himself to succumb to a purely blissful illusion? Nah, he's probably mentally torturing himself, because that's what he does best."
Ginny pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. George had to be annoyingly right. There was probably a very little chance that Harry was having a pleasant experience.
"Just brilliant," Ginny muttered.
"So, you already stole a highly confidential Auror case file. What's next?"
"Maybe try to find out who's buying these ingredients?" Ginny shrugged hopelessly. "Go to Knockturn Alley and inquire about them? See if I can figure out something."
"Oh, my dear, dear Ginny. My innocent little sister," George mocked, his hand over his heart. "You are too adorable for this world. You won't be finding half these ingredients in Knockturn Alley. That's amateur, child's play. Oh no, you'd want to go to Malefic Way. There's tons more illegal activity there than at Knockturn. You're in luck, I've just happened to have been to Malefic before. Incredibly dodgy place. I can't let you go alone, not with how innocent you are!"
Ginny scowled, folding her arms across her chest. Maybe teaming up with George wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Harry sat at Sirius' kitchen table, drumming his fingers on the wood and staring at the clock. He hadn't left the table since he had talked to Ron earlier that day, eagerly awaiting his best mate's arrival.
Sirius arrived home sometime in the late afternoon and took a seat at the kitchen table with a long sigh. He ran a hand through his dark hair before Summoning a plate of biscuits and tea.
"Your mother is worried about you," Sirius commented nonchalantly as he took a bite of a ginger biscuit. "It's very exhausting to keep telling her everything is fine. She cornered me for nearly two hours while James was in therapy."
"Do you always go to his appointments?" Harry tapped a biscuit against the table, his brows furrowed.
"I try to. I know it's hard on Lily. It's been her entire life for the past twenty-odd years."
"He seemed… alright, I suppose? I mean, I've seen how the Cruciatus Curse can break a person," Harry whispered, thinking back to the time he had met Neville's parents at St. Mungo's when he was fifteen.
Sirius frowned. "The Healers said he was less than five minutes away from being broken completely. He seems alright now, but that hasn't always been the case. It's been a long road to get him to the point he's at now."
"I didn't mean to minimize it at all." Harry glanced up at Sirius. "I just… this is a world I don't understand. I don't know how to have parents. I don't know how to survive without Ginny and Ron. I don't know… I don't know how to be me without being an Auror and having kids and…"
"And you want to go home," Sirius finished his thought, a sad smile flittering across his features.
"It's weird. I grew up wanting to know my parents my entire life. I would wish that they weren't really dead, that they were in a coma or something at some hospital and they'd wake up and I'd get to know them. The older I got… the more I realized I just wanted someone to care for me. I wanted someone to want me, to claim me as their own." Harry licked his bottom lip. "You gave that to me briefly until you died. Then… then it was Ginny. It was Ron. It was the Weasleys. I suddenly had brothers and parents. I had nieces and nephews. I had a wife and children. I had a family. For the first time in my life, I had a family, Sirius, and I don't want to lose them."
"I will get you home, Harry, I promise. Maybe… maybe you can help me get my Harry home, too."
Harry merely nodded, a lump forming in his throat. He had been so consumed on getting home that he never considered there was another lost Harry out there somewhere. Maybe the other Harry was with his Ginny. The lucky bastard.
When five o'clock rolled around, Sirius pulled out an old Pensieve he had received when his great uncle Alphard passed. Harry wrinkled his nose at the Black motto inscribed on the front of the basin. It looked old, certainly older than the one he had purchased years ago so he could show Teddy memories of his parents and even older than the one Dumbledore owned. Harry couldn't help but wonder if the Pensieve was somewhere in Grimmauld Place or if Mundungus had stolen and sold it.
Ron arrived at nearly six in the evening, looking unsure and nervous. He eyed the Pensieve on the table. He slowly took a seat and watched as Harry pressed the tip of his wand to his forehead, his eyes screwing shut.
The most peculiar thing happened. Harry thought of Ginny, her infectious laughter and her shimmering long hair. He concentrated on their wedding day, of her in that long white dress and hair half pulled back with a giant white lily weaved into her elastic band. He could see her walking down the aisle, a ginormous smile spread across her face and a stray tear sliding down her face. Except darkness surrounded her. The guests melted, their bodies and faces a swirl of colors. Panic rose in his chest as soon as Ginny faded away until the memory was just darkness in his mind.
He clenched his jaw, remembering the first time he held Teddy in his arms. He could see himself rocking the infant, surrounded by darkness, before that memory too faded into nothingness. He focused on James riding a toddler broom that Ron bought him for his second birthday, zooming around a black garden with dead flowers. Licking his lips, he thought of the day Albus was born, as a tiny baby with jet black hair rocked in his arms. Those memories too faded.
His grip tightened around his wand, his teeth clenching so hard that his gums ached. His memories seemed to evaporate from his mind. He couldn't concentrate on a concrete memory, couldn't pluck it from his mind and place it into the basin. He couldn't remember anything except abstract knowledge. Panic rose in his chest as he drew the wand away from his temple. Instead of the shimmery silver memory he was used to, there was only a tar-like black string. He dropped it into the Pensieve and the murkiness glared up at him.
"What the…?" Sirius leaned closer to the Pensieve to stare at the memory before his eyes darted to Harry. "What the hell is that?"
Harry couldn't speak. His limbs shook, his breathing becoming ragged. Something was definitely wrong, seriously wrong. He glanced up to see Ron staring at him, confusion clearly written on his face.
"I can't… I can't think of a memory," Harry whispered. "Ginny. Teddy. James. Albus. They're in my head but I can't…"
"Think about what happened yesterday. Can you pull that memory?" Sirius suggested, a hand wrapping around the back of Harry's neck.
Harry shook his head, refusing to even allow a memory from this universe to escape from his mind. He wanted his old memories, the memories of his wife and children. He didn't want memories of Cho or ghosts.
His palms gripped the kitchen table. He pushed his chair back and shrugged off Sirius' hand, making a beeline to the back door. He needed to get out of the cottage, needed fresh air, needed to be alone. Sirius called after him, but Harry ignored him. Pushing the door open, Harry stepped out into a field.
He paused, his breath hitching in his throat. It looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't place when he had ever been in the field before. Then he saw her. A woman lying in the tall grass, her chest heaving, whimpers escaping her lips. Harry found his legs moving automatically towards her, a wave of déjà vu washing over him.
The woman's face came into view. His insides turned to ice. It was the girl from the pavement, hanging limply as everyone passed by her without even blinking. It was the girl he could remember standing next to him in his nightmare, strung up with her hands above her head. Harry collapsed onto the grass, his hand touching her neck. She still had the puncture wounds on her neck, a tiny trail of blood running down her porcelain skin.
"No, no, I want to go home. Please," the woman pleaded, her body jerking. "I don't wanna."
"Can you hear me?" Harry whispered, his hand gripping her shoulder and gently shaking her, a wave of familiarity crashing into him once more. They had been here before. "Can you wake up? Please, wake up!"
"Harry!" Sirius' voice yelled in the distance. "Harry!"
"Please, just wake up. Something is wrong. This isn't…" Harry shook his head.
A hand grabbed Harry by the arm and hauled him off the ground. He whipped around, the field melting and being replaced with Sirius' back garden. Sirius stood in front of him, pale with his gray eyes wide. Ron lingered behind him, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
Harry jerked his arm out of Sirius' grasp and turned around. The woman disappeared. The field vanished. Everything had shifted back to normal. Harry's eyes darted around the garden. He wasn't in an alternate reality or dimension. He wouldn't be hallucinating in another dimension, wouldn't be losing his memories. None of it was real.
"Harry, talk to me. Are you alright?" Sirius pressed.
He turned around slowly, blinking at the mirage that was his godfather. "You're not real. This isn't real. None of this is real. The girl… the girl is real. The puncture marks on her neck are real. The broken ceiling fan and the field and the grimy floor are real. You're not real. Sirius is dead. He died. I watched him die."
Sirius reached out, his palms hitting Harry in the chest before gripping his biceps and shaking him. "I'm not real? Does this feel real? Do you feel me right now?"
"You're not real," Harry repeated as Sirius continued to shake him. "None of this is real. I have to wake up. I'm… I'm dreaming or something. I don't know, but this isn't reality."
"Fuck, Harry! Snap out of it!" Sirius growled. "I don't know what you think is going on, but this is real! I'm as real as you are!"
Harry only shook his head, taking a step back. He needed to wake up. How does one wake up from a nightmare? Sirius' eyes locked with his. Harry only continued to shake his head before he bolted from the back garden, his mind reeling with how to wake up.
Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, and I hope you're starting to realize what's going on with Harry. I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to responding to all your wonderful reviews! I will be responding to chapter 3/4 reviews, so please don't forget to review. It's a hectic time right now! Reviews inspire me to write, make me want to continue writing, so be kind and keep leaving them!
Special thanks to Arnel for editing. Special thanks to Bree for bouncing ideas around with me.