SABAISM | H. POTTER

SEVENTEEN. | SETBACK FROM GAIETY

"Don't be nonsensical, I am brilliant in situations like these," the lioness faintly quipped; pulling out her wand, "Mobiliarbus!" The Christmas tree beside their table rose a few inches off of the ground, drifted sideways, and landed with a soft thump right in front of their table...hiding them from view. "Bloody brilliant indeed," Harry breathed; previous discontent wearing off at her genius. - Peering through the dense lower branches of the topiary, Harry and Gemini saw four sets of chair legs move back from the table right beside theirs; hearing the grunts and sighs of the teachers and Minister as they sat down. Next they observed an additional pair of extremities, decorated in sparkly turquoise heels, saunter up to the assorted bunch. "Madam Rosmerta," Gemini knowingly muttered. "Were you so engaged in your observance that you're now able to recognize her from shoes alone?," Harry griped; annoyance turning back. The female fervently hushed the, unknowingly, jealous boy.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?," the waitress inquired; doling out their beverage orders. At this trivial query; the spying duo observed the lowest section of Fudge's thick body twist as though he were checking for eavesdroppers. Then, in a reticent tone, the Minister revealed, "Well, as lovely as it is to see you m'dear, I am afraid that I am here on much more...austere circumstances. -We have a killer on the loose, you know." The barmaid respired in antiphon, "Sirius Black? In Hogsmeade! What would bring him here?" Fudge replied instantaneously, "Harry Potter." Then, with a clear of McGonagall's throat, the man reluctantly sneered,"...and Gemini Lupin-Black." How ironic it was that the gossip being exchanged, meant to be in chambers, regarded the two listening in.

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully recognized, "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. - And to prowl after not only his own daughter...but Harry Potter as well? Too difficult to imagine! Especially when you consider who his best friend was back in those days. Never saw one without the other, did you? Well, unless he was with that boyfriend of his. 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's limb automatically withdrew from the female beside him, and Gemini couldn't deduce if it was the announcement that activated a cold chill within the pit of her stomach or if it was her best friend's reaction. "What?," Harry brokenly asked; Ron kicking at him to squelch the raising tone.

"Precisely," confirmed Professor McGonagall, "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!" Hagrid and Flitwick straight away chuckled. "I don't know," the giant disagreed, "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money!" The homunculus hiccuped; adding, "Let us not forget Gemini Lupin-Black, herself. The head honcho of the Weasley twins. Why, a combination of Remus Lupin's intelligence and Sirius Black's devil-may-care...those two would be little competition for her." - In that moment, paying no attention to the problem at hand, Gemini regarded the Head of Ravenclaw's House as her favorite teacher. - "Too much like her Mother," Fudge grimaced; evident disgust layering his tone, "I am telling you, Minerva, that girl must have played a helping hand in Sirius Black's break-in on Halloween. It is the only plausible explanation. - I wouldn't think Remus Lupin of such an act, considering his action in relinquishing the Black title and fortune." Professor McGonagall harrumphed at this, "So you mean to suggest, Cornelius, that a young lady, of thirteen years of age, successfully smuggled a perpetrator, who is out to get her as well might I add, into an ancient castle encompassed by powerful wards she's yet to learn of? Excuse me if I am far enough too wise to ever be of the same mind as you on this." Damn. Professor Flitwick may now be Gemini's revered teacher, but Minnie would always be her favorite Grandmother.

"You'd have thought Potter and Black were brothers. Inseparable, of course," chimed in Fudge; overlooking disrespect sent his way because no one went against Minerva McGonagall, "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 James godfather to Gemini. - The two have no idea, of course. As agreed upon. You can imagine how the idea would torment those adolescents. Especially considering...considering the two have portrayed themselves to be so close." Madam Rosmerta, who sat on the edge of the stool she'd dragged up, questioningly whispered, "The children don't know because of how Sirius Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who? Why is that? Gemini knew from an early age of the maternal relation, from what I've heard." The curator frustratingly sighed, "We tried to guide Mr. Lupin in the direction of concealing the girl's true identity from her, but the man refused. Something about not allowing her to ever feel ashamed for what she was for she couldn't help it. Bullocks if you ask me! But, no. The reasoning is much worse than that m'dear." Fudge then dropped his voice, proceeding in a sort of low rumble, and disclosed, "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. - It is an immensely complex spell. It involves the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or SecretKeeper, and is henceforth impossible to find...unless the SecretKeeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where the Potter family stayed for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"

"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?," Madam Rosmerta asked the question the eavesdroppers so wished to know. "Naturally," Professor McGonagall affirmed, "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself with his husband and newborn child...and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself. He suspected Black, you see. He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements. - But James Potter insisted on using Black. And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed...Black betrayed them." The Minister heavily exhaled, "And I fear we have another case on our hands...a Potter and a Black. Why do they always seem to gravitate towards one another?"

Gemini felt the stare of her friend burning into the side of her skull. Guardedly turning, the young Lupin-Black faced an impetuous Harry Potter. "Darling?," she softly questioned; having an aversion to this unfamiliar look. "Get away from me, Black," The Boy-Who-Lived hissed; causing the female to recoil as though she'd been slapped, "He was their friend! Their friend, Gemini. And he betrayed them. - How am I to know you won't do the same to me? After all, not even an hour ago, did you direct me down an arcane pathway that the murderer knew of. You even recognized that he was aquatinted with the passage when revealing to me he was a creator of that map. Perhaps...perhaps some part of you wished he would've been down there to capture me." Gemini automatically smacked the boy across the face. How dare he. "Get your head out of your arse, Potter," she seethed; glowering at him as he cupped his bruising cheek, "I have done nothing but defend and protect you. Whilst I admit it slipped my mind that my Mother could've, possibly, been down there...I never dragged you there on the foundation of ill intent. And if he would've been there, I would've fought to shield you, even if it meant my own life was in harm's way. I thought at least you of everyone knew that. - Also, I have told you time and time again that I hardly know anything of my parents' past. It is also news to me that our parents were so close, that James Potter was my godfather, that my Mum...ALL OF IT! It was to my understanding that Sirius Black was locked away for the murder of thirteen muggles." The Boy-Who-Lived gulped; realizing the damage he'd caused in his bout of anger, "Gem," he whispered. "No," she bristled; irascible tears forming at the corner of silver orbs, "You do not have the right to call me that. It is Black to you, Potter. Remember? Since my countless acts of care for you have gone unnoticed by your assumption of me. - Now, since you've all made me out to be the villian...might as well fit into my role. If you'll excuse me." Then, snatching the boy's cloak away from him, Gemini scampered away from the scene. Furious tears trailing down her face as a flurry of footprints appeared in the snow. Why couldn't she just be happy.