Stay - Mattheo Riddle

Chapter 86

'So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?' came Madam Rosmerta's voice.

Kirra watches as Fudge's thick body twists in his chair as though he was checking for eavesdroppers. 

Then he said in a quiet voice, 'What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Hallowe'en?'

'I did hear a rumour,' admitted Madam Rosmerta. 

'Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?' said Professor McGonagall exasperatedly.

'Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?' whispered Madam Rosmerta.

'I'm sure of it,' said Fudge shortly.

'You know that the Dementors have searched my pub twice?' said Madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. 'Scared all my customers away ... it's very bad for business, Minister.' 

'Rosmerta, m'dear, I don't like them any more than you do,' said Fudge uncomfortably. 'Necessary precaution ... unfortunate, but there you are ... I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore – he won't let them inside the castle grounds.'

'I should think not,' said Professor McGonagall sharply. 'How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?'

'Hear, hear!' squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground. 'We are lucky that Kirra Potter was there otherwise things could have gone very badly'

'All the same,' demurred Fudge, 'they are here to protect you all from something much worse ... we all know what Black's capable of ...'

'Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,' said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. '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,' said Fudge gruffly. 'The worst he did isn't widely known.'

'The worst?' said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with curiosity. 'Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?'

'I certainly do,' said Fudge.

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

'You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta,' murmured Professor McGonagall. 'Do you remember who his two best friends were?'

'Naturally,' said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. '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 triple act, Sirius Black, Emily Barnes and James Potter! It was a real shock when she ended up with the brother I must admit, I mean Sirius and Emily were soulmates!'

Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk and Emily choked on her drink again as her friends looked at her, Jasper's jaw was basically touching the table. 

'Precisely,' said Professor McGonagall. 'Black, Barnes and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. The three of them were very bright, of course – exceptionally bright, in fact – but I don think we've ever had group a pair of troublemakers –'

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

'You'd have thought Black, Barnes and Potter were siblings!' chimed in ProfessorFlitwick. 'Inseparable!'

'Of course they were,' said Fudge. 'Potter trusted Black and Barnes beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man and Emily was the maid of honour when James married Lily. Then they named them both godparents to Kirra... even though Emily was dead... and who would have thought that Emily Barnes would have been reincarnated as a product of James and Lily Potter... that cant be a coincidence. And they made Remus the Godfather of Harry. Kirra and Harry have no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment them.'