Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to the awesome JK Rowling. Anything else is all mine :)

BLACK ESCAPES

Thirty-three year old Isabelle Brooke grabbed the latest issue of the Daily Prophet from the leg of the large tawny owl, quickly slipping a few knuts into the pouch attached to its other leg. For once, she didn't even bother to watch him leave as she unfolded the paper. She swallowed hard as a large photography blinked up at her. The face was so familiar, and yet so unfamiliar at the same time. There was no doubt it was him, but Azkaban had done him no favours. His hair was longer than it had been before and was now matted; his face was gaunt and sunken; his skin pale from the lack of sunlight; and his grey eyes were dark with rage, the only part of him that had any life left. Forcing her eyes away from his, she read the article.

Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, escaped from the prison last night. Undoubtedly it is dark magic that enabled him to make this escape, for it has never been managed before.
"We already have a large group of Dementors out searching for Black," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, in the early hours of this morning, just after the empty cell was discovered. "The Aurors will be joining them later on, and we hope to recapture Black very soon."
Meanwhile, he urges the magical community to remain calm. Whilst he admits that Black is mad and a danger to anyone who crosses him, Fudge believes that it is far more likely Black will go into hiding than attempt a massacre so soon after his escape.

Unable to read any more, Isabelle growled at the paper, furiously screwing it up into a ball which she proceeded to throw to the other side of the room, where it landed perfectly in the bin. Whilst this feat may seem impressive to anyone else, to Isabelle it was nothing out of the ordinary; she had been one of Gryffindor's best chasers back when she had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and she had not been short of offers to play professionally after she left school, but she had declined them all in favour of becoming an Auror.

She sighed again as her thoughts drifted back to her school days. Life had been so simple then, when all you had to worry about was completing your homework on time. Or, in the case of her and her best friend, Lily Evans, persuading the rebellious boys known as the Marauders to complete their homework on time! She laughed softly to herself at the memories, vividly remembering the six of them sat in the Gryffindor common room around the fireplace with their books spread out in front of them, Lily and Isabelle with quills in their hands, James Potter with a tiny golden snitch in his, and the other three watching James intently, laughing.

"Come on James!" Lily Evans rolled her emerald green eyes as James caught the snitch yet again. "You know McGonagall won't let you off for not doing your homework!"
James' own hazel eyes twinkled cheekily as he glanced over at the pretty red-head.
"Well, let me know when you've finished and I'll copy off of you." He grinned as Lily shook her head, trying hard not to let the amusement show in her eyes, but failing terribly.
"James! You're not supposed to let her know you're only dating her for her brains!" the boy sitting next to James laughed, the others joining in.
"Shush Sirius! It's meant to be a secret!" James retorted, once they had stopped laughing, lowering his voice to a dramatic stage whisper. Once more, the small group started to laugh. Sirius' eyes met Isabelle's across the table and she blushed ever so slightly before looking away.

She glanced out of the window as her thoughts returned to the present, her mouth now set in a sad smile. She and Sirius had started dating just a few months later, and they had been together ever since. But she had not seen him for twelve years. She remembered so clearly the day she was called to see her boss in his office…

"Ah, Miss Brooke. Take a seat." Alastor Moody gestured to the chair opposite his as she entered his office. She did as she was told, still not sure why she had been sent for. Moody was silent for a moment, his glass eye moving to look at the door, checking that no one was listening in. Content that they had complete privacy, he moved his eye back to Isabelle, who shifted somewhat uncomfortably under its gaze, before getting straight to the point. "I'm afraid, Miss Brooke, that earlier today, Sirius Black was caught and taken to Azkaban, having killed several Muggles, and Peter Petti…"
"No!" She stood up, not even noticing the chair she had been sitting on fall to the floor with a clatter.
"Miss Brooke…"
"No! Sirius would not do that!"
"Miss Brooke, I understand you're upset…"
"Upset? Upset! Sirius is innocent, I tell you!"
"Miss Brooke, we have witnesses. Pettigrew cornered Black, sobbing and asking him how he could betray the Potters to…"
"What?" She had thought it impossible to be any angrier than she already was, but she was proven very wrong in that moment. "Sirius betray Lily and James? Peter was their Secret-Keeper! It's his fault their dead! It's him who betrayed them!"
"Miss Brooke, please!" Moody was raising his voice now, although a soft lilt remained to it as he attempted to calm the enraged woman before him, her brown eyes darkening dangerously. She was silent for a while, breathing heavily as she glared at her boss.
"I need to see him." She said, suddenly.
"I thought that may come up." Moody sighed. "I am afraid…"
"Please, Alastor." Her voice broke ever so slightly, and it was at that moment that Alastor Moody truly realised just how much she had lost over the past forty-eight hours. Reluctantly, he nodded.
"I shall escort you there." He rose to his feet and the two silently disapparated.

Sirius had been sat in the corner of a cell, his grey eyes held no trace of the cheeky twinkle that was so much a part of him. Now, they were dark and filled with a thousand silent emotions.
"Sirius…" Isabelle's soft whisper carried across to him and he looked over. Slowly, he climbed to his feet and made his way to the cell gate as Isabelle did the same. Alastor Moody stayed where he was, allowing the couple their privacy.
"Isabelle." Sirius shook his head sadly. "It wasn't me. I…"
"I know." She interrupted him. "I know, Sirius." She reached one hand through the bars of the cell, taking hold of one of his and gripping it tightly. They stayed that way for a long time, each trying to forget the recent happenings. Eventually, Moody came over and placed a hand on Isabelle's shoulder, gently telling her that it was time to go. She swallowed hard as she gave Sirius' hand a final squeeze. "I'm going to do everything I can to get you out of here." She whispered, her lip quivering as she fought back the tears that threatened. "I love you."
"As do I. Always."
Their hands parted as Moody led Isabelle away, apparating them both back to the Ministry. Isabelle took several deep breaths before nodding a silent thank you to her boss and leaving his office, ignoring the whispers of her colleagues as she went back to her own. Closing the door behind her, she slid down it and, at last, the tears fell.

The present day Isabelle blinked her eyes as she felt them grow moist at remembering the last time she had seen Sirius. She had kept to her word, constantly pleading his innocence, but no one had believed her. "Of course you think that, he was your fiancée" they would say. No matter what she did, her attempts to free Sirius were futile, but she never gave up hope that one day, someone would believe her. Taking deep breaths to regain her composure, she checked her appearance in the mirror, smoothing down a piece of her dark brown hair before leaving her house and apparating to the Ministry.

As she walked through the corridor towards her office, she ignored the whispers of her colleagues and the glances they were sneaking at her when they thought she wasn't looking, instead holding her head high. She knew Sirius was innocent, and she would not let their pathetic little mutterings get to her. Still, it was a relief when she stepped into her office and closed the door behind her. Her office was nothing out of the ordinary really; a desk, with a pile of paperwork on top, stood near the back wall with a chair on each side and a filing cabinet stood in the corner. In fact, the only thing that made it clear this was not a Muggle office was the fireplace in the wall opposite her desk. It was rarely used, though. She preferred to walk to work rather than floo, and so it was only used to communicate with other people.

Sinking into her chair, she began to sort through the pile of paperwork. She was halfway through when there was a knock at her door. Still focussing on the paper in front of her, she called for the person to enter.
"Are you OK Isabelle?"
She was silent for a long moment. At last, she sighed, put down her quill, and leaned back in her chair, looking up into the concerned face of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Is it strange that I don't even know how I feel, Kingsley?" she asked quietly. Her colleague gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Not at all. On the contrary, I believe it would be strange if you did know how you feel." His deep voice was comforting. No matter what had happened, he always sounded so calm, and Isabelle was glad of that now. He did not push her for a response, something else she was glad of. Instead, he simply stood by the closed door as she stared blankly into nothingness. A few minutes passed in comfortable silence before he spoke again.
"I believe Fudge has called a meeting of the Aurors." Isabelle looked up at the softly spoken words, meeting Kingsley's dark brown eyes, and sighed. Wishing she had an excuse to not go, she stood up and joined Kingsley at the door, offering a weak, almost defeated smile before leaving her office and walking towards the main meeting hall, Kingsley at her side.

"As you will all no doubt have heard, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban last night." Cornelius Fudge's voice echoed around the room. "The Dementors have been searching all night, and you are all to join the search." He paused, his eyes sweeping across the room, seeming to meet everyone's eyes. "I have spent the night deciding where each pair of Aurors will patrol. You will be patrolling these areas until Black is caught, or until further notice." Isabelle glanced at Kingsley as Fudge started to allocate the locations. They were partners within the Auror department, and she was more grateful now than ever before for this pairing; she knew that Kingsley would not spend the day questioning her or making ridiculous comments about Sirius like many of the others would have done. She turned her attention back to Fudge as she heard him call her name.
"Brooke and Shacklebolt: Diagon Alley."

As she suspected, there was no sign of Sirius in Diagon Alley. She was pleased that they had been allocated this area, however. Whilst she knew that there was no chance she would see Sirius there, it was somewhat therapeutic to watch parents and children hurry around in an attempt to purchase all the necessary books and equipment for a new term at Hogwarts. It also gave her great pleasure to see a crowd of enthusiastic witches and wizards staring at a new broom in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Despite the circumstances that had brought her here, she grinned. She may have stopped playing Quidditch a long time ago, but she still appreciated the brooms, and this one, the Firebolt, was clearly superior to any other brooms currently sold. She didn't even need to read the sign, not that she could get near enough to do so anyway, to know that it was something special, no doubt with a hefty price tag attached to it!

It was nearing midnight when she finally arrived home. She and Kingsley had looked everywhere imaginable for some sign of Sirius but to no avail. As it grew dark, and the streets emptied, they had returned back to the office and immediately been summoned to another meeting with Fudge. As it turned out, they were not the only ones who had been unsuccessful in their search; Isabelle had to try incredibly hard to hide her relief that Sirius had, so far, evaded capture. At long last, they had been dismissed, with the reminder that they were to patrol the same areas first thing tomorrow.

As she walked up the path to her front door, too tired to apparate, her eyes were half closed with tiredness. Reaching the door, she cast a glance over her shoulder, having had 'constant vigilance' drilled into her by Alastor Moody throughout her Auror training this had become second nature to her. As she turned her attention back to the door, however, she did a double take. Her eyes were wide open now as she stared into the shadows, and yet she saw nothing but darkness. Shaking her head at herself, she opened the door and entered her house, shutting out the darkness. It was only wishful thinking, she told herself. And yet, as she walked up the stairs towards her room, she could not rid the image of a large, black dog watching her from the shadows.

Hope you like it so far, I am really trying to get my descriptions better as that is the one thing that has always let me down with my writing so hopefully this isn't too bad and I will improved throughout the story... Let me know what you think with a lovely review if you can spare the time :) ~CharmStone127