RISE OF THE FALL | R.B.

LXXIII.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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CHAPTER LXXIII.

As Reia was slipping on her shoes the next morning, about to leave to go to Azkaban, Regulus told her that he was going to go with her.

She'd packed her pockets with food and water, and Regulus quickly stopped her just as she was about to step out of the door.

"I want to go with you," He said.

She pretended to pause and consider as she reached into her pocket and checked that her wand was there.

"Please?" He added.

"Please was the key word," She said with a small smile, which she tried to hide but couldn't, "Come on, let's go." Noticing the small pile of paper in Regulus' hand, she paused and asked, "What are those?"

"Photographs," He explained, "Sirius likes them. Just photos from school, photos I found in his room of his friends when they were in school, pictures of our kids...things like that."

"Right. Okay, come on—," She grabbed his hand, and just as she was about to apparate, she stopped and asked, "Uh, do you know how to get to Azkaban?"

Regulus chuckled, shaking his head, "And I thought you said you could go on your own?"

"I could've, if you'd decided not to come," Reia defended, "I could've found out where it was and all, but since you're coming..."

"Reia, you were putting on your shoes when I said I was coming. You were about to leave without me. Where did you want to go if you don't know how to get to Azkaban?"

"I don't know!" She exclaimed, "To find somebody who could tell me where it is?"

"You were that adamant about not speaking to me?" Regulus said, mostly wondering to himself, "I'm sorry if I was too harsh or inconsiderate yesterday."

"I'll forgive you," she said, "if you stop teasing me about not knowing where I was going and take me to Azkaban to see Sirius."

"Alright, alright," He said with a little chuckle, before he intertwined their fingers—"Just to be safe," he'd said when she'd asked—and apparated away with a pop.

***

Azkaban was a horrible place.

The moment they arrived at the place, Reia felt so cold and sad. The prison was located in the middle of nowhere and she doubted that it was possible for anyone to escape, especially with all of the dementors circling around the place.

As they were led to Sirius Black's prison, the sounds of yelling and screaming pierced Reia's ears...and it made her shiver and want to leave, but the thought of being able to see Sirius made her keep walking.

One foot in front of the other.

When they finally arrived at Sirius' cell, the man was curled up in the corner.

The sight of him made Reia's heart break. He was so thin, and his cheeks were sunken in, his hair matted, his once bright eyes dull. He was shivering, but other than that he was still, as if he didn't want to waste energy moving because he had so little of it. He was staring at the floor, his gaze blank, a pile of photographs clutched tightly in his hands.

"Sirius," Reia called out, her voice sounding so small, but it was loud enough to catch the man's attention.

He immediately crawled towards them so that he was at the bars, his eyes wide and brighter than they were seconds before.

"Reia," Sirius said, his voice weak but filled with joy, "You came back. I missed you so much."

She knelt down so she was eye-level to him and took one of his hands through the bars—a pile of photographs were held in the other—and said, "I missed you, too."

"Where were you? What happened?"

"I—I was taken by the Death Eaters and I lost my memory and when I woke up I was in a hospital. My twin boys were born, and I raised them in a muggle town and lived with a muggle woman for eleven years before my sons got their Hogwarts letters and now I'm back," She said, very quickly, too overcome with emotion to spend time explaining what had happened to herself.

No, she didn't want the attention on herself.

She took a better look at Sirius, and noticed a faded, fraying, dirty scarf around his neck. With a closer look, she noticed that it was scarlet and gold.

"Where did you get the scarf?" Reia asked, managing a small smile, if only to cheer Sirius up a bit.

"Regulus knitted it for me," Sirius said, glancing at his brother, who was standing just behind Reia, letting her have her reunion with Sirius, "I've kept it for years."

She dug through her pockets to find the food that she'd brought for him—lollies and containers of mashed potato, vegetables, fruits, pies; all sorts of foods.

As she pulled out the containers and gave them to Sirius, he sighed, "Reia...you didn't have to bring so much for me." 

However, Reia could tell from the brightness that lit up his eyes, that the man was delighted to have so much proper food.

He must've been starving.

"Have you seen yourself?" Reia responded immediately, "You're too thin. You need to eat—I doubt the food they give you is any good."

"Well, I suppose I can't look as good as I used to after spending so many years in a prison surrounded by dementors," Sirius said, his gaze turning sorrowful.

"Sirius..." Regulus said, kneeling down beside Reia and pressing the pile of photographs into Sirius' hand, which the man took gratefully, immediately flicking through them.

"Are these your sons?" He said, pulling a particular photo out from the pile and showing them to Reia and Regulus.

"Yes," Reia answered, unable to help the smile that crept onto her lips when she saw the photograph. It was one that she had taken, of the two boys having a pillow fight in Caelum's room. "The boy with brown eyes is Atlas and the other, with Regulus' eyes, is Arche, but we call him Archie."

Sirius chuckled, "They look the same. Archie looks more like Regulus, though."

"He does," Regulus agreed with a smile, "If you look carefully they do look a little bit different."

Sirius thanked both of them repeatedly as he added the new pile of photos to the stack in his hand.

Some of the photos in the stack were so faded, crinkled and old that it was almost impossible to see what was on them, and it made Reia sad because it was a reminder of how long Sirius had been in this cell, constantly surrounded by misery, and she wished that there was a way for Sirius to get out.

But he was going to be here for the rest of his life, and the thought was enough to make Reia want to cry.

Because there was no way to escape Azkaban.

Author's Note:

Aww poor Sirius...

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