I don't own Harry Potter or Characters, only this fanfiction's plot

Only going to say this once, this story is in 3rd person, so sorry if you're that one weirdo who likes first person

Sirius leaned against the stone wall of his holding cell, hysterical laughter having faded to somewhat loud sobbing as the weight of all that had happened seemed to suffocate him more than any Dementor could even dream of attempting.

It had been all his fault, he suggested it, he thought it was ingenious: the ravenclaw in him, James had said. He'd never felt more stupid.

It had all been Peter, he'd been the traitor, he'd been throwing hints and shade at other members of the Order, trying to make him more paranoid. Paranoid enough to think Remus, their Remus of all people, could have possibly been a Death Eater of all things.

His only solace was that Harry was safe, he was probably on his way to Alice and Frank's: The Longbottoms were good people, Sirius knew they'd give him a bottle and everything would seem like a terrible nightmare to the lad.

Sirius was so enveloped in his own grievances he didn't even notice the tall man walk into his cell until his familiar drawl resounded off of the walls, "Dear Lord, Sirius I'd have thought you'd have more respect than this."

Looking up Sirius felt like laughing all over again, there his grandad stood, he really was in hell.

"Get up," Arcturus said suddenly, "I've gotten you out on bail, we'll talk more about your little scene once we're somewhere that doesn't insult my sensibilities."

Sirius mind went blank, "What..?"

Shaking his head Arcturus hauled him to his shaky feet, talking about how he, "Had some decent robes for him to put on before they braved the public," but Sirius barely registered it.

He didn't register anything for a while, the glare the aurors gave him while he signed some forms, or the robes his grandad gave him to put on, he didn't even register the crowds of bustling witches and wizards as he was steered towards the floo.

No, Sirius' mind didn't register much of anything, not for a while that is.

Sitting in a chair in Grimmauld's Place Sirius shakily accepted a cup of tea from his grandad as the older man sat infront of him. Sipping his drink Sirius steeled his nerves as he asked the question which he knew he didn't really want the answer to.

"Why did you pay my bail?"

Voice weaker, more meek than he intended, Sirius was still somewhat impressed that it didn't crack as he spoke. Arcturus raised an eyebrow as he contemplated his grandson, the man looked as shell-shocked as one could get.

"You're the only heir the Noble and most Ancient House of Black has, I wasn't going to just let them throw you in without a trial. I expect you to behave from now on, of course, but that's a small price to pay when your alternative is Azkaban."

"I deserve Azkaban."

Lip twitching Arcturus frowned, "Now don't tell me you went through all the trouble of joining He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and turning your friends over to him, only to croak after the fact?"

"I didn't do it."

"Hmm?"

Setting his tea cup roughly on the table Sirius stood in front of his grandad on shaky legs, eyes flashing dangerously as his jaw clenched and, not unlike his mother, face became a furious shade of red as his temper failed to reigned in, and as expected he began shouting,

"I would have sooner died and dance my way to hell with a chicken on my head before I joined Voldemort-" here Arcturus visibly winced, "-Let alone sending him after my brother and his BABY! Do I really strike you as the kind of guy who would kill a BABY?!"

Slumping back on the coach Sirius felt his steam run out, mumbling under his breath, "That filthy rat, however trustworthy he may seem, apparently is.. I'm such an idiot.." tears started falling again as Sirius shook, threatening to break out in a new fit of sobs.

"We're going to have to prove that Sirius, your bail is only good for a week, then you'll have to go to trial. I will ask you not waste my money and get a hold of yourself."

Jumping slightly Sirius looked up at his grandad, who now stood above him with a look of disappointment on his face, a look he hadn't seen since his sorting.

"You claim you didn't betray your friends, that you never even joined He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Yet you're willing to go to jail for another man's crime? The same man who is responsible for the deaths of your supposed brother?" Pinching the bridge of his nose Arcturus let out a pained sigh, "Does Azkaban just sound fun to you? Do you have some sort of Dementor fetish we don't know about? Or is this some new attempt at rebelling against us? Because I can't think of anything short of retardation that would make a so-called innocent man think prison sounds like the right spot to spend the rest of his miserable life."

"I don't want to go to Azkaban, grandad.. I just deserve it, I killed my fri-..Friends.."

Sighing Arcturus sat beside Sirius, gently grabbing the boy by his chin and brushing his arrogant grandson's hair back so that Sirius had no choice but to look him directly in his eyes, "Now Sirius, can you honestly sit here and tell me you think it's a logical train of thought to claim you both killed the Potter's, and yet didn't betray them?"

"If I had agreed to be their secret keeper- if I hadn't suggested-"

"It was still their own decisions to follow whatever boneheaded advice you gave them," Arcturus said as if he was stating that the earth was round, before narrowing his eyes and adding in a more serious tone of voice,"Quite frankly, they shouldn't have even asked you to put yourself in that much danger to begin with."

Sirius fell silent, so Arcturus finally asked, "Did you or did you not raise your wand towards James Potter and his excuse of a wife?"

Putting his tongue in his cheek Sirius shook his head.

"Then you didn't kill him, plain as. That makes this entire thing a bit easier, now-" standing up Arcturus clapped his hands together and called a certain House Elf, who looked just about as pissed as can be to see Sirius. "Kreacher, if you will please go fetch the rest of the family. I'll need them if this plan is going to work."

Sirius wanted to ask the question, "what will work?" But in reality he already knew what his grandad was planning, he had already admitted to it, hadn't he?

Arcturus Black was going to keep him out of Azkaban.

First chapter of my first story, I've always loved the classic Sirius-Raises-Harry-cliche, so I've decided to subvert the trope by adding in the Black family along with some other surprises further down the line

Obviously, we don't know much about most of Sirius' family members, but alas, for I will fill in the blanks to the best of my humble abilities. The main change from canon is that Arcturus cares more about furthering his families bloodline, interested or not I'll be updating this in due time.

Enjoy lol