Into The Fire.
Marching down the grimy alleyway, clutching a broomstick and dragging behind him a battered trunk full of his limited possessions, Sirius Black clenched his teeth tightly, trying against all odds to push away the feeling of crushing loneliness that was engulfing him as he moved under the dim glow of the rusting lamplights.
Holding his head up in a position of defiance against the world that insisted on being so cruel to him, he flicked a lock of dark hair out of his chocolate eyes – eyes that were gleaming with an odd mixture of fear, uncertainty, determination and pride.
The trunk rattled loudly as it was scraped along the damp road, the excruciating screech of metal on tarmac barely making an impact on its creator as he trudged along in his own world of thoughts and fears.
'Well Sirius mate, you've done it now...' He said to himself sternly, 'you've nowhere to go, no family to look after you and no money to live on – brilliant work.'
The events of the last hour-and-a-half flashed back on him in patches: his mother's screaming, his father's cursing, and his brother's sobbing as he sat in the corner and watched the commotion… The pain as his father's fists rained down on him, causing bruises and blood to erupt from his body… His mother's shrill, painful voice as she aimed hex after hex at him – her own son…
Shaking his shaggy head, Sirius tried to brush the images and emotions away, but they were relentless, making his stomach contract in anguish and his eyes to finally leak determined tears, trailing their way down his cheeks amidst the blood and bruising. Sitting down in the gutter, he covered his face with his hands, sobbing his heart out and crying as loudly as he could for the first time in fifteen years – even as a baby, his crying had earned him some kind of punishment, and he had learned quickly how to stifle his sobs.
Suddenly, a faint tinkling emitted from his trunk, causing him to look up.
Stopping his crying immediately and opening the luggage, he searched through until he found what was causing the noise – a small rectangular mirror.
'James?' he whispered as his best friend's face appeared in the glass.
'Padfoot, mate! How - oh my God!' James interrupted himself mid-sentence as his eyes met the sight of Sirius' bloodied face. 'What did they do to you?'
Sirius flashed him a grim smile that he held for as long as he could before breaking down again, dripping tears all over the mirror as he cried.
'I was outside on th-the drainpipe with my trunk and my broom, but Regulus caught me and told Mum… And she called Dad and they all came out… And when they asked what I was doing I told them I was escaping – leaving them all for good…' he started through the tears, '…and Dad climbed up the drainpipe and grabbed me and threw me down and when I landed on the ground, Mum started hexing me and I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get out… And now I have no idea where I am or where to go and I have no one Prongs, no one…'
His face contorted with fury, James' felt his heart wrench as he watched his best friend sob his heart out on the other side of the mirror.
'Mate, I swear that no matter how long it takes or how much trouble it gets me in, I am going to find you and bring you home, alright? You hear me? I swear.' He said solemnly, reaching out to touch the mirror with his fingertips.
Matching his fingertips to James' Sirius gave a sniff, before nodding bravely.
'Alright,' said James, 'Stay right where you are and I'll come to you as soon as possible.'
Nodding again, Sirius cracked a slight smile that faded away again as James' face disappeared from the glass.
Slipping the mirror into one of the pockets of his robes, Sirius re-locked his trunk and lay on his back on the asphalt, resting his head on the trunk and looking up at the ebony sky. Reaching out a hand, he traced the sky just as James' had showed him and found the star that he shared his name with, gleaming brightly among the other specks of translucent light. That's what he was – one star among billions of others, all wrapped up in a huge tapestry of velvety black.
Black.
That was a funny word to him.
It was a colour, a metaphor, his surname, and a family…
…A colour that was universally known as the shade of evil.
…A metaphor for someone or something of evil, malicious or bad nature.
…His surname – a part of his identity.
…And a family that had never loved him or wanted him – a family that he would never associate withagain.
'And now I'm alone I'm looking out, I'm looking in
Way down, the lights are dimmer
Now I'm alone I'm looking out , I'm looking in
Way down, the lights are dimmer…'
Hey folks!
You know the deal – R&R! please?
Just in case you didn't understand it – its meant to be the night that Sirius left his parents' house for good…
If you liked it… or you didn't… please let me know!
Oh, and the lyrics? 'Into The Fire' by Thirteen Senses…
It's the song that inspired this.
And I was listening to 'City Lights' by The Umbrellas, which was also inspirational.
Best wishes,
Ash xx