Summery: With Sirius Black on the lose, Harry is having trouble sleeping.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns any characters mentioned in this ficlet.
Author's Note: Takes place during PoA
Betrayal goes Deep
Harry Potter stood alone in the middle of a dark room, the stench of burned hair and flesh invaded his nostrils. He tried to take a step forwards but his foot hit something in the middle of the floor. He reached for his wand since his eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness.
"Lumos." Instead of the thin flash light like beam usually produced by the light spell, the entire room lit up with a loud bang and a shower of sparks.
Harry covered his face with his arm as the harsh light stung his eyes. After a moment he slowly lowered his arm, sliding his wand into his back pocket he glanced down at the thing he had walked into. He gave a cry of horror as he recognized the body of his mother, Lily Potter, lying charred and lifeless at his feet.
He took a step backwards and the back of his feet bumped into something. Already knowing what he was going to find Harry reluctantly turned around to find the remains of James Potter in the same state as his mother.
Harry looked away quickly. He tried to focus on anything but the gruesome sight before him.
Suddenly laughter filled the room. It seemed to grow louder with each passing moment. Where was in coming from? Harry was the only one in the room.
Without warning the door directly across from where he stood was blown violently off its hinges. Harry's green eyes widened in horror as a figure stepped out of the smoke fill doorway.
Lord Voldemort stepped into the room followed by Sirius Black who was laughing maniacally.
"You." Harry said not knowing whether he was addressing Voldemort or Sirius "You killed my parents!"
A hideous smile crossed The Dark Lord's lips as he raised his wand towards Harry "And now it's your turn." He hissed.
Harry grabbed for his wand but it wasn't in his back pocket anymore. He looked back at Voldemort in fear as Sirius' laughter grew louder until it reached an almost deafening volume.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort shrieked as Harry threw his arms in front of his face in vain.
Harry awoke with a start, his heart beating wildly against his ribs, his breathing erratic, his body drenched in sweat.
He glanced around the dormitory to find his roommates still fast asleep. He was thankful he hadn't woken them up. The last thing he wanted to do was answer questions about his nightmare.
This was the third time in a week that he'd had that same dream. It had started the night after he'd snuck into the Three Broomsticks and overheard Professor McGonagall and Cornelius Fudge telling Madame Rosmerta the story of how Sirius Black had betrayed the Potters.
Each time he had the nightmare he'd awake in a state of panic, this last time was no different. He waited until his breathing and heart rate had returned to normal before slipping out of bed and heading down to the Gryffindor Common Room. The fire still glowed in the fireplace, casting the empty room in shadow. He sat down on an overstuffed sofa by the window and watched as snow fell silently among the grounds. Harry knew that somewhere outside the window Dementors from Azkaban hovered close by.
For the past week he hadn't been able to think of much other then Sirius Black. It was because if Black that Harry's parents were dead. Sirius had been the Potters' secret keeper when they had gone into hiding from Voldemort; but Sirius had given the Dark Lord their location.
It was because of Sirius that Harry was plagued by nightmares and that he had to live with his insufferable aunt and uncle.
Every hardship he'd experienced in the last twelve years was because of Sirius. And now Sirius had escaped from Azkaban and was trying to finish what Voldemort had failed to do. He was trying to kill Harry.
But Harry wasn't about to let that happen; in the last two years he had battled two incarnations of Lord Voldemort and had defeated him both times so he was determined to defeat Black when the time came.
Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by footsteps on the stone steps leading to the girls' dormitory.
Harry's eyes flicked to the doorway and waited. Who else could possibly be up at this hour? Moments later Ginny Weasley appeared at the foot of the stairs. She was dressed in green pajama pants and a white shirt, her flaming red hair hung loose around her shoulders.
She peered around the stone doorway before stepping off the bottom step.
Harry wanted to say something but he was curious as to what his best friend's sister was up to.
As she neared the window Harry sat near she finally noticed him.
"Harry!" She exclaimed, her voice echoed in the empty room. She lowered her voice before speaking again "What are you doing down here?"
"Can't sleep." He replied staring intently at her "What about you? I thought everyone had gone to bed long ago."
"I can't sleep either." She stated fiddling with the hem of her shirt.
"Why not?" His dark eyebrows furrowed.
Ginny took a step towards the sofa "I keep thinking about The Fat Lady."
Harry frowned, "What about her?" Recently the portrait of The Fat Lady, who guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, had been slashed when she'd refused to let Sirius into the Common Room and had been replaced by the portrait of Sir Cadogan the knight.
"Well…it's just that if S…Sirius Black was able to get that far into the castle without anyone seeing him who knows where else he could get." She sat down on the opposite end of the sofa.
"Are you afraid that he could get in here now that Sir Cadogan has replaced The Fat Lady?" Harry asked feeling a bit uncomfortable; he'd never spent much time with Ginny alone with the exception of when he had saved her from The Basilisk the year before.
Ginny hesitated a moment before answering "Well he does seem a bit scatter brained. And he's always changing the password. It took me fifteen minutes tonight to get in here. All I know is I'll sleep better once The Fat Lady's portrait is repaired and she's back as guard."
"I think we all will." Harry said looking down at his hands in his lap.
Ginny frowned, "Why are you still up?"
Harry shook his head "I just couldn't sleep."
She cocked her head to the side, she could tell there was more. She reached across the length of the sofa and placed her hand gently on his knee "Come on Harry. What's wrong?"
Hermione and Ron were the only ones who knew the truth about Sirius. He hadn't told anyone else and hadn't intended to; however he found Ginny's presence comforting.
They sat in silence until Harry lifted his head and looked straight ahead at her "It also has to do with Sirius Black."
Ginny's eyebrows furrowed "I'll be happy when he's back in Azkaban."
"Yeah. Well the other day I found out that Sirius is the one who betrayed my parents." He watched the shock register on her face as he spoke each word.
"W…what? How did you find that out?" She asked, her eyes widening.
"I overheard Professor McGonagall and Cornelius Fudge talking to Madame Rosmerta in the Three Broomsticks." Harry told her how he'd snuck into Hogsmeade Village, leaving out small details such as the Mauraders' Map and invisibility cloak.
Ginny shook her head as Harry finished speaking "I can't imagine how you must be feeling about him."
Harry ran a hand through his ever-messy dark hair "It gets worse actually."
"How could possibly make it worse?" She asked, concern etched across her features.
He swallowed past the lump forming in his throat "It turns out Sirius Black is my Godfather."
"Oh my gosh!" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry nodded "He was my father's best friend. My parents thought they could trust him but they were wrong. He betrayed them. And now he's helping Voldemort by trying to kill me."
"That's why he was trying to get in here." Ginny said, "Isn't it?"
"It is." Harry said, "And ever since I found out I've been having this awful nightmare where I'm standing in a room with the bodies of my parents at my feet. Volde….You-Know-Who…" He corrected himself at the horrified look in Ginny's eyes "…and Sirius appear in the room and Sirius is laughing and it gets louder and louder until I can't concentrate. I always wake up before You-Know-Who can do anything."
"That's horrible." She said, "I'm so sorry, Harry."
He looked down at his hands in his lap "You have no reason to be sorry, Ginny." Tears welled up in his eyes "You didn't kill my parents."
Ginny bit her lower lip as Harry brought his hands up to cover his face. His shoulders shook as he cried silently.
She moved slowly across the length of the couch to sit beside him. "Oh, Harry." She wrapped her arms around him.
He leaned against her and let out a strangled sob "I hate him, Ginny! I don't even know him and I hate him."
"It's alright." She said stroking his hair, "You have ever reason to hate him."
"I want him to die!" He said taking a deep breath.
Ginny didn't know what else to say. She bit her lower lip again as they sat in silence; Harry's weak sobs the only sound in the room besides an occasional popping sound from the fireplace.
A few moments passed before Harry was able to regain control of himself. He hated losing control, especially around other people.
He sat up slowly and stared at Ginny. He thought that he would be embarrassed that Ginny had seen him cry but to his surprise he wasn't. He stared at the girl who was his best friends little sister. The girl who suddenly seemed much older then twelve.
"Thank you, Ginny." He smiled slightly.
Her face flushed pink and she looked down at her hands "Oh, I didn't do anything."
"No, you did." He said as she looked back up at him "You did more then you think. You listened."
She smiled "Try telling mum that. She says I listen about as well as a three headed dog, which isn't very well."
Harry laughed, for what felt like the first time that day "Yeah they don't listen very well at all."
Ginny raised an eyebrow "And how would you know?"
"It's a long story actually. Ron and I will tell you another time when it's not…." He said glancing at his watch, "Quarter of two?"
Her eyes widened "Wow. We should get back to bed then."
Harry nodded "That's probably a good idea. Wouldn't want to fall asleep in Potions or something."
"Snape wouldn't like that." Ginny said crawling off the sofa. She started back towards the girls's dorm then turned back to Harry "Aren't you coming?"
"In a minute." He said.
She smiled "Good night, Harry."
"Good night, Ginny." He said as she turned back towards the stairway "Oh Ginny."
Her foot was on the first step as she turned back to him "Yes."
He stared at her a moment "Thank you. I mean it, thank you."
"You're welcome." She looked like she was going to say something else but instead turned and headed up the stairs.
Harry sat staring out the window a moment longer before he got up and headed to the staircase that led to the boys's dorm.
As he climbed into bed he gazed around the room, he could make out the sleeping forms of his friends. Friends who weren't'plagued by nightmares.
However Harry didn't have anymore nightmares after that night. Instead he had pleasant dreams; about his parents and Ginny.
The End