Disclaimer: As always the characters do not belong to me (except for Bentley)

Disclaimer: As always the characters do not belong to me (except for Bentley).  The beginning plot belonged mostly to Xanthia but after that it's my plot.  Thanks Xanthia, I love you a ton.

Authors note is at the end.

Harry Potter

And The

Bad Dreams

            Chapter Six

            Dreams and Disillusionment

At Hogwarts, the sun was setting softly.  Albus Dumbledore was in the hospital wing watching over Sirius, Remus, and Harry.  His gaze stopped on Harry, and he sighed gently.  It had been exactly half an hour since Sirius and Remus had formed a dream catcher to send them into Harry's dream.

           

"Really, Minerva! Get out of my way, there are things I need to attend to!" A familiar voice rang out in the hallway.  Dumbledore squinted his eyes in concentration as he tried to determine who was speaking.

           

"Minister, Dumbledore is extremely busy and asked that he not be disturbed!" McGonagall's voice called out loudly, as she tried to warn Dumbledore that they were quickly approaching the hospital wing. It was too late, though, the doorknob turned and a split second later Cornelius Fudge appeared in the doorframe.

           

"Albus! What are you doing that is so urgent you can't see me!" Fudge demanded. Dumbledore had no time to respond because Fudge suddenly took notice of the dream catcher and Sirius Black.  Dumbledore looked mildly horrified.

           

"Albus! You are performing illegal magic…with… with… Sirius Black no less! I have obviously given you too much power and freedom at this school.  You will be impri…"

           

"Stupefy!" A voice yelled from beyond Fudge.  Fudge's eyes widened in momentary shock, and then promptly closed as he began to fall backwards.

           

Dumbledore lifted one eyebrow in confusion, as he tilted his head to try to get a better look at who cast the spell that may have saved his life.

           

"I always thought that Fudge was rather infuriating.  I've wanted to do that for quite some time.  I just needed the opportunity, and motive," Snape said, pocketing his wand. He walked over to where Fudge way lying and began to drag him towards Madame Pomfrey's office.  "Well, Albus? Are you going to help me?"

           

Dumbledore, eyes twinkling, walked over to Fudge, searched Fudge's robe for his wand, and then proceeded to take it.  Snape and Dumbledore than dragged the Minister of Magic to Madame Pomfrey's office, and locked him inside.

           

"I'll put a strong memory charm on him when he comes to. Thank you, Severus."

           

"I have the antidote ready whenever you need it."

           

"We can't administer it until after Sirius and Remus have woken up… then we'll know everything is safe."

           

"Very well, headmaster," Snape said, nodding slightly to Dumbledore before leaving.

~~~

           

Sirius and Lupin were walking quietly through Harry's dreamland.  Both of them seemed to be in some sort of shock.  They were wandering through a dark forest that seemed very similar to the forbidden forest.  Except this forest was dead calm and eerily quiet.

           

"Where do you suppose he is?" asked Remus, breaking the awkward silence.

           

"I don't know, and this really isn't one of those situations where you can just call out his name and wait for a reply," Sirius stopped suddenly.  The pair had reached a river probably about thirty feet wide.

           

"Well, what do you suggest we do now?" Lupin asked, looking down both sides of the river and seeing no end.

           

"I say we take the boat," Sirius said. Lupin cocked his head to the side and arched one eyebrow.  He looked over to where Sirius was staring, and sure enough a small boat was tied to a rock.

           

"What are the odds?" Lupin asked incredulously.

           

"Don't forget, Remus, this is a dream after all." They both walked up to the boat and got in, a magical force seemed to help the boat glide quickly and calmly across the river.

~~~

           

Voldemort looked down at Harry with utter disdain. "Tsk, Tsk, Harry, I know you have your wand so I wouldn't try anything stupid.  I'm not going to take it just yet.  I have plans for you and that wand of yours."

           

Harry's heart felt heavy as he tried to figure out how to escape from this situation.

           

"Ha! It isn't even worth it, thinking about how to escape!" Voldemort said, as if reading Harry's mind. Voldemort lifted his wand, "Imperio!" he shouted with such an aura of power behind it that Harry could only gape up at Voldemort as the curse came hurtling towards him.

~~~

            "How long have they been asleep?" asked Ben.

           

"About an hour," Dumbledore said.

           

"It's not healthy for Sirius and Remus to stay in Harry's dream for more than three hours," Ben explained, concern evident in his voice.

           

"Yes, I'm aware, we will have to cut their ties if they're not up in two hours."

           

"If we cut their ties there is a good chance that Harry won't make it."

           

"Well, what am I supposed to do? We can either save one life or save two lives.  We don't even know if Harry will make it in the first place.  But, Ben, there is hope in Remus and Sirius.  I believe in them, and have faith in them.  I have confidence that they will come back…"

           

Dr. Bentley interrupted him, "With Harry, though?"

           

"Yes, I have confidence that they will bring Harry back to us."

~~~

            The boat washed ashore and Sirius and Lupin got out.  They wandered through the trees just listening for any sound that might give away Harry's location.  Suddenly, they both heard Voldemort utter the Imperius curse.  Sirius tried to enter the clearing where Voldemort and Harry were, but Lupin held him back.

           

"Remus, let me go! We're here because we are supposed to help! What are you trying to pull?" Sirius grumbled.

           

"Sirius, you aren't thinking rationally.  We have to come up with a plan!"

           

"Screw that! Albus told us we only have about three hours and then we're in trouble.  The plan is that I'll go first to try and rescue Harry, and if something happens to me, then it is up to you to rescue him."

           

"Sounds like a shitty plan if you ask me!"

           

"Well, no one asked you!" And before Remus had time to react, Sirius left the safety of the forest and came into the clearing where Harry and Voldemort were.

           

"Ahh, Mr. Black, so kind of you to join us.  I must admit your presence here is not completely unexpected," Voldemort said silkily.

           

"You, YOU! You ruined my life, you ruined Harry's life.  I'm going to kill you!" Sirius yelled.

           

"I think it's the other way around, Mr. Black.  I believe you will be the one who will die tonight, " Voldemort said, chuckling slightly. "Harry?"

           

Harry, through the fog of the Imperius curse, looked up at Voldemort. "Why don't you kill Sirius? Kill him with the Avada Kedava curse!"

           

Harry felt the pleasant fog envelop him tighter and he lifted his wand and pointed it at Sirius.

           

"Harry!? What are you doing?" Sirius asked, his eyes opening wide in bewilderment.

           

"Kill him! Kill him!" Voldemort urged Harry.

           

'I really don't feel like it,' Harry thought.  His wand arm began to shake.

           

"Harry! You can break this! You are stronger than this!" Sirius cried out.

           

Voldemort entered Harry's thoughts. 'Harry…kill him… Kill Sirius!!'

           

'Yes, kill Sirius.  I must kill Sirius… but why should I?' Harry thought.  Harry felt as if he were waging a war inside himself.

           

"Sirius…I can't…Please, please help me!" Harry pleaded as he began to shake.

           

"Harry, listen to me, you're better than this.  You are STRONGER than this!" Sirius said, maintaining his stance, as he stood frozen.

           

"No… I can't… I'm sorry… Avada… Kedav…NOOOOOOO!" Harry screamed, breaking the Imperius curse.

           

"Crouch told me that you could break the Imperius curse, but I didn't believe that you could be this strong.  That ruins all my fun.  I'm just going to have to do away with you now," Voldemort said.

           

"You're not going to get rid of me that easily… tonight is the night you die, Voldemort.  You ruined so many lives, and I'm here to end yours!" Harry screamed furiously, aiming his wand at Voldemort.

Both of them began to shout Avada Kedava, but both wands connected in Priori Incantatem. The two jets of green light met in mid air.  A narrow beam of golden light formed between the two wands, as Voldemort and Harry started to get lifted from the ground.   The golden light fractured into a thousand more beams and seemed to form a cage around the pair. A phoenix began singing, and it was like déjà vu all over again for Harry.  The familiar phoenix song brought him hope.

Suddenly, large beads of light were being forced towards Harry's wand.  Lupin came out of the forest and joined Sirius.  They both stood and stared in amazement to what was being played out before their eyes.  Harry concentrated every element he could into his want, and finally was able to force the beads of light back towards Voldemort.  The bead of light finally connected with Voldemort's wand, and once again there were great shouts of pain.  Voldemort's arm began to shake as his wand began regurgitating all it's past spells.  The wand started regurgitating spells from where it had left off last time.  Harry didn't recognize the people who came out of the wand who had been killed by Voldemort.  He did notice, however, a familiar looking man and woman.  They looked remarkably like Neville, but Neville's parents weren't dead.  Harry supposed he was freeing their souls because they had lost them when Voldemort cursed them with the unforgivable Cruciatus curse.

"Harry! Listen closely, on the count of three, you must break the link and run towards Sirius and me, okay?" Lupin called out.

"NO!" Harry cried, concentrating all his force into the wand.

"Come on, Harry! What are you doing?" Sirius shouted.

"I know I can beat him, I know it!" Harry screamed over the phoenix song.

"Harry, this is insane!" Lupin argued.

"NOO!" Harry repeated, forcing every last ounce of everything he could into his wand.  Voldemort's wand began to crack, and suddenly the clearing seemed to be engulfed in a harsh white light.  Sirius and Remus quickly shielded their eyes.  The light dissipated quickly.  Sirius squinted his eyes, only to see Harry in a heap on the ground.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted, running towards him.  Lupin followed closely behind. Sirius kneeled beside Harry, and tried to shake him awake.  Lupin felt for his pulse.

"Harry, come on, get up!" Sirius pleaded, smoothing Harry's messy hair from his forehead.

"Sirius," Lupin's voice wavered slightly as he placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder, "Sirius, I'm afraid we're too late, he's gone."

"No, it can't be! We were so close, Remus…" Sirius began to sob, and tears were streaming down Lupin's face. "No. It isn't fair.  We were so close! HARRY!!" Sirius let out an anguished cry as he buried his head into Harry's robes.

~~~

           

Dumbledore eyed the clock.  There was only twenty more minutes left and then Dr. Bentley and he would have to cut the ties of the dream catcher. Suddenly, Harry, Sirius, and Remus all seemed to grow restless.  Harry began to breathe harshly and his face grew flushed. Sirius and Remus were tossing and turning a bit.

           

"What is going on?" Ben asked.

           

"I don't quite know," Dumbledore said with concern.

           

A bright white light suddenly filled the hospital wing, and Dumbledore and Ben shielded their eyes in confusion. 

           

"What's happening?" Snape yelled, entering the hospital wing, and quickly throwing his forearm over his eyes. About a minute later the light disappeared.  Sirius and Remus had tears streaming down their faces. Dumbledore was first to recover, reaching down to check Harry's pulse.

           

"Ben, his heart stopped!"

~~~

            Harry felt as if he were drifting through a pleasant darkness.  He was warm and felt safe.  He heard a familiar voice, his mother, singing a lullaby in the distance:

Sons of the great,

Or sons unknown,

All were children, like our own.

The same sweet smile,

The same sad tune,

The cries in the night, the nightmare fears.

Sons of the great,

Or sons unknown

All were children, like our own.

Sons of your sons,

Sons passing by,

Children were lost in lullaby…

            Harry opened his eyes slowly. "Mum?" he called out.

           

"Oh, Harry!" she cried, embracing him in a tight hug.

           

"I almost can't believe it… it's hard figuring out the truth…" Harry began to cry.

           

"Harry, it's me, it really is.  Your father is here as well." Lily smiled.

           

"Dad?" Harry asked, barely audible.

           

"Yes, I'm right here," his father said, hugging him as well.

           

Harry let go for a second and looked at his father.  It was the mirror image of a son looking at a father.  They did look a lot alike.  Harry's eyes grew troubled.

           

"What's wrong?" His mother asked.

           

"If you two are here… than am I, am I dead?" Harry asked cautiously.

           

His father gave him a sad smile, "Yes."

           

"What happened?"

           

"You focused every bit of who you were into destroying Voldemort, and it ended up destroying you."

           

"Is Voldemort dead than?" asked Harry.

           

"No, he is extremely weak. He is hiding out trying to regain his strength and power," Lily said, putting her arm around Harry.

           

"Something as evil as Voldemort can never be conquered…" His father began, but Harry interrupted.

           

"I have to go back. I don't know if it's even possible if I can, but I have to.  Voldemort can be conquered, good always overcomes evil right? Right?"

           

Lily smiled sadly, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

           

"Yes.  I know I am needed elsewhere, I have to try and conquer evil.  I know that you'll always wait for me."

           

"Always," James said, hugging him tightly.

           

"I should be able to send you back using the charm that saved you in the first place.  It was called the life charm, and was something I had been working on for Albus Dumbledore.  It saved you once, and it should save you again." Lily said.

           

Harry hugged her, and breathed in her motherly scent, "Thanks, mum. I love you."

           

Lily smiled, "I know, I've always known… goodbye sweetheart… adava avadek."

~~~

            Sirius continued to cry in utter despair.  Lupin just held him to try and comfort him. "Padfoot, we have to leave, it's almost been three hours."

           

"I can't leave, I won't leave," Sirius said, too sad to say anything more. 

           

"Sirius…" Lupin said softly.

           

"No," Sirius repeated.

           

"Sirius," Lupin insisted.

           

"NO!" Sirius was adamant.

           

"SIRIUS!" Lupin said urgently. Sirius looked up at him. "Sirius! Look!" Lupin said, pointing towards Harry. Harry's eyelids were fluttering slightly.

           

"How can this be?" Sirius cried out.

           

Harry's eyes opened, "Sirius?" he called out weakly.

           

"My God, Harry, Harry! You're all right!" Sirius sobbed with relief.

           

"What? How? No one can come back from the dead!" Lupin said, dumbfounded.

           

"I saw my mum and dad, I really was dead.  I told my mum to send me back, Voldemort… he's still alive!" Harry explained in one rushed sentence.

           

"How did Lily…" Remus asked, but Sirius interrupted him.

           

"Remus, we've barely got five minutes left, you can interrogate Harry later."

           

"Wait, how did you guys get here anyways? This is my dream."

           

"We got here through an ancient type of magic called the dream catcher, I'll explain it later, but for now we have to get out of here." Sirius said.

           

"Now we must join hands," said Remus, grabbing Sirius' left hand and Harry's right hand.  Harry grabbed Sirius' right hand.

           

Sirius and Remus both chanted at the same time, "We represent your dream, your life, your journey…" and Harry felt a warm light of power pass through him and then everything went dark.

~~~

            "He's gone," Bentley said, placing a hand on Harry's chest.

           

"What?" Snape demanded.

           

Dumbledore felt as if he were about to faint, and sat down quickly.  Snape looked visibly stunned.  Dumbledore checked his watch. 

           

"They still have five more minutes…" he said softly.

           

The group of three sat by, waiting and hoping for Sirius and Remus to wake up.  Three minutes passed, and Dumbledore started to get nervous.

           

"What's taking so long?" Snape thought aloud.

Unexpectedly, Harry took a shuddering breath. And then another. Ben quickly stood up and checked his pulse.

"He's got a strong pulse…I don't understand it!"

"I thought nothing could reawaken the dead!" Snape said in amazement.

"I guess we were wrong, thank God for that," Albus said, "But the worst is not yet over, Sirius and Remus still have to come back."

As if listening to what Dumbledore was saying, Sirius and Remus both began to stir and they woke up.

"Severus, could you please administer the antidote now?" Ben asked. Snape walked over and poured the antidote down Harry's throat.

Sirius and Remus became more aware of their surroundings as Dumbledore began to cut the rope from their arms. Sirius grabbed Dumbledore's arm.

"We almost lost him!" Sirius said.

Dumbledore placed a reassuring hand on Sirius' shoulder, "I know.  But you didn't lose him."

Harry began to stir and he opened his eyes.  "Professor," he said weakly, "I saw my mother and my father and…"

"Shh, Harry, no doubt you all have a tale to tell.  But for now, sleep, I'll still be here in the morning." Dumbledore smiled as Harry settled back. Harry felt so weak, as if all his power was used up.  He was so tired and within seconds he was asleep.

~~~

            Harry felt warm and safe.

           

"When do you think he'll wake up?" Ron asked.

           

"I don't know," Sirius said, "He went through quite an ordeal."

           

"I know, I just wish he'd wake up," said Hermione.

           

Harry willed his eyes to open. He found himself staring at the ceiling of the hospital wing.

           

"Harry?" Sirius said softly.

           

Harry groaned.  It felt as if his whole body was a dead weight.

           

"Are you okay?" Ron asked.

           

"How long have I been out?" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes.

           

"About 5 days, we've all been worried," Hermione said.

           

"Wow. Five days…" Harry couldn't believe it.

           

"Yes, five days," Dr. Bentley said, striding down the row towards Harry's bed.

"You were almost drained of all your power, that takes a lot of recuperation for your body to deal with that. Here, drink this." Harry drank the potion without complaint.  It was rather gross tasting, but he became more awake after drinking it.

Dumbledore came in, followed by Professors Lupin and Snape. "Harry! Finally you are awake.  I trust you've had a good rest?"

           

"Yes."

           

"Good, good.  Now do you remember what happened?" he asked.

           

"Yes, I tried to…" Harry began.

           

"Why?" Ron demanded, "Why did you try to kill yourself?"

           

"Yeah, Harry, we're always here for you, we always will be, I don't understand why you did this!" Hermione said.

           

"I don't know, I felt as if there was no way out, I can't explain it."

           

"I can," Snape said.

           

Everyone turned and looked at him.

           

"While I was checking his blood I found traces of a potion that can send someone over the edge.  That coupled with the terrible dreams Potter constantly had, was enough to actually push him over the edge."

           

"How did he get this in his system?" Ben asked.

           

"I don't know, it could have been months ago.  The potion doesn't take affect until about 12 weeks after ingestion," Snape explained.

           

"I was still at the Dursleys!" Harry exclaimed.

           

"Voldemort must have broken through our protections then," Dumbledore sighed.

           

"Harry," Sirius asked suddenly, "What happened when you died?"

           

"I don't remember too well, I woke up and was with my mother and father.  I was so happy because I thought Voldemort was dead and gone for good. He's not though, Professor, he's hiding out."

           

"I know, Harry, I have my own resources," Dumbledore smiled.

           

"My mother sent me back with the life charm," Harry explained.

           

"The life charm?" Hermione asked, "I've never heard of it."

           

"It was a charm that Lily was working on for me, she obviously figured out how to do it, clever witch. It can save a persons life when they are in mortal danger, or it can, which I didn't know until now, bring someone back to life."

           

"That's amazing!" Hermione exclaimed.

           

"Yes.  What I want to know is why you came back when you so desperately wanted to be with your parents," Dumbledore said solemnly.

           

"I knew Voldemort wasn't dead." Harry explained.

           

"So?" Sirius asked.

           

"So? So I'm the one who's supposed to defeat him."

           

"Harry! Are you insane, Voldemort will never be destroyed, he'll be weakened, but he'll never die!" Sirius exclaimed.

           

"In the fight between good and evil, good always overcomes evil, and I plan to overcome evil once and for all!" Harry looked up at everyone, defiantly.  He was a force to be reckoned with.  Good would truly overcome evil in the future battle to be waged, and Harry Potter would not stand down.

~~~

The End

~~~

Author's note: Phew! That took long enough. Sorry my beta didn't read it, I just needed to post it and didn't know how long it would take for her to proof it.  I go into work full time tomorrow so I wouldn't be able to edit it. Luv ya coqui! Read her stuff!  Love to all who've read this even if you thought it sucked.  It took a whole lot of time and effort to get this story out, so please don't flame (I do, however, accept constructive criticism).  Thanks for bearing with me, I've had a pretty stressful year and right now I'm waiting for my report card J.  Don't bother begging for a sequel… there won't be one and I'm not changing my stance on this. (ooh that sounded harsh, and it wasn't meant to) I'm afraid if I started a sequel it would never get finished. Perhaps if there was some coaxing involved… lol… Also, a box of girl scout cookies to anyone who figures out what that song is called that lily is singing.  A lifetime supply of girl scout cookies if anyone can figure out where I had gotten the basic dream sequence from… you may have to read the entire story to figure it out.   So once again, thanks for all your emails and reviews! It's been a great experience (and sorry if the ending seemed rushed, I sat down and had to practically pound it out of me!)