WORLDS AWAY

Hi again everyone! Here's another chapter. I hope you like it!

On another note, I've been super busy lately, so I honestly don't remember if I replied to your reviews. If it slipped my mind, I'm really sorry, and I can't tell you all how much your reviews mean to me!

Anyways, on with the chapter!

Oops, forgot to do this in the last chapter: I still do not own Harry Potter no matter how many wishbones, stars, or 11:11's I wish on.

Two men approached me on either side and led me through the many halls that formed the labyrinth that was Azkaban prison. They were to bring me to wherever it was I needed to go in order to be discharged and make my way out of this horrible place, but I had other plans.

They led me down one long hall, and I immediately recognized it as where my old cell had been. I had spent such a long time there, or at least it had seemed like a long time then. My mind wandered back to the sleepless nights and painful days spent there. It had been less than a week since I had left, but it seemed a world away now. I shuttered and tried to refocus my mind on what I had to do.

Once we reached the end of the hall, we were meant by a woman in very official-looking robes. Her blond hair was wound in a firm bun. Her pale skin was entirely too covered with heavy makeup, and she held a clipboard tightly to her chest.

"We have Lupin here," one of the men said with a deep voice.

"Very well," the woman replied, removing a pencil from behind her ear and marking something down on the clipboard. "Now Mr. Lupin, as an innocent man, you will not be placed on parole upon your discharge from prison. You will be given your wand and you then may go on your way," she continued, not looking up from her clipboard. "Take him to Marty," she instructed, "he'll return you your wand and tell you what to do from there."

The two men nodded and led me down yet another series of hallways and down several levels of the prison. We finally made it to the bottom level and were met by a thin man with wispy orange hair. His pale face and glazed eyes made him appear sickly, and I knew that he must never leave the depths of the prison. He was blind, and he made his way toward us by running his hands along the stone wall, making him seem all the more pitiful.

"We're here for Lupin's wand," one of the men said.

The blind man, who I assumed must have been the Marty to whom the woman had referred, nodded and silently made his way to what looked to be a cage at the end of the hall. He unlocked it and disappeared into its depths. We waited in the chilled chamber for several moments, and all I could hear was the light rustling of Marty searching for my wand in the blackness. He returned a few moments later, my wand clutched in his bony fingers.

He slowly made his way to us. He stopped just short of me and wordlessly held out my wand. I looked to one of the large men on my side. He nodded, instructing me to take it. I reached out my hand, a familiar warmth coursing through my body as I made contact with the smooth hazel wood.

"Thanks, Marty," one of the men said before turning and leading me back up the stairs. We made our way up the many levels of the prison, and I knew that they were leading me out. I stopped in my tracks. I needed to do something before I left.

The men, noticing my hesitation turned back to me. "This way," they urged, pushing me along.

"Wait," I told them. "I want to talk to Sirius Black."

The men looked to each other uncomfortably. "We can't do that," the other one replied. "As an extremely dangerous prisoner, he's not allowed visitors."

"I want to talk to him," I persisted.

"It's not possible," the first man countered. "Besides, no good can come out of talking to him. He tried to kill you, did he not?"

"I still want to see him," I argued. "Either you two can take me to him, or I'll reveal exactly how an innocent man was treated while I was here, and that won't speak well for either of you or your jobs."

That seemed to have gotten through to them, for they glanced at each other once again with frightened stares before one of them gave in, "Fine," he allowed. "This way."

They led me back to my old hall, stopping in front of what appeared to be a solid wall. One of them tapped the stones firmly with his wand, and a door was carved in the center of the wall. It opened itself, revealing the sight of a crumpled man huddled in the corner of his cell. Bars formed between me and the tiny room, and Sirius stood up.

He looked paler, sicker. His eyes had lost their former clarity, and deep, dark circles had formed underneath them. I could make out every one of his bones beneath his skin, from the protruding cheekbones to the skeletal fingers. This was a very different man than the one I had known just a few weeks ago. I nearly cringed. He gazed at me with a blank expression. The joking, fun-loving man I had been friends with was now a mere ghost upon his face.

"You have five minutes," one of the guards told me before they both left us alone.

Sirius stared at me silently, taking in my appearance. "You shouldn't have come back," he told me, and there was a hint of familiar sarcasm in his grim voice.

"I wanted to talk to you," I replied. "Sirius, I'm so sorry you had to do what you did."

"It's not your fault," he waved me off. "I'm just glad it got you out."

I sighed, "It shouldn't have come to that," I started angrily. "You shouldn't have had to lie and risk your own neck to save mine."

Sirius laughed, and it was first time I could see the glimpse of the Marauder in his eyes. "Moony, I'd seen what prison had done to you," he acknowledged lightly, "and trust me, it wasn't a pretty picture." I allowed myself a small chuckle. "Just promise me something," Sirius began, this time taking on a more serious tone.

"Anything," I answered.

"Promise me that you won't do anything stupid," he requested. "I didn't get you out of prison only to have you get yourself thrown back in here."

I laughed, half-thinking that he was still joking. He stared back at me with unwavering eyes.

"Sirius," I started, "I'm not just going to leave you to rot in here!" I felt helpless, like everything was suddenly out of my control. I'd felt it that day during the trial, and I was feeling it again now. Sirius was preventing me from helping him just so that I could be free and continue on with my life. He'd already sacrifice his life and reputation in order to give me a chance, and I was not about to let that favor go unpaid.

Sirius laughed under his breath, "I'll be fine," he assured. "I broke out once; I can figure something out. Besides," he continued, prompted by my look of uncertainty, "if you want the truth, these guards aren't so tough. You get inside their heads enough and you can have 'em crawling over in the corner huddled like a baby," he finished with a chuckle.

I could feel an involuntary laugh escape my mouth, and I gave a hesitant glance to the two prison guards. Once I was sure that they hadn't heard Sirius' comment, I turned back to him.

"I promise that I'll do whatever I can to help you get out of here," I told him eagerly.

Sirius sighed. "Just don't do anything stupid."

I shot him a look of feigned hurt. "Have you ever known me to do something stupid?" I joked.

"You've had your moments," Sirius allowed.

Just then, one of the guards came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. "Time's up," he announced, tapping his wand on the stone wall.

The stone's started to move back into their positions, covering Sirius' cell.

"Remember, nothing stupid," Sirius urged eagerly as the final stones blocked his face.

I stared back at the wall, at the place where my best friend had once been. He was gone now, and while there was only stone separating us, I felt like we were now worlds away, as if our entire conversation had happened in a dream.

I sighed. "Right, nothing stupid," I repeated under my breath as the guards led me from the prison and out into the afternoon sun.