Let Me In

I was thinking about visiting my friend Violet for the evening when I heard the footsteps coming. I rolled my eyes. They were fast paced and heavy. Whoever it was was running towards me. The figure turned around the corner and stopped right in front of me.

"Password?" I asked.

The person was wearing a student's robe and a Gryffindor tie.

His head popped up so I could see his face. It was Sirius Black.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed.

"No. That's not it." I said cheekily.

"I don't remember it." he said quietly.

"Looks like you'll be sleeping on the floor then." I said to him.

His eyes bugged out as he looked around.

"You know I can't do that. I'd get another detention. And I really can't afford another one."

I sighed. I knew what he was saying was true. For seven years he had held the title (along with his mate James Potter) for the most detentions on record.

"What can I do for you to let me in?" he pleaded.

"Tell me a story of your adventure from tonight." I said airily.

He smiled and began telling me an extravagant story of pranking the Slytherins.

This was normal for me and Sirius. I knew he was a Gryffindor. But that didn't mean I'd just give him free entrance. So a story was required for his entrance. On days when he had time to waste he'd sit on the floor and tell me all his grand stories. I considered myself lucky to hear all the behind the scenes things. Instead of just the passing rumors I overhear from students, he'd tell me everything.

Needless to say, Sirius Black had grown on me. If there was any student that I would consider as a friend of mine, it would be Sirius. He had told me some of his secrets and I'd told him some of the ones of the castle. Like where the kitchens were, and where some secret passageways were. But that was back in second year. He and his friends had found dozens more and made a map out of them.

Sirius finished his story and looked at me smiling.

"Oh alright, you can go in." I said opening my frame.
"I love you. You know that right?" he said smiling at me.

"Your flattery is sweet but don't let it happen again!" I called after him.

That was the end of his seventh year. And it didn't happen again. Not until over a decade later.

~LMI~

I had heard all the rumors drifting around. Lily Evans and James Potter got married. It was a beautiful wedding. Sirius Black was the best man. The Potters had a child named Harry. He looked just like James, with Lily's eyes. A man named Voldemort was after the Potter's son. The Potters were dead. Sirius Black had sold them out to Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew was dead, Sirius Black had killed him. He was in Azkaban. The Potter kid, Harry, went to live with Muggles.

~LMI~

Years passed before I had ever thought about him again. It was when I saw a young Harry Potter standing before me. He had forgotten the password. He looked just like his father. His friend, Ron, reminded me of Sirius. But their bright friend Hermione remembered the password. She reminded me of Remus. How could it be that they were so similar to those students from over a decade ago? And they didn't even know! Eventually I grew used to seeing Harry and not thinking of his father and his friends.

Until that day. That dreaded day. I heard his name again.

"Sirius Black are you sure?" a first year whispered.

"Positive. He escaped from Azkaban."

I was stunned into silence. He was free? My friend from all those years ago? It couldn't be! No one could escape from Azkaban. But it was true. I heard all the rumors. Sirius was definitely free. And the worst part hadn't come yet. He was headed here.

~LMI~

I was taking a nap in my frame when I heard footsteps coming towards me. I opened my eyes drowsily. The footsteps were growing louder. They were fast and heavy.

I sighed, it was probably some student.

I got ready to open up for them.

But it wasn't any student. It was a man. A full grown man. In a ragged Azkaban uniform. With tangled black hair.

There was no doubt in my mind who it was.

"Hello Sirius." I said frowning down upon him.

I was not surprised that he was able to sneak into the castle. If anyone could have done it, it would be him. He got more than enough practice in his school days.

He had changed. The man who stood before me now was not the same man that used to sit and talk to me all those years ago. He was different. A murderer. Although he did not look like a deranged prisoner. He looked like a man who had been cheated. He was mad, and upset.

"Let me in." he growled.

"You don't have the password." I said sternly. "And even if you did I wouldn't let a murderer into my common room."

His eyes flashed with rage as I said that. I really should be watching what I said around him. He wasn't in the correct state of mind. I could tell.

"I am not a murderer!" he said fiercely.

"Right. So You-Know-Who just happened to stumble across the Potters? And Peter Pettigrew blew up that street on his own accord?" I said tauntingly.

How dare he stand before me and say he was innocent!
"Don't you dare accuse me of playing a role in the murder of two of my best mates!" he yelled at me.

"You did play a role! Because of you they're dead!"

What was he talking about? He was not innocent. Not at all.

His eyes were narrowed. He looked livid. For the first time in all my time as a portrait I was afraid.

"Not because of me. I wasn't the Secret-Keeper." he said calmly. "Now let me in."

What was he talking about? So he was deranged after all. I shook my head no.

"Let me in." he demanded.

"I can't do that Sirius."

His eyes flashed with a pent up rage. He pulled out a blade of some sort. I didn't have time to see.

He moved his arm in a slashing motion. And then another. He slashed several more times before stopping.

He had ripped my frame. Demolished the portrait. I stood there stunned, my gown in shreds.

He looked at me with no remorse.

"I'll be back." he said before running off.

~LMI~

I didn't see him for a while after that. I refused to have my portrait hang as the entrance way into the Gryffindor Common Room anymore. I was terrified and horribly shaken up. My old friend did this to me. A boy who I had trusted.

I tried to put the deranged Sirius Black out of my mind. But I heard the whispers everywhere. Everyone was talking about him. And then I saw him again.

I refused to be the entrance portrait, but as my frame was being restored I took refuge on the other side of the hall. I watched the students carefully, but stayed slightly out of frame. I felt safer in my hiding place.

I saw him in the dead of night. It was late. The footsteps had awoken me. Nearly everything woke me up, so naturally the loud footsteps made me wake with fright.

He was holding a sheet of paper and was reading all the passwords aloud.

That dumb portrait Sir Cadogan let him in. He had been warned not to let Sirius Black in the Common Room. And yet here he was, swinging his portrait open for him anyway.

Fear ran through me. I had to warn someone. I could still save Harry Potter's life.

I ran as fast as I could through the frames, trying to find one in the Common Room. I pushed people out of my way as I tried to navigate my way. This was new to me. I had never tried to get inside the Common Room before. I only ever went to Violet's frame.

Eventually I came across the third year boy's dorm.

I gasped as I saw Sirius Black standing over a bed with a knife in his hand. He looked menacing. Someone screamed, but it was not Harry. No, he wasn't even standing over Harry's bed. That was Ron Weasley's bed. Ron screamed and Sirius fled. People began running into the dorm.

~LMI~

I fled the frame I was in and chased after Sirius Black.

What on earth was he doing? How could he have mistaken Harry for Ron? Even in the dark they appeared different.

"Sirius!" I called from portrait to portrait as I chased after him.

He ran faster.

"Sirius Black!" I huffed out. Running was not something I was used to. I hadn't ran in decades. And here I was, running from place to place all in one night.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" I screamed.

He stopped running and turned around the the frame I was currently in.

He had a strange look in his eyes. Perhaps guilt? I wasn't sure.

"What do you want?" he asked me as he stared at his feet.

"You could have killed Harry. What stopped you?" I asked him harshly. I still couldn't believe I was talking to the lying murderer. But I needed to know what was going through his mind.

"Kill Harry?" he asked stunned. "Why would I want to kill Harry?"

"That's what everyone says you're out to do. Finish what You-Know-Who failed doing." I said bashfully. How could he not know?

Sirius looked sad. He looked me in the eye. "Why would I want to kill my godson? He's the only thing I have left of James and Lily."

My lip quivered. "What are you talking about? You sold them out to You-Know-Who."

He looked me dead in the eye. "You should know me better than that. I would've died before betraying them. I already told you, I wasn't Secret-Keeper. You-Know-Who was after me, so I convinced them to switch to Peter. Little did I know that Peter would sell them out immediately. As soon as I found out what Peter did I started hunting him down. I cornered him in a street. I was planning on killing him. But he knew what I was planning. He blew up the street himself and cut off a finger of his. Then he transformed into a rat and ran off. He's an unregistered Animagus. And you know who that rat belongs to now? Ron Weasley. I tried to get to him tonight. But that boy woke up. I will get Peter. He deserves so much pain. Pain for the death of James and Lily. Pain for my twelve years in Azkaban for a crime I never committed. Pair for little Harry, who grew up an orphan! Because he was a coward!"

He was raising his voice now. I figured it was to keep him from crying. He was filled with so much rage. So much pent up anger and hurt. I felt so guilty for believing he was a murderer.

How could I believe that after all he had told me? He and James were so close. Of course he would never sell them out to You-Know-Who. I was so foolish.

"I'm so sorry Sirius."

He looked up at me confused. "For what?"

"Believing that you really were a murderer." I said sadly.

He smiled weakly. "That's alright. I'm getting used to it."

"You should go now. You'll get caught otherwise. Be safe Sirius."

He smiled at me. "I'll try."

He turned and ran off out of the castle, disappearing onto the grounds. I knew that wasn't the last I was going to hear of Sirius Black. I'd hear more rumors about Sirius as time wore on. But I learned not to listen to them. I now knew the truth behind the story. Sirius was a good guy, I had to stop listening to others tell me otherwise. I was one of the few that knew the true Sirius Black. And not many people could say that themselves.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Please review!xx