Just a bit of quick info and thanks before the story:
My name is Mandy and my co-writer's name is Addie. I do the main writing while she helps out with characterization and plot. I really don't think this story would have ever gotten written without her help. A thousand thanks to my Addiebear.
We are in complete understanding that Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and we are not making any profit from this story. It's all in good fun. Now, let the story begin...
It had only been two weeks since the Potter parents had been murdered and already the whole world was falling apart. While some celebrated the so-thought destruction of the dark lord, others collapsed into shells of their former selves. Most of these shells including friends of James Potter and Sirius Black. Then there were some who were barely acquaintances with the two whose lives were completely destroyed by this incident. Skye Tippewe, who had been sent to Azkaban prison on a Death Eater raid, was one of these people, for example. It was funny to Skye that the freedom of one person decided her fate entirely. Because one person was weak enough to tell the ministry every death eater they could think of, Skye was thrown in prison.
But no matter how the young girl managed to work her way into this prison cell, she was there and that was the only thing that mattered. She was well aware of what she had done and the consequences that lay ahead for her. Months, years, the rest of her life in Azkaban. Did it really even matter now? The Order had collapsed and she'd been caught red-handed among the Death Eaters, no matter what the reasoning was for it. She was almost sure that she and Alexandra Black were about to be killed before the ministry stepped in. Now she almost wished they had been killed. Alex had almost become a ghost that was haunting Azkaban. She barely spoke, she barely ate, and her hair had gone as black as the metal on the bars of the cells they were in. It pained Skye to no end to see her friend in such conditions, even though it was completely understandable as to why. Losing James was a terrible blow to the girl, and Skye was one of the only ones who knew why. Either way, her heart went out to Alex, who was in a cell just down the hallway.
Every single emotion of fear and remorse that Skye had ever felt was suddenly poured out of her in one long, silent cry. Tears ran down her face like rivers as she clung to herself and dissolved against the cell wall. It only took about ten solid minutes of crying for her to realize that it didn't matter how much she cried at this point. This cold, heartless cell was now her home, as comfortless as it may be. She let out a stuttering sigh before moving to her blanket and pillow in the corner. She'd positioned it in the right corner of the cell, next to the back wall and the metal bars to the right that connected her cell with the next. Anything to get as far away from the dementors as possible and since they only lingered in the doorways of the cells, this seemed to be a good place for her cot.
She fixed up her blanket as much as possible before climbing under it. She sighed as she leaned back onto the pillow. How she longed so passionately for her old bed in her flat that she'd probably never see again. And during the mix of all of her inner complaints about her sleeping conditions, she heard a voice. And even more frightening, it wasn't her own. She rolled over in her cot and let out a frightened gasp as she saw a face staring right back at her. Not just any face, mind you, but the face of Sirius Black. He had set his cot up against the back corner of his cell as well and for the same reasoning, no doubt. "Please don't scream", he whispered, quickly, praying that she would listen to him. And for whatever reasoning that possessed her, she did. She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep back tears of sheer agony. The only person who had talked to her in days was a backstabbing murderer. It had lined the newspapers the whole week before Skye was captured. You would have to be deaf to have not heard the rumors flying around about him, though Skye mostly kept to what the newspapers had to say. But her line of thought was broken when he began to whisper to her again.
"I was just going to ask you to not cry again…", he stated, before rolling over and facing away from her. Sirius just wanted to beat his head against the ground. He'd been watching her almost all night and it tore him into pieces to see her crying and he was unsure as to why. Maybe it was the fact that he remembered her rooming with his cousin at Hogwarts. Maybe it was the fact that she was pretty and he hadn't seen a female in two weeks. Maybe it was just sheer compassion for another human being in pain. Whatever the reason, he was hurt by it. Even more hurt by the look she had given him when she'd first laid eyes on him. He just knew that this girl getting thrown into the cell next to him would be the death of him. He would bet his life on it.
That would the first night of many that they would spend, facing away from each other. Neither sleeping, but both dying on the inside. All night, refusing to roll over and look at the other, no matter how much they longed to.