Captured In The Night || Tom Riddle

03 - The Butterfly Effect

Department Of Mysteries
The Veil Room
1996

Everyone that passed through the veil died, that's what everyone said anyways. How would anyone even know that if no one was ever seen again? Sirius Black found himself falling helplessly backward. 

His instinct was to catch himself, but Belatrix had stunned him. Her cackling filled the air and he turned his gaze to try to catch Harry's face for one last look. Everything went black.

It felt like he was floating in a void of nothingness, then he was falling through a tunnel. He could move again, but it did little good as he fell helplessly. The tunnel looked like it was made of a thick gray cloud that winded and twisted through empty space. He tried to scream, but couldn't actually tell if anything came out of his mouth.

What was happening? What was this? What was going on? He couldn't grasp any memories of what happened before the tunnel. Finally, darkness once again enveloped him and the tunnel was gone.

The void gave way to water and ice that seemed to float above him. Was he in an ocean? His mind was numb as he swam upwards towards the light but did not quite make it.

Unknown

"Get a hold of him!" A gruff voice commanded.

"I got him." Another voice added.

Sirius Black went from feeling nothing to everything. The sound of rushing water came first then he opened his eyes as the bitter cold set in. He found himself being hauled up by two men and thrown onto the metal deck of a large steel ship.

Shivering, he went into a fetal position as the man barked orders for dry clothing and a doctor. Survival at the moment was the only important thing that mattered. He was clutching something that he didn't want to let go of, but his mind couldn't grasp what it was. Sirius blacked out again, but only for a moment as he was in a cabin, thrown onto a flimsy mattress on a white metal frame. He was in new clothing as they were just finishing putting a shirt on him.

Sirius groaned suddenly feeling too hot and tried to remove his clothing. "Too hot, it's too hot."

"No, no, no, no!" An older man shouted.

Sirius struggled against someone, as he felt his body temperature rise. He groaned again, burning up. 

"Sir listen to me, you are not too hot, you just think you are. You are actually freezing to death. You have hypothermia." The second younger man said.

"Do we have any sedatives?" The older man asked.

The younger officer shook his head and punched Sirius in the face, stunning him.

"That will work." The older man said.

"Let's hope he lives through the night." The younger man said.

"Where are those blankets?" The older man demanded.

Sirius blacked out again.

Everything had calmed down when he woke up. Sirius took in his surroundings. The room was sparse, with just a small table, a dresser, and a bed. He tried to sit up but was restrained as his right wrist was handcuffed to the metal bed rail above him. Besides the awkward handcuffs, Sirius felt warm and stable. He looked around as the door opened.

"Well look who's awake." The man said, leaning against the door frame.

 The man wore a uniform Sirius didn't recognize.  "Where am I?"

The young man tilted his head slightly. "Oh, a British accent. You've been in and out of it a couple of days now. We weren't sure you were going to make it. You nearly died of hypothermia. I'm Lieutenant Davis. What's your name?"