Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I wish I did because then I could own Emmett, but I can't… because I don't… so I lose again. ::Bows head sadly:: Also, the lines that Remus and Peter say below don't belong to me either.

AN: Hey guys! Thanks for an awesome round of reviews! I really appreciate it. So I'm really going to settle on making this more of a family fic. Just thought I'd finalize that. I'm sorry for getting everyone's hopes up, but I only realized what I wanted to do after I asked you. . Besides, I don't want to make some people unhappy so I figured it would be better to stay away from pairings until, or if I make, a sequel.

Chapter 6: Sirius Black

Cold. Hard. Dark.

This had to be some kind of sick joke. He had gone out to find that traitorous bastard who killed his best friends and got thrown into Azkaban for it. Sirius Black rested his head on the stone wall of his cell with a dark chuckle. He couldn't believe what had happened to his life. The high and mighty auror was brought to his knees in front of the wizarding world, and to make matters worse, Pettigrew was running free while Sirius was incarcerated for absolutely no reason.

When he was first thrown into Azkaban, he had gotten a quick look at the time. Although he was sometimes foolish, he wasn't stupid. It would be hell and nothing would be keeping him sane, but he counted. Every second, every minute, every hour. He knew exactly how long he had been a forced tenant in Azkaban, but it only lasted for so long. Falling in and out of sudden spasms due to the dementors caused him to lose count, along with the burning feeling of hatred for Peter that consumed his every thought.

He found himself thinking. Always thinking. It was the only thing he could do in this godforsaken hellhole.

He thought about Moony, the one surviving best friend he still had, and nearly threw up at the thought of Remus thinking he was a murderer.

He thought about Harry and hoped that his dear godson was living his life happily.

He thought about the day he would finally get out and take revenge on Pettigrew.

Sirius' throat closed and his eyes fogged with tears. Why had this happened to him? The overwhelming feeling of regret drowned him every day. If he didn't go after Peter he could have told everyone. He could have been taking care of Harry and he wouldn't have to suffer the uncertainty of whether or not Remus really did hate him now.

Merlin, it was cold.

He shivered and pulled his ragged shirt closer.

A cold chill ran up his spine as he slumped over while a dementor passed by.

~*~

Edward closed his eyes and stopped running. Ron and Harry started to complain but he wasn't listening. Something wasn't right. There was something going on in the Great Hall. "Boys," He told them, while quickly making his way to their room. "You are going to stay in Harry's room and I'll be right back for you, okay?"

"Edward," Harry asked. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, don't worry," he said firmly. He spoke the password quietly and the portrait swung open. With a few strides, they were at Harry's door. Edward turned the knob at pushed them in. "Stay," he commanded before turning on his heel and running down to the Great Hall.

Ron and Harry glanced at each other. "Hey Harry," Ron whispered.

"We gonna follow him?" Harry whispered.

"Auror Potter and Auror Weasley on the groove!"

"On the move."

"On the move!"

~*~

Edward stepped into the Great Hall and looked at the new man standing near the group. The family was smiling, all but Alice and Jasper. The Weasleys looked excited. Edward cleared his throat, catching his sister's attention. Alice's eyes were glazed with worry. 'Edward, you have to help! I've been trying to get to him but Remus has been so excited, he won't listen to anyone but Pettigrew!"

Pettigrew… Peter Pettigrew? Remus' friend who was killed by Sirius Black. Edward quickly whipped his attention back to the haggard man. 'I can't believe it, I can't believe it' was all the man could think. He couldn't find anything wrong with the situation. Obviously Peter was happy to see his old- 'What if Remus finds out? I'll be thrown into Azkaban without a doubt. And Sirius, dear god, he'll kill me. They'll both kill me' Edward tensed. There was no possible way. Peter went on with his thoughts, all about that Halloween night, all about the Dark Lord and all about the arm the dark mark used to mar his forearm.

"Remus…" Edward started slowly. "Step away from him."

Remus looked up for the first time, staring at him in confusion. "Edward, what's the matter?"

"Remus, get away from him now." He growled. Peter's eyes widened as he stepped back in fear. "Emmett!" Emmett quickly looked up before grabbing Peter by the arms. Edward quickly appeared before him. "Hello, Peter." The man squeaked in response. "Are you going to start telling the truth?"

Remus was staring at them in horror. "Edward what are you doing?!"

Edward picked Peter up by his collar and threw him to the ground. "Start talking rat, before I make you start talking."

"I don't know what you're talking about," He wheezed as Edward pressed the heel of his foot down on Peter's stomach.

"Edward!" Remus cried. Carlisle grabbed him.

"Remus wait, there's a reason why Edward is doing this, he wouldn't do it otherwise."

"Talk!" He shouted.

"You don't understand!" Peter's face shifted in pain. "You don't know what he would have done to me!"

"I know what I'm going to do to you, you venomous traitor." Edward picked him up and threw him into the wall. Peter fell into an unconscious state before pinching the bridge of his nose. "I thought I told you two to stay in the room." Harry ran in and jumped into Edward's arms while Ron ran to his mother. "Tie him up and wait till he wakes up. Don't trust anything he says unless Alice says he's telling the truth." He waited for Ron to grab his hand before he took the two boys out of the Great Hall once more.

"What is going on?" Remus asked breathlessly.

Alice glared at the animagus with a deathly stare. "An innocent man is locked up in Azkaban. Tie that murderer up."

Peter blearily opened his eyes and looked around him. Six vampires were glaring at him at two redheaded adults would look at anything but him. Albus Dumbledore was sitting in a chair with a disappointed look on his face and Remus was on the other side of the room, his head in his hands. "Peter," Remus sobbed. "How could you?"

Albus watched Rosalie quickly move to comfort the werewolf before he turned back with a sad sigh. "Now Edward has already informed of what really happened, but I would like to hear it from you."

Peter, although scared lifeless, stared in disbelief. Did the old fool actually think he was going to say anything out of his own free will? "No, we don't," Edward told him stiffly. Peter froze. How did that boy- "I'm old enough to be your grandfather, junior, now start speaking."

"Yo-you don't understand," Peter stuttered. "The power the Dark Lord has… what he could have done to me. What would you have done?!"

"I would have died for them!" Remus cried. "I would have died for my friends, you filthy bastard!" He lunged forward but was quickly stopped by Emmett. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you, Peter! For three years I believed you were dead! That Sirius was the one who left Harry an orphan, you damn liar!"

"Have mercy!" Peter shrieked when Remus slipped from Emmett's group. Jasper grabbed the werewolf and brought him back to the other side of the room.

"Jasper, calm him," Carlisle commanded. Jasper nodded, but Remus' rage was only fractionally diminished. "Remus, please."

"He broke my pack apart and you expect me to calm down?" Remus laughed darkly.

"The wolf inside him is getting stronger. I can't hold him alone," Jasper stated. Rosalie walked and stood on Remus' other side, grabbing his arm to keep him still.

Edward glanced over at them. "Emmett, stand in front of him. Seeing Pettigrew is just getting him angrier."

Albus rubbed his knees before pulling a vial out of his pocket. He walked over to Peter, nodding towards Carlisle. The man came and held Peter tightly as Albus poured the potion down his throat. Peter choked, trying not to swallow, but it was no use. "What is your name?" Albus tested.

"Peter Pettigrew."

"What year were you born?"

"1960," Peter's eyes closed in horror. Veritaserum. There really was no way out of this anymore.

"Peter, please tell me," Albus said as if Peter had a choice, "were you the Potters' secret keeper?"

"Yes."

A sickened sob left Remus before Albus continued with his questions. "Peter, were you in allegiance with the Dark Lord? Did you take the mark?" Another affirmative response to his question. "Did Sirius Black kill the twelve muggles that night?"

"No."

"Did you kill them, Peter?"

"Yes."

"Oh Merlin, Sirius," Remus moaned, his knees collapsing. "I turned my back on my best friend! I believed him to be a murderer!"

"It's not your fault," Rosalie whispered to him as she hugged him tightly. "It's not your fault."

Albus opened the door and an auror came walking in quietly. "Peter Pettigrew, you are under arrest and you shall be put on trial before the Wizengamot," he said quietly as the auror took Peter by the arm.

"No! Have mercy! Remus, my friend! You must understand! He would have killed me!"

"Then you should have died!" Remus shouted. "You should have died for your friends, like we would have done for you!"

The auror jerked him away with a disgusted look before apparating away. With a snap of his fingers, the opening that was once open restored and the wards of Hogwarts were strong again. "Remus, get rest," Albus said. The man was about to protest but with a wave of his hand Remus slumped over and unto Emmett's arms. "Take him to his room, Emmett," Albus asked gently. Emmett nodded and walked out of the room carrying the unconscious werewolf.

"Carlisle, Esme, you'll come with me."

"Where?" Esme wondered.

"To Azkaban."

"This is horrifyingly disgusting," Esme said as her nose wrinkled in horror. "It smells like excrements and rotting flesh."

"Hold your breath, sweetheart. You don't need it," Carlisle reminded her.

"But I'm trying to find Sirius."

"You've never scented him before."

"Untrue. The first time you brought Harry home there were six distinct scents on him, although there were two others I haven't identified yet. Two were his parents, the three smelled so alike. The third and fourth were Albus and Hagrid which I realized when we first met them. The fifth was yours of course. The sixth must be Sirius'. I'm getting a hint of it just standing here."

Carlisle tilted his head to stare at his wife. "Have I ever told you how amazing you were?"

Albus smiled at the lovely couple. "This would be much more romantic if we weren't in such a dark and dreary place." Esme's and Carlisle's laughter brought a bit of light into Azkaban. "Come now. An innocent man is waiting for his freedom."

The three walked down the nearly pitch black corridor, weary of what was around them. "I don't like this place," Esme shivered, taking Carlisle's hand in her own. Albus quickly conjured a lamp and held it up.

"Silly me," he laughed. "I gave them the wrong wand."

Sirius Black was daydreaming again… or maybe he was just dreaming. After all, he didn't know what time of day it was anymore. He smiled at the image in his mind.

He could see his little Harry running into his arms, calling him Uncle Padfoot. He could hear the annoyance in Remus' voice as he brought out yet another toy out of his pocket. 'You'll spoil him.' He could just hear the scolding tone that Remus would use. He felt Harry's tiny hands brush against his fingers as he reached up for the toy. Harry would whine as he tried to reach for the toy that was being pulled away from him and after a demanding 'please' he would give in to his godson.

"Sirius…" Ah, and there was his lovely girlfriend who nearly worshiped how beautiful Harry was.

"Sirius…"

"Sirius…"

"Sirius? Sirius Black? Is that you?" Sirius' eyes opened and he glanced around wildly. What was going on? "Oh dear Sirius… I think those damn ghost creatures have made him fall unconscious. I vote we kill them." She was stopped when Sirius let out a chuckle.

"So do I pet," he grunted. He squinted and pulled back once he realized just how close the woman was. "It's been a while since I've spoken to someone… or seen such a pretty bird."

"Hey," a joking voice cut in. Sirius watched a man crouch down besides the woman. "She's mine."

"Carlisle, Alice won't be very happy when she sees him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked in defense. "Wait sees me?"

"Our daughter is a bit of a fashion queen."

"So…Azkaban is giving their prisoners makeovers?" His eyebrow shot up. "Bloody hell right, I get one. I've been here-"

"For much longer than you should have," a new voice cut in. Sirius jolted up in his spot as he shook slightly. He knew that voice. He was sure it was him. "Hello, young Sirius."

"Albus," he breathed. "What…what the bloody hell is going on?" He flinched when he heard the stutter I his voice. He wasn't one to be weak.

Albus took Sirius' hand and pulled him up. He passed the lamp to the man named Carlisle before turning back to the man before him. "Sirius Black… let me be the first to tell you… that I am so, so sorry." Sirius shook his head. This couldn't be happening. He was hallucinating. That was what it was. He was hallucinating again. "Sirius, look at me. Please son." He looked back up. "I wish I knew so I could have stopped this. I wish we found Peter sooner and I wish I had put more faith in you. I'm so sorry."

For the first time since he saw the wreckage of Godric's Hollows, Sirius felt tears come to his eyes. "How… how long has it been, Albus?"

"Thee years."

A laugh left Sirius. "Harry is four now."

"And he's growing to be a beautiful boy," Esme told him. Sirius sent her a questioning look. "We," she paused in hesitance. "We adopted him." A sharp pain stabbed at his heart before he nodded in acceptance. "One of the first words he said to us was Padfoot… of course it sounded like Pa'foof but I'm sure you knew that and-"

"Esme, calm down," Carlisle whispered.

"I'm trying to impress our child's godfather!" she snapped.

"How did you know that I was Padfoot?" Sirius asked in curiosity.

"Oh, that was Remus! He told us about it."

"Remus?" his eyes lit up. "How is he? Has he been taking care of himself? He hasn't been stressing himself out too much has he?"

Carlisle smiled at him. "Remus is currently under a magically induced sleep. He…" He glanced at Albus before continuing. "He nearly killed Mr. Pettigrew and his body was being under way too much stress."

"I didn't know he had it in him," Sirius said in disbelief. He looked at the faces before him, suddenly grinning wolfishly. "Does this mean I get to make a mockery out of the wizarding world?"

Albus couldn't stop the laugh that left him. "It certainly does. Forgive me for this, but I love seeing the constipated look on the officials' faces when people point out their faults."

"Albus!" Esme laughed. She turned back, ignoring Sirius' stinging smell, and hugged him tightly. "Oh this is so exciting! A new member of the family!"

"You're- much stronger than you look," he wheezed.

A poignant feeling overcame Sirius as he stared at his old school in happiness. "Hey, Albus?" The headmaster nodded. "Do you remember when I burned one of the tables in the Great Hall during the graduation ceremony?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Did you keep it like I told you to?"

"It's the table I have at my summer house. It's falling apart, however, I'll have to buy a new one."

Sirius laughed as he ran around the grounds. "Look at this, Albus! I'm free! I'm finally free! Free! Free! Free!" Esme smiled as she watched him fool around like a teenager. "I'm free! I'm free and- and I smell terrible!" His face twisted into disgust. "Oh gods, how did you stand it?"

Before Carlisle could answer him, they heard a shriek sound from within the castle. "Harry," Carlisle said as ran in. "Harry, son!" Before his feet touched the stone walkway of the castle, the raven-haired boy flew into his arms. "Harry! What is it?"

"Daddy, the bloody baron chased me and Ron!" The boy hiccupped as Ron came out, face pale and hands shaking.

"Ronald," Esme gasped as she quickly picked him up.

"Ms. Esme!" Ron sobbed. "I don't wanna go back in!"

"Dear Ronald, don't cry."

Alice suddenly appeared, glaring at the boys. "Didn't I tell you not to leave my side? That's why the bloody baron chased you!" Suddenly she smiled and looked at Esme. "The others are still with Remus. They've been with him since the meeting. The boys were acting quite well behaved while you guys were talking to Mr. Traitorous Jerk but the minute they found out that Molly was letting Ron sleep over and that the two of you were out of the castle, they began running around like a bunch of barbarians. Even I can't keep up with them! They're sneaky little creatures! I guess Remus was right in saying that Harry's going to grow up to be just like James." Although Sirius was delighted to hear that Harry was like his father, her eyes narrowed. "We're really going to have to keep them away from Emmett. I refuse to baby-sit again. If I do, they'll be more trouble."

"Alice, leave them be," Esme scolded.

"Harry, son, no more tears. They Bloody Baron can't get you when I'm here," Carlisle whispered. Sirius didn't know why he felt so angry. He always hoped that a kind family had found Harry and these people looked perfect. He knew it would have been impossible for Remus to take Harry in, but he always prayed that he had. Looking at Harry in Carlisle's arms deeply pained him. If Peter hadn't betrayed them Harry would still be with James. Lily would be singing him to sleep and waking him in the morning. He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard Harry speak again.

"He said he eats children!" He continued to sob. "I don't like Hogwarts anymore!" Ron nodded in agreement, hiding his red face on Esme's shoulder.

"It's alright my sweet ones," Esme sighed. "No pun intended."

"I don't get it," Sirius deadpanned.

"Now really isn't the time to talk about this," Albus cut in.

"Talk about what?"

"Well…"

"Just say it, Albus."

"Sirius this may be hard to accept, but the Cullens are vampires that don't-"

"You let them adopt Harry?! What kind of stupid, rash decision is that?! For all you could know, they could turn him into a meal once he's older, has more meat on him. Or they could slip and kill him accidentally!"

Harry glared at Sirius, wondering why he was so angry about his family. "They won't eat me, daddy promised!"

Sirius' icy stare nearly froze Carlisle. "Well he isn't your really daddy is he, so why would you trust him." As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted them.

Harry's eyes widened. "Yes he is!"

Sirius shook his head sadly. "He isn't."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not!"

"You're a big, fat liar!"

"No, Harry-"

"And a meanie!"

"Wait, I'm sorry-"

"Go away!"

Sirius' heart shattered. Not only did he just insult a welcoming family, but he made himself out to be a big ponce. How was he supposed to fix this?