*Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the plot and Miss Riley
Brannigan.*
*~* A/N: I've finally produced another chapter! LoL, I'm sorry it took so long! No more writers' block and my favorite parts of the story line are coming up in the next chapters! Yay! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You are my muses! Hey and where did Ciria go? (I miss you!) Oh, I'm sorry about the last chapter it was kinda lame and short, I wrote it in a rush. I hope this chapter will make up for last! Please read and review! Your input is appreciated!
Harry and Sirius entered The Leaky Cauldron only to be eyeballed and
gapped at as they walked towards the secret entrance to Diagon Alley. Sirius peered
down at Harry from his height and tapped the brick wall nonchalantly in the odd,
pattern with the point of his wand upon each brick.
"Do you have your book list for school, Harry?" Sirius asked, as the bricks flipped
back, providing passage into the wizarding realm of Diagon Alley. Harry reached into
his robes and revealed a folded piece of parchment, holding it up for Sirius to see.
Sirius nodded with a smile and sauntered down with Harry, ignoring the passing
overbearing stares and widened eyes.
"Is that Sirius Black?" Harry heard, in an elderly feminine voice. Out of the corner of
his eye, Harry saw an old woman squinting in their direction accompanied by a
young, teenage girl,
"Yes, Grandmother." The girl replied with an expression that looked calm and casual.
The older woman's eyes widened in shock and she gasped at her granddaughter,
"He's supposed to be in Azkaban!" she cried in her croaky aged voice that crackled
at her heightened tone. The granddaughter rolled her eyes and thrust what looked
like a recent issue of Witch Weekly into the wrinkled hands, pointing out the
headline.
"He's innocent, Grandmother, and he is now rated one of Witch Weekly's 'Most
Eligible Wizard Bachelors'." Still walking, Harry gazed up at Sirius to read his
expression, but just an amused twinkle lingered in his eyes.
Harry woke with a start. He looked around bleary eyed in his new
comfortable room at Hogwarts. The maroon comforter crumpled with his shift upon
the four-poster bed, complete silence, an eerie silence. Harry began to ease back to
his former sleeping position when he heard it. A muffled voice crying in the silence of
the twilight filled with agony and melancholy. Without another thought uttered into his
sharp mind, Harry blindly searched with a single hand for his glasses on the surface
of the cherry oak nightstand next to his bed. He pulled his glasses on, his vision
clear and focused as he slid off the side of the bed and to the floor, his socked feet
slowly padding toward the door. He slowly creaked the door ajar and peered around,
the voice getting louder and louder. Seeing nothing in the hall, Harry followed the
voice and the sobs down the hallway, past the living room. He curiously paused,
noting where he ended up, right at Sirius' bedroom door, quite similar to his own. It
was here that the cries of anguish were the loudest. Harry lowered his hand to the
golden doorknob, which was unlocked and unwarded and turned it, worried what
was on the other side of it. He cautiously pushed the door open, his eyes widened in
shock at what he sighted. Sirius lay upon his four-poster bed, twisting and turning,
tangled in a web of his dark blue cotton sheets. Harry edged inside on alert, peering
at Sirius. Sirius tossed and turned in what seemed to be a very restless, nightmarish
sleep. Harry jumped startled as cries erupted from Sirius' throat intermixed with
painful tears and shaking shoulders as he gripped his sheets until his knuckles were
white. Harry gapped, finally comprehending the words that tumbled from Sirius'
down-turned lips,
"Riley, please don't leave me! Riley!" Harry stumbled towards the bed and stood over
Sirius, Harry's face contorted with emotion. Harry felt his heart being ripped in half,
he had never heard a voice so full of pain, so shattered. Sirius was the closest thing
Harry had to real parents and the endearment he felt for Sirius was very strong, it
pained Harry, himself, to see his guardian like this. Did Sirius have this nightmare
every night? Harry could only ponder and now saw the circles starting to form under
Sirius' sleeping eyes. Harry looked at Sirius and couldn't take to see him like he was
any longer.
"Sirius..." Harry muttered, gently shaking the man's shoulder, pulling him from
sleep. Only a few gentle shakes later and Sirius stirred, his eyes finally opening with
a rapid pace of blinking.
"Harry?" Sirius mumbled, pulling himself up to sit in bed, rubbing his eyes with the
back of his right hand. Sirius tucked his loose strands of hair behind his ear and
noticed the worried look presented on Harry's face. "What's wrong, Harry? Can't
sleep?" Harry shook his head and his eyes flickered with a wave of guilt for
disturbing him.
"You were crying in your sleep. Yelling for..." Harry coughed, embarrassed about
the current situation and then seeing Sirius' concerned expression continued, "For a
Riley." Harry spoke her name with a false confused tone like he had never heard the
name before. Sirius' eyes lowered, not knowing how to respond to Harry's words. His
eyes glanced back up and mumbled,
"Sorry, Harry, bad dream, that's all." Harry's eyebrow rose up and he stared Sirius
straight in the eye,
"About what?" Sirius cleared his throat nervously and diverted his eyes,
"Aren't you tired, Harry?" he said, changing the subject. Harry frowned at Sirius and
he sheepishly spoke again, "Alright...I once was in love with a girl named, Riley,
she went to Hogwarts, the same year as your father and I. She came in our 5th year,
transferring from America. She left at the end of the year, her mother was dying and
her mother wanted herself and her family to spend the rest of her living days back in
America, her original home, where she was happy. Riley and I struggled to remain in
contact but somehow our letters kept getting lost in the post. Finally, I gave up, after
waiting a year with no reply after the twelfth letter. I have never forgotten her. I have
never cared for another woman since Riley." Harry fought back a pained expression
and patted Sirius' arm in an attempt to comfort his godfather. Sirius forced a smile
and looked up at his godson, "Cheer up, Harry. That was a long time ago."
Remembering the cries that once erupted from that same mouth all he could do was
nod with a feeling that it might have been a long time ago, but the hurt would always
linger in Sirius' soul.
*~* A/N: Please review! *~*
*~* A/N: I've finally produced another chapter! LoL, I'm sorry it took so long! No more writers' block and my favorite parts of the story line are coming up in the next chapters! Yay! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You are my muses! Hey and where did Ciria go? (I miss you!) Oh, I'm sorry about the last chapter it was kinda lame and short, I wrote it in a rush. I hope this chapter will make up for last! Please read and review! Your input is appreciated!
Harry and Sirius entered The Leaky Cauldron only to be eyeballed and
gapped at as they walked towards the secret entrance to Diagon Alley. Sirius peered
down at Harry from his height and tapped the brick wall nonchalantly in the odd,
pattern with the point of his wand upon each brick.
"Do you have your book list for school, Harry?" Sirius asked, as the bricks flipped
back, providing passage into the wizarding realm of Diagon Alley. Harry reached into
his robes and revealed a folded piece of parchment, holding it up for Sirius to see.
Sirius nodded with a smile and sauntered down with Harry, ignoring the passing
overbearing stares and widened eyes.
"Is that Sirius Black?" Harry heard, in an elderly feminine voice. Out of the corner of
his eye, Harry saw an old woman squinting in their direction accompanied by a
young, teenage girl,
"Yes, Grandmother." The girl replied with an expression that looked calm and casual.
The older woman's eyes widened in shock and she gasped at her granddaughter,
"He's supposed to be in Azkaban!" she cried in her croaky aged voice that crackled
at her heightened tone. The granddaughter rolled her eyes and thrust what looked
like a recent issue of Witch Weekly into the wrinkled hands, pointing out the
headline.
"He's innocent, Grandmother, and he is now rated one of Witch Weekly's 'Most
Eligible Wizard Bachelors'." Still walking, Harry gazed up at Sirius to read his
expression, but just an amused twinkle lingered in his eyes.
Harry woke with a start. He looked around bleary eyed in his new
comfortable room at Hogwarts. The maroon comforter crumpled with his shift upon
the four-poster bed, complete silence, an eerie silence. Harry began to ease back to
his former sleeping position when he heard it. A muffled voice crying in the silence of
the twilight filled with agony and melancholy. Without another thought uttered into his
sharp mind, Harry blindly searched with a single hand for his glasses on the surface
of the cherry oak nightstand next to his bed. He pulled his glasses on, his vision
clear and focused as he slid off the side of the bed and to the floor, his socked feet
slowly padding toward the door. He slowly creaked the door ajar and peered around,
the voice getting louder and louder. Seeing nothing in the hall, Harry followed the
voice and the sobs down the hallway, past the living room. He curiously paused,
noting where he ended up, right at Sirius' bedroom door, quite similar to his own. It
was here that the cries of anguish were the loudest. Harry lowered his hand to the
golden doorknob, which was unlocked and unwarded and turned it, worried what
was on the other side of it. He cautiously pushed the door open, his eyes widened in
shock at what he sighted. Sirius lay upon his four-poster bed, twisting and turning,
tangled in a web of his dark blue cotton sheets. Harry edged inside on alert, peering
at Sirius. Sirius tossed and turned in what seemed to be a very restless, nightmarish
sleep. Harry jumped startled as cries erupted from Sirius' throat intermixed with
painful tears and shaking shoulders as he gripped his sheets until his knuckles were
white. Harry gapped, finally comprehending the words that tumbled from Sirius'
down-turned lips,
"Riley, please don't leave me! Riley!" Harry stumbled towards the bed and stood over
Sirius, Harry's face contorted with emotion. Harry felt his heart being ripped in half,
he had never heard a voice so full of pain, so shattered. Sirius was the closest thing
Harry had to real parents and the endearment he felt for Sirius was very strong, it
pained Harry, himself, to see his guardian like this. Did Sirius have this nightmare
every night? Harry could only ponder and now saw the circles starting to form under
Sirius' sleeping eyes. Harry looked at Sirius and couldn't take to see him like he was
any longer.
"Sirius..." Harry muttered, gently shaking the man's shoulder, pulling him from
sleep. Only a few gentle shakes later and Sirius stirred, his eyes finally opening with
a rapid pace of blinking.
"Harry?" Sirius mumbled, pulling himself up to sit in bed, rubbing his eyes with the
back of his right hand. Sirius tucked his loose strands of hair behind his ear and
noticed the worried look presented on Harry's face. "What's wrong, Harry? Can't
sleep?" Harry shook his head and his eyes flickered with a wave of guilt for
disturbing him.
"You were crying in your sleep. Yelling for..." Harry coughed, embarrassed about
the current situation and then seeing Sirius' concerned expression continued, "For a
Riley." Harry spoke her name with a false confused tone like he had never heard the
name before. Sirius' eyes lowered, not knowing how to respond to Harry's words. His
eyes glanced back up and mumbled,
"Sorry, Harry, bad dream, that's all." Harry's eyebrow rose up and he stared Sirius
straight in the eye,
"About what?" Sirius cleared his throat nervously and diverted his eyes,
"Aren't you tired, Harry?" he said, changing the subject. Harry frowned at Sirius and
he sheepishly spoke again, "Alright...I once was in love with a girl named, Riley,
she went to Hogwarts, the same year as your father and I. She came in our 5th year,
transferring from America. She left at the end of the year, her mother was dying and
her mother wanted herself and her family to spend the rest of her living days back in
America, her original home, where she was happy. Riley and I struggled to remain in
contact but somehow our letters kept getting lost in the post. Finally, I gave up, after
waiting a year with no reply after the twelfth letter. I have never forgotten her. I have
never cared for another woman since Riley." Harry fought back a pained expression
and patted Sirius' arm in an attempt to comfort his godfather. Sirius forced a smile
and looked up at his godson, "Cheer up, Harry. That was a long time ago."
Remembering the cries that once erupted from that same mouth all he could do was
nod with a feeling that it might have been a long time ago, but the hurt would always
linger in Sirius' soul.
*~* A/N: Please review! *~*