Sirius gave a mirthless, hollow laugh after he finished reading the article. He had to admit, he was quite proud of himself. Those wretches who sent him to Azkaban without a trial were completely clueless. Now, he would go down in history as the first person to ever break out of Azkaban Prison. Not exactly what he had in mind when he said he would be famous for something someday, but whatever. At least he was out of that horrible place, hopefully for good. Once he captured that treacherous, double-crossing rat Peter Pettigrew, his name would be cleared. Then he could finally have the chance to get to know his godson.

Harry…they thought that he was after Harry. How could they possibly think that? He wanted to save Harry. Of course, he had absolutely no way of telling them that they were wrong. For one thing, the second he allowed himself to be seen, they would throw him behind bars again, back to those horrible dementors. Also, who would believe him if he told anything? He was Sirius Black, "mad mass murderer and servant of Lord Voldemort." Right. Sirius had never even met Voldemort in person. That would be Peter. It was Peter who committed those murders twelve years ago… Peter whom everyone else believed to be dead…Peter who was the reason he, Sirius, an innocent man, had spent twelve years in the most horrible place on Earth…Peter who sold James and Lily to Voldemort...

"I'll kill him!" Sirius hissed to himself. Tears of fury, frustration, and unimaginable guilt made his eyes sting. He would never forgive himself for suggesting to James and Lily that they use Peter as Secret Keeper instead of him. How could he have been so stupid? So oblivious? Now, because of him, they were dead. Little Harry was an orphan. He was at the top of the Ministry's Most Wanted list. Remus…what ever happened to him?

Sirius felt an ice cold feeling in the pit of his stomach as yet another overwhelming wave of guilt consumed him at the thought of the werewolf. Was Remus even still alive? Sirius had no idea. He thought about the last time he had seen his friend. Sirius and Remus had been at the Potters, saying goodbye before they went into hiding. Peter had been absent, probably off prancing in a field of daisies with Voldemort. Sirius remembered the way that the firelight had reflected the premature gray in Remus' shoulder length light brown hair. He had tried to remain cheerful, yet his warm gray eyes swam with genuine, heartfelt tears. This man could not have been more innocent. Sirius cursed himself. How could he have suspected Remus of being the spy? Was it because he was a werewolf? Had he really been that judgmental? When had Remus ever given him a reason to believe he was untrustworthy? Never. He had always been completely honest and caring. He had even helped Sirius raise money to buy his beloved motorcycle. Sirius gave a small laugh, remembering all the odd jobs he put James and Remus through. They had pretended to be so mad at him…of course all three of them knew they had a great time.

Sirius felt a special bond between himself and Remus that he didn't have with the others, not even James. Perhaps it was because they were so completely opposite. Sirius was always the one getting into trouble. Remus was always the one getting him out of trouble. Sirius would be loud and obnoxious and often times, a bit disrespectful. Remus was always quiet, polite, and more than usual very shy. Sirius would pull countless pranks on whomever he so pleased. Remus would think up the pranks for Sirius to pull. Sirius came from one of the noblest and oldest families of purebloods. Remus was from a half blooded, lower middle class family. Sirius' parents had forbidden him from associating with someone like him. Of course, Sirius never got around to telling his parents about Remus' little werewolf problem. That would have been even worse. Not only a half blood, but a half-breed as well. That probably would have given his mother a stroke.

So, this was his life. He was on the run from…everyone. The Ministry of Magic was out to get him. They had surely alerted the public by now, therefore every witch and wizard alive would be out to get him. He wouldn't be surprised if Fudge had even alerted the Muggle Prime Minister as well. Stupid git. So now Muggles were out to get him as well. He remembered making stupid comments to James and Remus about how everyone wanted him, either teachers for detentions, girls for dates, or guys for tips on how to get dates. What a joke. Sirius now felt disgusted at himself for being so bloody arrogant and cocky. Back then, he thought he was just about the coolest thing since flying broomsticks. More handsome than…well, he thought none compared to him. How completely shallow he had been! Fat lot of good his charming looks and confident personality had done him. Because of him, two of his best friends were dead, his godson was an orphan, his other best friend was either dead or completely miserable, and a murderous, lying traitor was living life contentedly as a stupid pet rat. He pitied the family that took care of him. Weasley…he had met them before. They were distantly related. Being a pureblood, he was probably related to half the wizards in the country. Sirius shuddered, repulsed by thoughts of his family. No, his relatives. His family was James, Lily, Harry, Remus. Of course James and Lily were dead and Harry and Remus (if he wasn't dead) thought that he was a blood thirsty, back stabbing murderer.

Sirius was beginning to grow tired of this seemingly endless pity party he was hosting for himself. He would never reach Hogwarts at this rate. He had to keep going. He had to stop thinking about how pathetic his own life was and stay focused on why he had broken out of Azkaban in the first place. To kill that wretched, lower than dirt, sneaky, slimy little rat! Thinking about how sweet revenge would be, a sort of fire coursed though his body, and he felt his powers strengthen. Seconds later, the man Sirius Black disappeared. A huge, black, bear-like dog, Padfoot, sat in his place. Thank you Moony. He thought.Had Remus not been a werewolf, Sirius would not be an Animagus, and an unregistered one at that. No one knew, except for Remus and that stupid rat. His disguise was perfect. He would stop at the nearest town and see if he could win a few scraps for dinner. Then, continue his journey to Hogwarts.