The Sunrise of My Heart

When the morning finally came, everyone was already anxious to be getting ready and heading off for St. Mungo's. Mrs. Weasley arrived, looking worn and worried, but also looking hopeful. She smiled at all of her children, hugging them as they all ran over to her. I stood in the background with Harry and Sirius, watching the cheerful family without interfering on their privacy.

"Sirius," she said, breaking away from her children to smile at him, "I really can't thank you enough for letting them stay here for the night."

"It was my pleasure," Sirius assured her. "Listen, Molly, if you need, I'd be willing to let you all stay here until Arthur's better."

"Are you sure? It will be pretty crowded in here."

"The more the merrier," he said, smiling at her.

"Thank you," she said. Then, she moved over to Harry and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Harry, I don't know what we'd have done without you. If it weren't for you, they might not have found him in time, or he might have been found by the wrong people. You saved his life."

Harry looked flustered, and not all together too pleased to hear her words. I wondered why, and decided I'd badger him about it later.

"Riley, dear," Mrs Weasley said, noticing me. "What are you doing here?"

"I was sleep walking, and I ran into them on their way to Professor Dumbledore's office. McGonagall figured I might as well come too, since I'm a member of the Order. I also think she had me come since I'm..." I trailed off when I noticed George hit his head lightly, looking like he'd just realized something, and I rolled my eyes. "Uh, I'll get back to you on that," I said, moving over to George.

"I forgot to tell her," he whispered to me. "I'm sorry."

"Way to go," I muttered.

"Guess there's no time like the present to tell her," he said with a shrug.

"Well, the past would have been nice, but oh well," I joked.

"You should tell her, since you were about to. Or maybe I should, since I'm her son."

"It's not like it's a bad thing, I don't think it really matters who tells her."

"What exactly is all their whispering about?" Mrs. Weasley said to Sirius.

"George forgot to tell you that he's with Riley now," he answered with an audible smile.

"Or he can tell her," I said to George, laughing softly. Before I could say anything else, Mrs. Weasley was hugging me tightly.

"Oh, how wonderful, dear! George, why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm an idiot," George answered.

"Pretty much," I agreed with a smirk.

For a few minutes, we could forget about the terrible reason we were all here, and could just enjoy the company of each other. Sirius began making breakfast for everyone, and in that short amount of time, it was easy to pretend like we weren't about to go and visit a possibly-dying man in the hospital.

"Sirius, I need to talk to you," I heard Harry mutter to Sirius. They went off for a few moments, and then Sirius came back without Harry. Not much later, Harry came back, looking annoyed and confused.

After breakfast, I saw Harry walk away, going upstairs alone. I decided this would be my moment to ask him what was bothering him.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and get a bit of sleep before we see your dad," I said to George, smiling at him. He nodded, kissing me softly before letting me go.

Once I was upstairs, I made my way to the room I knew Harry would be in, and knocked softly on the door before entering.

"Riley," Harry said to me. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I was wondering what's been bothering you."

"What, you mean other than having had a vision of Ron's dad getting brutally attacked by a giant snake?" he asked sarcastically.

I sighed softly, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "Your temper is really awful lately. And yes, other than that. Something is obviously biting at you, gnawing on your mind relentlessly. Maybe if you tell someone about it, it'll help."

"Yeah, I tried that," he snapped. "I told Sirius. He just told me to get some sleep and not think about it."

"Okay, maybe if you try telling someone who will actually take you seriously. Like me. Come on, tell me."

"You mean like you've told me whatever it is about you that makes you so different from everyone else?" he challenged.

"That's different."

"How? How is it different?"

"It just is... I'm not emotionally strong enough to tell you yet. Especially not right now. But I am capable of listening to what's bothering you, and of trying to help you with it. So what aren't you telling everyone?"

"It's just... In the dream, I wasn't exactly watching the snake attack Mr. Weasley from the sidelines. It's like I... It's like I was the snake."

"Oh," I said. "Yeah, I can see how that would definitely bother you."

"And then, back in Dumbledore's office, there was a moment, when my eyes met Dumbledore's, and it felt like I was the snake again. I wanted to...to attack Dumbledore."

"Wow. So it's like you're somehow connected to the snake?"

"I don't know. I guess so. And you're right, my temper is really awful lately. I just feel angry all the time. I'm not sure what it is."

"Have you had other dreams like this one?"

"Not exactly. Mostly this year, I've been dreaming about this corridor, and how badly I want something that's in it."

"Whoa. Really? I've been dreaming about a corridor too."

"Is there a door at the end of yours?" he asked, sounding eager that someone else might share the same dream as him.

"No, there's nothing. It never ends, it has no windows, no doors, nothing."

"Mine is different. There's a door at the end, and I always want so badly to see what's behind the door, to reach it, but I'm not sure why."

"Maybe the two dreams are connected. The one with the snake, and the one with the corridor. I don't know how, but it's possible."

"Do you know what your dream means?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do. Mostly, it's from guilt. I couldn't save the one person who meant everything to me. I just watched him die."

"You mean your dad? Riley, you were ten. There was nothing you could have done."

I smiled sadly at him. "It's a bit more complicated than that. And I keep telling myself that I couldn't have saved him, but still, part of me isn't so sure."

"I have a question. Why didn't the werewolf attack you and your mother after he killed your father?"

"I think he was going to. I remember him turning to face me, looking like he really wanted to. But something in his gaze changed. It was like he was hearing some far-off voice that he couldn't ignore, and he left without harming either me or my mom."

"Do you think someone was controlling him? Maybe with the Imperius Curse?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm just not sure who. One of Voldemort's old followers, for sure. In a way, I don't ever want to know who it was. I mean, what would I do with that information? Get my revenge, kill the bastard who did it?"

"Well, yeah, that seems like the thing most people would do."

"And where would that leave me? Killing a murderer is still murder. It's still killing another human being."

"So you're saying killing Voldemort is wrong?"

"No, that's different. Voldemort has become so morphed by hatred and murder, he's no longer a human."

After a brief silence, Harry spoke again. "Riley, lately I've also been able to... To tell what Voldemort's feeling, if he's feeling a particularly strong emotion."

"Wow," I said softly.

"Why is this all happening to me?"

"Well, you are definitely connected to him in some way. I'm not sure how, or why, or where the snake comes into it, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that you somehow have a connection to Voldemort's mind. Creepy."

"Thanks. That makes me feel so much better, knowing you think I'm creepy."

"Get some sleep, cranky," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'll come and wake you when we're about to leave."

"Alright," he muttered, laying down on the bed and closing his eyes.

I walked away, going, not downstairs, but into Regulus's room. I stared around at all of the things on his walls, and wondered what he would be like today if he were still alive. I knew he had been a Death Eater for awhile, but I was also certain he had turned away from them in the end.

"You always come here, don't you?" Sirius asked, walking up behind me.

"Yeah. I just can't help but wonder about him, and what he'd be like if he were still alive."

"Probably just as horrible as ever," Sirius answered.

"I don't think so," I argued. "I think he'd have been different."

"Well, he's gone now. You can't change the past."

"No, you really can't," I said softly.