A/N This first chapter is a bit lighter than what I have planned for future chapters, it can be considered as more of a prologue to the actual story, particularly the first small section lifted from Prisoner of Azkaban to set the scene. I hope you enjoy!
By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he saw a Dementor halt, very close to him. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.
"No — no —" Harry gasped. "He's innocent… expecto expecto patronum —"
He could feet them watching him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. The nearest Dementor seemed to be considering him. Then it raised both its rotting hands — and lowered its hood.
Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth… a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.
A paralyzing terror filled Harry so that he couldn't move or speak. His Patronus flickered and died.
Harry knew he had to fight, he couldn't see, screaming filled his head as a pair of cold dead hands grasped his throat. Screaming; The last words of his mother, he knew they would be the last thing he ever heard.
Pain, deep scorching pain filled his mind, the sound of his mother's screams tossed aside as his own howled into the sky. He knew this couldn't be right, he saw the dementor try to kiss Sirius, it shouldn't hurt, he shouldn't be able to scream, but he did.
An explosion ripped through the clearing as darkness, pure unending darkness filled Harry's vision, sweeping away the grey of night as he lost consciousness.
The deafening roar of an explosion filled Sirius' ears as he was knocked a few feet from Harry, rolling along the uneven earth. Crawling to his hands and knees he looked over to Harry, dread filling his stomach as he did. He had no idea what that explosion was, but he knew it's source.
Crawling, even as he bled from wounds his old friend gave him, he made his way to Harry. "Harry…no…HARRY!" His voice, hoarse from years of unuse, worsened by the events of that night tore from his throat as he crawled like a madman to his godson's side. All the while tossing glances at the shadowy figures above them, the dementor's attacks had stopped, clearly hesitant after whatever had happened with his godson.
He reached the boy, small, scrawny for his age. Sirius' heart tore at the sight, blood covered the young boy's face, leaking from that strange lightning bolt scar, less like a scar now than a raw and bloody wound on his forehead. Checking, he found Hermione, thankfully closer to the boy than he had been, pulling her close beside him. He had to keep the children safe.
"He must be stopped Headmaster! He is a madman! He must have the Potter brat under some kind of enchantment! The boy had the nerve to raise his wand at me!" The voice of Severus Snape called out, calling a low growl from Sirius, James should never have saved that slimeball of a man.
"Now now Severus, we must fallow the proper procedures. We will find Harry and detain Sirius for questioning." Sirius perked up. If Dumbledore was here all was not lost. He stayed crouched over Harry, he had to protect his godson, and putting himself between him and the dementors was the best option he had.
"I'm inclined to agree with Severus I'm afraid Albus, I signed the kiss-on-sight order myself. Black is a menace and must be removed! Now hurry! Before he can harm Mr Potter." Fudge. The pot-bellied bowler hat wearing Minister for Magic, possibly the last man Sirius wanted to hear.
A light moved from between trees as Dumbledore lead the way through. Sirius couldn't make out their faces, the light obscuring their features, but he would recognise the odd knobbly wand as Dumbledore's any day.
"Dumbledore! Harry's hurt! I surrender, please, take me for questioning but please, get Harry to Poppy!" Still his voice was hoarse, but he knew it reached them as Dumbledore picked up pace through the trees, reaching the clearing by the lake.
"Black!" The twin cries of Severus Snape and Cornelius Fudge filled the night as they both darted towards him. Before Sirius had the chance to speak or even surrender magical ropes sprang from the potion master's wand, binding his mouth, his arms, and even his legs. He barely heard Dumbledore's objections as the Minister for Magic's words rang out. "It's Black! Kiss him! KISS HIM NOW!" prompting the dementor's, still hesitating after the strange explosion to swoop, knocking him on his back.
His vision narrowed as a deep cold penetrated his bones. Memories of his childhood, his mother, the insane witch that haunted the halls of Grimmauld place berating him, cursing him. He had but one wish, to save Harry. To be there for the boy who had no-one to rely on. A small shudder wracking his body as he tried to fight back, but he knew it was hopeless.
A stirring, a delusion in his last moments of existence. Harry sitting up wand lifted in trembling hands.
"Expecto Patronum." A whisper in the night. Light filled exploded from the point of the boy's wand, wiping away the shadows of night. Smiling to himself at the thought of such a nice delusion, of Harry waking and saving him, he let himself shut his eyes, and go.
Harry was in pain, he felt as though every muscle in his body had been torn apart, a ringing in his ear distracted from the sound of voices arguing in the distance. He began to shift, trying to sit up in what he recognised as one of Hogwarts' hospital wing beds. "One of these days I'll last a school year without visiting…" His voice was weak and sounded…off, rougher, deeper almost.
"Mr Potter! Kindly stay lying down." A stern voice called out to him, he recognised it as none other than Madam Pomfrey, Hogwarts' resident healer, and possibly the second most intimidating woman he ever met, after Professor McGonagall. With a sigh he gave up his attempts to sit up, simply opening his eyes to the familiar view.
"Sorry Madam Pomfrey, I thought you might have been missing me." He joked, wincing at pain as he let out a small laugh, to which the healer let out a small chuckle. "Serves you right Mr Potter, joking at a time like this. When Dumbledore brought you in, I thought for sure you'd died! Covered in blood, magically exhausted, hundreds of muscle lacerations! What on earth have you been doing?"
With a crooked smile up at the distressed matron he offered "Oh, the usual, fighting for justice, saving lives…" Madam Pomfrey seemed to puff up, ready to berate him further when an aged hand came to rest on her shoulder. "I think it's best we let him rest for now. I'll be sure to press upon him the serious nature of his reckless behaviour." Harry recognised the voice even before the headmaster approached his bedside.
"Professor Dumbledore, Sirius is –" A hand was raised, stopping Harry's words in their tracks. "I am aware, and he is currently in my custody. Your good friend Miss Hermione Granger did you the service of pleading on your behalf, and with the Minister so… preoccupied with other matters, he was unable to put up much argument. She made the most of the time she had, and certain elements have come to light that should strengthen Sirius' case." Harry could have sworn the man's eyes twinkled at the word time, but he was too busy reeling from the information. He had nearly watched his Godfather die, had nearly died himself for the third year in a row.
"I think it's best to rest. You can speak to your friends in the morning, they will fill you in. For now, sleep. You have been through quite the ordeal." There was something pulling on Dumbledore's expression, a look of concern passed the old Headmaster's face as he seemed to glance to Harry's scar. "Well, goodnight my boy." With that he left. Madam Pomfrey soon returned to force a minty potion down his throat, a sleeping potion he guessed as he drifted off, too tired to worry about the night he'd had.
A/N Thank you everyone that reads this, this is just a little idea I've had brewing in my head for a bit and wanted to give a better shot at. Any reviews are appreciated, even ones insulting me. I have a rough idea where I want this to go, no plans on pairings yet but I'm sure it won't be Hinny, never really liked the idea of dating a girl that looks like your mum.
I'm not a professional author, I haven't studied English outside of high school, so kindly don't expect the best of the best when it comes to Grammar or Sentence structure, I simply do not have those skills yet.