The Sunrise of My Heart

The days passed in a constant blur of classes, homework, being with George, and pretending like the nightmares I was having every night didn't bother me. I also spent a lot of my energy on pretending like I didn't still have feelings for Draco. But that was hard to do when we were in the same House.

For the most part, I managed to avoid him -and most of the other Slytherins- by spending all of my free time with the Gryffindors during the day and by going to bed late each night. By the time I got to my bed, Pansy and my other roommates were already asleep, which was how I preferred it.

Each night, I was having dreams similar to the two I'd had in the dark, abandoned corridor. Lately, my dreams usually just consisted of me being in that corridor alone, feeling lost and helpless. It doesn't seem that bad, but feeling that helpless for any amount of time is definitely not fun. Plus, they just really bothered me for some reason. Sometimes, I would have more dreams like the first two, where someone was in the hallway with me, talking to me. Those dreams were the worst. I either awoke crying because I couldn't keep the person there with me, or because the person there with me was someone I never wanted to see again, not even in my dreams.

I was also sleep walking a lot more lately. My dreams made me so restless, and often so desperate to escape, that I would wake up to find myself on one of the highest floors of the building, out of breath as if I had really been running. Thankfully, despite my restless nights, I still managed to make good grades in my classes.

One night when I was sleeping, my dream was slightly different than usual. Instead of being in a dark corridor with nothing else in it, I was in a room slightly bigger than one of the classrooms at Hogwarts. There were two sets of chains on the walls, one to my left and one to my right. I stood in the middle of the room, still completely alone, and stared silently at the horrible place. This room, I knew, had seen many terrible things, and had been the scene of deaths. And as I stood there, those deaths called out to me, begging to be made known. But I couldn't stay there. Searching desperately for a door, I ran out of the room, praying that nothing would follow me. As I ran, I heard distant footsteps getting closer to me. They sounded like they belonged to at least three people, and all of them were walking quickly. I continued to run, not wanting to see who the footsteps belonged to. But instead of running away from them, I ran right into them. With a yelp, I fell backwards, staring at the ground so I wouldn't have to see who was in front of me.

"Riley?" a comforting, familiar voice said in confusion. It was this point that I realized I was no longer in the hallway outside that awful room, but in a corridor at Hogwarts.

"George," I said in relief, standing up and brushing myself off.

"What are you doing here?" He was standing with Fred, Ginny, and Professor McGonagall.

"I was sleep walking. What are you doing here?"

"I'm not really sure. Something to do with our dad," he answered. I finally realized how worried he looked, and I wondered what could have happened to Mr. Weasley.

"Professor, what--?" I began, but she cut me off.

"Seeing as you're a member," Here, she meant a member of the Order, or course, "you might as well just come with us. Come on, hurry."

And so, casting curious glances at George, I followed Professor McGonagall to Dumbledore's office, where he, Harry, and Ron were waiting inside.

"Miss Carson," Dumbledore said pleasantly to me. "Sleep walking again?"

"Always," I answered, shrugging softly to blow it off as nothing. "So what's going on? Why are we all here?"

"Your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix," he said to the Weasleys. "He has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am sending you all back to Sirius's house, which is much more convenient for the hospital than the Burrow. You will meet your mother there."

Everyone began discussing how we would be getting to Sirius's house, but all I could concentrate on was one single train of thoughts. Their father had been brutally attacked. He probably looked awful and bloody. He was being rushed to St. Mungo's immediately to try and save his life. And as I thought this, I was reminded painfully of seeing my father die when I was just ten.

I sighed softly, wondering if Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and all of the other Weasley children were going to have to lose their father the same way I'd had to lose mine. Looking up, I noticed Dumbledore was looking at me. I smiled softly, as if to say, 'I'm okay,' and then looked away because those blue eyes were just too penetrating, and I was afraid I'd see the answer 'No you're not' reflected within them.

"Are you okay?" I murmured to George, grabbing his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"I think so," he whispered back. "I just hope he'll be fine."

"He will be," I answered, making my voice sound sure even though I wasn't so convinced that my words were the truth. "No matter what, I'll be by your side the entire time."

"Thanks," he said, smiling at me.

Finally, it was time to go. Dumbledore had turned one of the kettles in his room into a portkey, which we were using to get to Grimmauld Place. When we arrived, I noticed we were in the kitchen, and that it was very dark. From somewhere nearby, I could hear Kreacher muttering about how filthy we all were, daring to contaminate his mistress's house with our presence.

"OUT!" a familiar voice roared. I looked around, smiling when I saw Sirius. He was hurrying towards us, looking anxious. He was unshaven and still had his day clothes on, despite the late hour. "What's going on?" he asked as he came over. "Phineas Nigellus said Arthur's been badly injured--"

"Ask Harry," Fred responded.

"Yeah, I want to hear this for myself," George agreed. Ginny, Fred, and George all turned to stare at Harry. I followed suit, as did Sirius. Catching Harry's eye, I gave him an encouraging smile before he began his tale.

"It was--" He cut off, apparently trying to think of the right words to say. He looked very uncomfortable. "I had a...a kind of...vision..." He told us how he had seen the giant snake slithering towards Arthur, how it had attacked him, sinking huge fangs into his skin again and again. With each account of an attack, George would squeeze my hand a little harder, his face filled with horror.

After that, Ginny suggested going to St. Mungo's right away, but Sirius declined that motion.

"You can't go tearing off to St. Mungo's!" he said.

And thus an argument started. Fred and George argued harshly with Sirius, saying he was their dad, and they had a right to see him right then. But Sirius was saying that there was no way they could really know what had happened yet, and them arriving too soon would look suspicious, especially on Harry's part.

"Your father knew what he was getting into, and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order!" Sirius said angrily. "This is how it is. This is why you're not in the Order. You don't understand. There are things worth dying for!"

"Easy for you to say, stuck here!" Fred shouted. "I don't see you risking your neck!"

All of the color drained from Sirius' face, and I honestly thought he was about to hit Fred. Instead, however, he shoved his rage down and said in a forced calm, "I know it's hard, but we've all got to act as though we don't know anything yet. We've got to stay put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?"

Rather grudgingly, Fred and George sat down at the table, George pulling me down beside him without even realizing it. I looked up and realized Sirius's eyes were on me. He looked at George, then back to me, and raised his eyebrows. Blushing just a smidge, I nodded. He gave a light smile and nodded, as if giving his approval of this boyfriend over my last one.

"Now let's all have a drink while we're waiting," he said to everyone. "Accio butterbeer!" Seven bottles of butterbeer flew out of the pantry, landing neatly in front of all of us. For a few minutes, the only sound was of sipping and the clunking of glass being set down on wood. Then, making everyone look up in surprise, a burst of flame appeared in the air above the middle of the table, dropping a piece of parchment before disappearing.

"Fawkes," Sirius said at once, snatching up the parchment. "It's a message from your mother. Here," he said, handing the letter to George.

George ripped it open and read aloud, "Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum." After a brief pause in which he returned his trembling hand to mine, he added, "Still alive... But that makes it sound..."

"As though his fate's uncertain," I whispered softly. As though he might die at any moment, leaving them lost and fatherless, I added in my thoughts.

The rest of the night passed in silence, with all of us sitting around the table, hardly moving at all. No one could sleep at first, but Fred finally dozed off into a light slumber, and Ron had his head in his hands, possibly sleeping. Although it was impossible to tell with his head lowered like that. George wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I leaned against him, wishing there was something I could do to make him feel better. The hours ticked agonizingly slowly by as we all waited for the morning to come...