A/N: This is a very dark AU, and shows what might have happened if Lucius Malfoy decided to get a little revenge on Severus' behalf. Content warnings for violence on this one.
o.o.O.o.o
Pain was the first thing that reached through the haze of unconsciousness and dragged Sirius back into the land of the living. His head was throbbing and each beat of his heart made the pressure swell behind his eyes. The next thing to filter through his muddled senses was that he was tied up, wrists behind his back, and he was lying face down on something hard, possibly stone. It was too dark to tell. The last thing he remembered was leaving the Leaky with James after a long evening of drinking to celebrate completing their Auror training. James had apparated away, and Sirius had been considering if he was sober enough to do the same…but after that it was all just blank.
He could hear footsteps, the scuff of leather soles over stone, and his mouth went dry. He was trussed up like a bloody turkey, and clearly someone had left him like this.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the infamous Sirius Orion Black, named for the Dog Star in the Canis Major constellation…apropos considering the rabid cur you've grown to be. I wonder if your parents regret their unfortunate name choice." A cultured tone smoothed through the darkness, an all too familiar one.
"Malfoy," Sirius hissed. "Let me go!"
"I don't think so, and that will be enough of what I'm sure would be extremely witty retorts. Silencio." His voice caressed the incantation, and just like that Sirius' voice was stolen from him. "I must admit a certain fascination with you and your friends, the so-called Marauders." His footsteps circled Sirius' prone body, the only other sound apart from the steady cadence of his voice. "The bright golden lions, banding together to unleash havoc on an unsuspecting student body. You were so pleased with yourselves and happy to rub your apparent free-reign in everyone's faces. Did you truly never think that one day your sins would be revisited on you?"
Sirius swallowed past the lump in his throat. In the darkness, Malfoy's words seemed to grow a life of their own, circling him like a pack a wolves. No, this was ridiculous. James would find him, and they'd lock Malfoy up in Azkaban where he belonged. Filthy Snake. Maybe they'd have a little fun with him first, see how the ponce liked being tied up and toyed with. He was an Auror, damn it! Not even Malfoy was arrogant enough to think he could kidnap him and get away with it.
"The problem is, you and James Potter hurt someone I happen to care about. You singled him out, not because he had offended you or harmed you in anyway, no you singled him out because he was weak, friendless, poor, and lesser than you. You didn't think anyone would care if you tormented the half-blood son of a known blood traitor. You never thought for a single moment that someone might value him enough to one day hold you accountable. You thought wrong, Black."
Sirius tried to scream as he was flung across the room into an unyielding stone wall. The silencing spell felt like it was trying to crush his voice box the harder he fought it, like trying to swallow crushed glass. Malfoy soon had him chained to the wall, though how he could see was beyond him. He felt a hand trace down his chest and he tried to jerk away, but there was very little give in his restraints.
"Are you starting to understand now, Black?" Lucius chuckled. "Unlike Severus, there is nothing special about you. You're nothing, just a bully and a braggart. It's unsurprising that you chose to become an Auror; they are nothing but hired thugs with badges. The boy you tormented for years is brilliant, talented, and driven. I've never seen skill like his and he will change this world with the work he will do during his life."
Sirius tried to cry out again as Malfoy dug his nails into the skin of his abdomen and dragged them down, clawing into him until blood welled up in the wounds and began to trickle down his skin.
"So I'll make you a deal, Black. If you can break through my silencing spell and tell me to stop…I will."
Sirius began to panic, trying to force a sound out through the spell, but it held firm, choking him with its strength. A hot stab of pain hit him, a stinging hex striking his side, just above his hip. Instantly, he understood why Malfoy was doing this to him. His sins really had come back to haunt him. He and James had done this to Snivellus, the night before their final leaving feast. They'd caught him in the dungeons and dragged him into an unused corridor. They'd silenced him, tied him up, and taken turns hexing him. They'd even taunted him with almost the same words.
'Just tell us to stop and we will, or else we'll think you like it, Snivellus. You do like it don't you?'
Sirius felt tears slipping down his cheeks, a wave of shame hitting him almost as cruelly as the hexes Malfoy was layering onto him. The punishment continued, with slicing hexes now added to the mix. The coppery tang of blood filled the air and mixed with the damp earthy smell that seemed to permeate the space.
"Did you know, when you locked him in that cupboard, that his mother had been killed the day before? That you only caught him in the halls because he was distracted by thoughts of her funeral?"
Only silence answered Lucius' questions, but in his head Sirius was screaming, 'No!' He hadn't known, but then would he have honestly cared? Snivellus wasn't a person to them in their school days, still wasn't really; he was just a target or an amusement, something to wind up until he exploded.
"He never told a soul about the things you did to him. I'd never have known, if not for seeing the scars." Lucius' voice grew soft for a moment. "Being blasted off the Black family tree is a fitting fate for you, but so much less than you deserve. You broke something in my friend that night, and so let me assure you Sirius Black, that I will break something in you before you ever see the light of day again."
Sirius' head snapped to the side in response to the vicious backhand, tiny white starbursts filled his vision…the only break in the unrelenting darkness.
"Remember, all you need to do is tell me to stop."
With that simple cruel taunt, Sirius Black was lost to darkness and never-ending silence.
~Fin
