A Little Glimpse of the Sky (Dustin)

[Zane Manning]

One hour. They gave the prisoners one hour a day for exercise, in the small, enclosed courtyard in the center of the prison. The few human guards of Azkaban supervised this little break from the bleak emptiness of Azkaban, but there were always dementors stationed at the inside doors to prevent any attempts at escape. Not that there was anywhere to go. They were surrounded on all sides by the cold, heavy stone walls of Azkaban, though overhead they could see a tiny glimpse of the sky. Somehow, it was always gray and cloudy, and often it was raining. It reminded Zane of London.

Most of the time, the "exercise" was a sad sort of affair. Some of the prisoners attempted to job around the perimeter of the courtyard, some jogged in place, and occasionally a few would try to toss a quaffle around. But most of them were just so glad to breathe fresh air for a little while that they sat in the dry grass and stared up at the clouds, imagining they were somewhere else.

That was what Zane was doing today. Even though he had a little bit of hope now that he might get out soon, thanks to his mysterious new lawyer, he still couldn't bring himself to exercise. Nearby, a couple of guys were tossing a quaffle around, and as Zane shifted positions and lay back on the grass, the quaffle bounced off his chest.

"Ow," he said, glaring at them. "Watch it, will ya?"

Irritated, he got up and moved across the courtyard, close to another guy, who looked vaguely familiar to him. "Can you believe some blokes?"

[Dustin Grenable]

Dustin lived for this hour every day.

For the first week that he was in here, he was one of the guys jogging the perimeter- and usually lapping everyone. He was a fast son of a banshee, and if he ever had the chance to make a run for it, he was pretty sure he could get somewhere. At least he'd have made the effort.

The Dementors inside were killing him. It was like they had his inner demons on a leash and controlled them, driving Dustin slightly insane every day.

So this hour, when the dementors stayed behind doors, was heaven to Dustin. A desperate man's heaven, but paradise on earth nonetheless. Now when he came out here, he sat still. He breathed. He savored the moments when he could hear himself think and not feel so desperate.

It would have been a lie to say that he barely noticed Zane come near him. He noticed. He watched everything that happened here, though he wasn't particularly observant. Not like Nikola or Kylie or Josephine, all people from his past that he didn't remember.

"I think you can cut them some slack. This is probably the happiest they'll be for the rest of their lives."

[Zane Manning]

Zane looked up at the guys for a moment, considering. They didn't look exactly happy, but then it was impossible in this place. But out here, away from the dementors, with a little fresh air and space to move around, everyone looked a little bit better. Out here, it was possible to hope for a little while.

"S'pose you're right," Zane said, shrugging.

He couldn't begrudge anyone in this hellhole a little bit of happiness. In fact, he almost envied those guys. They hadn't been here very long, and they hadn't been worn down completely yet. Zane hadn't been in good shape when he was brought in here; he was already tortured by Faith's death. So he'd never been the one to jog or exercise or toss a quaffle. He'd always sat in the grass and dreamed of better times.

Zane glanced over at the man next to him. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but Zane couldn't place it. Even if he could have, he probably wouldn't have believed it. His mind was so jumbled that there were days he didn't remember his own name.

"Do I know you?"

[Dustin Grenable]

Dustin did nothing in response, turning his eyes instead skyward. He wished he could see the sky from his cell inside, but that was not a luxury they were afforded. He was plotting an escape right now. Sure, it was probably impossible. He'd probably get a dementors kiss if he even tried, but it was better than staying here.

And there were other things on his mind when he was inside, the dementors influence surrounding him. So in this short hour, every day, he planned.

Dustin barely let the other guy talk before quickly saying "no," without even turning to see if Zane even looked familiar. As sociable as he could be, he didn't want to know anyone here. Not from a previous life.

"where are you from?" he asked the guy instead, getting his attention off of himself.

[Zane Manning]

Zane shrugged. That flash of familiarity had faded, or maybe he just didn't really care. He hadn't really had many friends before Faith, or maybe he had, but he didn't remember them. He'd tried to remember his past before, but when he met Faith, he'd decided to give up on pursuing the past and focus on the future. Now that future was gone... he was a man with no past and no future. All he had was right now, this very moment... which was a pretty depressing thought.

This Roman character had promised to help him get out, but Zane wasn't going to get his hopes up. And really, what did he have waiting for him on the outside? Faith and Billy were dead. He had no where to go.

"I don't know," he answered. "Feels like I'm from here... I've been here for so long. It's hard to remember much of anything else anymore. Have you been here long?"

[Dustin Grenable]

Dustin turned his full attention on the guy. Notmally, he was quite engaging and personable. Azkaban was curing him of this, even in his short time here. He didn't want to be here long enough to lose his sanity. He was good at disappearing- they all were. So he just needed to find a way.

He shrugged. "Couple weeks. Trying not to keep track, honestly." Every day that passed in here would depress him, and there was enough of that going around already.

He was curious why this guy was here, what he'd done. But he also knew better than to ask. Maybe that was something else he just didn't want to know. There was a lot of that here, too.

He could see the guards start to move, and figured they were getting ready to herd everyone back to their cells. He glanced at the sky again. For a while, the dementors had very little affect on him because he didn't have many torturous memories. At least, he thought he didn't. Now he wasn't so sure, because they seemed to be bringing up a lot of pretty horrifying images.

"think the dementors ever take time off? Or sleep?" he asked, almost conversationally.

[Zane Manning]

Zane didn't want to go back inside. It seemed like every day that hour was just a little bit shorter, and eventually one day it wouldn't exist at all. Sometimes he thought about fighting it, just grabbing onto one of the pillars that surrounded the enclosure and holding on for dear life. But when the time came, he didn't have the energy to fight. He would just quietly, passively accept his fate and walk back into the prison, where the dementors would lead him back to his cell.

He gave another vague glance at the man next to him, but he didn't feel much curiosity about him. Maybe he should have, but his senses were numb, and it was often difficult to hold a train of thought. Besides, prisoners came in and out of Azkaban, and there was no way of knowing how long this one would stay.

"Don't think so. They're always around... I don't know if they have shifts or anything like that... I can't tell one dementor from another. The human guards do, though... they have to, or they'd end up like us. Do you think that they carry chocolate? To keep from being affected by the dementors?"

[Dustin Grenable]

These were all questions that Dustin considered as well. There had to be a way they battled the affects of the dementors, after all. "Either that, or they are just miserable, miserable people who don't have good memories anyway," he mused aloud.

He had been watching as intently as possible what the guards did, though it was hard to concentrate at all. We're he a weaker man, he would have been curled in a ball already driven mad. Sometimes, he wasn't sure which was worse, the cold feeling of utter despair of the dementors, or the screams from the other prisoners.

In his calm way, Dustin glanced at Zane. He had a wild look in his eyes- the kind of man who was either mad already, or desperate enough to risk everything to get out. He wanted to find out which, in case he coul make an alie here.

"Why are you in?" he asked, appalled that he'd already forgotten if he already asked the man.

[Zane Manning]

Zane already felt like one of those people with no happy memories left to lose. Faith and Billy seemed so very far away, like shadows of another lifetime, and sometimes the only way to hold them close was to close his eyes. When his eyes were closed, sometimes he could still see them, still feel them. They reminded him of what he had once been and what he had lost.

But in the grayness of the daytime, when a dementor was nearby, he sometimes couldn't remember their faces, their voices.... even their names. All he knew was that he'd lost everything that ever mattered to him, and he had nothing left to lose. That was when desperation set in, and he knew he'd rather be killed trying to escape than live in this hell another moment.

"I killed the men who murdered my wife and child. Or that's what they say, anyway. I don't remember doing it. But they found me unconscious at the scene, covered in blood. I guess I did it. And if I did, I'm not sorry. What did you do?"

[Dustin Grenable]

"Oh. Well, you're quite honest. Remind me not to piss you off, eh?" He smiled at the man, but it was lacking any real humor or joviality to it. Then again, they weren't so different. He was here for murder, too, though he wasn't entirely positive he'd done it, either.

"I've been told I took part in a massacre at a restaurant- and judging from the blood on my hands, I believe it. Sort of blacked out, though. There are some others here from that, too. That guy, over by the fence? And her, the brunette. I don't know either of them, personally. But I wouldn't piss them off, either."

[Zane Manning]

Zane frowned, looking from Dustin to the other people that he had pointed out. It sounded crazy, people committing murders and not remembering it. But Zane had done it, and apparently Dustin had as well. It was weird. "Do they remember doing it, I wonder? Seems like there's sort of a lot of that going around. I wonder..."

He trailed off, looking into the distance for a moment. When he turned back, he studied Dustin carefully before he spoke. "I have this lawyer. He's taking on my case because he thinks I've been set up and that I'm innocent. I blacked out, just like you did. Maybe the Imperius Curse or something... I could mention you to him, if you want."

[Dustin Grenable]

Dustin shrugged. "They said they didn't remember seeing me there... that was all I cared to know about. I remember them, though... before the attack."

His gaze lingered on the brunette girl he'd pointed out. He wondered, especially about her in particular, if a mole had been placed with them- someone who knew everything and wanted to keep them in check. Maybe he was way off base- he would even venture to say crazy, even. He supposed anything was possible.

"Hey, if you're offering... thanks, man. I'll take it."

[Zane Manning]

Zane looked toward the group Dustin had pointed out. They didn't look like the type of people he'd want to mess with. Well, that wasn't true. Once, before Faith, he probably would have decided that he could challenge them and he would have ended up fighting them. Faith had help calm some of the rage that was always burning inside of him. And now that he was in this place, the dementors had just sucked all the rage right out of him. He was tired and sick and weak and half of the time, he couldn't even remember his own name. If Roman couldn't get him out, he'd die in here, he knew that.

Dustin didn't seem as far gone as he was, and he didn't seem as menacing as the people he pointed at. Maybe there was hope for him, if he could get out of here. Maybe there was hope for both of them.

"I'll ask him. If I remember next time I see him. I get... Well, you know how it is in there. I forget things. But he usually brings chocolate... speaking of which...."

He glanced around, to make sure no one was looking in his direction. It was nearly impossible, of course, to tell whether a dementor was actually looking at you, but none were facing his direction at that moment. Quickly, he dug into the pocket of his prison robe and fished out a small, plastic-wrapped piece of chocolate. Roman had been there that morning, and this time Zane was able to pocket a couple of pieces to save for later. Luckily, Honeydukes chocolate was magically formulated not to melt.

"Take a piece. For later," he said, placing the chocolate in Dustin's hand.

[Dustin Grenable]

Dustin couldn't quite believe what was being placed in his hand for a moment. There weren't a lot of nice gestures in this place, and the hope the a single piece of candy gave him was enough to make him almost smile.

"Thanks, mate," he said, as much sincerity as he could muster in his voice. He looked back at Zane for a moment. "And thanks, even if you don't remember... thanks for trying. This wasn't exactly how I saw the rest of my life going, right?"

He closed his fingers around the chocolate quickly, hiding it in the inner folds of his prison-wear.

A Death Eater turned towards them, and that glimmer of hope stopped him short, tearing the smile from his face, leaving him unable to tell Zane that he had faith they wouldn't die like this.

[Zane Manning]

It was a strange feeling, having made a friend in this horrible place. It certainly wasn’t something Zane had expected or planned. But Dustin seemed a lot like him in a lot of ways, and it made him feel as though they were somehow in this together. Both of them had landed in prison under similar circumstances, and he was hopeful that they could get out of here the same way.

The dementors were coming to bring them inside, so he couldn’t continue their conversation. But he gave a nod in Dustin’s direction, and promised himself he would bring up the man’s case to Roman when he came to visit again.

And if they couldn’t work it out legally, he vowed silently to himself, then they were just going to have to find a way to break out.

[end scene—maybe we could do another?]