#sirius black escapes azkaban

[endinsosuddenly]

you kicked and cried like a bullied child (a grown man of 25)

chapter one - oh god theres a creepy man in a bush oh GOD

sirius isn’t very discreet 

this entire fic was inspired by an artwork by @hannahyesss ! their artwork is amazing please go check them out - please enjoy and excuse the awful writing

ao3

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Harry was sprinting down the street, he could hear his trunk behind him, (and feel it, as it would occasionally nip at his heels.) His hurried breaths seemed like sirens throughout the otherwise silent street. Vernon had knocked the wind out of him earlier, his chest was screaming at him to stop and sit. The cement under his feet seemed like sand as his legs started to ache. sight. He can hear Aunt Marge screaming from above, but he ignores it. He’s running, and running, and finally finds his way next to a playground. 

Listening to the screaming in his chest, Harry sits on the sidewalk and glares moodily at the bench and greenery across the street. Harry’s heart is still racing from everything that just happened. Aunt Marge making his skin bubble with the kind of rage he’d never seen, her blowing up, Uncle Vernon putting his hands on him and Harry finally, finally, running away. After seeing her blow up, Harry ran up to Dudley’s Second Bedroom, packed as fast as he’d ever packed, and changed faster than he’d been running moments before. 

He was bouncing his right leg up and down, and feeling the wind woosh by. His stomach started to tighten as his situation was dawning on him. The bushes and trees rustling in front of him, and rain dropping down into puddles from the wet playground behind him. Harry could hear cars and honking in the distance. The rustling starts to get a little louder, the wind dying down slightly. Harry is put on edge as he hears the rustling in front of him start to get a little violent and he stands, hurriedly. 

Stupidly, he walks a bit closer. Convincing himself it could be a rabbit or maybe even a stray cat. Harry takes his wand out from his pocket and holds it by his side in a defensive stance. The rustling gets louder and Harry squints to see if he could identify whatever was in the bush. 

He’s staring into the green void and leaning closer, he sees two eyes looking back at him.

A dog? No. A human.

And then suddenly the greenery is pushed aside and a man is standing in front of him. Not just any man, no. The man that was on the news earlier, the murderer, who (supposedly) has a gun. Who’s supposed to be ruthless, but is staring at Harry in shock and awe. 

It clicks. “AH! Holy shit!” And out of reflex his fist thrusts forward and into the man's nose.

The man makes a sort of yelp sound and, holding his nose, looks back at Harry and his terrified expression. “Harry! Wait, wait, wait! I’m not here to hurt you!” And despite his aching nose, the man puts his hands up, trying to desperately show Harry he’s not in any danger. 

Harry’s running on adrenaline and fear, “Wow! So convincing!” He steps back and his wand makes its way in front of the man's face. The man, who Harry now notices is covered in grime and in a.. Prison.. Outfit. Which definitely isn’t helping his case. The man's hair is long, just past his waist and slightly damp, he looks frail and is covered in tattoos. Harry recognizes some of them, from research during the past two years at Hogwarts. 

Noticing his eyes wandering, the man speaks up, “Listen, Harry. I..” He swallows,”I’m really not here to hurt you, I don't even have a bloody wand!” At that, Harry searches the man with his eyes and realizes, he doesn't in fact, have a wand. Harry is shocked the man knows about wands and magic when he's supposed to be a muggle criminal. He was on the muggle news just a couple hours ago. 

Harry stares at him and pauses, then questions, “Then why are you.. In the bushes, watching me??” Harry gives him an incredulous look. “It’s complicated.” The man looks at his hair then away. Harry scoffs, “Ok, that’s not really an answer.” He looks back at Harry, “You wouldn't believe me if I told you.” 

Thinking back on the last two years and everything that's happened, Harry rolls his eyes, “Try me.” 

The man sighs,” I was best friends with your father.” Harry’s eyes widen and his wand falters a bit in his hand, despite that, he continues, “James was like my brother, and when you were born, he named me your godfather. I was.. Falsely imprisoned for 13 years the night everything went down.” At the end, the man's voice gets small, almost a whisper, and so does Harry’s when he squeaks out a single, “What?”

He smiles at Harry, a warm smile, “I tried to tell you when I said you wouldn’t believe me.” Harry still stares at him, but lowers his wand. If this man was really a mass murder, then why hadn’t he killed Harry already? He, allegedly, had a gun. It wouldn’t be hard. Harry goes with his gut and lowers the wand, and as he lowers it, the man lowers his hands. 

“I know this must be a lot to take in, and it’s okay if you don't believe me. I didn’t even mean for you to see me.” He says to Harry and has a sympathetic look on his face. “I don’t really know if I should believe you, but if you wanted to kill me, you probably would’ve already done it. We’re alone and it’s dark outside, it would’ve been easy.” At that, the man looks a bit disturbed, “Well.. you won't ever have to worry about that.” He smiles again.

“I think since you already know mine, it would be fair for me to know your name. Then we won't be strangers.” At the word strangers, a strange sadness crosses the man's face. 

“Sirius. My name is Sirius Black.” The man, Sirius, looks at Harry with an odd emotion Harry can’t place. “Ok. Good to know.”

Silence for a moment, the wind rustles along with stray leaves. 

“So.. are you.. on the run?” Harry’s wand lays limp at his side while Sirius looks at his shoes.. Well- the lack of shoes, but at his voice, his eyes snap back up to Harry. “Yes, I saw someone in the paper. Someone who.. It’s a very long story, Harry. But, looking at him brought back a lot of emotions.” Sirius looks at him and he can see a brimming rage beneath his eyes that slightly unsettles Harry, but it’s not directed at him and that’s really what sparks a flicker of trust. Anger that wasn’t directed at him was rare. 

Although still untrustful, Harry can’t help but sense a familiarity. Like when someone tells you they used to babysit you, even though you don’t remember them, there’s a foggy memory anyway. That feeling is very rare to Harry, never really meeting anyone who’s been close to his family in a way that mattered. Sure, people mentioned them in passing and compared him to his parents but never anyone he could remember, even if foggy and very slight.

Harry can hear Hermione’s insistent voice in the back of his head saying, ‘Harry! He’s a convict, you can't trust him! Think about this.’ But he can also hear his own voice saying ‘This man could be a link to your parents. This might be worth it.’ And so, as per usual, Harry tunes out Hermione’s voice,”Come on.” He motions to Sirius to follow him, and turns around to see Sirius standing there in shock, “C’mon!” 

At Harry’s command, Sirius picks up his feet and follows the boy, “Where .. where are we going?” Harry stops short, because to be honest, he’s not sure. Sirius almost slams into him, due to Harry just stopping, and the boy stops to think for a second.

His aunt and uncle most likely have gone to look for Marge, they're probably driving around hollering for her, and despite his wishes, Dudley probably would’ve gone with them. And last year, when Dobby had done accidental magic, no one had showed up at his house, so Harry thinks he's safe there. But, there was nowhere else they could really go, especially not with Sirius being a convicted criminal, currently on the run. Harry began to panic slightly, it was either the Dursleys or nowhere. 

“I don’t know. There’s nowhere we can really go without people recognizing you.” Harry swallows and looks over to Sirius, who has an amused look on his face. ‘What?” 

His question is answered when suddenly he’s watching Sirius’ body transform and instead of Sirius standing there, there’s a dog. “What.” He’s staring at the black dog in front of him in complete shock, and then he blinks and Sirius is once again standing in front of him. “What.. what was that???” 

At that, there’s a surprised look on Sirius’ face. “You don’t know what an animagus is?” Harry shakes his head, “Surely someone must have told you..?” Sirius looks confused. 

Harry shrugs,“They never taught us about them in school.” 

“They’re not.. common but they’re not incredibly rare, either. All these years living in the magical world, you’ve never heard of them?” Sirius has a troubled look on his face.

“I was really only introduced to the Wizarding World 2 years ago, Sirius. My aunt and uncle never really said anything or let me learn anything about it before I went to Hogwarts.” Harry says, casually. 

“What.” 

Confused, Harry continues,”They weren’t too keen on anything magical, so…” 

Sirius rubs his hands down his face,”Okay um.. We’ll talk about this.. Later. For now, we can’t just stand out in the open.”Sirius starts mumbling, “I always knew Petunia and Vernon were complete assholes but Merlin…”

And that cements it in Harry’s mind, someone actually acknowledging that his relatives are horrible, and the fact that Sirius actually knew. This means he.. Sirius knew Harry’s dad but he also knew his mom. “You’ve met them?”

“Once, it was very unpleasant.” Harry stares at him in awe. But is shaken out of it when the wind starts to pick up again.

“We should go,” Harry thinks of a split second plan,”Okay, you’ll transform and we’ll go to my aunt and uncle's house. We’ll give you a .. makeover or something, definitely cutting your hair, so you’re not as recognizable and then .. I don't really know. We'll figure it out.” Harry’s hands are swinging around as he’s talking and Sirius is nodding all the way through, “Okay. Decent plan, better than any I've got. We should go, before someone sees us from outside their window.” 

Harry nods and grabs his trunk, Sirius transforms, and they're off. 

As they’re walking, Harry can’t help but help but think about how weird this all is. He’s helping a convicted felon, who (apparently) is his dad’s former best friend. Who can transform into a dog. His mind races with ‘what-ifs?’ and thoughts of Sirius deceiving him. But before he can convince himself this was a bad idea, they arrive on Privet Drive, and Harry spots number 4. 

“Ok. Their car is gone so they must be gone. Vernon’s car is always loud when he pulls in, so we’ll know.” Harry tries the front door and groans when he finds it locked. “Here, come on.” He mentions Sirius to follow him to the backyard. Harry climbs over the fence, having years of experience due to running from Dudley and his friends. 

Once over, Harry unlocks the large gate door and lets the dog in, then grabs his trunk. Dudley sneaks out at night to go do God knows what with his friends, so he always puts a key under the backyard mat on their porch. Making it around, Harry reaches under the mat and pulls out the key, then unlocks their backdoor. Motioning Sirius to go first, Harry follows, puts the key back then locks the door behind him when he walks in. 

Harry stops for a minute, Sirius goes still as well, and once he hears nothing, he knows Dudley left as well. Vernon and Dudley aren’t exactly subtle or quiet, and Petunia follows her Diddykins whenever she can so Harry knows it's safe to talk as they please.

Harry makes sure to close the blinds and curtains before turning back over to the dog, “Okay, were good. You can turn back to a human now,” and Sirius does so.

“Are you sure they’re gone?” The man's eyes flicker up towards the staircase, cautious. “Yeah, they aren’t exactly subtle in any way. And the walls are thin, so yeah, we're safe.” Harry advises him then remembers what they’re here for. 

“Okay, come upstairs with me and we’ll start looking for clothes.” Sirius nods and follows Harry as he leaves his trunk downstairs and they make their way upstairs. Harry takes light steps, and so does Sirius. Always running on cautious energy. Harry reaches for his aunt and uncle's room at the start of the hallway and pushes open the door, blinking in the darkness of the previously closed room. 

Reaching in and flicking the light switch, Harry takes in the very dull, very boring room. With only a dresser and a bed, accompanied with nightstands by the sides. Harry moves over to the dresser to pick out some clothes for Sirius, “I think your clothes would fit me better than your uncles.” Sirius chuckles slightly, while taking in the dull room. “Trust me, I’ve only a handful of clothes that aren’t my Hogwarts uniforms or Dudley’s second-hand clothes and I don’t think they would fit you, you’re way taller than I am.”

Sirius frowns at this, deeply and before he can get out a question, Harry finds a decent outfit. “Aha!” Harry holds up the bland, blue, button down shirt and a pair of beige slacks, “Here.” He hands them over to Sirius, while turning around to look for socks and shoes. 

Sirius holds up the clothes with a very distasteful look on his face, the shirt is smaller than he thought, “Is this shirt really your uncles? Last time I saw Vernon.. He definitely looked.. Well..” Harry lets out an amused huff, “No, it’s my aunts. I thought it would fit you better than anything Vernon has.” 

The man laughs, “You’d be right.” After rummaging for a little bit more, Harry finds some black socks to accompany the outfit and next to the dresser, a pair of his uncle’s loafers. Then Harry grabs a belt that was very poorly thrown onto their dresser. 

“That should be good.” Sirius looks over the clothes and grimaces, “Definitely not my usual style..” 

Harry deadpans, “I don’t really think you can complain about clothes right now.”

Sirius, still grimacing, nods, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Before Sirius can say anything else Harry intervenes, “You should shower first, you still have.. grime all over you. Plus, it’s easier to cut wet hair.” 

Sirius nods, “Could you show me to the bathroom?” Then Harry nods and motions for him to follow. As they walk out of the bedroom, Harry turns off the light and closes the door as if nothing happened. Harry walks across the hall and opens the bathroom door, walking in, he squints after turning on the bathroom light and seeing the bright white light. The bathroom is small, with only a toilet, a bath that can also be a shower and a sink with a mirror that has a cabinet when you open it, but also very dull and plain. It’s mostly white with only a couple baby blue accessories to give it some color. “Here, one second.”

Harry walks out of the bathroom and turns right to the very end of the hall, now facing a closet at the very end. Their linen closet is filled with towels and other various household supplies. Grabbing a towel, Harry then turns back into the bathroom and hands it to Sirius. “Thanks, Harry.” Harry nods in a ‘no problem,’”I’ll leave you to shower. I’m gonna go and watch out, in case they come back.” Sirius nods and smiles at him. Harry smiles back as he closes the door.

This gives him some time to think, and as he hears the water run, he goes into his ‘room’. Peeking out the window Harry gets lost in thought. He thinks about the upcoming year and what he’s going to do. Someone must know that he’s run away by now, and Dumbledore definitely knows. He wonders if he’ll be expelled or worse for performing magic while not in school, but Harry doesn't know the Wizarding laws that well, so it causes him to further panic. 

Harry also doesn't know what he thinks about the man he basically is helping run from the government. There’s no way for him to really confirm that Sirius isn’t lying to him to try and .. kill him. But somehow he doesn't think Sirius is like that. Harry paces his room, thinking about questions he could ask Sirius to confirm his claims, but it’s hard when Harry himself doesn't know anything about his parents that's not common knowledge. 

Harry didn’t notice the shower stopping minutes before, too lost in thought about what he’s gotten himself into, so Sirius’ voice sounds louder than ever, “Harry?” The boy in question flinches, “Shit! Sirius, you scared me.” At that, Sirius smiles in apology, and Harry takes a look at the man. 

He’s dressed in the clothes Harry gave him and it makes him look a lot different. Sirius is clean now, no longer covered in leaves and grime. The button down fits him well, while the slacks are a bit big and they are a bit on the floor, Sirius’ long legs make them seem smaller than they are. He has the button down pulled up on his forearms and 3 buttons undone, giving Harry a good look at his tattoos. He’s holding the shoes in one hand while the socks are on his feet. The towel is hanging from Sirius’ forearm. The only thing keeping Sirius from looking like an ‘upstanding citizen’ is his long hair, now wet but still past his waist, and the very prominent ink on his body. Harry realizes his aunt and uncle could be back at any time, “We should hurry to cut your hair, they could be back soon.” Sirius nods in agreement, “Right.” 

They make their way back into the bathroom where it smells damp and the air feels moist from the hot shower, “You look different this way,” Harry says, mostly absent-mindedly. “How so?” Sirius responds, then chuckles when Harry answers,”Well, you don’t look like a criminal anymore,” then he reaches out and touches a piece of Sirius’ hair,”Well, except for the mop.” Sirius lets out a bark of laughter, which causes Harry to flinch back slightly, “Sorry, sorry.” Still chuckling slightly, Sirius apologizes for scaring the boy.

“You should sit down on the toilet, it’ll be easier for me to reach.” Sirius nods, and while Harry opens the mirror/cabinet above the sink, he sets down the toilet lid and sits. Finding nothing, Harry huffs in frustration. “Wait here,” and before Sirius can respond, Harry is rushing downstairs to get the kitchen scissors. Which, he should’ve known he would have to use those, Aunt Petunia always cuts his hair with kitchen scissors. Well, it’s more Harry cutting his own hair now, God knows if Harry were to let his aunt she would shave all his hair off just to embarrass him. Grabbing the scissors, Harry rushes back upstairs. 

Harry enters the bathroom, “Okay.” He sighs out,”Let’s… let's do this.” Standing in front of Sirius, Harry looks at him to see what he wants to do. Sirius cuts off his train of thought,”Do I get any say in the matter of my own hair?” Harry can hear the amusement coming from the man's voice. “Oh, is there a specific hairdo you wanted, your highness?” Harry puts on his most posh English voice possible, which causes another sharp bark of laughter to erupt from Sirius. Harry doesn't flinch this time. Sirius chuckles out his response,”Haha, that was great. But I do have a request.” 

“And what would that be?” Harry raises his eyebrows, hoping whatever Sirius asks for he can provide,”I still want to keep it long, could you cut it shoulder length?” Harry internally sighs in relief,”Yeah, I can do that.” Sirius smiles at him, “Great, thank you.” 

Harry examines the man for a bit longer, trying to figure out how to make it work. He’s not a barber, but cutting his own hair for years has given him some experience. He takes turns cutting little snippets of Sirius’ hair, making sure to make them all even. During this, Sirius speaks up, “I just wanted to say..” He sighs out,”Thank you. For believing in me, for helping me.” Harry falters a bit, at the sudden heartfelt thanks but continues cutting,”All these years, I thought that, no one would ever believe me. But…” His words get softer, and waver slightly, “You took one look at me and decided to believe me. Thank you, Harry, really.” 

Harry’s shocked, partly because this was so sudden and part because no adults ever really spoke to him like this. Sure, his teachers (well.. some) were nice to him, and Dumbledore was always kind, but never this heartfelt. 

“It’s.. It’s okay. You're welcome.” Harry manages to choke out while continuing to snip parts of his hair. Sirius smiles at him and Harry is now cutting the front of his hair. Making his bangs look like curtains in a way, but after he’s done with the bangs, he speaks again, “I think you’re done.” Harry reaches back into the cabinet/mirror, and pulls out a compact mirror, then hands it to Sirius. “Here you go.”

Sirius looks shocked,”Wow.. You.. you actually did a pretty good job.” Now, with the haircut, Sirius looks normal. He looks younger and fresher than he did before, his hair now framing his handsome face and sitting at his shoulders. Sirius’ wet hair is starting to curl and Harry notices a little white streak that runs through it, and decides to ask about it later. 

“Surprised?” Harry says, very smug. “Very,” Sirius responds in awe. 

After examining himself in the mirror, Sirius hands it back, and then Harry puts it back in the cabinet. Sirius sighs and Harry looks at him, “We should..” Sirius looks around,”We should go to Gringotts. I need money, and we can stop by Grimmauld.” Harry opens his mouth to ask what that is before Sirius intervenes,”But. Harry, I want you to think about this.”

Sirius stands up from the toilet and Harry looks up at him. “You don’t have to come with me. Just what you’ve done for me now is enough. I don’t want you to risk everything for me, but if you want to come, I won't stop you. Please, Please, Please.” He looks at Harry, intensely and sincerely, “Please think about this before you decide.”

Harry struggles for a minute, but not for long. Sirius is weird, and he treats Harry with genuine kindness. Sirius is his dads best friend. He’s giving him a choice. Sirius is giving him.. A choice. “No, I’m coming with you. I’ve made up my mind.”

Sirius smiles in relief, “Okay. Good.” They look at each other for a moment before Harry is shaken out of his thoughts, realizing that his aunt and uncle are probably going to be here soon. “We should go, like. Now.” Harry says, in an urgent voice.”

Sirius nods, looking determined and ready, “Alright. Off to Gringotts.”