4 Sirius Black

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I'm innocent ... I'm innocent ... inno... innocent ... I'm ... I shouldn't be here ... not here ... please ... I'm innocent ... I'm ... innocent ... I'm innocent ... Wormtail ... the spy ... not me ... I'm innocent ... I'm innocent ... I'm innocent ... James ... Lily ... dead ... I'm innocent ... Harry ... little Harry ... gone ... my fault ... all ... my fault ... I'm sorry ... shouldn't have trusted ... couldn't have known ... innocent ... I'm ... innocent ... I'm inno ... cent ... please ... I'm innocent ... I'm innocent ... I'm innocent ... no ... I'm innocent ... I'm ... innocent ... I'm innocent ...

The mantra repeated endlessly in Sirius' head, I'm innocent, keeping him sane, stopping him from wailing in despair like the rest of the inmates, though he had no happy memories left. I'm innocent. He couldn't remember what James looked like, the sound of his laughter, even though he knew they had been closer than brothers. I'm innocent. He could only remember James' anger when he had, in his stupidity, almost killed Snape, and worst of all, revealed Remus' condition to their enemy. My fault ... all my fault. He could remember when he had found James and Lily dead and little Harry, his godson, who he had promised to protect at all cost, futilely trying to wake his dead mother up. Harry, who, even when it had seemed all was lost, could make him smile, laugh, and hope for a better future. He could only think of where Harry might be going and how he would be treated there. I'm sorry. He knew that Harry would grow up thinking that he had been responsible for his parents' deaths. He knew that Harry was lost to him forever. I'm ...

Sirius broke down, crying. He once again changed to his dog form and his thoughts, although not happy, were simpler. He thought with an animal's mind of hunger and pain, and the raw wound that was the death of his friends seemed just a little easier to bear. He whined at the meagre rations he had been given, but he did not feel the chill of the Dementors. I'm innocent.

Most prisoners give up on food as their will to live diminishes, but Sirius had been determined to stay alive in the hope that he might be released, and his innocence proved, I'm innocent, but now many years had passed, and he was no closer to freedom. He was giving up, eating less and less often, and getting weaker and thinner. It didn't seem to matter so much now whether he was guilty or innocent, he had lost his grasp on reality more than once, and sometimes he thought that he might actually be guilty, that he might have betrayed Lily and James. He was tortured by the thought far into he spent more and more time as a dog, enjoying the little freedom it gave him. A dog knows nothing of guilt and innocence. The days, the weeks, the month, and the years dragged on, merging into one long nightmare.

There were dementors stationed at all the doors in the building. Just one step into this place and everything around you turns cold inside you. You do not think that you will ever be happy again in your life. There is one wizard on guard. He stands against the wall, checking his watch every few minutes. He is only there to escort Cornelius Fudge, the Minster of Magic, around during his inspection of Azkaban. The place holds many prisoners; most did horrible things, and most were already insane. But one prisoner, one special prisoner, is the one he's going to pay attention to today.

His name happens to be Sirius Black.

'How long have I been here? 10, 11, 12, 13 years has it been already? Why am I still sane, or as sane as I could be? How could Peter betray them? How could he betray all of us?' Sirius thought. James and Lily were still hard to think about for Sirius. 'How could he do this to everyone? We were best friends; no, we were brothers. Looking back now, Peter did seem a little distant during the end of the sixth year and the whole seventh year. And I admit it, James and I probably should not have picked on him so much. But he was still like my brother. He was like my brother. Not anymore. Oh great, the dementors are back. Who do they want this time?' Sirius thought. These thoughts were always in his head. Sirius would think over and over, seeing if he did something else or what if he did this. For what else could Sirius think about?

'What about their son Harry? I was the godfather. I am supposed to raise Harry. Not be locked up in a cell. He would be about 13 now, wouldn't he? Poor James and Lily, they will never see their son grow up.' Right then, Cornelius Fudge walked by Sirius' cell. 'Checking up on prisoners, is he? Maybe he should make sure everyone in Azkaban is guilty. Then again, I am guilty of their deaths. Well, half guilty. I did not sell them to Voldemort. If only I did not tell Lilly and James to switch secret keepers with Peter.' Sirius thought. 'What is Fudge holding?' Sirius stood up and walked to the bars of his cell. He reached for the newspaper.

"Better watch out, Fudge. That Black might steal your paper." The guard escorting Fudge said.

"Thank you for the warning Phil, but Black here can have the paper. I do not have a use for it anymore." Cornelius Fudge said. He handed Sirius the paper and headed on his way to finishing his inspection of Azkaban.

Sirius took the paper.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE!

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. A delight, Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank." The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five Weasley children currently attend.

Also on the paper was a picture of the Weasley family. In the photo standing in front of a giant pyramid were Mrs. Weasley and all six of their children. The thing that caught Sirius's eye was the rat on the boy in the middle of the photo's shoulder. 'From all the times I have seen Peter transform, that has to be him. Even his finger is missing. It says that 5 of the kids are going to Hogwarts. The two kids in the photo right there are too old, which means that the boy with the rat is going to Hogwarts. That means Peter is going to Hogwarts too. He is going to be near Harry. To think what he might do if Voldemort ever came back or gave a sign saying he was gaining power. I have to get out of here and kill that rat.' Sirius thought.

The dementors came by to give Sirius his food and to suck some more happiness out of his soul. But this time, Sirius did not feel the dementor's presence, for Sirius was only thinking of a way to escape. Away to save Harry and kill that rat of a friend Peter. With that, Sirius fell asleep.

The guard Phil and Minster Fudge had just finished with their inspection of Azkaban. They passed Sirius' cell on the way out.

"He's at Hogwarts."

They froze. Fudge turned around to look at Sirius' cell. Again Sirius said.

"He's at Hogwarts."

Fudge looked closer to see that Sirius was asleep and holding the newspaper page he had given him earlier.

"He's at Hogwarts."

Sirius said that over and over in his sleep. 'Black is talking in his sleep. He must be going mad. Why is he talking about Harry Potter? It is nothing. For what was Black going to do, escape Azkaban and kill Harry Potter himself and become the next You-Know-Who? Like that would ever happen.' Fudge thought. Then Fudge walked back with the guard out of Azkaban and apparated back to his warm, happy home far away from the horrible prison.

Tomorrow

Sirius woke up the following day with his neck cramped. 'I have got to stop sleeping in these uncomfortable positions.' Sirius thought as he moved his neck around. 'Today is the day. The day I escape. Where will I go, though? I do not think Remus will open his arms and invite me to stay at his house, and I am pretty sure Andromeda would also turn me in. Andromeda probably told her daughter, what was her daughter's name again? I go with Tonks. She probably would tell Tonks to call the Aurors if I escaped and came to her house. I guess I will have to wing it. That sounds like something bad is going to happen. I just hid in a cave. No one will even find me anyway. They would be able to find me, but I would be a dog, so they would not know it was me. God, this is exciting. Time to put my plan into action. Let's hope it works.' Sirius thought as he stuffed the newspaper into his robes.

Sirius then turned into his Animagus form Padfoot. He looked like a grim dog. 'You know, if the Minster was smart, he would have human guards stationed at Azkaban, not just when people are visiting. Or he should at least have them tested to see if they were illegal Animagus, but hey, when has the Ministry ever done something smart? I mean, don't they know that all the prisoners that go to Azkaban without a trial are probably innocent or at least, in my case, half innocent.' Padfoot thought as he roamed down the hallway of Azkaban, looking for an escape route. 'Too bad, they do not have a sign that says. 'Escape route for prisoners escaping. Straight down the hallway, then to your right.' Wouldn't that make my life easier? So it is bad enough that the Ministry does not check to see if there are any illegal Animagus but having blind guards that can only feel fear of humans is kind of stupid. Not that I am complaining, though. It just makes my escape easier.'

Padfoot roamed around, looking for some kind of sign that pointed toward an exit. There was a window at the end of the hallway. Padfoot ran towards it; he put his front paws on the window edge and looked out. 'Not more than a fifty feet drop. I would land in water, very deep water. Man, I wish my Animagus was a flying creature.' Then Padfoot did one of the stupidest things in his life, and he did many stupid things. He put pushed his back paws off of the ground and jumped off of the ledge, and fell into the water.

Padfoot hit the water with a huge force. He made a big swash. 'Cold! This water is cold! Man, I did not expect it to be this cold. Where is Azkaban station in the middle of the Arctic Ocean? Is that even near London? Maybe I should have paid more attention to school instead of flirting with girls.' Padfoot thought. 'Which direction do I swim? I go this direction.' Padfoot started swimming toward the setting sun. About an hour later, Padfoot was having serious thoughts about the direction he picked. 'Man, I knew I picked the wrong direction. Hey, what is that up ahead?' Padfoot narrowed his eyes to get a better look. 'Oh, it is just an island getting closer. Yes! Finally land. Swim, my little feet swim.' Padfoot swam up on shore and looked around.

'Okay, now I need to find some food. This is why you do not wing things and what was that?' Padfoot looked at the bush that moved. All of a sudden, a rabbit came out. 'This is my one and only chance. Do not screw it up.' With that, Padfoot ran straight at the rabbit as fast as his little feet would carry him. 'No! The rabbit is getting away. Faster legs, faster! Almost there, just a few more feet, then you will have a nice-looking rabbit. Yes! I caught it.' After chasing the rabbit, Padfoot cornered it and caught it. 'Now, how do I kill it?'

An hour later, after Padfoot had switched back to Sirius, Sirius had finally found out how to kill his little rabbit. Of course, he did it as painlessly as he could as a dog anyway. Sirius decided to start a fire. 'I do not think my stomach can handle raw meat right now.' Sirius thought.

'Now, how the hell do you start a fire? Why don't they teach this at Hogwarts and not the boring lessons? If I ever come out of this experience alive, I will teach a class at Hogwarts called "How to escape from Azkaban and fend for yourself while you are on the run." It would teach those kids a lot. Rabbit is burning!' Sirius thought as he took the rabbit off the fire and ate the rabbit. 'Now all I need is a good night's sleep and start my journey to Hogwarts. Maybe I could see Harry on the way.' With that, Sirius went under a tree and fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Magic...

"Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban!" A wizard yelled.

"What do you mean?" Fudge asked. Hoping that what the wizard said was a lie.

"I was checking to see if any prisoners had died like I always do. When I left, I noticed that Black had not touched his food. Normally his food is all gone. Down to the last crumb. I went to see what was up with him, and he was gone!" The guard yelled.

"That is impossible! No one has ever escaped Azkaban." Fudge said.

"Well, Black has!"

"We must alert the newspaper. Get everyone notified. We have to tell everyone that Black is on the loose!" Fudge yelled as he ran to tell the Daily Prophet, leaving the whole Ministry in panic.

Sirius

Sirius woke up the following day feeling better than he had in a long time. Sirius turned into Padfoot and started heading on the path to the small Muggle town nearby. 'I wonder if the guards at Azkaban know I am gone yet, probably not. Where is Harry anyway? Oh, I remember. He is with his Aunt and Uncle. He should be living with me. I have got to think before I act. Stupid Peter! They better have treated him right. They live in Little Winging, don't they? Lily never really talked about them. Maybe I will stop at their house on my way to Hogwarts.' Padfoot thought as he walked down into the town.

As he entered the village, the first thing he saw was a wanted sign. 'So it looks like they did find out. I guess the ministry is not that stupid after all.' Padfoot walked up to the wanted sign. 'Does my hair really look that bad? I look like a vampire, a blood-sucking vampire. I am going to need some serious therapy when this is over with. I mean, look at my hair.' Padfoot forced himself to look away from the wanted sign. He started walking down the street when his stomach rumbled. 'I am hungry. Maybe there is some food place around here that is willing to feed strays.'

Padfoot walked down the street looking for a food shop. At the end of the street, he saw a donut shop. He started walking towards it. 'Maybe the shop owner will give me a donut. I have not had a donut in a while. I haven't actually had real food in about 12 years. Prison food sucks.' Padfoot stopped in front of the donut shop. He barked twice. The owner came out. The owner was an old man around his late 50's and early 60's. He looked around to see who made the noise when he saw Padfoot.

"What a cute little dog. I used to have a dog once. You look hungry. Wait right there." The owner said.

'Hooked, line, and sinker. I am so good.' Padfoot thought as the shop owner came back.

"Here is my famous Doggie Bone Donut." The owner said as he threw the donut at Padfoot.

Padfoot started eating it. 'Crunchy, I wonder what is in this. Gross! Dog treat. Why do muggles give dogs these horrible bone-shaped treats? They are not even good.' Padfoot thought as he ate the treat. 'Oh well, it is better than nothing.'

"Now, you take care." The owner said as he went back into the shop.

Padfoot started roaming around the streets. He was about to head back to his cave when he felt a collar snap around his neck. He turned around to see who had put the collar on him. He saw an old lady who looked to be in her late 70s and early 80s. She had grey hair and was wearing a pale blue summer dress. She was holding a red leash that was connected to the red collar she put around his neck.

"Hello. You must be a stray. My name is Anna Jenkins." The old lady said.

'Oh shit. She better not do what I think she is going to do.' Padfoot thought.

The lady bent down to pet Padfoot. "Woo, you stink. Let's go to my house and give you a bath."

So Padfoot was dragged to the old lady's house. As he entered the house, though, he got a surprise; the old lady had posters and life-size cardboard stand-ups of people. There were all these action figures all over the room. There was also a green stick coming out of a cylinder container thingy. 'What in the world is all this Muggle stuff?' Padfoot thought.

"Since you do not have a name, I will call you Miss Tutu." Miss Jenkins said.

'Miss Tutu? What the fu... Can't she see I am a boy?' Padfoot thought.

"I see you looking around the room. The thing you are looking at right now is a green lightsaber. All the other stuff is posters and action figures of...dun, dun, dun...Star Wars. Do not worry. I am sure that you and Star Wars will be the best of friends within the next week."

'Next week? I have to get to Hogwarts! Not watch some stupid movie!' Padfoot thought.

"I will put you in the living room and have you watch the first movie while I make dinner." Miss Jenkins put in the movie and started it, then left to make dinner.

'Well, I could at least watch the movie for her until she feeds me.' Padfoot thought.

So Padfoot laid down on the carpet and started watching the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Halfway through the movie, he started getting really into it. During the ending scenes, he was anticipating what was going to happen when the movie paused. He barked.

"Miss Tutu, you can watch the rest of the movie after dinner." Miss Jenkins said. She put down a food bowl in front of Padfoot. Inside was wet dog food.

'Well,' Sirius thought. 'James always said the world wasn't complete until you tried new things.'

Padfoot put his head near the food. The wet dog food smell made Padfoot lose his appetite.

"Now, Miss Tutu, you eat up, and we might even watch the third Star Wars before bed.

Padfoot really wanted to finish the movie and was curious to see the next. But he remembered that he needed to find his nephew, not watch some movies about space pirates.

One Week Later

When Padfoot woke up the following day, he heard something. It was laughter. He strained his eyes and looked at the direction the noise was coming from. There was a little park, and kids were playing. He walked over. As he came out of the woods, he noticed a fat boy with his fat friends tormenting a little girl. He started to growl. He walked near the boys and the little girl. One of the fat friends noticed him. They pointed. The fattest boy muttered to his friends something, and they scattered. The little girl turned around and stared at the Padfoot.

"Thank you." She said and put her hand in her dress pocket. She was wearing a red dress with gold socks. She had brown hair tied back into pigtails. She had brown skin and looked frightened. She brought out half of a ham sandwich. "You can have it."

She threw the sandwich at Padfoot. He ate it in one gulp. The child ran away. Padfoot tilted his head. He went back into the woods and lay down. He never noticed when he fell asleep. He woke with a sudden feeling of heat on his chest.

What's happening? He thought, looking around, but couldn't see anything to make him worry.

Sirius stood up and looked up at the far distance; there was a boy walking, looking bored. Sirius was about to ignore him when he got closer, his face more visible. Despite being so many years, he recognized his friend's son; they were identical, almost uncanny.

Without thinking twice, Sirius ran towards him; the moment he reached him, the boy turned to look him straight in the eye.

Sirius's breath was almost taken away; his eyes were like Lily's. He remembered her eyes, despite being so long.

"Hello there, my name is Harry; who are you?" Harry said with a smile...