The Missing Marauder

[ 3 ]

"I..." Cadenza's hands shook with tension, cracks forming in the counter beneath her fingers before she let go of the counter. "I've changed, Sirius... he... he changed me. I am... not myself anymore."

Sirius watched her whole body stiffen even more, her pale skin paling even further just thinking about whatever had happened, "Cadenza, I know, but-"

"I'm not human anymore, Sirius." He froze, mouth agape from being mid-word. "He... well... there's isn't much human left anymore. He made sure of it."

"What are you saying, Cadenza? What do you mean, you're not human anymore?"

Cadenza's hands trembled ever more fiercely at the question, her head tilting down to stare at the tips of her toes. But it to look at those, so she looked at the pot in front of her. Even looking at what she knew would be a delicious dinner, her stomach churned and she felt ill as if she were standing before one of Azkaban's guards and feeling the life be sucked out of her own body.

"Cadenza, Cadenza, please, look at me, you don't have to answer. It's okay, I understand," Sirius had stepped closer in that moment, his voice a few inches behind her. "Just please, look at me. I'm here."

For a moment, the two stood in total silence, unmoving, before she slowly turned to face him. Her eyes were filled with such sorrow and agony that he wished he could sweep her off her feet and hold her until the pain went away. But he couldn't. The moment he tried to speak, the pot gave a sharp hiss like a snake and she was forced to spin to face it again, grabbing the ladle and beginning to stir it once more. Feeling it would be pointless to pry now, Sirius sat himself at the dining room table, which was oddly clean and shone with polish.

After a few minutes, two bowls floated down from their resting place, the dust and grime fading away as they drifted down. Cadenza dished the stew into both of the bowls and set the lid onto the pot, turning to sit across from Sirius as the bowls settled themselves on the table in front of them. Silverware danced over, cleaning and polishing themselves to perfection along the way. They ate in silence, Cadenza staring down at the stew as Sirius glanced up at her more than necessary, but found himself devouring the first meal he'd had in nearly thirteen years.

When they had completely enjoyed as much stew as they could eat, Cadenza waved her hand and the pot emptied its contents into containers before zipping into the oddly new-looking refrigerator. She looked downright exhausted now, a little bit of color back in her cheeks with some food on her stomach. She didn't say a word to Sirius as she stood and stalked out of the dining room and up the stairs to her bedroom. She didn't bother changing, or even cleaning the bed of its dust and grime from years of disuse. Her eyes slid shut and, even as the fear of what she would see in her dreams fought to the surface, she fell asleep.

Cadenza didn't know how long she had been asleep before she shot upright in her bed, sending motes of dust flying into the air with her sudden movement. Sweat poured down her face in beads as she fought to catch her breath, feeling as though something had clamped her throat shut. She sputtered, coughing, gasping, as the ghostly touches of her nightmare sent harsh shivers through her body. Slowly, they faded, leaving her trembling and not from the cold. She buried her face in her hands and forced herself to slow her breathing, trying to push the vision of herself chained to a stone wall and the feeling of her wrists sizzling in her shackles away.

She stood shakily, finally glancing about the bedroom she hadn't truly looked at in over thirteen years. Much like the rest of the house, the room had a thick layer of dust on nearly everything. Footprints from her trip to the bathroom and to the bed she had just slept in trailed through that layer, though the dust stirred from her feet had already settled slightly back into those footprints. There were all sorts of trinkets, medals, and trophies displayed about the room from her winnings both from Hogwarts and from the various wizarding activities she participated in with the Black family so long ago. The wardrobe stood in the corner of the large bedroom beside a massive window covered by moth-eaten curtains that had once been black-out curtains.