Harry Potter was torn. Two nights ago, he had met his godfather, Sirius Black! He discovered the so-called dangerous, murdering, Death-Eater convict was not dangerous, had never murdered, fought against Death Eaters in the last war, and was never given a trial and so was never actually convicted of any crime. He was a genuinely cheerful fellow, or at least, as cheerful as an innocent person who spent 12 years in jail could be. The fact that he was still capable of laughter, and love, spoke wonders of his character. This was the man who could be his godfather! Harry was so excited, he could barely contain himself... if it weren't for the other events that happened that night.
The real criminal, Peter Pettigrew, had escaped. Without proof, Sirius was still a criminal, and Harry would never be able to live with him, walk down the streets with him, go shopping or play quidditch with him... and he blamed Snape. That slimy, greasy, git of a professor who could hold grudges across generations was the one who messed everything up and let Peter get away. Minister Cornelius Fudge wouldn't take his, nor Dumbledore's, word on the matter out of fear of a tarnished image from admitting a miscarriage of justice.
On top of that, his first decent Defense professor, Remus Lupin, was already packing up to leave. He, along with Sirius, were Harry's last living connections to his father and mother. He could have stayed at Hogwarts- never mind the rumoured curse on that particular teaching position- but now everyone knew about his... monthly fur problem. Once again, this loss was due to Snape and Fudge again. Snape, just because Remus was James Potter's friend, decided to complain to the ministry that he was a werewolf. Fudge, being the prejudiced minister that he was, immediately forced him out of the position, despite another two weeks of school term remaining. Sure, most of the students wouldn't be affected, as most exams were nearly finished, but there wouldn't be another full moon until summer break already started, and even during the school year, the full moons were never a problem anyways.
Harry could have had everything. Now he was back to square one. He felt a pang of hopelessness, sensing everything he gained kept being snatched from him. Sitting in the Gryffindor common room, half-moping, half-dozing to himself, he didn't notice Ron approach.
"You alright, mate? You should cheer up! Did you hear? Sirius Black managed to get-"
"Ron?" Harry's head jerked up and whipped around. He forgot about telling Ron about what happened later that night. Hermione's time-turner was supposed to be a secret, as Dumbledore explained, but he did say it was alright to tell Ron. But then again, it was Hermione's secret, but she hadn't bothered to tell him just yet...
"-away, right from the dementors. I wonder how he did it? He was tied up in the room, wasn't he? But then again, he-"
"Ron!" Harry didn't want to explain everything right now. Yes, he had just gained a godfather, but he had lost him just as quickly.
"-escaped from Azkaban, so I guess it's not much of a surprise..." Ron was just rambling now. It seemed he had nobody to talk to about the events in the Shrieking Shack, and just decided to spill everything on Harry as soon as he got out of the infirmary.
"RON!" Harry stood up and grabbed Ron's shoulder, looking straight into Ron's eyes. "Look, Ron, I know a lot of stuff happened, but... I just don't want to talk about it right now. I need some time alone to think about all this, alright? I'll... uh... I'll talk to you when I'm ready. But not now. I... um... I just need to go for a walk alone. I'll see you at dinner?"
Harry stepped through the tunnel as the Fat Lady swung out of the way for him. He could hear Ron already talking to the next nearest Gryffindor about that night- with a few embellishment and omissions, of course. Taking the Marauder's Map out from his pocket and tapping it with his wand, he said the key words, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The map revealed all of Hogwarts and the people inside. Briefly looking around to see what parts of the castle were devoid of dots, he realized how hard it really was to find some solace in the castle. In the late afternoon on a weekend, most of the kids had just returned from Hogsmeade and were wandering the halls or even using some of the empty classrooms to talk about their day. I guess I could always visit Myrtle, he thought. I'd technically be the only living soul in that bathroom...
Harry had made it to the doors just outside the second floor bathroom when he heard the moaning. "It's such a shame that Black character didn't get Harry... then he could have stayed here with me in the toilets..." He stopped. He definitely wasn't going to go in there.
Wandering down to the front doors, Harry couldn't avoid overhearing more and more conversations about Sirius, Professor Lupin, or Peter Pettigrew.
"...he got away! That guy's one sly bastard." Harry knew they were talking about Sirius, but that was exactly how he felt about Peter.
"...they're removing the dementors? About time. They weren't doing any good anyways. He snuck inside the castle twice, months ago!" Harry never thought about that. It was obvious Dementors were doing a far better job of attacking the students (and him in particular) than catching Sirius. Fudge must have been particularly stupid to keep them on the grounds.
"...shame that Peter Pettigrew and Potter won't get to see justice done." Harry didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard that one.
"...packing up already? There's still two weeks to go! I have NEWTs next year! I need to learn all I can!" A Ravenclaw passing by reminded Harry of his Defense professor.
"...taking the dementors away? Black's still out there! We need proper protection!" Now who in Hogwarts could have been as dumb as the minister? Right, the Head Boy, Percy Weasley. Best to avoid him for the next little while.
"...werewolf! I can't believe Dumbledore let one in the school. We could have been mauled! This is outrageous!" Harry really needed to get away from everyone before he blew his top and began hexing everyone in sight. He wanted to tell everyone the truth: Remus was a good person, Sirius was innocent, Snape let his parents' betrayer get away. He couldn't, though, since it would just lead to more questions, and then everyone would find out about Hermione's time-turner and his role in Sirius' escape.