Summery: Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban when Harry was five years old. They lived hidden from the wizarding world. Now Harry is fifteen.

On the Run

Chapter Nine

Sirius Black Innocent of Murders!

Peter Pettigrew, who was captured last night, confessed to having committed the crimes, Sirius Black was charged and sentenced to Azkaban for.

Sirius Black was believed to be the secret keeper of the Potter family. But in fact, it was Peter Pettigrew.

Black was accused of murdering Peter Pettigrew along with thirteen Muggles on a street in London. Peter Pettigrew has admitted to framing Mr. Black for these crimes.

The only crime Sirius Black is currently wanted for is the kidnapping of Harry Potter.

After his escape from Azkaban, four years after imprisonment, he kidnapped Harry Potter from his relative's home in Surrey, England…

Peter Pettigrew Captured, ALIVE!

Peter Pettigrew was captured last night by a Hogwarts professor. Pettigrew, who has been believed to be dead for the past fourteen years, has confessed to being the Potter family's secret keeper, and giving their location to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Furthermore, during the questioning, he admitted to having killed those thirteen Muggles, and framing Sirius Black for both crimes….

(Story continues pages B-3-9,E-5, D-7)

Both articles continued for most of the morning paper, along with many photographs.

Harry's voice brought Sirius out of his thoughts.

"Is this real?" Harry asked as he stepped closer to look at the paper again. "Do you think it's a hoax or what?"

Sirius sighed. "I don't know, Kiddo. Seems real enough. There's even a photo of Peter." Sirius pointed to a photo taken of Peter being taken into Ministry custody.

"What do we do?" Harry asked looking at the photograph.

Sirius sighed. He was still in shock from waking up and seeing a Wizarding newspaper that was saying he was innocent of the murders, and that Peter had been found.

"I don't know, Kiddo." Sirius put the paper down on the counter. "Harry, can you go to the convenient store and pick up some news papers?"

"Sure."

"Take the cell phone!" Sirius reminded Harry.

"I have it."

Sirius watched as Harry left the house, then turned back to the news paper.

Is this real? Sirius thought still stunned. What now? If I got back, will I be arrested? Yes, regardless, I'm still guilty of kidnapping, no matter the reasons. What will happen to Harry if I get arrested? Will he be sent back to his relatives?

Sirius spent the next fifteen minutes formulating a plan. He wasn't going to risk Harry for anything. But maybe, if he did turn himself in, he'd be able to legally get custody of Harry. Especially explaining how he'd found Harry. He would consent to the use of a pensive on himself. But he wouldn't allow them to talk to Harry about it. Harry didn't need to be forced to remember his life there.

Harry arrived back with a stack of papers in his arms. He placed them on the counter next to the Wizarding news paper.

"It's in all of them." Harry said as Sirius began to look through them.

"Its front page news on all of them." Sirius said stunned. He didn't think it would be big news in America.

"What are we going to do?"

Sirius sighed. "Let's talk in the living room." Sirius led Harry into the living room. He always preferred to have discussions in comfortable rooms. Sitting down he sighed again. This changed a lot. If he turned himself in, then where would that leave Harry? If they decided to leave things as they were then their names and pictures were all over and they'd likely be recognized.

"Well, we have two options." Sirius began. "I can turn myself in. But, I'm still guilty of kidnapping. I can explain how the Dursley's treated you, and I would agree to the use of a pensive. But I will not allow them to talk with you about the Dursleys. Even at that, they may not believe me. So we still risk my getting arrested." Sirius put his hand up to stop Harry from interrupting. "Our second option is to ignore it, and continue as things are now. But, with that, we risk being recognized more so now because our names and pictures are in the paper all over."

"Why won't you let me talk to the Aurors if you turn yourself in? It could clear everything up."

Sirius shook his head. "Not really, Harry. They might just think I had placed those thoughts in your head, considering how young you were. And furthermore, I don't want them questioning you."

"But if it could help…" Harry began but Sirius again stopped him.

"It may not help. And I don't want to risk your going back to your relatives. So if I do turn myself in, your staying here until I can work some kind of deal to know your safe." Sirius paused to let Harry digest the information. "Our other option is to ignore it. But, we could easily be recognized."

Harry stayed quiet for several minutes. Sirius waited patiently for him to voice his thoughts. "How long would it take for you to clear things up? Is it certain you'd go back to Azkaban?"

"I don't know if I'd go back to Azkaban. It could go either way right now. It depends on weather or not they believe me. And it could take a few days to a week to make sure you didn't go to the Dursleys."

Harry hesitated for a moment. "Do you think I'd have to go back there?"

"I don't know, Harry. But I'll do my best to make sure you don't."

Harry still remembered living with the Dursleys. They had never been kind to him. Sirius had learned, from Harry, that they had boarded abuse until Harry was almost four. Harry never went largely into detail about their treatment of him, though. Sirius knew his time with his relatives still affected him in many ways. But for the most part, he'd moved past it. He still would wake up in the middle of the night with nightmares.

"I don't want you to get into trouble though." Harry said, breaking Sirius from his thoughts. "Maybe, if they could get some memories from me of living with them, they'd understand."

Sirius shook his head. "I won't allow them to do that. You can forget even thinking about it."

"What should we do?" Harry asked after a moment.

End of Chapter Nine

A/N: Sorry to leave you all on a cliffey. I couldn't continue it with their conversation. So the next chapter begins with the decision Harry and Sirius made. I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Thank you for reading! Please read and review!