The Dark Side

Chapter 17

I was put in an empty room left by myself to stare at the plain grey walls. My body stiffened as I heard the door creak open. I saw a tired and run down Remus before me. I couldn't help myself, it felt like disappointment was radiating off of him. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I deserve this." At this point I was chocking on my tears. "I want to go back, back before daddy died right after I got him back. Go back to when Cedric was still here to guide me and love me. Go back to when you were proud to be my father figure. I hate myself so much Remus. Please make it stop, don't make me go there I can't." I collapsed down and he quickly lunged forward catching me. His eyes were filled with sorrow, "I love you more then anything in this world Riley. Your dad loves you, Cedric loves you, your mom, James, Lily. I know they're all proud of you. Riley you are not a disappointment. The amount of bravery you've shown is astonishing. There will never be a day in this lifetime where I won't love and protect you. Your dad survived Azkaban. I'm putting all my faith in you to survive it too. I can't lose anyone else Riley, I just can't." I was taking deep breaths to calm down, "I won't ever disappoint you again." He pressed my head against his chest allowing me to cry into his shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to go through everything you did, I truly am Riley. Don't think any of this is your fault. You were putting us before yourself."

The doors were pushed open and I was forcefully pulled away from Remus. "I love you," he said wiping away a tear as I was being pulled out of the room. "I love you more," I whispered feeling completely numb.

My eyes stayed glued to the floor as I was marched threw the halls of Azkaban. I heard laughter and shouting, prisoners reached out to grab me as I walked through. After almost fifteen minutes of being dragged behind the guards, we reached a cell tucked neatly in the corner. There were two benches, that had a sheet covering it. And a small washroom in the farthest corner. It was disgusting I didn't want to move when they pushed me into the cell. I just stared around it. This was my life for the next year. Slowly I walked around the cell, there was a small window in this particular one which was a bonus. The one wall had little lines covering it, to mark how many days had gone by. On other wall I saw the word S.Black carved into it. This must've been dads cell. I skimmed my finger along the walls, this was all I had left of him, something to hold onto while I'm here.

I found a small rock under one of the benches. I'm assuming this was the one that dad used. My hands shook while I picked it up, and right under S. Black I wrote R. Black. I then started my own count down, I marked the wall with the first line. And sat down on the cold hard bench, it was too short for my legs, so I'm assuming I'd be sleeping on the ground. I shivered, this place was freezing. I wrapped the two sheets around me and huddled into the corner to try and stay warm. For the past three nights I haven't slept, the stress, anxiety, guilt, and grief had worn me down, and at some point I finally did fall asleep.

Hours later I heard yelling and woke up scared. Regulus had fought against the guards. "For fucks sake." He sighed, when he saw me in the corner. I knew he must've been pretty mad at me, I was the reason he was in this mess but I was too scared to go back to Lord Voldemort. I knew I would've been as good as dead. He would've tortured me till the very last second of my life.

As the night went on it felt as though the prison only got colder and darker. I was shaking badly in the corner. I put my head in my knees and tried to force myself into sleep, but the screams of the other prisoners kept me up. They rattled the bars, and I felt more scared then I've ever been in my life. I shivered and looked over at Regulus he had the white sheet draped over him, and was sitting on the bench reading something. I wanted to apologize but I knew better, he probably wouldn't forgive me. My eyes watered, I tipped my head back against the wall, and listened. Just as I was drifting off, a woman in her late 20s, stood in front of our cell. She had hair down to her knees that was long and knotted, her face was wrinkled back into a creepy smile, and she just stared at me. She slowly opened her mouth and whispered, "I'm going to have to kill you." I was stunned, and stuttered, "wh... why?" She was so quiet and gentle, and for minutes she just stood there staring at me. Suddenly she lunged forward and grabbed the bars shaking them violently screaming. I jumped up and pushed myself against the up wall.

Regulus stood up, "GET AWAY." He boomed. She smiled at him, then pointed her long crooked boney finger towards me. "I'm coming for you." Then she spun around and ran away. Regulus turned around to me, and I just sunk down against the wall, avoiding his eyes.

Three days passed by. I was getting extremely bored. Me and Regulus haven't really spoken. Most of the time I just tried to sleep. One night Regulus had to shake me awake, because I was having such a bad nightmare. I couldn't remember what had happened, but my head was pounding the next morning. "Riley." I heard someone softly whisper. I squinted my eyes and lifted my head up. "Remus." I rushed over to the cell wall, and grabbed his hands. He pulled his away fast, "Riley, you're freezing." I nodded, "Azkaban isn't exactly known for being a tropical resort Rem." I tried to joke. He smiled, and handed me a bag. "This was all I was aloud to bring, next time I promise I'll bring a blanket." I looked down and saw all the stuff in here. "Thank you, now I won't have to look at a wall all day." I said. Prisoners were screaming behind us in the cells, and Remus shivered. I saw tears cloud his eyes. "Please don't cry, I need you to be strong for me like you've always been. All I can think about in here is dad." I admitted. He pressed his lips together, "it feels like I lost both of you." He whispered. I smiled at him again. "I'm right here, I'm going to be fine." I reassured him. He shook his head, "I never imagined they'd send you here. I'm sorry, I should've helped you somehow. We all knew the position you were in, but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't think of anything that could get you back to us, without risking your life." He sighed. "Remus these were my mistakes not yours." I said. He suddenly looked around quickly, "here's some chocolate, they'd only let me bring in wrapped foods." I grabbed it and immediately ate it. "I love you." I exclaimed. He laughed, "I love you more, I'll be back. Be careful." I agreed and waved goodbye.

I opened the bag he gave me. There was a long sleeve shirt. Another hoodie, Pyjama pants, a book, and food that I would actually want to eat. Like candy and granola bars.