MAGIANIMA // Hermione Granger

A Means To An End

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," Madam Rosmerta said thoughtfully and Atlas halted, the chocolate frog flailing in her hand, "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought...I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," Fudge said gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known."

Atlas's heart clenched painfully, her eyes going slightly wider as she dropped the frog and didn't even notice as it hopped away. She pulled her hand from Hermiones as it grew numb, clasping them together as a bulb a little ways away burst unexpectedly and a row of mugs shattered where they were displayed. Many people startled but soon went back to their drinks when a renowned troublemaker at the bar was kicked out of the pub, accused of being the one to do so.

"The worst?" Madam Rosmerta said and the curiosity in her voice made Atlas sick. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

That further made her stomach churn as she tried, desperately, to calm herself down.

"I certainly do," Fudge said.

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"

"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," Minerva murmured and the sadness in her voice made Atlas's heartbreak, she'd never spoken about Sirius Black, nor her mother in length, always shifted the topic when she asked, so hearing her talk about it felt foreign and wrong. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," Rosmerta laughed cheerily as if they weren't discussing a man who'd ruined Atlas's life and many others, "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here -- ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Harry dropped his tankard, with a loud clunk, on Atlas's foot and the girl went ridged herself, going through exercises in her head. Her mother had spoken about it in her journal, touched on Sirius and James, their friendship but Atlas had never known they were so close, always assumed they were just housemates.

"Precisely," Minerva said and her input still irked Atlas. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course -- exceptionally bright, in fact -- but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers --"

"I dunno," Hagrid chuckled. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" Professor Flitwick chimed in. "Inseparable!"

"Of course they were," Fudge grumbled as if it were obvious. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry and Black named James godfather to Atlas. The children have no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment them."

And it did, Atlas's eyes were now swimming with tears, threatening full flooding as she continued listening. Her hands were no longer pouring pure magic, she was, instead, too numb to truly process the clenching of her heart. Hermione was there, carefully and slowly pulling her into a hug, giving her space to reject it but Atlas was frozen solid. Ron had his hand on Harry's shoulder beneath the table, no doubt comforting him too. Merlin knew they needed it.

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" Madam Rosmerta whispered.

"Worse even than that, m'dear..." Fudge dropped his voice and Atlas braced herself, closing her eyes tight as a few tears spilt over her cheeks, "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was, of course, working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."