Cats and Dogs

“No! Daddy!” a girl who looked oddly familiar yelled as she ran over to an older man who also looked familiar.

The man’s eyes lost their life as he got pulled into something that looked like an arch. Chaos was everywhere around me. People screaming, booming, spells being thrown… The girl who looked around my age fell to her knees and screamed with such a saddened passion that my own heart seemed to shake. But that was not all that was shaking… My fingers, my hands, my arms, my ankles, my legs, my torso… my head… shaking in denial.

No.

Impossible.

He could not be dead… An overwhelming feeling of sadness, anger, confusion, and sickness washed over me as I seemed to loose my body temperature.

It was the same feeling I had when I heard of my parents death… Only a million times worse. I felt there was no longer a reason to live…

How could I live when he was no longer living?

It wasn’t fair…

My stomach was going wild; flipping, shaking, jumping, trying to come up out of my throat while my heart was trying to fall into my stomach, though at the same time it felt like I had no heart… that it had been taken along with that man’s life…

A hole was being dug in my chest where my heart should be…

This pain…

Tears had been pouring down my face for what seemed like forever, but I knew only just a moment had passed by…

If this moment felt this horrible… How would I be able to go on with my life?

I can’t…

I wouldn’t be able to…

But something else seemed to be keeping me chained down to this horrible place…

My eyes landed on a girl who had long brown hair and light gray eyes that were filled with tears. She fell to her knees and was screaming loudly, though I could hear nothing. An oddly familiar man hobbled to her side and hoisted her up but she tore herself from his grip and fell back to the ground.

Then as if suddenly remembering something I turned to see another girl who looked the same age and held similarities to he first one. This girls hair was a dark brown and she had red full lips like mine and had familiar dark smokey gray eyes that were wide; horror-stricken.

They were a part of Sirius…

They were a part of me…

The second girl quickly stood and ran after a crazed woman who was being chased by a tall boy with shaggy black hair and glasses that covered his familiar green eyes. He too looked oddly familiar…

My legs quickly followed after them, though I was no where near as fast as them and had tripped but I quickly got up and followed…

Everything was a blur…

Yelling…

Screaming…

Then a flash of green…

I screamed and sat up right in the bed I was in and tried to calm down my rapid, rigid breathing. I looked around frantically and saw that I was all alone in the dark hospital wing. I sighed in relief that there was no one around to see me wake up like that-

“Are you alright?”

I let out a scream and quickly threw the covers over me.

I heard a soft chuckle and I slowly pulled my sheets down and saw Sirius sitting on the bed next to me with an amused look on his face - something I haven’t seen in a while and I instantly smiled and pulled my covers off and threw them at his face.

He laughed and pulled the blankets off of him and then looked over at me, “So… you okay?”

I nodded, “I think so…” I raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged and leaned back, “I was just walking around,”

“Just walking around?” my eyebrow was still raised, “How didn’t you get caught?”

He was quiet for a moment and then sighed and pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket, “I guess it’s about time you know about the map.”

The map? I remember the day when James went after Severus and Sirius had yelled he took the map.

Sirius leaned forward and pulled out his wand and pointed the tip at the map and said clearly, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

I watched as letters appeared on the front and Sirius handed the map over to me and I read the front, “Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder’s Map.” I mumbled and then flipped the map open and my eyes widened. “Its-it’s the- It’s Hogwarts.” I was in awe. It was a complete map of Hogwarts! Secret passageways and all! I tore my eyes away from Sirius and he was looking down at the map and pointed at a part and I looked down.

“There’s us.” he said softly. And he was correct. There in the Hospital Wing section was two set of footprints that read Sirius Black and Amilia Moody.

My eyes widened, “It even shows where people are?” I gasped and looked at Sirius in amazement.

He nodded, “Yup. It shows everyone, everywhere, no matter what. We created it a while ago.” He grinned, “We’ve had some pretty good times with this map.”

I let out a laugh, “You’d think with this map and an Invisibility Cloak you and Prongs would have less detention slips then what was in Filch’s closet!”

He laughed, “Trust me, that is a lot less then what we have done.”

It was quiet for a few moments and I finally asked, “How long have you been here?”

He was quiet for a moment longer. “A while.” he finally said.

I sighed, “Sirius, you have to get some sleep.”

“Oh, I was sleeping… but then you started mumbling in your sleep… and screaming lightly… you looked like you were in pain. I thought you were having some kind of bad reaction to the medication Pomfrey gave you… And then you just woke up.” he tilted his head slightly, his eyes filled with wonder and worry, “What were dreaming about?”

I remembered my dream… I didn’t want to remember it though. “Nothing… I can’t remember.” I mumbled.

He nodded, dropping the subject and his gaze fell down to the map that was sitting open on my lap and his eyes narrowed.

My eyebrows pulled together and I looked down and saw footsteps coming our way and the name attached to the feet read: Regulus Black.

My eyes widened as he was coming closer and closer.

“What the bloody hell does that git want?” Sirius growled as he stood up and pulled out his wand and turned to face the door where Regulus would be coming in at any moment.

I quickly got up and ignored the minor pain in my side and placed my hand on Sirius’ shoulder, “Sirius! Put your wand away!” I whispered harshly. I then folded the map back up and shoved it into his pants pocket and reached over and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and shoved it into Sirius’ arms. “Go! Before you get caught!”

He turned and looked down at me, anger flashing in his eyes, “How can you still want to be with him after what he did to you on the field?” he shook his head.

“No- Sirius-”

He quickly put on the cloak and shoved passed me and I heard his footsteps head over to the door and I saw it open and slam close and I shut my eyes tightly and bit my lip and my stomach seemed to flip and heat up while my heart seemed to be pulling and twisting in different directions.

I sighed and sat down and hung my head but I quickly raised it when I heard the door open and I saw Regulus standing in the doorway looking at me with his dark eyes that held a bit of surprise. “You’re awake…” he said lightly as he began to walk over to me.

“Yeah, I tend to do that when I’m in pain.” I said lowly.

He sighed and sat down in the same place where Sirius had been sitting not too long ago. “Look… I’m sorry. I wanted to keep holding on but…”

“The Slytherins… and your parents.” I mumbled.

His eyes seemed to have darkened at the sound of his parents, “Yes…” he clenched his jaw.

I knew he felt something for me. But he couldn't show it because of what the Slytherins would say... and if his parents ever found out...

A part of me was mad that he cared so much about what other people thought of him. But I didn't know his parents. All I knew was what Lily told me about them. That they were cruel to Sirius when he lived there; so much that he ran away to live with James and his family. I couldn't imagine what they would do to Regulus if they found out he had feelings for a Gryffindor.

I slowly stood up and walked over to him and looked down at him as he slowly looked up and his dark gray eyes met my light green-blue eyes. I slowly leaned down as he slowly leaned his head back and finally our lips met and my stomach seemed to be flipping and my heart began to race faster and faster. My right hand was entangled in his dark hair, and my left was laying lightly where his neck and jaw met as his left hand sat lightly on my waist and his right his was placed lightly on my cheek, holding me there.

We kissed longer and more heated, unknowing that Sirius had been there watching for only a moment in the open doorway. A moment was all Sirius needed to see to send him running to the Gryffindor Tower, trying to run as fast as possible from the scene and from his heart as it seemed to begin to decay in his chest.