Chapter 63: The Makings Of A Breakdown
{A/N: Here's Another update....}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
{"I know the breakdown...Everything is gonna shake now someday...I know the breakdown...Tell me again am I awake now...Maybe you can find the reason that...No one else is living this way...Yeah your lies your world is built around...Two faces to a clown...The voices in your head think...There's four pawns down...Well in this unity...Fate has found the need...You better check yourself...Before you check out...If you find yourself...Then you might believe...Then within yourself...You just might conceive...You can find the reason that...(You can find the reason that)...No one else is living this way...(You can find the reason that way)"} Breakdown, Tantric
Cold Cell, Azkaban Prison, Outskirts Of The Wizarding and Muggle Worlds...
Cold gray stone pressed against the aching pale cheek of the newly awakened Regulus Snape as he found himself regaining consciousness and once more in the confines of his solitary cell in the wizarding prison known as Azkaban. His bones ached and his muscles had been tense from his earlier round of beatings. The blood loss had been no better but he had been alive, which was more than enough of a reason to open his obsidian eyes despite the dim lighting within his cell.
Of all the things to have to endure in the wake of his imprisonment, Regulus had never been a fan of involuntary solitude. The silence seemed to be more biting than all the whips and chains that were used to break apart his flesh and cause him pain. The injured younger Snape crawled toward the cold wall gingerly pressing his heavy back against it wincing at the agony of his spasm prone muscles as he did.
"Fucking Potter." growled Regulus in contempt for the green eyed wizard.
It had been that idiot's fault he had been imprisoned in this place and that Hermione had believed him a murderer.
{"Do Not Despair."} said a voice breaking through the silence that had fallen over the battered wizard.
Regulus looked around confused as to where the voice had come from or if he had been struck in the head one too many times.
{"No you are not going mad, I am directly speaking with you."} said the voice as if it had known exactly what he had been going to say.
"W-Who are you?" asked Regulus still very much confused by the recent turn of events.
{"I suppose proper introductions are in order."} said the voice in something of a proper tone. {"But given the newness of our means of communication let us just say that I am an interested party that wishes to see you survive this hellish pit and emerge as formidable as your late father ever was."}
"How do you know my father?" asked Regulus getting defensive.
{"Let us just say...that he and I were as close as family."} said the strange voice.
Regulus sighed not knowing what to believe when it came to the stranger's voice in his head but he had been rather relieved to have any form of communication and a possible link to the outside world.
"If you know so much about my father, then why haven't you seen your way to getting me out of here?" asked the ailing wizard bitterly. "I've been in here without news from the outside and for who knows how long..."
{"As much as I wish to see you freed, I cannot interfere with the injustice placed upon you...it is most imperative that you are set free from this place by those whom have chosen to place you here of their own accord."} explained the voice. {" Surely the son of Severus Snape should be able to withstand the harshness of Azkaban...is that not why he taught you in the wilderness in case the worst should come to pass?"}
"How do you know about my father's training?" asked Regulus once more suspicious of the strange voice.
{"It is as I've told you...your father was as family."} replied the voice. {"But suffice if to say, I know what you know...and a bit more...as for your constant question as to how long you've been in this place...two years have passed."}
"TWO YEARS!?" asked Regulus in disbelief. "T-That can't be possible...I was...it hasn't been that long since...since they threw me in this place...this hell hole."
{"It is as I've said...Two Years have passed since you were arrested without a proper trial and thrown into Azkaban."} continued the voice.
Regulus had been speechless as he attempted to make sense of what the stranger was telling him. There was a chance that whomever this voice belonged to was simply toying with him in a bid to get amusement out of his misery.
He couldn't possibly have spent two years of his life behind the cold gray walls of his prison cell and not one ounce of justice had been delivered.
"You're lying." said Regulus deciding the words of the strange voice had been too far fetched to believe.
{"I've nothing to gain for deceiving you...Regulus Snape...you are within the confines of a prison and there for have nothing I wish to gain from you."} said the voice assuring the now distressed wizard of his honesty.
Distressed, Regulus' face held a haunted expression as he began to note the present condition he found himself in. His hands had been trembling and ghastly pale slick with sweat and blood in combination. His fingernails had been broken and quite filthy given his current lodging conditions.
The torn and tattered rags that passed for his prison getup had been filthy as well and quite aged since his initial arrival.
"This can't fucking be happening..." he said in disbelief. "I...I've been here for two years...two fucking years and I didn't do a fucking thing to deserve to be thrown in here."
The voice had been silent for a time.
"What else have I missed...what happened to the attacks did...did anyone else die in the wake of what happened at the Ministry Of Magic Offices?" asked Regulus needing more information.
{"There have been no further attacks since your imprisonment...and the wizarding public has returned to their lives unaware of your plight."} the voice informed the imprisoned wizard.
"D-Does Arcturus yet live?" asked Regulus with an arched brow despite the darkness.
{"He does."} replied the voice. {"As you do, son of Severus Snape."}
"W-Why hasn't Potter gone after him?" asked Regulus more to himself than the voice.
{"There was no need"} replied the voice. {"The time will come for you to choose which side you are on...Son Of The Serpent."}
Regulus had been about to question the rather familiar use of words by the voice only to find silence on the other end. Still reeling from what he had been told about the SBD and Arcturus going quiet and Harry Potter riding high off his arrest as if he had vanquished another great evil when he had in fact set him up to keep him from Hermione Granger only made the younger Snape's blood boil.
The burning rage had done wonders for suppressing the coldness as Regulus Snape's mind became more focused on the need for vengeance as opposed to anything else. He had been deprived of his freedom for two long years and Hermione had believed him to have been a monster and it was all because of Harry James Potter.