A/N:
This is a short one, sorry! I had to finish it before the MTV awards tonight, so I cut it down a bit. Hopefully you'll like it anyways!
*****
Chapter Six
- Eleven and Three Quarters Years Later -
- Sirius -
The sanest man in all of Azkaban was currently sitting in his cell, curled up in a fetal position, and had been as such for quite some time. Sirius' hair was now long enough to reach his shoulders, as he had not been allowed a haircut for his entirety in the wizarding prison.
Sirius shivered slightly and involuntarily, something he had been accustomed to. He was the most heavily guarded prisoner on the island - and yet, he was the sanest of all, and also happened to be innocent as well. He heard the screams coming from other cells, then the quiet as those that were to loud were kissed by the dementors, whether the Ministry of Magic allowed it or not.
That was one thing Sirius was sure that Cornelius Fudge - the new Minister Of Magic - kept from the public. Speaking of the devil, the man was walking towards his cell now, seemingly engrossed in a newspaper.
Fudge had been by his cell once or twice in the past few years since he had risen to the position of Minister of Magic. Sirius never would have suspected one of the squad of hit-wizards that had come after him would eventually be Minister of Magic. But the earth was still circling the sun, so Sirius figured he couldn't be doing all that poorly.
"Good evening Minister," Sirius said, walking from his cot to the prison door where Fudge was standing. Cornelius seemed to shiver slightly as Sirius addressed him, no doubt unnerved that he was still in his right mind, even after nearly twelve years of imprisonment.
"Black." Fudge responded coolly, believing this man to be a somewhat insane cold-blooded murderer of Peter Pettigrew and a dozen muggles.
"May I take a gander at that?" Sirius asked politely, motioning at the paper the minister was holding. "I haven't heard of the outside world in ages. Need to check up on the Hippogriffs, you know?"
Cornelius seemed to consider him for a moment, and, deciding that giving him the magazine would not do anyone any harm, he chucked it through the bars to Black. "Eat your heart out," He told Sirius, before turning on his heel and leaving the confines of the most restricted and well-protected part of the prison.
Sirius picked up the paper, like a fat wizard picking up a Honkeyduke, and opened to the first page, which showed a line of red-heads. Weasley's, no doubt. He thought with a smile, remembering the muggle-loving pureblood family.
His jovial mood changed from shock to displeasure and finally to hate when his eyes settled on what the article told him was the Weasley's youngest boy, Ronald Weasley, who just happened to be best friends with none other than…Harry Potter!
What he saw on the boy's shoulder made his blood run the cold of a winter rain, whilst his rage burned as if he was in a fiery inferno. There was a rat, a pet, no doubt, propped on the shoulder, but not just any rat. Sirius had run the grounds enough times, late at night, to instantly recognize him. Any doubts he may have had vanished when he saw the missing toe.
Peter Pettigrew was living with the Weasley's, he was very much still alive. And worse yet, he was in close proximity to Harry Potter, the boy that Sirius would protect over any other on the planet.
He had failed James. He would not fail Harry.
Sirius spoke in his sleep for the first time that night, puzzling the dementors outside his door…
"He's at Hogwarts…He's at Hogwarts…"
- Remus -
A tea kettle was furiously thrown across the kitchen of a cheap flat in downtown muggle London, crashing against the far wall and shattering, sending shards of glass and hot tea all over the room.
Remus had just returned from yet another job interview in which he was predestined to be denied, because of his status as a werewolf. Remus had had to live the last twelve years off of muggle wages, unable to find a true job in the wizarding world. Some of the money James had left him in his will had helped (Remus was dumbfounded at the prospect of him being put in the will, but then he realized that James had most likely safeguarded himself in case Remus was the spy, and therefore if he had died Remus was not the culprit, but his friend, and hence, the will), but it wasn't enough to last twelve years.
He wasn't even allowed to apply for the Magical Creatures Division in the Ministry of Magic. He couldn't work for the government in any way because of his werewolf status, which left him seeking customer-satisfaction jobs, which he was obviously not accepted in either.
So for the most part, Remus Lupin, who had been a three year prefect at Hogwarts, graduated second in his class behind only Lily Evans, with a recommendation from Albus Dumbledore himself, had had to live in the wizarding world with no money except those that he could get as a muggle, and even that was tricky, as he had no way of proving his existence in the muggle world.
Remus threw his head back and sighed, massaging his eyes with balled fists. Would he ever find a job? Would he ever find true happiness again? Of the three best friends he had had, two were dead and one was in prison for killing them.
In these times, it really sucked to be Remus John Lupin.
- Sirius -
It had been nearly a week since he had seen the article, and Sirius was planning his escape. He wasn't stupid. He knew that no one had ever escaped Azkaban before, and that it wouldn't be easy. But they didn't know that he could transform into a dog and slip between the prison bars, invisible to the blind dementors.
He had tested this time and time again, transforming to his dog form when the dementors brought in his food (or rather, a pile of rubbish that was somehow classified as a third-class vegetable, but Sirius thought this was appropriate, as most people in Azkaban were vegetables anyways), and noting with great pleasure each time that the dementors seemed confused by his actions.
Sighing, Sirius looked up to the stars, mainly the constellation he had been named for. Not many people knew - in fact, no one knew aside from Remus, James, and Peter - that Sirius was quite taken with Astrology and the studies of the stars. So he knew exactly where they should be in the night sky from his position every night, he also knew by these constellations and the position of the moon exactly when low tide was, which would be the easiest time for him to make it to shore.
That would be tomorrow night.
- Peter -
Peter had always been quite a good pet, first for Charlie, and now for the youngest Weasley sibling, Ron. The days since the Potter's deaths and Voldemort's demise had had their ups and downs for Peter.
He knew that every death eater in Britain wanted his head on a pike, after all, it was his information that had lead to the dark lord's downfall. And if he revealed himself to the wizarding world of good, well, then it would be all to obvious what had happened on that Hollow's Eve, so many years ago.
He hadn't always been with the Weasley's, of course. He had actually started his life after Godric's Hollow in the sewers of London, before moving out into the forests, and eventually to a muggle village. There he was able to walk around as a man, something that he found very hard to do now. There was no way he could hold his form for more than a few days, that was of course, until he learned to sleep as a rat, something he now did quite a lot.
After he had lived in that muggle village for a few years, he finally left it and returned to Britain, where he found the then young Percy Weasley and was able to christen himself in with one of the Wizarding World's most well-known families.
Things had gone perfectly for Peter until that trip to Hogwarts with Ron. Peter may not have been a genius, but he could do simple arithmetic. He knew that Harry Potter would have been entering Hogwarts at the same time as Ron Weasley. He also knew that all the Weasley's were Gryffindor's, and that James would turn over in his grave if his son didn't become one.
So Peter knew there would be complications, but he had never counted on the idea that Ron and Harry would become the best of friends, with the bookworm girl Hermione Granger alongside them.
He had had some tense moments around Harry, but felt confident when he had bitten that brute's finger on the first ride to Hogwarts. Surely Harry could never expect Ron's faithful pet to be the man responsible for the deaths of his parents, could he?
But anyways, none of that mattered to Peter now. He was in Egypt, with the Weasley's, for a well-deserved vacation. Of course, it was the last bit of peace that Peter would ever have.
- Sirius -
It was time. Tonight would be the night that he did the impossible. Tonight, Sirius would be the prisoner who escaped Azkaban.
He was ready. Sirius had already taken on the form of his animagus, a dog, like the star he was named after, and patiently waited for the dementors to bring him his food. That would be when he would make his escape, straight through the bars and down the corridor, off the edge of the floating island and into the chilly sea below.
He had no idea why he hadn't thought of this sooner, why it had never occurred to him before. He supposed it was because then, escape had been a happy thought, a dream, and it was sucked away by the dementors. Now though, now escape was an obsession. This was not a happy thought, but rather a thought fueled by hatred and anger, and the dementors could not take it away from him.
Sirius had waited for almost twelve years to get Peter, and now was his chance. As soon as the guards brought the food in…oh! Here they were now!
If he had the strength he would have smiled. Sirius nimbly slipped through the bars, the dementors looking confused but not knowing of what was happening. But this was the easy part. Sirius knew that he was still deep within the island's confines, and it would take him a long time to get out.
But that was all in the future, Sirius had to survive in the here and now. It wouldn't take the dementors long to figure out what happened, so he had to make some serious haste. He flew around the bends and corners, praying that he was going the right way, oblivious of the screams of the prisoners he passed. After all, how often did one see a large, near-death black dog storming down the corridors of a high-security prison?
He hit his first snag only a few minutes into the adventure. Two dementors were crowding the southern corridor in front of him, where the stars told him he was going to have to go. Though they could not see him, the dementors sensed him and had no doubt been warned of the escape. Sirius knew that if he didn't make it past them he would be kissed, a fate worse than death.
Cautiously, he strutted forward, looking, waiting for an opportunity to bolt past them. When the didn't budge, Sirius knew he would have to take drastic measures. When in health, he would have had no doubt of his ability to perform this trick, but as weak as he was…
He shook his head defiantly, not allowing himself to think of failure. The corridor was dark, only an occasional flash of lightning providing light. The hallway was musty, walls covered in moss, those parts that weren't were falling off the wall and crumbling onto the floor.
Sirius took one last glance at the width of the corridor, it was probably about eight feet, that would be just at the top of his capabilities. With a loud bark of determination he tore after the dementors, praying that he had the energy to pull this off.
The dementors stood their ground, which Sirius had expected. At the last moment, he swerved to the left side of the corridor, and, as Sirius knew they would, both dementors scurried over to block him, each wanting the kiss for themselves, giving Sirius his opening.
Leaping in the air, he kicked off the wall and shot to the other side of the passage, then kicking off again ended up behind the dementors and down the corridor in a full run.
Panting, Sirius kept running, fighting against the cold that was encircling him. The happy thought of deceiving the dementors was going against him, slowing him down, as was the thought that the end of the tunnel was ahead, only a few more seconds and he'd be out of there…five…three…one…
SPLASH!
- Remus -
A phoenix suddenly appeared in front of Remus Lupin, as he was reading the Daily Prophet in his favorite chair by the fire. But the roar of the fire was nothing next to the roar of emotions that erupted inside the werewolf's mind when he read the letter attached to the phoenix's leg.
To my old friend Remus,
Remus, I do not have much time, so I must be brief. Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban. It is rumored that he is after Harry at Hogwarts. Because of this, I was able to pull some strings, and I have been allowed to offer you the job of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts this year. Please send your response with Fawkes immediately.
With Hope,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Remus took several sharp gasps and sat down hard, clutching his chest. Sirius had escaped? No one escaped from Azkaban!
There was only one response he could possibly fathom to give, he scribbled it down quickly and told Fawkes to return it to Dumbledore immediately.
Yes.
*****
A/N:
So there ya go! Please drop me a review with your thoughts! Can't make it better without some good criticism and support!
Cheers!