A/N:

Halloween Challenge Prompts: (object) mask & (feeling) terrified

Restricted Collection Prompt: no crying in a hurt/comfort fic

Masks. Masks all around her. They stared at her with black, lifeless eyes. They were the most frightening things she'd ever seen, for these were the masks of Death Eaters.

She twirled around, but found no escape from this circle of death. She wasn't even sure where she was. Everything else around her was black. All she could see were those horrible masks.

And then he appeared. He wasn't wearing a mask, but a hood shadowed his face. She knew it was the Dark Lord all the same. He was whispering her name. "Marlene. Marlene. Come, Marlene, and join us. Join us and you will know power beyond your wildest dreams." He reached towards her and she saw that he was pointing a wand at her. "Join us or suffer."

His wand, she suddenly realized, wasn't pointed at her. It was pointed somewhere slightly off to her right. Turning, she found that the Death Eaters had disappeared. Instead she saw Sirius on his knees, hands bound behind his back. He seemed unable to speak. He only stared at her, an expression of terror on his face.

"Sirius...no..." She wanted to do something, stop this, but she couldn't move. She could only look into Sirius's eyes, grey and filled with fear. She heard the Death Eaters whispering her name, urging her to join them. She shut her eyes, willing it all to go away, but she could still see those masks.

She felt arms around her. Someone had grabbed her and was holding her tightly. She fought back, trying to push them away. She was going to die, Sirius was going to die, it was all over...

"Marlene! Wake up, Marlene!"

Her eyes shot open and she found grey eyes staring back at her. Grey eyes, full of concern, not fear. "Sirius?" He was holding her. He was alive. He was here with her. She looked around. She was home, sitting in his arms, in bed. Bright moonlight illuminated the room. Had it all just been a bad dream? It had felt so real...

"It's alright, darling," he said. He brushed a few strands of her light brown hair out of her face. "You were dreaming. It's over now."

"There were Death Eaters." She spoke quickly, her heart still racing. "Death Eaters in masks all around me, I couldn't get away. And then -" She stopped. Remembering brought a fresh wave of fear. She took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "You-Know-Who was there. He kept urging me to join him or...or he'd kill you. You were there, they had you, he was going to kill you. They were all whispering my name. It felt so real. He was going to kill you, Sirius, he was going to kill you..." She buried her head in his chest, trying to block out the memory of that terrible dream.

Sirius rubbed her back soothingly. "Shh, it's alright, I'm here. I'm safe, and so are you." She focused on the feel of him, the smell of him, the sound of his voice. Anything to calm herself. Anything to keep from breaking down over something that wasn't real.

He held her for quite some time, occasionally whispering words of comfort, before she looked up at him again. "I'm sorry. I woke you up in the middle of the night because of a silly nightmare," she said when he looked at her in confusion.

"Don't apologize," he said. "It's not silly. I'm your husband. I'm supposed to protect you from everything, nightmares included." He smiled. "Now, why don't you try sleeping again, hm?"

She kissed him before settling in against her pillows once more. "The man of my dreams is keeping my nightmares away. I suppose I can rest easy now."

And she did.