Title: To the Stars
Author: Tanarion
Rating: PG
Warnings: Rating is low for now, but I'll probably bump it up later for adult themes.
Summary: Snape stared in horror at the terrified wreck before him. Who is Sirius Black? the man's croak echoed in his ears.
Prologue.
He shivered, clutching the frail remains of the blanket closer to himself. The stone walls were old and the mortar had long since crumbled, leaving space for a chill wind to bite. For a moment he wondered just how old the building was and thought that he might have known at one point.
The ruin of a castle was hardly distinguishable anymore from the bleak rocks it was built upon, and totally uninhabited by any other living being save him and the seagulls that nested at the rocky cliffs below. When the hunger became too much to bear, he would stagger his way down there and clumsily try and catch one of the flighty things, or steal a few eggs from their nests. The first few times he had done this, he had vomited up the raw meat, but eventually his body had adapted.
The wind from off the sea blew through the broken walls of the castle and cut sharply into his bones. He shivered again, absently, and looked up into the night sky.
He hated the storms that sometimes came overnight, making the wind sharper and bringing the wet that he couldn't hide from. Or even worse, when it brought the explosions from his throat and nose and made his body too hot no matter how cold it was. The moon, too, didn't make him feel right. It made him want to howl with the wind whistling by, and something told him that he wasn't the kind to do that. The sun was almost the worst, blinding the eye, or tormenting with comforting warmth that disappeared in a crash of the sea's waves.
But the stars—oh, the stars were true companions. Gentle and always there; he never tired of watching their dance across the sky.
He even had a favorite. The brightest one of all, it always twinkled down so merrily, he rather fancied it to be a friend—he didn't really know what that meant, but it sounded nice, like going to sleep warm with a full stomach.
He stretched a hand out towards the sky, towards that star, his star, and smiled. "Si…rius." His voice was hoarse from long disuse and it was hard to force any sound out. "Sir…ius. Sirius." That sounded right, somehow. And more than that, it sounded important.
"Sirius."
He would remember.
Woo. That's a strange one. I know I should be working on Love is Blind, but-- but--!! I got this idea and had to tap it out. And then I realized it had the makings for a possibly decent story, so I thought to put it here to see what you guys think.
R&R!