Speechless for moments, Severus looked on through the window. At final glance, he noted the smile on his once radiant face, and with that turned his back to the past. A faint gleam of pity scanned itself across Black's face, but that moment too came to pass, and once again he tapped his companion with the cane, but this time on the shoulder and without malice.

"Happiness, Severus. Love. Remember..." This was barely whispered before the two were soaring through the dark, angry sky as the long, endless night wore on.

----

Silence was awkwardly noticeable between the two men as they touched upon earth, landing softly atop a rotting spot among patches of tangled, unkempt weeds in what appeared to be a neglected, lonely garden. Severus, quite regularly a speaker of a word harsh and plenty, was for once in his life, at a complete loss for words. Urging him along with an impatient point at his arm and harsh glare, Sirius led the forlorn man along the remainder of the scratchy dirt path up to what appeared to be a large- and empty- house.

"So, Severus. It seems as though we've come to the end of our journey. I leave you here- just know that this may be the end for me as of now, but for you, a point of turning..." with a final shove of the cane, he pushed his companion along, who, upon tripping over yet another tangle of weeds, fell over the stone windowpane of the seemingly abandoned mansion. Cutting his lip, he moved his hand to his mouth as the sharp sting shot through his veins, but found no blood.

Quivering, he turned to the spot where Black had stood, but a sly and sudden whisper in his ear turned him 'round to find the man standing at his side.

"Haven't you heard that you no harm can come to you in a dream?"

"This isn't a dream..it's an illusion", said Severus simplistically.

"Did I say it wasn't? For in dreams you can feel but not hurt; in an illusion you can hurt and feel. Take a look in the window, if you can stand to, that is. I said it before and I'll say it again, Severus, I can't stay here forever. If only..." he sighed a long, lonely, exasperated breath of longing..."if only I could. But, alas! See for yourself...what you could not see before." He took a step back, and with a bit of a wink, said,

"Make certain, by the way, you are awake around two... I shouldn't think she'd fancy waking you up herself. Neither would you, for that matter."

All in a speedy, mystic blur, Black had gone, and Severus had hit his head for a second time on the pane. Teeth gritted, he took a look through them. All at once, his grip on the sill loosened, but he remained, as he had at the last house, steady at the spot.

Inside, he saw himself yet again, but this man was quite different than the last he had seen. Lost in a dismal moment, he watched himself turn away a poor, cold beggar as he grovelled before him for a bit of a meal. Pressing his ear to the glass, he began to hear the cruel words that he had been shouting at the vagabond-

"Tsss! Christmas! Don't dare give me that petty excuse for your low-life manner of snivelling around! - FILTH! Get up off your knees. In fact, take one step further and get off my property. I mean it- I can have the sheriff here in less than a minute!" He kicked the fearful man as he struggled to his feet. As he made for the door, Severus, standing outside, was aware he too would be outside- with him- in a moment.

Compelled with pity for the old beggar, Severus approached the man, now teary-eyed, and tried to reason with him as he and the other tried to gain some compusture.

"Ermm...that seemed a bit...cold, I suppose", he started, almost apologetically, but as the other man continued on his way, not even looking back, Severus was almost sure he hadn't been seen nor heard. He couldn't be heard in a dream- or an illusion.

But he had been heard the first time.

Leagues above the snow-filled sky, a single satisfied blue-eyed soul cracked a half-smile as he looked down upon the scene before him. A large but generous hand on the shoulder, a gruffled "Not yet.." was emitted from another as he readied his next savior to descend from the heavens in a clasp of fresh thunder.