Goodbye timeline my old friend
So long till I see you again
A pale, gaunt figure shivered in the darkness, his face barely illuminated by small candle in front of him, and the light of the dying sun filtering in through grimy windows.
It had only been less than a year since he had escaped Azkaban. Hell on earth, more like.
He leaned back against the rickety chair, listening to the quiet, steady dripping of the pipes above.
The Shrieking Shack…
Sirius sighed. How many nights had he spent here, keeping his friend Moony's company through the worst of his fits? How many nights had he been in the company of his two, true friends?
Did Moony still remember him? Or had he fallen to the very same lies which now suffused the Wizarding world?
They believed him a criminal! A Death Eater with the motive to hurt Harry. To hurt his godson!
Sirius spat a glob of saliva upon the wooden floor.
He was finally free, but yet, he couldn't rest. Every inch of his frayed mind screamed at him to run, to flee the country, away from the Dementors that hunted him. But he couldn't. Not yet.
Not until he was certain that Prongs' son was safe. Safe and happy, as Prongs and Lily should be. As they deserved to be.
He slowly rose to his feet.
He had never been one to wait: his inner Gryffindor screamed at him to charge the castle, to find his godson, to tell him the truth.
To hope that the acceptance Prongs had one possessed flowed through his son as well.
He hoped that he'd have friends again.
He turned towards the front door.
Perhaps he'd even be able to play a prank on Snivellus again, just like the old times!
A small click echoed through the house. Perhaps the cat again?
He slowly turned towards the noise, just in time to see a whip of blazing energy rush towards him.
And then everything was black.
Sirius' vision swam as he regained consciousness. A pounding headache thrummed through his ears, all but deafening him.
The first thing to return was his sense of direction: notably, what was supposed to be up, was actually left.
Second to return was his sense of feeling: notably, his wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, and neck were supporting his entire weight, and were sore from contact with some sort of heated metal.
As his pulse began to race in terror, his vision finally cleared.
Only to reveal an extremely familiar smile gracing a young girl.
A blonde, younger version of Bellatrix stared back at him with black eyes, smirking at him with an unmistakable, psychotic grin.
"Hello Sirius," she spoke with every bit of viciousness he remembered. "You honestly believed you escaped, didn't you?"
One thought filled Sirius' mind as his consciousness began to fade again. Notably:
When the hell did Bellatrix get laid?
How the hell did Bellatrix get laid?
Sirius awoke again to the sting of something impacting his gut.
Before him, was the same girl as before, except now, she was joined by a young, furious-looking redhead…
'Lily?' He pondered, for only a moment. 'No, it's not Lily.'
He could see clearly now, just quickly enough to watch the second girl's fist collide with his gut.
"Good shot, but try aiming a bit lower, and to the left." chimed the first girl.
"Like this?" replied the redhead, as she threw another, light punch. It stung a little, but was nothing sirius.
"Whuh?" murmured Sirius, as eloquently as he could. He mentally flipped through his Auror training. Nope, nothing on what to do when captured by two angry girls.
"Oh, he's awake!" exclaimed the blonde. "We should probably try and get some answers from him."
She leaned closely, enough to reveal sharp, vicious looking teeth. "Hello, Sirius Black. Me, and my associate here," she gestured to her side, "are quite worried about your activities recently."
"And your activities are that much more acceptable?" murmured back the convict.
The redhead turned to her acquaintance. "You can hit him this time."
There was the light sound of cracking knuckles, before another fist impacted Sirius's abdomen, much harder than the last.
Unfortunately, this one hit him in the spleen.
Sirius bit down on his lip to avoid crying out.
"Hit him there. Hurts more." pointed out the blonde.
"Why aren't we using spells again?" questioned the redhead.
"Mostly because I don't really want to leave traces for people to follow. Also, because punching people is fun." smirked the blonde.
"Shouldn't we be asking him questions?"
They both turned back towards Sirius.
The redhead retrieved a small pad of paper, as she asked the first question.
"Okay. Question number 1: How did you escape Azkaban?"
"Sneaked past the guards." replied Sirius. Keep it simple, thought Sirius. They don't need to know the whole story.
"Probably turned into the dog I was following earlier, or had help from it. They both feel really similar, so they're either the same, or it's a long-time family pet or something." supplied the blonde.
Sirius stared back in disbelief.
"Question 2: Why do you want to hurt Harry Potter?"
"I don't!" declared Sirius, after he had given his mind enough time to reboot.
"Don't lie!" threatened the redhead. "I know you're out to get him. It said so in the Daily Prophet!"
"I'm telling you! I'm innocent! The Prophet is lying! I'm not the traitor!"
The second punch, this time impacting the gallbladder, forced Sirius to change tactics.
"I'll give you anything you want! But I swear, I'm innocent!"
The blonde tilted her head to the side.
"Do you have a pony?"
His face blanked for a moment. What?
"Just kidding! Liver punch!"
Sirius could barely fight back the urge to vomit as the blow hit him, much harder than the last few. The chains rattled slightly as his arms involuntarily seized.
"I want an unbreakable oath saying you have no ill intentions towards Potter, and that you do not, under any circumstances, take revenge against any of the following: My family, my friend's family, our acquaintances, or our acquaintances' families." declared the blonde.
"Will it get me down from here?" murmured Sirius, his mouth still locked in a wince.
"Probably." answered the redhead.
"If not, then we'll start aiming… lower." continued the blonde, with a disturbingly even tone.
'NO! Not little Padfoot!' Sirius mentally screamed.
Sirius could not swear the oath fast enough.
Severus Snape wasn't entirely sure what he was trying to accomplish, when he had earlier decided to follow the two Gryffindors.
He had been on one of his evening strolls, when he had seen the two rush off into the forest, likely to cause trouble.
Having nothing better to do, he had traced the two's steps.
He could only feel glad that he had chosen to do so.
As he sat disillusioned in the tunnel, he couldn't help but bask in every glorious moment of what was happening above.
Even as he left, a rare smile adorned his face.
He had found himself his new Patronus memory.
AN: And here you see why Snape isn't terrible to Aurelia.
Mostly because she keeps hurting the people that Snape doesn't like.