Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with the books. I am only borrowing the characters, places, spells, and some plot devices for my own entertainment purposes. They will be returned, cleaned and polished, to their original owner, JK Rowling, as soon as I am finished with them.
The Brotherhood
A/N - This chapter was last modified on 5 October, 2011.
Chapter Three – Escape
They had been planning it for a long time and they were sure it would work. All they needed was the perfect timing.
That perfect timing came one evening as the Dementors came through to set out the dinner. Sirius, in dog form, waited at the entrance of his cell, watching the Dementor loom closer and closer to his cell. Eventually, it reached his cell and the cell door was opened to permit the Dementor to place the bowl of dinner mash on the ground. Once it was opened to what Sirius knew to be the maximum the Dementor would open it; Padfoot squeezed through, dodging the Dementor's cloak. Crouching in the shadow's outside Harry's cell, Padfoot watched warily as the Dementor glided further on down the cell block, delivering dinner to the other prisoners.
Padfoot jumped as he felt something touch his fur, and he looked around frantically before realising that it was just Harry.
"Good luck," Harry whispered, his eyes wide with anxiousness.
Padfoot licked Harry's outstretched hand before giving Harry a nod and hurrying down the hall, in the opposite direction from which the Dementor had come from.
Harry watched him go, feeling more nervous than he had in a long while. He could hear the cries of their fellow prisoners as they spotted the black dog, and he hoped that none of them would do something that could get Sirius caught.
Sirius had explained, briefly, that if he was caught escaping, he would, at best, be moved to an animagus proof cell, further up in the prison. At worst, Harry knew, he would be given the Dementor's Kiss. Either would prove to destroy any semblance of peace that Harry might have from having his godfather in the cell across from him.
Feeling too anxious to eat the meal that barely passed as food, Harry slipped back into the dark shadows at the back of his cell. The sun had already set and the prison was dark, which would help in their escape. They just had to beware of Aurors now.
In their planning, they had paid close attention to the schedules of the Aurors, and Sirius thought that they would be able to avoid them, and any Dementors, in order to escape. It would just take a little strategy, and a lot of luck. This was the part Harry was nervous about. His level of luck was on the low side.
Hoping that Sirius knew what he was doing, Harry began to pace his cell anxiously. How long should it take to get to the bottom of the prison anyway? Would Sirius even be able to find the keys?
Harry felt a stab of panic in his gut. Had the whole thing just been an act and Sirius had left him here?
Harry was just mentally yelling at himself for thinking such a thing when a shadow appeared outside of his cell, causing Harry to jump. After a moment, he realised it was just Padfoot, a ring of keys and, surprisingly, a wand, in his mouth.
Putting them down on the ground, Sirius looked around for guards, then transformed.
"Whose wand is that?" Harry asked, moving to the front of the cell and eyeing the wand cautiously.
Sirius picked up the keys and wand and straightened up. He glanced over at the next prisoner over, who was watching them intently.
的t belongs to the head Auror. Luckily I caught him napping and it was only a matter of snatching his wand and stunning him. I'll obliviate him before we go," Sirius explained.
It took a few moments, but Sirius managed to get the cell open.
Feeling increasingly giddy at the thought of escape, Harry slipped through the opening and stood beside Sirius.
"Ready for this?" Sirius asked.
Harry nodded immediately and the pair of them started down the hall. Sirius held the wand out, ready to use it if they happened upon a guard, whether Auror or otherwise.
"Cousin! What about me?" a lilted voice called out from a cell they passed.
Sirius hissed at the sight of Bellatrix, but otherwise ignored her. Harry noted that a glimmer of excitement and perhaps insanity filled her eyes. "Never mind, my Master will come for me. I'll be out soon," she announced.
Harry, too busy staring at Bellatrix, bumped into Sirius, who had stopped suddenly.
"Careful, Harry," Sirius muttered, lifting his wand.
Harry looked up at Sirius, wondering why he had paused and found out a moment later. Footsteps could be heard echoing down the hallway.
"They're coming from the opposite end. We can still make it," Sirius said, starting again at a fast pace. Harry hurried to follow.
They made it halfway down the stairs before they heard a shout of alarm as the owner of the footsteps noticed that there was two empty cells on the block that shouldn't have been empty. Cheers from the fellow prisoners followed and Harry was relieved. It seemed that the prisoners liked tormenting the guards more than they didn't want Sirius and Harry to escape.
"Now it gets dangerous," Sirius said, looking down the hallway to see a Dementor coming their way.
Having to choose between the Auror and a Dementor, Harry personally would've taken the Auror, but Sirius had other ideas. He shoved the wand into Harry's hand and pushed him toward the lower floor. "Go! I'll distract it! Wait for me in the office," he ordered.
Harry hesitated for only a moment before following the directions. He trusted his godfather, after all. He just hoped that Sirius would survive, especially without a wand.
Hurrying down the stairs, Harry made it to the bottom floor without any problems. He took the hallway at a run, ignoring the prisoners who called out or cheered as he passed. They evidently liked the rare excitement that Harry was bringing to them.
"He went left, Auror," Harry heard one of the prisoners call out to a passing Auror who had seemingly already been alerted.
Harry half laughed at the prisoner's misleading direction.
Reaching the door to the Auror's section of the prison, Harry pulled it open, very aware that he was going into enemy territory. If he were to get caught, it would be here.
Creeping down the carpeted hall, Harry found the door marked, "Head Auror" and entered the room. The Auror was, true to Sirius' word, on the floor, unconscious. Closing the door behind him, Harry stepped over the Auror and waited on the far side of the room, near another door. If Aurors burst in, he would be able to make a fast escape.
Minutes past and there was no sign of Sirius at all. Harry began to pace. What would happen if Sirius didn't show up? Surely he had been caught.
Harry started to pace, silently making plans for his own escape if Sirius didn't show up. Sirius had made him promise that if Sirius was caught, Harry would go on without him. As much as it pained him, Harry knew he would do it. He had given his promise after all.
Sending glances at the door every few seconds, expecting either Sirius or Aurors to enter, Harry mentally ran through his options.
He had just decided on his plan of action when the door burst open. Harry swung around, lifting the wand, the stunning spell on his lips. He stopped immediately when he saw it was just Sirius, looking paler than normal. Sirius shut the door hurriedly behind him and locked it.
"We have to get out of here," Sirius stated.
Someone pounded on the door from the other side and Harry could hear muffled voices.
"Before they remember they have wands," Sirius added darkly.
Sirius reached down and grabbed something from the Head Auror's robes before hurrying over to the fireplace and motioning for Harry to do the same.
As Harry moved closer, he could see that Sirius had grabbed the man's Auror badge.
"To get us through," Sirius explained swiftly. He grabbed some floo powder and tossed it into the flames.
The door to the office burst open and Harry ducked as a spell came flying his way. Sirius shoved Harry into the flames before squeezing in himself. It was a tight fit. The fireplace was obviously only meant for one person at a time.
"Halt!" one of the Aurors cried, though Harry didn't know why he bothered. Nobody ever obeyed that command.
"Moony's Den!" Sirius called out, and the floo swept them away from the mass of Aurors.
A/N - Catch something wrong with this fanfic, including typos, misspelled words, or a plot line that just doesn't make sense? Let me know, please.
I write fanfictions to better myself in my original story/novel writing. I strive for the best, but I admit to occasionally missing things. If you see anything that needs to be fixed, or you just have any advice or comments, let me know, in a review or PM. Also, I won't respond to every review, though I'll try with PMs. I just don't have the time. However, if you ask a question, I will try to respond with an answer. Thanks.