Betting on the Wrong Horse 1 / 2 / 3
Title: Betting on the Wrong Horse 1
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 100
Characters: Sirius, Bellatrix
Author's Notes: Takes place c. summer 1977. (The three are only related thematically; they aren't part of the same story).
"I hope you're sure of yourself," Sirius snarls bitterly, fist clenching tightly. "Your soul would be an awfully high price to pay for such a lamentable error in judgment."
Bellatrix's chin juts high, self-righteous fury dancing starlight in the jet of her eyes. "You can't think you even have a chance," she snaps back. "You and your pitiful little band of misfits and miscreants." Two advancing, threatening steps towards him, her boot heels clacking neatly on the stones. "My side boasts some of the greatest, most powerful, the quickest and cleverest wizards in the modern age. What do you have?"
Title: Betting on the Wrong Horse 2
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 100
Characters: Regulus, Sirius
Author's Notes: Takes place c. summer 1981
But Regulus did not flinch, even with the wand brandished at the level of his nose. Too tired, too ragged, too wearied to react, he stared blankly at his brother, his azure eyes soft with tears and the need for sleep. Sirius's hand did not falter, but neither did he complete the attempt to strike down or bind Regulus. He looked, Sirius thought, like one half-dead, his good looks marred by pale skin, dark circles beneath his eyes, and a lean, hungry look.
"I think..." Regulus began, his voice torn and ragged, "I think I may have made a mistake."
Title: Betting on the Wrong Horse 3
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 100
Characters: Sirius, James, Lily
Author's Notes: Takes place c. October 1981
The laceration Bellatrix had left on his cheek still stung, but not nearly as deeply as the knowledge of what she had almost accomplished, at what knowledge his deathly beautiful cousin had nearly plied from him, between silken promises and sanguine wine. She knew his weaknesses intimately, and was well trained at hitting chinks in armour.
With a deep sigh of self-loathing, Sirius raked a hand through his shaggy dark hair. "Peter," he said. "It has to be Peter." James nodded slowly, but Lily's expression was one of incredulity, and to her he addressed, "And please don't ask me why."
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 100
Characters: Sirius, Bellatrix
Author's Notes: Takes place c. summer 1977. (The three are only related thematically; they aren't part of the same story).
"I hope you're sure of yourself," Sirius snarls bitterly, fist clenching tightly. "Your soul would be an awfully high price to pay for such a lamentable error in judgment."
Bellatrix's chin juts high, self-righteous fury dancing starlight in the jet of her eyes. "You can't think you even have a chance," she snaps back. "You and your pitiful little band of misfits and miscreants." Two advancing, threatening steps towards him, her boot heels clacking neatly on the stones. "My side boasts some of the greatest, most powerful, the quickest and cleverest wizards in the modern age. What do you have?"
Title: Betting on the Wrong Horse 2
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 100
Characters: Regulus, Sirius
Author's Notes: Takes place c. summer 1981
But Regulus did not flinch, even with the wand brandished at the level of his nose. Too tired, too ragged, too wearied to react, he stared blankly at his brother, his azure eyes soft with tears and the need for sleep. Sirius's hand did not falter, but neither did he complete the attempt to strike down or bind Regulus. He looked, Sirius thought, like one half-dead, his good looks marred by pale skin, dark circles beneath his eyes, and a lean, hungry look.
"I think..." Regulus began, his voice torn and ragged, "I think I may have made a mistake."
Title: Betting on the Wrong Horse 3
House: Slytherin
Word Count: 100
Characters: Sirius, James, Lily
Author's Notes: Takes place c. October 1981
The laceration Bellatrix had left on his cheek still stung, but not nearly as deeply as the knowledge of what she had almost accomplished, at what knowledge his deathly beautiful cousin had nearly plied from him, between silken promises and sanguine wine. She knew his weaknesses intimately, and was well trained at hitting chinks in armour.
With a deep sigh of self-loathing, Sirius raked a hand through his shaggy dark hair. "Peter," he said. "It has to be Peter." James nodded slowly, but Lily's expression was one of incredulity, and to her he addressed, "And please don't ask me why."