It was around three 'o' clock in the morning when Ron was woken up by a loud scream. Shooting out of bed out of pure instinct, he latched onto his wand at turned around to the direction of the sound. It then struck him in the head like a pile of bricks. Harry's having a nightmare; he must have changed back into his human form during his sleep. Glancing over at Harry's bed, Ron's heart went out to his best friend when he saw the sorry state of him. Harry was covered in sweat and was tangled up in his bed sheets. Moans of pain and sorrow escaped his lips as he tossed and turned in his sleep. For a brief moment Ron wondered if he should get Sirius or an adult, when Harry let out a piercing yell.
The thundering sounds of racing footsteps sounded from beneath the floor. Shaking Harry's shoulders, Ron quickly attempted to wake him before the adults got there. He knew how much Harry loathed waking others because of his nightmares, so Ron knew that he would want to be woken up before the adults arrived. "Come on Harry, wake up!" Ron ordered as he tapped Harry across the cheek lightly.
Harry's eyes flew open and he sat up quickly, banging heads with Ron. "AGH! Ron! What are you doing leaning over my bed like that?" Harry snapped, rubbing his sore forehead, much like his friend was. Reaching over, he grabbed his glasses and slipped them on.
"Waking you up from a nightmare," Ron snapped back. "The adults are on their way up, since you were yelling."
A blush began forming on Harry's cheeks as he looked away. "Oh, sorry Ron."
"'s all right," his friend responded just before their bedroom door flew open. In the doorway stood Sirius who had his wand at the ready and looked extremely worried. Behind him was Mrs. Weasley with curlers in her hair, and Remus who looked really tired.
"What's wrong?" Sirius demanded, looking between the two teenage boys.
Harry looked apologetic. "Just a nightmare. I guess I forgot to put the silencing charm around my bed last night, sorry to disturb you." Averting his eyes from the adults, he was stunned when a pair of arms wrapped around him. Naturally he stiffened. Usually after having a nightmare, his guardians (the Dursley's) would punish him for waking them up. He was unused to having an adult comfort him.
"Prongslet," Sirius murmured into his hair. "You may have used a silencing charm here or even at Hogwarts, but there will be no such thing happening when you come live under my roof! We are going to be discussing your nightmares whenever they happened, as in is unwise to keep them to yourself."
Remus and gawked at Sirius. "When did you get so smart, Pads?" Remus choked out, his jaw gaping open at his boyfriend.
"Do not nickname me after a feminine product!" Sirius snapped, releasing Harry and turning to face his werewolf. "And as for your question, I've always been smart. You guys just failed to see it." Everyone snorted at this, except Remus who let out a hearty chuckle.
Sirius turned around and grabbed Harry's wrist. "Come, it's time to show you my ritual for dealing with nightmares!" Before Harry could object, Sirius apparated them down into the kitchen with a loud crack! Vaguely, as he waited for the nausea to pass, he noticed Sirius push him down onto one of the kitchen chairs before going into the kitchen and grabbing some mugs. Watching his Godfather, he was intrigued to see that he was making hot chocolate. Remus came down beside them and asked for a cup as well.
Once they were all seated and sipping their hot chocolate, Sirius' face grew firm. "Now, tell me about this nightmare of yours."
Shifting uncomfortably, Harry felt that he did not want to share his nightmare out loud. Remus noticed how he stiffened so he murmured softly "Harry, keeping your nightmares to yourself will do nothing to stop them. You need to discuss them so that we can set your mind at ease. Allow us to help you relieve yourself of that burden." Sirius nodded vigorously in agreement.
Letting out a sigh, Harry began to tell the tale of his nightmare.
Harry appeared in a dark room with tile flooring. He was seated upon a row of stands overlooking a figure that stood in the center. All along the wall were rows upon rows of Ministry members, all glaring furiously at the figure in the center. As the room grew a bit lighter, Harry's heart nearly stopped as he saw that the figure was none other than Sirius, and he was surrounded by Dementors. Harry tried to get up to go to his Godfather, but found that he was unable to move.
"Sirius Black, you have been found guilty of betraying Lily and James Potter to Voldemort, and then you tried to pin the blame on the innocent Peter Pettigrew!" Cornelius Fudge's voice rang across the courtroom. Harry's heart filled with dread as he tried to shout out that Fudge was wrong. He found that his voice didn't work; all he could do was watch. Fudge continued, "Dementors, you may give him the Kiss."
Tears pooled over Harry's cheeks as he was forced to watch Sirius have his soul sucked out by the cursed black cloaked monsters. Ice began to flow through his veins as he watched his Godfather's body fall to the ground, unmoving. Fudge's voice continued. "Harry James Potter will be returning to the Dursley's immediately." Harry could hardly care. Sirius was gone! The tears kept coming strong as someone latched onto his arm, and they apparated at the Dursley's.
The next thing he knew, he was standing outside Number 4 Privet Drive and Uncle Vernon loomed over him evilly. "No Godfather to save you now!" his uncle spat viciously. "Poor pitiful Potter. Not even your own Godfather wanted you!"
"That's not true!" Harry shouted through his tears. Before he could blink, Uncle Vernon's face grew purple before he grabbed Harry by the scruff of his neck and through him into the house. Slamming the door behind them, his uncle snarled.
"You freak! No one in their right mind would want you! Your own Godfather probably welcomed death so he wouldn't have to put up with you. You're an abomination, and you should have died along with your ruddy parents!" Punches and kicks rained mercilessly down upon Harry, as the poor boy curled in upon himself.
"No, no, no…" Harry muttered over and over again as the blows continued. His blood soaked the carpet and the pain drowned on. The pain rivaled that of the Cruciatus curse.
As Harry finished telling Remus and Sirius about his latest nightmare, he watched as the color left both of their faces. Meanwhile, he was still trying to keep the tears from spilling over. "Harry," Sirius voice broke the silence. "Did your uncle really treat you like that?"
Harry didn't know whether to lie or not. Would Sirius do something rash if I told him that was exactly how he was treated growing up? But Harry needn't think about it, because his expression told Sirius all he needed to know.
"My God!" Sirius murmured. "I'll kill him, I really will!"
"No!" Harry gasped out. "Then they really will lock you up in Azkaban. You mustn't do anything; it's over anyways. I'm not going back there, right?"
The two adults looked appalled. "Of course you're not going back, pup," Sirius said soothingly as he wrapped his arms around Harry. "I'd sooner kiss Snape before letting you go back there!"
Harry cringed at the image of Snape kissing his Godfather. He shuddered at the thought before his mind wandered to the two nicknames that Sirius has called Harry within the last several hours. Prongslet, and Pup. Remus spoke up, pulling Harry from his thoughts. "We both care for you Harry and we would never send you back there. I still can't believe they would dare do that though! Retched muggles."
"Now, I think you better run off to bed. Oh, and no silencing charms!" Sirius said sternly before pulling Harry in for another hug. Remus hugged Harry afterwards.
"Thank you, both of you," Harry said before heading upstairs back to bed.
Sirius sighed and hugged Remus firmly. "I'm worried about him Moony," Sirius said into Remus' neck.
"Me too, Padfoot; but the only thing we can do is be there for him," Remus replied back before tilting Sirius' chin up. "Now, let's get back to bed ourselves."
Sirius kissed Remus gently on the mouth before pulling away. "We may need to use a silencing charm ourselves," Sirius said with a wicked grin.
Remus chuckled and pulled his boyfriend up to bed.