Awakenings

Awakenings

Chapter One

The sun was rising and each ray of light felt like hot iron rods piercing through his skin. His wolf counter part had long ago left him, unable to endure the pain of the transformation. He was a human now; one who suffered the agony of both his counter parts, - man and beast - without complaint. Blood stained his thin long hands and there was an unfamiliar coppery taste in his mouth. No, it couldn't be.

He looked down at the bodies underneath him; both of them lay lifeless and unmoving.

"Why did you do this?" a hoarse voice asked from behind him

He had hardly turned, when he found himself being straddled and choked under the pressure of strong, but familiar fingers.

"I thought we were your friends, Remus," the voice repeated again and again, the grip getting stronger and more painful

*

"You'll do what I tell you to while you're living under my roof. Am I clear on that, boy?"

He felt his head collide against the wall of the cold dungeon. Ignoring the pain, he sat up, and looked adamantly at his mother.

"I'll do what I bloody hell please!"

"For too long have you lived your own ways, child. This will have to stop right now," she said pacing back and forth in front of him. "I have had enough! My undying love for you has clearly blinded me and allowed you to toe out of the line of control."

The boy snorted. "Love?"

No sooner had he said it, he felt his mother's stale breath upon his face, her nose inches from touching his own. He knew what was coming next and closed his eyes, well prepared after all these years of practice. He felt a hand tighten around his throat.

"Ah, of course, to you, love is one that you feel for your friends. Well let me tell you, boy, those friends of your will die. Do you know why?" Her grip tightened around his neck and he fought to hold his conscious a little longer. "Because of you, Sirius Black. Because you didn't listen to your own mother."

*

Somewhere in the dormitories of Hogwarts, Sirius Black woke up with a jolt and gasped for air. The pain on his neck had vanished with the dream but its imprint still remained there, as if warning him of the possibility for all of this to be real. He wrestled with the sheets that strangled him and ran his hand down his neck. It came out wet with sweat, but apart from that it was smooth and unscarred.

But the dream had seemed so real, so intense. His mother had been there, threatening to kill him and his friends if he -

His friends!

Sirius quickly got off his bed and ran towards the beds on the other side of the room where his best friends, James and Peter, lay. He pulled open their hangings one by one, praying that the dream wasn't true, that he was just being paranoid.

"James, Peter, get up! Please!"

Peter stirred and muttered something that sounded a little like 'sod off'. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief and stared at James for a response. Nothing, not even the slightest twitch.

"James...come on. Get up..." pleaded Sirius

Sirius couldn't take it any longer. He climbed upon James's bed and shook him by the shoulders. "James! James!"

James's eyes shot open, and his body stiffened, as the adrenaline rushing through his veins prepared him for any approaching fights. He relaxed when he saw Sirius, and frowned. "Sirius, what -"

"You're alive!" Sirius cut off James and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Bad dream, Sirius?" asked James wearily, scrubbing his eyes and glancing at the clock

Sirius, by now, had gotten off James's bed and walked over to Remus's. "Bad dream, moi?" chuckled Sirius. "No, no monsieur Prongs. Just checking on my friends, that's all."

"Hmm... yeah, sure, whatever you say, Padfoot," said James, shaking his head exasperatedly

Sirius had been doing this so called 'checking on his friends' a lot, ever since he got back from his Christmas visit to the 'ancient house of Black'. However, unlike today, Sirius usually had the decency to pester them while they were still awake.

James knew things had gone too far with Sirius and his mother this time, but he had no proof of his friend's abuse, and Sirius deliberately changed the subject every time James asked him about his winter holidays. Whatever happened in that house had seriously traumatised Sirius and made him paranoid beyond tolerance.

He shifted his gaze from the clock to his best friend who was still trying to wake up Remus. The bloody prat was much more gentle with Remus and merely stroked his hair, instead of trying to shake the life out of him. Then again, Remus was still recovering from his transformations, and judging by his state, the slightest shake could send his head rolling on the ground.

"Remus, wake up, you idiot," said Sirius urgently, his hands now frantically running over the other boy's face and neck

"Leave him alone, Sirius," said James, putting a hand over his head

Sirius looked at James, his face pale - almost as if he'd seen a ghost - and tears on the verge of falling from his eyes. "James... I don't think he's breathing..."

*