SIRIUS WOKE UP BRIGHT AND EARLY on the morning of november fourth as if it was done every year, and as a matter of fact, it was. ever since he had turned ten, he had always had a gift, no matter from whom.
today, it was nothing.
his arms ached while his body was at a temperature it shouldn't have been. his eyes were droopy from lack of sleep, and yawns erupted from his mouth every two minutes, but the male could not go back to sleep.
he hadn't for the past thirteen years and wouldn't now.
he tried to cheer himself up.
"happy birthday to you... "
"happy birthday to you... "
''happy birthday dear, sirius . . . ''
"happy birthday to you... "
a silent sob filled him before he closed his eyes, letting his mind go back to his past self.
"pete!" a voice hissed, "wait for all of us!" sirius had to always pretend he was asleep on his birthday morning. as years went by, it was tradition that they would wake him up early in the morning and give him his present.
eyes shut tightly, he fought against the urge to open them and take a look. he took deep breaths without making it obvious that he was actually awake.
"hey, sirius?" james had called him up softly, not knowing that his best friend wasn't deep asleep. after a few moments of tossing and turning, you could hear that lily got bored.
"for merlin's beard, sirius, we know you're playing around!" she muttered, clearly frustrated.
"don't talk to the birthday boy like that, evans! the prefect exclaimed, placing his hands over sirius' ears.
a fake yawn and a very surprised face later, sirius opened his presents.
one each from james, remus, peter, frank, the prewetts, and lily and marlene. there wasn't one gift he favored over the other.
they all knew how much sirius looked forward to his birthday because his parents didn't even wish him, let alone buy him presents. he was also the second youngest, right after james. the two would go on and on about planning each other's birthday year after year, always managing to top the year before.
as years went by, one birthday he wouldn't forget would be his eighteenth birthday.
james had given him a watch that had been passed down from potter to potter. it was a gift from both mr. and mrs. potter, and james.
they had all seen him as family and treated him like nothing else. all of them had decided to give him a family watch, which was gladly agreed to by james, who had no hard feelings as to who the watch would actually go to.
that same year was the year that regulus decided to go back on an old tradition and give sirius a birthday card. drawn by his one and only baby reggie. it had two people in front of it. one was a very short boy, and the other was a tall one.
even though the height difference between regulus and sirus was hardly seen, he had made sure to add it in to show the contrast between the two brothers.
in faint, scrawny writing, it had an arrow pointing to who each child was, in case it didn't make sense. seeing as regulus did outgrow sirius by two inches eventually,
when you opened it, there were four words. "happy birthday, big brother." it was written in calligraphy, very neat and with the finest ink.
sirius spotted that right away, remembering when his mother forced him to write calligraphy using the same quill and ink.
on the outside, it showed how regulus truly felt, with the little drawing and scrawly handwriting, which sirius guessed was done with a pencil, but on the inside, it was in beautiful ink, not one letter out of space. it really showed the confinement his brother was living in.
many people always told sirius that he was brave for finally moving out of his family house. leaving behind everything, managing to stand up.
however, regulus was just as brave for standing his ground and staying back. willing to go through all this torment and affliction.
he was jerked awake by bellatrix. "hey, psst!" she called out, a few hours after he had drifted off to sleep again.
"isn't it your birthday today?" she asked, her head cocked to the side, teeth showing from her smile.
clearing his throat, he shook his head, meaning, yes, but the lady never said anything back. not even a "huh, cool."
the quick jerk that got sirius out of his sleepy state was not very good for him.
his vision started to fade and his head started to ache. a headache was occurring.
he quickly closed his eyes and took a deep breath to muffle his sobs and hopefully hide his puffy eyes from the crying he had done a few hours back.
after a few callings by fenton, the brunette decided that maybe, just maybe, he'd forget the fact that it was his birthday and spend the day as if it was something normal.
as much as he tried, it just wouldn't work out. even the chef knew it was his birthday, earning him an extra helping of the mashed potatoes.
sirius mustered up enough confidence to give her somewhat of a smile, his eyes not trying to meet with others, the eyes of envy.
once his cellmate (neighbor, really) had found out, he wasted no time in patting him around the back, a bit too harshly, before giving him his regards.
when the boy was younger, he said he'd never get tired of celebrating his birthday because he enjoyed the attention. now, he guessed the only attention he wanted was the attention of certain people. not criminals who had lost their minds.
his eyes scanned the room once lunch (or dinner) was done. it was impossible to keep track of time in the prison cell. it had been dark all day long, and he wasn't going to expect to see light anytime before his sentence was over.
"hey, sirius!" bellatrix called out to him as he was finishing his meal of diluted potatoes. "i'm not in the mood for it, bellatrix." the shadows in front of him seemed to be getting taller and taller.
he turned around faster than ever, in hopes of not getting into trouble. his eyes fell on the pair of males that were right in front of him now.
well, well, if it isn't sirius black, it seems as if every slytherin had decided that azkaban was going to be a religious retreat that they'd spend a while in.
if he had to guess, he was certain snape was also imprisoned within these chains.
it was avery and mulciber.
''meet us at bellatrix's cell in five minutes and don't make it look suspicious.'' one of them spoke. ''we have a little birthday surprise for you...''
merlin. what had he gotten himself into?
YOU ARE READING
THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD | sirius black au
FantasySIRIUS BLACK was many things ; but a murderer? no, sir. if anything, his friendship was something he valued the most, holding it very dear to him. losing his closest friends, one by one, tore each piece of his heart out, one by one. he kept asking h...
