Itoshii Sune-ku

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


Itoshii Sune-ku
Chapter 13:Musouka.

(Dreamer)

"I'm here again. Why am I here?" Harry looked around at the bare, cold and damp cell. It looked as if it was from a dungeon. A thread-bare cot in one corner, an old, stone sink basin in another, and old, rusted bars in the front. And the man was there again, too. Curled up underneath the cot, dressed in a ragged grey robe, tangled and dirt covered, mid-back length black hair. Thin beyond belief, even worse than Harry himself. The man was curled up in a ball, looking out at Harry with dark, dull blue eyes that almost looked like a dark greyish.

"You're here again. Why are you here?" The dark man rasped, voice sounding strained from lack of use, or excess, Harry couldn't tell. Everyone else in this haunted place was screaming. But Harry was rather shocked. The man, the same man that had always been there in these dreams, was talking to him. That meant this man could see him. Hear him. This had never happened before. He had always just sat down in the cold and watched the man. He had told the man his name, and at first had talked to him a lot. But he never answered. Not once. So, Harry gave up, and just sat, and watched.

He watched the man cry, without making a sound.
He watched the man huddle in a corner when a woman would scream at him, calling him 'cousin.' Then watched as the man yelled back at the woman, taunting her about her 'master.' Harry didn't understand that. He watched as the demons came to torment the man. Watched as the demons tore away at the man's soul. Watched as the man withered even more. But he had never watched the man speak. Yell, yes. Scream his throat raw, yes. And mumble in his sleep, yes. But he had never talked. Not to him, anyway. He had been here so many times that he was used to it. He had watched everything the man went through, and he was used to it.

But something puzzled the small green eyed boy. Why was this man here? This place was horrible. Harry could understand why the others were here, the others didn't feel right. Like they were wrong, that this was their punishment. But this man didn't feel wrong. He felt right. Good. He even felt safe. So it stands to reason why Harry didn't understand why he was there.

Coming out of his musings, Harry stared at the man underneath the cot, tilting his head, like a puppy. The man chuckled, and Harry blinked.

"Why am I here? I don't know. Why are you here? You don't belong here any more than I do." Harry questioned him.

"How do you know I don't belong here?" He coughed.

"I might have killed many people to end up here." Harry tilted his the other way, still scrutinizing the ragged man.

"You don't feel like everyone else in this place. You feel good. Safe. Like I can trust you with everything I hold, and you wouldn't betray me." The man watched as his little guest's eyes grew haunted. No kid should have eyes like that. And if this boy truly was Harry, his Harry, then who ever caused his godson that much pain, would pay. He watched as the boy's eyes refocused on him.

"A boy your age shouldn't have so many shadows." He stated in his raspy voice, trying to sound light-hearted. Harry chuckled darkly, and he started.

"Shadows are my friends. Just as the spiders in my cupboard are my friends. Just as the snakes lying beside my head on my pillow are my friends." 'Snakes?' He thought to himself. 'He likes snakes and spiders? Well, all kids his age likes creepy crawlies.'

"I wonder if the demons would be my friends, too. They seem to like me." It was true. The demons in this place did seem to like him. They would always look at him, as if they saw him, and reach out their scabbed, decayed hands, and just wave at him. He didn't know if that was considered a friendly gesture, but....

"They have no friends. They like to torture people. Like eating away at people's souls. That's just what they are..." The man trailed off, eyes unfocused. Harry didn't want him to go back, didn't want him to stop talking to him. He just didn't want to be alone.

"Don't go." He started violently, and Harry raised a brow.

"I'm still here. You shouldn't leave me here. Please, don't leave me here?" Harry knew he sounded like a kid. Like a six year old. He couldn't help it. He watched as the man moved stiffly from underneath the cot. He stood, stretched, and then sat back down on top of the cot this time. He motioned for Harry to sit.

"Sit down. Tell me your name." So, Harry moved hesitantly forward, sitting on the far side, away from the corner. He wanted to be able to escape, if need be. He stared. The man stared back.

"I'm Harry, sir. Harry Potter. But I already told you that, a long time ago. But you wouldn't talk to me, then. Who are you?" Harry asked, curiously.

"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black. Are you really Harry Potter? What's your middle name?" There was an odd glitter in the man's, Sirius' eyes. Something like hope.

"Aunt Petunia said my middle name's James. She said it was my father's name." Sirius smiled, brighter than any smile Harry had seen.

"Did you know, Harry, that I knew your father? And your mother?" Harry's eyes widened. No wonder he was here!! Sirius watched as Harry's eyes widened, and a smile spread across his face. The older man's eyes brightened considerably, turning an almost pale blue. Harry smiled into those nearly pale blue eyes.

"You remind me of the man that sang me to sleep once. He was nice. He felt...Safe. I liked him. He had eyes like you. Well, sort of. His were really pale. Like blue, but very nearly grey." Sirius' eyes widened.

"Was his name...Padfoot?" He asked, faintly. Harry's smile widened.

"Did you know him, too? Do you know his name? His real name? I only know him as Padfoot, and I was wondering what the song he sang to me meant. It was in a different language and I could never seem to find out what language it was in. Even if I study a lot of different languages. I didn't learn them much, though--I was just looking for the words in the song and--"

"Harry." Sirius interrupted. Harry looked sheepish for a moment before nodding, and apologizing. Sirius sighed, how was he going to tell Harry that he, a falsely convicted murderer was, not only Padfoot, but also his godfather.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. I can always go back to just sitting in the corner." Harry said, looking dejected at Sirius' sigh, mistaking it for annoyance.

"No! Don't! I mean, it's just, I'm a little confused at the moment. Plus, I'm not all there in the head, ya know. Five years in Azkaban kinda does that to ya." He sounded desperate.

"What's Azkaban? Is that this place? I thought it was some kind of dungeon." Harry said, looking around curiously.

"Azkaban is the wizards' prison. It's where wizards and witches who have committed crimes go. I figured you'd be really scared of this place. You're only six, right? Almost seven?" Sirius added, still not quite sure of the date. Harry's eyes gained those shadows again.

"I'm not afraid of much, anymore. Unless you count the male species. Haven't you wondered yet, why I'm sitting so far from you?" Sirius took a sharp breath. He had been wondering. But he chalked it up to Harry not knowing him. Well, other than watching him scream at Lestrange and trying to get away from the Dementors. Why would Harry be afraid of men? 'Oh no....'

"Harry, why are you afraid of the male species?" Sirius looked at Harry anxiously, and Harry stared back shrewdly. Wondering if he could trust this man. His little voice told him he could, but that didn't mean anything. There was always the off chance that it could be wrong. For once...

"My uncle, Vernon, doesn't like me too much. Or, better yet, he likes me a little too much." There. Let's see what Sirius got out of that. Sirius looked horrified. Harry hadn't expected that. Sirius looked horrified, and furious. Harry hadn't expected that, either.

"Did he rape you?!?!" Harry really hadn't expected that!!

"No!! Well, I really wouldn't put it past him, he does look at me rather funnily. But that's not the point!! I'm sorry! I didn't realize how my words could be interpreted. I should have been a little more careful in choosing my words. I'll do better next time. I promise!!" Harry said, desperately, blushing furiously.

It took a few minutes for Sirius to calm down enough to ask his next question. And when he did, his voice was trembling and hoarse.

"Then what did that muggle do to you?!?"

Harry cringed. He really didn't want to answer that. But, if he must, he'd do it the easy way. But truthfully, Harry didn't even know why he was bothering. Maybe it was because Sirius sounded to concerned, or maybe furious on his behalf. He couldn't tell.

Sirius watched as his godson stood up and, back facing him, began to fiddle with the front of his blue pajama shirt.

"Will you not yell at me? I don't like it when people yell at me."

"Who does...?" Sirius trailed off as Harry turned to face him, pajama shirt open and revealing the small boy's chest. The small boy's scarred chest. Sirius stared at the criss crossing scars across his godson's chest. 'He looks like Remus after a full moon...' Sirius thought to himself with a pang in his chest.

"What happened to you?" Sirius choked out, not able to talk properly.

"I got in trouble." Harry shrugged, as if it were nothing. And to him, it was nothing. He just needed to get over his male-phobia and he would be all right. And he told Sirius so.

"And you think that's nothing?!" Sirius ground out. Harry shrugged again.

"It is nothing to me. All I need to do is get over my male-phobia, and I'll be all right." Harry thought a moment, before grinning impishly.

"Well, I'll probably grow up to be a cynical little bugger, but other than that--hey!" Sirius had thrown a wadded up grey sheet at Harry's head. It bounced off, and Harry's body shimmered faintly. Neither noticed.

"How can it be nothing?! That--! That muggle does enough damage to you to scar you! And those are old scars! They're not even scabbed!! I won't have it! As your godfather, I swear on my own family name that I'll break out of this blasted prison and kidnap you away from them! I swear it!!" Sirius looked so furious, and so pleased with his idea, that Harry hadn't the heart to tell him that he had already been kidnapped. Well, technically he had been kidnapped with permission from his Aunt Petunia, but hey, he didn't need to know that.
Harry cleared his throat to get the panting man's attention. Sirius looked down at him, and Harry sighed.

"Gosh, I feel like such a midget." He muttered, but Sirius heard him anyway, and blinked.

"Oh and, what was that you said about being my godfather?" Harry asked slyly. He took a great amount of pleasure in the resulting blush on Sirius' deathly pale cheeks. He started stuttering then, and Harry began to laugh.

"Oh, by the way, not to ruin your righteous fury or anything but, I've already been kidnapped away. I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron at the moment. I have a new family. They're really nice, and Amaryssein is teaching me Japanese. That's where we'll be living from now on. Well, somewhere in Kyoto." Sirius blinked a couple times, and then demanded Harry explain. So he did.

He explained how Rhapsody had found him, and stitched a few of his bones together. How they had talked with Aunt Petunia, and decided that he would go with her and her family. He explained how they had walked for so long, and met the excitable Ajalaa, the quiet, perceptive Amaryssein, the kittenish Serena, and the quiet, calculating Tremaine. How they had gone to Diagon Alley, and their visit to Gringotts and the cart ride. The book shop visit. The apothecary visit, and the magical pet shop. How Rhapsody had bought him three snakes of his own choosing, for his birthday, no less. Harry also explained how he could talk to snakes, and he wasn't even part snake like Rhapsody.

This went on for hours, Harry telling Sirius any and everything he could think of, and Sirius then telling Harry any and everything he could think of. By the end of it, when Harry could feel that certain detachment that signaled his dream was over, Harry told Sirius he had to go. But that he knew he would be back. As always, Harry always returned. Every other night he would appear in Sirius Black's cell. Ever since he was four, he would appear and just watch. But now he had someone to talk to. A godfather, at that.

So, Sirius promised he wouldn't break out to kidnap him, but he would try and work on breaking out. Hopefully it would only take a few years. He had to work on turning into his counterpart. Harry bid his godfather farewell, and when he next opened his eyes, Amaryssein was staring down at him, an odd little smile lighting up her usually dark violet eyes.

"Welcome back, Dreamer."

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I'm working on the Japanese. I'm still learning. Only started a few months ago....Sorry....
Oh, and, Snape will show up when they get to Japan. I'm working on something really neat to go with that. ^^