whitestar made it first: you forgot the </i> at the end of "Expelliarmus".
And I was right: I knew it would *hurt*, but it's like a car crash. You know it's not going to end well, but you can't tear your eyes apart, rooted to your place by a sort sick of morbid fascination. Severus's mind broke, in the end.
And I might be reading too much into it (because I am a person who tends to read too much into a fic, if given half a chance, and this fic offers an astronomical sum of chances), but Sirius does know more than he shows. He knew that Severus would try to kill himself with a spelled dagger (an option, I'm sure, no one had thought about it immediately, except for him), and he is being *kind* (well, as kind as he can be to Severus, but actions speak louder than words). The fact that he just knew how to react in case of a suicide attempt surprises me greatly. I don't think he cared too much in Azkaban if another inmate tried it (and I'm pretty sure they weren't allowed wands there, anyway). Which leads my over-active imagination to a conclusion (Holmes would not be proud of this): Severus tried this before. Not perhaps slashing himself in front of his love and his love's friends, but another suicide attempt. And Sirius was there, or knew of it. He was studying Severus before he tried it, attentively, not derisively, or trying to rile him up even more, but as if looking for clues.
Yes, I over-think things.
And I love Sirius's endearments for Severus: deranged little Slytherin, stupid drama queen, fucking diva, daft bugger. You had to think about them, didn't you? Not even a single repetition.
And yes, this is finally the end of my review - either I do reviews like 'I love it!', or post reviews longer than the fic. Hope you don't mind too much my babbling. But this fic makes me wonder and think about future possibilities, and it's something I appreciate greatly in a fic.