The Sunrise of My Heart

Later, after Draco and I had returned to our own rooms, I lay in bed, unable to sleep. Each time sleep would come near, terrible visions would enter my mind and I would sit up, wide awake again. Finally, after about three hours of this, I realized I wasn't going to get any sleep, so I crept out of bed and into the hall way. While wandering the school, I happened to bump into Harry Potter, also sneaking around in the dark.

"Harry. What are you doing up at this hour?" I asked.

"How did you know I was there??" Harry asked, shocked.

"Harry, you're invisible, not silent. And I have impeccable hearing. Plus the edge of the robe is caught on the hem of your pants."

"Oh, thanks." He fixed it, becoming completely invisible, leaving me to only guess about where he was by sound.

"So, you never told me what you're doing out and about right now," I pointed out.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk."

"Cool. Me too. Does this happen to you often?"

"Increasingly, yeah. How often does does it happen to you?" he asked.

"All the time. I just usually don't get up. But tonight, I was restless."

Harry grew silent, surveying me in a way that was much closer than before. "The full moon's tomorrow night, you know," he said in what I could tell was supposed to be a casual way.

"I know. I monitor the days until the next full moon."

"Any particular reason why?" His voice was again too casual, too light, and I could guess at what he was thinking.

"Harry, you nim twit, I'm not a werewolf. You know that I know Sirius. Well, I know Rem too. And as such, I know all about his 'furry little problem'. I count down the days so I can try to send him help. Potions and such, made by Professor Snape, that help to take the edge off the curse."

"Oh. So you know Remus too? How?"

"The same way I know Sirius. My dad was friends with them back when they were in school, and then my mum became friends with them when she and my dad got together. Ever since then, they've kept a pretty close relationship, so I know both Remus and Sirius. Had they lived, I'd have known your parents too, and we probably would have grown up seeing a whole lot more of each other."

"Interesting..." he said.

We both grew very silent, very suddenly. Why? Because we could hear Filch coming down the hallway, talking to Mrs. Norris. "What is it, my sweet? Are there children out of bed?"

"Crap," I breathed, not sure how I was going to get out of this one. Before I could move, fabric ruffled over my head, and I found myself inside the invisibility cloak with Harry.

"Do you think we could try to sneak away before they get to us?" he whispered.

"It's worth a shot," I agreed, and we silently crept off down the hallway in the opposite direction from where they were coming. After a few minutes, we were in the clear, and I stepped from the cloak.

"Thanks. My butt was pretty much toast back there," I said.

"Don't worry about it."

"Where are we, anyways? It might be helpful to know so I can eventually make my way back to bed."

"We are... In a dark corridor in Hogwarts." Harry frowned, looking around.

"Well crap, you don't know either. If only I could remember what we did with that stupid, bloody map..."

"You mean this one?" Harry pulled the Marauders Map from his jacket pocket, showing it to me.

"Yes! Where did you get it?"

"Fred and George gave it to me. How do you know about it?"

"Fred and George are my partners in crime. If they know about something, I know about it too."

After we found out we were only on the third floor, I felt much more relieved knowing I wouldn't have to walk all the way across the school to get back to bed.

"Riley, can I ask you something without you getting annoyed?"

"Probably not, but ask anyways. I'll get over it."

"What did you see in Draco that made you like him so much when you were dating him?" Harry asked.

"Um you're not asking out of..." I started.

"What, jealousy? No. Don't worry, I have no feelings for you in that way. I just don't get it."

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. You see, you know the side of him that he shows to the rest of the world. The tough, careless, harsh, bad-ass, rich boy. That's how everyone sees him because that's who he shows them. But I've seen another side of him, one that's funny and caring, and even gentle at times. And I not only liked the bad boy side, I also liked the sweeter side. It was like two really great people combining into one person, and both of them cared about me, and I cared about both of them. It seems complicated, I know..."

"I see..."

"Hey, why can't you sleep?" I asked randomly.

"Haunted by memories I don't actually remember, if that makes sense."

"Yeah, I get it."

"Why can't you sleep?" he asked me.

"Haunted by memories I don't want to remember."

"Like what?"

"Well... Like, my father dying, and how depressed my mother was afterward. Or of the first time I witnessed Rem's change, or thoughts of your parents' deaths. They all haunt me because they're all filled with a pain that affects not only me, but those that I care about."

"Oh... I'm sorry, that sounds really tough."

"Eh, I don't need sleep anyway. It's much funner at night too, so it works out fine. But now that it's almost sunrise, I'm going to bed. Good night Harry, I'll see you in the morning."

I walked away, silently creeping down to the Slytherin common room and back to my bed. As I crawled into bed, I was startled to feel a few tears slide from my eyes at memories of things I'd lost and could never regain.