Disclaimer - Everything is owned by J.K. Rowling. That is all.

- Muggles, Rats and Innocence-

3 days later, Sirius was in London's busy streets, in animagi form of course. There were a lot of wizards and witches around, and they were all talking about the fall of Voldemort. And who'd defeated him: a little boy. Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. And then everyone knew about James and Lily's death. But that wasn't what Sirius was focused on. He followed one thing: Peter Pettigrew's scent. So he could finish off the real murderer. From the night he'd found Pettigrew's house empty, Sirius knew that he was the traitor. He, who had told Voldemort. The spy. But things were looking up, the scent was growing stronger and stronger.

Sirius raised his head from the pavement and looked at a small man, shaking, because he had hit a dead end. Because he knew what was about to happen to him. The shaky man looked at the great, black dog, who'd suddenly changed in front of his eyes. Sirius pulled out his wand, pointed at Peter and smiled grimly. "We meet again Peter. This time, it's not for entertainment sakes. I know what you did."

Peter shook and moved backwards. "I-I-I.. don't kn-know what your t-t-talking about, S-Sirius." he muttered.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Peter." Sirius hissed. Peter made a weird motion, almost like a twitch. Peter looked to both sides, but there was no one. He looked at Sirius, who'd raised his wand, and saw the massive group of people, who'd just went by, without noticing either of the two. Suddenly Peter slipped past Sirius and went towards the street. Sirius turned around, muttered his curse, and when Peter looked to both sides again (as if to look for help), he suddenly shouted: "L-LILY AND JAMES, SIRIUS! HOW COULD YOU?" Everybody on the street stopped and stared at them. Sirius looked confused at Peter, where he saw the motion of a knife over his hand and a very bright light that blinded everybody. Sirius jumped towards Peter, who'd transformed into a rat, and scurried of. A giant explosion sounded, followed by a lot a screaming. Sirius looked towards the spot, where Peter had stood, before he turned into his animagus. Some clothes and a finger (still bleeding) was everything that was left. Sirius went out onto the street, where everything and everyone within a 10 meter radius was blown to pieces. He saw the bodies, he saw the persons still screaming. They were all either pointing at him or fleeing. Sirius stood there with his wand, and knew that this time, he couldn't run. There were at least 11 bodies surrounding him. He fell to his knees and buried his face in his hand and sobbed. "What have I done, what have I done... " he muttered over and over again. He didn't notice that since the explosion, 20 wizards, who'd watched the affair take place, all had their wands pointing at him. After that, they were apparating him to Azkaban.

The first he noticed there was the cold. After that the screams. The screams that the Muggles made. The wizards left Sirius with the Dementors. Sirius couldn't exactly make out what they were saying, but it sounded like: "Keep an eye on this guy." After that they took his wand and disappeared.

The Dementors came from every side and grabbed Sirius' arm's with their slimy, rotten hands and threw him into a cell. The sound of the Muggles screams were ringing in Sirius' head. It was his entire fault. If he'd just told Dumbledore about Peter, about him being the real Secret Keeper. If he'd never told James that they should use Peter. Every time he thought about James and Lily, pain and cold would enter Sirius´ veins. It didn't help that the Dementors were there.

But deep inside, Sirius knew that it wasn't his fault. It had been Peter's. It was Peter's fault. Sirius laid down on one of the 'beds' and looked out at the stormy clouds outside the bars, which were supposed to form a window. He'd never reach up there. He was shivering. It was cold.

Sirius closed his eyes, and all the screams grew louder. But there were pictures now. Pictures of his worst memories. When he found out that Veronique was a vampire. When he had given Remus and James trouble, by telling Snape that he could follow Remus through the Whompling Willow. He saw V. covered in scars. When V. asked him to leave her forever. The ruins of James and Lily's house. All the dead Muggles. The screams grew louder yet, as if they all stood beside him, screaming their lungs off.

Sirius opened his eyes abruptly. There were at least five Dementors beside him, and the screams rang in his head, resounding. The pictures flew through his mind, and created a jumble of pictures - red was a dominant color. The Dementors grabbed his arms, and suddenly he was at the Ministry of Magic. They pulled him into a room, with one chair with build-in handcuffs. They forced him into it, a stood around him. Sirius looked around the room. It was round, and there were some elevated benches, were there sat a lot of men and women, all wearing black. Except for two people. Veronique, Sirius thought. He felt happier, but that was soon taken from him by the Dementors. Sirius shivered. V. lowered her head. Sirius knew what she was thinking. What she wanted to avoid. The last warmth inside of him left his body. She believed what they were saying. She thought that he was a murderer. She wanted to avoid the earnest look he was giving her. Remus was sitting in the same corner. A man, with short, graying, dark brown hair and a moustache, rose. That was Barty Crouch Sr.

"Sirius Orion Black, you have been charged with the murder of 12 Muggles, before other Muggles, where some can act as witnesses, and the murder of Peter Pettigrew, which they are also witnessed. You will be sentenced to lifetime in Azkaban. All against, rise." No one rose. Sirius shot a pleading look towards Veronique, but she still had her head down. He could detect a shimmer of a tear dripping from her eye. ".. all those for Black being sent to Azkaban, please rise." Slowly people rose. Sirius looked around and saw that there were a few, who hadn't risen. But those few looked as though they were contemplating it. He looked across the room, and found Dumbledore, who hadn't risen. Remus hadn't risen either. Barty slammed a hammer into the table. "Decided. More votes for aye."

Sirius panicked. He looked around him with wild eyes. "You need to listen to me, it wasn't me, LISTEN TO ME!" Everybody looked down. "IT WASN'T ME! IT WAS PETER PETTIGREW!" Sirius looked desperately around.

Barty looked hard and cold at Sirius. "That's impossible. You blew up Pettigrew."

"No, NO! THAT WASN'T ME! I WOULD NEVER..." The Dementors pulled him away harder, and he ran out of energy. He looked up a Veronique, just to see her one last time, one last time to take in her beautiful eyes, her raven black hair. Her pearly-white skin. Just one last look. After this he lowered his head in resignation.

"Listen to me..." he whispered, but he was already back in Azkaban. The Dementors threw him into his cell. He didn't bother to sit up. It didn't matter anymore. Everything was pointless. He had, in a sense, lost his life. He sat up straight. He closed his eyes and tried to keep out the screams. Tried to keep the pictures out. Except for one. Veronique. The night they'd gotten engaged. He remembered it so clearly, but it kept slipping away. The Dementors. Sirius opened his eyes and looked at his hand. The ring wasn't there anymore. He sighed. He'd given it to Veronique. No one was to know about their engagement. They would just blame her. He sighed once again, laid down on his back, in the middle of the floor and looked up at the ceiling. He couldn't die. As long as V. believed him. Sirius closed his eyes. If he'd just been able to talk to her. If only. Slowly, the screams returned. He couldn't bare it any longer. He didn't have the strength. The pictures flew through his mind. He shivered.

How long would he be able to survive this?