Prisoner Of Sea And Fear

Time and Conflicts

Time passed. Days were spent with Sirius talking about his Hogwarts years, telling jokes. She didn't always agree on what was funny and what was not. She always tried to bring Sirius away from the bitter thoughts on Severus Snape.

Night after night the Dementors seemed to stay longer and Melody had taken to repeating the lyrics of her song till they went away. When Sirius wasn't telling stories or when there weren't any Dementors she built at her mindscape.

She talked to Sirius often though she never told him of her mindscape with the tree as she felt as though she needed a secret. This want for a secret...it was overwhelming. Sirius knew everything about her. Everything! She felt as if a little secrecy was fine to have. She visited the tree every day and built and built creating more and more soil around her. There was a fifteen feet radius of earth around the little sapling now. There had been a next complication. Even with the earth the tree didn't grow. She racked her mind and as one day there was a humongous thunderstorm outside the prison, wind blowing rain into the cells and gave Melody a kinda shower, she remembered the second essential for growing live: Water.

She tried for two days till she found a way to water her tree sapling. She let her hands hover far above the sapling and created water in spheres. The spheres split and split till there were small raindrops she let fall. Every third day was spent on watering the plant, the other two days produced more and more soil. And all her effort paid off. Her little tree had grown for about a foot in the time since she started watering it. It was no normal tree or it would have grown much slower but it was a tree in her mindscape so it didn't really abide to the rules of realism.

Often times she couldn't fall asleep though her mind was exhausted from all the energy it spent on creating the mindscape. Then thoughts bubbled to the surface. Thoughts she tried her very best to shove down. She then stood up started jogging through the cell doing push ups or other activities to keep her mind from going places. This had the effect that she didn't become frail and weak like Sirius but was athletic. She was thin; all energy was immediately put into keeping her muscles. No fat sat anywhere on her bones so she looked a little weird. She was muscled yet had bones producing from underneath her skin.

Her honey eyes had dulled slightly, cheek bones jutting out. Her lips chipped and her hair had grown to her neck halfway to her shoulders.

Summer began and one day things changed.

****

Sirius had once more gone into a rant. He did this once in a while. This time it was about Peter Pettigrew. He had been talking for over an hour-his vocal chords got used to talking a lot again-when his centre of ranting turned from Peter Pettigrew to Snivellus. Melody, who had already been a bit nerved by his speech, finally had enough.

"SIRIUS" she shouted to get his attention "stop it! What did the man do to you for you to hate him so much? I understand Pettigrew; if I met him he would get a kick in his reproduction system for sure. You just started bullying him for no reason. Merlin he was eleven! Eleven! He did nothing to you and you shot spells at him, humiliated him. You made his existence a living hell!"

Sirius smirked "He deserved it! He almost got Remus expelled."

"Oh mister looks like we are playing that game!" she huffed "You! Almost got Remus expelled. Who was it that led him to the whomping willow? Huh? Who was that? YOU!" the last parts were screamed "You held this meaningless grudge for over what? Twenty years? Be a man and let it go. Seriously you are more immature than me!"

"Who of us sings little songs? You have no childhood to remember. You are nothing. And you could have done anything! You could have murdered a hundred people. You could be a monster!" He spit out. His words cut through Melodies' heart as she recoiled from where she had stood at the bars. His words were like physical blows knocking her back. She stumbled and fell onto the hard ground. She didn't bother getting up "MONSTER!" echoed around in her head in Sirius' voice. These words bouncing around her head making her dizzy. Sirius though she was a monster, a murderer. She scooted into the darkest corner and pressed herself against the rough stone walls. The pain of sharp rocks digging in her back didn't even register.

She was nothing to him. Her only friend was only using her to chase away his nightmares and help him not to be so bored anymore. A source of sweet lullabies. Nothing more. Tears gathered and made the whole world grow out of focus. She let them fall. Tears streamed down her face. A river that didn't seem to stop. Not a sound escaped her mouth. No whimper. No sniffle. No anything. She let the tears fall till exhaustion took over and pulled her into a restless sleep.

****

In a cell not far a man stood facing the window. He stared at the ocean that was as turbulent as his thoughts. She deserved it! Telling me about being childish. If she met Snivellus she would think the same of him for sure. Still doubt crept upon him. Oh Moony what should I do. You know how I can't say sorry so easily. Should I talk to her right now? No. I let her cool down and tomorrow I will talk to her.

He sat on his bed and closed his eyes. He listened for any sound from the other occupied cell but the shouts and cries from above were too loud. Sighing he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

****

The next morning when he woke up the first thing he did was going to the bars and trying to get Melody to speak. "Melody? Melody I am sorry. You know I didn't mean what I said." He got no reaction. He sighed and went to lie on his bed. He closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.

He was pulled from sleep by footsteps echoing down the hallway. Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic had just walked into the hallway behind him two Aurors. Sirius was still drowsy from sleep. He stood up and went to the bars separating him from the hallway. "Good day minister Fudge" he greeted politely but still smirking "What a wonderful day it is today. The Dementors are flying and the sea is stormy." He masked his tiredness quite well.

The Minister rolled his eyes. "Yes Black, quite nice." He had a copy of the daily prophet under his arm. "Minister, can I please have your newspaper? It is so unbelievable boring in prison." He stretched his hand through the bars his palm up in a begging manner. The Minister sighed "I have already finished it. You can have it." He laid the newspaper in the waiting hand of the prisoner pulling away fast. He continued on his way polished shoes clicking on the ground. Sirius pulled his hand back through the bars. As he opened the paper and looked at the front page he froze his eyes glued to a picture.

For every other man this would just be a photo of a family on holiday. The picture showed seven kids and two adults all red heads. Two of the boys looked to be out of school the other four still going to Hogwarts. The last child was the youngest of the group and the only girl. In the background were the pyramids. So far so normal. What made Sirius freeze was an animal on the shoulder of the youngest boy. A rat. A rat, to be exact that was missing a front toe.

When you spent all you teenage years around the same persons you can pretty easily describe every part about them. It is much the same with the animagus form of a friend you see quite often, like once a month. You never forget.

Pettigrew!