DC: J. K. Rowling's.

Without warning, someone banged on the door to his cell. A rough-looking guard grinned at him through the bars. "Lucky day, Black, you got yourself some visitors."

Sirius' eyes widened in disbelief as three people walked into view. No. Fucking. Way.


Chapter 4: The Prisoner and the Promise

Tonks shuddered as the guard ushered the dementors out past her. Nightmare, living with those things for seven years.

"Sirius?" Remus asked hesitantly. No answer.

Harry watched as the dirty figure in front of them put his head between his knees and began to rock on the spot, muttering to himself. He thought he could hear some of what was being said. "… no way… nutty … going bonkers… ever visit… dreaming…barmy … death eater plot… getting old…"

"Is he mad?" Harry asked in a hushed voice.

Remus ignored him. "Sirius?" he asked again, more persistently this time. The figure was still, then moved as though bracing itself.

"'Kay, I've decided that since I'm quite obviously either dreaming or hallucinating, there's no harm in talking to you until you all decide to leave me alone."

Tonks furrowed her brow. "I don't think people normally come to the conclusion that someone is safe to chat with if they think that they're either hallucinating or asleep." she whispered.

"Sirius this isn't a dream or a halluci"-- Remus stopped speaking abruptly as he realized that Sirius had started singing to himself quietly with his fingers in his ears.

"Well this isn't proving to be very productive," Tonks glanced at Sirius to make sure he still wasn't listening. "I don't think he's actually crazy- I think he just doesn't want to believe that we're here. Maybe you should introduce me and Harry to him?"

The singing stopped and the prisoner spoke to them once again. "Are you ready to stop the nonsense now?" Sirius did his best imitation of a prissy old lady's voice, and Harry noticed his eyes were unfocused and rather distant.

"Sirius, I'd like you to meet Nymphadora Tonks."

"Nice to meet you. Call me Tonks."

"So you're Andromeda's daughter? You were only 13 then…"

"And this is Harry, you remember him, right?"

Sirius' eyes were clear all of a sudden, and his voice had a sharp edge to it as he glared at Remus. "My godson's dead. That arsehole Dumbledore let him die. And Harry had black hair, not blonde. I would never forget James' only heir."

"Harry ran away from those idiotic Dursleys Dumbledore placed him with. He found me about five days ago, and believe me, I was shocked too. He stopped wearing his glasses a long time ago, and they had a tracking charm on them. We figured he was too recognizable so I changed his appearance temporarily."

"I don't believe you- wait, Dumbledore made him live with the Dursleys?"

"Tonks, watch to see if anyone's coming. And yes; we can both have a discussion with him about it once we get your version of what happened. You see, no one actually knows that Harry's alive yet." Remus pulled a muggle wig off of Harry's hair.

Sirius' eyes roved over Harry's face hungrily. "Let's say I trusted you." The eyes rose to meet the werewolf's. "Why now? After all these years, not a single person had faith in me, not a single person came to ask me my side of the story. Not even you, Remus. I waited, oh, yes, I did. Two whole years, I hoped that you would come, that you, of all people, would"- his voice cracked and a single tear slid down his left cheek, carving a path through the dirt on his face.

"Eventually, I had to succumb to what the dementors are so greatly known for- despair. What I felt then was nothing to what I suffered through when I heard of what happened to Harry. All my years in Azkaban combined couldn't have killed me as much as Harry's death did. To know that the only person you have left worth living for is gone as well-" Sirius's gaze returned to Harry, but he continued speaking as though to himself. "Again I ask you- why now?"

The entire time Sirius had been talking, Remus's face had grown whiter and whiter. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and barely more than a whisper. Harry and Tonks watched silently. "I was a coward, Sirius, too afraid to face you if the Prophet's story was true. I was a-

"-terrible, untrusting, mean, unfaithful, treacherous, snotty git." Sirius supplied helpfully.

"Yes, and more! Now I've finally gathered up the courage to come and ask you what really happened." He raised his head to look at Sirius, who had painfully gotten up and was leaning against the back wall of the cellar, watching him. "Will you tell me?"

"… Alright, if only for the sake of some conversation around here. Dementors aren't really much for discussions." Sirius snorted grimly. "I suppose you've heard the Prophet's version? Well they've got at least a little right. Halloween, 1981. I was hiding in muggle London then, because Dumbledore reckoned I was too close to Lily and James. He thought Voldemort might come after me as well. I had heard from Dung that you had gone underground. We suspected you, Remus and I can't say I haven't regretted it. Of course everyone thought that Lily and James made me secret keeper after it happened, and they were going to, at first. But I was too obvious a choice. At the last minute, it was changed to Peter."

"No." Remus's face was drawn and his entire body was tense.

"Peter betrayed them. I didn't know. I went out to clear my head a bit that night, I couldn't sleep. "

Flashback:

I quickly lock the gate behind me, making sure that my wand is still in my pocket. It was after midnight, but I hadn't been able to sleep. Shivering slightly as a cold breeze ruffles the leaves of the willow trees that line the street, I head for the shops, thinking I'd get myself one of those hot cappuccinos muggles love.

The streets are oddly crowded, and there are shouts of joy and celebration in the air. Maybe Halloween is a big thing here? I think offhandedly. I'm jostled and pushed as I make my way through the people, listening to the loud bangs and watching as light from fireworks glints off windows. Wait, these aren't muggles. I eye the robes they're wearing, surprised. I try to ignore the ominous feeling I get as I tap one of the wizards on the shoulder, and enquire as to the cause of celebration.

The wizard seems slightly astonished. "You don't know? Why sir, You-Know-Who has finally been vanquished! And they're saying that the Potter boy had a hand in it- Harry Potter, a one year old boy, resisted the killing curse!" The wizard began to turn back around. I stopped him, my knuckles white against his midnight blue cloak. The world was spinning- Peter- the secret keeper- no, no, no.

"The parents- what happened to the parents- Lily and James Potter?"

"Murdered weren't they? By He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself! But what are the deaths of two if thousands are saved?"

I resisted the urge to throttle the man. Peter.

I remember Mad-Eye telling me that Peter was renting a room in the Hog's Head. I apparate to the inn, where the man at the counter tells me that 'Mr Pettigrew left just that night.' I then apparate to his home in muggle London, on a street crowded similarly to mine. The blood is pounding through my head- I know he betrayed them- Voldemort had no other way of finding out. Lily and James had placed their trust in the wrong friend- although James, of course, would have regarded it the height of dishonour to suspect his friends. Thinking of him enraged me more.

"PETER!?" He's not in the building- I storm back out, determined to find him, wand clutched in my sweaty hand. I head back on to the road and there he is- grinning maliciously. No shame, no regret on his face.

"PETER!" I shove through the crowd, deaf to the angry protests that follow me. He sees me, and he starts running. Soon I corner him in an alley. We're both breathing hard, and there's a harsh pain in my chest. Lily. James. Harry is an orphan- all because of him!

"Sirius- it's not my fault; I had no choice. The dark lord-"

"THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE!" I tackle him, thrust him against the wall, and make his wand fly out of his hand.

Wormtail changed his tactic. "You know they had it coming don't you, Sirius? The dark lord already knew half of the prophecy-"

I try to keep my voice calm. "The dark lord? But Peter, it's only his death eaters who call him that." Bursts of anger made my voice harsh; it came out as little more than a whisper.

"I'll be rewarded more than any other- he'll be back. The dark lord-"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE DARK LORD! You- Lily and James - you murdered them! Were you there, huh, Peter? Did you watch them die? Did you do it? The killing curse?" I push harder on his throat, watching in a grim satisfaction as his eyes bulge out.

"Do you want to kill me, Sirius? For what I did to them- you want to, don't you? Say it, you know the incantation, two words and I'll be gone."

"Death's not enough for you Peter. I'll tell them, I'll tell everyone and you'll be sent to-"

A small crowd began to gather, muggles and witches alike, watching the scene.

"YOU BETRAYED THEM, SIRIUS BLACK! YOU WERE THE SECRET KEEPER! THEY TRUSTED YOU! … NO, Sirius, please! Don't kill me like you killed the Potters-" Wormtail shouted, an evil gleam in his eye.

"What?!" Despite myself, my grip slackens slightly in disbelief. "Pettigrew, what the hell are you babbling a-"

"Accio wand!" Peter points his recovered wand at the crowds, and I hear him mutter the blasting curse.

"No!" All of a sudden, my hands are holding air and blood has splattered onto my arm. I see his animagus form disappear into a sewer drain, but before I can go after him, Aurors have surrounded me instead.

"Stop, it's Peter you should be going after! Let me go, I can still catch him!" And I laughed- I laughed at the irony of it, at the mockery and the voice in my head that whispered - "you weren't there. It's all your fault- they died because of YOU!" - I laughed at the excruciating pain of it all.

End Flashback.

"I went after him, not the other way around! The Aurors surrounded me before I could chase after him. He went into a sewage pipe, Remus; you know his form was a rat. We should've guessed it right then- a rat was what he turned out to be," Sirius spat. "I found out that I wasn't to be given a trail. Notorious mass murderer Sirius Black. Sentenced to a life in Azkaban, I could only hope that you or Dumbledore would still believe in me. Took you longer than expected, but here we are."

Tonks pulled Remus aside, out of the cell's hearing range. "What if he's lying? For all we know, he might have been sitting here formulating a cover story the whole time he's been trapped."

"He is not lying, Tonks." There was a certain decisiveness in his voice which made Tonks not question him any further. Remus walked back to where Sirius had been watching them curiously.

"Sirius, my friend, do you forgive me?" Remus stared at him anxiously.

"Well, the way I see it; it's either forgiving you or another ten years in Azkaban. Isn't much choice, is there?" Remus looked away sadly. "But then again, I suppose I might've missed you just a bit." Sirius winked at them. With that, the two men hugged each other through the bars.

Tonks rolled her eyes and crouched down beside Harry. "Men." Harry heard her say. Then she winked at Harry (looking abnormally Sirius-like, Harry thought) and banged her elbow against the bars. "OUCH!" Sirius and Remus sprang apart, both with a deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces. "Sorry- tripped over Harry."

"First things first, we should work out how to get you out of here," Remus muttered, a hint of pink on his cheeks. Harry guessed that he wasn't the only one who had suspected that a part of Tonks' clumsiness was faked.

"What if I give you my memory from then- to show to Dumbledore?"

Tonks rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Dear cousin, I know it's been long, but you can't do that without a wand. Ours were taken on the way in, and you haven't had yours for seven years."

"Dear Nymphadora, watch and learn. Do you have a container of some sort?"

"Oh, great. No, I do not."

"Maybe next time then-that is to say if you'll be visiting again."

"Of course! We'll be back before the end of the week, and next time, with a way to get you out," Lupin said determinedly.

"Oh, but-" Sirius was cut off as the guard came back.

"Visiting hours are over- out, please."

Harry looked back one last time before he left, noticing as he did so that Sirius had collapsed onto the ground and that the dementors were back once again.


"So…" Harry decided to make a stab at a conversation as they walked into the forest. It had been awfully quiet since they had left Azkaban. Lupin was very upset that he had been mistaken about Sirius. (How could I have been so dim-witted? Sirius was right- I am a terrible, untrusting, mean, unfaithful, treacherous, snotty git.)

No one answered him. The last time he had decided to fill the silence, at least Tonks had coughed… Harry sighed. They'd come around. As soon as they got Padfoot out of prison.

Harry was uneasy as well. The thought that his parents' betrayer was out there somewhere prodded relentlessly at his mind. Wormtail was still alive: hiding, lurking. It seemed to Harry that the world would never be a better place. Nonetheless, he couldn't stand the silence that had fallen between them.

Harry couldn't bear the fact that Remus was so upset. He was a Marauder; Marauders never have frowns on their faces. But then again, look at Sirius. He was not exactly what Remus had described him as. That was what had affected Moony the most.

They were at home before he knew it and at last Remus finally spoke, "I'm so sorry, Harry. I am so, so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Uncle Moony." Harry reassured, and really it wasn't.

"Don't you see, Harry? It is! Sirius is your godfather! If I hadn't been such a self-centered fool and gone to talk to Sirius in Azkaban, none of this would have happened." Remus stopped.

Harry was confused, and seeing the bewildered look on his face, the werewolf continued agonizingly. "You wouldn't have had to live with the Dursleys; you would've known how your parents had looked like all your life, and you wouldn't have had to wait seven years. And it's all- my- fault!" Remus banged his fist on the wall with each word.

"Stop it. Just Stop! All you're doing is feeling sorry for yourself!" Tonks rounded on Remus, who looked as astonished as Harry felt. "I can't stand it anymore - you have to get over it! Sirius forgave you, didn't he?"

"It's easy to forgive someone for a wrong they've done, but it's harder- much harder, to forgive yourself for something you've made to happen, especially when you've discerned that there's a part of you that knows you might have been able to stop it from happening at all."

"Oh, forget it. I'm just going to have to wait for you to realize you're being too hard on yourself, aren't I?"

"But I made a mistake—"

"-that anyone could have made," Harry finished.

"But it had to be me." Remus added with a whisper.

"Harry," Remus began, his voice sounding normal again. "Promise me that you'll never let any of your friends down, that you'll never give them a chance to complain."

Harry immediately thought about Hermione. Certainly, she probably had other friends. Harry wouldn't be surprised if she didn't remember him at all. He had broken a promise. He never went to meet her at the park like he was supposed too. Of course, he was too busy running away from kidnappers to worry about the promise he made to her, then, but now --

He wondered if she would be there tomorrow. If she was, would she play with him? Would she be irate with him? Would she even recognize him?

"Uncle Moony, can you take me to the park tomorrow?"

Remus was slightly perplexed with the sudden twist in the conversation, but he ignored it. "Sure. How come?"

"It's time to make amends."

Remus smiled and ruffled Harry's hair. "That's my Prongslet."


"There she is, Uncle Moony."

"We'll be around here, Harry, do what you have to do." Remus smiled.

"Hermione!" Harry waved to the so-named girl. He saw her brows furrow as soon as he called her name, then a smile quirking her lips when she saw who it was.

"Oh, hi Harry!" Hermione said, getting off of her knees (she was in the sandbox) and dusting her dress off a bit (it was light blue today, the colour of the sky).

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling extremely guilty.

"For what?"

Harry glanced at her to make sure she wasn't angry enough at him to be pretending she didn't know what he was talking about, but she looked genuinely confused. "For not being here a couple of days ago- you know, I promised!"

"Oh, yeah, I remember telling mum that." Hermione frowned. "She said it was probably for a very important reason that you hadn't come. That is, when I told her you didn't seem like the type to lie."

"I would have been here if I could. But you'll never believe what happened." Harry said as they started making their way towards Hermione's mother. She was sitting on the bench across the street, smiling.

"What—oh, god! Look at that cat!" Hermione rushed over to a ferocious-looking orange cat that had somehow managed to get itself stuck in a tree. Harry followed. "Oh, no! The poor kitty needs help!" She looked towards her mum, who was too short to reach it anyhow. By the time she looked back towards the tree, Harry was already climbing up. As soon as he was at the top, the cat jumped onto his head. Hermione snickered.

"Why don't you try climbing down a tree with a cat on your head?" Harry muttered, slightly miffed.

As soon as he got down, Hermione took the little kitten off of Harry's head. "Hmm... I wonder if someone lost him- or her. I'll call it Crookshanks."

"Maybe we should take the cat to your mom. She'll know what to do."

"Ah, Harry nice to see you again," Mrs. Granger said. "And these must be your parents." Confused, Harry looked behind him. Uncle Moony and Tonks had walked up without him noticing.

"Oh, no, I think you're mistaken." Remus laughed. "I'm Harry's Uncle, Remus Lupin, and she's a friend of mine- Nymphadora Tonks," Remus waved his hand at Tonks and then his eyes turned solemn, "Harry's parents are—"

"-at home." Harry interrupted. "Uncle Moony just brought me to the park today." Remus looked bemused, but with the look that Harry was giving him, he didn't interject.

"Umm…Hi, call me Tonks." Tonks smiled, resisting the urge to turn her hair bubble-gum pink again. They had decided that a more… inconspicuous colour was befitting, because from what Harry had said, Hermione's parents were muggles and it was best to make a good impression. "And you must be Hermione."

"Nice to meet you, Tonks. Jean Granger."

"Well," Tonks said, clapping her hands in delight. "Now that the introductions are made, how about we go for ice-cream?"

Remus looked at his watch. "Tonks, I have to go; if you're going for ice-cream you wouldn't mind bringing Harry home would you?"

"No problem," Tonks said cheerily.

"Bye, Uncle Moony!" Harry waved, and Remus waved back.

"Moony?" Jean Granger asked, confused.

"It's just a nickname from his old days."

"So, how about that ice-cream?" Hermione said suggestively, loving the idea of eating it with her friend.

"To the ice-cream stand we go then," Tonks laughed.

They walked for a while, following Mrs. Granger, who said she knew a shop with especially delicious scoops. Soon, they arrived. The shop was decorated with bright banners, and it had a small crowd of happy customers all around the front. As they walked in, Harry noticed a boy who seemed about his own age whining loudly.

"I told you mother, I don't want ice cream from a stupid muggle shop; god knows what they put in it." He had white-blonde hair, and was pulling on his mother's skirt persistently.

"Draco, please don't be like that. You wanted ice-cream and now you're getting it- just promise not to tell your father we went to a muggle shop, or I won't buy you that new owl you wanted."

Author 1: Very cliché, I know. Longer chapter this time, to make up for the time. Also because it's holidays. This one was a bit hard for me to write, so Author 1 helped me on it by writing the scene following Azkaban for me to edit and put in the story. For those of you who are REALLY eager for more words by us, try my other stories or our profile page. Also, to elucidate, Tonks is about 21 and Remus is 28.

Author 2: We just noticed recently that none of the italics are showing up, so this one should be a little better! Hope you guys like it- if you do, REVIEW! (We made this one longer, just for you readers!) 30 reviews before next update! (By the way, 2 minutes before, I accidentally updated the wrong document, so if there's any confusion, that would be it)