By: Sailoranime
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. The first part of the script, you'll recognize it, is directly from the 3rd book, Harry potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
AN: Chapter 2, as promised. I've finally updated Dwelling too, so no complaining about that! ^_^ Er.. as always, notes at the bottom. Oh, one last thing, this is not slash. At all. I do not write slash, I do not even read it unless it's subtle and only in a good story. That rule stand on all slash, except for Sirius/Harry slash. I will never, ever read Harry/Sirius slash. I don't like it. It just seems wrong for me, and the best writer in the world could not make it work for me. Not even J.K. who is the creator of HP would be able to pull it off and make it work for me.
That is my opinion, and I must ask you to respect it and not get offended by it. I could care less about anyone's sexual orientation. I'm not homophobic or anything. I simply believe that the HP characters are straight and should be kept the way they were written. Let me put it this way: I hate Harry/Sirius slash more than I hate Mary-sues and stories where Sirius finds a girl. It just doesn't seem like something that would happen. I believe Sirius is just one of those characters that don't have romantic attachments. He's not in the books to find a wife or anything, he's there to help Harry and be a parental figure. I tend to find Sirius/Remus slash better than Sirius/Original Character romance stories. Any pairings that I may write into the story later will not include Sirius. Just a warning. If you're looking for slash or Sirius/anybody pairings, you won't find them here.
Now that I've scared away a few readers ^_^, let me state one last thing. I am tolerant. I will read stories the have pairings I don't like, including slash, as long as the story is very well written and I find it entertaining. This goes for everything, excluding Mary Sues and Harry/Sirius slash.
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Harry looked back at the werewolf and dog fighting at the edge of the forbidden forest. He was too preoccupied with Sirius that he didn't notice the 20 or so Dementors that were headed their way until Hermione gave a frightened shriek. He whirled around and looked at the cloaked figures in shock.
"Harry! Look!" Ron yelled. He could already feel the coldness seeping into his bones.
" Think happy thoughts and yell 'Expecto Patronum'!" Harry yelled. But Ron, already weakened from the effort of walking with his broken leg, fell to the ground. Hermione yelled "Expecto Patronum!" somewhere behind Harry, but only a weak shadow came out. The dementors were sorrounding them now, and closing in.
' Sirius is innocent. He was my dad's best friend. He'll tell me all about how my parents were good people, and it'll be like knowing them myself.'
" Expecto Patronum!" Harry yelled, but nothing came out. Happy memories were suddenly too scarce and not quite happy enough. More dementors were coming. He could hear his mother's screams starting now... " Expecto Patronum!" he yelled again, and a silvery shadow burst out, forming a sort of cloud-like a mist around the three. The dementors made to move it aside, and Harry's mind began getting clearer.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He yelled again, and something huge bursts out of the tip of his wand, it galloped around them making the dementors back up, driving them away. He fell to his knees and then face down, closing his eyes. It took a few minutes for him to regain conciousness. He hadn't actually looked where he'd collapsed, he'd been too exhausted. He could fell someone next to him on the grass. He took a deep breath and turned to look at Hermione or Ron, whichever it was. It was neither however. There, next to him, lay the dead Peter Pettigrew. His dead eyes staring straight at him, still wide open in shock; he was pale and cold. Harry gave a sharp gasp and stumbled up, hoping those eyes would stop staring at him.
He moved towards his friends, tripping over his own feet in exhaustion, and collapsed next to them, unconcious again.
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" He hates me, Sirius." Harry could hear muffled voices somewhere nearby. From the echoes and the atmosphere of the room, Harry could tell he was in the infirmary. He'd been there anought times to recognize it.
" He doesn't hate you, Remus. He'll be fine. He was just a little shocked. He knows Womrtail deserved it."
"He saw me kill him, Sirius. Do you remember how traumatizing it is the first time you see someone die?" Lupin's tone was pleading.
"He'll get over it," Sirius answered firmly.
" He..."
" Remus," Sirius began warningly.
" I know..." he sighed, " How... how'd the meeting with Dumbledore go?" He was trying hard to change the subject, and Harry suddenly felt guilty.
" Well, I'm still alive, aren't I?"
" He believed you?"
Harry desperately wished he could see if Sirius was nodding or shaking his head. He took a deep breath and started pulling himself up and moving more to the side to see what Sirius was doing. Thing was, he'd ran out of bed, so instead he fell to the floor with a thud. He heard two shairs being pushed out of the way as the two men stood and rushed over to him. He was sprawled on the floor, slowly rubbing his head, which he had somehow managed to hit on a table. Sirius bent over him and between the two men, they lifted him and put him back on the bed.
Madame Pomfrey came from out of nowhere, and tucked Harry in tightly, ushering Sirius and Lupin away. Sirius, however, refused to move further than the foot of Harry's bed.She took out a slab of chocolate and started carving out a piece.
"Don't know why you weren't with them, Mr. Black. It was fortunate Professor Snape came to... Could have been out there all night!"
" Is he going to be alright?" Sirius asked impatiently. Madame Pomfrey nodded.
"He'll be fine... Fudge has just given the order to remove the dementors from the grounds. Horrible beasts they are... I've had kids fainting left and right all year. As for this one, he should sleep some more." she said, and before he could protest, she forced him to drink the dreamless sleep potion. And after a few seconds, he drifted off again.
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" He's refusing a trial? But didn't he see Peter's body?" Harry thought it must be Lupin.
" It figures they would want to send me back to Azkaban without a trial again." Harry recognized this voice as Sirius.
" But...! The body! The finger. He didn't take it into consideration?" Harry struggled to open his eyes. They were obviously discussing Sirius's fate.
" I have spoken to Fudge. He wishes to interrogate Sirius with Veritaserum and in the company of three dementors for his own safety. Then he'll consider the trial. If Sirius manages to convince him, he'll set a date for a trial. If he doesn't, Sirius will be given the kiss after the interview." Dumbledore said softly, obviously not wanting Harry to hear in case he was awake. But he had heard. Fudge didn't want to clear Sirius.
" Well, what are we going to do, then? Wait and then make an appeal for a trial again?" Remus asked.
" No. I'm going to talk to Fudge." Sirius's voice was determined. At this, Harry sat up.
" You can't do that! He won't care! He'll order them to give you the Dementor's kiss without even interviewing you. It's a trap. He wouldn't believe you even if... if..." he gulped, " if Pettigrew was alive and confessed."
" Harry, go back to sleep." Sirius said softly. Harry shook his head. Madame Pomfrey rushed forward from her office, gave him a large piece of chocolate, and forced him back on his pillow, tucking the blankets around him. The other probably believed he was asleep because they resumed their conversation..
"Harry's right. I wouldn't be surprised if he just ordered them to swoop down on you as soon as you come in to the room." Lupin said, looking at Sirius.
" I will be in the office when he is interviewed. If Fudge should try anything, I'll stop him. It's still your choice, Sirius. I'll make sure Fudge hears you out, and I'll do my best to help you convince him, but in the end it's your soul on the balance..."
" If I don't do this... I might mever be cleared."
"Sirius, you can just hide until the ministry agrees to give you a trial."
" You want me to live as an outcast? To be on the run constantly?" Sirius shook his head, " No. The sooner we can convince Fudge, the better. I rather take a risk and be cleared than just... hide and still have the reputation of a villain."
Harry was about to say something, when something hit him in the head. He looked down and found a small piece of chocolate. But he had already finished all of his... he turned to the bed next to him. Hermione was rgiht there, motioning for him to stay quiet. He frowned.
" If that's what you want, I can't stop you Sirius. But think about it. Harry-"
" Harry will be fine, Remus." Sirius said firmly.
" Sirius. Do you remember what we discussed earlier? What about that? If Fudge doesn't believe you, you won't be able to-"
" They'll be using Veritaserum, Remus. Fudge will know I'm telling the truth. If the law is fair-"
"-it isn't always, Sirius. You've told me that yourself countless times-"
" Yes, but this time I have to hope it will be. If there is chance, however small, I have to take it. I can't just sit around waiting for the Ministry to come to their senses!"
Harry turned back to Hermione who had now finished her chocolate and was staring at the three men thoughtfully.
"Sirius, do you want to be given the Dementor's kiss? Because that's what's going to happen if you agree to meet Fudge. Do you want Harry to lose his godfather?"
" He just met me! To him I'm just his dead father's best friend. If anything happens to me, it won't matter! I'll just become someone who came in and out of his life. He doesn't need me, Remus. He has Lily's relatives. He has a family. If I don't get cleared, he'll never see me again, but I do, I can be a part of his life, however small. What we discussed earlier probably won't happen. He won't leave them. He's happy there."
" He's not as happy as you think, Sirius! Don't you remember what Lily's relatives were like? He's not happy there. They didn't even tell him he was wizard! He ran away from their house this year! Why would someone who was happy run away? And don't you dare say you're not important to him. In the last 24 hours that he has known about your innocence, he's grown attached to you. you heard him yourself. He doesn't want you to go! Did he sound like someone who wouldn't care what happened to you?"
Sirius was silent. He glanced at Harry, still thinking he was asleep. Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke.
" That only proves my point further, then, Remus. If Harry is as unhappy as you say, then it is my responsibility as his godfather to give him an option. And I can't do that if I'm on the run. Just this once, Remus, we're going to have to toss the pieces and see where they fall.
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AN: Okay, sorry about the cliffhanger, but I'm tired, sleepy, and I have school tomorrow. *sobs* So, did I over-do it too much? The emotions and stuff. Were they in character? Maybe it was just me, but I kind of kept thinking Sirius was too calm. Just a reminder: OotP NEVER, EVER happens here. As soon as I'm done with Dwelling and Blame, I will go into deep denial and go back to thinking J.K. hasn't released the fifth book and keep waiting for it.
Remember this chapter was written on a Coca-Cola induced sugar high. I couldn't even see my hands as I typed. ^_^ Which may have cause more typos that usual, which means there will be more that I didn't catch when I proofread this. Ah... well. Just a little reminder about Marauder Mayhem We are a guild on neopets.com under the account sailor_melody dedicated to the Marauders. Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.