In Dreams

"When the cold of winter comes

Starless night will cover day

In the veiling of the sun

We will walk in bitter rain

But in dreams

I still hear your name

And in dreams

We will meet again"

~Fran Walsh & Howard Shore

Afterwards, people were adamant in telling him that the whole event had happened extremely quickly. That Sirius had been stunned, and fallen behind the flimsy curtain stronger than any wizard, before anyone had a chance to do anything. But to Remus, his beloved Sirius's fall had lasted a lifetime. He'd seen how Sirius's body had arched gracefully against the curse that ricocheted off his chest, how he'd lost his footing, and then how he'd fallen backwards, sucked into the darkness beyond the veil. Remus had seen it all, and not reacted. Not done one single, miserable thing. He'd let Sirius die, when he could have done something... anything, to change his lover's demise. If only he'd...

Remus sat bolt upright in his bed. He blinked once, confused, and then blinked several more times when his mind refused to clear. One moment, he had been in that godforsaken chamber at the Department of Ministries, staring at that confounded veil, hoping against all hopes that Sirius would somehow just reappear; push the curtain to one side and just step out. The next he was in his bedroom... their bedroom, back at Grimmauld Place.

"Moony?" A voice that chilled Remus to the bone spoke from the depths of the bed. But it wasn't just a voice. It was Sirius's voice.

"Go away..." Remus whispered, sounding half hearted even to his own ears. "You're not real. I'm dreaming... hallucinating. I don't know what I'm doing, but I know you're not real."

"What do you mean?" The imagined Sirius laughed, and then Remus definitely felt the bed move as his lover-that-wasn't-there sat up in their shared bed, his lover's arms-that-weren't-there-either embracing him gently. If Sirius really wasn't there, Remus mused, then his imagination was getting incredibly good. Those arms felt pretty real.

Not sure whether he wanted to see what was holding him, Remus gently turned around in the embrace, and let out a strangled cry when his eyes met the deep blue pools that were, unmistakeably, the eyes of Sirius Black. "Sirius!" Remus cried, forgetting his resolve to astutely believe Sirius could not possibly be there, and flinging himself into his boyfriend's arms.

"Hey, hey... what's up, baby? Not that I'm not glad to get such a good morning greeting, but..."

"You're dead... that is, you were... but you're not..." Remus stammered like a raving lunatic, trying to hold as much of Sirius as possible.

"You were dreaming... it was just a bad dream." Sirius soothed, gently pulling Remus's body to his own, rubbing the slighter man's back with feathered touches. "I'm here, not dead."

"But... the chamber... the veil... the..."

Sirius cut Remus short with a soft kiss to his lips. "You're not making any sense, Remy. What chamber? What veil?"

Remus visibly sagged in Sirius's arms as he let out a huge sigh of relief. The Siriuses of his dreams always disappeared when he mentioned the veil. This was reality after all... Sirius's death must have been the dream. Before he could stop himself, tears of happiness burst forth from his eyes, spilling down his cheeks, wetting the face of not only himself, but Sirius also. "I was so sure... so sure you were dead."

"It was just a nightmare," Sirius reiterated, placing a kiss to Remus's cracked lips between each spoken word. "I'm alive, and in perfect working order". He finished by moving a hand down to rest at the base of Remus's spine, stroking him tenderly. Remus let out a barely audible gasp as Sirius caressed the most sensitive spot of his body.

"Are you going to make all my nightmares go away now?" Remus gave a sly grin, delivering a fervent kiss to Sirius's waiting mouth. Sirius didn't need words to reply, just the passion and strength of his kisses and caresses as he became reacquainted with his lover's body.

Slowly, carefully, and ever so softly, Sirius took control of Remus's body, sliding a hand down between the werewolf's legs as he pushed him down onto his back on the bed. "I love you..." The whispered statement hung in the air as Sirius...

For the second time, Remus found himself in his bed, bolt upright. The heat of Sirius's lust-filled body was gone, leaving Remus cold in the early morning air. A sickening sensation stirred in the pit of Remus's stomach as he looked across at the other side of the bed. There was no Sirius.

"Remus?" Another voice, this time female. Molly Weasley.

The red-haired witch was standing in the doorway to the bedroom, a concerned look playing across her friendly features. "Remus, are you alright?"

"Fine, fine..." Remus muttered abstractly, looking at Molly with unseeing eyes.

"Okay... I just thought you should know we're just taking the children off to King's Cross. We ought to be back before lunch."

"Right..." Remus nodded in the same abstract, unfocused manner.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Molly Weasley could not be fooled. Remus supposed it came of having seven children.

"Fine, fine..." Remus shook his head, and managed to focus on the witch in the doorway. "I'm fine, Molly..." He paused momentarily before speaking in barely a whisper,

"It was just a dream."