Sylvie gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "She is so pretty!" Her eyes sparkled as she stepped closer, voice in awe. "She looks so like an angel."
Slythra flushed faintly under the praise, her gaze darting down as if she wasn't sure what to do with such words.
I couldn't help the thought that slipped through my mind as I watched them.
Innocent, adorable, pure… yes. And give it some time and I would probably be dealing with a rebellious phase too.
The corner of my mouth twitched at the idea.
One drama queen was hard enough, and now I might have two.
"Do you feel like sleeping now?" I asked, noticing how heavy her eyes had become.
"Uh-hm," she murmured, and sat beside me.
" Don't you wanna know about the diary?" I asked.
" No. It's alright, there's not much I need to know. This is yours to have, so I won't interfere much." Her words were distant, but before long, her head rested on my shoulder, and she drifted off.
I smiled at the sight of my two daughters leaning against me, so close, so safe.
Lily would have loved this moment. She would have laughed, teased me about finally learning to sit still, and then stolen the middle spot for herself.
But the weight in my hands reminded me peace couldn't last forever.
The diary sat heavy against my palm, its cover cold despite the morning sun.
I could almost feel my mother's presence in it, like her voice was waiting, sealed between those pages.
I straightened, careful not to disturb the girls, and looked at Toby.
" Here goes nothing "
His jaw tightened, but he nodded. He moved a little closer, his eyes locked on the diary as if afraid it might vanish.
I placed it on my lap and undid the clasp.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then faint lines shimmered across the cover veins of blue light crawling outward.
The words were not ink.
They glowed faintly, etched in silver.
I recognized my mother's handwriting instantly.
I started reading it out,
'If you are reading this, Sirius, it means you are alive son and that you have finally found your way back to me. Or at least… what little of me remains.'
My heart was beating faster, but my eyes never stopped reading.
' I never wished for you to discover the truth like this, but fate rarely asks for our permission. There are things you must know, things I could never speak aloud while I was alive…'
My heart was almost pounding out of my chest at this moment.
I turned the page, the words pulling me deeper, their weight pressing against my chest.
'Before I move forward, I want to tell you one thing.'
My hands trembled.
'Even though you are not the real heir, you are my biological son. And nothing will change that. I love you as much as I love the heir. I want you to know, Sir- '
The word died on the page.
The page went silent under my hand.
And then the air screamed.
A violent force split the air.
Steel tore sound and space in half, and something hit... too sharp and too fast.
My body wrenched forward, weightless.
A thunderclap rang through my skull.
At first, I thought it was only the world collapsing. Then I realized it was me.
The stone floor surged past my eyes. My stomach flipped, but my chest was no longer breathing.
I tried to swallow, but my throat did not answer.
Pain didn't come instantly...it lagged.
First numbness, then like fire ripping through every nerve at once.
My vision started going white and black.
A rush of heat spilled down, wet and then, impossibly, I was falling sideways while my body stayed upright.
Weightless.
Wrong.
Where was up?
Where was down?
For a heartbeat, my mind buckled under the sheer impossibility of the thought.
But the reality didn't let me.
I wasn't standing.
I wasn't lying.
I wasn't whole.
It took some time for my mind to register what exactly happened.
But when it did, i was struck with horror.
And then, softness.
Warmth.
Sylvie,
My head had fallen into her lap.
I tried to shout, to rise... to prove I was more than severed meat, but the body across was already down on the ground...faceless and drained.
My body.
The disconnect wrenched against itself, as if two halves of one life had been torn apart and told to keep pretending.
And then pain came for real, as if a thousand fires roaring from the neck I could no longer feel, burning upward into my skull.
All I had were my thoughts and my mind reeled in wild circles,
'No. Not me. Not yet.Not like this.'
'Wake, move, breathe-'
But none of it answered.
I was dying.
And my mind fought against the surrender, dragging panic and pain from its depths.
Sylvie's scream tore through the silence, sharp and terrified.
That was the last thing I heard, before everything started fading... my vision, voices, and most of my senses as well.
But my mind clawed for answers.
What happened? Who…? Why?
My head cradled in Sylvie's lap, her small hands trembling as she screamed my name continuously.
I was able to live some seconds more because I was an awakened.
But that's it.
I was dying, and there was nothing I could do.
Toby?? Where was he??
What was he doing right now?
Is he fighting my attacker as well?
And Sylvie.
She had already lost her mother. And now... now even me. How could I do this to her? How could I leave her like this?
And Slythra… asleep, defenseless, her new world torn from her before it even began.
All types of thoughts were swirling in my mind.
Toby.
Toby had to be here.
He had to save them, if not me.
Please…
I tried to scream it, to say something but but no breath came.
My thoughts burned, wild and angry.
I wasn't ready.
I didn't want to die.
Not like this.
They say when death comes, your life replays before your eyes.
That didn't happen.
All I felt was the weight of anxiety for those I was leaving behind, the confusion of betrayal, and a fury that I had been cut down in broad daylight.
I guess that's only for those who die in peace.
Not for those who are murdered in daylight.
Darkness was closing in, swallowing thought, swallowing breath, swallowing me.
For a moment, my senses returned and through the ringing in my skull, Sylvie's scream tore into me, raw and terrified.
She was constantly calling my name.
And then,
"I am sorry, Sirius. It had to be done."
The voice slid across the air, too familiar to mistake.
Recognition came like a knife twisting deeper.
Betrayal.
Nothing came to mind.
No rage, nothing.
Just tears, slipping down my cheeks.
And in that instant, I wished my hearing had never returned.
And then...
There was no then lef-