Sirius-3
It was dark. Pitch black and he couldn’t see anything. He could only hear a high-pitched laugh. Then a voice hissed in his ear,
“Sirius.”
He spun around, breathing fast.
“Who’s there?” He called, not really wanting to know the answer. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and he was in his room, sat on the bed. He stilled. The house was quiet, too quiet. The sort of quiet where you expect something bad to happen. He crept silently out of his room and along the landing, down the stairs. He hadn’t been inside these walls for over a year, but nothing had changed. As he walked down the hallway past the living room, the door creaked open and he was tugged inside, a hand clamped over his mouth, stopping him from crying out.
“Sirius.”
The voice echoed around the room, calling him, pulling him further into the room.
“Sirius. You have disobeyed me once again. I told you to watch your brother.”
The voice got closer and closer until Sirius could see an outline of a person in the blackness. They were holding some rope and Sirius instantly knew who it was, and what they were going to do. He tried to run, but the rope had coiled around his middle and tied him in place. His mum, Walburga, walked up to him and she looked furious.
“How DARE you disobey me again. You know the price. First me, then Orion, if you would,” She beat him using her bare hands.
Another person, his father - Orion, walked up to him and hit him over and over again on his back with a whip. It cut into his skin and left him bleeding and crying. He sobbed and sobbed, begging to be released, but his parents ignored him.
“Regulus!” Walburga called.
A boy who looked much like Sirius appeared, and he sneered at Sirius, turning to Walburga.
“Yes Mother?” He asked.
“Regulus, you know what to do,” Walburga said, pointing to Sirius.
“No. No, Reg please don’t,” Sirius cried, but Orion slapped his face, silencing him.
“You will not speak boy!” He roared.
Regulus nodded at his mother and walked up to Sirius. He smirked, an evil, ruthless smirk and raised his leg, kicking Sirius hard in the face. He continued to abuse Sirius until Sirius was too weak to stand. Then his family laughed at him and disappeared in a haze of black smoke.
Sirius woke up with a muffled scream and sat up in bed, panting and sweating, tears falling fast down his face. He winced as he came to his senses and realised where he was.
‘I’m in hospital because I got run over when saving Remus. I’m not there. I was never there. It was just a nightmare,’ He reminded himself as he counted to twenty, trying to calm himself down. It worked and when he was calm, he lay back into his pillows, sighing. He turned to look at the small clock and groaned when he saw the time. It was 6:55, which meant the night shift was over and the morning started 55 minutes ago. He knew that Dr. Robins, Lex, would come and check up on him at 7, like she always did when he was in hospital, and he didn’t think he could face talking to anyone after that nightmare.
He knew the hospital’s routine like the back of his hand as he had spent many a night here and made too many trips too count. Lex always gave him a badge when was discharged, and he stopped counting his badges when he reached 300, and now he had to have at least 600. The last badge he got, was just over a year ago, after he had been disowned. His family had beaten him within an inch of his life then kicked him out. He had gone to Alya’s and she had taken him straight to hospital.
He looked up at the door when he heard it open and dropped his head again as he saw it was Lex. He winced when his head came into contact with the pillow.
“Morning Sirius,” Lex said cheerfully, and she came over to him. She frowned when she took in his tear stained face and sat on the bed next to him, “Heya, you okay?”
“Had a nightmare. I was back there, and they beat me. Like they used to do, with the whip,” Sirius mumbled, “Except this time, Reggie beat me too. He used to when Walburga forced him, but this time, he did so much worse and Walburga didn’t even have to force him,” Tears fell from Sirius’s eyes as he explained, and he didn’t bother to wipe them away.
“Oh love,” Lex said, and she took Sirius’s hand, smoothing his hair back from his face, “Do you know why you had the nightmare? You haven’t had one in eight months, so I’ve gathered from Alya.”
“Yesterday morning. A boy ran into me at college. I fell back and he and his gang pushed past me and kicked my sketchbook down the hall. It was nothing compared to what they used to do, but it reminded me,” Sirius replied, and he sniffed, “I’m a mess.”
Lex laughed at this and she squeezed his hand.
“Yes, you are. Come on. I’ll help you sit up we will wash your face here then we can check out your head and side, alright?”
“Lex, I’m not five,” Sirius said and they both chuckled at that.
“Alright Mister Seventeen-Year-Old,” Lex grinned, “Let’s just sort you out.”
The morning passed quickly and when Sirius had a moment to himself before Alya came to visit him, he pulled out his phone and saw one new text from a contact called ‘Remus :).’ He was curious so he opened it and smiled when he read it. He sent one back to Remus:
Haha. Hi Remus. It’s all cool and I would be glad if you came to visit. Alya will be here in a minute and idk how long she will stay but it would be nice if you came. Have a good day and I’ll see you later.
Just as he put his phone away, Alya came into the room with two doctors, who he recognised as Harry and Jason.
“Hi Ally, Jason, Harry,” Sirius smiled at the three.
“Hi Sirius,” Jason said, “We need to use your room, so we are moving you to the ward just down the corridor. Lex knows and so do the other doctors. It okay if we move you now?”
Sirius nodded and Alya grabbed his bag before Harry and Jason wheeled him to his new ward. There were few people in it and he and Alya settled down instantly, chatting quietly. Sirius told Alya about his nightmare and she pulled him into a loose hug as his side was still hurting. Then Sirius remembered that Remus was coming soon and didn’t know about the room change, so he sent him another text:
I’ve been moved so I’m not in the room I was in yesterday anymore. I’m in the ward at the end of the corridor. It’s got blue and yellow doors I think. They’ll probs tell you this at reception but oh well hehe.
He put his phone back in his bag and sighed, lying back into his pillows.
“You okay Siri?” Alya said, rubbing his arm.
“My head hurts,” He admitted, “And I’m hungry. I ate lunch and breakfast, but you know that the food is horrible, so I didn’t eat much.”
“Well,” Alya smiled, “Luckily, I have bought some sandwiches and biscuits. I haven’t eaten lunch as I came here as soon as I finished my shift at the coffee shop this morning and I snaffled some food from there.”
“Thanks Ally,” Sirius took the food and ate it, smiling gratefully, “How is the shop?” He asked in between bites of food.
“It’s good. Our customer rates have gone up and I’ve just employed two new people who are very nice, and I think they will be a perfect addition to the team,” Alya said, smiling.
The two talked some more about Alya’s coffee shop, the Leaky Cauldron, and Alya had just told a hilarious joke and they were laughing when someone called out and stuck their head around the curtain.
Remus.