A/N - Hey! So sorry about the long wait between updates...wait, scratch that, I'm not sorry, because for some reason or other all of my reviewers decided to skip reviewing that chapter! Come on, guys - it wasn't that bad, was it?

Alright, time for everybody's favorite - the disclaimer! JK Rowling owns everything you recognize, and the quotes are courtesy of Epicurus and Picasso, respectively.

Death Is Nothing

Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.

- Epicurus

Chapter 5: Everything You Can Imagine

Part I

Everything you can imagine is real.

- Pablo Picasso

Everything was black, an utter, silent, fathomless sort of black, the kind that, had it not completely and utterly engulfed you, would have made you scream in despair. Nothing would ever be light again, never. The world would remain shrouded in darkness until the end of time, until, until…,

He was sobbing uncontrollably, and he had been for – oh, God, he had forgotten how long now. He could feel his tenuous grip on sanity slipping away from him – he couldn't even remember why he was here now. Wherever here was.

"H-Harry?" said a trembling voice. He could feel a gentle, hesitant touch on his shoulder, and he flinched, sobbing harder than ever. Hadn't they done enough to him already? "You're real…." breathed the voice.

Yes, he was real. Of course he was real. Was it possible to feel this, this lost, and confused, and sick, in a nightmare? "Go away." he whispered. "Please."

But the voice didn't go away. "Not…here." it said slowly, almost as though it were struggling to make sense through a jumbled onslaught of thoughts. "They're gone…"

"YES, THEY'RE GONE!" He surged to his feet, white-hot fury coursing through his veins, and, chest heaving, glared at the still shadowed figure in front of him. "THEY'RE GONE, ALL OF THEM – MY MUM, AND MY DAD, AND NOW, NOW SIRIUS…." But wait – that wasn't right. Sirius had been there, he had seen him, right before his dad had, had been murdered…. The darkness was receding faster now, and he could see the man standing in front of him….

"Harry…?" said Sirius again, as though he were afraid that, any minute now, Harry would disappear. Harry stared at him, his breath still coming in ragged gasps.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he whispered at last. Sirius shook his head slightly, still staring, wide-eyed, at him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice coarse and broken. "So sorry…,"

:::::Remus' POV:::::

The logical thing to do would be to go and tell Dumbledore, of course. But for some reason or other he found himself not caring what the "logical" thing was. He had always been the reasonable one, the one who, no matter what, always kept his head. And he was tired of it. It was too much, really. First Lily and James, then Sirius, and now Harry. He was the last one left – he who was supposed to have been the first one gone.

He wouldn't tell Dumbledore. Not yet.

:::::Sirius' POV:::::

He stared at his godson avidly, trying to ignore the voices that were screaming inside his head, demanding that he listen to them. It's not him, said one voice silkily. It's another trick, another one of Their lies.

Sirius shook his head, willing such thoughts away. This had to be Harry – no matter how hard They tried, They could not replicate that look of utter confusion and loss that was in Harry's eyes now. Oh? said another voice, this one callous and indifferent. Just like it had to have been James, because They could never have looked so delighted to see you?

"Shut up." whispered Sirius, ignoring the startled and apprehensive look Harry was sending towards him now. "Shut up."

The voices laughed again. Well, if you insist on torturing yourself….

"Are you Sirius?" Harry asked, his voice now laced with uncertainty. Tears were still falling down his face, though he didn't seem to notice them anymore.

He jumped, looking at Harry with a slight hint of fear in his eyes. He had willed, even begged the voices to silence, but now, as hard as he tried, he could not ignore Them. "Please." he whispered. One of Them laughed derisively. Fool, it said scathingly, its voice cutting into his mind so that he whimpered and curled up into a ball, his head buried in his knees. Do you humans comprehend nothing? Do you really think we would let you go now, now that we've spent all our time chaining you here? Oh no, Sirius Black – there are still horrors here beyond your darkest nightmares. You think you know pain? You've hardly tasted it.

:::::Dumbledore's POV:::::

He rubbed his eyes wearily, staring into the merrily crackling fire as though hoping it would provide some answers to the questions that were clamoring ceaselessly in his mind. He had never felt older than he did right now.

He wasn't sure, even now, that he had done the right thing, leaving Harry with the Dursleys for another summer. Because now, after Remus had come to him two days ago and dutifully relayed his conversation with Harry, he doubted that the protection Harry would be needing at the moment had anything to do with Voldemort….

There wasn't any chance that Sirius was alive – that much he knew. Or thought he knew. The Veil, the archway – they led to a place beyond the wildest conceptions of humanity. The darkest conceptions of humanity. And they were a doorway that could only be opened once.

He knew that – Remus knew that. Everybody knew that, it seemed, except for the one who needed to most.

He sighed and stood up, turning away from the cheerful, comforting light of the fire and towards the dark, gusting winds of the night outside. He hoped Remus, wherever he was now, had been right when he said Harry wouldn't do anything reckless.

:::::Harry's POV:::::

He stared at Sirius apprehensively, desperate to believe that this was really his godfather and, at the same time, afraid to do so. Because, if he wasn't, Harry wasn't sure how much longer he could keep holding on….

Sirius stiffened suddenly, a glazed look coming into his unfocused eyes. A second later his head snapped back up, and he stared at Harry keenly. Harry gazed warily back. There was something…unnerving, in Sirius' gaze. Something he had never seen before. Never seen in Sirius' eyes, at least.

Sirius' was still staring unflinchingly at him, and Harry thought he could sense a flicker of some other color dancing behind Sirius' normal dark, storm gray eyes. Not lifting his gaze from Harry's face, he reached out slowly and grabbed Harry's arm. "It's coming."

A/N - Ha - a nice little cliffie for all you people who decided you could just skip out on reading chapter 4. : ) This chapter was going to be longer, but this just seemed like the right place to end it, so I divided it into Chpt. 5 parts 1 and 2. Which also means you'll be getting seven chapters instead of six.

Ok...time to go on to reviewing to those few people who had the ::cough:: decency to tell me what they thought of that last chapter. I love you guys!

Icy Tears - Wow...had to grab a dictionary to understand some of that : )...thanks for reviewing!

Darcy - Don't worry - that chapter was the last one with him being majorly tormented. Or at least, I'm 99 percent sure it was.

Eagle - You'll have noticed that, for your especial convinence, I put whose POV it was when switching. This one had a lot of POV switching around - hopefully not too confusing. And, pathetic as it is, I was really hoping someone would wonder what the word for "tribal mystic" was. No, it has absolutely no bearing on the plot (which, surprisingly, is actually existent in this story). The word which Lily, unfortunately, never got around to figuring out was "shaman"

Misthea - lol. Sorry! I don't mean to keep making you late for work ::grins:: As to questions...yeah, Sirius and Harry were both trapped watching that. Poor guys. And for your last questions...while, seeing as how answering that would give away the ending, I'm not going to tell! Although, of course, your question is assuming that it'll be Remus who gets them out...

Alrighty - that's it for now. PLEASE remember to review, people! You have no idea how happy that would make me! Because, the more you review, the quicker I write, and the quicker I write, the quicker Chapter 5 part 2 gets posted! Got that?

Bye!