Title: These Flickers of Light

Characters: Since I'm only allowed to have three characters present at all times I decided to explain who's going to be present chapter by chapter.

Prompts: [Restriction] There will be only three characters present in the story at all times. No less, no more. [Title] These Flickers of Light. [Issues] Your character has insomnia. [Random prompt] Your character must be injured in some way, [dialogue] I've never been more disappointed in my life and [word] television. Minimum 750 words, maximum 3, 000.

AN: So, for the final round of The One Character Only Competition the challenge was to write a three-shot based on the prompts above.

Warning: Mentions of abuse but not in detail.

Word Count: 1, 116

Part I: Sirius Black, Euphemia Potter and Walburga Black.

Sirius Black couldn't sleep. He remembered hearing the word insomnia once on Remus television and couldn't help thinking that's exactly what he was experiencing. His thoughts were too loud and his body was too sore for him to close his eyes and descend into the comfort that was darkness. On the few occasions where he had tried the damn voice of his mother echoed in his ears and made him open his eyes. He was grateful for the stars that he could watch as they flickered on the ceiling above him. They made him relax. It became easier to ignore the dull aching pain in his chest which reminded him of his bruised ribs and the concussion which meant that Euphemia would check up on him every few hours. He didn't know what was worse. Being in pain or not being able to stop thinking about the event which had ended with him running away from home.

Running away from home. It was an odd sentence and one that he truly never thought he would say out loud. Not in the way he just did in his mind. He had truly run away from home. He had left his parents. He had left his brother. Sirius felt the ache grow stronger. His mother had chased him out of the house.

"I've never been more disappointed in my life." Walburga had screamed at him.

Sirius was standing in front of his mother wearing his pyjamas. A loosely fitted shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants which hung low just below his hip. He tried not to show how shocked he was. It was practically the middle of the night. Sirius didn't understand why his mother had decided to walk into his room in the middle of the night when she rarely did so during the day but he was too tired to think about that. Instead of wondering about her sudden appearance Sirius thought about how odd it was that it was a nose piercing which had pushed his mother over the edge.

He rolled his eyes. He expected this to end, just like all the other rants, with Walburga giving him some kind of punishment before sending him away. Maybe she would yell at him for rolling his eyes. But that's not at all what happened. Instead, Sirius felt a stinging on his cheeks. He hadn't noticed that his mother had crossed the room, he didn't react when she smacked him across the face. Thousands of shiny lights flickered in front of his eyes as he turned to face her again. It wasn't the first time he had been hit and it probably wouldn't be the last. But his mother had never hit him quite like that before.

Maybe he screamed at her after that? Sirius didn't remember. Did anyone in the family wake up? No, he was the only one there. At least Sirius thought so. All he knew for sure was that when he found himself staggering towards the porch of the Potter household, his body was aching, his clothes were sticking to parts of him and his throat was sore. It almost felt as if he had been trying to swallow nails.

Euphemia opened the door. Her grey hair hung loosely around her shoulders and she wore the kind of clothes which surely would have made Sirius own mother faint. Muggle clothes. Jeans and a thick, long-sleeved shirt in a pastel purple colour. She didn't give Sirius any time to say anything. She took one step forward and put her hands on each side of the teenager's face. Tears spilled down her hazel brown eyes, which she had passed down to her son, and her lips trembled.

"My poor, poor boy," she whispered brokenly. "What happened to you?"

Sirius forced himself to smile. "My mum didn't like the piercing."

Anger flashed across her face. A much more intense anger than Sirius had ever seen before and it almost made him want to back away from her. Then he remembered who he was with and shame latched onto him like a leech.

"Well, I love it, Sirius. It looks very nice on you," Euphemia said before slowly coming to stand next to him. She was trying to sound calm and reassuring but she couldn't hide the way her voice quivered. He moaned when her hand came in contact with the side of his stomach. "I'm sorry love."

Sirius felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't know if it was because of the way Euphemia had touched his sore ribs or because of something else. Quite frankly it didn't matter. His head rolled forward and he could see blood dripping from him, although he didn't know from where, and onto the floor. Again, fear gripped his heart and for a moment it almost felt like it was going to stop beating.

"I'm sorry about the floors," he saw Euphemia glance down to the floors and shrug. "I'll clean it up. I promise."

The elderly woman scoffed. "You're not going to clean it up. Because I won't let you. You are going to take a deep breath and tell me what happened to you."

"I told you," he forced himself to smile. "She didn't like the piercing."

Sirius knew that wasn't the answer Euphemia was looking for but it was all he could give her and she didn't ask him again. Sirius was barely aware of where she was taking him. His head felt like cotton and although he heard what she was telling him it felt as if his brain needed some time to decipher her words even if they weren't complicated to understand. The world was spinning and for a moment Sirius didn't know what would be best, to faint or to throw up. He felt himself being sat down on something soft. The couch, he noticed when he forced his eyes open for a split of a second. Euphemia's face was white as she lowered him down onto the couch.

"I'll be right back."

Sirius reached out to grab her arm. He ignored the pain that went through his body as he pleadingly looked at her. "Please, don't send me back to them."

In the following moment Euphemia looked exactly like James when he was determined. There was something so powerful in her eyes that Sirius couldn't help but feel comforted by the sheer sight of it. She sat down on her knees next to the couch and held his hands while leaning forward to kiss his forehead. Euphemia tilted her head to the side.

"You are never going back to that place," she kissed his forehead again. "I promise."