Not Guilty

Summary: Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban without trial. What if five years later he finally gets his day in court? What if he finally finds Wormtail? What if he finally gets his godson back? How will life be different for little Harry Potter?

Warning: Mild abuse. Mostly verbal and sometimes physical. There will be some thoughts of suicide. (Mostly by Sirius) Dumbledore/evil/manipulative. Harry/independent. Harry will come across as dark but he will be a in the gray though he will not be practicing the dark arts. There will be no pairings. Major OOC's! Especially Harry. I will try to keep the others the same as they are in cannon but they may come off slightly OOC.
"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Spells

/Parseltongue /

Last Time:

Now here is the real dilemma. What should he do? He knows he can't take Harry, yet he has to do something to save the boy. He owed Lily and James that much but did he really want to free Sirius even though he is a innocent man? Did he want to renew his friendship with Remus? Did he want to give Black a second chance? To be honest no but if he didn't then how can he help Harry? Harry doesn't deserve the life he has. He deserves so much more. So with that thought in mind he looked Remus in the eye...

Chapter Three: Sirius' Crisis

Sirius stared at the bars across from him with barely contained agony. He felt as though his soul was being taken from his body piece by piece. He hadn't felt happy in ages... How long has it been? When had he last seen a human? The Dementors brought him food every once in a while, just enough to keep him alive. Though no human has been down here since they had escorted him to his cell after he had been caught. Well the only other humans would be the other prisoners but they are barely human now. Most just sit in there cells sobbing or the ones who have already gone insane, they sing loudly until a Dementor comes around and then they scream in fright. Or a combination of all three but mostly it was just screaming and sobbing or cursing. Really most of the time he couldn't tell what's going on with the others. Because of his isolation, it made him think things he hadn't thought of before and he found himself becoming more philosophical.

Dementors, who bring forth your worst memories while stealing your happiness, patrolled the corridors of Azkaban, the wizarding prison. No one has ever truly seen what they really look like under those cloaks of pure black but I guess no one would really want to... Would they? Their hands show grey scaly skin and when they are given permission they suck the souls out of a condemned prisoner if that is there sentence. When being given the Dementors Kiss, as it is so affectionately called, you can see the mouth of a Dementor but otherwise no one has ever seen what a Dementor really looks like. They float around like ghosts and they rarely make a sound. Yes you would never want to meet one.

Sirius thought of his childhood days. They were part of his worst memories. Being a Black was not a good thing. He had been sorted into the Gryffindor house when his whole family is Slytherin. His parents were furious with him when they found out that he was a Gryffindor. Along with the memories of the beatings he had received from his parents he also thought about the one memory that still gave him chills. The night he almost killed Severus...

To be honest... He didn't know how that happened. In fact he barely remembered it. The only thing he remembered was waking up and having James yell at him for almost killing Severus. Severus was standing in a corner paler then usual and for some reason Sirius felt anger towards him. He couldn't understand it. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was talking to Professor Dumbledore. It was so strange and disorienting. He had almost been expelled for something he couldn't even remember!

After that Severus stayed away from them and the pranks became steadily more humiliating and painful. Sirius didn't know what possessed him to do those things. In fact he didn't know why he had done half the things he did.

While that had been his worst childhood memory, the memory that played the most often was how Lily and James had died. He knew he should have gone with Harry instead of going after Peter but he had been too angry at the time. Then there was also the fact he hadn't thought that Peter would frame him by killing a bunch of muggles. He remembered the frightened faces of the muggles who had witnessed the confrontation. He would never forget those faces. One minute they were there and another second and they were gone in a flash of light.

Sirius often wondered how he kept sane. He knew he wasn't completely sane but he also knew he was more sane then any other prisoner here. At one point he thought it was because he is an Animagus. Then at another point he thought it was because he is innocent but that didn't make sense because either way the Dementors affect people whether there innocent or not. So he decided it was both and also a waste of time to think about.

As he pondered these things while the Dementors were down the hall torturing some other prisoner, he heard some movement near his cell. Looking up to see if it was the Dementors he met steely onyx eyes.

"Severus..." Sirius whispered, "Don't tell me you're my new roommate?" Sirius offered a smile but it didn't reach his dulled grey eyes.

"As much as I would love to stay here and traded snide remarks with you but I have business to take care of." Severus sneered but there was no real hostility in his voice.

This could have been him and he knew it. Severus took in the appearance of the man before him. Grey eyes peeked at him from behind a curtain of matted, filthy black hair that reached down to the middle of his back. His eyes had sunken into his sockets giving him a corpse like appearance. His skin looked waxy and it stretched tightly across his face to give it a haunted look. His teeth yellow and gleaming.

"And what business would that be Severus?" Sirius had a crazed look in his eye but he seemed lucid enough to answer some questions.

"Is Peter still alive." It was a question but it was stated in such a way that it sounded more like a actuality then a question.

"Is Peter still alive? Of course he is! He framed me the little rat." Sirius then started laughing at his own little joke which made the Dementors want to come over and steal his happiness.

"Do you know where he is?" Severus pressed on after Sirius had finally calmed down.

"I'm not sure your aware of this Severus but I'm in Azkaban. How in Merlin's name would I know where the rat has been hiding? I don't even know how long I've been in this rat hole!" Sirius started laughing again at his own private jokes.

"Five years..." Severus whispered as he gazed sadly at one who had been his friend.

"What?" Sirius sharply asked, his eyes looking more focused then they had.

"Its been five years." Severus repeated.

"Five years... Felt longer then that..." Sirius muttered to himself before asking, "How is Harry?"

"He's with his Aunt and Uncle." Severus answered.

"His aunt and uncle? HIS AUNT AND UNCLE?" Sirius yelled.

"Yes I know... I didn't know about it until Remus came to me today and now Remus and I are trying to get you out of here. Remus can't take him because he's a werewolf and Dumbledore would never allow me to take the boy," Severus paused for a moment. "I have one final question before I have to leave. Who was the Secret Keeper?" Severus whispered to the still seething Sirius Black.

"Peter of course. We switched at the last minute. Your trying to get me out of here? I thought you hated me!" Sirius screeched.

"That is not the point Sirius. Getting Harry out of that house is. I owe James a wizards debt and I will repay him by taking care of his son. Now Remus will be by later on to see how your doing. Maybe by the end of the week you'll finally get your day in court." Severus answered evenly.

"Very well Severus... But you should know one thing. I don't remember trying to force you into the room. I don't know why I acted how I did afterward either. It was like someone was controlling me. I just thought you ought to know." Sirius then closed his eyes and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

"Were you under an enchantment? Were the rest of us as well?" Severus said out loud but to himself.

Severus turned to go before looking once more at the broken man behind him. 'Sirius has paid for his sins. Maybe I should give him another chance.' Severus thought before turning around completely and leaving the prison behind. Sirius cracked open an eye and gave a sigh of relief. He felt happy for the first time in a long, long time. Then as soon as it came it left again as the Dementors came swooping up to him to take it from him.

A few hours later found Sirius staring up at his other friend Remus. He felt unexplainable anger towards this man who let him rot in jail. Who probably didn't even visit Harry because of his own stupid guilt. Sirius didn't say anything as Remus approached his cell. Sirius knew who was coming. No one ever visited him before Severus and he had mentioned that Remus would be showing up.

Sirius just wanted to shrivel up and die already. Seeing Severus was hard enough. He felt that Severus was more of a friend then Remus because even though he hated Sirius he still showed up not only to help him but to help Harry as well. Or it was more likely the other way around. Remus had been his best friend. He probably didn't even believe he was innocent all this time. But still he wondered who had found out he was innocent. Obviously the rat hadn't been found... Who could be making such an enquiry now after five long harsh years?

"Hi Sirius..." Remus whispered as he stepped into the small cell.

"Remus." Sirius looked his best friend up and down, "You haven't changed much."

"You have every right to be angry with me..." Remus said with guilt in his voice.

"That was probably one of the most stupidest things you've ever said to me Lupin," Sirius looked livid, "Severus is trying his hardest to help Harry. He even came to visit me even though he hadn't forgiven me. You... You haven't visited me. You never listened to my side of the story and don't give me that werewolf crap. You're here now aren't you? Let me guess... You ran away like the scared little pup you are!" Sirius jumped up and roared into Remus' face.

"You don't know what its like out there! To have all your best friends there one minute and in the next there all gone!" Remus cried out in defense.

"You don't know what its like in here you moron! I lost all of my best friends too. James was killed and Peter betrayed us. You ran away from your problems! Severus hasn't been my friend for years because of that prank I tried to pull even though I don't remember doing it. So don't tell me I don't know what it feels like! I've had to go through each and every bad memory I have, every single day for the last five years! For the first year I had hope that you would help me but no! I have to wait five bloody years for that to happen! I don't want to hear anything else from you. Just leave." Sirius shouted with tears rolling down his face.

Remus looked ashamed of himself and started for the door. He turned around to see Sirius back on the floor with empty eyes and tears still streaming down his face. He was right of course... Remus had been running from his problems but hearing it out loud like that from someone who had been his best friend. It broke his heart and made him defensive. When Sirius is let out would he let Remus into Harry's life?

"I'll try to get you out Sirius. For now it is the only way I can hope to get absolution for all I have done and for what I haven't done. I did run away and had I stayed you wouldn't have been sent here. Lily sent me a letter in which the goblins had kept for me all these years after not being able to get a hold of me until recently. In the letter she told me who the real Secret Keeper was. I had been in the forest all these years... I know you may never forgive me Sirius but I am truly sorry." With that Remus left with his head down and his spirit nearly broken.

"So am I Remus... So am I." Sirius whispered and with that he was alone with his demons once more.

A/N Now I know this chapter wasn't long and I really will try to write longer chapters its just these chapters are needed to be short. You know? Cause I want to get some background information in now so people won't be confused later on. I know Sirius probably wouldn't have been that sane but think about it. Its only been five years. Also he does have problems. Which will become more pronounced later on.

These last few chapters were just chapters that were setting things up. I thought it was a good idea to have it from each of there points of views. So that everyone understands there mind sets at this point in time. Later when Harry is thrown in he will be the main narrator with the others thrown in at odd times. There are reasons I why I chose to have Harry be the main but I will go into it later. You may think this is mostly about Sirius but there is a lot of guilt in this story that I will be exploiting. MUH HAHAHA! Lol

Now understand this. Right now they are all united in one goal. Get Harry away from his aunt and uncle. After that they may not be friends anymore. Especially when more stuff happens and more clues are uncovered. Or they maybe friends again. I haven't decided yet though it can go either way at the moment.

Thank you for all the reviews. Now I may have to postpone the next chapter to a later date because May 18th is my birthday and next weekend is very busy for me. I work on the chapter for a whole week before I go over it again on Sunday. That way I give myself a break and I can work on other stories if I want to. So any ways The next chapter will come out sometime next week. It depends on how much time I get. Thanks for reading! Ciao for now.

Karone

PS: I had to replace this chapter because of some mistakes. I would like to say the paragraph about the Dementors is not Sirius' thought. If it seemed like was then I'm sorry but I am very proud of that paragraph so I will not be changing it. Sorry.