A/N: Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I just get busy...
*****************TWO YEARS LATER*********************************************
Two agonizing years had gone by since I'd been thrown in this hell-hole. A majority of that time was dwelling on what happened. The more you obsessed over your innocence, the better you felt. It was like a wall would be put up between you and the dementors... Maybe not a brick wal, but more like cheap plaster.
I awoke one usual rainy and dreary morning to enjoy my breakfast of bread and old cheese. I scarfed it down hungrily, then eyed Sirius's meal. He was still snoring on his lumpy mattress, and it would have been quite easy to eat his food. Eventually, I turned around and went back to my bed. I laid down and agonized over every excruciating detail of that night... The way Marcus had a hint of something black in one of his teeth as he spoke to him, the witch in the blue dress behind him when I cursed him. It was like playing a movie in my head... A movie I had seen a million times before.
The bars to our cell creaked open, and I must have jumped four feet up into the air. Across the room, Sirius did the same thing. He was on all fours like a dog, glaring at whoever or whatever I had just come in. When I looked to see who it was, my heart almost stopped.
Cornelius Fudge stood in the doorway. He eyed us both with caution. "Well, well, well... Azkaban's two most infamous inmates. And how are you today?"
"Fine, sir." I could hear Sirius's voice was strained, like he was trying with all his might to act nice, and not kill the bastard. That awful, fat little man had screwed us both over in ways unimaginable.
Cornelius turned to me, his lips turning up a bit. "And you, Ms. Malfoy?"
My teeth were clenched together so hard that it hurt. "Fantastic." I finally managed to mutter.
Sirius cleared his throat. "Sir?"
Cornelius jumped a little. "Yes?"
"Can I have that newspaper in your pocket? I haven't had anything to read in twelve years. Don't know what's going on in the world anymore." His eyes were practically boring a hole in the newpaper. I took a quick glance at it. I could pretty much only see half of the cover photo, and it was some group photo. Nothing too exciting.
The minister pulled the newpaper out of his pocket and frowned at it. "I don't see why not, I suppose." He tossed it to Sirius, who let it fall to the floor.
"Thank you." Sirius smiled widely, his yellow teeth showing.
Cornelius turned to me, "any requests from you, dearie?"
It took all I had to not say 'I formally request that you fuck yourself. Instead, I mimicked Sirius's smile and said, "Tell Marcus I said hi."
He glared at me, and turned to leave.
I jumped up from my bed. "I'm innocent."
"I know." He said flatly without even turning around. The cell door shut behind him. "There are reputations to keep. You think your family let this whole incident be in the evening newpaper? No. This was a private scandal that only the elite know. And when do you come out, if you make so much as whisper one word, I will do my best to make sure you're back in here for the rest of your sorry life."
He had yelled the rest, his voice echoing in the stone hallway. By the time he'd said his last word, he was half-way down the corridor.
"Use it or lose it." Sirius mutter behind me, flipping through the newspaper nonchalantly. He motioned for me to sit next to him on the bed and read with him. I obliged, lost in my own thoughts. He put a friendly arm around me and shut the newspaper, the group photo from the front page waving up at us.
I sniffled. I had never cried in front of Sirius, and it wasn't something I was really willing to do now. He pulled me closer into a one-armed hug. Suddenly, his arm flew off of me, and he snatched up the newpaper, holding the photo an inch from his nose.
"I'll be damned..." He whispered to himself.
"What?" I began eyeing the picture too. "What?"
He slammed the paper down and jammed his thumb into the photo. "That rat! That rat! I'd recognize him anywhere! That's Peter! He's alive! I knew it!"
I leaned into to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, there was a tiny little rat sitting on a young boy's shoulder. "See that?!" he gently tapped the rat's hand. "There's a finger missing. That's all they ever found of him. His finger. That bastard must have cut it off and turned into a rat.. So all the blame would be on me..." Sure enough, there was a miniscule finger missing.
"Oh, wow..." I muttered to myself. Today had been way too exciting for me.
"It says that the boy goes to Hogwarts... That's where Harry goes. He'll kill Harry. Finish him off, like his master wanted to do twelve years ago. Bring You-Know-Who back. Do you what this means?" He was talking so fast it was hard to understand him. He turned to me with his dark grey eyes.
"No. What?"
"We have to get out of here."
I fell off of the bed. "WHAT?!?!"
He looked so calm. "You heard me. For the sake of the world, we have to do this."
"Yea, okay. And how do you propose that we do this?" I crossed my arms. Sirius had finally gone mad.
He crawled down so that he was on the floor next to me, his eyes clouded with thoughts. "I don't know. I'll find a way. Are you in?"
My heart started racing, and so did my mind. Freedom, but what if I got caught? And... what if it failed? They'd kill us. Throw me in Azkaban forever, with no chance of ever getting free. But... that chance of freedom... It was almost worth it. Knowing that I might be able to feel warm sunshine on my face before I'm 50 was what made the decision for me. "Yea... I'm in. Besides, who else is gonna watch your crazy ass?" I smiled at him.
He beamed and pulled me into a full-on hug, something he had never done before. "We're gonna be free! Just you wait. We'll do it without a problem."
A/N: So what did you think? Drop me a review. I promise I'll always respond ;)
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