Bloodstained Rose FINALE [ A Sirius Black Story ]

" My lord." You touched your head to the floor and kissed the hem of The Dark Lord's robe. You stood up slowly and made sure to keep your eyes lowered. " You called?"
" It has come to my attention," The Dark Lord hissed, " that you are still in contact with one whom I specifically told you to sever all ties with." You flinched as the words slithered out of his mouth.
" I believe a punishment is needed." A sneer formed on the non-existent lips of The Dark Lord. " Kill Sirius Black."
You had been expecting this. It was part of the reason that you had avoided Sirius for so long.
What you had not been expecting was the reaction you would have when you heard the Dark Lord's order. You snorted.
You actually looked straight into the glowing red eyes of The Dark Lord and snorted. You bit your lip to keep from laughing out loud and instead found your shoulders shaking from the most untimely peal of laughter.
You had no idea why this was so funny. You had just been ordered to kill one of the only people you loved and you were laughing hysterically. The dull ache in your ribs was rapidly turning into a stabbing pain. You felt the world spinning again and you staggered backward, still making the oddest noises to keep from laughing in The Dark Lord's face. The ground was bouncing up towards you. How long had it been since your last meal?
Needless to say, the Dark Lord was not quite as amused as you. " I'm glad you find this so amusing, Ms. Walker. Let me remind you that if you fail, I will not only personally finish the task myself, I will kill you as well."
He Dissaparated and you collapsed to the ground. Your mirthless laughter rang out around you. Faces swam in front of your eyes. Voices.
What were they saying?
A sharp slap to your face finally served to sober you. You gasped a few times before the laughter finally subsided.
" Alma!" Bella said sharply. She turned to someone next to her. " Help me get her inside." Someone else slipped their arm under yours and Bella began to drag you to who knew where. You were finally deposited in a moldy chair and found yourself in the presence of Bella and Regulus. A solitary light dangled from the ceiling casting vague shadows all about the decaying room.
" Listen to me Alma!" Bella snapped. " You have to kill Sirius by the end of the night otherwise The Dark Lord will kill you. Do you understand?"
" I understand perfectly," you told her. " I'm just not going to do it."
You glanced at Regulus. His haunted eyes stared blankly back at you. What had they done to him?
Bella grabbed your shoulders and pressed her face close to yours. " You have to."


*No I bloody don't!*
*Yeah, well it's kind of difficult to do anything when I'm in this state. Not being able to walk and all . . . *
*Erm . . . do I?*
*Yes. Yes I do. And I need a glass of water too, if you don't mind?*
" Alma?" Regulus's voice was barely above a whisper.
" What Reg?" you asked softly.
" Please don't kill him."
Bella let out a shriek of laughter. " Pwease don't kiw him," she mocked in a baby voice. " You disgust me Regulus. You're brother is a blood traitor, remember?"
Regulus looked down at the floor and you could see the tears forming in his eyes. Despite everything he said against Sirius after Sirius ran away from his house in Regulus's second year, Regulus never hated his brother.
You leaned forward and tilted Regulus's chin up so he was looking straight into your nearly black eyes. " I promise I won't kill Sirius."
Bella's face hardened. " Please tell me you're not still infatuated with my dearest cousin?" Her voice was taunting, cold. " Don't tell me you're still not over him?"
You didn't answer. It was blatantly obvious that your were still very much in love with Sirius.
" Fine. If you aren't going to kill him, I will."
" No you won't," you sprang up from the chair with a vigour you didn't know you had. You walked calmly out the door into another equally shabby room and Disaparated.
You landed with your customary stumble at Sirius's door. You rapped your knuckles on the door but there was no answer. You began to pound frantically. Your knuckles were beginning to bleed. A deep stain set into the wood.
A loud noise behind you caused you to swivel around and flatten yourself against the wall. You found yourself facing the wand of a tired looking young man with a mop of sandy brown hair and a pair of warm, cinnamon coloured eyes.
" Who are you?" he asked harshly.
You suddenly realised who the man was. It was one of Sirius's friends. Not Pettigrew. Not Potter. What was that third boy's name?
It didn't matter now. " The Dark Lord wants me to kill Sirius. If I don't kill him I think Bellatrix LeStrange will. You have to tell him to run."
" And why should I believe you?" the man asked almost politely.
" Because I'm a Death Eater," you said desperately, knowing that you had just said the dumbest possible thing.
The man, however, was looking contemplative. " What did you say your name was?"
" Walker. Alma Walker."
The man's eyes widened. " Merlin's beard . . ." he whispered. He studied your face closely for a minute. You were growing impatient. Why was wasting time?
You knew why he was having such a difficult time swallowing the information you had just given him. Alma Walker was one of the most popular girls at Hogwarts. Granted, only popular because she was best friend's with Bellatrix Black, but popular nonetheless and THE Slytherin Quidditch player to boot.
Yet here was a skeleton of a person claiming to be that same Alma Walker. A grotesque bag of bones and bruises. A starved, scared, scarred mess.
" I'll tell him," he said at last. " But I can't let you go." You would have liked very much to strangle this man at that point but you contented yourself with snapping at him instead.
" Listen." You barked. " Find Sirius and tell him to hide. I'm going to find the Dark Lord and try to buy Sirius some extra time. All right?"
The man was staring at you with a pensive look on his face. He finally lowered his wand. " All right."
You leapt out of the door way and Disaparted from mid-air. You landed at the building where you had last seen Bella and Regulus. Regulus was pacing nervously in front of the door. Bella was nowhere to be seen.
" Alma!" Regulus exclaimed.
" Where's the Dark Lord?" you asked quickly.
" I -- I don't --" he stuttered.
" He is right here."
You closed your eyes and took a deep breath before turning around. The Dark Lord stood there, the epitome of serene. His tall thin frame loomed over you and a nasty sneer lit his face with a maniacal glint in his eye.
" My Lord." You inclined your head ever so slightly but didn't bow. You stepped sideways and placed yourself directly between the Dark Lord and Regulus.
" Do not worry, Ms. Walker. I am not here to kill the young Black." He pulled his wand gracefully out from his sleeve. " Shall I kill you now? Or would you like to duel first?"
" A duel." The words came out scratchily. You cleared your throat, " sounds like an excellent idea."
" Very well. I am interested to see how much you have learned from me."
" Don't worry, my lord." You crossed your right foot over as you bent down in an exaggerated bow. " You won't be disappointed."
" Avada Kedavra!" A jet of green light erupted from the tip of his wand. You threw yourself to the ground. You scrambled to get up. " Get inside!" you ordered Regulus. He was absolutely petrified. " NOW!" you screamed as another flash of green light came hurtling towards the both of you. You grabbed Regulus by the collar and threw him at the door. The second Killing Curse missed you by a hair's breadth.
Before you could even lift your wand, you were thrown against the ground. You rolled out of the way of a third Killing Curse and spat out a mouthful of blood.
This had to be some sort of record you mused as a fourth wave of green light missed you. Dodging four Killing Curses? No easy task.
" STUPEFY!" you bellowed from your position on the ground. You missed. However, the time it took the Dark Lord to deflect the stunner was enough for you to stand up.
" Avada-- "
" Oppugneo!" A pack of vicious canaries dived toward the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord merely flicked his wand and the birds turned towards you, breathing fire now.
" Protego."
They all hit your shield spell at the same time and bounced off. " I grow tired of your elementary spells, Ms. Walker. What a waste it was to teach you the Dark Arts."
" Yeah. It was. Wasn't it?" you wiped the blood from the corner of your mouth with your sleeve.
" AVADA KEDAVRA!" he roared.
This time you dropped your wand. If you were going to die, then you would die because you wanted to. You stepped forward and closed your eyes as the sweet embrace of death wrapped itself around you.
*At least it was me*
. . . ( epilogue-ish bit ) > > >

" Sirius! " Remus cried as he fell out of the Potters' fireplace. He looked worried. More so than usual.
You sprang off the couch, still holding your teacup. You and Lily had been waiting for James to get back from his job at the Ministry. You usually got back earlier than James and often stayed with Lily until James got back. It was that whole chivalrous gentleman thing. You didn't like her being alone while she was pregnant and Death Eaters were hunting the Potters. " What?"
" Walker," he gasped. " The Walker girl."
The teacup dropped from your hand and shattered against the hardwood floor. " What about Alma?"
" She was at your house." Remus gasped for air. He had run all the way back to his house and used the fireplace from there. He was never able to Apparate properly so close to the full moon, being a werewolf and all. " She said Lord Voldemort wanted to kill you. I think she meant to head him off."
At these last words, your heart stopped. Before anyone could say anything James came running into the room. " Sirius! They just found a dead body that Augustus thinks you can identify. I have no idea why but --" he stopped and looked around. Everyone was trying not to reach the conclusion that seemed inevitable.
" Where?" you asked hoarsely.
" Come with me." James responded without questioning.
He grabbed your arm and Apparated you to a broken down building in some deserted corner of the city. You saw Augustus Rockwood standing over a body. All around the body were dead canaries. You ran forward and knelt down. You reached one shaking hand down and brushed the hair out of the person's face. A pair of blank black eyes stared back at you. You gently cradled her head in your hand and bit your trembling lip.
" C'mon," you heard James muttered to Rockwood. " Let's go."
You bent your head down and kissed her cold lips. Tears were streaming down your face. " Oh Merlin, Alma. It should have been me." You took in a deep shuddering breath. " You're still beautiful, you know. You always were. I know you don't think so, but you are. You are the most beautiful person I have ever met."
You wrapped your arms around her and pulled her close to you. You pressed your lips to the top of her head and looked around. The tears continued to stream out of your eyes. A sad smile graced your lips at the sight of the canaries. You knew Alma had cast that spell. Suddenly you were laughing. You threw back your head and laughed. You understood.
" You didn't really think," you said still crying and laughing at the same time, " that you could defeat the darkest wizard alive with a pack of canaries?"
Alma always did have an interesting sense of humor. You kissed her lifeless lips one more time. " I'll miss you like bloody crazy, Alma. Just wanted you to know."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A light snow was falling. Alma always loved snow. You shivered as a crow's shriek cut through the night.
" Black."
It was the day of the funeral. You jumped. You had thought you were the only person in the graveyard.
" Snape," you responded coldly. " What are you doing here?"
" She was a friend of mine," he sneered.
" Yeah. I'm sure," you replied sarcastically. " You let her die, you bastard!"
" You have no idea what being in the service of the Dark Lord is about. There was nothing anyone could have done!" he hissed.
You whipped out your wand. " What are you really doing here?"
" Leaving," he snapped. And with that he vanished.
You crouched down beside the gravestone. It was a simple marker with only a two-line inscription. You were still fuming. You couldn't believe that Snape had the audacity to come here.
You pulled out a solitary rose from the inside of your black dress robes, wiping a tear from the corner of your eye with the back of your hand as you did so. You had found a wild bush of roses growing at the edge of the cemetery. You were about to place it at the foot of the gravestone when you pricked your finger on one of the thorns. You jerked your finger back as a drop of blood welled up and slid off onto the petals of the rose. A bloodstained rose. How perfect.
You traced the engraved words with your finger, letting the blood drip down the hard stone.
" As beautiful as snow, dark as the crows
Alma Walker, my bloodstained rose. "