Author's Notes:
Hi everyone! I know this is a short chapter but I wanted to upload something a little lighthearted considering everything that's been going on in the world. I'm currently home for two weeks while my state is shut down. No work, no internship, no classes...It's so fun guys *Sarcasm*.
Smallwjl: I'm going to utilize this time for prep as well! And writing lol. Midnitewanderer: I have some plans for Malfoy so he isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I really struggled with whether to set Sirius free or not. I'm really trying to imagine how these small changes would have affected the HP timeline. But I do think that McG will me a grandmother sub. I'm a big fan of that line of fic as well!
Anyway! Look forward to another chapter Thursday (hopefully!) I'm not sure how much of Harry's childhood you'll see. I'm anxious to get into the Hogwarts years!
Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Threats and Laughs
Sirius stood in the entrance way to Azkaban prison as he waited for James or Remus to arrive to take him home. He still couldn't believe that he was found not guilty on all charges; felt like there had been some sort of mistake. It had been an extremely close call. If even one more person had decided to vote the other way, he would still be rotting away in Azkaban with a life sentence.
The door to Azkaban opened with a bang causing Sirius to jump and look up at the person who had entered the building.
A man that Sirius didn't recognize sneered at him, his blond hair pulled back out of his face and his body clad in a tight and sleek designer robe. The man looked Sirius up and down before walking purposefully about the room while looking down at his fingertips, an air of superiority about him. "I wouldn't get too comfortable with your excursion into the outside world," the man spoke to the empty air about him but it was obvious who he was speaking to, "As soon as I can find the evidence, you will return here in Pettigrew's place. He is necessary to our plans."
Sirius' brow furrowed as he watched Lucius roam about the room, "'Your plans'?"
The man stopped and turned on his heel to face Sirius, looking him in the eye, "Our plans. You're fooling yourself if you think the Dark Lord will never return. And from my understanding, Pettigrew is vital to those plans. I can't have him rotting away in Azkaban, now can I? I will be watching and I will be looking for the flaws, looking for anything that will show you were the spy amongst the Order."
"Right. You won't find any. You seem to know exactly what happened that evening, though. So, I'll ask you once: who the fuck are you?" Sirius spat at the man as the anger rose in him, his fist clenched.
The man looked at Sirius, his cold grey eyes taking him in as he contemplated his response, "I think," he began slowly, "that that question is better left unanswered. But rest assured, you will hear of me, and you will meet me again. We run in the same circles, you and I, Lord Sirius Orion Black. You may be from the ancient and noble house of Black, but be sure, my word goes farther within the Ministry than you would want it to."
Sirius continued to stare at the man, confusion written across his face. Neither man wanted to be the one who broke eye contact; it was an assertion of dominance. Sirius' smoky eyes bore into the quartz eyes until the door to the room burst open again. This time two men ran over the threshold and tackled Sirius, forcing him to break contact with the man before him.
Sirius hit the ground hard with James and Remus on top of him engulfing him in bear hugs and head ruffles. He could feel the joy and excitement radiating off of the both of them. He struggled to move his head so that he could get his eyes on the man again but he wasn't there any longer. The man had left just as quickly as he had come. But who was he? He pushed these thoughts out of his mind for now and focused instead on his friends before him.
"I can't thank both you enough for getting me out of here. Thank you!" Sirius said as he hugged both men.
James pulled back and looked Sirius in the eye, "What was I supposed to do? Let you rot in here for something you didn't do? No way."
"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. Or for you guys to visit. I hadn't had any visitors since I've been in this place," Sirius responded.
Sirius looked at Remus whose head was down, his eyes averted, "What is it, Moony?"
Remus continued to look away from Sirius as he ran his fingers through his golden-brown hair. Sirius noted that some silver patches had begun appearing there. Sirius thought that made Remus look quite distinguished.
"You can talk to me, Remus. What's up?" Sirius pressed.
Remus' hand stopped halfway through running his fingers through his hair again as he let out a deep breath and said, "I just…I'm so ashamed, Padfoot. These last two years…I've let you sit here, by yourself, while I believed—I believed all of the lies the Ministry was feeding the public about you. I'm your friend. I should have just—I should have known you wouldn't do that, that you weren't the spy. I'm so sorry, Sirius."
Sirius' eyes softened as he heard Remus' words, "Remus, I don't blame you. We purposefully kept the information from you because we felt that the less people who knew the less likely it would be that You-Know-Who would find out. You saw the memories."
"Yes, I know. But I just—I still should have known. I should have fought harder to get you a trial earlier, I—"
"Don't. You wouldn't have been able to get me a trial even if you wanted to without either James' memories or finding Peter. Fudge never would have allowed it," Sirius interrupted.
"Well, Fudge wasn't really the one who authorized your trial in the first place," James replied. Sirius looked at him, confused, so James continued, "I gave the memories to Scrimgeour over Fudge's objections and he reviewed them. Scrimgeour wanted to give you a full release pending a further investigation but Fudge absolutely refused. So, Scrimgeour gave you a trial instead. That's why it was before the Wizengamot rather than the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Why did Fudge get his knickers in a twist over me? He wasn't the one who put me in Azkaban—he wasn't even Minister when that happened," Sirius said, thinking more out loud than anything. He shook his head and looked back at Remus whose eyes were still downcast, "Remus—no, Remus, look, you're still one of my best friends. I understand why you did what you did. I really do."
Remus looked up at Sirius who moved towards Remus and engulfed him in a hug. Remus stood stiffly for a moment before relaxing and retuning the hug in full force. They broke apart after a few minutes and looked at each other, understanding the unsaid words that passed between them.
"Not to break up the love fest here, but I think maybe we should get out of here before the dementors make their rounds, huh? Also, I have to get Harry from Minnie," James said as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.
Sirius and Remus nodded at James before Sirius said, "I don't have my wand; how am I going to get anywhere? And, where am I going to stay? I'm homeless." Sirius wiped under his eye, removing a fake tear while looking at James and Remus with big eyes.
James and Remus exchanged a glance. James sighed, rolled his eyes, smiled, and replied, "You can stay at my house with me and Harry until you can find a house you overdramatic man-child."
Sirius dropped to his knees and kissed James' hand while repeatedly saying, "Thank you, thank you." James simply rolled his eyes again.
"Oh come on, are you serious?" James asked before his eyes widened and he waived his hands in front of him in a stopping motion and yelled, "Wait, no! I mean—"
"Well of course I'm Sirius, and who are you?" Sirius asked, humor dancing in his eyes.
Both James and Remus let out a groan while Sirius laughed his ass off in front of him. James looked at Remus before both men nodded at each other and held up their wands and disapparated, leaving Sirius in the room alone.
Sirius gasped and looked around the room before calling out, "Remus? James? Come on guys, this isn't funny!"
Sirius could hear laughing coming from just outside the door. Sirius pulled it open and found James and Remus bent over with their hands on their knees laughing so hard that no noise was coming out, "Wow, ok. Uncalled for, guys!" Sirius said sarcastically.
James and Remus looked up at Sirius before busting out laughing again. Sirius just rolled his eyes and waited for them to compose themselves.
End Notes:
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