Skylar POV

November 1st, 1981

My mind was still reeling from the fact that Lily, James and Harry were dead. Add that to the information that Sirius had been arrested, and you had a completely destroyed woman who'd been left to deal with the aftermath of the horror of Hallowe'en.

I had fallen asleep, crying, the previous night, holding Kate and Nick, both of whom were really too young to understand what was happening.

All that we knew now was that Peter had betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort and Sirius had killed him.

What we didn't know, however, was how the thirteen dead muggles factored into the equation.

I was startled by a loud banging noise on the door. I slowly got up, walked down the stairs and looked through the peephole.

It was Remus.

Sighing, I opened the door and let him in. He looked wild, like he was ready to kill someone.

"WHERE'S SIRIUS?" he roared.

"Remus, what do you mean, where's Sirius?" I asked, confused.

"DON'T YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT? WHAT YOUR HUSBAND - wow, you look like a mess, what's wrong?" he asked, finally noticing my disheveled appearance.

I could understand where Remus was coming from - if Sirius hadn't already gotten his hands on Peter, I would've killed him myself.

But he didn't know who the real Secret Keeper had been.

"Come inside, Remus. We've got a long conversation ahead of us."

Half an hour later, Remus looked dumbfounded. "And there I was, so convinced that Sirius was the traitor."

I laughed derisively. "Funny you should say that - he usually said the same thing about you."

Remus opened his mouth, then nodded. "I guess I could understand what might've made him draw that conclusion."

I sighed. "I don't know what to do. I mean, Peter's dead, so there's no proof..."

"You could tell Dumbledore, or your uncle," Remus offered.

I shook my head. "Sirius sent me a Patronus before he was captured: he doesn't want anyone to know the truth, he wants us to be quiet about it, for our safety."

"That does sound like him. What about Dumbledore?"

I shook my head. "James, Lily and Harry are dead. There's no proof that Sirius is innocent."

"But Harry's not dead," Remus said, confused.

"What?" I said, gasping.

"I know, I was surprised myself. But apparently when Voldemort tried to kill him, the curse rebounded and... Sky, he's gone. Voldemort is dead."

"That's... oh, my god. I can't believe this... and Harry's really alive?" I said, my heart beating faster.

"Yes, but before you ask... no, you can't adopt him. For some reason, Dumbledore has moved Harry to the Dursleys."

Before I could open my mouth, he said, "I know that's not what Lily would've wanted for him, but... you're hardly in a position to protest about it, the Ministry's going to be doing a full investigation, you're not quite safe yet."

I sighed. "But I can still see Sirius... right?"

"By law, the spouse of any convicted criminal can visit him or her in Azkaban once a year... so yes, you can."

"Then I'll do it today," I said resolutely. "This can't wait any longer."

A few hours later, I was in a self steered boat to Azkaban. What no one knew was exactly how dangerous this was for me: with the level my power had developed to, I would feel the dementors thoughts - and I would be terrified out of my mind.

I would have to be touching Sirius in order to overcome that.

When I reached the island, I shivered, trying as best as I could to block out all of the dementors thoughts, only to realise...

They fed on happy memories. So the only thoughts they had were... happy ones. They followed me as I searched for Sirius' cell.

I found the number on Sirius' cell. I took a deep breath and walked towards it. I then said a word which I couldn't remember after I'd said it, to open the doors. The doors would close themselves after I entered.

I walked inside and said shakily, "Sirius?"

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms were wrapped around my waist. I felt tears on my neck. Turning around, I saw Sirius, who was sobbing his heart out.

We both sat down against the wall of his cell. I held him as he cried.

"Do you think it was me, Sky?" I heard him say with the most vulnerability I'd ever seen from him.

"No," I said firmly. "It was that rat, Peter Pettigrew."

"No one believes me except for you," he whispered sadly.

I shook my head. "Remus came home this morning, shouting his head off. I made him sit down and I told him the entire thing."

"And he believed you?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Yeah, actually," I said calmly.

Sirius sighed. "You know what you have to do, right?"

"...No...?"

"You have to take your maiden name back," he said firmly.

"It's too late, the Ministry's already pursuing an investigation against me," I said.

"At least change Nick and Kate's!" he begged.

"I know you told me to... but I'll ask again: are you absolutely sure you're okay with that?" I asked dubiously.

He sighed. "Yeah. It's the only way they'd be able to live a normal life."

"Nick might be able to get away with it, but Kate...?"

"She looks just like you, Sky," he said quietly. "No one would ever notice..."

"She has your smile, though," I said, managing one myself.

"Yeah?" he said, smiling.

Then the brief moment of happiness passed. The dementors put their heads eagerly into the cell and the smiles left our faces.

"Lily and James are dead, Sky, and it's all my fault. If only I'd listened to you..."

"I let you go through with this plan, it's mine too," I said morosely.

The cell made a shuddering sound. "What was that?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"It's a sound that means I have five minutes left."

Sirius put his arms around me and I closed my eyes.

"Take care of Nick and Kate. Don't tell anyone about this - Remus is fine, but you can't tell anyone the truth."

"Why not?" I asked.

"No one would believe it," he said simply.

The cell shuddered, physically this time. "We don't have much time left, so listen to me carefully: you are still in danger. Voldemort may be gone, but his most loyal death eaters still remain. If I know Bellatrix, she'll be coming after you soon."

I nodded. "I've been expecting that."

He nodded.

"Sirius?" I asked hesitantly. "What about Peter, and those muggles?"

"Peter's dead," he said shortly. "When I confronted him, he killed those muggles, making it look like it was me, then killed himself."

I sighed. "This was the kid who once thought cheese was sexy?"

Sirius growled. "Apparently."

I stood up. "I have to go," I said sadly.

Sirius scrambled up as well. "Will you be back?" he asked desperately.

"Once a year," I said. I wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me back.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I said, kissing him.

The door opened. "I have to go now, otherwise the doors will close and I'll be trapped in here with you."

"Would that be so bad?" he asked half heartedly.

I sighed, whispered, "I love you. Take care, okay?"

He nodded. As I left, my heart ached to think that he would be in that cell... forever.