Title: Saishū Yume
Author: Ex-Professor Remus Lupin
Rating: R
Genre: Action/Adventure/Alternate Universe/Romance
Era: None
Pairing(s): Remus/Sirius, Severus/Harry
Summary: It starts, as a simple kidnapping. It will become an adventure unlike any other as a group of mismatched heroes find themselves drawn into a war for not only their lives, but also their very souls.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: I got into a discussion the other day about the validity of Remus/Sirius. It was with a sort of online friend with whom I have chatted with before. She (I believe it too be a she) was saying that while Remus/Sirius was, while great in fanon, only such as that Remus/Dora or Tonks as she is known in the books, was truly canon. I couldn't help but feel a bit irritated with my friend.

Perhaps its because of the fact that I believe Remus/Sirius was canon – was being the operative word in this rant of mine – and that this new supposedly budding relationship came out of nowhere. Having reread every scene in which Dora or Remus have appeared, it seems that the feeling Dora had for Remus were not requited. I still state that appearing to be holding hands at a funeral isn't the best of proofs.

Until book seven proves me wrong (if it does at all and I pray not), I don't suppose I will be able to accept that only a year after Sirius' death, Remus would be in another relationship. I imagine if anything, Dora is bidding her time until Remus is capable of pursuing a relationship with her. I sincerely doubt though that these two will find eternal love. No, Remus' home, now and forever is exactly where Sirius is.

I spent a good three hours contemplating this, reading the book passages and wondering just how this relationship could work. It could perhaps one day be true, but not now, not yet.

Now, I've gone and made myself cry. This is why I should not be reading Map Makers and then reading Half-Blood Prince.

So, onto more important things. I don't feel very happy with this chapter. I know this chapter did not live up to my expectations. Maybe I'm being negative. Maybe not. You be the judge.

This chapter is our return to Sirius, Severus, Ginevra, Hagrid, and Seamus as they make their way to the Burrow. I like the Burrow very much in this story because it is exactly like Cleyra in the game. I hope you enjoy this somewhat and try not to be too angry with me for last chapter or for possibly having to read that blurb up above. All will be revealed in time. I have no plans for Dora to be confronting Remus about denying her undying love for him in any Hospital Wings while people are trying to mourn the death of the greatest wizard since Merlin and fret over the fate of a man that got his face ripped off by a werewolf.

Beyond that, enjoy this horrid chapter as I must now begin work on the next chapter.
-
Chapter Fourteen
The City in the Trees
-
"Holy fucking Ravenclaw," Severus looked sharply at Sirius as he spoke and then back at the massive funnel of sand that towered before them. It certain applied to the strange magic that kept the sandstorm going.

"How are we goin' to get through?" Hagrid asked. As he spoke, the sands near the base calmed, leaving a straight tunnel toward a black mass in the distance. "Never mind."

"The tempest subsides, by the Gods," Ginevra said bowing her head slightly before she took off running down the path. Seamus followed her. Sirius, Severus, and Hagrid remained standing, looking back and forth between each other.

"You first," Sirius said, stepping away. "I've a dust allergy."

"Fine, stay here," Severus, growled, walking after the two elves. Hagrid grinned at him and he walked into the sandstorm.

"Damn it," Sirius grumbled and he chased after the others, drawing his weapon. "Wait up you guys!"

-

"I don't fucking like this," Sirius growled.

"Could you possibly say one sentence today that does not involve a swear word?" Severus demanded.

"Fuck no."

They stood at the entrance of the Burrow and now it was revealed as to what exactly the Burrow was. A massive tree, the trunk was filled with sand at its various levels and they would have to climb up specially designed steps and ladders in order to reach the branches. Severus, still in his pants and shirt was all for it, his robes tucked into his bag, but Hagrid felt that he was going to snap something with his immense size.

"You needn't worry," Seamus said as they rested at the entrance. "The bridges and ladders are made to withstand the weight of one hundred stones."

Hagrid still seemed worried about this, but he complied. A moment later, they began the long climb up.

It took most of the morning to get up to the last bridge. As they crossed it, Ginevra looked down the massive center toward the bottom.

"We must hurry," she said, and they moved quicker, despite their exhaustion and hunger, into the next room where they were forced to climb up a rope to the next level. There, they found a sign claiming that the Burrow was just around the next corner.

Moving quickly, they rounded the corner. Ginevra was saved from falling into a sinkhole by Sirius' grabbing her arm just before she disappeared. Hauling the elven maiden back onto solid ground, he looked to the far side of the room. A rope ladder led up into a wooden hole through which none of them could see.

"Don't move," Severus said suddenly, stopping Hagrid from venturing out. "I can float us across."

Lifting his hands and murmuring a spell quietly to himself, pointing to each of the group. "Leviosa," Sirius yelped as he floated a few inches off the ground. "Walk as you normally would."

"Easy for you to say," Sirius grumbled.

Hagrid stepped out first. Instead of disappearing into the massive sinkhole, he strode across the air and Severus murmured the counter spell so he landed on the ground on the other side of the room. Sirius, not one to be shown up, walked across as well, holding his arms out at his sides for fear of overbalancing and going face first into a sinkhole.

Ginevra and Seamus followed closely behind him and Severus was the last. As the black mage reached the ground on the correct side of the room, he waved his hands and everyone fell two inches onto the sand covered ground.

"That was brilliant," Sirius said suddenly as he waited for Hagrid to finish the climb up the rope ladder.

"I know," Severus climbed smoothly up the ladder after the giant.

-

A house built carefully and lovingly so that it almost molded itself into the forked branches stood before them as they climbed up the last flight of steps and entered the Burrow. An elf stood nearby, long red hair falling to their waist, braided loosely as it fell across a red and yellow robed back. As they neared, the figured turned, revealing that they were male.

Bowing to group, he said in a soft voice, "Welcome to the Burrow."

He straightened slowly and gazed for a moment at Ginevra, blue eyes widening in surprise.

"Lady Ginevra, we've been expecting you," he said after a moment. "If you will come with me," he turned away from the group and began to ascend a curved staircase built into the leafy branches.

"May I ask how you know my name?"

Mark nodded, smiling kindly at her as he turned back around.

"The King of Hufflepuff as told us of your coming."

Ginevra smiled.

"Long live the king!" turning to the rest of the group, she said, "This may take a while. If there is an inn, I will meet you there."

"The inn is across that bridge and up the curled stairs," the male elf said kindly pointing to a rickety looking bridge stretched between two thick branches.

"Thank you," Sirius said, bowing his head awkwardly. Severus rolled his eyes and looked carefully around the strangely built city in the wide branches of a tree. Ginevra and the Burrow elf left. Sirius collapsed backwards onto an upshot branch and sighed with relief.

"I thought we'd never get out of there," he said, sighing with exasperation. "Now what?"

"We wait," Seamus replied as he watched Hagrid examining several flowering branches nearby. "Until Ginevra has spoken to her father, we can do nothing but wait."

-

"So," Sirius leaned casually against the balcony, "how do you know that Regulus guy?" Severus glared at him from over the top of the spell book he was currently immersed.

"Why do you care?" Sirius shrugged, brushing a strand of hair from his face.

"Just curious, can you blame a man for asking?"

"Yes."

"All right, sorry, don't get your knickers in a twist," Sirius huffed and gazed outside at the swirling sands beyond the mass of branches. "One would think you two had been lovers with that attitude."

Severus scowled at him.

"We were not and never will be – lovers," he said irritably. Sirius laughed, pushing off from the balcony railing and walking back into the tiny inn room, seating himself at the end of the mage's bed.

"Sounds like someone has a bit of a crush," he said teasingly. Once again, he was treated to a glare from the mage.

"You're one to talk," he grumbled, tucking his legs beneath him and pulling himself farther away from the thief. Sirius' gray eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means. That little crush you have on the Gryffindor prince."

"Shut up."

"You spent most of your time we were in Ravenclaw staring at him like a lovesick puppy," Sirius growled and Severus, satisfied with once again one upping the thief, smirked. "It would appear that I have made my point."

"Say that to my face."

"I have, you great idiot."

"Shut up the both of you," the two men looked up to find Seamus standing in the doorway looking thoroughly irritated. Sirius glowered at the elf for a moment, and than, with a huff of irritation, stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"What ever did you do?" Seamus asked, looking incredulously at the mage sitting calmly on his bed, reading.

"I merely opened his eyes to the truth."

-

Sirius stalked angrily down the streets of the Burrow, glad for the fresh breeze that was constantly blowing through the tree city. It was a new site to be so high. It left him with a strange vertigo that he was sure was to blame for this entire disaster. What had possessed him to go the Burrow? It wasn't his kingdom or his responsibility so why had he?

Because, whispered a voice in the back of head that sounded suspiciously like the mage, you were hoping Remus had gone this way.

"Shut up," he growled.

"The first sign of insanity is talking to oneself," Sirius looked up in surprise to find the misbegotten elf that they had saved from being trampled under Granger's boot back in Hufflepuff.

The elf was dressed now in a white robe cinched at his waist by a white band of silk fabric. Even his feet were covered by a pair of soft white leather boots. His eyes, a vibrant blue in color, were dull with pain.

"A perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world," Sirius said, looking curiously up at him. With the grace of a cat, the elf dropped down from the curved branch that he had been seated up and landed before Sirius.

"You were one of the humans with my brother when he died," he said slowly. Sirius stared at him in surprise. He could see it now, the similarities between this elf and the one that Ginevra had grieved over back in Ravenclaw.

"Yes," he answered slowly. "I wasn't with him, but, I am sorry for your lose."

"Thank you," the elf smiled softly at him and then, with a barely perceptible nod, turned away. "My twin would be grateful to hear that his death was not in vain. Bill and Fleur have escaped to Ravenclaw. I believe I may go there as well."

Sirius nodded.

"Your name, I didn't catch it the first time," he said after a moment.

"I am George, youngest son of Arthur, King of Hufflepuff."

"Should I ask about the all white wardrobe?"

"Elven mourning colors, unlike humans, we see white as the color of death. Come, we shall not speak of such sad things. You shall bring the others to the cathedral for the ceremony."

-

"I have lived long years, but never did I think I would live to see my own son dead," the King of Hufflepuff bemoaned, shaking his head as he paced the cathedral floor. The High Priestess stood nearby, watching him sadly, her hazel eyes filled with dismay.

"Cousin, we must conduct the ceremony to strengthen the sandstorm," she said softly, placing a hand upon his arm. No enemy shall dare to attack our city with such a powerful sandstorm as protection."

The Priestess turned to Ginevra. The elven maid was speaking softly to Seamus while Sirius and Severus looked on. Hagrid had decided to view the town some more instead of coming back. "Lady Ginevra, with the strength of a Dragon Knight, the storm should grow even stronger."

Ginevra nodded, looking strange in white armor.

"I could not save Hufflepuff, I will do everything to save this beautiful place," she said kindly.

The ceremony, a simple dance that involved several temple maidens and Ginevra, was a marvel to watch. The High Priestess sat herself at the harp near the open window looking out into the sandstorm. Her fingers, short but thin, played elegantly across the strings, bringing the music to life. The beat grew stronger with each step and the two humans witness to this grand occasion, watched in awe as Ginevra moved gracefully across the floor.

The music stopped suddenly with a sharp snapping sound and the High Priestess gazed down at her hands in horror. The strings, thin and delicate as they stretched across the huge harp, had snapped, leaving long, narrow cuts across her hands.

"The strings have snapped," she said slowly as a temple maiden began to bandage the wound. "A terrible omen this is..."

-

"A success," Cornelius said proudly, holding aloft a softly glowing black stone. "Good job, Regulus, you will be rewarded for drawing the Eidolons from my son."

Regulus, standing easily nearby, examining his left hand carefully, seemed uninterested by this news. He looked up finally, when Granger appeared from below deck, looking frazzled and covered with sweat. She had obviously been down in the engine room.

"We are close enough to the Burrow for the mages to Apparate into the city," she said easily. "We have matched everyone up so that my own soldiers will go with them."

"Look, General," the King of Gryffindor held aloft the stone. "I hold in my hands dark matter, the only substance that could hold the power of the god of death, Odin."

Granger's hazel eyes widened in surprise and she looked fearfully at Regulus – who was looking infinitely for pleased with each passing moment – and than back to her king.

"Then, the prince–"

"Well taken care of," Regulus interrupted cheerfully. "He is resting now, I am sure he'll be awake by the time we return."

"Of course," the general nodded, looking skeptically at him. "Shall I read the troops, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, we attack now. Regulus!"

-

The citizens of the Burrow watched in horror as the wind grew suddenly terrifying strong, ripping through the sandstorm. Sunlight, normally dulled, cut through the sand to the branches. The world brightened as the sand was whipped violently away, forcibly torn from the tree to leave it unprotected and vulnerable.

"I can't believe the sandstorm disappeared," Sirius said slowly. "What happened?"

"I do not know," the High Priestess said, shaking waist length curled burgundy hair from her face. ""Never in the years since we settled here have I seen something like this. The stone upon the harp allows us to control the sands."

"Perhaps someone is trying to invade the Burrow," the King of Hufflepuff said slowly.

The High Priestess shook her head.

"I fear you may be right, I can only hope that they do not come up the trunk," she said slowly, gazing out the window at clear blue sky.

-

Rattling the door to the cell that they had been locked in; Weasley howled his frustrations out for the two guards at the door to the underground prison to hear. "How can they do this to me? Nott and Zabini will never get away with this treachery!"

Dora seated casually against the wall nearby, watching with a sort of dull amusement.

"You know," she said casually, "it's sort of pathetic, getting backstabbed by your own king."

"King Cornelius would never do this! All of this is just some sort of misunderstanding!"

"I wonder what happened to the prince."

Weasley stopped his incessant rattling of the bars and Dora sighed with relief, letting her head fall forward a bit so she was gazing down into her lap.

"We must get out of here," Weasley said finally, collapsing onto the cot resting along the left side of the cell.

-
Next Chapter: The Gryffindor army enters the Burrow...and some other stuff with happen too...