*Oneiromancy is the ability and or the practice of dream divination, or the interpretation of dreams in order to foretell the future*
Remus slowly walked down the staircase of Grimmauld Place, the June dawn peeking through the aged curtains. Sunlight streaming across the stairs, Illuminating the dust in the air, that had yet to settle to the floor.
The house was very quiet. Far too quiet. Remus looked around expecting to see Sirius, but he didn't appear to be on the main floor at all. He looked in the drawing room and in the parlor, but still couldn't find Sirius. He also couldn't hear him anywhere in the house either. Remus couldn't pretend this wasn't concerning though. It left him feeling uneasy.
Remus made his way down to the kitchen in the basement, hoping he'd find his friend inside.
Thankfully, when he walked into the kitchen, Sirius was sitting at the far end of the table. Sirius was absentmindedly staring into his large mug of coffee, clearly thinking of something far removed from the kitchen.
"Looked all over for you this morning, Sirius." Remus told him.
"Mhm." Sirius murmured, not really paying much attention to Remus.
Remus sighed, Sirius was so fickle. One moment he was steady as a rock, other days, he seemed to be nearing nervous collapse
"Well, I'll be in the parlor if you wanna talk." Remus told him.
As Remus was about to leave the kitchen, Sirius interrupted him, "I- you're a brother to me, I just hope you know that." he grumbled.
Remus was exasperated, and sighed loudly. "Sirius, what's wrong? You're not exactly one for big declarations."
"Ah - its nothing." Sirius told him.
Remus didn't believe him. At all. "Sirius." Remus said. "What's wrong?"
Sirius didn't say anything, he just looked off into space, towards the other side of the room.
"Ah - I had a dream." He admitted.
"Not again." Remus thought. Hadn't Sirius been through enough..
He just looked at him. Sirius wasn't exactly new to bad dreams. He had countless since returning from Azkaban, and he had even occasionally had dreams while at Hogwarts.
" A dream? Or, a nightmare?" Remus asked hesitantly, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.
"the latter." Sirius grumbled.
Remus let out another sigh, sitting down at the table, a few feet from Sirius.
"what happened, Sirius?" Remus asked.
"we were in the department of mysteries." Sirius admitted.
"Well, Sirius, I think we've all dreamed about that place at least once this past year, it's all we've talked about some days. doesn't necessarily mean anything." Remus suggested.
Sirius waved his hands, silencing Remus. "No, No , No. You don't understand." Sirius began. "We were all there, even the kids." Sirius trialed off, clearly lost in his thoughts.
"Okay, tell me exactly what happened in the dream Sirius." Remus told him.
"I was in the department of mysteries, and Harry was also there, and so was Lucius Malfoy. Other things happened, but I don't remember all the details of everything, I just knew it wasn't right. non of it was right." he explained gravely.
Remus nodded, before responding.
"But Sirius, why would Harry be there. How would he get there?"
"Damn it Remus. I don't know, all I know is what I saw."
"I'm just trying to be the voice of reason here. Logically, the likelihood that Harry could ever make it all the way into the ministry, and all the way down to the department is completely unlikely, those odds would be astronomical." Remus told his friend.
"Mmm." Sirius murmured unsatisfied.
"And." Remus continued. "Just because you had a dream doesn't mean that it will come true either."
"Doesn't mean it wont come true either." Sirius fired back.
Remus shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Sirius wasn't entirely wrong on that point, in the past sometimes Sirius had experienced dreams that eventually came true.
" You remember when we were at Hogwarts, I had that recurring dream about Peter, but never knew what it meant? Well, that dream came true Moony."
Remus sighed. "Yes. that is true. but that doesn't mean that this one will come true though." Remus tried to calm him.
"But, what if it does?" Sirius asked, sadly.
Remus sighed, they were not getting anywhere.
"I have an idea." Remus told him, before beckoning for him to follow him out of the kitchen.
Three hours, and many books later.
Sirius and Remus found themselves in the second floor library with Tonks, who had jumped at the chance to disentangle Sirius' latest nightmare.
"Would this work?" Tonks asked Remus, Holding up a book that read "Dreaming Through The Middle Ages"
"Might as well give it a look." Remus admitted.
Sirius was peering through "The Dream Oracle" staring at the page his was on quizzically. "Now, this might help." He said, while flipping through the book.
Sirius continued. "It says here, that dreams, while often mundane in appearance can signify many aspects of the future when properly decoded. Dreams occurring in foreign or places you have never been to in life, can be representative of a new chapter, or a scenario that your brain found important to show you, or even in some cases can be prophetic in nature."
"Meaning, that it could come true." He said, trying to make his point.
"okay. Well, this book say that sometimes, having dreams of places you've never been, can be a sign that you have some kind of unresolved issue." Tonks interjected.
"I think it's pretty obvious that I've got unresolved issues, thanks." Sirius snapped at her, more forcefully than what was needed.
Tonks shrugged her shoulders, "I'm just trying to help, Sirius." She droned.
"Apologies Dora." Remus told her, before . "Sirius easily forgets that neither of us ever took Divination, and that we are here at his request to help him." Remus said democratically.
"Sorry, sorry." Sirius said, waving his hands in agitation.
"you know Sirius, You and Tonks have made me consider something.' Remus started. "Sirius, you've never been to the Department of Mysteries, have you?" He asked.
"Well, no Moony. That's the point of it being a foreign place." Sirius told him.
"Yes. that is the point. If You've never been there before, then how do you know the place you were dreaming of was even in the ministry at all, maybe it was just somewhere that looked similar?" Remus asked, sensibly.
"I-I don't really know. but, we've talked about the layout of that place so many times it's almost like it's burned into my brain." Sirius admitted.
"Okay, so your pretty sure it's the department?" Tonks asked.
"Yeah, pretty damn sure." Sirius grumbled.
"Well, might as well keep trying to find something helpful in the meantime." Remus said, before picking up another book and continuing on with his research.
Sirius picked up a new book, the title read "Oneiromancy: How To Decode Dreams"
"Sirius, how old did Harry appear in the dream?" Remus asked, looking at a particularly interesting page.
"He looked the same age as he is now."
"Hmm." Remus murmured, but didn't say anything.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Sirius asked, exasperated.
"Well, that can depend. But, it says here, that dreaming of someone older or younger than they currently are, is usually connected to a need for greater understanding of that person, but dreams of the person in the present are more likely to be prophetic."
Sirius groaned. "Meaning that it could come true." he sneered.
"Yes, it could come true, theoretically." Remus admitted hesitantly.
Sirius sighed. That was what he had been fearing.
"But, Sirius. What we said before is still true! The likelihood Harry could ever make it all the way to London is very unlikely," Tonks added, reasonably.
Remus nodded. Agreeing.
"He could get there if he wanted to." Sirius grumbled.
At this comment, both Tonks and Remus looked at each other. Both, wondering the same thing.
Could Harry get to the Ministry?
Later that night, Tonks and Remus were curled up on the sitting room sofa, working on a crossword puzzle together.
"Remus." Tonks said.
"Mmm." Remus murmured. Tapping his pen on the newspaper.
"Do you think that Sirius will be okay?" She asked.
Remus put his newspaper down. sighing.
"I sure hope so." He told her, wrapping his arm around her, hoping to comfort her, and himself.
At these words, Tonks laid her head onto Remus' shoulder. She hoped that he was right.
Three floors above them, Sirius was having the same nightmare he had the night before.
But, this time in the morning he wouldn't remember it at all.
(AN: The next chapter will be a BIG one! Stay tuned.)