1A/N: Before I get any hate mail or anything...just let me say that what happens in this chapter in no way reflects what I personally think about certain things...and you'll see what I mean when you read it. It was horrible to write (trust me that's why it took so long to update despite my writing mood), but it plays an enormously huge part of the plot later on.

Oh, and I realize that I said this story would sort of follow along with the books...but it's going to be extremely AU for a while. It will pick back up with the books eventually, after Harry has had time to grow up.

Chapter Thirteen

(Still in third person just in the first section)

Dumbledore stood stiffly in a sparsely decorated lounge as he waited for the healer to bring him the news. He had had the girl transferred to St. Mungo's when it became clear that Madam Pomfrey didn't have the necessary materials to do what was needed. The healers had immediately taken the girl from his care and ushered him to a waiting room after hearing the details of the case.

The headmaster turned his attention to the healer as he walked into the room and spoke, "I'm afraid that a rather hard decision must be made, Professor Dumbledore. Do you, perhaps, know the patient's age?"

"My best guess is that she is seventeen or not much older," the headmaster replied, calling upon his knowledge of the prophecy, "but she won't have any guardians to make a decision regardless of her age."

The healer nodded, "Then would you happen to know who the father is? I'm sure he will want a say in this matter." The man seemed to be in quite a rush.

Dumbledore sensed that something was horribly wrong. "It isn't my business to say," he avoided answering the question even though he had a wonderful idea of the answer. The healer seemed exasperated, so the headmaster continued, "Can you not ask the girl to make a decision for herself?"

The healer shook his head, "Too much of her energy is being used to keep the baby alive. It would be a horrible idea to wake her even if we were able to."

"She is currently under my care. Perhaps I can help?" the headmaster suggested.

"I don't see any other option, Headmaster," the healer sighed, "The baby is using so much of her energy that she will be lucky to live for another day. We can put her on a regiment of various potions and spells to keep her energy up until the baby might live, but the chances of that working are extremely low, and even if we do succeed it would take a miracle for either of them to survive anyway. The only thing I can say for sure is that if the baby is..." he paused, seeming to struggle with the words, "...taken out of the situation...that the mother will live."

Dumbledore stared at the healer, "What would you have me do?"

The healer sighed again, "The best medical advice is to save the mother, but I don't know what to do. Taking the baby might have terrible consequences on her psyche."

After a long silence, the headmaster came to a decision, "The father isn't what you would call ideal. I might even go so far as to say that he manipulated the girl into the sort of situation that would cause this. He is no longer in the picture, and the girl is much too young to be a mother of any kind, much less a single mother. I think it would be best if you did what you have to do to save her life." He avoided directly saying what he thought should be done.

The healer looked defeated, but nodded his head, "If you think it would be best, then that is what I will do, Professor Dumbledore."

The headmaster followed the man out the door, "I will stay until she wakes up."

The healer could only nod his head in agreement. He didn't want to be the one to face the girl when she woke up.

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Alex regained consciousness in a panic. Everything was black and silent. She couldn't move her body. She couldn't do anything. She tried to call out for help, but she couldn't even open her mouth. She laid there in growing panic until suddenly sound rushed back to her.

"Are you sure about this, Sir?" came a female voice.

A male voice that sounded rather dejected answered, "Our best hope is to save the girl. The baby will probably not make it no matter what course of action is taken, but the mother will definitely live if we do this."

Alex was confused for a moment. What the Hell were they talking about? All of a sudden, someone was touching her stomach. Everything came crashing down around her. She was pregnant! The sickness suddenly all made sense. She was only left wondering what they were doing to her.

The same female voice answered her question for her, "What will we tell her? That we killed her baby to save her? No mother wants that!"

If Alex could have screamed, she would have. She didn't even hear the reply over the shrieking protests in her mind. They were going to kill it? It was hers, not theirs! They couldn't do anything to it! Her horror grew as she tried her best to move, to speak, to disappear, to do anything to stop them from harming her baby. She had only just found out about it, and already she knew that she would rather die than have it die.

All thoughts stopped as pain worse than anything she'd ever felt started in her stomach and worked its way through her entire body in a matter of seconds. She could feel power being forced away from her body, though it was struggling to hold onto her. The struggle felt like it was ripping her apart, and suddenly feeling came back to her.

She screamed out the pain and sorrow that she felt. She immediately struck out at the person doing this to her, hoping to make them stop. She didn't come in contact with anything, and her shrieking continued. She began to fight the invisible pain, striking out in all directions trying to hit someone and dislodge them.

The pain suddenly became worse, and in the next second she felt the last bit of power losing its grip on her. The pain began to subside, and she was aware of the tears streaming down her face. She realized that she was no longer on the bed, and opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. She had thrown herself off the bed when she was flailing around, and was now curled up in the floor.

A face came into view over the edge of the bed, "Miss, we're going to have to get you back into bed."

"What did you do with my baby!" she ignored the pain when she sat up.

"We had to take it to save you," the woman's voice she had heard earlier whispered it regretfully, and Alex turned her head to see a young woman backed against the wall with eyes wide in horror.

Alex's own eyes widened as more tears welled up in them. It was gone. No baby...not anymore. She scrambled back from the people until her back hit a wall and she couldn't move any further. She brought her knees to her chin and rocked herself back and forth as she muttered, "No, no, no, no..." All coherent thought left her.

The healer made the mistake of trying to lift her up. As soon as he touched her, she shrieked and shoved him away from her, "Don't touch me!" The healer's attempts to calm her only made her freak out more. She fought through the pain and forced herself to stand. She had almost made it to the door when Albus Dumbledore walked in. She froze.

The headmaster looked at her calmly, "You should get back into bed, Alexandrea."

She ignored his request, "You! You did this! What did I do to you! You took Sirius's life away and took him from me, and now you took our baby! What did either of us do to deserve this! What did the baby to do deserve this!" There were a thousand other things that she wanted to scream at the man, and even more things that she wanted to do to hurt him physically. However, she was suddenly restrained from behind.

Alex struggled against her captors, but her depleted strength paired with the shockwaves of pain still shooting through her body made it a losing battle. She was forced back into the bed, and was magically restrained and silenced.

The medical staff hovered around her, running one test after the other and administering various spells and potions. She cried to herself, utterly alone, until suddenly she felt Sirius's presence in her mind. A ray of something akin to hope fought through her despair. He hadn't contacted her and she hadn't been able to contact him since a few days after he was sent to Azkaban. She sensed only his worry, she'd obviously been feeling such strong physical and mental pain that it broke through to him.

She felt him probe her mind, and knew immediately when he found what was wrong. Pure, unadulterated rage came from him. She suddenly felt power surging through her once again, and realized that he was doing the only thing he could (whether it was intentional or accidental) by transferring power to her. She only had a second to contemplate how strong their bond must be for him to be able to do such a thing over such a long distance before she heard screams of pain.

She looked around at the people who had previously been fluttering around her. She saw that her body was emitting a strong glow of magical energy, and when the head healer risked touching her he immediately withdrew his hand with an exclamation of pain. Satisfied that no one could touch her, she concentrated on the magic holding her in place, and felt the restraints give a few seconds later. She immediately vacated the bed and headed for the door. She was so intent on escaping that she didn't even stop to think as she cut down anyone who was in her way.

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Sirius was screaming. Not the screams of insanity that came from the other prisoners, but screams of turmoil and rage. He threw punches at the wall, not feeling the pain that it brought on. Power zoomed around him, and he even managed to dent the magically enforced stone.

The nightmare he had had came back to him: Alex alone and in pain. The reality was worse than anything he had imagined. He seriously doubted if the dementors would have to suck any happy thoughts out of him anymore. He felt Alex's relief, and was relieved to discover through their connection that she had escaped. He tried to reach her, but she was completely feral. It was much like how she had been the first time he had ever seen her in action in the infirmary.

Sirius, finally tiring himself out, sank down in a corner of the small, dank cell. He wished for nothing other than to be with her right now. He had tried to escape in the beginning, but his power had already been sucked out of him by the time the drugs they had him on wore off. His eyes alighted on a rock in the middle of the floor, and he realized with a start that he had just blasted great chunks of stone out of magically strengthened walls. Azkaban must have effected his mind more than he thought for him not to notice that. He looked down at his hands and saw that there was black energy crackling around them. He grinned, not a happy grin, but a malicious one. His emotions must have unleashed his powers, his emotions always did overpower any outside forces if he got riled up enough.

He stood with a confidence he hadn't felt in longer than he could remember - he had lost track of how long he'd been in here after the first week or so. He tested his power contemplatively, trying to decide if he was strong enough to teleport. He quickly came to the conclusion that it was a bad idea. The two dementors hovering right outside his cell weren't helping his power redevelop any more than it already had.

He turned his attention to the bars. They were narrow, and he doubted his ability to aim properly enough to melt them after going so long without magic. He also doubted that he was strong enough to turn into anything he wanted to and slip through them. He stared at them for a while, until he finally formulated a plan.

Sirius concentrated all of his strength on two of the bars, and after a few moments he managed to bend them pointing away from each other. He examined the enlarged space, and decided that Padfoot would be able to slip through them if he maneuvered carefully. He eased into his animagus form and began working his way through the space. He had a scare when his middle wouldn't fit through - he learned that it's difficult to suck in when you're a dog - but he eventually managed to wiggle through.

He only had a few seconds to be happy that his plan had worked before the feeling was sucked out of him. He didn't even chance a look at the pair of dementors assigned to guard him as he spun around and broke out into a run down the corridor. Since he had been knocked out when he was brought to Azkaban, he had absolutely no clue which way the exit was. He relied on Padfoot's senses and instincts as he ran down halls and slid around corners.

He could finally see the outside, but only through more bars. He stopped as panic welled up in him. He was so close. He couldn't be stopped now! He turned back into himself and beat against the bars frantically. He couldn't seem to bring enough power up to do anything to the metal. He heard footsteps coming towards him and he really began to panic. He concentrated all of his thoughts on how much he wanted to get out of here, to get to Alex. All of a sudden the bars he was leaning against disappeared and he crashed to the ground on the other side.

He didn't stop to think about what had happened as he scrambled to his feet and broke out into a run.

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Sirius crashed heavily on his feet as the tugging at his belly button ceased. The news tomorrow would be priceless: prisoner escapes from Azkaban fortress and disappears without a trace off the island. He wondered if they would be able to track the rock he had used as a portkey after he had calmed down and got his magic under control. His humorous mood soon faded, however, as another wave of emotions coming from Alex entered his mind.

He rushed through the front door without another thought. He couldn't get anything out of Alex other than her emotions, she was too distraught. He hoped that she was here, however. He thought that she might have come back to this house because it was the most familiar place to her from when they lived together. He looked around the entire first floor without seeing a trace of her. He was struck with an idea while walking through the library, and immediately headed for the stairs.

He found that his instincts had been correct when he walked through the door of their bedroom. Alex was curled up on the bed sobbing into his pillow. She was turned away from him, so he could only walk towards her slowly, trying not to startle her by making any noise. He walked to the other side of the room slowly, until he was standing in front of her. Her face was buried into his pillow, so he kneeled down at the edge bed and reached a hand out carefully.

"Alex," he said her name softly. She screamed and scrambled blindly away from his touch without even looking at him. He felt anger well up in him again because they had hurt her so much that she was too afraid to even recognize him. He winced himself when she clutched her stomach in pain after moving.

She seemed to give up and collapsed back onto the bed. She was facing away from him again. He didn't risk touching her, but lowered himself to begging, "Love, it's me. Don't be afraid. Let me help you."

Ever so slowly, she turned to face him. Her eyes roamed over his face for a few seconds, before she burst into more tears. He only had a few seconds for confusion before she spoke, "You're not real. You can't be real. He's gone."

Sirius felt a distinct pain in his chest, "I'm real, I swear it. I escaped to be with you." She didn't seem to believe him, so he decided to say something only he would know, "When we were together in the forest you became a part of me. You're always in my head; I can always feel what you feel. Right now I can only feel how hurt and scared you are, and it's hurting me that you won't let me help."

Alex's breath caught in her throat, and she bit her lip as she studied him carefully. He sent a silent plea to her through their connection, and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Sirius," she breathed out his name. She made a move to rush into his arms, but cried out in pain and started crying again.

The fury Sirius felt continued to build, but he ignored it and rushed onto the bed. He gave her what they both wanted and took her into his arms. Despite his best efforts to be gentle with her, she still whimpered in pain. He lowered her down slowly onto the mattress, and moved to lie down beside her. Her hands clutched at his robes and she cried into his chest as his arms moved around her to rub up and down her arms and then down her back soothingly.

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Alex hadn't been sure if the tears would ever stop. She had cried onto Sirius's chest so long that she had lost track of time altogether. Eventually his comforting presence and his soothing words and hands had calmed her down enough to stem the flow of tears, at least for the moment. She still refused to let go of him, however.

After a while she noticed that the robes she was burrowing against were not altogether clean. She pulled away from him as far as his arms would let her, "You need a bath."

His worried face broke into a grin, "I know. You aren't so hot yourself, though, Love." She realized with a start that she was, indeed, dressed in hospital robes and covered in sweat. Tears threatened to spill over her eyes again as she stared at the hospital robes, but Sirius calmed her. He broke the silence as he sat up, "Come on, Love, we're going to have a bath."

Alex allowed him to lift her into his arms carefully, "Together?"

Sirius looked mischievous for a second, "Would you rather be alone? I've already seen you without clothes, but I'm sure you remember that wonderfully."

Truth be told, she did remember wonderfully. She couldn't bring herself to comment on how arrogant he was. She managed to nod her head to show that she was okay with his proposition, but couldn't find the words to speak.

He set her down on the counter and he turned to turn on the water in the enormous bathtub. He shed his robe, and caught her eyes when he began to undo the buttons on his shirt. Alex was touched that he was worried if she cared or not, and she leaned back against the wall to watch him. He didn't seem to mind putting on a show, and he continued to undress without missing a beat. He then turned to shut off the water before turning his attention back to her.

She allowed him to remove the robe from her body without protest, and when he was done he lifted her again and moved towards the bathtub. Sirius settled her in the water, and then slid in behind her. Alex was afraid that he might want something that she wasn't ready to give, but if he noticed her tension he didn't comment on it. Instead she felt his hands move to her hair, and realized that he was putting shampoo in it. She let him wash her hair, and was even more surprised when she felt a cloth move gently against her back.

He washed her body carefully, not straying away from his purpose and trying anything sexual. For that she was glad. By the time he was finished, she was completely relaxed. Alex was content to lean against him for a while, before she realized that he was getting no attention of his own. She turned slowly in his arms, and reached for the shampoo bottle herself. He closed his eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair, and leaned closer to her as she washed the dirt off of his body.

As she leaned against him to reach his back, he tensed. She pulled away slightly to look at him questioningly. She felt his hands come up to her sides to gently push her body away from his. She opened her mouth to voice the question, but her breath caught in her throat when his hands moved carefully against her stomach. As she thought about it, she realized that he had carefully avoided touching her there the entire time.

He started to pull his hands away, "I'm sorry." She grabbed his wrists to stop him. He took a deep breath, "It was mine...ours. We made it."

She suddenly felt more horrible than she had before. She hadn't even given thought to how he might feel. She started to cry again, unable to say anything to him. She embraced him, and felt the tension in him continue to build. Finally, she whispered, "Don't." She had meant to tell him not to hold it in, but hadn't been able to get the words out. He seemed to realize what she meant, however, as he took a shuddering breath.

He pressed his face into her neck and wrapped his arms around her. They cried together until the water got cold, and Sirius pulled away and lifted them out. They helped to dry each other off, Alex still leaning heavily against him. As they embraced again, Alex couldn't help but wonder if they would ever be okay.

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A/N: In answer to comments from many people: no I couldn't just leave him in there too long. I felt that Sirius had to go to Azkaban because it was something that made him who he was, but that doesn't mean he had to stay in there for all twelve years to get the effects. As for the baby, I hated the whole thing. It will propel the plot forward throughout the rest of the story, which is the purpose it served no matter how horrible I personally think it is.