You're My Destiny↣ Harmione

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15 - Families

It wasn't really fair to say that dawn broke over the island prison of Azkaban. This far north, and only a couple of weeks from the summer solstice, it never actually got dark enough for dawn to be really noticeable. Today's dawn though was certainly going to be different on the island - a day like no other on the rock.

Prisoners get used to the routine of being incarcerated. For the longer term prisoners, it becomes all they have. Even small changes to that routine could be startling. Someone opening your cell door outside of routine certainly qualified as something startling.

Squinting his eyes to ensure the information they provided was correct, Merlin forbid he blurt the imagined person's name out loud and possibly make a right fool of himself. A single word finally found its way past a pair of cracked lips. "Ami?"

She stood there for what seemed like an eternity before answering. "You look like shit, Sirius."

Yip, that was definitely Ami Bones. "And you still tell it like it is."

Desperately trying not to get his hopes up, the marauder attempted to insert some humour into a situation that clearly didn't have any. "Don't take this the wrong way, Ami, but I hope you're not sneaking into my room to have your wicked way with me..."

"Sirius, we caught Pettigrew..."

He tried not to react, he really did. Stopping the tears running down his cheeks was just never going to happen. That Sirius managed not to break down sobbing was going to be counted by him as a massive victory. Of all the questions that now flooded into his thoughts, there was one that he really needed to know the answer to. "My godson, Harry?"

"It was Harry who discovered him. Your godson has this unbelievable map of Hogwarts that led us straight to the little rat bastard. We hardly had to lean on Pettigrew at all before he was spilling his guts and telling us everything. How he got sorted into Gryffindor I'll never know. You're free, Sirius, and I'll make sure the rat gets allocated this cell when we ship his arse to Azkaban."

Sirius then lost his so recently hard won victory. Sirius Black sobbed like a baby. As Amelia helped him to his feet and out of the cell door, Sirius just kept repeating the same phrase over and over again.

"My godson's a Marauder, my godson's a Marauder..."

In a different part of the prison, another cell door opened.

"Well, you are the last person I expected to see."

"If there is one thing my many years have taught me, it's that none of us know what's around the corner. How have you been, Severus?"

"This is obviously not a social call, Albus. Do us both a favour and get straight to the point."

"Oh I'm sorry, Severus. I didn't realise you got to talk with people all day and were tired of conversation. You are right though, I am here for a specific reason. The traps on the third floor were sprung. Unfortunately, some students thought they were set up specifically as a challenge to them."

"Let me guess, stupid Gryffindors. Why should I care?"

"A student consumed at least one of your poison potions."

There was nothing said for a moment or two before Severus reiterated his earlier position. "Again, why should I care? You are the headmaster, I did exactly what you asked. The fault is yours."

"That is the position I have taken on this matter but, unfortunately, it is known who brewed the potions. If you refuse to help, you may find yourself facing further charges. At the very least, those two years of your sentence currently suspended will be enforced."