Lupin in Azkaban

Remus Lupin stood staring ahead of him. "I hereby sentence Remus J. Lupin to a life sentence in Azkaban for the use of the Cruciatus Curse on Mr. Harry Potter and Muggles Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley," said the judge.

"BUT I DIDN'T!" Remus screamed. "NEVER JAMES'S SON! I WOULD NEVER TOUCH A HAIR ON HARRY'S HEAD! I'M INNOCENT!!!"

The year was 1989. Remus Lupin had been framed, and he was one unhappy werewolf. Worst of all, he had been framed for torturing his dead friends' 9-year-old son.

"Take him from my court!" cried the judge. Two men grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the courtroom. Remus cried silently. The two men threw him in a cell, but before they could hurry away Remus said quietly, "Will he be okay?"

One of the men went straight away, but the other one paused. "He'll live," the man hissed, "but hopefully you won't."

"Why thank you for the concern," Remus said sarcastically. The man turned and left.

Remus wiped the last tears from his eyes and looked around the cell. Suddenly he noticed a figure staring at him. Remus gulped and said, "Who are you?"

Sirius Black's eyes grew wide at the sight of his old friend. He wanted to call his name and hug him, but he realized Remus still thought he was guilty. I'll get you, Wormtail, if it's the last thing I do, he thought angrily.

"Who are you?" said Remus quietly. Sirius almost laughed; it was true, he was almost unrecognizable as the young man Remus had gone to Hogwarts with.

"None of your business," Sirius said, wanting to talk to his old friend a little before Remus tried to kill him, which he would most likely do if Sirius told him his name. "And I hear you're Remus Lupin."

"Right you are," Remus sulked, shrinking against the wall.

"What are you in here for?" Sirius asked.

"I'm innocent," Remus said stubbornly. "Innocent, innocent..."

"What a coincidence," Sirius said, grinding his teeth at the thought of Wormtail. "But what are you innocent of?"

"I wouldn't hurt a hair on Harry's head... not James's son... I was framed..."

Sirius went very, very pale. "You mean Harry Potter?"

"Yes... I mean no... I DIDN'T DO IT!" Remus screamed. "It was Malfoy... I was framed... I'm innocent..."

Sirius held up his werewolf friend by the collar and looked him in the eye. "What happened? What did you do?" he hissed.

Remus's eyes went wide. "Why do you care?" he said.

"None of your business. Is Harry okay?"

"He'll live; but if the Ministry has their way, I won't," Remus said glumly.

Sirius let his friend go. "The Kiss?"

Remus nodded glumly. "Yea- why am I telling you this? I don't even know who you are. You're probably mad."

Sirius shook his head slowly. "You know me. I'm not mad. You are if you don't remember me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Remus said firmly. "I don't know anyone who went to Azkaban... except..."

Sirius gave Moony a tight squeeze. "I missed you, Moony."

Remus was mad. Sirius could feel it. An angry werewolf was not good. No, an angry werewolf was just plain dangerous.

"You... Sirius... you..."

"Remus, I'm innocent!" said Sirius. "It was Peter... really... it wasn't me... Moony, look at me. Would I hurt James?"

"Apparently," Remus hissed. Suddenly he collapsed against the wall. "Why, Sirius? Why would you do that?"

"I didn't!" Sirius said. "Look, I can explain... I switched places with Wormtail... Wormtail was the Secret-Keeper, not me... and then the night he betrayed them I found him out, and on the street it was Wormtail, he cut off his finger behind his back, then he blew up the street and transformed... then they caught me and I'm really sorry, Remus, I ruined your life and my life, and I ended Lily's and James's lives." Sirius put his face in his hands. "And now that I've told you, you can kill me anyway because I deserve it for telling James to change Secret-Keepers, so it's really my fault anyway. I should have at least told you or Dumbledore... but I thought you were the spy and I'm sorry Remus please forgive me I was such an idiot."

Remus looked up at his friend, whose eyes were filling with tears. Remus walked over to him and embraced him. "I believe you," Remus whispered. "I'm sorry I ever thought it was you."

"Forgive me, Remus. Forgive me for thinking it was you."

"Not at all, Padfoot."

Sirius smiled, then immediately frowned again. "Damn... you can't... how can I... not without you... damn..."

Remus frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I had a plan, see," Sirius said. "A plan to escape. But I can't do it because you're not an Animagus and believe me, Moony, I'm not leaving you in this hellhole."

Remus frowned. "But... you've been here for eight years, Sirius. Most wizards would lose their powers by now."

Sirius smiled and suddenly Remus was holding onto a big black shaggy dog. "Oh yuck... ew... get off me you stupid prat!"

The dog barked and transformed into his friend. "If that's losing my powers, Snape's going out with a teddy bear."

Remus smiled. "All right... but we still have one problem."

"You can't transform."

"But wait," Remus's face lit up, "I can."

"Yes, I know. I remember. But that's only every full moon, when you lose your mind, remember?"

"Yes, I remember, Padfoot," Remus snapped. "But I can also..." Suddenly instead of a man was a wolf. Sirius gasped.

"I've been working on that," Remus said, changing back. "Read it in a book somewhere..."

Sirius's eyes widened. "Moony, get back... get behind me."

"What-"

"There's a dementor coming," Sirius hissed. "You haven't forgotten your last encounter with a dementor, have you?"

Suddenly Remus felt very faint. He heard screaming in his head.

Remus, Remus, get over here! Behind me! Quick!

Daddy, I'm scared! It's going to bite me!

It'll be all right, son, hold on...

A pain erupted in Remus's arm, where the werewolf had bitten him so many years before. Sirius held onto his friend tightly while the dementor passed. "Remus, it's okay... it's gone."

Remus opened his eyes a tiny bit. "You're the best friend I could ever ask for."

Sirius held on to his friend tightly. "Everything will be all right, Moony. We're going to get out of here."

And eventually they did. They escaped in April of 1994. Later, much later, in the year 2004, with the help of Harry Potter and his friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were cleared. And they lived happily ever after. The end.

By Lily Granger aka

Moony