On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Title: Three Dreadful Nightmares Author: Lee West (westwardlee) Fandom: Harry Potter Word Count: 100 Characters: Sirius, Regulus, Walburga Challenge: Third Day of Christmas: Three Dreadful Nightmares Rating: PG Disclaimer: Me? Own any of this? Nah. I'm neither English nor rich.
Thanks to my friend Ceria for the beta.
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1. Sirius
Alone in his cell, the man sleeps fretfully, his skeletal body huddled under the thin blanket. He's shivering, but not from the cold. It's his recurring nightmare.
In it, he relives a moment of bad judgment: it seemed such a brilliant plan at the time, a perfect piece of diversionary tactics. A question, a quick acceptance and the Secret Keeper switch was done.
In his nightmare he sees a cloaked form gliding through the streets, towards a cottage where an unsuspecting man plays happily with a toddler.
He wants to scream a warning, but no sound comes from his mouth.
***
2. Regulus
Young Regulus tossed and turned in his bed, his sleep disturbed by his worst nightmare. In it he was in a dark cave, having to cross a lake inhabited by Inferi.
As one of them reached out to grab him, he sat up in his bed with a start, panting heavily. A bad dream, nothing more than that, caused by the bedtime story that Bellatrix insisted on telling him that night. She knew well that nothing scared Regulus more than Inferi, their cold hands constantly trying to gather more members for their gruesome circle.
Thankfully, it was only a nightmare.
***
3. Walburga
She wakes up with a start, her skin prickling and her mouth dry from silently screaming in her nightmare. It was horrible: her son, her only son, dead in a dark place she couldn't identify.
Walburga had been proud to give birth to two perfect Black boys, and it had distraught her to no end to see one of them go the wrong way. All her hopes now lie with Regulus.
Regulus. She needs to see him now, to make sure he's safe.
He's not in his room. She calls for Kreacher and gets no answer. Her skin prickles again.