Sirius couldn't sleep and it wasn't from the fact that he was surrounded by the black shadowy forms of the Dementors around the prison it was from the fact that he had just lost all of his friends because of the rat Peter Pettigrew. Someone he considered his brother. He wouldn't have been so mad if he had actually been able to kill the rat but no he got away and now James was dead, Remus thought that he was secret keeper and that he betrayed the Potters location to Voldemort and he was now in this hell hole for the rest of his life. Or so he thought.
Three years later...
Sirius woke most mornings to the sound of the guards doing their daily check and food rounds, but not today, today he woke to the sound of his heavy cell door being unlocked. He bolted upright from his solid stone 'bed' to see two guards with their wands pointed straight ah his face and thick metal shackles in their hands.
"Put these on" came a gruff voice from the guard on the right as he chucked the shackles at him. they landed with a heavy thump on his chest almost winding him. Sirius quickly struggled to put them on. Three years around the Dementors does quite a toll on your physical and mental health. The screams and cheers of the other inmates echoed around the prison. Sirius was led into an anti-chamber and stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the last person he expected to see.
"Snivellus. couldn't resist the temptation to brag about the fact that you didn't get thrown into this hell hole with me." said Sirius with a hoarse voice that hadn't been used for three years. Snape stared back with those cold black eyes of his, but Sirius could've sworn he saw a flicker of regret as if he was trying to remember why he came here. He then shook his head as if shaking away whatever he was thinking and said.
"I came to try to get you out of here. I know that you would never have sold potter to the Dark Lord. You don't have the guts. So that means it was someone else who did it. I want that person captured so that he can pay for the death of lily."
Sirius stared in shock. He was being freed and by Snape for that matter. He stayed like that for a minute or two in silence before he could find his voice enough to whisper out a thank you for the man he hated in school. He couldn't understand why Snape was doing this. Not that he was complaining. Maybe Dumbledore had him under a confundus charm. That was the only way, right? But before he could articulate any of this, he was roughly pulled out of the room and onto a small boat on the side of the island that he remembered from the trip over here all those years ago.
The ride was silent the only sound being the large waves crashing against the old wooden boat. A couple minutes into their ride he felt a wave of warmth run through him and he realised that he left the perimeter around the prison affected by the Dementors and for the first time in three years he saw the sun. He squinted, the sudden light burning his eyes after three years in prison. It was a warm summer day without a cloud in site and he could see land fast approaching. With that thought in mind he slowly drifted off to sleep with a small smile on his face.
He awoke with a start. the last thing he remembers was him on a boat with two guards and Snape along with the hope of freedom. He looked around him and felt his stomach drop. He was in a cell. Was that all a dream. That's the only explanation. Snape would never free him. But as he looked around, he realised with a start that this wasn't his cell. It was different, and he couldn't feel the cold of the Dementors. Just at that moment a tall, dark skin man in his auror robes came to the door of his cell. Sirius recognised him as a member from the Order of the Phoenix. A sudden surge of hope filled him. If the order was in on this than he would be freed, he knew it.
"You're coming with me" Kingsley's deep calming voice said. "you will be given veritaserum to face the whole wizengamot. I personally hope that Snape is right"
"Snape" Sirius said "why is he helping me"
"Snape blames who ever betrayed the potters and got lily killed and he doesn't think you could've done it and a silly school feud won't stop him from getting to the bottom of this. Snape demanded that you get a trial but at the time he was a convicted death eater and only now was he able to convince people to take him seriously."
"lucky for him I am very Sirius" the chance of freedom put Sirius in a good mood so he couldn't stop himself from saying the much-overused joke. king cracked a small smile.
"OK time to go. you ready?"
"I guess so. lead the way" Sirius' voice shock a little now. it had just occurred to him how serous this was. In just a few hours he went from someone with no hope to someone who could possibly have his life back. what was he going to do when he got out? Two things he thought, talk to Moony and visit his godson.
He sat in the middle of the court chambers. Rows upon rows of people staring at him. He looked over at the quest seats and saw Remus with an impassive look that Sirius couldn't read. Remus looked worse than ever. He had some fresh cuts on his face and robes that looked close to falling apart. He suddenly felt a stab of guilt. He hadn't even thought about Remus. He would've been affected just as bad a he was. He lost James, thought that Sirius betrayed the potters and killed peter. He wouldn't have been allowed to be near harry due to his furry little problem and he would've had to go through his transformations alone.
Before he could think on that any more Dumbledore stood up and announced to the wizengamot.
"We are here today for the trial of one Sirius Orion Black, previously convicted of betrayal of one James Fleamont Potter, Lily J. Potter nee Evens and Harry James Potter the murder of Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles. How does the opposed plead?"
"Not Guilty" Sirius said in a strong voice more confident than he felt.
"Does the opposed know who committed these things?"
"Yes. It was Peter Pettigrew"
There were a few gasps in the crowd. Nobody spoke. He looked over at Remus who had gone white, shock clear on his face, he looked close to tears.
Dumbledore found his voice first.
"Care to explain what you mean by that."
"It's true. I was made out to be the secret keeper but the night before we cast the charm, we thought It a good Idea to change to Peter because know one would expect us to chose the weakest one. They would go for me, and then Remus and anyone else close to us before they went to Peter. We didn't expect Peter to join them."
"What about the 12 muggles." Dumbledore seamed to be the only one not in shock.
"When I confronted Peter in that street he knew that he was trapped so he started to yell to any one who could hear that I was guilty and how could I betray them and then he blew up the street, cut off his own finger and changed into his Animagus form of a rat."
"can we see the memory of that night for more proof." Dumbledore spoke calmly and softly as if trying to reassure Sirius.
"Okay I will show you."
Everyone sat silently while Dumbledore came down and took a memory, he then summoned a pensive and placed the memory inside.
"Sonorus" Dumbledore spoke projecting the memory to the whole chamber. The events played out exactly how Sirius told them getting some gasps from the chamber when Peter Cut of his own finger and killed all the muggles. Once the memory ended Sirius looked around to see that quite a few people looked as if they were crying. Remus being one of them.
"This is prof ladies and gentlemen of the wizengamot. Sirius Black is an innocent man condemned to life in prison with out a trial. He is one of the lucky one who managed to escape that sentence." He now looked straight at Sirius "To compensate we will give you 10,000 galleons for every year spent in Azkaban making a total of 30,000 galleons sorry we couldn't do more but that is out law. Sirius you are now a free man. Auror Shacklebolt will lead you out to get you some cloths and then you will go to St mungo's to have a full health check-up. Court dismissed"
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