Unchained [Open]

[grimbiker]

Sirius Black was no longer in Azkaban. He had spent but a few months there, a small fraction of the time he would have spent had Stacy not ripped him free, but it had left its mark on him. He knew his mind had fractured, he could feel the pieces as surely as if he were holding them in his hands, but he couldn't fit them back together. He didn't know how. He couldn't do it on his own. He needed James. But James was dead.

He should talk to Remus. He'd always been the most sensible and resilient of them. Remus knew what it was like to break apart and then put yourself back together. He'd done that every month since before Sirius met him. But Sirius couldn't go to him, not yet. Not when he could barely string together a few sentences.

Sirius had gone to the city first but it was strange to look out across all those buildings, places that should be full of life hauntingly empty. He turned away and wandered more until he found somewhere full of life. He could forget that he was on board a- what had they called it? Spaceship? It seemed like the four walls around him had fallen away and finally, finally he was free.

He stood still, eyes closed, arms spread, feeling the air.

He remembered his life. There had been bad times, yes. Horrible, terrible times but he had endured. He'd survived. And James had always been there for him. James...

So many happy memories now bittersweet. They flowed over him like waves, each one threatening to take him under but each one he cherished. Life was hard. Life hurt. Knowing that the person who'd brought so much happiness into his life was gone, knowing that Sirius was responsible for his death, it was a pain he could not describe. A pain he never expected or wanted to diminish. But through the pain there was laughter. Through the pain there was love. And that was worth living for, no matter how deep he hurt.

It's what James would have wanted.

"I'll look after him, Prongs. I promise."

Comments

[theboywhodied]

"She's strict but fair," Cedric shrugged. "I tended to have the most trouble with ears. If I was transfiguring a small animal into an object, I would always end up leaving the ears behind. She was exasperated, but I got the help I needed."

And that was all that mattered to Cedric. "She was fair to all of us, though, whether we were in Gryffindor or not. Unlike Professor Snape---you probably wouldn't have had him, he's younger."

[grimbiker]

Sirius was about to comment on transfiguration when Cedric said that last part.

Sirius blinked. "Profes-" He laughed. "Professor Snape? Severus Snape?"

[theboywhodied]

"Yeah, you know him?" Cedric made a sour face. "Potions should be an interesting subject, but I've found I'm too irritated and worried to do my best work in his dungeon. He very obviously favours the Slytherin students, and the only group he hates more than Hufflepuffs are the Gryffindors. Come to think of it, he's glared at Harry every time I see them near each other."

That was strange, at least from his perspective.

[grimbiker]

Sirius was honest to God, genuinely laughing. In fact, he had doubled over.

"Professor Snape. Oh, good old Snivellus. Tell me," He looked up at Cedric. "Has he started washing his hair or does he still have that lovely, glistening layer of slime?"

[theboywhodied]

"I take it you knew him in school?"

Cedric grinned, prepared to indulge this apparent grudge if it would give Sirius something to laugh about. As fair-minded as he tried to be, and even as his Potions grades weren't too bad, he couldn't bring himself to like Professor Snape. Bullying students who weren't doing well was no way to teach.

"Well...I don't know if I'd call it slime, but it does have a rather slick appearance." He was reluctant to say more against a teacher, even now.

[grimbiker]

"Oh yes, sad to say I did know the walking pile of grease. Pitiful excuse for a wizard, obsessed with the Dark Arts." The look of amusement on his face dimmed. "And Dumbledore made him a professor, you say?"

[theboywhodied]

"Yeah, that's the rumour about him," Cedric nodded. "They say he's wanted the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching post for years, but Professor Dumbledore won't give it to him."

All the unpleasant swooping around the school hadn't helped that impression. "Right. He must've had the qualifications to teach. But why do you find him so amusing, Sirius?"

[grimbiker]

"What's there not to find amusing about him?" Aside from the fact that he was most likely a Death Eater. But that wasn't something to mention.

"He's a good for nothing loser. Why Dumbledore ever made him a teacher is beyond me. He's one of the nastiest people I've met and that is saying something."

[theboywhodied]

Cedric was beginning to see that the schoolyard hatred ran deep. How interesting.

"It's true. He does know the subject matter well, and we have been pushed to learn a lot, but I'd respect him more if he'd be patient with us. Every week I'd find a first year upset because they were humiliated in front of the class for missing a single question. They'd points for an offence that a Slytherin would get away with." He folded his arms over his chest and scoffed. That was no way to treat a student.

"Did he learn how to behave from the teachers in your era?"

[grimbiker]

Sirius scoffed. "No, he learned that from his friends. They all went on to be Death Eaters." No, he wasn't entirely sure about some of them but he was prepared to bet his wand on it. "Miserable git."

[theboywhodied]

"I shouldn't be surprised," Cedric observed. "It's almost too fitting."

He shook his head and gazed up at the sky around them. "But he's out of our hair now, I suppose you could say. We have...whatever this is in front of us."

[grimbiker]

"Great, now that you've said that I feel the need to wash my hair. Though it could use it anyway."

Sirius took a breath and he too looked at the sky. "I know this must all be an illusion but it feels real. It's been a long time since I've seen anything but..." He trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence or if he should.

[theboywhodied]

Cedric knew it was likely unwise to say anything. Azkaban. He'd heard the horror stories, he'd met the dementors. To be around them any longer than a few minutes had to be unbearable.

"To feel warm air?"

He liked it too. It was definitely an improvement over death. "I haven't quite figured out what to do with our hair. The plant-clothes are meant to be cleaning us, but I haven't found anything for our heads yet. There was one bathroom sink down on the city level that I tried bending into."

That hadn't ended very well.

[grimbiker]

"Yes."

He noticed Cedric's look and assumed that the sinks weren't a good idea. "I'll have to ask Remus what he does."