'James and Lily? How could you Black?' a short, scrawny man was yelling at the top of his voice. I stood there, tears running freely down my cheeks. 'It was you! All you Pettigrew!' the short man shook his head, 'I would never ever do such a thing it-'
'You sold James and Lily Potter to Lord Voldemort! You told him where to find them! You were their Secret Keeper. Only you could tell them… tell Him… why would I do such a thing, huh? Why? He was my best friend, my family!' Pettigrew was cut off by my shout. 'I would never do that. You lying piece of-'I took out my wand, my actions mirrored by him, the traitor. He got there before me. A load bang and an explosion blew out my eardrums, as I saw a flash of silver then he transformed into a rat and scurried down to the sewer. I spat on the floor as the dust settled. The street we had stood in looked like an earthquake had hit it. Rubble was everywhere, the fronts of all the houses blown to pieces by the force of Pettigrew's spell. Muggle bodies lay, scattered among the mess. Unconscious or dead, I didn't know. I didn't want to know. As I stood there, my gaze came upon a man with a slash across his chest. Thick, dark blood seeped from the deep wound. Wormtail had split up another family. Another wife and child waiting for him to come home, only to have a Muggle man to become a bringer of bad news.
A series of loud cracks drew my attention in front of me. Men in black robes had Apperated 10 feet away from me. Five of them advanced forward cautiously while the other two stood leaning against the pole where the sign saying 'City Street' had once been.
I dropped my wand and put my hands above my head in surrender. I knew they were from the Ministry. There was no point trying to escape, it'd only make things worse. I took one step forward, close enough for one of the men to grab my left arm. I relaxed my arms and waited for the other four to pounce and immobilize me. One… two… three… four… fi- there we go. One on my other arm; one behind me, his wand point pressed against my back, I felt it digging into my spine. The other two 'guards' stood in front of me. Their faces the other way so I couldn't see them.
'We have him secure, Sir' one said.
'Good' a superior sounding voice replied. 'Take him straight to Azkaban. Explain to the Dementors he has a life sentence for flouting the Decree of the Secrecy of Wizards and murdering 12 Muggles and a wizard.' I shuddered. The Dementors are the guards of Azkaban. Foul creatures they are. Suck the happiness out of you until all you can remember are your worst memories. Then my mind registered in what else had been said. 'He has a life sentence.' I had no trail, no chance to speak, to defend myself. Not one.
Should I fight now? Maybe. I would escape, but I'd be wanted then. Hunted. Innocent as I may be I will go. I will go so I can die knowing I am innocent.
That. I. Am. Innocent.
I remember being side-long Apperated before passing out.
I woke up in a dark, cold cell with only a hard bench for me to sit, sleep, and live on. 'Better start making changes now!' that's what Lily would've said. Lily. Ah, Lily. She would have been fussing about, cleaning things, like the crumbling walls, the manky floors. But I wouldn't be here if she was. If she was, so would James. James! My best mate! He'd be a wonderful comfort in this hell hole. His jokes would cheer me up. His little anecdotes about school, girls and Harry. Harry. My godson. I only saw him twice. Jokes would cheer me up. His little anecdotes about school, girls and Harry. Harry. My godson. I only saw him twice. He looked so happy. He survived though. I know that. I gave Hagrid my motorbike. He should keep it. I won't need it. Now that I'm here. Forever. And ever. No chance of getting out. Stuck. Trapped. Imprisoned. Like before. At 'home'. With 'mum'. Ugh. Mother. Dearest Walburga Black. She hated me. Loathed me. But not Regulas. Oh, no. not darling Regulas Arcturus. He was the favourite. He joined the Death Eaters. So proud mother was. So happy that her son had joined Him. But then he got himself killed. By Avery. On Voldemort's orders. Apparently got scared and tried to back out. Ha! Served him right. Stupid boy. Joining Them. When he died, mother blamed it on me. How? I have no idea how. But I know why. Thought I should so I could carry on what he had done. Not one chance. We had a blazing row. I just gave up then. Ran away. Left. Lived on my own for a bit. Uncle Alphard helped me financially for a bit. 'Til he died. Poor bloke. Got blown off the family tree for helping me. I did too. Like I care. I hated my family. Still would if I wasn't the only Black left. I hated the lot of them. With their Pure-blood nonsense. The whole stupid pureblood Black family. All stupid. I just don't see the point. I mean everyone's the same. Whether they're pure or half blood. Or even Muggle born. They're the same. I really, really do not see the point.
I felt a cold gust of air outside my cell. Great. I have got used to it being my cell already. I turned my head, but immediately regretted it. Floating outside the barred door was a Dementor. Its face, or whatever it is, was covered by the hood of a cloak which engulfed its body, or whatever was there. Its scaly cracked hands were clutched together. Next to it, stood an expressionless man in black robes. He gave a jerk of the head to motion me forward. I took two steps and reached out for the plain grey bowl in his hands. He wriggled it through the bars and I snatched at it. Starving, I was. Not eaten anything 'til I started looking for Pettigrew. 'Hey Black. Yeh know the man yeh killed?' the man was talking to me as though I was insane. Ha! No yet. Not, quite, yet. 'All they found of him was his finger. Just one finger' the wizard held up his hand and motion cutting off his little finger, and then he carried on. 'Yeh didn't just kill him. Yeh destroyed him!' I turned away in disgust. That must have been what the silver flash was. The little asshole must have cut it off! Just before he transformed. Uh… I do hate him. All of a sudden a freezing cold enfolded me. My breath caught in my chest. What little breath I did have left, escaped in short gasps. The cold rush of air swept through my skin. Deeper. So much deeper. It touched my mind. It touched my heart. It touched my soul. It reached out with icy cold fingers. It searched and searched 'til I felt it withdraw. It took with it something of mine. My memories. The light in my dark life. The happiness in my depressing world. The silver from the black. All they took I would never get back again.
Not while I'm here.
Not while I'm here on Dogger Bank.
Not while I'm here in this place.
Not while I'm here in Azkaban.
Not. While. I'm. Here.