The Second Chance
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of Harry Potter. This story is inspired by Kurinoone's awesome story 'The Darkness Within', which was inspired by Project Dark Overlord's wonderful fic- 'A Shattered Prophesy'.
Thanks so much for all your wonderful support in the last chapter! I couldn't have done without it.
Chapter 13: Behind the Bars
As Kit and Ron were creeping into Filch's office in the middle of the night, James and Sirius were doing the same kind of stealth- mode activity. Both Aurors were currently crouched behind a crumbling wall, senses buzzing with high alert.
After three tense minutes, Sirius shifted slightly beside James uneasily.
"When will they ever give the signal?" he said, half- grumbling, half- worried. "According to Fudge's sources, the raid started five minutes ago."
But if the raid had indeed started five minutes ago, it didn't seem to be much of a raid, as there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary in Greville Street. Greville was the nearest Muggle village there was to Hogwarts, located miles away from the Wizarding school, in the valley between two mountains. It was a peaceful and small enough village, but Fudge, this time, had noticed it.
Over the past few weeks, the Ministry was losing more and more Aurors over to Voldemort's side, and half of their number had been killed during the Death- Eater raids, whenever the Ministry tried to interfere. Eventually, Fudge decided that he had enough of sending Aurors out to die, when he needed them stationed by his side, so he had called off the alert. From then onwards, the Ministry would not be informed of any raid activities, nor would they take any action against it, for as Fudge put it, "What is the point? By trying to save others, we end up losing more of our number, and the Muggles are no better off anyway." A few Aurors like Herald and Web, the Order members including James and Sirius were very much against it, as they wanted to help whenever they could, to avenge Harry's death, but there was nothing much that they could do about it. Fudge's decision was final.
But when the call came in that Greville village was under attack, Fudge had immediately perked up and paled under his desk lamp. For he knew, as well as the entire Wizarding World, that Greville was pretty close to Hogwarts, and if the Ministry did not manage to protect such a small Muggle village so close to Hogwarts, how long would it be before the Death- Eaters took on the Wizarding School? If the Ministry failed to protect the village, an uproar would follow, and Fudge would definitely be sacked for sure. And so, at this thought, he had promptly sent all the Ministry Aurors he had to spare off to Greville village, to defend the Muggle village whatever it took.
But now that all the Aurors were already there, stationed in different locations and preparing themselves for the signal to attack, it really did seem as though Fudge had been fed the wrong information, for there was no fire, no havoc, no screaming... everything was completely normal. Cats slunk out in the back alley. Rats scurried around in the drain. The barman snored loudly at the counter.
Sirius and James' legs were terribly cramped after squatting in their positions for ten whole minutes. Eventually, Sirius abandoned caution and rose up slowly to stretch his legs, though he was still careful enough to stay behind the wall.
"Fudge's been fed the wrong information," he said aloud, voicing out everyone's thoughts. Somewhere off to their left, Tonks grimaced and straightened herself.
"It seems like it," she agreed, not looking very happy about it. After all, they had been called back on double red alert in the middle of the night, and it turned out to only be a wild goose chase.
"Maybe it was a part of their plan," said James suddenly, and the atmosphere suddenly turned even more quiet. "Maybe Fudge was given the wrong information on purpose."
"What would be the point?" Sirius said, trying not to take things in such a grim point of view.
"The point?" James smile was grim. "Every single remaining Auror the Ministry has is here, Sirius."
Even as he spoke, they felt the anti- Apparition wards snap up, preventing any of the Ministry Aurors from escaping. There were yells resounding from the other side of the alley. The three Aurors immediately tensed, their wands aloft, prepared for attack. Blood was roaring in their ears, awaiting the moment the Death- Eaters arrived.
Barely five seconds later, hundreds of loud cracks resounded in the night air, and the first sheet of flame rose up into the night sky from a house a few streets away from where Tonks, James and Sirius were stationed.
Still the signal never came.
The first scream rang into the night, piercing their conscience.
"We can't wait for the signal anymore," said Sirius, his knuckles white as he held his wand.
Then there was a flash of bright light, and the image of a skeleton with a green serpent hanging out of his mouth rose into the night, glowing amidst the darkness, taunting the Aurors.
"So what's the plan now?" hissed Sirius to James.
CRACK!
Figures dressed in black that had just Apparated all around them. Within five seconds, they were already surrounded.
"Oh fabulous," said Tonks, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
The Death- Eaters seemed no hurry to rush in for the kill. "Black and Potter," the first one spoke, his mask still in place. "The Dark Lord seems to take particular interest in you both."
Both James and Sirius ignored this comment. The three of them knew they made an easy target surrounded, and although it was their intention to fight, their specific orders were to protect the Muggle villagers. Their positions were at the secluded outskirts of the village as they had been preparing for a surprise attack on the Death- Eaters, which had obviously failed. Now, they had to somehow break out of the ring of approximately fifteen Death- Eaters surrounding them and run back to the village to help the rest of the Aurors.
"Rosier," greeted Sirius mockingly. "From what I've heard, the Dark Lord seems to have taken less interest in you."
Rosier gave a snarl and a jet of green light thundered out of his wand, but there was a guttural cry recognizable as Crabbe Senior's, "No! The Dark Lord wants them both alive!"
Blood was pounding loudly in their ears by now. Apparently, this was Voldemort's plan to not only attack a Muggle Village and sway the Wizarding World plus weaken the Ministry, but also to capture all the Ministry Aurors... and specifically James Potter and Sirius Black.
"We're outnumbered three to one, by the count," Sirius whispered to James as they slowly turned around so that their backs were facing each other as they fought. Tonks was also prepared; her hair was now matte black to suit her robes, her wand aloft, and a spell was ready on her lips.
"We've got to fight," James replied. "We're not giving up that easily yet. But meanwhile, keep on trying to break the Apparition Wards."
"And how do we do that?" asked Tonks as the Death- Eaters circled in on their prey.
"Either our spells are strong enough to punch through the barriers, or we take down enough Death- Eaters so that the wards will be weakened," Sirius replied in a fast, urgent whisper.
"Presuming the wards were put up by the Death- Eaters, that would work," said James. "If it's Voldemort's magic that set up the Apparition Wards..."
"See you behind the bars," Sirius said, and together, they started to fire.
James and Sirius were wrong. The Death- Eaters outnumbered the Aurors four to one instead of three. This was because amongst the Ministry Aurors that were stationed in Greville village, among one out of eight of them were turncoats; spies of Voldemort's. They were either blackmailed or under the Imperius Curse, but most of them had simply followed the Dark Lord's orders out of fear.
Tonks was responsible for covering James' and Sirius' backs as she threw up her shield, while the other two Marauders fired quickly and randomly at the weaker spot of the circle- where Crabbe and Goyle Senior stood together, their elbows knocking into each other every few times they tried to make a move. Standing in a circle also gave the Death- Eaters a slight disadvantage, for it meant whenever the Aurors who were caught in the middle managed to avoid the spells, the Death- Eaters at the other side of the circle would get hit. James, Sirius and Tonks successfully kept this up, although a Cutting Hex seared Sirius's shoulder once. Within minutes, the circle was successfully broken.
"Tonks!" yelled James and together they tore out of the circle, leaping over the unconscious or dead Death- Eaters in their wake.
Once James, Sirius and Tonks had managed to fight their way out of the circle, they started running- not away from the Death- Eaters, but away from the deserted area of the village to where Muggles were being tortured in front of their eyes. Green and red jets of light soared all around them, and it was quite a miracle that three of them remained reasonably unhurt despite all of it.
The sight of the main village was eerie to behold. The place was swarming with figures with black robes and masks; and the most chilling sight was the number of recognizable faces they could see, lying on the ground, hanging in the balance between life and death. Web, Drake and Rile were among them. But they hadn't time to check if they were alive or not, for at that moment Rosier and the others came charging after them, crying "It's Black and Potter!"
James couldn't help but wonder why the Dark Lord wanted them both that badly. Could it be because they were both the elite Aurors remaining in the Ministry? But there had been no order to capture Moody, had there? The Death- Eaters didn't seem to be in a hurry to kill or capture them, they were more keen on torture. After all, there was no way the Aurors could Apparate out of the village unless they ran past the anti- Apparition Wards.
"Now we split," Sirius said, and he immediately threw himself into the ring of attack, jets of green light thundering out of his wand. Kill upon sight. Fudge's orders. None of them quite liked the idea of it, as some of the current Death- Eaters were actually Ministry staff who were Imperiused, but in this case there was not much choice left. Azkaban had been taken over by Voldemort, so sending the prisoners there would be equivalent to sending them back to their den.
It was a sickening sight in Greville village. The Death- Eaters were setting fire to each and every cottage they passed, and they snapped up a barrier so that the Muggles could not escape from their burning homes. There were screams and cries everywhere, which seemed to sear James' heart every time he heard those pitiful cries, yet he was helpless. He could only duel the few Death- Eaters at a time, and Stun those who were under the Imperius Curse for he couldn't bear to kill them in cold blood- like Stanley Shunpike.
But barely ten minutes of the fight before the signal was given to retreat. Sirius stared incredulously at the red and yellow flares that were sent up into the sky. Moody, who was somewhere behind him, gave Sirius a sharp prod in the back, causing Sirius to jump.
"Retreat!" snarled Moody. "Gather all the men we've left and make a run for it."
"Run?" repeated Sirius incredulously. "Our orders were to do everything it takes. We've barely fought for ten minutes!"
Moody's growl was even more menacing than before. "Do have any idea how many men we have left now? The entire Team 2 and 3 are down!"
"Down?"
"Dead!" snarled Moody for the last time, before he blasted a Death- Eater out of his path and disappeared round the corner in a few quick hobbles. Sirius felt as though his heart were wrenched out with grief.
The entire Team 2 and 3? Surely not? Frank and Alice Longbottom were in Team 2. And Remus... Remus was also here, fighting for the Order.
For a moment, Sirius fought hard, sub- consciously, but his mind was preoccupied. For the first time, he was unsure about his decisions- should he continue fighting this losing battle and try to save the Muggles' village, or attempt to rescue the rest of the Order members and Aurors and make a run for it? Once again, it was a war between those he cared about and innocents, and he really didn't know which was the right course of action.
Quite suddenly, his best friend reappeared by his side, blood running down a side of his face but otherwise unharmed. Sirius couldn't have been more glad at the sight of James. At least they were in this together.
"Moody's signal is to run," Sirius told James. Moody was the Leader of all the Aurors, who had fired up the flares in the first place. "He said that Team 2 and 3 are down, and he told us to leave while we can." In normal circumstances, hearing the order of retreat issuing from Moody's mouth was a scarce thing, but ever since Harry had died, and the Ministry had practically fallen to pieces after Voldemort rose, stronger than ever before, Moody's faith in the ability of the Order seemed to sway, and he was no longer as proud as he had been of the Aurors under him, as their number had rapidly dropped from fifteen teams to six.
"Then we shall run," James replied, much to Sirius' shock, before continuing, "But make sure everyone else escapes before us. We'll run last."
"What about the villagers?" Sirius asked as he fired a Stunner at another Death- Eater.
"The Dark Lord gave special orders to have us both caught," James replied as he fired out curses. "The Death- Eaters will definitely give chase, and knowing them, they'll compete to capture us to claim the glory. That will leave the village in peace."
"Not necessarily," began Sirius. "What about those who are trapped-"
"It's the best we can do!" snapped James. "You know full well we cannot afford to save everyone."
There was an anguished look in James' eyes as he said so, and deep in his heart, Sirius knew that his best friend was right.
"Kingsley," James started to speak into his communicator. "Gather all the rest and retreat. Run West out of the Apparition Wards."
Sirius was trying to tear down all the barriers that trapped the Muggle villagers in their burning homes. After James had relayed the message to the rest of the teams, James joined in Sirius, extinguishing the fires and casting a Shield Charm over the Muggles.
"This requires a whole herd of Obliviators," Sirius commented to James as they tore down the third barrier. "So much for magic secrecy."
"Well, you can't see the Ministry doing anything about it now that Voldemort's at large, can you?" James panted in reply. "They'll be lucky enough to live."
Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a few Order members, an unhappy Tonks among them, supporting a few Aurors as they made a run for it, always West, as James had instructed. A few Death- Eaters had started to notice, and were starting to give chase. Kingsley was the only one fighting, as he bought time for the others to leave as quickly as possible.
James and Sirius hastened to join him.
"Are all of them out yet?"
"Yes," Kingsley replied in his deep voice. "Dedalus was severely injured. Remus has helped him out, though he wanted to stay with both of you and fight."
James nodded. "I know," he said, "But I forced him to move on. We can't risk anyone else. It's me and Sirius the Dark Lord is after, so the rest must go first."
After fending off the Death- Eaters through a frenzy haze of spells and jets of light, James and Kingsley's communicator buzzed. Sirius had lost his when a Stunner hit it during the battle. "It's alright, all of Team 4 and 5 have managed to leave. They're currently at Potter Manor, as James suggested."
"What about Team 2 and 3?"
"We lost contact since the fight began," said Kingsley grimly. "We suspect that Team 2 and 3 were the first to be taken down seeing as they were positioned right in the centre of the village."
"We have to find them," said James determinedly. "Frank and Alice are among them. They have children to take care of."
"We cannot afford to stay much longer," said Kingsley. "I heard one of the Death- Eaters say that they might summon the Dark Lord. If Voldemort is indeed Summoned, it would be difficult for us to get away, let alone with the injured victims."
"Five more minutes," promised James. "Sirius and I will search for the rest of them."
Together, both Marauders ran into the village again, locating the position Team 2 had been stationed before the fight began. But when they reached there, the wall Team 2 and 3 were supposed to be crouching behind was no longer there, nor was the cottage. Everything was in ashes, flames or pieces.
"Beneath the rubble," cried Sirius as he noticed a pale hand buried under the debris. "I think all of them may have been buried in there!"
James and Sirius started to levitate out the bodies and large rocks out of the messy pile of blood, bricks and bodies, trying not to wince each time they saw the faces of their Auror team members. Alice and Frank were found amongst them. It seemed as though the entire team had been knocked out before they were able to attack at all. The Death- Eaters' first move was smart, which was to blast the wall they were hiding behind, therefore rendering all of them hurt or unconscious.
"We'd better get all of them to Kingsley," said James worriedly. "I'll call for the Order members to return and help haul them to safety. We can't manage to save all of them on our own."
Sirius nodded wearily. In truth, his magic was starting to wear thin, and he was fatigued after dueling for what felt like hours. But he couldn't give up now, because his friends were in danger. They weren't safe yet.
Within ten minutes, all of the Ministry Aurors and Order members were on their way to safety, with Remus and Tonks helping them out of the village, past the Apparition Wards before they left for Potter Manor. Kingsley had left supporting Frank as well, to James' insistence. Any other back up help the Order had to offer were all turned down by James as both Marauders prepared themselves to create a distraction.
"Prepare to run fast," James told Sirius as they knocked down a Death- Eater with a double curse blast. "Ready?"
Sirius nodded, then slid away into the opposite alley.
Immediately, James started to yell loudly, "RUN, SIRIUS! Wherever you are! Run out of the Apparition Wards to safety!", over the Sonorus Charm, as though his partner weren't standing metres away from him. It was a lousy speech cobbled together despite the circumstances, but it conveyed the point. As the Death- Eaters turned around at James' voice, they were just in time to see Sirius and James sprint past them into the outskirts of the village, running hard until they managed to past the Apparition Wards. And all the while, they was a deafening cry behind them, which sounded more like a roar to their ears, with Rosier's voice ringing the loudest, "NO! They are mine to capture!", "GET THEM!" and amidst all of the confusion, warning cries, "the Dark Lord wants them alive!"
Once out of the village, they began to run uphill, as the Apparition Wards were still surrounding them, preventing them from leaving by any means of magic; Portkey , Apparition or otherwise. However, their pursuers were catching up quick, as some of the Death- Eaters were prepared with flying broomsticks. James swore and started to aim curses in the air, trying to knock out those wo were closest to catching up with them.
Most of the Death- Eaters were out of the village now. Summoning all his magic, Sirius directed his wand from where he stood at the village.
"Protego!" he cried, and a strong, bright shield rose, sealing off the the village, preventing the Death- Eaters from re-entering the village.
"Wow, good thinking- Sirius? Sirius!"
James turned around to see his partner sway on the spot, threatening to fall over. Immediately James backtracked to his friend's aid.
The strong shield had cost Sirius too much magic. He felt his knees buckle, and only managed to stay upright with James' hand supporting him.
"I'm fine," Sirius managed to grit out.
"No you most definitely aren't," James said at once. "And you better bloody well not tell me to leave you alone and run, because I'd prefer to-"
"We need to run, Prongs," Sirius said, righting himself, though his head swayed with the effort. "I'm fine now."
As if to prove his point, Sirius started up the hill, sprinting as fast as he could, though he could swear the edges of his vision was starting to blur. He knew what was happening to him- magical shutdown, to allow his body to recuperate after spending more magic than he could afford. But they hadn't reached the Apparition point. He couldn't rest yet...
James was running slightly in front of him now. Sirius could feel his lead like feet threatening to give way with every step he forced himself onwards. How long could he keep this up? Three minutes maximum. Or maybe two. Did he have time to escape the Death- Eaters? Calculations and speculations swam around in his head, jumbling themselves up with reality itself. Nothing was clear now...
Then quite suddenly, the Death- Eaters were all around them, most of them on broomsticks, swooping so low that Sirius failed to duck their curses. He was sent sprawling onto the ground, excruciating pain clawing at his stomach. He felt his head hit the ground, and heard James' frantic cry, doubtless screaming his name. Despite all of it, Sirius managed a faint smile. And who said James couldn't scream?
"Sirius!" Barely a second later, James arms closed around his shoulders and pulled him upright. He felt his best friend still at the sight of his front, doubtless he was bleeding badly. But as of right now, the pain was slowly fading away into numbness, along with the world.
"You know, sometimes your screams really sound like Lily's," Sirius muttered.
"What?" James thought he had misheard. "Of all things... Look, we have to keep moving- we're only a metre away from the Apparition Wards! I passed it just now before you fell-"
"You really shouldn't have come back for me."
"Shut up."
James sent three more Stunners into the air. One of them hit its target, and the Death- Eater fell with a cry to the floor. Trying hard to ignore the suffering he was putting his friend through, James helped to pull Sirius upright.
"Come on," he told Sirius urgently. "Surely one metre isn't too much for a mutt like you?"
"I may have been a handsome dog, Prongs," Sirius panted, his breath coming fast, his front soaked through with blood. "But this dog is getting old."
"Now you admit it!" grunted James, trying to keep up the banter, restore some of the former normality to their conditions, so that by any luck his heart rate would slow down, and that he would be able to think straight and clear, and haul Sirius to safety.
He'd thought they would have made it. James managed to drag Sirius right up to the Apparition point, and was reaching for his Portkey- he was afraid Sirius was too weak for Side- Long Apparition, which was known to be a more violent means of transport than Portkeys. Furthermore his magic was extremely low, and he could barely focus at the sight of his best friend bleeding and barely conscious before him. If he failed to concentrate for one moment during the Apparition, he or worse still, Sirius, who was already hurt would be Splinched.
His fist had already closed around the small stopwatch in his pocket. He could feel in thrumming back to life the second he passed through the Apparition Wards. It was at that precise moment when he felt Sirius struggle violently in his grip. He looked down and saw his friend spasm with pain, face contorted, his movements thrashing wildly in agony. For only a second, he released his grip, realizing that something was wrong. He felt his breath catch, and as though in slow motion, he saw a jet of fiery red light, the Crustacius Curse, soar from Rosier's wand and hit Sirius directly in the shoulder. The impact was enough to blast Sirius off his feet, and Sirius was sent sprawling. Away from him.
There wasn't enough time to do anything. All James remembered doing was screaming, a sound of pure terror, "NO!" but even that was not heard by his ears. He tried desperately to shake his grip off the glowing Portkey but he found it impossible. Sirius stared blankly, unseeingly at him from a distance, the blue light of James' Portkey throwing eerie shadows over his best friend's pale face.
Then he was gone, transported against his own will, to safety, away from the fire, leaving behind the danger, the Death- Eaters... and his best friend.
Miles away, in Hogwarts, Kit gave a sharp gasp of pain and sat bolt upright in his dormitory, his left hand clutching his invisible scar.
Sirius awoke in a cell, his head pounding ferociously. The first thing he noticed was that his wrists were tightly shackled together, and he scowled deeply at that. Shackled wrists would make his life a whole lot more difficult. Slowly and stiffly, Sirius somehow managed to push himself upright. First surprise- he was still alive! Although how he managed to survive the ordeal was beyond him. He looked down at his attire. His Auror robes were already replaced by fresh, if not clean, rags. Sirius felt his stomach churn at the sight. He was dressed in prisoners' rags. Despite all of it, Sirius still managed to feel angry and annoyed. He was an elite Auror! he thought indignantly. And now he was dressed in black Death- Eater rags that befitted the lowest status ever to exist in the world.
As he was noting his partially healed injuries with interest and curiosity, a sudden cold chill that he knew all to well stole over him. Immediately, Sirius' head snapped up. It was only then did he begin to pay attention to his surroundings.
He was in an extremely dark and dingy cell, with no light filtering in. He had to squint badly just to see anything at all. At this realization, fear stole over him, clawing and gnawing at the pit of his stomach so much it was hard to bear. His foot shot out involuntarily, and before he managed to straighten it at all, it connected with a loud thud with the prison cell bars. As quick as lightning, there was a buzz, and a bolt of electric charge seemed to shoot directly at Sirius' foot, causing him to hiss in pain.
The thought of being trapped forever in this cramped, dark and cold cell was horrible to imagine. It was as though he were blind. He could barely see. Repeatedly, he waved his hands before him, but he could barely make out the fingers he was holding up in front of him.
He never really noticed how dark the cell was when he first woke up, as he had assumed that things would look brighter once his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness. But he was wrong. No matter what he did or how he rubbed his eyes, he couldn't see.
At least he knew where he was, anyway.
Azkaban.
As if to confirm his thoughts, suddenly, there was a loud creak somewhere in front of him, and a brilliant shaft of light cut through the darkness, scorching his retinas. Instinctively, he shielded his eyes from the light, but opened his eyes almost immediately after, as the prospect of light, no matter how bright it was, brought comfort as it drove away the darkness.
He saw a flight of steep, winding staircase leading to a landing somewhere to the left of his cell. Someone was descending the stairs. In fact, a few someones were. Sirius' keen ears picked up three pairs of heavy footsteps coming down the steps. Sirius averted his gaze from the swinging lanterns and cast his eyes around his prison. The cells beside him were empty, and the opposite of his cell was a blank wall covered with moss. But three cells away from his, Sirius noticed another inmate, who was cowering away from the sharp light.
As the three visitors came into full view, stopping before Sirius' cell, the Auror immediately identified the three Death- Eaters: Rosier, Avery and Nott. Voldemort's three Inner Circle Death- Eaters.
"Black," Rosier was the first to speak as usual. He was wearing a maniacal grin, not unlike to the ones on his partner's faces. Sirius immediately felt obliged to return it.
"The cell's not breaking you yet, is it?" Nott said, peering closer at Sirius' face. "But trust me, give it time. Soon you'll be waving your hands about in the air, trying to see the fingers you are holding up. That's a pretty frequent occurrence here among the inmates."
Sirius felt something cold slide down his backbone, but he ignored the comment completely otherwise. "You'll need something sharper than shackles to break my wrists," he replied jauntily, as though he were completely unaffected.
"Not that, you moron," Avery said with a scowl. "We meant the eerie darkness. Pitch blackness that will drive you insane just to see the light of the day."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm used to it. Sirius Black, remember?"
"I wager you're a bit tougher than the others. It'll take you maybe two weeks to break. But no matter," Rosier spoke again. "We're here to accelerate the process."
Sirius didn't much like the sound of that.
"I reckon you mean Dementors," Sirius said, pretending to sound calm. "Oh well, no matter. I've faced worse. Seeing as I've lived my entire life like a wonderful spoilt prince, the worst memory the Dementors can relive will be the day Remus almost forgot my birthday. It was about thirty years ago, really. A very traumatizing experience."
Rosier merely grinned back, exposing all his teeth as he did so. "I did think of that before," he said, and his eyes began to glitter in earnest. "And that is why, I'm going to give you a bad memory to relive."
Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but Avery reacted by chucking a basin of ice cold water at him.
Except that it wasn't water. Sirius felt someone- Nott presumably, yank his hair roughly, and forced his head into the stone basin, where white mists were swirling...
Sirius landed sprawling on the top of the staircase. It was the same staircase that he had seen from his cell seconds ago, before he was sucked into the memory. And inches away from him, a much younger Rosier was standing beside Sirius, whistling to cover the Death- Eater's nervousness.
It was obvious that Rosier was getting very jumpy for some reason. He kept pulling back his left sleeve, staring at the newly branded Dark Mark on his forearm, before resuming his position with a determined look in his eyes. Sirius thought he knew why. Rosier was only a new Inner Circle Death- Eater then. This, whatever the memory was going to show, was one of his first missions, and he was afraid yet determined at the same time.
Sirius' instincts were thrumming loudly, buzzing on high alert as he crouched beside Rosier. Whatever the memory had the show, it certainly wouldn't be good. Apparently it was supposed to be a bad memory, presumably something traumatizing...
Rosier was descending the stairs now. Sirius hastened to follow the Death- Eater.
It was as dark as he remembered in the cells. The only source of light proved to be Rosier's bright lantern, which bobbed up and down in front of Sirius like a beacon, illuminating the steep steps before him.
As they went deeper and deeper into the cells, the chill hit them both hard, and though it was only a memory, Sirius felt bitterly cold, as he had been in his own cell minutes ago. Rosier stopped in the middle of the staircase, seemingly apprehensive, but Sirius heard voices below them, in the cells, so he quickly descended three steps below Rosier and listened.
For a while, he could make no more but hushed whispering, but suddenly the foreign yet familiar voice rang out, louder than before.
"You told him," the voice said, with a hint of finality in them. "It was you who sold me out."
"What if it was, Reggie?" laughed the second voice, and with a jolt, Sirius knew who those voices belonged to.
"We had a deal," said Regulus' voice with cold fury. "You told me about the Horcruxes, and I hunted and destroyed them to bring down Voldemort. You said you wanted to defeat the Dark Lord as revenge, after he left you here to die in Azkaban."
"If only it were that easy," Rodolphus Lestrange replied, and Sirius could hear the sly smile in his voice. "There are seven of them out there, Black. Maybe even more. And you never did manage to destroy any of them, did you?"
"So you've changed your mind."
Rodolphus laughed. "I had a better idea," he crowed. "Now, I have an easier way out of this hell hole, thanks to you. By selling out a traitor, I've bought myself a place back at Voldemort's side. He'll be sending for me soon."
Somewhere behind him, Sirius heard Avery hailing Rosier. Suddenly, Sirius found that he could descend the steps. Silently, he followed Rosier down the steps, into the cells. Rosier's lantern light was dimming. He swore loudly and yelled back up to Avery, "Bring me five more lanterns!"
Sirius knew that they needed magical lanterns to see in the dark, as one of the effects of Dementors in Azkaban was to snuff out any source of light. The Lumos spell would not work in Azkaban- he had learnt as much during his patrols in the prison during the early days. It was then when it struck Sirius hard- the Dark Lord had been controlling Azkaban ever since ten years ago. And Fudge just kept on denying it.
With a lurch of his heart, by the dim light of Rosier's lantern, Sirius saw the face of his younger brother- Regulus. And Regulus was occupying the same cell Sirius himself had been in. He looked in pretty bad shape, with blood-stained robes and a nasty gash running down his face. Sirius noted that his left leg was twisted in an awkward angle. But his keen eyes were dark and searching, and serious, as if he'd seen things he'd never forget- and since when had his younger brother seem so... old? Regulus was only around twenty by then. But he looked twenty five, maybe even twenty six.
Horcruxes... Merlin, Regulus had been hunting Horcruxes. Regulus wasn't the coward Sirius took him to be.
It wasn't possible.
Sirius felt hollowed inside; his head was pounding; everything didn't seem clear.
Regulus had been hunting Horcruxes.
He was trying to bring Voldemort down.
How could it be? Yet it was true, and according to the conversation he'd overheard, Rodolphus Lestrange had sold out his brother to buy himself a place back at Voldemort's side... Why had Voldemort cast off his loyal servant, such as Lestrange, he wasn't sure. But that wasn't what he was interested in knowing.
It was something far beyond what he could have imagined; he had never imagined for one moment, that the brother that had been a Slytherin had emerged into the greatest hero among them all. And Regulus had died, seemingly a traitor to both the Light and the Dark, unbeknowest to everyone the reason of the price that cost him his life.
Sirius felt his breath coming up fast. He knew now, why the Death- Eaters wanted him to watch this memory. It was a nightmare. And beyond that, was the knife of guilt that kept stabbing him repeatedly.
After all, he was as good as the one that turned in Regulus Black.
The conversation in the cells had stopped, but at the sight of Rosier, approaching Regulus' cell, Regulus spoke again-
"The Dark Lord was right. You are indeed nothing but filth, Bailey."
Sirius didn't know what that meant, but it was seemingly a cutting jibe, as Rodolphus' manic smile immediately grew forced.
"Go on then, kill me, if you can," taunted Rodolphus. "There is nothing you can do to me now."
"I swear I'll grant you your wish," returned Regulus, his eyes fixed on Rosier, who took one last look at him and turned away, yelling "AVERY! How long does it take for you to get the bunch of Dementors!"
"Oh really?" Rodolphus was laughing now.
"Just give me one more minute," Regulus replied, smirking, and Sirius felt his heart clench at that familiar expression. Perhaps, he and his brother weren't that different after all.
Just as Rosier turned to walk up the steps, the cell door above was opened, and Rosier immediately ran up the steps. Sirius was forced to follow him. There was a flash of blinding light as the cell door was opened, as the previous darkness was pitch black, and the five lanterns Avery brought as promised was like a flash of sunlight in a dark hole.
Avery laughed at Rosier's face. "Don't you like visiting Azkaban? You're such a girl, Rosy. People like me relish the moment the souls are sucked from their bodies..."
Then Avery descended the steps, and the memory started to fade. Suddenly, everything was spinning uncontrollably, and the next thing Sirius knew, he was sprawled on the staircase once more. Behind him, Rosier was walking up the steps with two lanterns held tightly in his hands, and Avery was standing next to Sirius laughing, holding three lanterns. At once, Sirius understood- now, he was watching Avery's memory- a continuation of Rosier's.
Behind them, Rosier gave a piercing shriek, but Avery merely laughed. With a wave of his wand, the Dementor began to glide towards them, and just like the cold- Sirius thought he felt the effects of the Dementor as well. Determinedly he fought the numb wave of coldness that stole over him, and Sirius followed Avery down the steps.
And stopped.
Something was wrong.
Regulus' cell had been the one on the direct left of the staircase. As a trained Auror, Sirius was pretty certain he had got it right. And Rodolphus' cell had been the one beside Regulus'. But somehow, both of them had switched. Regulus was in Rodolphus' cell and Rodolphus was in Regulus'... but how could that be? How was it possible?
Sirius' heart lurched at the sight. In this memory, Rodolphus' leg was twisted in an awkward angle, and Regulus wore a manic smile that people who knew him would never have associated with him. But then again, Sirius had never thought of his younger brother as a hero- but a cowardly little mouse, really. Just like Peter Pettigrew.
But that was it, wasn't it?
Rodolphus was actually Regulus, and Regulus was Rodolphus!
He knew what was coming.
Sirius watched with rising horror as Avery cackled to himself, and walked directly over to what seemed like Regulus' cell. He unlocked the bolts, and the fake Regulus shot the fake Rodolphus a triumphant smile, before it turned into a long lasting scream as the Dementor was directed into his prison cage. Avery was now cheering and laughing, watching the sight with sickening enthusiasm, but Sirius only had eyes for his brother.
"I told you so- Black," was all the real Regulus said, with a small smirk on his face.
A/N: So so so sorry for the long wait, first it was because of my work load and limited time on the computer then it was because I became obsessed with the Merlin TV series. Ahhh. Hope you'll forgive my many excuses. So here's an extra long chapter to help compensate for the long time I've been away. I really hope you like it!
Did you expect this outcome? Do tell me!
Do leave me a review, a word or two! to tell me if you like it! Or you can rate
':D' for awesome!
'O' for okay and
'X' for terrible.
Cheers!
Epsilon Scorpii