One week later, Dumbledore sat in the court room in the basement of the Ministry of Magic. He sat with his fellow members of the Wizengamot waiting for the trial of Sirius Black to start. He was also accompanied by Lucius Malfoy, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape.

Remus drummed his fingers on the wood before him anxiously. For the past week all he had thought about was if Sirius would want to raise Harry with him.

'He loves Harry! Of course he'll want to raise him with you!' The nice part of his conscious kept telling him.

'Correction. He loved him. Azkaban changes people. Besides he'll never forgive you for believing that he would sell out James and Lily.' His not-so-nice part of his conscious sneered at him.

"Damn I'm going crazy." Remus quietly mumbled to himself.

"What's that, Remus?" Dumbledore asked him.

"Nothing. Just nervous." Remus replied with a shiver. He could feel the dementors coming down the hall. He could feel the pain he had endured when he was bitten while asleep in his bed. He could feel the sadness that he dealt with when he found out about his best friends death. He could feel the loneliness spill through his body as he was the horrible monster ever month.

It felt as if he would never be happy again. Never smile nor laugh. Never feel the warmth of a hug. He just wanted to die; right then and there.

Then he thought about Harry. How much Harry needed him. The times he cuddled with him as a baby. The times his mere laughter would cure him from his sickness after a full moon. The times when he would beg Lily to let him come take him off her hands to spend time with the boy he loved so much.

Remus grabbed chocolate out of his robes and took a bite and he instantly pushed those dark thoughts away and kept the ones about his Godson.

He looked at Dumbledore and notice his patronus, a Phoenix, flying around. He smiled appreciating not needing to do his own. A wolf walking around would not help keep those 'other' thoughts away.

He heard the door open and kept his eyes on it. The next few seconds seemed like days as he waited for his friend to come.

When the door finally opened all the way a man with striped pajamas came through with two black, hooded figures came through behind him.

'He hardly looks any different!' Remus thought. 'Bloody hell! Even Azkaban looks good on him.'

Remus was brought back to those times in Hogwarts when the concept of dating seemed to be in every male's mind in third year. He was insanely jealous of Sirius and James for their looks but he never told anyone. He always seemed to have the most trouble out of all four of the Marauders with girls. The only girl he felt comfortable around with was Lily and she was taken by James, even if she didn't know it yet.

Sirius still had his famous long black hair. It was now down past his shoulders. He always spent hours upon hours on his hair. It was obvious to Remus that, unless they had salons in Azkaban, Sirius didn't need to try so hard. It flowed naturally. It looked like he was about to grow a mustache from the stubble on his face.

Remus could see the nervousness coming from Sirius as it was radiating off of his body. He wished he could be down there with his friend to tell him everything.

Sirius could feel a lot of eyes on him and he finally looked up and he first saw Dumbledore and gave a nod towards him without seeing if it would be returned. He knew he didn't deserve even as much as a nod for all he's done. It's his fault their dead. It's his fault Harry won't ever know his parents.

Sirius tried hard to get rid of those thoughts but it was hard. He was always around the dementors. He figured the only reason he is still sane is because he wasn't the one who told Voldemort where they were. But he was the one who trusted that rat with the important job of keeping his friends safe. No, not his friends. Practically his brother and sister.

Sirius thought about his real family. There were Mr. and Mrs. Potter, who both passed away shortly before his son did. There was James and Lily who passed away. There was Peter. The man he thought was his brother. He was dead to him. Then there was Remus.

'Poor Remus.' Sirius thought. 'He's had to go through his transformations alone for 5 years every month.' He has been wondering what had happened to him. 'Was he alive? Was he dead? Does he hate me as much as I hate myself?'

A quiet cough brought him back to the people in front of him. He looked at all the people, one at a time. He stopped on Dumbledore and almost threw up. He slowly turned to his right and there stood Remus Lupin.

Sirius could feel the tears threatening to leave his eyes and he let them. He bowed his head and put his hands to his face wipe the tears away. Which was pretty hard to do with shackles on.

'He hates me. He hates me! My best friend hates me!' Remus thought.

'My brother hates me. He's here to watch me go. He's here to see the pain that is written on my face. My brother, my best friend!' Sirius thought to himself as he cried out.

Sirius looked back up at Remus and their eyes instantly connected. Remus gave Sirius a small grin and Sirius's heart fluttered.

Sirius's returning grin was so big, it resembled one of a dog. Sirius's flinched at the smile. It hurt the muscles in his jaw as he has not smiled in 5 years. He momentarily forgot where he was and tried to get up to give his friend a hug but his restraints pulled him back to reality. The movement had brought a small chuckle come out of Remus.

'He doesn't hate me.' They both thought at the same time.

"Let's get started then everybody." Cornelius Fudge finally showed up and took his seat. "This case is quite important so Mr. Black will be given Veritaserum."

A ministry official went up to Sirius with a vial of the Potion. He put it up to his mouth and dumped it down his throat.

"Thank you. Now Mr. Black. How are you today?" Cornelius asked.

"I'm good." Sirius said while looking at Remus.

"Good. Alright let's just get right to the questions. Did you give the location of the Potters to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"No sir." Sirius said, confidently. His answer has produced various amount of gasps throughout the room.

"Quiet down please. Did you kill 13 people, including 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew on the first of November, 1981?"

"No." Sirius answered.

"Did you attempt murder on that day?" The minister asked.

"Yes." Sirius answered.

"Please explain." The minister said.

"I wanted to kill Peter Pettigrew so I went after him. I will never regret trying to kill him." Sirius said, simply.

"Why did you try to kill him?" The minister asked.

"He told Voldemort where James and Lily were!" Sirius yelled, with tears in his eyes. More than half of the people in the room flinched at the name. "Part of my family is dead because of that monster."

"So I'm assuming you were never the secret-keeper for the Potters." Cornelius said.

"No I wasn't. I suggested to them that Peter was a better choice. I thought that Voldemort would never suspect Peter. I'll never forgive myself for it too." Sirius cried again.

"Could you please describe what happened the day after the death of the Potters."

"I learnt of the news and I knew what happened. He sold them. He betrayed them. So I instantly went after him. We ended up on a street in London. Peter blasted the killing curse and killed the 12 innocent men, women and children. He then cut off his finger and turned into his animagus form. Which is a rat." Sirius said through clenched teeth. "Just like him."

"Thank you Mr. Black. One more question. Do you believe that you should be cleared of all charges?" Cornelius asked.

"I want to be cleared of my charges and live on with my life but I don't think I deserve it. If I was the secret-keeper, if I didn't convince them to go to Peter, then they would be alive. Yeah I might have been killed by Voldemort himself but I wouldn't have minded. I would give up my life, instantly, for my family. For my friends." Sirius couldn't stop the tears coming down his face. "I would've been bloody proud to have died for the two most amazing people in the world! Harry has no parents because of me! I'm supposed to be his Godfather and I got myself thrown into Azkaban. I-I I'm sorry I can't t-talk anymore."

Remus stood there next to Dumbledore in shock. He knew that Sirius was innocent but he couldn't believe how he thought that he was to blame. He too would have died for James and Lily. All he wanted to do was run down and hug him. Dumbledore must have known this because he put a comforting hand on Remus' shoulder.

"Thank you Sirius. No more questions. Those in favor of clearing all charges and letting him go, please raise a hand." Cornelius said. Everyone but a short lady in a pink raised their hand. Cornelius eyed the lady in surprise and turned back towards Sirius.

"Sirius Black, you are now cleared of all charges and are free to go." Cornelius said at the same time as the restraints broke apart. "We will be putting 5 million galleons into your vault in Gringotts for the trouble we have caused you. I am deeply and truly sorry and I hope you find peace."

Slowly everyone started to leave the room until it was only Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore.

"Inform him of Harry and then bring him to my office whenever he feels up to it." Dumbledore said quietly as he patted Remus on the back. He turned to Sirius. "Congratulations Sirius."

Once Dumbledore left the room, Sirius and Remus ran to each other and gave each other the biggest bone crushing hug they could. Sirius was quite surprised at the strength his friend showed. He always tried to keep track of the full moon in Azkaban and knew it was only a few days ago.

They stopped hugging and stepped apart with a smile.

"Padfoot, I'm so sorry for believing that-. I-I mean I didn't want to believe but you know the evidence. How stupid was I to have not suspected Wormtail. Would you ever consider to forgive me?" Remus asked with tears strolling down his face.

"Moony there is nothing to be sorry about. If the roles were reversed I would have believed it was you. I was stupid to let them use Peter as the secret-keeper. Will you forgive me old friend?"

"I forgive you because you did absolutely nothing wrong. Except maybe you shouldn't have went after Wormtail alone. You could have brought me along mate." Remus smiled.

"So we are both forgiven of doing nothing wrong. How's Harry?" Sirius asked, more seriously now.

"Well-"