-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Two Years Later-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Two excruciating years crawled by, each day someone slower than the next. Sirius taught me to focus on my innocence to keep the effects of the dementors somewhat at bay. While it helped a little, it was really like putting a Band-Aid over a gunshot wound.

Every day I would wake up, eat whatever meager breakfast was awaiting me and lay down on my bed, going through every moment of that night on a loop. Sirius would silently do the same across the cell from me. At some point during the day, Sirius would jump up and begin his daily exercises- a long series of push-ups, jumping jacks, and about ten other exercises. Some days I would join him, but most of the time I would just pace. I would walk back and forth across the cell, my eyes closed. Fifteen steps, turn around, fifteen steps, turn… On and on, day after day while Sirius did sit ups on his mattress. Dinner time would roll around and Sirius and I would eat in silence, the sound of screaming surrounding us. Then, we would lie down and talk for a little while before going to sleep. A majority of the time we just recounted our stories, occasionally sharing a piece of our personal lives before everything went to shit. And eventually we would pass out, waking up to do the exact same thing the next day.

Was the witch behind Marcus wearing a blue dress or a green one? I struggled to remember as I paced the cell, eyes shut tightly to aid my memory. After the first month of pacing, I didn't need to pay attention to avoid crashing. Normally I would zone out, focused on my innocence or playing through a random memory while I walked to and fro. Fifteen steps from one side to the other. Sirius was exercising off the to the side, letting out short puffs of breath every few seconds.

"Well, well," a silky voice to my left said, and I jumped, letting out a small scream. My eyes flew open, landing on the Minister for Magic. Cornelius Fudge himself was standing on the other side of the iron bars, a silver rabbit floated in lazy circles around him, acting as a kind of protection from the dementors that were hovering around him. It didn't keep all the effects away, apparently; Fudge looked rather pale and nervous around the dark creatures. If only he knew what it felt like to live with them every day. "How are you two today?"

Sirius had stood up, walking cautiously towards the Minister, though he kept a safe distance. "Fine," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

Cornelius turned his blue eyes towards me. "And you?"

I couldn't speak. It was one thing to see people in your worst memories, but it was another matter completely to see them in the flesh. I could almost see Marcus standing there instead, smirking at me. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, stuttering over syllables before I dove behind Sirius, tugging at his grimy shirt. Sirius took a step back, shielding me from him.

"Sir?" Sirius sounded odd, a tone in his voice I had never heard before. It was overly polite, and sounded a bit like hope.

"Yes?" The Minister responded. I couldn't see his face, but it probably had suspicion etched on it.

"I was wondering," he was picking his words carefully. "If I could have the newspaper in your pocket, sir? I haven't had anything to read in years and I have missed the crossword puzzle… If you don't mind?" He took a step forward, dragging me with him. I cautiously looked around Sirius to get a peek at Cornelius.

He raised his eyebrows, looking from Sirius to the folded up paper sticking out of his robe pocket. "I don't see why not, I suppose." He tossed the newspaper into the cell, the paper landing with a thwap on the cold stone floor.

"Thank you!" Sirius exclaimed, reaching for it excitedly.

"Any requests from you, Ms. Malfoy?" Now that Sirius was bent over, picking up the loose pages from the paper, he could get a good look at me.

I let go of Sirius' shirt, unsure of what to say. "Tell Marcus I said hi," I finally stuttered out after a couple of seconds.

Cornelius had an obvious look of surprise on his face, and he quickly turned away from us, strutting down the long hallway. The light from his rabbit grew slowly smaller and smaller as he went, and I watched it until it completely disappeared, my heart racing at the interaction.

"Look, Nathascha! We have a newspaper to read!" He was grinning like a madman, holding it up like a child would on Christmas Day.

I couldn't lie; I was pretty excited to be able to read something, even if it was just advertisements for Witchy Wonders Skin Cream. I nodded quickly, glancing it over. I was hoping against hope that there would be a picture of my family in there, or even a mention of their names. They hadn't visited me, and I couldn't tell if it was because they didn't want to subject themselves to the dementors, or if they just hadn't had gotten the clearance to see me.

He flopped to the floor and patted the spot next to him. "Read with me," he said dreamily, smoothing the pages flat. I shrugged and sat down beside him, our shoulders touching as we flipped slowly through the paper. Aside from my first night in Azkaban, I don't think I'd ever been this close to Sirius; we normally kept a very respectable distance from each other. He smelled like a moldy, wet blanket, and I probably smelled the same.

To my disappointment, there was no mention of my family. I was hoping that I had somehow missed it the first two times, and we were getting ready to read the paper for the third time when Sirius jumped up, taking the front page with him. "I knew it!" He shrieked, jamming his finger into the page.

"What?" I stared up at him from the floor, confused. "What?!"

"Peter's alive! I knew he was live! I knew it! Look!" He laughed manically, shoving the paper in my face. It was a group photo of a family who had won a bunch of money. The Weasley's, I had thought distastefully, before remembering that I couldn't judge.

"Okay… What does that have to do with them?"

He poked at the picture again, leaving his finger just underneath a small rat sitting on one of the children's shoulders sniffing around innocently. "Look! I'd know him anywhere!"

I raised an eyebrow at him. Had he finally gone off his rocker? "Sirius… That's a rat…"

Sirius looked at me as though I was the stupidest girl on the planet. "No. He's an Animagus. Look there, at his little paw. He's missing a finger- and index finger! The very finger they found of Peter's at the scene of the crime! The bastard cut it off and turned into a rat before blowing the place up!" He started muttering to himself, shaking his head and eyeing the picture intensely.

I leaned in to get a better look. Sure as shit, the rat was indeed missing one of his tiny toes on his front paw. "Oh, shit," I muttered. Did this mean that it was Peter? Lots of rats could have missing toes…

"I have to do something… I have to stop him. He'll be at Hogwarts! He'll be where Harry is!" His voice started rising and becoming unintelligible. A prisoner down the corridor started screaming at him to shut up. Sirius quieted down, bending down to whisper in my ear. "I have to get out of here."

"What?!" I exclaimed, jumping up. That was the craziest thing I had ever heard in my life.

He grabbed my shoulders gently, that damn page crinkling in his grubby hands. "Think about it. If Peter gets a hold of Harry… that's it. He's going to finish the job Voldemort started twelve years ago. Harry's my godson, and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to him," he whispered quickly, his face inches from mine.

I blinked slowly, shaking myself out of his grasp. I had never really held an opinion about the Dark Lord, though at one time my parents had been avid followers of his. They still believed in him to a degree, but they were a lot more subdued about it since he had been defeated so long ago. I, however, found him to be extraordinarily evil, though I had never had enough encounters with Muggles to decide if he views on them were right or not. "That's insane."

"I'll find a way," he stated plainly, already deep in thought.

"How do you think you're going to do that? We're in a maximum security prison, Sirius. You can't just waltz out of here!" It was my turned to grab him and shake him.

"But you…" His eyes widened, fear in his eyes.

"What about me?" He was starting to stress me out, my heart racing as I shook him harder.

"When they find out I escaped, they're going to interrogate you… Or punish you, if they decide you helped me. You're fucked in here."

"I am not. They won't punish me for your escaping."

"But they will torture you, to find out where I've gone. Look at us! Do you think they care about doing things the right way here? We're surrounded by soul-sucking creatures." His eyes widened even further.

The realization of that dawned on me. "You can't go," I said simply. The conversation was over. There was no way that I was going to get in trouble for him trying to escape.

He stared through me, silent for a moment. "Then come with me." It wasn't a question, he legitimately thought that his was a good idea.

I shook my head and let go of him, taking a step back. "I can't. No. Sirius. No. Sirius. No. I get out of here in fifty years, I get out a some point! Someday my sentence will end. No. I can't risk it. They'll kill me! I'll get the kiss!" I finished my rambling, mouth open as I gaped at him.

"But what will you do here without me?" Sirius lowered his voice, closing the distance between us once more and staring me directly in the eyes. "You told me the reason you were put in this cell was because I was the only sane one here. You'll get killed if they put you with someone else, and you'll end up like him if you have your own cell." He pointed to the guy across from us, and this time I didn't need to turn around to know what I would see. He was still curled up, looking as though he hadn't moved in two years. I never paid much attention to him, but I figured he had to move around sometimes.

I thought about sharing a cell with my Auntie Bellatrix. She would probably carve out my heart and eat it before they even shut the door. If I was alone, I had that mind block… Sirius had that, but twelve years in here had definitely taken its toll on him. What would happen by the time I got out in forty eight years? Would I be like the man in the cell across from us? Like Auntie Bella? And I didn't have a life sentence, he did! If he escaped the worst thing they could do is kill him, and really, in the sickest of terms it would only shorten his sentence. But me? If I tried to escape, they could give a life sentence. Give me nothing to live for. I had that little bit of hope to cling to- I would get out someday. Though by then, I would be too old to have children or live a normal life… Did I truly have something to look forward to, then?

I took a deep breath, deciding to give my answer before I could dwell on it any longer. "Fine." I would try to escape. In the end, if I died doing it, I would just miss out on being old and insane, watching everyone around me live out their perfect, average lives. There was no normal life for me, no matter the choice I made.

Sirius smiled grimly, obviously pleased that I had agreed to go along with his ludicrous plan. "Any ideas, then?"

"Not a clue," I responded, shaking my head.