CHAPTER SEVEN
A Kiss for your Friend
Sirius Black awoke on a Sunday morning in February of 1983 to realize that he had just completed a year of solidary confinement. Dementors crowded around outside of his tiny cell every day and night. Surely Sirius Black, as strong as he was, could not stand up to thirty Dementors feeding on his emotions twenty-four hours a day. It soon became apparent that this was no ordinary man. No matter how long the Dementors tried to feast off of the emotion that Black was feeling, he never seemed to have a happy thought come over him. He had closed his mind off and the dementors, being blind, just thought that this was a sign that Sirius Black was losing his mind.
The Warden would sometimes take a walk down to Sirius Black's cell and would walk away bewildered. Sirius Black still appeared to be completely sane and in full possession of his mind. So the Warden ordered more Dementors to take up station around the already heavily guarded prisoner. No matter what the Dementors did, they could not feast off of Sirius. They were becoming angry with the Warden, so the Warden had the Dementors guard Sirius in shifts, so that the Dementors wouldn't starve and go insane themselves from lack of food and energy.
It was a few months later that the Warden decided to give up punishing Sirius Black by keeping him in Solidary Confinement. He had Sirius return to cell 323, but shortened the rations that he recieved for breakfast and dinner. Sirius became one of the thinnest and sickest prisoners in Azkaban within a few short weeks. He was still not allowed to go out for Social Hour in the indoor Court Yards, but at least he got to see human inhabitants, no matter how mad they were, they were at least something to look at.
It was late one Saturday Night, when Sirius was about to doze off to sleep that the door to his cell opened with a loud clang. An official looking wizard came walking into his cell, and instantly Sirius was wide awake and aware. Maybe they had proved his innocence, but the look on this tired, and old Wizard's face did not show any signs of this hope of Sirius'. The wizard was brought a stool to sit in and upon being given the stool the door to the cell closed with another loud clang. The official looking wizard just stared at him for a few moments before finally saying, "Good Evening Mr. Black, I am Brandon Feazell and am with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am an Order of Merlin First Class, a Warlock of the--
"Can we just skip the pleasantries and get to the point," Interuppted Sirius, becoming annoyed.
"Oh," said Brandon, fear coming evident in his worn brown eyes, "Y- yes we'll skip to the point. Uh, I am here to ask you a question."
"So you're just here to ask me a question, eh?" Snarled Sirius.
"Yes I am just here for that I'm afraid." He said, his courage coming back to him.
"The Ministry is hearing rumors that You-Know-Who may still be alive. So if you'd be so kind as to tell us his whereabouts, your sentence could be reduced significantly."
"Well Mr. Feazell, I would tell you but if it wasn't for the simple fact that I have never been on Voldemort's good side we could negotiate. I have no clue where Voldemort is--
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME." Yelled Feazell, looking around fearfully.
"I can't help the Ministry, you're just going to have to go back to dreary old London and tell your boss, whoever he may be, that I don't know where he is and the fact that he may still be alive is NEWS to me."
Brandon didn't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that their little chat was over. He bowed curtly and the cell door opened. Once Feazell was out of the compartment, the cell door slammed shut again.
A few days later, during the middle of the night, Sirius was lying on the floor of his cell, thinking furiously. How could Voldemort still be alive? And if he was, what if Peter is still alive? Nah, Peter killed himself, I saw it with my own eyes, he thought to himself. But if he was...
He was nearly asleep, and when he did fall off to sleep it would be a first since the first night back from solidary confinement. But all of a sudden an alarm rang loudly over head. Some of the more insane prisoners began to scream horribly when the loud "Awooo" of the the alarm kept going and going. Sirius got up and crossed over to the barred entrance to his cell. He could see Marcus O'Dell looking at him.
"What's going on?!" he shouted to Marcus.
"There's a prisoner out of his cell that is trying to escape!" Marcus answered back over the alarm.
Men who he had never seen before began running through the hallways, Dementors gliding along after them. Those must be Aurors, he said to himself. The alarm continued to sound all throughout the castle. It was about half an hour later when the alarm finally shut off. There was a painful minute of dead silence following the shutting down of the alarm. After that one minute, the voice of the Warden boomed throughout the castle for all of the prisoners to hear.
"The Inmate has been caught. All prisoners are to be shuffled down to Court Yard number five tommorow at dawn for a demonstration. This demonstration will give you insight to the fate that awaits you when you are caught. Good Night Azkaban."
And with that the prison fell silent. It took a while for the insanity to return to the Maximum Security Wing and once it did, it was as if Sirius had never heard it before. He clamped his hands down tight on his ears trying desperatley to block out the screams and pleads that were resuming on his Wing. Someone is going to be kissed tommorow, he thought to himself, I wonder who it is. And with that one final thought, despite the screams and shouts of the prisoners, Sirius Black was able to fall to sleep.
Just as the Warden said they would the dawn brought the massive throng of the entire Prison Population to Court Yard Number Five. This was the biggest of the court yards and was able to house all of the prisoners with a lot of room to spare. There was a hastily prepared stage set at the Court Yard's front and upon this stage were two dangerous looking Aurors, their wands were out and at the ready. As the court yard became quiet with anticipation, the door at the back of the stage opened and out popped a third auror carrying a wooden chair. The auror set the chair down at the stage's middle and took up a position behind the chair.
A few moments later brought a Dementor gliding out from behind the door, and followed by....Vincent Matthews a friend of Sirius Black. No, how could this be, Sirius thought. Vincent was extremely pale and was shaking from head to foot. He was led to the auror standing behind the chair he had the full body bind curse placed on Vincent. The auror then proceeded to slam Vincent into the chair. Again the door behind the stage opened and the Warden walked on stage, looking extremely pleased, and carrying a rolled up piece of official looking parchment in his right hand. He stopped above the shaking Vincent and unrolled the parchement and read for all to hear:
VINCENT DAVID MATTHEWS You are hearby codemned by the Ministry of Magic and as well condemned by
the Warden of the fortress prison known as Azkaban
to suffer the final weapon and most deadly weapon of the Dementor:
The Dementors kiss.
The reason for this sentence can be found in your actions of last night
March 3, 1983
signed...blah...blah...blah, Minister of Magic
"Let's get this matter over with." Finished the Warden, now rolling the parchment back up. He nodded to the dementor that was hovering over the shaking Vincent. And with that the Dementor swooped down onto Vincent, and pulled the cloak away to reveal his face. Vincent let out of bellow of a scream before the scabby hands of the dementor grabbed his pale face and pulled it up to the dementor's. With a long, rattling breath, the dementor began to suck in. A silver vapor erupted from the mouth of Vincent Matthews, causing Vincent's eyes to nearly pop out their sockets.
Sirius turned away and felt as if he was going to vomit. When he gagged, but did not throw up, he looked back up and saw that the kiss had been performed. The dementor moved out of everyone's line of vision, as if letting everyone admire its handy work. Vincents eyes stared at some unseen object, unblinking, his mouth was open and his face was one of surprise.
The Warden stepped forward and said to the auror nearest Vincent, "Take this piece of shit to St. Mungo's." Then, turning back to face the prisoners he said in a loud voice, "Let this be a lesson to you all. This is the fate that awaits anyone who tries to escape. Good day then."
The prisoners took this as a sign to leave. One by one, the shocked prisoners filed back down their respected corridors, heading silently back to their cells. Marcus O'Dell, Jason Linder, and Sirius Black all returned to their cells, trying to hold back their emotions. While Marcus and Jason had to fight back tears, Sirius was having a hard time fighting off fits of laughter. This was the reason he was in Azkaban. If the muggles would not have seen him laughing into the crater where the bodies of Peter Pettigrew and thirteen other muggles were lying dead he may not have been sentenced to Azkaban after all. If he'd have been some one else, he would have taken this violent fit of laughter as a sign of insanity and would have thrown him in Azkaban just like the higher authority had done. But they didn't give him a trial, every man deserves a trial. He blamed Bartemous Crouch for that. But he also had to blame himself. I should've been the secret keeper, Sirius thought to himself, shortly after this last thought went through his head, Sirius Black drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
A Kiss for your Friend
Sirius Black awoke on a Sunday morning in February of 1983 to realize that he had just completed a year of solidary confinement. Dementors crowded around outside of his tiny cell every day and night. Surely Sirius Black, as strong as he was, could not stand up to thirty Dementors feeding on his emotions twenty-four hours a day. It soon became apparent that this was no ordinary man. No matter how long the Dementors tried to feast off of the emotion that Black was feeling, he never seemed to have a happy thought come over him. He had closed his mind off and the dementors, being blind, just thought that this was a sign that Sirius Black was losing his mind.
The Warden would sometimes take a walk down to Sirius Black's cell and would walk away bewildered. Sirius Black still appeared to be completely sane and in full possession of his mind. So the Warden ordered more Dementors to take up station around the already heavily guarded prisoner. No matter what the Dementors did, they could not feast off of Sirius. They were becoming angry with the Warden, so the Warden had the Dementors guard Sirius in shifts, so that the Dementors wouldn't starve and go insane themselves from lack of food and energy.
It was a few months later that the Warden decided to give up punishing Sirius Black by keeping him in Solidary Confinement. He had Sirius return to cell 323, but shortened the rations that he recieved for breakfast and dinner. Sirius became one of the thinnest and sickest prisoners in Azkaban within a few short weeks. He was still not allowed to go out for Social Hour in the indoor Court Yards, but at least he got to see human inhabitants, no matter how mad they were, they were at least something to look at.
It was late one Saturday Night, when Sirius was about to doze off to sleep that the door to his cell opened with a loud clang. An official looking wizard came walking into his cell, and instantly Sirius was wide awake and aware. Maybe they had proved his innocence, but the look on this tired, and old Wizard's face did not show any signs of this hope of Sirius'. The wizard was brought a stool to sit in and upon being given the stool the door to the cell closed with another loud clang. The official looking wizard just stared at him for a few moments before finally saying, "Good Evening Mr. Black, I am Brandon Feazell and am with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am an Order of Merlin First Class, a Warlock of the--
"Can we just skip the pleasantries and get to the point," Interuppted Sirius, becoming annoyed.
"Oh," said Brandon, fear coming evident in his worn brown eyes, "Y- yes we'll skip to the point. Uh, I am here to ask you a question."
"So you're just here to ask me a question, eh?" Snarled Sirius.
"Yes I am just here for that I'm afraid." He said, his courage coming back to him.
"The Ministry is hearing rumors that You-Know-Who may still be alive. So if you'd be so kind as to tell us his whereabouts, your sentence could be reduced significantly."
"Well Mr. Feazell, I would tell you but if it wasn't for the simple fact that I have never been on Voldemort's good side we could negotiate. I have no clue where Voldemort is--
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME." Yelled Feazell, looking around fearfully.
"I can't help the Ministry, you're just going to have to go back to dreary old London and tell your boss, whoever he may be, that I don't know where he is and the fact that he may still be alive is NEWS to me."
Brandon didn't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that their little chat was over. He bowed curtly and the cell door opened. Once Feazell was out of the compartment, the cell door slammed shut again.
A few days later, during the middle of the night, Sirius was lying on the floor of his cell, thinking furiously. How could Voldemort still be alive? And if he was, what if Peter is still alive? Nah, Peter killed himself, I saw it with my own eyes, he thought to himself. But if he was...
He was nearly asleep, and when he did fall off to sleep it would be a first since the first night back from solidary confinement. But all of a sudden an alarm rang loudly over head. Some of the more insane prisoners began to scream horribly when the loud "Awooo" of the the alarm kept going and going. Sirius got up and crossed over to the barred entrance to his cell. He could see Marcus O'Dell looking at him.
"What's going on?!" he shouted to Marcus.
"There's a prisoner out of his cell that is trying to escape!" Marcus answered back over the alarm.
Men who he had never seen before began running through the hallways, Dementors gliding along after them. Those must be Aurors, he said to himself. The alarm continued to sound all throughout the castle. It was about half an hour later when the alarm finally shut off. There was a painful minute of dead silence following the shutting down of the alarm. After that one minute, the voice of the Warden boomed throughout the castle for all of the prisoners to hear.
"The Inmate has been caught. All prisoners are to be shuffled down to Court Yard number five tommorow at dawn for a demonstration. This demonstration will give you insight to the fate that awaits you when you are caught. Good Night Azkaban."
And with that the prison fell silent. It took a while for the insanity to return to the Maximum Security Wing and once it did, it was as if Sirius had never heard it before. He clamped his hands down tight on his ears trying desperatley to block out the screams and pleads that were resuming on his Wing. Someone is going to be kissed tommorow, he thought to himself, I wonder who it is. And with that one final thought, despite the screams and shouts of the prisoners, Sirius Black was able to fall to sleep.
Just as the Warden said they would the dawn brought the massive throng of the entire Prison Population to Court Yard Number Five. This was the biggest of the court yards and was able to house all of the prisoners with a lot of room to spare. There was a hastily prepared stage set at the Court Yard's front and upon this stage were two dangerous looking Aurors, their wands were out and at the ready. As the court yard became quiet with anticipation, the door at the back of the stage opened and out popped a third auror carrying a wooden chair. The auror set the chair down at the stage's middle and took up a position behind the chair.
A few moments later brought a Dementor gliding out from behind the door, and followed by....Vincent Matthews a friend of Sirius Black. No, how could this be, Sirius thought. Vincent was extremely pale and was shaking from head to foot. He was led to the auror standing behind the chair he had the full body bind curse placed on Vincent. The auror then proceeded to slam Vincent into the chair. Again the door behind the stage opened and the Warden walked on stage, looking extremely pleased, and carrying a rolled up piece of official looking parchment in his right hand. He stopped above the shaking Vincent and unrolled the parchement and read for all to hear:
VINCENT DAVID MATTHEWS You are hearby codemned by the Ministry of Magic and as well condemned by
the Warden of the fortress prison known as Azkaban
to suffer the final weapon and most deadly weapon of the Dementor:
The Dementors kiss.
The reason for this sentence can be found in your actions of last night
March 3, 1983
signed...blah...blah...blah, Minister of Magic
"Let's get this matter over with." Finished the Warden, now rolling the parchment back up. He nodded to the dementor that was hovering over the shaking Vincent. And with that the Dementor swooped down onto Vincent, and pulled the cloak away to reveal his face. Vincent let out of bellow of a scream before the scabby hands of the dementor grabbed his pale face and pulled it up to the dementor's. With a long, rattling breath, the dementor began to suck in. A silver vapor erupted from the mouth of Vincent Matthews, causing Vincent's eyes to nearly pop out their sockets.
Sirius turned away and felt as if he was going to vomit. When he gagged, but did not throw up, he looked back up and saw that the kiss had been performed. The dementor moved out of everyone's line of vision, as if letting everyone admire its handy work. Vincents eyes stared at some unseen object, unblinking, his mouth was open and his face was one of surprise.
The Warden stepped forward and said to the auror nearest Vincent, "Take this piece of shit to St. Mungo's." Then, turning back to face the prisoners he said in a loud voice, "Let this be a lesson to you all. This is the fate that awaits anyone who tries to escape. Good day then."
The prisoners took this as a sign to leave. One by one, the shocked prisoners filed back down their respected corridors, heading silently back to their cells. Marcus O'Dell, Jason Linder, and Sirius Black all returned to their cells, trying to hold back their emotions. While Marcus and Jason had to fight back tears, Sirius was having a hard time fighting off fits of laughter. This was the reason he was in Azkaban. If the muggles would not have seen him laughing into the crater where the bodies of Peter Pettigrew and thirteen other muggles were lying dead he may not have been sentenced to Azkaban after all. If he'd have been some one else, he would have taken this violent fit of laughter as a sign of insanity and would have thrown him in Azkaban just like the higher authority had done. But they didn't give him a trial, every man deserves a trial. He blamed Bartemous Crouch for that. But he also had to blame himself. I should've been the secret keeper, Sirius thought to himself, shortly after this last thought went through his head, Sirius Black drifted off into an uneasy sleep.