((A/N: Whew! I know it's been a while, but I decided to type some more. (Obviously I'm bored) ^_- So, I know the other chapters were REALLY lame and too short. But I'm HOPING this one'll be better. *crosses fingers * And another thing- I'm PRETTY sure that Azkaban is in the ocean, right? I haven't read the books in sooooo long…I have to many stupid projects to do for school that I don't have much time for pleasure reading anymore…* sigh*))
Ill-Fated and Innocent
Chapter 3
Dark Journey
Sirius was vaguely aware of people dragging him around, pulling him here and there. He also heard voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He only knew that they were talking about him. Sirius's head was swimming. He fell in and out of consciousness. Sometimes he could see and hear things, but he couldn't make sense of them. Other times, everything was dark and blank.
He remembered being pulled into a sort of office. All the shades on the windows were down and there were about half a dozen Wizards from the Ministry of Magic guarding him.
"He is to go to Azkaban immediately."
The voice was strangely familiar…
"Sir, what about a trial?"
"Didn't you see what happened today?" the first voice asked, sounding alarmed and irritated. "He just slaughtered a street full of people and you want to give him a bloody trial? Get him out of my sight and away from sane people! He's a threat to us all, and a servant of You-Know-Who! Out!!"
Sirius understood none of this. His senses weren't together. He couldn't make out the words that sealed his fate.
He was again dragged around. He felt a change in temperature as the Ministry Wizards brought him outside into the cold. Then everything went black again. A minute or an hour later, Sirius began to hear voices again. But no there was a different sound- the lapping of water against the shore. Sirius realized that his arms and legs were magically bound and had been so for a while. He was thrown into what had to have been a boat. After a minute Sirius noticed they were moving.
It took another fifteen minutes before he began to fully regain consciousness. He moaned, opened his eyes and blinked. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and saw that he was indeed in a wooden boat. It was a small rowboat and there were only about four wizards in it besides him.
"Don't you try anything funny, now," said a voice. "We're in the middle of the ocean and if you jump, you'll drown, ya hear?" Sirius moved only his eyes to look up at the wizard who had spoken. He was a middle-aged man with brown hair. He held his wand in his hand tightly, now that Sirius was awake.
Sirius rolled himself over and, not without a great deal of trouble, sat up, his body still bound by magic. He looked around. It was night and all he could see was the boat, the other wizards and the black, forbidding ocean. It was cold. So cold Sirius could see his breath rise into the night. Unlike the Ministry Wizards, he didn't have a cloak on or a blanket or anything of the sort.
"For heaven's sake, John, take that magic off of him at least," said one of the wizards. "He has no wand and he's barely conscious enough to see. He won't do anything."
John looked at Sirius, hesitating. Then he reluctantly waved his wand, obviously not happy about giving the "murderer" any possibility of being comfortable. Sirius rubbed his arms and stretched thankfully. The circulation began to run properly again. ((A/N: Whoa! I suddenly got the idea that Josh Hartnett should play Sirius in the movie!!!! Jeez. Just out of the blue…)) He massaged his head and looked around again, not saying a word. He looked down at the black water lapping up against the boat and cringed. He hated water. ((A/N: That's just my own idea…)) He sure as hell wasn't going to jump. God knows what kinds of magical and horrific creatures were down there.
He sat on the floor of the boat, not looking at the other wizards, but down at his feet. He was still dazed a little. His head began to swim again and he felt as though he was going to pass out once more, but he managed to stay conscious. Sirius watched his breath rise into the night. The only reason he could see it was because of the lamp that hung from a post on the boat. So he sat there, thinking.
James was dead. Peter was dead. And Remus would know by now…. A wave of sickness swept over Sirius. Remus must think that he had killed them. That he had betrayed them. But no mater how many horrible thoughts plagued his mind, he couldn't keep his mind off of James. His friend. His brother. His buddy, Prongs, his amigo, his homie, ((A/N:* snicker*)) his partner-in-crime…dead. Killed for the soul fact that he was a descendant of someone special. Someone well known. How could someone kill like that, with no thought? No sympathy? For pleasure? How could someone simply be so horrible, so heartless, so cruel that they would just take a life, and by doing so destroying others, without a second thought? Sirius's mind trailed back to the good old days when that wasn't an issue. When he and James laughed and played jokes side-by-side.
"Voldemort…." He whispered bitterly. No one else heard him.
Another hour passed in silence. It was icy cold. The Ministry wizards huddled together and wrapped themselves up in cloaks and blankets, but still could not stop shivering. Sirius was shivering, but he realized it only at a subconscious level. He stared straight ahead, towards the left side of the boat and out towards the ocean. It was only when he realized that his hand was shaking violently that he tore his gaze away and huddled up.
The air was salty, and the night was cloudy. The moon's light was weak. Sirius wasn't sure how long they sat there, but the silence was deafening. He also wasn't sure of where they were going. If his senses had not been blurred, he would have been able to search the subconscious level of his mind and realized the answer…
Sirius blacked out again. When he woke up, he found himself in the gray dawn of the ocean. Most of the other wizards were asleep. Only two were awake. Sirius didn't say anything to them, and they didn't say anything to him. There was a silent, unspoken agreement between the guards and the captive; and that was their lack of conversation. ((A/N: ok, that didn't make sense…)) The morning was misty. The mist snaked up from the water and slowly vanished.
The day wore on and the mist was replaced by the burning sun and the sapphire blue ocean. The men conversed quietly amongst themselves while Sirius looked out at the water. Until now, the water had been calm and peaceful, but now it slapped up against the sides of the boat, causing it to rock back and fourth, up and down. It wasn't too bad, but it made the Wizards, guards and captive alike, uneasy. They rowed on for hours through he waves. By noon, the sea was calm again. Sirius fell asleep a few times here and there.
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Sirius was resting his chin on the edge of the boat when a noise was heard. It was like a deep hum. It was a haunting sound that caused all of the men in the boat to start, look around, and mutter to themselves. Sirius lifted his head and looked about. The noise came again, louder this time. Sirius said nothing, but continued to look around nervously. Then, to the right side of the boat, a large gray object rose from the water and a whale exhaled and took in a deep breath. It paused to look at the men in the boat curiously. Sirius stared at it. All six creatures watched each other for a moment, then the whale took another breath and disappeared beneath the velvety water.
Night came. The sunset was spectacular, but Sirius was not aware of it. He sat and listened to the water lapping up against the boat. All the men but one were asleep. This night was cloudy like the previous one, though not quite as much. The moon and the stars were occasionally visible from the tiny boat. The night, though, was just as cold as the last night. Sirius huddled up and fell asleep. He awoke again a little while later. The sounds of the whales were heard again. This time, Sirius sat and listened to them for a few hours. He did not see the whales, but their songs were unmistakable. This time they did not seem so haunting, but rather mysterious. Sirius could tell that there were at least three of them, somewhere far off, because when one whale stopped singing and another started, the pitch and style of the song would change. Sirius listened to their songs, until they lulled him to sleep once more.
He awoke to the sound of one of the men arousing the others.
"We're here," they said. "Wake up, come on." One by one, the men sat up and rubbed their eyes. They looked up at what lay before them. Sirius looked up too.
He had never seen it before, but he knew that, when the clouds moved away and he saw its figure rising up from the ocean, he knew where they had taken him. The huge stone building sat on a tiny, rocky island. It had few towers compared to the Hogwarts castle and it was not well kept. There was algae and moss growing on the walls. But it still gave the place a chilling forbidding aura around it.
Azkaban.
Sirius, who had been squatting down on the floor of the boat, gasped in horror and slowly fell back, now completely awake.
Azkaban.
He was going to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban.
((A/N: It seems as though I almost started to take after J.R.R Tolkien, who seems to enjoy telling about how the characters walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked…^_- That's the only thing I don't like about those books. Other than that, I love them. I'm glad J.K. Rowling doesn't do that. *Breathes a sigh of relief. * ^_- Anyway, hope u guyz liked it. The next chapter takes up inside Azkaban…( ooooo, ahhhhhh) ))
