For the Alphabet Competition (anniversary) and the Themes Challenge (write about someone who is permanently broken or damaged due to a betrayal)
You still count the days. Each and every one of them, no matter how much they blur together. Each day passes, and you keep score.
Mostly, they're meaningless. Just another day, then another. Little reminders that you're still alive, that you're still stuck in this bloody cell, that you'll never see the sunlight again.
But not today. Today, you feel your lips quirk into a smile. Today, you throw your head back and laugh, and the sound is a grotesquely juxtaposed against the screaming and crying throughout the prison.
"It's our anniversary, Regulus," you whisper to the air. "But you wouldn't know that, would you? Is there a concept of time in hell?"
You slide your palm against the cold stone wall, smiling to yourself. Five years ago, on this very day, Regulus kissed you hard. Five years ago today, you learned what it meant to finally feel real love.
You should be celebrating. Five years is a long time when you're young. It's practically an eternity. You should be at your flat with wine while dinner cooks. He should be walking through the door, telling how much he loves you.
Instead, you're here. Instead, he's dead.
It should be different. It could have been different. He promised you forever, once upon a time. He kissed your lips and held your hand. He said he would never leave you, that you would burn together if you had to.
And now he's gone. He left anyway. Maybe you should have known that he'd fail you. That's all anyone is really good for. Only the Dark Lord, only your master has ever been any different.
"Happy anniversary, you bastard," you sneer. "I'm rotting here while you burn in the afterlife."
If he hadn't left, if he hadn't lied, if he hadn't betrayed you, you wouldn't be here. It was your pain and anger at the loss that lead you to Bellatrix Lestrange. It was your desperation to feel something, to punish someone when you couldn't punish him, that made it so easy to raise your wand at the Longbottoms and let that wicked curse fall from your lips again and again. The whole time, you had imagined that it was Regulus, not Frank, who writhed on the floor and screamed. You think you might have even called him your lover's name once or twice during it.
He betrayed you. He left you when he promised that he wouldn't. And you've tried so hard not to think of him, but how can you keep running from that demon today?
Five years ago, he promised you forever. He kissed your lips, and you could taste your future on his tongue.
Four years ago, he said he loved you for the first time. You said it back, and the words were so easy to say that they almost scared you.
Three years ago, you held hands and watched the stars. A shooting star crossed the sky, and you didn't make a wish because you had Regulus, and that was all you needed.
Two years ago, you followed him blindly, let the Dark Mark tie you to him. It was another reminder of his promise of forever.
One year ago, he held you after your fight with your father. He poured you wine, and you made love while drunk on alcohol and love.
And today. Today, you are alone. Today, even the bitter chill of the Dementors can not touch you, cannot extinguish the rage that burns in your stomach.
You shouldn't be here. He should still be alive. It should be another day, a perfect day.
You slump to the floor, hating the tears that fall from your eyes almost as much as you hate Regulus. It's his fault that you're here. His fault. His fault.
"Happy anniversary," you say again, and this time the sound is choked and pitiful. "Please come back."