Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: beta read

Summary: A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,

Things Between People

By katemary77

Chapter Five:

Be my friend

Hold me

Wrap me up

Unfold me

I am small, I need you

Warm me up

And breathe me.

- Breathe Me, Sia

Anna awoke in a forest glade where sunlight trickled down through the trees to dance across the grass. There was a beautiful garden, rivers of wildflowers, twining ivy, wild roses and lilies. And he was there, waiting for her, coming out of the trees like a dream.

"Sirius," she breathed and he smiled, coming to sit beside her. He didn't speak but placed a hand on her full, curved belly and she felt her unborn child kick in response to his touch. He smiled still, but the kicking inside her turned painful and she clutched at her stomach, suddenly finding her hands were coated in blood.

"Sirius?"

He was still smiling.

"Sirius, help me! Sirius!"

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"Sirius!" Anna woke with the name on her lips.

She was in the hospital wing. It was light outside but the curtains were drawn. To the left of the bed she lay in, Harry was curled in a chair, asleep, and on her right Remus seemed to have been sleeping too but her shout had stirred him. The look that passed over his face when he realised that she was awake stole the breath from her.

"He's gone, isn't he," she said, her fingers moving swiftly to her abdomen.

Remus nodded.

Anna couldn't breathe; her breath was coming in great, heaving gasps that tore at her throat and seemed to rip her insides apart. Gone. Gone. Her baby was gone. She could feel it. She could feel inside her some absence, a space that should have been filled; there was something missing.

She heard movement beside her. Remus was now sitting on the bed and she felt his fingers on her shoulders, leaning her against him. He didn't say anything – what could he say? – as if he knew that no words could comfort her now.

Then, through her haze of tears and he's gone, he's gone, my baby is gone, Harry woke up and took her hand.

They cried with her, watching as she fell apart.

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"Can I see him? I want to see him."

"Is that – is that a good idea?" Remus asked hesitantly.

Madame Pomfrey nodded.

"It can help with the grieving process, dear. Let me know when you're ready, and I'll take you to see him."

"Now," she responded immediately. "I want to see him now."

Poppy hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Of course, dear. If you're sure."

The matronly woman led Anna over to a door leading out of the main part of the Hospital Wing.

Placing her hand over the door, Anna went to turn the nob but snatched her hand back at the last moment, as if it had been burned.

"Could someone – could somebody please get Severus?"

"I'll go," Harry said, glad to do something.

"We tried before," Remus said once Harry had left, "When we first brought you here last night. Severus wasn't there. Perhaps he was with Voldemort."

She nodded numbly and waited for them to return, fiddling idly with the starchy fabric of her overlarge nightgown. Remus approached her gently and covered her shoulders with a blanket.

"Thanks," she muttered, twining her long fingers into the blanket, pulling it closer to her.

Severus came not a moment later. He was panting, so Anna reasoned he must've run after Harry told him. She was thankful.

"Anna," he said and strode quickly towards her. With a hand he lifted her chin and inspected her face carefully before pulling her in towards him. She stood limply in his embrace until he stepped away.

"Will you come with me to see the baby?"

"Of course, child."

She went in, this time without hesitation.

There wasn't much to look at. Her baby had been young and undeveloped, but some figure was distinguishable in the bloody mess. She looked over the remains of her child dispassionately and wondered why she wasn't crying, wasn't the emotional wreck she should be. Shock, she supposed. There was the tiniest, most miniscule feeling of relief within her and it was beginning to make her sick with guilt.

"It's my fault," she uttered eventually, still staring at her ruined son. "I didn't want him. It's my fault."

"It is normal to feel that way, I imagine," Severus said softly. "But you know it's not true. Sometimes these things just happen. You will come to realise this in time."

She stepped closer to Severus and leaned against him.

"I hope you're right."

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Harry took Anna by the elbow and led her gently from the fireplace into the gloomy kitchen of Sirius' old home. The fire lit a brilliant green again and Remus stepped out, looking at once over to Harry and Anna to see that she was okay.

She wasn't.

Anna still hadn't quite processed everything that had happened. She sat quietly in the seat that Remus ushered her to and accepted the tea that Harry offered.

"I think I might go upstairs," she said eventually, putting her untouched tea back on the table. When Anna reached the door she turned and spoke without facing them. "Thank you both for the last couple of days."

She was about to crack and she knew it. Anna couldn't cry here, not properly, not in front of Remus and Harry, who had lost so much but were still giving. She quickly left the room, hurrying into her own and closing the door behind her. Anna collapsed onto the bed and pulled the blankets over her, curling onto her side as great, wracking sobs shook her body. She didn't know that Remus had followed her upstairs; that he was standing outside listening to her cry, his heart in his hand.

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Anna didn't come out of her room for a while. Remus took food up every day and emerged always with an unhappy frown and tired eyes. She came out only to use the bathroom, and even then her presence was fleeting. Snape visited often, generally with little to say to Remus or Harry. He'd swoop up into her room and disappear in there for hours. In his idle wanderings around Grimmauld Place, Harry passed Anna's room but never heard talking. He imagined they were only sitting together in silence, sharing the weight of her loss between them.

Finally, a week later, Anna came down for breakfast. Remus and Harry were seated at the table and without looking at them she came in and made some toast and tea. Eventually, she sat at the table and looked at each of them. Her face was pale and the smudges under her eyes dark. She didn't smile, but they could see that she was getting better. Harry noticed that around her neck she wore a tiny silver baby rattle, threaded on a slim chain.

"I think I would've called him Benjamin."

She picked up her toast and took a bite.