The Last Marauder Standing || Sirius Black

32-The New Seeker

I gasped, suddenly sitting up in bed, looking wildly around the room. My surroundings came into focus after a few seconds, and once I saw the three sleeping figures around me my heart rate began to slow to a normal pace. I looked down and noticed I had sweat through my tank-top, and a chill went through my body when the cool night air hit my damp skin.

The nightmares may not be as frequent as they used to be, but they were still just as terrifying. I haven't had one since the summer when I was home with Griselda and Sadie but felt completely alone.

I decided to get up, seeing as I wouldn't be going back to bed any time soon anyway. Besides, it was freezing up here. I needed the warmth of the fire downstairs. I checked the clock on my nightstand and realized it was almost three in the morning. At least it was the weekend.

I quickly changed into a dry t-shirt and headed out of the dorm room. I hesitated when I got to the stairs, looking up at the boy's dorms before me. The thought of sitting down here by myself with my thoughts sent a chill down my spine. I wouldn't be able to sleep, and I didn't want to be alone. I sighed and climbed the boy's stairs, remembering Sirius' offer he made the last time he caught me after having a nightmare.

I quietly knocked on their door at the top of the stairs, but when I pressed my ear to the wood I only heard silence and a few light snores. I opened the door slowly so it wouldn't creak too much and looked inside. I saw the sleeping figures of all four boys. I saw Remus shift and I froze in the doorway. He turned over so he was now facing me. His black eye healed well since that whole incident took place about two weeks ago. I waited until he was settled and fully asleep again before tip-toeing over to Sirius' bed.

I noticed the familiar sheets with golden snitches zooming around the fabric and smiled slightly. Reaching out my hand, I grabbed his shoulder and gently shook him. He groaned a bit and turned over to look at whoever was waking him up. I suddenly felt bad and embarrassed. I shouldn't be waking him up in the middle of the night, what was I thinking?

"Estella?" He whispered groggily, waking up a bit when he saw me. I bit my lip and shook my head.

"I'm so sorry... I-I'll go. Sorry..." I apologized awkwardly before turning to leave. He sat up and grabbed my hand, causing me to stop in my tracks and look back at him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked, a little more awake this time. I looked into his eyes and I knew he understood. "C'mon, let's go down to the common room," He told me, pulling back his covers to get out of bed. He wore sweatpants and a tight t-shirt, and I had to try my best to not stare at him as we left the room.

We made our way downstairs and took a seat beside each other on the couch in front of the fire. Sirius put his arm around me and I curled up next to him, enjoying the warmth he and the fire provided.

"Hopefully we're not too tired for the quidditch game" He mentioned, and I nodded, slightly preoccupied with my thoughts. I made the quidditch team two weeks ago, right after everything happened with Remus. I've been excited for this game seeing as it's the first one of the year, but I couldn't focus on anything other than my nightmare right now. Sirius must have noticed my silence so he spoke up again. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, as he always does when he finds me after a nightmare. I usually say no, but something made me think that maybe talking about it would help. Maybe talking about it would make them go away.

"It's always him... Voldemort" I whispered, shivering a bit when I said the name. Sirius pulled me in closer. "Standing over my bed. Watching me as I sleep. It's always like I'm seeing things from the third-person perspective like I'm outside my body. I see him starring at me, and Sadie is sleeping in the bed beside me. Then our parents burst in, but they're too late. I watch them die, every time" I shake my head, tears in my eyes as I relive it in my head. "But for some reason, I don't wake up as I did back then. Now I'm back inside my body, waiting for him to kill me too. I open my eyes and look up at him, and right as he pulls his wand on me I wake up" I bite my lip. "Sometimes it's different, like situations that never actually happened in real life. Sometimes my parents are calling out to me, asking me to save them, telling me everything is my fault. Sometimes I'm watching him kill Sadie and there's nothing I can do about it, but usually, it's my parents. Usually, I relive that night." I told him everything. He was silent for a moment, taking it all in.