The Last Gryffindor (Sirius Black)

Chapter XXI: Three Summer Days

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I almost wish we were butterflies and lived but three summer days — three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.
—JOHN KEATS

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Days blurred together into weeks, or perhaps even months. It was hard to tell after awhile. Aeliana lived in the moment, waiting for that seductive voice in her head to issue a new order. Neither the past nor the future mattered. It was invigorating, having no worries, even though, buried deep down, she was unsettled. Why was that? After all, on the surface she felt so content for the first time in ages, so what was it that needled rigorously at the edge of her consciousness?

Vaguely, Lia remembered being cornered by Regulus one night, but now the memory was so blurry. She thought he was upset, but couldn't recall why.

A part of her knew this was wrong, being trapped alone in her own head, but couldn't scrounge enough will to fight back. That voice, sickly sweet, resonating through her mind, washed away all doubts and desires, until the day she faced an impossible command, one she could never abide by, not fully. A command not even the sweetest words could coax her into wanting.

It felt like she was trapped in a dream until that moment, the point of no return.

Lia walked, in a daze, down the empty, dilapidated street where Voldemort had sent her to conduct his "business." Already, the terms of the transaction where beginning to slip her mind, mere minutes after finishing them. Behind her, the Dark Mark illuminated the night sky in its eery emerald glow. From the deep, Lia chased frantically after each fleeting image as they fled her memories, to no avail.

Kill any who see you, the voice, his voice, whispered over and over again. Go undetected. Return to Malfoy Manor.

The words repeated like a broken record, until they were all she heard, rattling around her brain.

Kill any who see you. Kill any who see you. Kill any-

"Lia? Lia, what are you doing? Lia, STOP!"

The words sounded distant, at first, growing louder by the second. The new voice drew her in, even more so than the one in her head, like a moth to flame. A light to chase in the dark.

"You don't want to do this! It isn't you!"

Lia vaguely realized she wasn't walking anymore, wand raised before her and pointed at...

"C'mon, Lia! I'm your friend! It's Sirius!"

Kill any who see you...

She took in her surroundings, every last painful detail, for the first time in days. Weeks, maybe. Her wand aimed directly at his- Sirius's- head, a jagged cut trailing down his jaw, with his own wand scattered a dozen feet away. She couldn't help but ask herself: did she do that?

His eyes were pleading as he said, "Didn't you send that message, telling me to be here?" When she didn't respond, he added, "Damn it, speak to me! You aren't being yourself. You're stronger than any spell Voldemort can put you under!"

Kill, the voice demanded, more urgently than before.

I won't. Not Sirius. Anyone but Sirius.