I hope the last chapter wasn't too sad for anyone. I really didn't want to write Remus's letter but I did want to keep some what to the story. I suppose the best way to cheer up is to remember that Remus learns the truth in the third book. Well anyway, i thought this might be a little lighter. We learn a bit more about Darius in this chapter, I hope I've made him a likable character. . . Again, thanks for all the comments I really apriciate them, feedback is always welcome. And as always, enjoy! :)
He was eager for the next time in the yard and when the day came it was a little dryer out. He followed the wizard guard quickly, this time not slowing at his cousin's cell. He noticed the wizard had a copy of the Daily Prophet with him. "Do you mind me borrowing that?" He asked.
The wizard grunted and handed over the paper. It wasn't hard to get papers the difficulty was in keeping them. He folded the paper under his arm and quickened his pace. Once outside he looked for MacDarrin who was standing in a corner looking tired.
"MacDarrin!" He grunted. "Look what I got." He waved the paper. MacDarrin's eyes grew wide. "How''d you get that?" Sirius grinned. "Just asked." MacDarrin hurried to meet him and the two of them stalked off to find a relatively Death Eater free corner of the yard. They opened the front page and examined an article over a new law redefining experimental breeding. After a few minutes Sirius looked up and sighed. There was nothing especially interesting. MacDarrin looked around.
"I got good news." He said. "Eh?" Sirius asked. MacDarrin smiled. "I go them to review my case. My wife put some pressure on outside." He grinned and shook a little. "I don't know if it's much but it's still something. I could get out!"
Sirius knew he should be happy for MacDarrin and he was but he still felt jealous and a little angry. He knew there was no chance in hell of him getting his case reviewed. He smiled. "That's great. Looks like you'll get out!"
MacDarrin continued to shake. "I hope so. I don't think I can stand much more of this place." They both looked up at the tower that was now ingrained in Sirius's mind. He doubted either he or MacDarrin would forget what it looked like. It made it very hard to feel happy for someone when he was faced with the reminder that he would probably never get out, no matter what his uncle tried to do. Still, he continued to smile and wished MacDarrin luck. They discussed the outside world a bit. MacDarrin was a few years older than him and had been on is house;s quidditch team at school playing Keeper. Sirius was thrilled to hear that and told him all about James's time on the Gryffindor team. MacDarrin thought it was fantastic.
"I must have been in my seventh year your first." He said. "I wish I'd gotten a chance to play against him." Sirius grinned. "I'm sure he would have loved to play you too." He found it little less painful to talk about James to MacDarrin who was eager to hear stories of their exploits from school and was a good listener. He told him several of their best, leaving out certain details and some of the more incriminating acts. He also neglected to mention the fact that he was an animgus but even without those small details the stories were still great.
He found that with hope of release ahead, MacDarrin had a sort of immunity to the dementors and was able to laugh and with someone laughing it was easier for him to make the stories more interesting.
MacDarrin had several good stories himself from quidditch matches and a few mishaps but Sirius guess that all in all he was a say out of trouble kind of person.
The dementors were not at all pleased with their laughter and neither were several Death Eaters though most just looked curious. Sirius watched the Lestrange brothers sulk in a corner with Dolohov, ever since Rabstan had been let out of the tower cell they had been avoiding him. He was glad of it too because he finally had someone to talk to and did not want to loose his yard "privileges". He watched several Death Eaters give him a nasty look and wondered if any of them had killed anyone he had known.
MacDarrin distracted him by reopening the newspaper. "Look at this, they're saying that the majority of the Death Eater threat is over and advising people to resume their lives to the best of what it had been before." Sirius snorted. "Yeah, threats' over." He muttered darkly.
Next to him MacDarrin was surveying the yard dismally. "Look, some of them have stopped eating." He pointed to several Death Eaters who stood listlessly mixed among the crowd. They did indeed look thinner and weaker. "I guess they figured starving to death was better than living here."
Sirius watched them sourly. "I don't blame them." As if to prove his point, a dementor glided by, eerily silent and menacing. "Ugh," He shivered. Next to him MacDarrin did the same. "See what I mean?" They sat silently. Contemplating dark thoughts and becoming bitter until Sirius's name was called. "Oh, that's me." He muttered, getting up. "See ya." He hated to go. Really he did. He spent so much time alone that he had come to relish the time in the yard. It was so much better to have someone to talk to and even better that they weren't a Death Eater.
He dragged himself up to the door and then inside to he bathroom. He was too sour even to make any good comments towards he guards as he usually did. Although several floated across his mind. He'd left the newspaper with MacDarrin and so when he returned to his cell he had nothing to read. He sat on his bed lot in thought.
Part of him wanted MacDarrin to get out. He knew himself how horrid Azkaban was and no one should suffer it but there was a tiny piece of his heart that didn't want him to go. He did not want to be left alone again with only Death Eaters for company and it surprised him because he knew under normal circumstances he would probably never speak to someone like MacDarrin. That showed just how much he longed for human interaction. The man in gray didn't count because he was about as close to a dementor a Sirius thought possible in man.
He sighed and rolled onto his side. The copy of the Daily Prophet told him with a painful jolt that he had already spent close to three years in Azkaban. He loathed it. Three years was a very long time. He tried to think of all the things he could have been doing during those three years but it was hard. He did not know how much the world had changed or the people in it and he found himself strikingly unimaginative. He could come up with nothing that felt realistic. He wondered if Azkaban was becoming his only realty. He shuddered at the thought and pulled out his uncle's letter to read again.
He'd memorized it but still liked seeing the words and letters in a familiar hand. He hoped hat his uncle would be true and visit him. MacDarrin was alright but he'd prefer someone who knew what was going on outside. He sighed again. It seemed like that was all he ever did anymore. Sigh and sgh again. He was lost in thought and none of it was happy. He hadn't even looked over his mother's letter since he'd gotten it. Here was no point in reading her angry words when he already had enough depressing him. The only reason he hadn't thrown it out the window was because he felt that by keeping it he had some possessions although the man in gray had gleefully told him that he no longer owned anything.
He scowled at the blank wall opposite him and cursed but it wasn't an angry curse it was more of a tired, sad one. The kind used when he couldn't find the strength to be angry.
He ran a hand through his hair. Mercifully clean for he first time in a while. It was getting long again. A bit longer even than he liked. He played with the ends. He'd always liked his long hair. Kept him looking cool and pissed his parents off at the same time. He sighed again. Well, like before. There was no one there to impress. He sighed once more and tried to sleep.