A/N- It's not really feasible to go forward with this story, as I want to leave Sirius where JK left him. I was just clarifying where, exactly, that was. But I can go back, into the history of the thing. And so I am. This is the girl. You all know what JK owns, and by inference what I do not.
You missed
You missed
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste the afterlife?
Modest Mouse
The Afterlife
The sequence of events leading to this moment, here, now, was a blur.
How terribly cliched.
Ari blinked rapidly, confusedly, at the sea of eager, curious, regretful, vengeful, sorry, gleeful faces… hands tightened around her arms, hands on her shoulders, hands on her back, a hand on her wrist…
A haze of terror gripped her…
Pushing up the sleeve…
Exposing the mark…
"Today," started one of the gleeful faces, "Today we mark a momentous event! No longer must we worry about the safety of our homes and children! No longer must we fear the dark threat of these… these…" He searched for an appropriately derogatory word… "lascivious, nefarious, malefactorious transgressors!" He looked pleased at himself for that, big words that meant so little…
Death Eater…
That was all the onlookers really needed to hear.
The voices rose, cheers, pleading, wails of the condemned. Her own voice, crying quietly for justice, mercy, pity…
There were twelve, today, the first day. Ari was first in line, pinned between two huge Aurors, her left arm prised upwards, the twisted sign on her arm clearly visible to the assembly…
"No more fear! We introduce the final solution to the dark problem! Azkaban need hold no more! Allow us to introduce, formally, The Infinite Prison! The safest, most inescapable prison ever created!" As the man finished speaking he swept aside a curtain to reveal…
nothing. There was nothing behind the curtain. Ari found herself giggling, unable to stop. This had to be a joke, a mistake, surely they would realize? Surely…?
The other eleven prisoners were frighteningly large men, clearly employed by Voldemort for their physical strength and not their intellect. They were to go into the prison for fear that their bodily strength would allow their escape from Azkaban. Ari was to be put in as an example…
She was forced forward, to the side, into better view of the onlookers as the others were lined up. All had long since given up fighting, marked across with scars of curses, hexes, an unmistakable residue of profuse Cruciati. The men were scarred, ugly, evil-looking, and therefore clearly all guilty.
Ari was, or rather, had been, rather beautiful. She was tall, young, fair. She was also filthy, starving, and had a definite glint of madness- the Cruciatus did not leave many physical scars, but it definitely left an impression on the mind. Any redeeming quality of her appearance was entirely compromised by the ugly black mark on her arm. And thus, she became an example. No mercy, for youth, for beauty, for her fair sex, for truth. The only judgement was a skull and a snake.
One by one, the others were forced through the doorway. One by one they vanished from view, to the startled, awed, amazed, excited gasps from spectators. And then she was left alone, and her resolve to strength crumbled and she cried, and begged, and feared.
One voice broke the crowd- "Will they ever be released?" The gleeful little fat man grimaced.
"If they reform. Once the appropriate time has elapsed. Ministry regulations require that they be released. IF they reform." He turned to Ari, still grinning like a corpse. "Do you hear? How long will that be, little girl? I supposed you're reformed now, yes?" He laughed softly, low. She couldn't find a voice, to cry no, yes, there is nothing to reform, there is nothing to confess, there is nothing…
The time for appeals had passed long ago…
There were cries, screams, cheers, insults, words of support, endless white noise as she was escorted to the doorway… paused… stepped through with what dignity was left after these long months...
And fell, stopped, ceased, plummeted, exploded, fell…
Into a place of nothing…
Nowhere…
Here.
A/N: So okay. Anyone want to know more?