A Space Between Worlds

Chapter Six:

Fight for Light

"Cut me free,

Bleed with me,

Oh no!

One by one,

We will fall,

down down!

Pull the plug,

End the pain,

Run'n fight for life!

Hold on tight,

This ain't my fight!"

--"10th Man Down" by Nightwish

Sirius knew he was dreaming, not because he could vaguely feel his head upon his pillow, but because nothing remotely close to what was happening to him could ever happen in real life.

He was kneeling upon a very grimy patch of ground, or perhaps it was a floor of some kind? He couldn't tell. All he knew was that it was dark and cold, and he was feeling very afraid, more so than he had ever felt before in his entire life.

There were bars surrounding him. And from without his cage, or cell, or wherever it was he was, he could see people looking in at him. At first he could not make out their identities, but slowly he began to recognize faces...

"It wasn't me," Sirius whispered, his voice hoarse. "It wasn't me...I wouldn't...I'm innocent..."

He wasn't sure what it was he was supposed to have done, but he was sure that it had not been him.

"It wasn't me..."

"Why did you do it, Sirius?" asked a painfully familiar voice.

Sirius looked up into the face of his late friend, Remus Lupin. But this Moony was different. He was older, with graying hair and lines on his face. He had not looked that way when he had died. "Moony...I didn't...it wasn't..."

"You betrayed them," Remus whispered, sadness mixed with bitterness in his voice.

"No!" Sirius said, desperate to have him believe him. "I swear...I didn't...I wouldn't..."

"You tried to shift the blame to me to protect yourself!" Remus said, suddenly harsh.

"No...no..." Sirius groped at the bars, trying vainly to free himself. "I didn't know, Moony...I thought...I thought you were..."

"Now, they're dead..." Remus continued. "And you did that...it's your fault!"

"NO!" Sirius fell upon his face. In the back of his mind he was screaming: It's just a dream! Wake up! Wake up!

"I hate you," said a new voice, younger than Moony's, but still oddly familiar. "I hate you."

Sirius lifted his head slightly. There was a boy standing at the bars, looking down at him with contempt and hatred. At first Sirius thought that it was James, but James did not have a pair of eyes that brilliant and green...

"You killed my parents."

"Harry?" Sirius asked, a strange feeling settling in his stomach. Is this what his godson would look like were he alive now? Is this the boy he would have grown into? So much like James...so much like Lily.

"You killed my mum and dad! They were your friends! How could you betray them?"

"No...I didn't...Harry...please..."

"You don't deserve to live!"

"Sirius Black," said a low, deep voice, and Harry was soon replaced by a large man, peering down at him with eyes that clearly said: Your days are numbered, Black.

Wake up! Wake up, Sirius, you idiot! It's not real! James and Lily are alive! You know this! It's not real! WAKE UP!

"Kingsley..." Sirius pleaded, looking up at the dark man before him, foreboding coming like a cloud into his mind. "I swear...I didn't betray or kill anyone. James and Lily...they're not..."

"Dead," Kingsley said without emotion. "They're dead. There's no use denying it, Black. We know you did it. We know you're guilty. Now come on. The dementors are waiting..."

"No...I'm asleep...I didn't do it...This isn't real..."

"The aurors are waiting, Black. Wake up. We need you."

"I didn't do it..."

"Black!"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!"

Sirius shot up in bed, shaking and sweating. The fireplace in the corner of his room was crackling with green flames, and someone's head rested in it.

"Black! Are you crazy? Get up!"

"Kingsley?" Sirius asked, hopping out of bed and feeling like a grand fool. "What are you doing here?"

"I was sent to fetch you. Death Eaters are currently attacking the village of Sarehole. Come on and get ready."

"What time is it?" Sirius asked.

"Three thirty-two," Kingsley said promptly. "Now hurry up. We don't have time to waste. I'll see you in no less than seven minutes."

Kingsley's head disappeared and the fire died swiftly.

Sirius wasted no time in getting changed into his auror robes; they were light and tightly cut so that they would not get in the way when fighting. As he was heading down the stairs to get his wand, a voice stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

Sirius stopped, his heart pounding. He knew that voice; he had heard it in his dream. Turning around, he half-expected to see Harry standing there, glaring at him and accusing him of things he had never done, but it was only Apollo, standing in the doorway of his room, looking rather sleep-deprived.

"Auror business," Sirius said. "Nothing to worry about."

"Death Eaters?" Apollo asked.

Sirius sighed. "It's nothing to worry about." He repeated. "Go back to sleep."

"I wasn't asleep," Apollo said. Then he added: "I want to help."

"No," Sirius said forcefully. "Now go on, back to bed with you. I'll see you later on."

"Please, I want to help...I can't sleep anyway..."

"Best leave it to the professionals for now, lad," Sirius said understandingly, remembering all too well what it was like to be seventeen with a desire to help fight in the War.

"I've fought them before," Apollo insisted.

Suddenly, Sirius understood. Apollo wanted to avenge his parents' death.

"Apollo," Sirius said, as gently as he could while under pressure to get to Sarehole in time, "I can understand why you'd want to go, but...well, one day you'll get your chance. For now, just enjoy that fact that you don't have to go...I wish I could."

Sirius headed down the stairs. "I'll see you when I get back, all right?"

Sirius took Apollo's silence as a "yes".

* * *

Sirius Apparated right into the thick of things. The minute he arrived, he was forced to the ground by a hand on his back as a jet of green light flew over his head.

"That was far too close," a voice in his ear hissed. "You all right, Padfoot?"

Sirius turned his head around. "What are you doing here, Prongs?"

"What? You think only aurors such as yourself should have all the fun?" James asked, as the two of them ran close to the ground, heads bowed to their chests, aiming curses over their shoulders.

"Is Lily here?" Sirius asked above the chaos.

"No, she's with Leo at home. Most of the Order's here, though."

They ducked behind what appeared to be the remains of a stable, but the animals had long fled, and the structure was falling in on itself, slowly yet surely. From this vantage point, they were able to aim their spells better and protect themselves at the same time.

"It's not exactly like Lily," Sirius was saying, hexing any and all Death Eaters that he could see, "to stay at home and let you have all the 'fun', as you call it. Leo would be all right alone--expelliarmus!--wouldn't he?"

"No," James said, a worried-sounding edge rising in his throat. "Dumbledore told us that Voldemort's--stupify!--that Voldemort's been targeting the children of Order members and anyone else important again."

"He's always doing--petrificus totallus!--doing that," Sirius said.

"Yes, but just to be safe..."

Sirius didn't need him to say more; he understood what he meant perfectly.

There was suddenly a great creaking noise. What remained of the stable had just been hit with a curse, and it began to collapse in on itself.

"Fucking fuck!" Sirius cried, but his voice was lost amid the roar of the falling structure.

* * *

Lily stared distractedly into the fire, wondering. A twinge of fear, worry, and uselessness crept up and down her spine as she thought about just what was happening in Sarehole. She longed to help, yet she also knew that she couldn't just leave her son here by himself. She would not lose Leo.

Don't think about that night, Lily...don't think about it...

"Mum?" said a sleepy voice.

Lily turned to see Leo standing there, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Where's dad gone? I heard him leave."

"He has some business to tend to," Lily said, forcing herself into casual tones. "Go back to bed, love."

Leo yawned widely. "What are you doing up?"

"Waiting for your father to come back home."

"Can I wait, too?"

"You can wait in your room with your eyes shut, lying on your bed. Now up you get."

Leo yawned again. "Fine...Good night...er...morning..."

Lily watched him shuffle back up the stairs, a smile playing on her lips. The moment she turned back to the fire however, it sprang to life, green flames licking the hearth as a head appeared in it.

"Bloody great mess we've got on our hands, Lily," Tonks was saying, her hair matching the color of the flames it was situated in.

"What's going on? What's happening?" Lily could hear Leo coming back into the room again, but was too anxious for news to reprimand him.

"The Death Eaters outnumber us three to--oh sorry, hang on--" Tonks paused, apparently listening to someone on her side of the fire. "Ah, thanks, mate." She looked back up at Lily. "We're outnumbered five to one. We're going to need your help."

Lily gestured behind herself to where she knew her son was listening. "What about Leo? I can't just leave him."

"I'll be all right here on my own, mum," Leo said. "Or you could always take me with you..."

"NO," said Lily and Tonks at the same time.

"Couldn't you get someone to watch him?" Tonks said, impatiently, turning her head sideways to look at something or someone Lily couldn't see.

"Like who?" Lily demanded.

"Apollo could come over, couldn't he, mum?"

"Oh, I don't know..."

"Good idea, Leo," Tonks said, looking over at the red-headed boy. "We'll contact Apollo and have him come over." Tonks turned back to Lily. "We'll expect your presence as soon as Apollo gets to your house."

And before Lily could argue, Tonks's bright head disappeared and the fire died.

***

Harry sat on his bed, his glasses dangling off the end of his nose as he gazed out the window at the moon. He wondered how Remus was. He wondered how Ron and Hermione and all the Weasleys were. He wondered if they missed him.

There was a sudden whooshing sound coming from downstairs, and Harry, startled, stood up and made his way out into the hallway. Sirius couldn't be back this soon. Not unless something had happened...

"Oy! Apollo! Get down here!"

Harry recognized Tonks's voice, and he raced down the steps, three at a time and jumping the last five.

"What is it?" he asked, seeing her standing there on the hearth rug.

"I didn't know you wear glasses," Tonks said, forgetting for a moment the great import of her mission due to the boy's round spectacles. Glasses can be very distracting.

"Oh yeah," Harry said, realizing angrily that he had forgot to take them off. "It's just that I usually wear contacts..."

"You look nice in glasses," Tonks said appraisingly, looking him over.

"Er..."

"Oh! Listen to me! I'm an idiot!" Tonks slapped her forehead hard. "We have business to attend to and a tight schedule to keep. Apollo, are you up to babysitting?"

"What? When?"

"Now."

"Now?"

"Now."

"For whom?" Harry asked.

"Leo Potter."

"At this hour?" Harry frowned. "What's going on?"

"There's lots of goings-on over in Sarehole with the Death Eaters. Lily and James have to go help, and Leo shouldn't be left alone. Could you help?"

"Sure, I can't sleep anyway."

"Brilliant, now come on. No time to waste."

Tonks practically pushed Harry into the fireplace. "Go on."

Standing directly under the chimney, Harry took a handful of Floo Powder and threw it down upon the ashes, saying: "Godric's Hollow!"

Flashes of other fireplaces wavered in and out of sight as Harry spun quickly round within the Floo Network. He whirled so quickly that he couldn't breathe. He could feel ash and powder stinging his face like sand in a high wind.

And suddenly it stopped, and he came toppling out of the fireplace in a tangle of arms, legs, and robes.

Straightening, he brushed himself off just as Tonks followed him through the fireplace.

"Lily! Apollo's here!"

The green-eyed woman came bustling into the room, her son following at her heels.

"Apollo!" Leo said excitedly.

Lily looked down sternly at her son. "You are not to bother him, Leo. You're to go back up to bed. There's no need for you to be up."

Leo made a rude face at his mother's back as she turned to face Harry and Tonks.

"Thank you so much for coming on such short notice," she said. "You're a real lifesaver."

Harry laughed a bit at the irony of these words. "It's nothing, really."

Lily turned back around and pulled her son into a tight hug. "Be good for Apollo. Dad and I will be back when you wake up in the morning."

Harry heard Leo mumbled something to Lily, something meant only for his mother's ears, and he could only guess what it was.

Lily broke away from him and, much to Harry's surprise, pulled him into a hug as well.

"Look out for him, Apollo," Lily whispered. "Keep him safe."

Harry nodded, swallowing down his emotions at being touched so gently by his mother.

"I will."

"Come on, Lily," Tonks said. "We should go now."

"Right."

With one last look at Leo and Harry, Lily stepped into the fireplace after Tonks and was swept away from Godric's Hollow.

There was a moment where neither boy moved, eyes locked onto the dying green flames, wondering what it was that Lily and Tonks had arrived to meet. Then, Harry tore his eyes away and looked down at his young charge.

"I didn't know you that wear glasses."

Harry sighed. "Yes, I do."

There was another beat of silence, then...

"Come on, Leo, you heard your mum. Back up to bed."

Leo looked uncertainly at the staircase in the hall, is if to walk up it would be suicide.

"Could I, er, stay here with you, Apollo?"

Harry could see that the boy was scared, though he would never have admitted so.

He sighed. "Of course."

Grinning, Leo curled himself up on a long couch. Harry went over and sat beside him.

There was silence again, though this time it lasted for quite a while. Eventually, Harry looked back down at Leo, wondering if he had fallen asleep, only to be met with a pair of hazel eyes staring back at him.

"Do you think that they'll be all right? They've been gone an awful long time."

"They'll be fine," Harry said in his most consoling voice. He had never had much practice with comforting others, as it was he who was usually the recipient of all the comforting, and he didn't seem to be succeeding with making Leo feel better.

"I'm not really worried about my mum, you know," Leo said, curling tighter into a ball. "She's safe, if you know what I mean. She's careful. She knows how to take care of herself. But dad...well, he only knows how to take care of others. He'll end up doing something dangerous to help someone and..."

"Nothing's going to happen to dad--your dad."

Leo was quiet again, thinking over whatever it was that was going through his young mind.

"How did it happen?"

The question caught Harry a bit off guard. "What's that?"

"How did, you know, how did your mum and dad die?"

"Death Eaters," Harry said.

"I know that. I mean...how exactly. What was the spell that was used and stuff like that? If you don't mind me asking..."

"The Killing Curse," Harry said. He hoped Leo wouldn't question the issue further. He didn't feel like making up stories that night.

"Do you miss them?"

"Listen, Leo," Harry said, squirming slightly upon the couch. "This isn't the best time to discuss this. I think you should try and get some sleep."

"I'm not tired," protested the youth. "I want to wait for mum and dad."

"You know, if you go to sleep, the next thing you'll know is waking up to find that your mum and dad are home safe and sound. Sleep makes things go faster."

Leo seemed to consider this for a moment. "Right," he said with a sigh. "But you'll wake me up when they come home?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"Promise you're not just saying that to make me go to sleep?"

"I promise."

***

Lily clambered out of the fireplace, and found herself in an old, rundown house that was currently set up as the Ministry/Order Front against Voldemort's army. Everywhere lying about there were injured wizards and witches being tended to by healers and others. People were running back and forth, sending messages, carrying out orders, rushing in and out the door to either join the fight or escape it.

Lily swept back her dark red hair, and pulled out her wand, preparing to go out and face the enemy, when a voice called to her from a corner of the room. She turned around immediately and started towards it even before she could see where the voice was coming from. She knew whose voice it was though.

Sirius sat in a far corner of the room, nursing a broken arm, but he stood as Lily came towards him, putting on a brave face.

"Are you all right, Sirius?"

"Never better," Sirius said, "though my poor arm's seen better days. But not to worry. The healers can patch it up in a zip."

"Where's James?" Lily asked anxiously. If anyone was to know where her husband was, Sirius would know.

The dark-haired man's face dropped a bit as he nodded to the corner. "That git you call a husband went and got himself knocked senseless with a wooden beam." It was obvious Sirius was trying to make the situation as light as he possibly could.

Lily pushed by him and raced over to her husband, who was propped up against a wall, looking rather dazed. A healer was kneeling beside him, probing his messy head with a wand.

"How is he?" Lily asked, practically falling to the ground beside James.

"Hmm..." The healer ceased her probing and looked up at Lily. "He's a bit out of it. Slight concussion, but he'll be fine. Quite lucky, actually, when compared to some of our other casualties."

"Lucy! Come over here a minute! Dawson's bleeding again..."

"Excuse me," the healer said, standing and making her way over to a man who was laying frighteningly still upon the floor of the old house.

Lily turned her attention back over to James who was slouched up against the wall, looking very pale, his eyes darting about confusedly.

"James love," Lily whispered, leaning close to him. "James? Can you hear me?"

James turned his head slightly, eyes trying hard to focus on the woman before him. "Lily?"

Lily breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. "Are you all right? How do you feel?"

"Like my head's not attached to my shoulders..." He shut his eyes tightly and opened them again, trying to clear the fog from in front of them. "Can't see a bloody thing. Where the fuck are my glasses?"

"On your face, dear," Lily said, giving him a small, apologetic smile that he probably couldn't see anyway.

"Blimey, so they are..."

Sirius leaned down over Lily's shoulder, shaking his head at James. "Oh sure, Prongs, you'll talk to her, but what do I get after I pull you out from the wreckage of a collapsed barn? A broken arm and not even a thank you. Shame on you. Shame."

"What's he going on about?" James asked, squinting in Sirius's general direction. "Can't make out a word he's saying..."

"He's saying how he's jealous that I'm giving you all my attention, and him and his broken arm aren't getting any," Lily said, quite accurately.

"My arm needs love, too, you know," Sirius pouted.

"It's true, it does need love," James said, shutting his eyes and leaning his head up against the wall. "Just don't have an affair with it..."

"Be quite James, you're not making sense," Lily chastised lightly.

"Can't help it...sorry...nothing feels real right now..."

Sirius shot Lily an unreadable glance. He looked like he was going to say something, but before he could get the words out, there was a loud explosion coming from outside, followed by screams and shouts and other disturbing sounds that haunt the darkest corners of one's nightmares.

Whatever it was that had exploded began to shoot through the windows of the old house, and Lily gave into that primitive instinct that told her to squeeze her eyes shut and scream.

She felt something fall on her, and she fell forward onto something else, sandwiched helplessly in between. All the lights in the house burst and went out, plunging everyone into the predawn dimness. She could hear people around her shouting, but their words were lost to her frightened mind.

Eventually things began to quiet, and she could hear voices lighting their wands. She guessed that whatever it was that was on top of her was a man because she could hear him whispering in her ear: "All right, there?"

"Yeah," she replied, shakily. She turned her head to the side and saw two grey eyes looking at her, their faces practically touching.

"Sirius, get your nose out of my mouth," muttered Lily, struggling to move, but finding that Sirius had got her pretty well trapped beneath him.

"Would if I could, believe me," Sirius said, "but the roof decided to come down and meet my arse, and now the two are getting better acquainted. I don't feel it's right to break up a first date."

"Sirius, I think we're killing James," Lily said, who figured that that was who was stuck underneath her.

"Dammit," Sirius said, trying to wriggle free from the roof or wall or whatever it was that had fell on him.

"James," Lily said, moving her arms to try and feel if it was James beneath her. "James?"

"Mmmm," mumbled a voice coming from the body under her.

"Is he okay?" Sirius asked, still trying vainly to remove himself from the wreckage.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked James.

"Mmm ammiht shtuhk..."

"What?" Lily said sharply. "I can't understand you."

She could feel James moving his head to the side so that he could better articulate his words instead of having his face pressed against the floor.

"I said: I'm a bit stuck."

"Join the club," Sirius muttered, finally giving up on trying to get free.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked.

"The only thing we can do: HELP!" Sirius yelped, and Lily and James joined in with his pleas for aid.

"I hear you, calm down," said a voice from above them. "We'll get you out."

With a great deal of grunting heard from who it was that was rescuing them, a weight was literally lifted off their shoulders and they were freed from the imprisoning plaster.

Kingsley, the Prewett brothers, and Ryan Moray stood above them, and helped them to clamber off one another.

"What were you lot doing down there anyway?" Moray asked, a wicked glint in his eye. "Threesome?"

"Of course," Sirius said, brushing himself off with his good arm. "What else would we be doing here in Sarehole at four in the morning while being attacked by Death Eaters?"

"Well, I prefer orgies meself, but each to his own, I s'pose..."

"So good of you all to take this situation seriously," Lily said, doing her best to hold her swaying husband steady. She looked about at all the damages that had been done and gasped. There was a great gaping hole where the front of the house had once been, and the most of the roof had fallen in. Also, the numbered of injured had risen to include even a few of the healers.

"Twice in one night," Sirius was saying, rubbing his bad arm morosely. "If one more house or stable or whatever decides to fall on my head..."

"What caused this?" Lily asked, turning to Kingsley.

"A curse of some sort," he answered in that powerful voice that kept all who listened captivated. "A very powerful one. It was meant to demolish our front." He gestured around at the abandoned, and now destroyed, house. "And it did."

"All the Muggles are sure to come out now," Gideon Prewett said, running his hands through his hair and looking restless.

"We have barriers in place to deter them from coming over here," Moray informed him. "And we have a good many wizards prowling around the Muggle areas, making sure no harm is to come to them."

"The barriers will have to be reinstated soon," Kingsley said. "We thought this skirmish would be over and done by now."

"You call this a skirmish?" Lily asked incredulously.

"I've seen worse," Kingsley said shortly. "Now come on, there's work to be done."

Sirius helped Lily with setting James down by one of the remaining walls. When she had seen to it that he would be fine, she stood again, and began to head out towards where the fighting was still raging on with full force.

"What are you doing, Lily?" Sirius asked, staring after her.

"What I came to do," she answered curtly. "Fight."

"I'll go with you," Sirius said, and he made to move towards her, but she stopped him.

"With that arm? No. You stay here with James."

"You shouldn't go out there alone," argued Sirius. He closed the gap between them with three quick, long strides, and clamped his good hand over her wrist. "What if something was to happen to you?"

"Don't patronize me, Sirius," Lily warned, green eyes flashing. She wrenched her wrist free from his grasp and met his gaze unwaveringly. "I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself."

"But--"

"You can't stop me, Sirius, so don't even try." She whirled about, red hair slapping Sirius lightly in the face.

"Just...just be careful then," he said, watching her retreating figure before he returned to James by the wall.