AN: Written for:
- Are you crazy enough to do it Challenge, prompt 124. (character) Sirius Black

- The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Assignement #5
Name: Liz Jean Tonks
House: Gryffindor
Subject/Task No.: Assignment #3, Defense Against the Dark Arts Task 3: Set a fic in Azkaban/prison
Word Count: 370
Summary: Sirius is in Azkaban and desperately waits for his release.

Thanks a lot to Mason, my wonderful beta :)

Sirius Black was waiting. He didn't even know what he was waiting for; he no longer desired or hoped to get released one day. He was merely wanting one thing: Change. He wanted his cell door to open, to have anyone coming in, even if it was a dementor; he could no longer stand the loneliness and the fear the prison was hiding. His head was aching, but he barely realised it; his heart was demanding to be set free.

It was cold and dark in the cell, and now it turned even colder and darker. A dementor was coming - closer and closer, until he had reached Sirius' cell.

Sirius crawled to a corner of the cell, pulling in on himself, trying to conceal himself from the dementor's powers. He did not want to lose the remaining feelings and memories; he tried to keep them to himself, tried to stop the dementor from sucking them all out.

He was struggling. Everything came back to him - his mother, shouting at him that he was a disgrace to the family. His father who threw him out of the house. James and Lily, lying on the floor, dead.

"I'm innocent," he croaked to himself, "I'm innocent, I know it – it's not my fault, not my fault..."

His face was contorted. He was struggling on the floor. The dementor came closer and closer. More and more dark memories appeared in front of Sirius' inner eye. He felt sick. He wanted to get away, wanted someone to take him away from here – but he knew no one was going to come.

"Why would they," someone whispered to him in his mind, – "your friends – they think you betrayed them – they hate you – despise you – your brother – hated you – your parents wish you'd never been born – they favoured Regulus – no one liked you – no one misses you – no one. No one."

Sirius cried and screamed in agony; the thought was too painful to bear. Finally, he could hear the dementor gliding away; he was still lying on the floor for a very long time.

"Help," he croaked. "Help me – I'm innocent."