Endless screaming was what he'd heard. It had reverberated through his skull, imprinting itself upon his memories, the agonized cries of the poor doomed muggles. Oh how they had begged, begged to be released, begged for their tormentors not to hurt them. But it had all been in vain…useless. Sirius Black had watched the other aristocratic youth merely smirk, their eyes gleaming with the power that they held over their weaker counterparts. He had watched his own brother, two years younger then he, step forward, shoulders squared, head held proudly high, and relentlessly torture a poor girl, probably no older then 12, until the only movement was her body twitching as her cells gave off their last bit of energy. Her head had lolled to the side, the screaming dying, her eyes having a hollow look to them. She was dead…the colour draining slowly from her cheeks even as her body was carted off. And there had sat the Dark Lord, Voldemort, the twisted puppet master of the Death Eaters. What was it to eat death? With each life you took, were you to take that persons death inside yourself? Have it eat away at your humanity till there was nothing left of your soul except for a dark plague, festering away, ready to infect others? This was to be the fate that his mother had left him and his brother to, cheering them on to enter the black depths of this ritualistic cult. To have that leering skull burned into his arm, to have it bring excruciating pain when his master summoned him. He looked up, there was a balcony that went around the entire amphitheatre, dark shapes watched from the shadows, he knew his mother was one of them, he could almost see the callous smirk stretch across her face as Regulus killed that young girl knowing Sirius was next. His hand shook as he raised his wand, another young girl kneeled before him, her black hair almost to her waist. Her skin was pale in the eerie light, the source of light was a burning human skeleton hanging above it all, the flames coming from the charmed snakes slithering in and out of its ribcage, through its empty eye sockets and out of its mouth, the jaw hanging open. In the strange light Sirius' eyes played tricks on him. It wasn't the unknown muggle before him, but Lily Evans. His throat constricted as her eyes pleaded with him for mercy. Eyes so like Lily's. If he took this step, killed her and joined the death eaters, he would be expected to kill them all, every lesser muggle. There was an impatient sound behind him, but still Sirius stood there, his heart beating inside his chest, feeling light-headed, about to take his first life of many at the tender age of eighteen, his birthday having past just after graduating. But suddenly, there was a bright light, from above. Sirius dropped his arm and looked up, thinking that an angel of mercy had come to save him from this horror. But it was not an angel, the light that filtered down from above, was from a door opening. Soon, from all around, doors that Sirius had not known were there opened. Members from the ministry's Aurors stormed in, flinging spells with abandon. There were new screams joining the throng, this time from the death eaters themselves as they tried to avoid the enchantments. And still Sirius stood there, standing protectively in front of the girl, as he was blinded by light, unable to see but willing to die to save her and make up for what he had almost done.

A strong hand clamped down on his shoulder and Sirius spun, wand raised, but he stopped short, surprised to see the smiling face of Dumbledore break through the endless light and screams. When Sirius saw his face he knew everything was going to be alright. Dumbledore would take care of him…would take care of them all, even the poor muggle girl cowering at his feet.

Sirius awoke with a start, white silk sheets fell to his waist as he sat up, the breeze from the open balcony rustling the gauzy material of this bed curtains. He ran a hand over his face, the dream was always the same. Most of the time it rang true, allowing him to recount every detail of the night of Voldemort's downfall. Other times it turned into a nightmare as he actually killed the muggle girl. Another variation was Voldemort becoming triumphant a well hid Avada Kedavra hitting Dumbledore in the back as he'd smiled at Sirius. But that hadn't actually happened. The Ministry had succeeded under the guiding hand of Albus Dumbledore, finding the Death Eaters and putting and end to them and their Lord. Sirius had seen Voldemort fall, and hadn't felt ashamed at the swell of hope mixed with relief that had risen inside him.

Throwing the sheets aside he swung his legs over the side of the bed. The marble beneath his feet had begun to cool as the night progressed, pleasantly cooling off his heated feet. He padded softly in the dark to the balcony, leaning against the rail as he gazed off into the horizon. The breeze ruffled his hair, sending it in all directions, much like it did to the sand that surrounded this little oasis in the desert. Small tornados of sand swirled about, riding the pale sand in the moonlight. The sight brought a small smile to his face, reminding him just how free he was now. The Black legacy had fallen to him, his mother and newly tattooed brother having been caught in the battle. His inheritance had been something that he had previously looked on with a sense of dread, knowing everything else that was attached to it. But now, none of that still stood, none of his previous obligations still weighed down on him. He was a free man, able to enjoy the money his father had saved away for him, not knowing what his wife would use it for after he'd past away. Sirius inhaled deeply, his eyes closing. His father would be happy to see him now. In a grand palace in the middle of the Egyptian desert. He had nothing to worry about except enjoying the rest of his life. His father had managed to save enough money that Sirius had little need to worry about finding a job for the rest of this life. The numerous residences all over the world that had now passed to Sirius ensured that he'd always have a place to go.

He'd picked Egypt first, a place that had always intrigued him but that he'd never been able to visit before. All that sun didn't agree with his mother's complexion so they'd spent summers in and around Europe. He'd been in Egypt for about a month now and was still thoroughly enjoying himself. The food took a little getting used to at first, as well as the means of traveling from his desert home to the markets spread closer to the Nile. He'd been able to perfect his ability to Aparate, managing to appear far enough away from the small city to not be see, but close enough so that the few minutes walk to get to civilization was still enjoyable. He enjoyed those little walks. The clothes were different too, reminding him of baggy pyjamas for the men and sultry versions of lingerie for the women. Speaking of which, the first few times he had visited, there had been a lovely young girl in the market, manning her family's stall. He'd told her that he would come and visit her every week until she told him her name.

As he sauntered back to bed he thought that perhaps tomorrow would be a nice day to visit the market and buy a few trinkets to send back to James and Remus. A mischievous grin spread across his face as his head hit the pillow. Perhaps he'd even pick Lily up one of those sequined outfits, the scantiest one he could find in green to match her eyes. Yup, tomorrow was the perfect day to head into the city.