I do not own Harry Potter. I updated really quickly because I know how bad the suspense must have been!
Sirius
My head is throbbing when I wake up. Every breath sends fire burning through my lungs, and another fit of coughing. My entire body aches with a raw pain. Open sores and cuts cover my arms. My throat feels dry and, my lips are cracked. I try to yell, to tell Sam I'm here, but my throat is so filled with smoke, my voice sounds ragged and soft. She'll never hear me.
Smoke still lingers in the smoggy air, though it's beginning to clear up. From where I lie, burnt grass and charred dirt are the only things I can see before the smog blocks out the rest. I sit up wincing as my burnt skin rubs against my shirt. Small fires dot the area around me, though the worst damage has already been done.
My legs protest as I stand, and I feel myself shaking. I force myself to take a step, then another one. I slowly put one foot in front of the other desperate to find Sam. Not a sound comes from anywhere. I refuse to believe Sam could be dead. Or worse. I stop after a few moments to catch my breath. The smoke that has filled my lungs makes breathing difficult. After my short rest, I continue on searching for any sign that Sam may have survived.
I stop when I feel a drop beneath my foot. Where's the ground? I put my right foot out searching for the familiar dirt, but find only empty space. My left foot is still planted firmly on the ground, but beyond that, there is nothing. Just air. Alarmed, I back up and almost trip over a clump of dirt. I glance behind me to see the cherry tree still standing unharmed at the top of the hill.
I start up the hill hoping to get a better view of the area from there. I go slow stopping every few moments to catch my breath. The grass at the top of the hill is wet with dew. I wonder what time it is. What day it is. The smoke in the air makes it impossible to differentiate night from day. Was I out for a few hours? A few days? I'm at the top of the hill now, and I grasp a branch on the tree to keep my balance and close my eyes. My head is swimming, and I can feel the blackness threatening to overtake me again. I take deep shallow breaths trying to fight the unconsciousness.
I open my eyes and take in the scene that unfolds before me. Where a field of tall grass and wildflowers used to lie, a huge crater has taken over. At least a hundred meters wide and five feet deep, there are no signs of life. Only darkness. I feel my knees buckle and collapse into the soft grass. Sam is gone. Probably dead. This is all my fault. Tears spill over my eyes and run down my face. I don't bother to wipe them away. I wish to drown in my sorrow.
I clasp my hands around the grass, ripping it out of the ground and throwing it as hard as I can into the crater. I yell in outrage and misery. Sam. She was my everything. My best friend and my fiancée. I wouldn't be the same person without her. Now she's gone. In my furious attempts at destroying the ground, my hand brushes against something hard.
I look down and see something half buried beneath the soil. When I brush away the dirt, I freeze. It's an engagement ring. Sam's engagement ring. I pick it up. The diamond is dirty, and caked with mud, but there's no doubting that it's hers. How did it get here? Did someone put it here? Did she drop it? My gut tells me it was planted. Someone wanted it hidden. Maybe. Just maybe, Sam's still out there being held captive. I have to find her. Who knows what she's going through. I stand finding knew strength. I have to find her. She is my life. I can't leave her out there.
A loud crack sounds behind me making me jump. I spin around to see James standing behind me in shock staring out at the mess below us. He walks closer quickly until he's right beside me. He looks from me to the crater and back again. "What happened?" he exclaims. I don't say anything, but simply begin crying again. James looks alarmed.
"She's gone James," I say my voice ruff and layered with tears. "She's gone." I don't know what else to say. That one sentence continues to replay itself in my mind over and over again.
James doesn't say anything, he simply steers me over to the tree and sits me down. Sobs still rack my body, and I don't protest. I've never felt weaker and more helpless in my life. I don't even care that James is seeing me cry. Nothing else matters except that Sam is gone. I lean against the tree and James waits patiently until I've calmed down. I wipe at my eyes, which are blurry with tears.
"Is that Sam's ring?" James asks quietly nodding at the ring I've still got clutched in my hand. I nod. "What happened?" I take a deep breath ready to tell the whole heart wrenching painful story.
James listens patiently while I tell him about the explosions and the fire. "She was covered in blood and shaking," I say describing the hologram I'd seen. Thinking back, I'm not sure if I really saw it, or if it was just my imagination.
I tell him about waking up and seeing the crater. About finding the ring half buried in the ground. The whole time I'm talking, the reality of everything really sinks in. My voice cracks quite a few times as its still raw with smoke and tears.
"She's not dead," I say forcefully as if by saying the words, they'll become true. "She can't be." I break off and stare at the crater wishing desperately I'll see Sam walking out of the fog smiling. She doesn't of course.
"Where could she have gone Pads?" James asks gently. He's trying to be realistic, but I don't want that. I need to know she's okay. If she's truly gone, I've nothing left to hold onto. The thought of never seeing her again breaks my heart, and the worlds seems to shatter and crumble.
"Voldemort," I whisper. As I say the words, I begin to believe them. It explains everything. The explosion. Sam going missing. There's no other solution.
"Voldemort?" James echoes his voice panicked. I know he's think about Lily and the child. I nod.
"He took her. I'm sure of it," I say. "I have to find her." James nods.
"I'll help you," he says calmly.
"You will?" I say hopefully. Having my best friend by my side might make the pain a little more bearable.
"Of course. I'll be there for you until the very end. You know that," he says. "I'll do whatever it takes to help you find her." I smile sadly. James would help. I know Remus will ant to help to. And Kaelin and Lily. Oh no. Kaelin. How am I going to tell her? She'll be crushed.
"Kaelin," I say quietly. While I'm sure no one has ever or will ever experience the pain I feel now, Kaelin will be frantic when she finds out.
"We have to tell them," James says. "All of them. They'll all help. Any one of us would go to the ends of the Earth for Sam." I sigh. I'll never stop looking for her, not matter what. Sam is my life. My whole world. She's all that matters anymore. I can't lose her. I'll find her. I have to.
Sam
Pain shoots through my arm as I land heavily on the ground. My head smacks the hard stone, and I gasp in pain. I open my eyes slowly feeling the excruciating agony that covers my body. I lie still, blinking back tears. I won't cry. I refuse to break that easily. My hands are covered in sticky red blood, and my dress is torn and tattered. My bare feet are frozen, and I shiver despite my jacket.
I can feel the gaping wound in my side. I know I've lost a lot of blood. I have to stop the bleeding soon, or I'll die. I try to sit up, but my strength gives out and I collapse back onto the floor. A raw pain tugs at my body. Not physical pain. Sirius. Where is he? Is he dead? Did he make it out? Why isn't he here? Where is here? Where am I? Questions race through my mind, but I can answer none of them.
"Who are you?" an old worn voice asks. I painfully turn my head to see an old man sitting on the ground beside me chained to the wall. "Who are you?" He repeats his question.
For a moment, I'm not sure if my voice will work, and when I try to speak it comes out as a croak. "Drink this," the man commands handing me a glass of water. I tilt the glass to my parched lips and drain the glass in one gulp. "Who are you?" the man asks again.
"My name is Sam," I say. My voice is still ruff, but better than before. "I won't hurt you." I don't know why I add the last part.
The man chuckles. "I seriously doubt you could," he says gesturing at the blood still flowing from my side. "You've lost a lot of blood." He tears a strip from his shirt and presses it onto the wound. I gasp in pain, but refrain from screaming. He's trying to help.
"Where am I?" I ask. "Who are you?"
"Who I am is not important," he says. "We are in Azkaban. In a secret room known only to Voldemort and his followers. There's no way out." I sigh. There goes my next question.
"Have you seen a man? His name is Sirius Black," I say desperate for some information. The man shakes his head.
"A Black? Dangerous family to associate yourself with," he comments.
"He's my fiancée," I say coldly. "He's nothing like those pathetic excuses for human beings." I spit the last words out like poison.
"My apologies," the man says. "Was he with you when you came here?"
"I don't know," I say quietly. "T-there was an explosion. I blacked out. I haven't seen him since."
"An explosion? Well, I'd say you're lucky to be alive," he says. He pauses before continuing. "Perhaps your Sirius wasn't quite so lucky." His voice is soft, but it sends panic throughout my body.
He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be. Sirius means the world to me. I can't live without him. "No," I say stubbornly. "He's alive." The man nods not arguing. Smart choice.
"What does Voldemort want with me?" I ask. The man shrugs.
"Who knows? There's no telling with that monster," he says softly. "He kills for pleasure." I can sense he sadness in his voice.
"Did you come here alone?" I ask. He shakes his head absently. "Who were you with?"
"My wife," he says his voice layered with sadness and anger. "He killed her. Two weeks after we got here."
"How long have you been here?" I ask.
"Twenty years," he says sadly. I freeze. Twenty years? No. Sirius was coming for me. He wouldn't leave me here. I bet he's on his way right now. I'll be out of here in no time. I have to believe that. He's not dead. If he is, there's nothing left for me to live for.
So? What will happen? Will Sirius find Sam? Will Sam die of blood loss before he does? Will Voldemort reappear? Next chapter will be out soon! Please review!
