good things fall apart • sirius black

We are Gods

He was screaming. The first time this school year.

Thrashing violently the handsome boy pulled the duvet almost all the way off of the bed. Hands gripping the sheets until his knuckles went white, he writhed as if all of his nightmares were playing out in real life. Red flashes and someone's screeching voice drowning him in a torturous dreamland. There was never a lot anyone could do when he got like this. He'd wail and be tossing until someone woke him up, and even then, he'd shake as if it wasn't over.

"You dare defy me?!" The witch seethed, baring her teeth like a wild animal. Her hand sliced through the air as it connected with the cheek of the boy before her, a bloodcurdling cry falling from his lips in response. The boy was on his knees now, hair wild and in face flushed in anger. The type of anger where his eyes streamed and his throat growled, the palms of his hands going clammy as he clenched them tight to stop himself lunging at the woman shouting curses at him. Every inch of the room was echoing with her shrieking, the walls seemingly shaking as she snatched for the boy's hair.

"You will look at me when I address you, ungrateful swine!" She tugged viscously at the strands, forcing his eyes to meet hers, but his vision was blurry from the tears that pooled against his will. The boy's head snapped back in such force his neck cracked, sending shooting pain down across his shoulder. He was quivering...

Quivering as the witch raised her wand again.

"You will obey me!" Her tone was definite and anyone with any sense would've complied. But the boy narrowed his eyes in challenge.

He was no stranger to her icy glare that shot shards of glass straight through his soul. He was no stranger to her screaming demands. He was no stranger to the pain that would be inflicted with his next words.

"I'd rather die!"

Screeching roared through the dark house. Gut-wrenching wails intertwined with the continual stream of curses that blasted through the air, as more red shot everywhere. A sickening symphony of sorrow that oozed its way into the walls and rested once again in the atmosphere.

Blood now pooled around the boy who was sprawled out on the floor, lifeless, like a marionette doll with its strings cut. The only sign of life were shallow and ragged breaths falling from his lips. When his head lifted slightly, eyes clouded over in a mist of pain, the violent stabbing only stung every inch of his body again.

The witch's words were lost now. Lost in the fog that swirled in the boy's mind. He was sure he'd be screaming again, if his body hadn't gone numb by now.

Another figure had joined them, standing in the doorway of the cold bedroom and watching on with despair mangled on his features. The curly black hair was familiar to the boy who slammed his fists on the dark wood floor, a desperate cry for help as the evil woman kept her wand aimed expertly at him. However, the curly haired figure only watched on and made no move to aid him, as a hoarse shout erupted from deep in his chest.

No one was coming to help him. No one would save him. The boy had met his fate...

James placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder in the dark, the messy haired boy not being able to see without his glasses. He always woke up when Sirius got like this and in the sudden rush to get to his best friend, he always forgot his glasses. James could hardly see, the darkness not helping, so he wasn't even sure he had a grip of Sirius' shoulder at all. It was always difficult to wake him up when he had a nightmare, but this time Sirius' eyes shot open wide almost immediately. His hand grabbed James' wrist in panic as he bolted up right, dragging the messy haired boy onto his bed by accident. James grumbled as he squirmed around on top of Sirius' sheets, but he could hear his best friend's uneven breathing and pushed himself up off the bed quickly.