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A/N: READ THIS! This is the sequel to The Complexities of the Heart, so read that first, otherwise you will have NO IDEA what is going on.

Prologue: That Sleep of Death

"For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come."

--William Shakespeare "Hamlet"

Darkness...

He was floating down...down... down... down into a pit of utter black, he couldn't even see the white of his fingertips when he held his hand out in front of him.

"Am I dying?" he thought to himself, gazing blankly around him, seeking any hint of light in the vast ocean of darkness. Suddenly he was speeding up, spinning blindly through the endless cavern of black, his vision clouding, his body aching, and his mind slowly fogging up.

He tried desperately to cling to any memory; a laughing woman with cherry-brown hair dancing merrily around a gloomy room; a boy with sparkling green eyes and raven black hair smiling uncertainly at him, lowering a wand; a weary looking man embracing him like a brother, when all other hope was lost. But too soon the memories were floating away, like quicksilver in his hand, and he was left in the cavern of everlasting darkness all alone.

His body convulsed in shock as it collided with solid ground. Light pierced through his eyelids, which he found to be tightly closed, and the light scent of jonquils and jasmine encased him. The sound of footfalls on soft grass reached his ears over the distant chirping of happily singing birds.

He hesitantly opened his eyes to see a young woman of ethereal beauty clothed in white kneeling beside him. Her soft, auburn hair hung in curls down her back, framing her soft face, and familiar, emerald green eyes gazed down at him warmly. He racked his brain of stolen memories, tyring to place the beautiful woman before him. He gasped as it all came back and his heart gave a wrenching pull.

"Lily."

"Sirius," she said, in an echoing, musical voice. She smiled at him serenely as tears prickled at his eyes.

"Am I dead?"

She shook her head, looking down at him thoughtfully. "You shouldn't be. You're in the place between life and death. You weren't supposed to die, Sirius. It's not your time. They're sending you back."

He choked back a sob. How was he supposed to leave when he had just found what he had missed so much in life? "But I miss you two so much."

She nodded, placing a delicate hand to his cheek. "We know. And we miss you too. But Harry needs you now. You have to go back for Harry."

Harry. The image of a young man with raven-black hair appeared before his eyes. The boy was bloodied and battered, sitting in a spindly chair with his arms wrapped tight around him. A cut on his arm dribbled blood and the scar on his forehead was painfully clear. He had never seen someone look so small and alone. Now, Harry was smiling as he was handed a box wrapped in bright red, grinning happily as he laughed with his friends.

"He's so much like James, Lily. You would love him so much."

She smiled, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "I do. We're so proud of him. Of you too. Don't worry, Sirius, we'll see each other again."

She stood up, extending her hand to Sirius. He took it carefully, and was soon pulled, ragged and gasping, back into Life.