I'm Still Standing

by Midnight Darkride

My first entry for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition: As Sirius contemplates, that dreaded night, Lucius Malfoy decides to pay the man a visit the two discuss philosophy and motive. Lucius dismisses Black as a foolish madman possessed by an overdeveloped taste of vengeance, but of the two, who really is the bigger man?

QLFC Season 10 Round 1

Team: Montrose Magpies

Position: Beater #2

Main Prompt–Write about someone being possessed.

[song] 'I'm Still Standing' – Elton John

[dialogue] "What's the deal with you always wanting to ruin your own life?"

Word count: 1082

A/N: Warnings References to betrayal, reference to character deaths, revenge, indirect metaphors for racism

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That belongs to JK Rowling

Sirius began to etch yet another notch in the wall with his sharpened fingernail. Why he did this, he did not know, he had so perfectly counted how long he had been in the dreaded walls of this prison. "Eleven years, eight months, eleven days. Twelve years, twelve years, twelve years." He kept repeating this in his head over and over again.

Black had become a bit of a legend. Nearly everyone who entered Azkaban went made within weeks, yet even after spending a decade and counting he hadn't. Everyone thought it was impossible; many, in fact, believed that the only way to not go mad in Azkaban was to be possessed. Perhaps, in a way, he was.

He bit his lip, there was one man he could blame, Peter Pettigrew. Even the name brought on the taste of bile in his mouth as it went through his head. Peter had sold Lily and James out. He'd faked his death and framed Sirius for it. He'd betrayed the Marauders.

"Finger!" he cried out in the echoing halls of the prison before devolving into what seemed to be the rantings of a devil-possessed man.

"Dirty coward is an Animagus! He fooled you all! He cut it off so everyone would think he was dead and then he transformed into a rat!"

The question Black could not get out of his mind was why. Why did Peter betray the Marauders? He was their friend. Sure, he wasn't exactly brave (even to the point where Sirius wondered why he was put in Gryffindor ) but he never would have imagined Peter would outright betray them. Had he betrayed them for wealth? Had the betrayal been done in the pursuit of power? Or had it been just another act of cowardice?

"Why?!"

"Why indeed?" a mysterious voice called out, followed by chilling laughter.

Sirius gritted his teeth as he recognized the aura of faux suave and Bravado. "Lucius Malfoy."

Malfoy stepped closer to the bars. The pale moonlight that streamed through the bars of his cell afforded Sirius a glimpse of the man's platinum blonde hair, cracked smile, and yellow-stained teeth. It was only a bit but it was still enough to make Sirius sick.

"You know, I must admit Sirius, when I heard rumors that after nearly twelve years you still hadn't cracked I had become intrigued enough that I felt the need to see you for myself. Seeing you now, though, I think perhaps the rumors might just...be...wrong."

Sirius let out a huff. "Hello, Lucius. still using cursed books to possess innocent little girls?"

Lucius let out a growl of disdain before mumbling. "That was never proven."

"Neither was Peter's death, yet here I am." There was almost a sort of giddiness in his voice that seemed so out of place given the environment. It had crossed Malfoy's mind that maybe Black had indeed started to lose his marbles.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"Fallen. On the contrary, my dear Lucius, I'm still standing."

"Are you now?" Lucius gave a half smirk, his eyes burned with the fires of contempt. "A man of the house of Black, one of the most prominent of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and yet you seemed to want to do everything in your power to spit on that legacy. First you deny the reality of pureblood supremacy, you end up being sorted into Gryfindor instead of Slytherin, and then decide to pledge allegiance to that idiot Dumbledore instead of your own after all that, here you are now, sitting here in a cell in Azkaban and branded a traitor…in more ways than one might I add. What's the deal with you always wanting to ruin your own life?"

Sirius couldn't help but grin wildly as if he were a cat that had caught a canary bird. If that wasn't enough to unnerve Lucious, then Black's fit of mad cackling certainly was.

"Unlike you, I had principles and I stood by them. I stood with Dumbledore because I believed in doing the right thing. Unlike you Lucius, I wasn't a coward who fled with every single little change of the wind."

Lucius growled though he seemed to speak in a whisper. "You arrogant mutt, I served Lord Voldemort because he understood where the rightful place of all purebloods was and should be. I'm still standing here with my head held high, while you remain on your hands and knees like a dog."

To that Sirius got up and began pacing, not once breaking eye contact with the Death Eater, who was mocking him from the other side.

"If you're still standing, why do I see cowardness in your eyes? If you're so proud to have stood by your principles and served Voldemort, why do you flinch at the mere mention of the Dark Mark? If you're so proud of your bloodline why do you black out and disown certain members of your line. Surely deep down you understand the folly of your misguided prejudices, and deep down you know better than anyone else that there isn't a witch or wizard alive today that is not half blood or less."

"You really are a mad fool."

"If I am a mad fool what does that make you? I don't know how or when, but I will see good triumph. I will see the day where the blood of the innocent that have been spilt shall be avenged and It will start with Peter Pettigrew. I will make sure of that. If you or your master ever sees him, tell him that I will find him no matter how far he runs or who he hides behind."

Lucius let out a laugh. "So this is what Sirius Black has been reduced to: a man possessed by an overdeveloped thirst for revenge. It's going to get you killed someday."

"Perhaps, but even if that is the case, I can say in all sincerity that I do not fear death. I will be able to die fighting for what I believe in. Can you say the same?"

Lucius stood in silence for a good solid minute before finally scowling "We're done here. Enjoy your life…what little is left of it."

As Lucius walked away Sirius couldn't help but grin. Indeed Lily and James would be avenged, but that would be impossible while he was still trapped behind bars. His mind was made up. Now was the time. He was going to escape tonight.