Prologue
"You have a choice. Live or die. Every breath is a choice. Every minute is a choice. To be or not to be."
- Chuck Palahniuk
Sirius Black stood in the remains of his little house, completely immobilised. It was not, for once, the effects of a magical spell that rendered him incapable to move. Rather, he was frozen; trapped in his own limbs by the enormity of the decision that lay before him. The decision that was going to change his life for the worse either way he chose. And he had to choose. He had to choose quickly before his choice was taken away from him.
Sirius' wide, alert eyes darted around the room, searching. It was difficult to see through the haze of smoke and the bright jets of light emitted by the duelling wands around him. Finally, he found what he had been searching for through the raging battle. Her. Only her hair and wide, frightened eyes were visible above behind which she was crouching. Sirius was, for a moment, completely consumed by guilt and a savage self-loathing. She was not meant to be here in the midst of this battle. It was his fault that she was here. Were it not for him, she would not have been in any danger at all.
All of her attention was focused on Sirius, even as the tall figure draped in black and wearing a mask loomed closer to her out of the shadows of the staircase. Sirius snapped out of his stupefied state and motioned frantically to her as he aimed his wand at the Death Eater closing in on her. She shook her head at Sirius, her eyes filled with misery although she had the small attempt at a smile plastered onto her face. Ever so slightly, she nodded.
The masked figure sniggered at the exchange that had taken place between them. He pointed his wand in her direction, still laughing.
The scream that unwillingly escaped her mouth as the Death Eater tortured her was full of helplessness. It was a scream that filled Sirius' entire body with a raging anger and broke his heart at the same time. Sirius leapt forward, his mind made up by her.