The Broken
Like dusk, the dawn was the start of a new day. A new beginning, and it was beautiful. Unlike the dusk, it wasn't sad, not even a little because sometimes the only thing you need to carry on with your life is a new beginning. A fresh start, a second chance to get away from the haunted past you leave behind. But sometimes new beginnings are no better than the dusk, because we have no idea what is in store for us later down the road. But, for Sirius Black, there was only one way to go, and that was up. The dawn was his favourite time of day, he realised as the cold curtains of the veil pulled him towards his death. The dawn was his favourite time of day, because that was all he needed, a new beginning, with new people so that he could live the best years of his life. And it didn't matter about the haunting past he left behind, because he had a second chance at life, a chance to finally live a life surrounded by people who loved him.
"Freak!" Sirius looked over as a small boy crawled on the ground trying to recover the papers that had just been cruelly knocked out of his hands. He was sat up in a tree, watching as a group of muggle boys tormented the small boy on the ground. There was little to do at Grimmauld Place, so when he wasn't counting down the days until he finally got on the train to Hogwarts, or in fact received his Hogwarts letter, he sat in the same tree, watching the same muggles every day. He had been doing this all summer. Sometimes Regulus joined him, but often opted out to play gobstones with Kreacher. It hadn't always been this way, usually Sirius would have run inside, begging to play gobstones as well, but as Sirius got older, and Regulus remained the same little boy he'd always been, Sirius grew more and more intrigued by the muggles who played outside their house every day. Although he never spoke to him, Sirius had taken a liking to the small boy who sat on the bench and drew quietly. He rarely looked up from the masterpieces he was creating so he never noticed Sirius' eyes on him.
The other boys that were surrounding him laughed as he scrambled around on the floor, and a white hot ball of anger raged inside Sirius. He didn't mean to do anything, but being an 11-year-old boy with no control of his magic, the bigger boys found themselves frozen in place.
"What are you doing?" They asked. The smaller boy rose to his feet, he had dark hair that covered his eyes slightly, and deep brown eyes that Sirius couldn't help but admire, he had his drawings clutched in his hands and laughed as his bullies tried desperately to move towards him. "Oh, you're so dead!" He took this as his cue to run, and when he was a safe distance away, Sirius' magic relented, releasing them from their frozen state. They ran after him, but he was already too far ahead for any harm to come to him. Sirius climbed down from the tree, jumping to the ground, as he landed, something below his foot made a crackling sound. He looked down to find a drawing that the boy had done, it was obviously one he didn't care about enough to save. Sirius picked it up, it was a little dirty from the ground, and there was a tear going through the paper, but Sirius looked in awe at the drawing in front of him.
He admired the gentle pencil strokes the boy had used, he admired the guiding lines that were faint but still there. He admired the intricate detail of each tiny line. He was so busy admiring all of the little things that it took him a while to figure out what it actually was. A telephone box. Exactly like the one down the street from his house. He would have stayed planted in that spot admiring the drawing all day, if it wasn't for the shrill cry of his mother to come inside for dinner. He trudged back inside, slipping the paper into his pocket, careful to keep it from his mother's view, and sat at the dinner table, where his father, his mother, and Regulus were waiting. They ate in silence, Walburga and Orion sometimes starting a conversation about the state of the Ministry, or the downfall of Hogwarts since Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster. Their dinner was interrupted as Kreacher entered the room, clutching an envelope in his grasp.
"What is this, Kreacher?" Walburga asked sternly, Kreacher presented her with an envelope, bowing low as she took it from him. She looked over the emerald scrawl on the front, before opening it and reading it for herself, she took out another long bit of parchment before turning to him. "Sirius, it's for you." She handed him the envelope and he took it cautiously, reading over the writing on the front. He had been so consumed with the boy on the bench that he hadn't realised what day it was until he read the envelope. He looked over at Regulus in excitement. They had both dreamed of the day that they would go to Hogwarts, but as he looked over at him there was a pensive look that came over his face, which soon spread to Sirius' as he realised what this meant. He would be leaving his brother with the monsters sitting at their dinner table. Sirius had dreamed of escaping to Hogwarts but now that it was a reality, he found himself wishing that he could hold off a little longer. That was why he dreamed of going to Hogwarts, he wanted an escape, a way out of the hell he was living through in this godforsaken house. Regulus wanted to go to Hogwarts so that he could please his parents, and become the perfect son that they would be proud of.
Sirius opened the letter slowly, dreading the words on the page.
'Dear Mr. Black,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1st of September.'
Sirius felt a rock drop in his stomach as he looked tentatively up at his father. For as long as Sirius could remember, his father never smiled at him, the best he would get was glare with slightly less hate fueling it, but for the first time ever, his father smiled and Sirius hated that he felt proud of himself.
"Look at these books! 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', in my time this would have been an extermination guide." Walburga complained. She set the list down on the table. "Kreacher!" She called, before Sirius could even blink Kreacher was standing in front of them, waiting for his orders. "You shall go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, collect everything on this list." She ordered, handing him the parchment. He turned to leave, looking over the list, when Walburga called him back. "Oh, and we'll order Sirius' robes ahead of time. They always get the sizing wrong."
"But, mum, we don't even know which house I'll be in yet." Sirius pointed out. His parents stared at him for a moment before simultaneously bursting out into laughter, as if he had said the funniest thing in the world.
"Of course we do. For the past 500 years every member of the Black family has been sorted into Slytherin, you'll not be the one to break the tradition." His father laughed. Sirius swallowed, suddenly feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders.
After the dinner was finished, and the plates were all cleaned away by Kreacher, Sirius and Regulus went upstairs to their rooms. They had only got to the first step when Walburga called Sirius back.
"You go on ahead, Regulus." Walburga said, seeing that he was waiting for his brother. "Or can you not survive two minutes without him?" Regulus scuttled quickly up the stairs, desperate to avoid his mother's wrath. They waited until they heard Regulus' bedroom door close, and then Sirius turned to his mother. "I must talk to you about what you were saying at dinner. You are the heir to the Black family. But don't forget that you are not our only option. Your brother is more than capable to take your place. You are replaceable, Sirius, so I trust you won't disappoint." She warned, before sending him up the stairs to bed. He stepped into his room, to find his brother waiting on his bed.
"What did she want to talk about?" He asked, looking at his brother in worry.
"Oh, nothing." Sirius brushed off. The type of conversation that he had just had with his mother was not a rare occurrence, he was used to it by now. In fact he was counting down the days until she finally followed through with her threat, because Sirius was just desperate to escape, and he knew that Regulus would make a far better heir than he would. "Just the same old rubbish."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He moved past where his brother was sitting on his bed, and sat at his desk. He pulled the drawing out of his pocket and smoothed it down on the wood.
"What's that?" Regulus asked, looking over his shoulder.
"That muggle boy dropped it." Sirius explained. He looked again at the fine detail of the telephone box, before looking out of his window at the real thing. Regulus followed his eyes.
"Why would he draw a telephone box? That's not very exciting." He commented.
"I think it's a message." Sirius said, looking closer at the drawing. "A reminder."
"A reminder of what?" Regulus asked, not seeing the deeper meaning that Sirius was.
"That he can always call for help."
Something changed in Sirius at that moment, it was as if for the first time he was realising that he wasn't alone. That he could call for help if he needed to. And, he didn't know how, but at that moment he knew that there were three boys who would answer if he called.
This was why they fit so perfectly together, Sirius realised as a small smile graced his face as he fell backwards. James was the sun, he lit up their days but he consumed them, he made them love him with everything in their being, which only made it hurt all the more when he was gone. Peter was the dusk, he snuffed out the light only to return when the light was beginning to burn again, just to snuff it out once more. Remus was the moon, cursed, but always guiding the way, dark, but a constant reminder that a new day was coming. And Sirius, he was the dawn, the one they all needed because he brought about a new day, a better day, a day where all the horrors were just things of the past. And it was at that moment, when they all received their Hogwarts letters, that an electricity sparked through each of them, and they were all instantly connected to each other, even though they were miles away.