Archive of Our Own ^beta

He was locked in the wine cellar again. This time, he was sure that his mother would get the idea.
He just wasn’t meant to be the heir. The lifestyle, the expectations, the ideas – it simply wasn’t for him.

Perhaps, this time, she would understand. It may take a few days down in the cellar. And it may take a few more Lacero curses, of cruel remarks and harsh looks. But eventually, she would understand.

Surely…

But then, days turned into weeks. Weeks without food. Weeks with only a glass of water every few days. A disgruntled Kreacher being the one to begrudgingly place it at his feet with a snarl, leaving nothing but the wine surrounding him to keep the gnawing pain in his stomach from consuming him entirely.
He had had to claw at the barrels after the thought of his stomach collapsing became a far too terrifying thought for him to stay sober. His fingers became raw from scratching and pulling at the wood until it finally tore, splattering the liquid onto the already damp floor. But with the barrel open, he could drink what hadn’t spilt. He could quell the aching, and fall into the comforting warmth of alcohol. A stark contrast to the coldness of the stones surrounding him.

Sirius Black was afraid of the dark.

A little known fact, since it usually wasn’t much of an issue. Back at school, the curtains surrounding him at night kept the light of his wand hidden from anyone’s view. At home, despite his parents’ harshness, he still had his own room. A place where the lights could forever be on. Not allowing the pesky dark corners of his mind to come alive in each shadowed nook of his room. Which they often did.

He had always had a very strong imagination, after all. A skill he developed from punishments such as this one.
His mind would often wonder to different places, away from the crooked walls of the Black manor. All the way to cosy libraries, and small cafés. To David Bowie concerts, sometimes even to stages where he would be the one performing. And when his mind wasn’t travelling the world he couldn’t attain, it would have fun talking to itself, imagining life as an entirely different person. Rationalising how this other being would arrive in a place like the one he currently was in. Regulus used to call him crazy when his mind would play those games to distract itself- speaking in different accents, with different names and goals. Nonetheless, the younger boy would watch and listen, a small smile plastered on his face, enjoying the brief reprieve from the true life they had to lead outside of the walls of their bedrooms.

The shadows began to move in the corners of the dark cellar. Or perhaps they were just his thoughts materialising, contorting his vision until he saw the truth in front of him, facing him under the dark sheet that made them appear all the more real. Their fingers reaching for him, like little popping lightbulbs in his vision, spasming inches away from his face. Closing his eyes didn’t help, if anything, it brought the hands closer. So he sat in the corner, eyes wide open in wait, as red wine pooled at his feet.

------

She had finally come back. But despite the time away from him to collect herself, her expression was contorted in rage. Pure and unbridled disgust. The shadows took their part in showing the true anger that lay bare on her face. Each crevice, each wrinkle, and fold, darkened by those taunting shadows, making her grimace as pronounced as those of the demons he had once believed in.

...Perhaps she was a demon.

Or perhaps, she was an angel. Doing her duty.

Come to rid the world of the curse that was Sirius Black.