I’m innocent.
Sirius stared straight ahead inside his cell. He knew every brick, every bar, every mark he had carved. After all, he had been here for over ten years. For most of the time he was a dog. But other times, like now, he was himself. His matted hair and beard tickled slightly, but he didn’t have any way to cut it. And Lily and James had died.
I’m innocent.
Nearly twelve years was a long time. Harry had been one when Sirius was arrested. He would be almost thirteen now. Almost a teenager. Sirius, his Godfather, had missed it all. Maybe Harry didn’t even know that he had a Godfather. Maybe Harry had been turned evil by his aunt and uncle, and was in Slytherin.
I’m innocent.
What if Harry wasn’t at Hogwarts at all? What if Harry was still at his aunt and uncle’s, unaware that he was a wizard? And then, Sirius wondered, what if he never knew that Sirius had ever existed? If someone said, “Have you heard of Sirius Black?” Harry would reply, “Who?”. And Lily and James had died.
I’m innocent.
He couldn’t even remember their faces. All he could remember was that they had been his best friends, the most wonderful people he had met, and now they had died. And people thought he had done it. Remus would think he had done it. How many times had Remus cursed his name? Did he really think that Sirius could have done that to them, deep down?
I’m innocent.
What could have happened to Remus? He and Tara would have broke up, he was sure. Or maybe that was the Dementors making him think like that. But Sirius had a feeling that he was right. Remus would blame him, of course. Tara wouldn’t be able to cope losing her best friend after Lola, Remus wouldn’t be able to cope with losing all three of his best friends in forty-eight hours. They would have decided to go their separate ways. It was what people did when things got really hard. They pushed everyone away, and tried to deal with it alone.
I’m innocent.
In a week, Harry would be thirteen. Sirius wanted to see him so badly, that it ached. Did he look like James, or did he look like Lily? Did he look like James’s parents, maybe? They were dead too. Or did he have some of Lily’s parents in him? He had only met them a couple of times, but they had seemed like good people. They were dead now.
I’m innocent.
How could he get to see Harry? It was the thing he most wanted. But he didn’t have a hope of ever seeing his Godson. There was no hope left. He was stuck in this dark, dank cell. Something was dripping. Someone was walking down the aisle in between the cells. That wasn’t something you heard very often.
I’m innocent.
Sirius moved forwards to see who it was. Fudge. Inspecting, probably. It happened sometimes. He stopped outside Sirius’s cell.
“Hello, Minister,” Sirius said, croakily.
“Ah, yes, hello, Black.”
“Are you done with that paper? I miss doing the crosswords, you see.” It was true, but mainly he just wanted to scour the paper for information on what was happening in the outside world.
Fudge looked baffled. “Well, alright, I don’t see why not. You’ve surprised me, Black, I must say.” He walked off.
I’m innocent.
Sirius looked down at the paper. He began to read it avidly. However, there was nothing really of much interest. When he reached a story about a family winning some money and going to Egypt, he gave up hope. He tossed the paper aside. Of course he had got the useless paper, the one filled with unimportant waffle. But at least if there wasn’t too much bad news, then nothing too terrible could be happening to the outside world.
I’m innocent.
The family were waving up at him, distractingly. He picked the paper back up. It was the Weasleys. The children all looked so grown up. At least the Weasleys had had some good news. Sirius hadn’t known them too well, but they seemed like a nice family. Sirius read the article. It mentioned that a lot of the children were returning to Hogwarts in the summer. The youngest boy, Ron, looked as if he would be in Harry’s year. Sirius looked at him carefully. A friend of Harry’s?
It was then that he got the biggest shock for about twelve years. Peter was in the picture. As a rat. It was definitely him. There was even a toe missing, where he had cut off his own finger. And he looked as if he was pretending to be the young boys pet.
He’s at Hogwarts.
If he was at Hogwarts, then Harry was in danger. If Harry was in danger, then he, Sirius, would have to help him. He could escape. He could find Harry, find Peter, and do the two things he had wanted to do for twelve years. He could see Harry, and he could kill Peter. All he had to do was escape. Something had clicked inside him. He knew what to do, and how to do it.
He’s at Hogwarts.
Sirius ran and ran. Being in dog form made him quick, whether he was starving or not. Which he was. But at least he could slip through the bars. He jumped into the icy sea. He swam, and swam. It couldn’t be too far to land. He could already see it on the horizon. All he had to do was carry on swimming.
And eventually, he made it. It took him a while to find civilisation, and by that time, he was shaking with hunger. It was nearing late at night, but a little boy was playing in a garden, and spotted him.
“Mummy, mummy, it’s a doggy! Look how skinny it is, Mummy!”
Sirius knew an opportunity when he saw one.
“Benny, come back inside!” the boys mother called.
“But Mummy, the doggy!”
Sirius tried to look even more hungry. The boy’s mother came out of the house. She did a double take when she saw Sirius. “Oh my goodness,” she muttered, before hurrying inside again. She came back out with a plate of leftover chicken, still on the bone. Sirius devoured it, gratefully.
“Oh, Mummy, look! Can we keep him?” the boy asked, when Sirius had nearly finished. He looked up. That couldn’t happen. He had to find Harry. He came up to Benny, licked his face appreciatively, nuzzled his nose into the mothers palm, and ran away.
He knew where he had to be, and if he found somewhere isolated, he could apparate without being seen. But first he wanted to find Harry. Just to see him.
He and James had visited Lily at Privet Drive long ago. If they weren’t there, he supposed he would have to just go to Hogwarts and wait there. But if they were there ... What? What will I do? He shook his head. It didn’t matter. He would find that out as it happened. He disapparated to Little Whinging, and appeared on a street. He looked around, hoping he was in the right place, searching for a street sign.
Suddenly, he saw a boy, dragging a trunk angrily, muttering to himself. It was dark, but Sirius’s spirits lifted in hope. The boy went under a street lamp, and it was clear that it was James’s son. Sirius nearly fell over in shock at the similarity. But he stayed in the shadows, and followed Harry until he collapsed onto a low wall. The street was called Magnolia Crescent. Sirius was in a gap between a garage and a fence, watching him. It looked like he would need a place to go “ he had evidently left his aunt and uncle for something. After about ten minutes, Harry began searching through his trunk looking for something. Sirius was so enchanted, that he moved a little, trying to see his face again.
Harry looked up, and Sirius shrank back. Harry went back to his things for a moment, and then stood up, his hand clenched around his wand. He was staring at Sirius, but it was too dark to be seen properly. Especially when he looked like a large black dog.
“Lumos,” Harry muttered. Sirius was blinded by the light, but it didn’t last long. Harry stepped backwards, tripped over his trunk, and landed in the gutter. There was a bang as the Knight Bus appeared. Sirius knew that he would be safe for now, and slipped away.
As he wandered the streets, he found a newspaper. It was a Muggle one, but anything was better than nothing. Sirius transformed into a man briefly, picked it up, and retreated into the shadows with it. He scanned the headline. Something about an escaped prisoner. What a coincidence, he thought. Which was followed by, Oh, Merlin, that’s me!
He quickly turned back into a dog. If Muggles were looking for him too, then he would have to stay hidden like this all the time.
In that case, Sirius thought to himself, Let the chase begin.
AN: Sorry it’s so short! But they probably will be from now on, since we know what happens. I’ll try and make it still worth reading, though. Please review!