Tapestry

Tapestry

***

It was dawn.

A picturesque kind of dawn, the type a photographer would usually use as a subject for his snapshot. The kind with an explosion of warm colours--pink, orange, yellow, a splash of light blue--and fluffy clouds reflecting the vision.

In other words, the sunrise was breathtaking.

But Remus didn't really quite care about all that at the moment. He just wanted some more of the painkilling potion Madam Pomfrey had been delivering to him every hour. He glanced at his wristwatch. Only fifteen minutes since his last dosage. And far too soon for him to be given more.

He groaned and rested his forehead in his palm. "Hurts like a bloody hammer knocking on my temple," he muttered to himself, shivering slightly in the ever-present breeze.

"Moony? Moony, you awake?" Remus didn't bother looking up, because whether or not he responded, the old oak door with the squeaky hinge and rusty doorknob would open anyway.

"Yeah, 'm awake," Remus called softly to his visitor. He pushed his hair out of his eyes, and met the gaze of a lanky, black-haired boy coming over towards him.

"How you feeling? James and Pete...well, you know how James is after a date with Lily, and Peter was doing homework. Can you believe it? Homework at dawn? Rather stupid, innit?" Sirius tucked a lock of hair behind his ear and sat down on Remus' bed, cross-legged. "Brought you some stuff."

Remus gave a half smile. "Just a bit peaky. Last night was rough. Didn't you get any sleep after Madam Pomfrey came to get me?"

Sirius shook his head and wrapped his coat around Remus, out of habit. "Nope. Good thing the moon went down early, eh? I was going to go to bed, but I ended up just sitting there and wondering what you were doing. I would've visited you earlier, of course, but I knew that Pomfrey doesn't really leave you alone until this time anyways."

Grinning, Sirius dug into his bag. He unearthed two perfectly wrapped chocolate frogs and tossed one to Remus, while tearing one open himself. However, he didn't begin eating until Remus had, as he had the habit of doing.

"You should've gotten some sleep, Sirius. 'S not good for you to without any rest for a whole night," reprimanded Remus lightly, crumpling up the wrapper and swallowing the last of the chocolate. "I don't want to make you ill because of my...lycanthropy."

"Don't give two sickles of thought to me," said Sirius cheerfully. "I am as healthy as a horse...er, well, that's what Lily says. I'm not quite sure why the horse is the healthiest animal, but it's a Muggle saying, so you can't much expect it to make sense, can you?"

"Alright, what do you want to do now?" Remus crossed his legs as well, and bored his gaze into Sirius'.

"Nothing," Sirius answered, quickly. "Nothing a'tall, Moony. Just come to visit my old chum and see how he's doing after his full moon."

"Nonsense," snorted the tawny-haired boy. "You never start talking like this unless you're up to something. Just tell me, or do I have to extract the truth from you?"

Sirius pouted and looked put out. "I do not." He stopped, reconsidered his statement, then chuckled heartily. "I guess I do, don't I?"

"You're avoiding my question, which you do as well."

"There was that time with the passageway and--" Remus reached out and gently held Sirius' hand, massaging the palm. Sirius' voice choked and hushed, and little gurgling sounds erupted. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Would a bit more of this persuade you, perhaps?"

"Ergh, if we went a wee bit further--"

"Padfoot, you and I are not having a shag in the Hospital Wing!"

"Oh, fine." Sirius winked and flashed Remus a grin. "We'll save that for our dorm, right?" Remus rolled his eyes and nodded for him to get back to the topic.

Sirius cleared his throat, as he always did when he was about to make some grand proclamation. "As I was down the corridor on the third floor to come visit you, I passed the old vase with the dragons on it, atop that old Greek column."

"That's nothing unusual," interrupted Remus, puzzled. "That's always there, there's nothing odd or different about that vase."

"Ah, my dear wolf, it wasn't the vase that intrigued me, but the new tapestry that hung beside it." Sirius paused, pursing his lips to keep from laughing. Remus' expression of anticipation was quite amusing. "A tapestry that, instead of having the rich colours of all other tapestries in school, is a deep midnight blue, framed in a glittery silver, dotted with golden orbs and gleaming stars. Rather unusual, wouldn't you say?"

"A new tapestry? There hasn't been a new piece of work in here since Grindelwald. Does it do anything?"

"As I passed by it, a light shone through and I could almost hear it calling my name... ' Here, Sirius, good boy...'" Remus swatted Sirius with his pillow, mock anger evident in his features.

"You made that all up, didn't you? And I was fool enough to believe you."

"Swear I didn't. In fact, I'll take you to it. You don't take any medicine for forty minutes anyhow. It'll be an adventure."

Remus was, obviously, quite sceptical. He crossed his arms over his chest and schooled his features into one of distinct disbelief. "You aren't pulling my leg, are you, Padfoot?"

"Would never think of doing such a thing. C'mon, let's go. That is, if you're up for it and all. Can you walk?" Nod. "Let me grab your shoes and scarf. It's a bit nippy in the corridors."

***

He had to agree. The tapestry was definitely real, definitely gorgeous, and definitely magical. Well, more magical that some artwork in the castle, anyway.

Remus craned his neck back to see the very top of the weaving. He squinted his eyes, as Sirius grinned triumphantly, leaning on the wall next to it. "Real enough for you?"

"There's something written at the top. I can't make it out." Remus backed up all the way to the opposite side of the hall, but he still couldn't see it properly. Sirius furrowed his eyebrows and joined him.

"Me neither." But as Sirius moved behind Remus and rested his palm on the shorter boy's shoulder, the air suddenly felt still. It was as though time had stopped and it was just...silent.

"I think you did something to it," whispered Remus, half-frightened, half-intrigued, eyes round. "What happened?"

"Dunno," Sirius whispered back. "It didn't do this before." Suddenly, a light began to glow from behind the tapestry, lighting the orbs and stars, giving off the feeling of an ancient magic.

"This...this is..." Remus didn't continue, his sentence drifting off, even though it had never really begun.

Sirius detached himself from Remus and tentatively took a step towards it. He glanced back at Remus for encouragement; Remus nodded, only half-seeing Sirius.

The dark-haired boy crept up to the tapestry and touched one of the orbs near the floor. He immediately snatched it back and rubbed his hand, letting out a squeak of surprise. Remus snapped out of his trance and sprinted uneasily towards Sirius, resting heavily on Sirius' shoulder once he reached the tapestry.

"Did it hurt you?" Remus inspected Sirius' fingertips. There was no redness, but a bit of shimmer. Upon closer examination, he saw there was gold on Sirius' hand, and he rubbed it; nothing came off. It was as though the colour was as natural as the rest of Sirius' skin.

"No, just...a shock, that's all. But it didn't hurt...it was like...like...here, you try it. I swear it doesn't hurt at all. Just surprised me." Sirius gestured for Remus to handle the tapestry.

Remus did so, and was amazed to feel a rush of pleasure bubbling through his veins, warming his entire body. He pulled his hand back after a few moments, relishing the sensation.

"It's like...like swallowing warm Butterbeer, but a thousand times more..." Remus stopped, attempting to explain what he had just felt. Sirius shook his head.

"You can't, can you? And you're more articulate than I am. It's just a feeling, Moony. One of those feelings that you can't explain, but it's there. Like love, Moony, like love. You can't describe that either. That's what the tapestry feels like. But I also got this gnawing feeling from it...like anguish or something."

Before Remus could ponder his astonishment that Sirius had just been symbolic and mystical, quite similar to the Divination teacher, actually, Sirius reached out to the tapestry again.

"What're you doing?" asked Remus, alarmed. "It might not be the same again. What if it hurts you the second time?"

Sirius ignored the request, or simply didn't hear it. He hesitantly lifted the corners of the tapestry; his eyes widened as he saw the spiralling staircase immediately beginning from the ground.

Remus peeked around Sirius, and let out a deep breath. "That's never been there before," he pointed out quietly. "Isn't it odd that we've never seen it before?"

"But it's not dangerous. Can't you tell? There's no evil air, or whatever, about this place. C'mon, let's go." Sirius grabbed Remus' hand, but Remus yanked him back.

"Are you bonkers? What if it's a trap? Nobody would be able to find us!" Remus sounded anxious, more like Peter than himself. Probably the medicine; it always made him jumpy.

"Trust me." Sirius cupped Remus's face in his warm hand. "Just trust me, love." The other boy nodded nervously, and gulped.

Sirius gave him an encouraging smile, and put a foot on the first step, then the next. Nothing happened, so he grasped the rail and began to climb.

He could hear Remus behind him, and they continued their ascent. They paused, however, in the middle of the stairs. On the left, carved into the wall, there were two simple widows, with wooden shutters framing their sides. But there was no view, only a blinding light.

"I can't imagine what this place is...it doesn't even seem like something that belongs in Hogwarts, does it?" whispered Sirius solemnly, as if not to disturb the quiet. Remus merely shook his head and they persisted in their climb.

Abruptly, the steps ended at a solid mahogany door. The pair paused, before Sirius impulsively reached for the handle and pushed it open.

The two gasped as they found themselves at the top of a tower. Above them was the endless black of sky, and they could see every celestial body. Below them lay an array of colours, twisting into familiar shapes of places and people.

"Where're we?" asked Remus, forgetting to speak softly. "This is...wow. You found this all on your own?"

Sirius brushed off the sarcasm. "I didn't actually come up here, though. I just found the tapestry. But--"

He cut himself off as a furious wind whirled into a rage of swift passion and anger, knocking the weaker Remus down. Sirius fell gracefully to his feet, and sheltered Remus with his stronger form. A flash of lightning snapped and lit the heavens above them.

Another snap of lightning cracked and the two crushed their bodies together, in an effort to block out the elements, before a shock was sent through their veins; their eyes shot open and each saw a reel of events and speeding moment in their own vision.

Betrayal...Peter, hatred...Lily and James...The Boy Who Lived...a force darker than ever imagined...losing a trust...becoming a Professor...teaching the child of Gryffindor...the rise of an evil foe...the swift ending of a life...don't cry...

Anger, resentment...frightened and anxious...killed...loss of a soul...rebuilding...duelling the force...family treachery...a last fleeting glance of...

The winds halted, the lightening ended, and the sky about the tower lit up in an orchestra of clashing images and emotions. Sirius glanced at Remus, tears rolling freely down his cheeks.

Remus forced the door behind them open, dragging Sirius with him. A slam of the door and silence.

Endless silence.

Wolf and dog, together, sunk to the ground, gripping to the other with such aching and urgency that it was incomprehensible. Tears were no longer separate, but combined in a relentless flow of pain and of what was to come.

For how long the two huddled against the stonewall, they could never guess. Silently, hand in hand, they made it down the first step with heavy burdens on their hearts.

But with each step downward, a scrap of newly collected information went up in a wisp and disappeared, seeping back upwards to the door, giving a new cheerful sense to each.

When the two stumbled out the entrance at the floor, Sirius gasped, sweat sliding down his face, Remus panting with exhaustion.

Finally, Sirius spoke. "What...what happened? I...I look so stupid and sweaty, I should take a shower...but...wait..."

"We just went through the tapestry," rasped Remus. He pushed back his hair from his eyes. "But...I don't remember what happened. I don't remember anything."

"I remember one thing..." Sirius flopped onto the cold stone floor, loving the feeling of the cool temperature to his hot skin. "I heard a voice tell me that I wasn't to regret anything. But why would I regret anything I'd done? You didn't hear anything like that told to you, did you?"

"No," replied Remus, his gut twisting. "I can't remember much except from what I felt from last night...and Merlin, my head hurts."

Sirius twisted his head to look back at the tapestry. His eyes bulged and his jaw dropped open. Remus promptly did the same, and was shocked, to say the least.

The wall was blank. Completely blank, as it had been before, naked stone gleaming. The silence that had occupied the corridor before was more familiar, and all that was left was the old vase on the old Greek column.

"You--you don't think we imagined it, do you?" Sirius ran his hand over the smooth stones, feeling for anything unusual. "We can't have...how would we get here otherwise?"

"I don't know," answered Remus honestly. "Something happened...the tapestry...if it did exist, that is..."

Sirius stood, resolutely, and began down the hall to the Hospital Wing, jerking his head to indicate that Remus join him. Remus nodded, but secretly bit his lip and screwed his eyes shut.

He had heard a voice tell him something. But he couldn't tell Sirius. He wouldn't understand.

"When he falls, do not weep."

***