Four Years Ago...
The dark island was fast approaching as the boat sped towards it. There were only five people on the old, rotting boat that had chosen to take a trip to the dank, life less island full of people whom had gone insane over the years.
In those four people, stood Mr. and Mrs. Barty Crouch Sr., the boat's navigator, a ministry official and a young women by the name of Jade Arbor. She stood, tonic and expressionless on the outside, her physical appearance seemed to tell everyone that she was collected. She stood at her solid height of 5'10", her thick dark brown curls cascading over her shoulders and down her back over the grey coat she wore to shield herself from the biting cold and salt water surrounding them. Her pale blue eyes raked over everything in sight, taking it it, but her expression remained neutral, as though she was not bothered by the island they were docking at.
But it was just an facade. Jade was scared out of her wits. Her mind wanted her to get back on the boat and demand to be taken back to the sane world. Her eyes held a somewhat frightened look, and the grip on her 10 and ¾ inch willow and Phoenix feather wand tightened dramatically in the pocket of her coat as the Ministry of Magic official called the Dementors off and let the three visitors pass through the gates of the wizarding prison known as Azkaban.
Jade kept her eyes trained on the stairs as she ascended, freezing for a split second as she heard the haunting laugh of the lunatic Bellatrix Lestrage echo through the prison. She swallowed the lump in her throat as the official stopped in front of a somewhat large cell holding a single person. The official gestured to it, tipping his hat as he walked back to the top of the stairs, several feet away.
Jade breathed in, moving her eyes up until they landed on the pale, skinny form of Sirius Black that laid in the back of the cell, asleep. Her jaw shook the smallest bit as she raised her hand and rapped on the metal bars, startling him out of his fitful sleep.
Sirius sat up rubbing his face and Jade took the time to take in his appearance. His face was swallow and sunken in, most of it covered by a long black beard, but from what could be seen was pale from the lack of light. His body had changed drastically since she had seen him eight years ago. He had lost almost all of his body weight and whatever muscle he had acquired from Quidditch was long gone. He was literally skin and bones. His robes hung off his body as he leaned back, watching her eyes rake over him.
She raised her hand to her mouth, her fingers spreading over her mouth in surprise. "Oh, Sirius..." Jade breathed, looking at the man she still loved with her heart, even if everyone was convinced he had murdered all those muggles and Peter Pettigrew. Her other hand wrapped around the bar as she finally connected eyes with him.
Sirius was oddly sane for a prisoner in Azkaban. His grey eyes didn't hold the crazed, wild look the rest of the inhabitants had seemed to acquired from the horrors the Dementors' presence brought them. Looking into his eyes, she saw the same man she had fallen in love with.
"What are you doing here, Jade?" He whispered, using his hand to steady him as he stood up slowly, walking to the bars that separated the two. He clenched his jaw at the thought of Jade- his Jade here. She was one of the strongest witches he had met, but no one innocent deserved to be here.
The corner of her mouth twitched, and she closed her eyes, breathing in before opening them and connecting them with his grey eyes again. "I needed to see you. I need you to tell me." She spoke so softly that Sirius had to strain his ears to hear the voice he had missed the most. Sirius wrapped his hand around the bar, right under hers, brushing her skin ever so slightly with his.
Any normal person wouldn't have dared to even talk about setting foot on the island that housed the wizarding prison, much less actually do it. Any normal person would have flinched away from the touch from someone who had spent time in the prison, but Jade relished in the touch.
She smiled softly, her heart fluttering at the touch. Sirius looked at her confused, "I don't understand...what do you need me to tell you? I've been in here for eight years. I don't know anything." He whispered, the bottom of his stomach falling as he realised she would probably ask him why he had killed all those Muggles and Peter and then betrayed James and Lily, when he did not. Peter had killed those Muggles; Peter had betrayed them all.
Jade picked her hand up, sticking it through the space in the bars, holding her palm up to Sirius as an offering. Sirius felt a surprised look cross his face, but still lifted his dirty palm to wrap around hers, their fingers linking together for the first time in many years. His heart felt lightened by her touch and so he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the bars.
"I need you to tell me if you're guilty or not." Jade spoke at last, watching his reaction and tightening the grip she had on his hand. He looked at her through his black lashes. "Does it matter? Everyone thinks I'm guilty."
Jade looked fiercely at him. "That's rubbish and you know it. If you say you didn't do it, I will believe your word. I spent eight years trying to convince Dumbledore to allow me come here so I could hear it myself. Everyone has tried to convince me that you did it. But I need to hear it from you. Not the Daily Prophet, not from Molly or Aurthur, not from Remus, from you. Did you do it, Sirius?"
Sirius watched her as she spoke, taking in her appearance as he realized the women he loved had not changed at all except for nature's signs of aging. Within her thick curls where a couple gray hairs, probably from the stress of teaching and very faint wrinkle lines could be seen. Sirius watched her face as she looked at him. "Will you believe me?" He whispered, squeezing her hand. She nodded, "I know you, Sirius, you wouldn't lie to me."
Sirius breathed out, his mind racing as he thought. The pressure on his hand comforted him the tiniest bit as he opened his mouth to speak. "I...I didn't do it. I could never kill anyone. It...It was Peter. He killed all those muggles. He betrayed James and Lily as their secret keeper."
Jade sucked in a fast breath at the confession, she believed him, but at the same time, Peter was dead. Sirius would never lie to her, and he would have never betrayed James- his best friend or Lily- Jade's best friend and one of his closest. Sirius was not like the rest of the egotistical, blood purists that the rest of his family was and is. The fact that Peter had been the one to do it did not surprise her. His behavior during the last year of school at Hogwarts and the couple of years after had been suspicious- disappearing and appearing at random times, the odd questions he would ask. But something just didn't add up.
Jade let out her breathe slowly, feeling it in her gut that Sirius was telling the truth. "Please, I...I need you to believe me Jade." He whispered, pulling her other hand from the bar to wrap it in his other. She searched his eyes once again before nodding. "I believe you, Sirius, a hundred bloody percent, but Peter's dead." She said softly, untangling her hand from his to cup his cold cheek. He leaned into it, savoring the warmth and good feelings he felt just at her presence. Their eyes stayed connected the whole time, only ripping away from each other as the Ministry Official walked over.
", your time is up, please finish and I'll escort you back to the boat." He spoke, turning without waiting and taking his post by the stairs again. Jade nodded turning to look at Sirius' surprised face.
"We're still married?" He whispered, watching as she nodded.
"I took my last name again to keep suspicion down and so I could stay at Hogwarts." Jade informed him, rubbing her thumb pad over the rough skin of his cheek. "I love you, so much, and I miss you everyday." Jade whispered, looking at him.
Sirius caught her pale blue eyes in his steel grey one, "And I love you more than you could ever know." He told her, watching as she smiled sadly at him before following the official back down to the shore. "And I miss you with every fiber of my being."