Date: December 26, 1983, flashback Location: The Prewett Estate @adarkershadeofalice
There was yelling in another room, but Dirk couldn’t hear it. It was like he’d dove underwater and hadn’t yet come up for air. He was aware of the tear-streaks down his cheeks, creating clean lines through the blood and other things that had come from Benjy Fenwick’s body.
He’d exploded. Benjy had exploded.
Dirk shut his gaze tight, letting his head fall to his chin, trying to get the vision from his mind. On his part, Sirius seemed to be handling this much better than him - vaguely, Dirk wondered somewhere in the back of his brain if that yelling was Sirius with Caradoc or Moody or Alice or someone else, but he couldn’t be sure.
All he knew was that, the moment Benjy suddenly didn’t exist next to him any longer, he’d frozen and Sirius had to get him out of the battle. Now, he tried taking a deep breath, but it came out shaky and his hands were trembling. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a piece of Benjy’s skin laying flat on his arm and he started, throwing himself back in the chair and desperately trying to push it off his blood-soaked body.
It landed with a splat on the ground that Dirk couldn’t hear as someone came through the room. Absently, Dirk knew she was speaking to him, but he couldn’t hear her even as she came directly in front of him. “What?” he said, speaking weakly, his voice coming out a whisper, as he finally looked up at Alice Longbottom.