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xvi. Whole Lotta History

       Hermione moves towards a Hippogriff (a fucking Hippogriff) in the corner of the cave. If that's the one that disappeared last year, that means that's the one her step-cousin tried to get executed. Holly, frowning at it, keeps her distance.

       "Chicken!" says Sirius, opening up the bag Harry's brought. He discards the two newspapers he was holding onto. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."

       Sirius grins at Harry. Holly sees the hesitant smile on Harry's face and she glances away, feeling a little awkward. She exchanges a look with Ron, who also seems to not know what to do.

      "What're you doing here, Sirius?" asks Harry.

       "Fulfilling my duty as godfather," says Sirius, eating the chicken leg. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray..." Holly sees him frown, ever so slightly. "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter... well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

       Ron begins to pick up some of the older copies of the Daily Prophet. Holly glances over his shoulder at them, crossing her arms and trying to keep a hold of this damned bag.

       "What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"

       "You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," says Sirius. He then turns to Holly, and she politely smiles at him. "You must be Holly, then. Harry's mentioned you."

      Holly glances at Harry, who looks panicked. She turns back to Sirius. "Hi," she says. "Um, I couldn't get to the kitchens but I went into Honeydukes on the way over, so, there you go," and she sets the bag on the floor next to him.

      Sirius smiles appreciatively, and he picks out one of the Chocolate Frogs, which Holly doesn't think will taste great, straight after a chicken leg, but she stays quiet. "Your mum was Margo Valen, right?" he asks, and Holly's brows knit together as she nods once. "I thought so, you look like her. She was good friends with my younger brother."

      "Oh," says Holly, and she holds back her desperation, her wish to begin asking question after question to see what her mother was like. Was she nice? What were her favourite sweets? Has she ever read a muggle book, and which one? Did she know about Shakespeare? What's her favourite band? Subject at school? Colour? "I never knew her."

       Holly goes quiet, and she begins to step backwards, but she spots a newspaper on the floor, one with an article on the front page, where most of the headline's been cut off by the way it's folded, but the name Atticus Malfoy sits proudly.

       She picks it up.

ATTICUS MALFOY — DETAILS EMERGE FOLLOWING DEATH

       Well. That's why her friends were quiet this morning.

       Atticus Malfoy, along with his wife Margo Valen were arrested on the twenty-fifth of September 1980, halfway during their wedding reception, for their part in assisting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as Death Eaters. Since 1980, both Malfoy and Valen have been in cells in Azkaban, far away from the rest of the wizarding world — including Malfoy's step-daughter and Valen's daughter, Holliday Lippincott, one of the champions in the Triwizard Tournament. [Turn to page 2 for an update on the tasks.]