Trust

CH 5 - Memories

I was awoken by the sound of a person apperating into my tiny cell. It was a sound I was familiar with, one I grew to fear. The world swirled around me in a sort of grey fog and I backed against the cold stone wall as a dark figure approached. He face cleared into the image of Dominic Crabbe.

"I'm giving you one last chance, mudblood," he stated. "Either you help the cause or you lose a piece of you until you agree."

I knew Crabbe wasn't bluffing but I couldn't help them, I wouldn't be responsible for murdering innocent lives. It was all I could do to shake my head. His face distorted into an ugly snarl and he lunged at me. I did my best to tear his hand away from me, I crawled away from him to the other side of the tower.

"Crucio!"

A green light erupted, filling the room. I lost control of my limbs and burning sensation filled me. I felt like I was being lit on fire from the inside, my vision went dark and the only sense I had left was pain. The light faded but I couldn't move, my entire body felt like it had been broken. All I could do was whine in distress as Crabbe approached me from behind pulling out a rather large dagger. 

I thought that it was the end for me. I had denied the Death Eaters again and they had finally given up. I was ready, ready to die. What Dominic Crabbe did was much worse. I thought the pain couldn't get any worse when he began cutting into my back.

I screamed out but I knew nobody was coming to help me. I felt blood running down my back and the pain lasted what felt like an eternity. Finally it eased, then something was thrown into my line of sight as. As I laid there, bleeding out, I managed to make out what the bloody lump was. It was stained red and drenched but I could see some white feathers poking out around the edge. Dominic Crabbe had cut off one of my wings.

I whimpered in defeat. I felt him lean down over my head and he whispered into my ear, "join us. Join us or I take the other one."

I felt empty, I managed one last scream and tried to push him away. It was no use. He took that as my answer and started working on my other wing. He kneed my back to the ground so I couldn't move. I cried, I couldn't do anything, I felt so powerless. All I could do was scream, so that's what I did.

I felt his hand pressed against me and my body was going numb. The world started shaking, everything around me. Like a horrible earthquake was happening. The world shook so much it became blurry. My pain faded away and so did the world I was trapped in.

Grey eyes stared into mine. There were tears falling from them. The world came into focus and I was back in my bedroom in the Potter manor. Sirius was holding my arms and crying. "I didn't know what to do! You were screaming in your sleep. I heard it from my room."

I silently cursed myself. This wasn't the first nightmare I'd had since escaping, I had always made sure to put silence charms up around my bed. I must've forgotten. The dreams weren't dreams, they were memories, they were so much worse then anything I could've dreamt up. When Dominic Crabbe cut off my wings, it was one of the worst days of my captivity. I so desperately wanted to forget that place but it was burned into my memory keeping me from peace.

The more I thought about it the more it hurt, my eye burned and a tear fell from them. The first tear I'd shed in an entire year. I fell into Sirius's lap and let myself wail. He hesitantly put his arms around me in an attempt to comfort me. He knew I hated being touched, but right now I craved his safety. I never expected to trust him so easily. I think when the entire world feels against you, you need someone to help you.

"Rory?" Sirius questioned. I had fallen silent a minute ago, my breathing was back under control. I have no idea how that happened, usually once my memories had woken me up, I found it impossible to calm down. Often I would take burning hot showers until I felt like I could breathe again. "Are you okay."

I pulled away from him and locked my emotions back deep inside myself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. You should go back to sleep."

"No way, if you're awake, I'm awake," Sirius said. "And don't apologize, you can't help what you dream about."

I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. I smiled at him appreciatively. I knew I looked like an emotional wreck, I just ignored it and leaned over to turn on my lamp. It illuminated the room and I could see Sirius clearly. He looked concerned, I hard really scared him. There were tear stains on his face and dark circles under his eyes. He pulled his messy hair back and tied it into a bun.

"Are you aware that there is a demon on your pillow?" He asked.

I turned back quickly then let out a sigh of relief. It was just Bowinkle, sleeping soundly next to where I had been laying. "Yeah, he hasn't left my side since discovering I existed yesterday," I explained. I actually was very grateful for it. He was like a built in companion, I couldn't explain it but I felt a bond with him right away. I had always gotten along better with animals then people anyway. 

"I still can't believe that he likes a person, it's unheard of."

I smiled at the fluffy ball and scooped him up into my arms. He woke from his nap but upon noticing me began purring. Sirius and Bowinkle were a great distraction from my dreams. "Come on, let's go eat ice cream. I don't think either of us will be sleeping anytime soon."

I nodded and stood up from my bed letting Bowinkle down. I pulled on the Beatles sweatshirt which was laying on a nearby chair. I followed Sirius downstairs and into the kitchen. As expected, the cat followed a few steps behind me the entire way. I noticed a clock on the wall, it read 4:52. I felt bad for waking Sirius so early but he seemed as happy as ever as he pulled the coffee ice cream from the freezer. He grabbed two spoons and opened the back door to the deck. Bowinkle dashed outside and I followed behind him. We walked through the field and to the lake. We sat down and stated eating the ice cream.

"So, what were you dreaming about," Sirius asked.

"It was a memory of something that I'd rather not remember. Can we talk about something else?" I asked. 

"Like what?"

"I don't know. . . What's Hogwarts like?" I genuinely wanted to know. I was not going back to Beauxbatons, that was for sure. 

"Hogwarts? I love it there. But that's because I have my friends," Sirius said. " There's four of us, James and I, obviously, and two other boys that are basically our brothers. We like to pull pranks on the Slytherin students. They're the house with the blood prejudice."

"I've heard about Slytherin, I don't want to get placed there."

"Not all Slytherin are bad people. Euphemia was a Slytherin."

That surprised me. Euphemia was the nicest women I'd ever met, it was clear if she was in Slytherin that they couldn't all be bad people. "I didn't know that. I'm assuming you and James are Gryffindor, based on the decorations and clothes."

"Yeah, I was really worried when I was first placed in Gryffindor. All my family had been in Slytherin and I knew they wouldn't take it well. They didn't of course but being different then my family is a good thing in my opinion."

I looked out at the dark water. Bowinkle was laying next to me and I was petting him. Sirius and I continued talking about Hogwarts and some of the trouble his little group had gotten into. We finished the ice cream rather quickly but we remained on the boat deck just talking. Time passed quickly and before I knew it the clouds began to change. They shined pink and orange. It was beautiful, but not as beautiful as when the sun rose over the horizon, lighting up the world. I couldn't look away. I could feel Sirius's eyes on me and when I looked over he was staring at me. 

When he noticed I noticed, he looked back to the lake. "Beautiful, isn't it."

"Absolutely."