Miss Gryffindor || h. potter (re-writting)

21

"I did hear a rumor," Rosmerta admitted 
"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" McGonagall teased exasperatedly. 
"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" Rosmerta whispered 
"I'm sure of it," Fudge nodded 

"You know that the dementors have searched the whole village twice? Scared all my customers away. . . . It's very bad for business, Minister." Rosmerta informed the minister. 
'Rosmerta, m'dear, I don't like them any more than you do," Fudge admitted "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," McGonagall responded sharply "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"
"Hear, hear!" Flitwick chimed in agreement
"All the same," Fudge muttered "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, 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 gruffly stated 
"The worst he did isn't widely known," 

"The worst?" Rosmerta asked laced with curiosity "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"
"I certainly do," Fudge nodded 
"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"
"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta" McGonagall muttered "Do you remember who his best friend was"
"Naturally," Rosmerta agreed 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 double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Aria heard Harry drop his tankard with a loud clunk causing Ron to kick him under the table as Aria chewed nervously on the inside of her cheeks debating if she wanted to stay and here more about this or run off and leave for suspense. But then again, this was her and Harry's fathers after all. Whether she liked it or not. 

"Precisely," McGonagall nodded "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 and with Aria Anderson by their side.. well you'd have to say..." 
"It runs in the family," McGonagall muttered 

"Wait -- you're telling me that Sirius Black has a kid?" Rosmerta questioned skeptically, "Do you ever think that possibly she was the one to let her father into Hogwarts?"
Aria felt her stomach drop at this, feeling Hermione's concerned gaze from next to her. 
Hagrid shook his head, "No way. Aria would never, not if it means putting her friends in danger." 
"She's friends with Potter's kid right?" Rosmerta hummed "It could be a repeat of history." 

"You have it all wrong Rosmerta," McGonagall shook her head tapping on the counter slightly in the motion. "Lorelai Anderson and Sirius Black were almost as inseparable as Black and Potter; except their relationship was stronger. Full of romance. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily and James, Black. Then the potters named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him." 
"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" Rosmerta whispered 

"Worse even than that, m'dear..." Fudge dropped his voice in a low rumble, "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."
"How does that work?" Rosmerta asked 
"An immensely complex spell, involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"
"So Black was the Potter's Secret - Keeper?" 
"Naturally," chimed McGonagall "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself . . . and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself"
"He suspected Black?" 

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements, indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who." McGonagall continued darkly. 
"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"
"He did," Fudge nodded "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed--"

"Black betrayed them?" Madam Rosmerta breathed out shocked
"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death.But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it--"
"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid snapped so loudly that half of the bar went quiet. 
"Shh!" Professor McGonagall hissed 

"I met him!" Hagrid growled "I must a bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead . . . an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"

"Hagrid, please!" McGonagall begged "Keep your voice down!" 
"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! An' then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him —' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says."I should a known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace.Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him. But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends' son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to 'em anymore...."

"But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!" Rosmerta reminded after a long silence followed Hagrid's story. 
"Alas, if only we had, It was not we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew — another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself." Fudge explained 
"Pettigrew . . . that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" Rosmerta questioned 
"Hero-worshiped Black and Potter" McGonagall recalled "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I — how I regret that now.."
"There, now, Minerva," Fudge stated kindly "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses — Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens..."

"Stupid boy . . . foolish boy . . . he was always hopeless at dueling ... should have left it to the Ministry. ."
"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't've messed around with wands — I'd've ripped him limb — from — limb" Hagrid growled 
"You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid," Fudge stated sharply "Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street,so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him . . . a heap of bloodstained robe sand a few — a few fragments —"

"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," Fudge concluded "Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black's been in Azkaban ever since."
Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh. 
"Is it true he's mad, Minister?" 
"I wish I could say that he was," Fudge sighed "I certainly believe his master's defeat unhinged him for a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of a cornered and desperate man — cruel . . . pointless. Yet I met Black on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them . . . but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have though the was merely bored — asked if I'd finished with my newspaper,cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the dementors seemed to be having on him — and he was one of the most heavily guarded in the place,you know. Dementors outside his door day and night."

"But what do you think he's broken out to do? Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You Know-Who, is he?" Rosmerta questioned 
The minister glanced over to McGonagall who swallowed causing fudge to look back over to Rosmerta. 
"I daresay that that is a whole other side of the story," 
"Well we have time don't we?" Rosmerta questioned 
Fudge sighed heavily, "After Black's betrayal of the Potters, the first place he stopped by after their's was his and Lorelai's house. Yet, the woman had already caught ear of what he did and she didn't want to believe it, but being as her and Lily were best friends she knew what she had to do and she grabbed Aria and ran, she stayed hidden until they were able to track down Black however, Black was quicker then she was and found them -- Black tried to get Lorelai to run away with him but she wouldn't have it. For the first time in her life she despised the man that she once loved. So when Black was finally put in azkaban Lorelai returned to her home and then she heard from another friend about Narcissa Malfoy's son and knew that she had to do something to make sure he didn't end up like Black as a follower of you - know - who and so she made a deal with one of the death eaters herself.... Poor girl, she had it in the right heart but never knew what the actual consequences were when she tried to break the deal and escape that dark side of the wizarding world."
"That's why she died wasn't it? She tried to break her side of the deal and it costed her her and her daughters life." 

Realizing that the girl had heard enough she slid back her chair and stood up Hermione grabbed the girls arm. 
"Aria -- what are you doing?" Hermione asked concerned. 

Aria ignored the girl and brushed her hand off unable to control her fiery temper and stalked off towards the professor's table slamming her hands down on the table leaning forward and squinting towards fudge who seemed surprised by her presence and awkwardly cleared his throat. 
"Miss Anderson I --" 
"My mother did not cost me my life no matter what the newspapers tell you. Not that it's any of your business, my mother was betrayed by her best friend and her husband. She lost so many people that you couldn't even begin to imagine and before any of you go running your mouth thinking you know her just because you went to school with her or taught her." Aria scoffed  "You don't. So I suggest you keep my mothers name out of of your mouth." 
Rosmerta, with kind eyes, placed her hand gently on the girls hand that rested on the table and connected her gaze with hers earning a confused look from the girl.

"I know this all must be confusing for you, the death of your mother -- my condolences by the way. I am so sorry she left you to clean up your messes to place a burden on a child so young... It's such a foolish thing to do --" 
McGonagall shot the woman a warning glance as Aria ripped her hand from her grasp glaring at her. 

"My mother was anything but foolish." Aria growled 
"Miss Anderson, I suggest you walk away before you do something you regret," Fudge warned with a squint of his eyes. 

Aria glanced over towards Hagrid who only kept his eyes on the table not wanting to look at the girl and she rolled her eyes and turned around walking out of the building into the cold air. 

Not looking back, Aria seemed to have completely forgotten about the others as she approached the view of the shrieking shack and stared at it. Taking in its appearance she let her breathing calm down. This was her first christmas without her mother and it already was not going well. 

Aria tilted her head as thoughts swarmed in her head. That feeling that she felt building up inside of her, the one she can't seem to control when it reaches its surface - the one that made her send fire towards her professors... It was the magic and she knew it. 

It was losing her mother and seeing her take her last breath. 

It was looking the person that killed her best friend's parents right in the eye the same night. 

It was having a murder as a father. 

and worst of all, it was knowing that she was completely losing herself every step of the day and no one seemed to notice. 

[edited: yes! (12-16-20)]