black hole sun • remus lupin

"Sweet Child O' Mine"

Harry Potter had a guardian angel.

Well, he wasn't sure that she was actually an angel, but she watched over him nonetheless.

The first time he remembers seeing her he was sure he had seen her before. Her eyes were so, so very familiar, he had sworn he had looked into them in the past. He had seen those eyes in his dreams, hadn't he?

He was five, or maybe six, and it was late. He wasn't in his cupboard that night, but out on the swing porch, staring at the night sky and hugging his blanket to his chest. He was crying. He cried a lot at night, and sometimes his wails were so loud that they woke his family up. That usually ended with yelling and scolding, so whenever he felt a cry coming about, he tip toed outside to the porch and rocked himself to calmness.

That night he was looking at the stars as tears rolled down his cheeks, when he heard a crack sound from across the lawn. His attention turned from the sky to the lawn, where it was too dark for him to see anything beyond the grass and outline of the neighbors house. He heard a gasp and then the ruffling of clothing. As quickly as he could he put on his glasses, then he swore he saw a white tail from behind a bush.

"Hello?" He called but received no answer. "Anyone there?"

He heard more rustling, and then, suddenly, a woman was walking towards him, a woman who he swore he had seen before.

Her bright eyes were so, so wide as she stared at him, and she wore strange clothes and a hood over her head.

She was standing by the stairs leading up to the house. She was just staring. Harry wasn't sure what to do, but he didn't feel scared. No, he was sure this black haired angel wasn't there to scare him.

"Haz, shouldn't you be in bed?" The woman then asked, still unblinking, grey boring into green.

He scrunched up his nose. "Haz? Whose Haz?" He looked around, but no one else was there.

Her frown lifted a small bit. "You're Haz. Why are you out here all alone?"

"I couldn't sleep. Too many people yellin' in my head."

She tilted her head and started up the few short stairs. "In your head?"

He hugged his blanket to him. "When I sleep I see pictures and hear people yellin' in my head."

She was standing right in front of the porch swing now, looking down at him. For some reason young Harry couldn't explain, he desperately wanted her to sit beside him. "Those are dreams."

"Oh."

"Can I sit?" He nodded quickly and scooted the the side. She sat beside him slowly and looked at him. "What do you dream about, Haz?"

He smiled at the name she was calling him. "Oh, dunno. A lady with apple hair sometimes, yellin'. And sometimes a man with brown skin like mine yellin' and then a scary light. And sometimes giraffes. And snakes, a lotta snakes. And sometimes you, I think."

"I'm in your dreams?"

"I think. Sometimes you're in my room and put your hand on my cheek." He took her hand and put it on his cheek. She immediately began running her thumb along his soft skin. "I think it's you. Looks like you, yeah. Feels like you. Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?"

He smiled up at he and leaned into her side, wrapping his short arms round her middle. "You're my guardian angel, aren't you? Have you come to take me away?"

She stiffened under him and gulped. "No, Haz. I can't take you away just yet. You have to stay here for a bit longer."

He frowned. "But, why? How come? Aren't you my guardian angel?"