November 3rd 1981

Sirius landed on his bed, hard, as he jolted into wakefulness. It was as though his soul had been drifting and was thrust back into his body with a forceful hand. He thought he'd read about it somewhere; astral projection, he thought it might've been called, but he shook this thought away while the dementors made their morning rounds.

He heard his stomach rumble from the lack of food, grey eyes slipping closed. Pretend it's all a bad dream He told himself. Pretend you're on your own again, and when you open your eyes, you'll be at James and Lily's playing with Harry. He opened his eyes, a smile on his face which quickly fell when his thoughts deceived him for the thousandth time in the past few days; the damp eerie walls staring back at him as though they had a thousand boring eyes that could see into his very soul, his every thought and dream.

As the weeks drug on, he slowly came to realize that it was going to take quite an amount of strength to survive this place, he felt worthless, but the hope of maybe someday starting a life with Harry got him through, until the dementors took that away too.

He lifted his head when he heard the clanking of metal as his cell was opened by a lithe skeletal hand. He shuddered, the cold shackles that were magiced onto his wrists and ankles causing him to rise, walking out his cell door to fall in line with the rest of the inmates who were also shackled, and today he just so happened to be placed beside a very familiar face, one he wished he didn't recognize as her heavy lidded eyes slowly drug along his frame, a maniacal sort of grin twisting her face.

"Sirius Black!" She crowed. "My dear cousin, you've finally done your mother proud!"

"Hardly," Sirius replied, his voice slightly rough from misuse. "I'd off myself before I sought that woman's approval."

Bellatrix cackled noting Sirius's demeanor, it was like gold to her, she could finally, after all these years, get under his skin as much as she pleased and he couldn't escape her.

"Auntie sent me an owl yesterday," She said in a rather acidic sort of sing-song voice. "She told me she would've paid to see James and Lily's faces right before the Dark Lord took their lives. Their son deserves to be tortured, just like the Longbottom's, forced to fall to his knees before him, and then…"

"STOP IT!" He roared, clenching his eyes shut, grinding his teeth. "Bella, I swear, if I weren't in these shackles…" He hissed.

"Oh, poor ickle Sirius!" She mocked in a baby-ish voice. "Does he need his mommy? Oh wait, she disowned you isn't that right?"

"Shut-your-mouth…"

"Oh I most certainly will, right when you tell me how it felt to be framed, and outwitted by one of your best friends. It must've killed you to know someone you trusted with your whole heart betrayed you…"

Sirius growled, the rest of the inmates craning their heads towards the two of them in interest.

"Oh yes, I know, I know everything. Auntie is always on top of things and most definitely because her son single handedly murdered twelve muggles. She was so pleased!"

Just then, the magical bond that was controlling their movements lifted, and Sirius jumped onto her, causing them both to crash to the floor, the other inmates cheering, egging them on.

Sirius used the piece of chain separating his shackles, holding and pressing it against her throat, grinning while he heard her choke, and her eyes finding his in desperation?

"How does it feel, Bella?" He hissed, continuing to press the chain against her throat. "HOW DOES IT FEEL!?"

She didn't reply, her eyes seeming to dart this way and that, squirming beneath Sirius's frame, the movements causing him to press down harder, both his bodily weight and the chain. He could hear her wheezing breaths as she gasped desperately for air.

Sirius was suddenly pulled off of her by a skeletal hand, its grip incredibly strong as he struggled, hearing Bellatrix gasping and choking on the air that finally flooded into her lungs.

"I'LL KILL YOU SIRIUS BLACK!" She screamed, her shrill voice filling the wing of the prison. "I"LL KILL YOU!"

He was then thrust back into his cell, cracking his head on the stone wall, his vision swimming before him, the gliding frame of the dementor twisting in and out of focus as though a hand was twisting and blurring everything around him. He quickly came around, refusing to let his consciousness trickle away with the blood that began soaking into his long shaggy black tresses. With one last shaky breath he slumped downward, chin to his chest as he felt the warm blood ooze down the nape of his neck onto his shirt, grey eyes slipping closed, the last thing he heard were the soul rattling breaths of the wraithlike guards, before falling into the black oblivion.