Written for:

Writing Club

Disney Challenge - Songs - (1) - Write about someone afraid to speak

Book Club (use 3 prompts) - The Commander - (trait) lonely, (word) companion, (colour) black

Amber's Attic - Tattoo (1) - Write about a transformation

Lyric Alley - (7) But I won't let them break me down to dust

Em's Emporium - (2) trope: wild past/backstory

Bex's Bazaar - Dumbo (4) Write about something unusual happening

Romance Awareness - You have a limit of how many words you can say before dying. If you meet your soulmate, your words replenish

Auction - Character: Remus

Sherlock: Spell: Stupify

Hogwarts Assignment 2 - Geography - Write about an ancient tomb being discovered / alt: Write ancient Egypt!AU

4213 words


Waiting Forever

You have a limit of how many words you can say before dying. If you meet your soulmate, your words replenish

Dedicated to Hato-Ryou-Chan whose story inspired this a bit (though I've wanted to write one myself for a long time now)


Sirius didn't understand how the average person could say between seven thousand and twenty thousand words a day. Well, the average person who had met their soulmate and had their words replenished. Those that didn't have to worry about Numbers.

For the rest of them, Numbers dictated how many words they had left to say in their lives. Those numbers counted down with each word passing their lips until a soulmate came to bring the numbers back up.

There were books filled with people uttering useless amounts of words, over-explaining themselves and just talking for the sake of hearing their own voice. When Sirius read the speeches that people gave, he wondered often whether the person had counted the words beforehand or if they had a soulmate and Numbers didn't matter anymore.

The ones with soulmates would be pushed towards the jobs that required talking. Those were jobs such as teaching, government and customer service. It was fine for those that had found their soulmates, but for the rest of them… they lived their lives in silence, trying to make the words last for as long as possible.

Sirius closed his book. He couldn't imagine being able to say 860.3 million words in his lifetime. Especially when his numbers had started at only seven million and at the age of 27, he was down to just over one million.

He blamed his youth. Growing up, he was determined to fill the silence in the big house. His parents were quiet, having accepted an arranged marriage and choosing blood purity over the ability to speak. Sirius would bang around the place, singing songs and generally making sure his parents heard everything. He hadn't considered what that would do to his adult years.

A million words to last him the rest of his life. Sirius had resigned himself to either having a very quiet life, or a short one. If he wanted to live to a hundred, it gave him approximately 38 words a day - though as a Wizard, he had many more years than that in him. But he wasn't sure he could maintain a silence longer than that. He wasn't sure if it was worth it.

"Stop obsessing over that," James said, from his side. "That book stresses you out. I don't know why you keep reading about the talking habits of people."

Sirius set the book aside, giving James a pointed look.

"I know I know," James said, leaning back in his seat. "I've got a lot of words because of Regulus. But remember that it helps because I can talk for you when you need. At least it'll help your words last until…"

Sirius turned his gaze away from James.

"You'll find him," James murmured. "Come on, we had better get going to the site. They're expecting us in thirty minutes."

"Floo?" Sirius asked.

"We can't floo or apparate. The site is muggle and there are muggles involved. We have to do this the muggle way, and it'll only take us twenty minutes to walk there. Once inside, it's just our team."

Sirius nodded, pleased.

...oOo...

It was clear upon arrival that the tomb was magically sealed. Sirius could almost taste the magic resonating from the place.

He glanced around for a familiar face, spotting one of the team who had gone on ahead. Fabian Prewett headed over to him and James, history book in hand.

He opened it up to a certain page and handed it over. James took the book, his eyes scanning the words.

"Pharoah Lucius. Wait, so he was a wizard?"

Fabian nodded, leaning over to point into the book.

Sirius left James with the studying and he headed past the pair and into the tomb, searching for the source of the magic.

It didn't take long for him to walk through the tomb. A lot of the work had been done already, doorways opened and rubble cleared from where it had been blocking the way, leaving a clear path for Sirius. When he reached the end, he found himself at a wall covered in hieroglyphics.

He reached up, his fingers tracing the more unfamiliar symbols on the wall next to them. Witches and Wizards leaving their own instructions of how to get past the wards, in a slightly different dialect than the Egyptians themselves.

"Blood," Sirius whispered. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small kit. Opening it, it expanded and he withdrew a silver knife. It took only a second to drag it down his hand and press his hand against the only blank bit of wall he could see.

The wall opened and he stepped through, distracted by the glistening and glittering from within. Realistically, the room should have been pitch black until Sirius cast his spells, but the candles in the room were lighting up one by one, showing the vast room in its entirety.

Sirius stepped in just as he heard James calling him, searching for him. As he turned, the wall closed shut behind him and Sirius began to search for a way out, his fingers running over the wall. A lever or a switch perhaps?

...oOo...

A few minutes last and Sirius had tried everything including placing his bloody hand on the wall, hoping to activate the blood sacrifice needed to allow entry. There was a slim chance it'd work, and the wall remained firmly closed.

"James, in here," he shouted at the top of his voice, hoping James could hear him through the wall. He trusted that James would know him well enough to find where he had gone, plus there would be the blood on the wall. It'd take a simple spell to check if it was Sirius' blood.

He waited for a moment, but couldn't hear a reply. He considered shouting again, but didn't want to risk using his words. If James hadn't heard, there was a chance that he'd be shouting for nothing. If James had heard, he'd be reading the hieroglyphics himself.

Sirius turned, glancing around the room once more. There was no point in standing there and wasting time when he could look around and possibly even have something for James to see when James finally found him.

He began to walk through the room, his eyes on the treasures at the other end. He wouldn't touch them of course - Curse Breaking 101 was that you never touch the treasure. It was always cursed. The rules were that he needed a partner there in case something went wrong.

Sirius pulled out his notebook and began to note down the things he saw. He made a mention of the wall and the blood required to open it, before drawing a picture of one of the strange candles.

Furniture was laid out amongst the wall to his left. Sirius could see that it was quite elaborate furniture, though some was falling apart. With the amount of wealth stored in the room, it was clear that the tomb belonged to someone with much wealth.

He continued on, his eyes falling upon the Ushabti figurines on his right. Sirius stared in awe at the amount of them. He was used to seeing a load, but there could easily be a thousand lined up. What man would need a thousand servants in the next life?

He continued on, his eyes scanning the room. His favourite part of visiting tombs were often the pictures on the walls. He loved to see the stories that the Ancients told about themselves - they were often more accurate than history lessons because they were written by someone around at the time rather than a researcher or a historian. Some books were guesswork whereas the drawings on the walls were the account of someone who was actually there.

Sometimes the stories were drawn by the people who resided in the tomb. Some knew they would die and told their own stories. Some returned to the tomb over and over, adding and adding until their death came.

He spotted them at the end of the room, past the sarcophagus. He strode down the room, careful to keep his hands to himself, and glanced at them, eager to see the story of the Pharaoh in what could be his own words.

But his eyes were drawn to the last picture. A man depicted as a wolf. For a moment, Sirius considered that the Pharaoh had been a werewolf, but as he continued to examine the picture, he realised that the Pharaoh was the first sarcophagus on the left. There was a second one, a simple one, drawn on the right.

Perhaps this man was his soulmate? It was known for the wives of Pharaohs to be buried with them, but the simplicity of the sarcophagus on the right of the picture showed a lower status. Sirius considered that the man was kept around as a consort whilst the pharaoh was married. Though he was sure he'd find more evidence to his theory once he had found the second sarcophagus.

He turned, looking around the room he was in, only seeing the one. Sirius frowned slightly. Judging by the vastness of the room, a soulmate would have been placed nearby. Ancient Egyptians considered soulmates words to carry on in a new life, which would mean that the bodies would need to stay in a close distance.

Not a soulmate then. But what? Perhaps a guard? Sirius grasped around for his knowledge of Ancient Egyptian Gods. There was one who was wolf like, he was sure. Upuaut, the Opener of the Path was the God of Lycopolis.

He glanced back at the pictures again. The man was alive when entombed which meant that it wasn't showing acceptance of Werewolves. Perhaps due to the Lycanthropy, it was for luck, or to bring favour with that particular God. James would know the answer to that, Sirius was sure. If only he'd hurry up and come into the tomb.

Sirius pulled out his notebook and began to record all of his findings and his observations, when he felt it. A pulse of magic that seemed to run up his arm and through his body. It sent a shiver up his back and he looked around, suddenly feeling as though he wasn't alone.

He hoped the mummy wouldn't come alive. He had heard stories, though he wasn't sure if it was other Curse Breakers joking around or if there really were mummies that woke up like in the muggle movies he had watched.

He shook himself. There was no evidence that something was going to happen, just that there was a lot of magic. Perhaps it was the magic from the werewolf? If he had died after arriving at the tomb, his magic could have settled into the tomb itself and that could be what Sirius was feeling.

A little more at ease, Sirius closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to follow the magic to find the source of its origin. In a corner of the room where the candles were flickering, he saw a wall that looked nothing like the smooth walls of the tomb.

He found himself drawn to the corner and as his fingers brushed the wall, he realised it was a door. He pushed it, listening to it scrape against the floor, and he stepped into a small room that was barely big enough for the sarcophagus that was placed against the wall.

Sirius glanced at the other wall. Pictures were drawn there of a man and a wolf. Very few pictures and the artist clearly wasn't a fan of werewolves. There wasn't much to go on except that the man was just a slave.

Sirius turned to the sarcophagus, his eyes scanning it. Though he knew not to touch anything, he couldn't stop himself. The hand with the blood that was still somehow wet reached out.

As it touched the sarcophagus, Sirius found himself able to pull his hand back. There was a small smear of blood from where he had touched it, but nothing more seemed to happen.

"Sirius. Are you in here?" came a shout from outside.

...oOo...

"There you are!" James shouted, as Sirius emerged from the room. "It took ages to get through that door, it wouldn't open for some reason. Not until… how did you open it?"

"I did nothing," Sirius said, confused.

"Blood didn't work a second time. It wasn't us," James insisted. "You must have touched something. Can you show me everything you touched and we'll determine it?"

Sirius began to shake his head, but froze. He had touched one thing in the whole place. He nodded his head for James to follow and he began to walk back to the small room.

He pointed at the door first, before stepping into the room. As soon as he stepped in, he backed up quickly, his eyes wide.

"James, the sarcophagus is opening!"

James grabbed him, pulling him back. "I thought they were stories to scare us," James replied, drawing his wand. "What did you do?"

"Touched it. I couldn't help myself." Sirius pointed his own wand to the door. "What do we do?"

"Stupify," James insisted. They heard the sound of the lid falling to the floor. "Ready?"

Sirius nodded his head, his eyes on the open door. He expected a mummy wrapped in bandages to emerge.

When a man fell through the door on shaky legs, Sirius grabbed James just as James shouted stupify, causing the spell to hit the wall. The man stared at them, terror clear in his amber eyes. He was dressed in only some black rags covering his legs.

He slowly fell to his knees, his gaze on the floor. His body lowered into a bow, with the man's head inches from the ground. He was shaking but maintained the pose, clearly trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

Sirius stared at him. There were scars down his back and it took a long moment for Sirius to realise that this man had climbed out of the sarcophagus. This man had been the werewolf in the pictures. After all, the place had been sealed for so long, it wasn't someone who stumbled in.

The man had somehow been asleep all of this time and Sirius began to walk forward, shaking off James' hands when James tried to pull him back.

"Leave me," he hissed at his companion. "Don't you see what's happened? He was buried here as an offering or something and he's been asleep all of this time. He doesn't need wands pointed at him."

James let go and Sirius wasn't sure if it was in agreement or if James was shocked that Sirius had used up his days allowance of words. He stepped forward and knelt down in front of the man.

"I'm not someone you need to bow to," he murmured, not caring about how he'd have to talk less for the foreseeable future just to get back on track. "Please. Tell me your name."

The man shook his head as he sat up. He tapped his arm and Sirius glanced at it.

"Seven hundred and three words, huh. I thought mine was low. You must have been quite chatty. How many did you start with?"

The man stared at him, the terror starting to fade from his expression, though he flinched as Sirius reached out.

Sirius withdrew his hand. He didn't want to scare this man. It would already be terrifying, waking up and not knowing what was happening.

"You've been asleep for a very long time. Magic kept you alive in here. We're curse breakers, we explore ancient tombs. I… my hand was bleeding from activating the main doors in, and I touched your sarcophagus. It must have needed a blood sacrifice to wake you."

"If you needed one, would the Pharaoh wake if…" James began.

The man shook his head quickly. "Died," he murmured, his voice hoarse.

"Right. Well, I just want to help you. Can you trust me?" Sirius held out his hand. "My name is Sirius. Sirius Black."

Remus' eyes widened. "Narcissa Black Pharaoh's wife," he said, before pointing at himself. "Remus."

"Isn't Narcissa a family name?" James asked. "If she's a relative, then you can take ownership of the tomb."

Remus looked scared again, falling back into the bow.

"James, make sure we have clear passage out of here," Sirius said. "Get Remus some clean clothes and… and something to eat. We'll bring him back to our hotel for now."

James nodded. "You shouldn't say much more.

"I'll deal with that in the future," Sirius muttered. "Remus, how are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Well, I'm here and I'll make sure you stay safe." Sirius was sure he had around two hundred words if not more. The last time he had spoken so much was when James had been hurt and Sirius had to bring him to St. Mungo's. But he counted this as an emergency. Plus, he had been the one to wake Remus from the sleep. Remus was his responsibility.

"If he was married, his wife would have a room here too," James mused, as he began to walk away. "We can search for that tomorrow."

...oOo...

"Your blood worked because you're a relation to the bloodline," James said, as Sirius opened the door. "And since you opened it, the tomb now belongs to you. What do you want to do? Uh… you also are responsible for Remus. It's been established he was a slave, and though we don't have that anymore, you'll make the choice what to do with him."

"I don't care about all of that," Sirius said, grabbing James and yanking him into the room. Remus was asleep on the sofa, clutching at the blankets and Sirius moved away and onto the small balcony. "Look at my arm."

James glanced. "Your numbers?"

"They're higher than before. I considered that I made an inputting error, but I checked my book. I'd have had to screw up the last twelve word counts somehow. My numbers are up. They're about three hundred higher than they need to be, and that's not including how much I spoke yesterday."

"So… a stranger in the street?" James guessed. "We just need to find out who. I'm sure the person will be searching."

Sirius shrugged slightly, turning his head to look through the glass. "Perhaps. But that climb in the night… It's not just from passing for a moment, James. I didn't tell you yesterday because I was caught up in getting Remus out of that tomb, but I was drawn there. The magic pulled me. I felt drawn to only his room. I couldn't stop myself from touching his Sarcophagus."

"That could have been the spell. When someone was close that had the ability to open the tomb, they'd be drawn to it."

"Did you feel the magic in the place?"

"I could tell there was magic there," James stated. "But it was just a faint hum on my skin."

"In the main room though. It was… heavy."

James shook his head. "It wasn't like that for me. Again, a hum of magic. Just enough to know that there was magic at work in the room. Nothing pulling me or drawing me. Maybe it's because your blood was needed to open things considering you're a Black and the Pharaoh was married to a Black? Maybe it called because of your blood."

"Or maybe it's because something else was calling. What if Remus has over seven hundred on his skin."

"Well, let's wake him and see." They glanced through the glass again, noticing the other man stirring.

"He's a werewolf," Sirius murmured. "He was a slave for my family in the past. He won't trust me. My family were the ones to bury him in the tomb."

"And you were the one to free him. The one to arrange clean clothes and food and somewhere to sleep."

"He freaked out when I suggested he sleep on the bed. He tried to sleep on the floor," Sirius said, watching Remus get up from the sofa and look around in panic, before his gaze found them. "I wouldn't let him. Now… how do I… how do I ask to see his Number?"

"Just explain it to him," James said. "Good luck. But whether he is or not, you need to be careful with the choice you make for his future. If you turn him away, they want to run lots of tests on Remus and see what spells preserved him all of this time. They'll hound him with questions on the past. They'll just…"

"I'll keep him safe. If nothing else, because I owe it to him," Sirius stated. "Don't you worry. He'll be staying with me from now on. We'll finish up here today, make sure all of the tomb curses are gone and all areas are open, and then the two of us can head back to England with Remus."

"Sounds good," James murmured. He pushed a bag into Sirius' arms. "Breakfast. I tried to get lots of fruit and stuff that I think Remus would like."

"Thanks. I'll… I'll text you and let you know how it goes. What time should we head to the tomb?"

"I'll go in with the twins. I think it's probably best that you stay with Remus. If you're right about the Numbers, he'll need you. If not, he can't be left alone."

Sirius nodded. Though he loved exploring new tombs, finding his soulmate was a completely new experience and he wasn't going to put anything above that. He walked James to the main door before turning to Remus.

"We need to talk," he said. "What is your Number?"

Remus glanced at his arm, before his eyes widened. "Over one thousand," he whispered. "How?"

"Your Sarcophagus called to me. The whole tomb called. I was drawn there - to you. I think… I think… Remus, my numbers went up overnight too." He set the bag on the table and began to unpack it. "I get that I'd probably be the last person you'd want to be connected with because I'm a Black, I'm a descendant of those that imprisoned you in that tomb, the people that kept you as a slave. Those that… that caused the scars on your back. But… I'm not like them. I'll… I'll prove it to you. If you don't want me to be your soulmate, we can be friends. We can spend time together and you'll have enough Numbers to talk whenever you want."

Remus stared at the breakfast as Sirius set it out. "I… I'm so confused," he murmured eventually. "You're kind. You're not like the people from my… my first life. I feel like this is my second chance. My new life and I'm honoured to share a bond with you. But I'm… I'm a beast, and… and to be cursed with a bond with me—"

"I don't see this as a curse," Sirius said, pulling out a chair. "Sit down and we'll eat." He waited until Remus had taken a seat before sitting himself. "You're a werewolf and we can take precautions during the full moon. I'm honoured too, Remus. If you're happy for me to do so, we'll head to England where I live tomorrow. I'll teach you magic, teach you anything you want. Show you around the world. It's so different than your own…" he took in Remus' shocked expression. "What?"

"You'll allow me to practice magic?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. "But I'm a sl…" he trailed off. "No. Not that anymore, but I'm still a beast."

"And you have rights now. Not as many as you deserve, but I'll make sure you live a happy life. This is the most I've talked in years!"

"Me too," Remus said. "Though as a slave, we didn't need to talk often." He reached for the banana and slowly began to peel it. "What will my status be in this new world?" he asked.

"The new world is different than the old one," Sirius said, grabbing a banana himself. "You'll live with me and you can get your own place if you ever choose. You make your choices for yourself now. I'll always be there to help you, that I promise. We can get to know each other, build up a friendship and build up trust and hopefully one day you'll accept me as your soulmate and we can have a future together."

"I… I like the sound of that. As for making my own choices, I'd like to choose to stay with you as long as you'll have me. I also choose to accept you. I've waited many years for you."

Sirius beamed. "Wonderful. I can't wait to show you my world." He impulsively reached out with his free hand, taking Remus'.

Remus smiled and his whole face lit up. "You're perfect," Sirius whispered.

"No, you are," Remus countered.

Sirius chuckled. "Far from it, but when it comes to any relationship we may have in the future, I promise to be the perfect soulmate."

"Me too," Remus insisted. "I can't wait to get to know you better."