Disclaimer: Much to my dismay, I do not own any aspect of the Harry Potter realm, all of it is owned by the gifted author, J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers and all those other people.

A/N: Hey guys, This is my first story ever, but I've read probably 1,000 others, so I think I'm semi qualified, and I'm tryin' really hard. I dedicate this story to Mcd, because she made me do it haha. So... Please R&R, and if you have any suggestions, tell me! But in a nice way . But really, read the story. Because: I put a lot of effort into it. Please.

-Lauren

Chapter 1.

There were no clouds in the starry sky, as Harry looked out his window on 4 Private Drive. Images of escaping through this same window only 4 years ago flooded his mind. He recalled his innocence then, when his biggest worries were an upcoming exam or the taunts of Draco Malfoy. Yeah, Harry thought, the days when Voldemort and Death Eaters attacks were the farthest things from my mind... Since school, Harry spent many of his waking thoughts about Voldemort... or Sirius. Although Harry had already received countless owls from Hermione, Ron, Lupin and his other friends telling him he mustn't blame himself for Sirius's death, he did. He had to, Harry was stupid and allowed himself to get lured to the ministry, and Sirius only went to save his stubborn arse.

Harry shook his head violently, trying to escape his train of thought. Harry took one last look at the dimly lit street outside his window and walked back over to his bed to continue reading. Since Mr. Weasley and Mad-Eye Moody had their little talk with the Dursleys, Uncle Vernon had allowed Harry to do read his book during the day, as long as he stayed in his room and kept the door closed since it was a magic ("Boy! Don't say that word!") related book. Hermione had sent him a book about quidditch strategy she found at a bookstore to keep his mind off things. He hated to admit it, but she was terribly right; he needed desperately to keep his mind off things, and this book was proving to be very helpful.

As Harry finished the chapter he was on, his eyelids began to feel heavy. He put down his book and drifted off to sleep.

A bolt of red light hit the chest on the body of a man wearing rather tattered clothes. Slowly his stiff body tilted backwards, his long black hair floating in the opposite direction from the rest of him. His eyes shone brightly with the radiance that was once visible when he was a youth as his head gently hit a darkly colored, mysterious veil. The veil fluttered slightly as the body of the man was seemingly hidden by the odd fabric. However, there was no one behind the veil; the man was gone.

"SIRIUS!" Harry screamed.

It all came rushing back quickly: A pained Mr. Weasley pale in the face as blood gushed from his shoulder after a snake attack; sharp pain in the lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry's forehead; looking over the shoulders of a group of Gryffindors huddled around a newspaper with the faces of 10 escaped prisoners staring back; watching 5 of his closest friends insistently mount thestrals to join him on his quest to the ministry; a large brain wrapping its tentacles tightly around Ron's head and arms; Hermione lying on the ground stunned; Ginny sitting in pain clutching her ankle; Sirius falling over and over through the veil...

"No!......."

"No! Sirius..." Harry exclaimed as he shot up right in his small bed on 4 Private Drive. His body was drenched in sweat and he was tangled in his sheets after thrashing in them for hours in his sleep. He wiped his forehead with the hem of his shirt as he tried not to recall the image that of Sirius's death that had been haunting his dreams. I caused that death... He'd done so much for me... He was so close to being acknowledge as a free man- so close to being able to do whatever he wanted after 15 years of just the opposite, and I ruined it all.

"No. I must stop." Harry thought out loud suddenly. And with that thought, he closed his eyes and continued sleeping –although this time without dreams.