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✧*̥˚ 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛➌⇢𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛➃③ *̥˚✧
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚃𝚎𝚊 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚝
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.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。✭・.・✫・゜・。.
••°°°°••....••°°°°••....••°°°°••••°°°°••
*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*
.·:*¨ ¨*:·..·:*¨ ¨*:·.
╭─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅ ───╮
❝𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚗, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢.❞
╰─── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ✩ ──── ⋅ ⋅ ───╯
It didn't take Y/n long to find Harry after being given the Marauders map. She showed the treasure to Harry and together the duo set out on a quest to get to Hogsmeade.
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"Lumos! " Whispered Harry after he and Y/n slid in through the passageway behind the statue, and saw that they were in a very narrow, low, earthy passageway.
Y/n erased the map, folded it carefully, tucked it inside her robes, then, hearts beating fast, both excited and apprehensive, the two set off. The passage twisted and turned, more like the burrow of a giant rabbit than anything else.
Then, without warning, Harry's head hit something hard. It seemed to be a trapdoor. Harry stood there, massaging the top of his head, listening.
He couldn't hear any sounds above him.
"What is it?" Y/n whispered. Harry turned to her and shrugged.
"I can't hear anything." Very slowly, he pushed the trapdoor open and peered over the edge.
They were in a cellar, which was full of wooden crates and boxes. Harry climbed out of the trapdoor and offered his hand to Y/n who grabbed it.
Harry helped Y/n up and replaced it -- it blended so perfectly with the dusty floor that it was impossible to tell it was there.
Harry and Y/n crept slowly toward the wooden staircase that led upstairs.
Now they could definitely hear voices, not to mention the tinkle of a bell and the opening and shutting of a door. Wondering what she ought to do, Y/n suddenly heard a door open much closer at hand; somebody was about to come downstairs.
Harry grabbed Y/n and leapt behind an enormous crate and waited for the footsteps to pass. He heard the man shifting boxes against the opposite wall.
They might not get another chance -- Quickly and silently, Y/n and Harry dodged out from their hiding place and climbed the stairs.
The duo reached the door at the top of the stairs, slipped through it, and found themselves behind the counter of Honeydukes -- they ducked, crept sideways, and then straightened up.
Honeydukes was so crowded with Hogwarts students that no one looked twice at Harry or Y/n.
There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable.
Harry squeezed himself through a crowd of sixth years, his hand holding onto Y/n's tightly so they didn't seperate and saw a sign hanging in the farthest corner of the shop (UNUSUAL TASTES).
Ron and Hermione were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavored lollipops. Y/n snuck up behind them.
"Ugh, no, Y/n won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect," Hermione was saying.
"How about these?" said Ron, shoving a jar of Cockroach Clusters under Hermione's nose.
"Hell to the motherfucking no." said Y/n.
Ron nearly dropped the jar.
"Y/n! Harry!" squealed Hermione. "What are you doing here? How -- how did you --?"
"Wow!" said Ron, looking very impressed, "you've learned to Apparate!"
"'Course I haven't, dumbass" said Y/n.
She dropped her voice so that none of the sixth years could hear her and told them all about the Marauder's Map.
"How come Fred and George never gave it to me!" said Ron, outraged. "I'm their brother!"
"But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione said. "The map could be dangerous. He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle!"
"He can't be getting in through a passage," said Y/n quickly. She explained each of the passages to Ron and Hermione, "And the one I just came through -well - - it's really hard to see the entrance to it down in the cellar, so unless he knew it was there..."
Y/n hesistated. What if Black did know the passage was there? Ron, however, cleared his throat significantly, and pointed to a notice pasted on the inside of the sweetshop door.
-------- ORDER OF --------
THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Customers are reminded that until further notice, dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown.
This measure has been put in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall.
Merry Christmas!
"See?" said Ron quietly. "I'd like to see Black try and break into Honeydukes with dementors swarming all over the village!"
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When Ron and Hermione had paid for all their sweets, the four of them left Honeydukes for the blizzard outside.
"Tell you what," said Ron, his teeth chattering, "shall we go for a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks?"
Y/n was more than willing; the wind was fierce and her hands were freezing, so they crossed the road, and in a few minutes were entering the tiny inn.
It was extremely crowded, noisy, warm, and smoky. A woman with a pretty face was serving a bunch of rowdy warlock up at the bar.
"That's Madam Rosmerta," said Ron. "I'll get the drinks, shall I?" he added.
Harry, Y/n and Hermione made their way to the back of the room, there was a small, vacant table between the window and a handsome Christmas tree, which stood next to the fireplace.
Ron came back five minutes later, carrying four foaming tankards of hot butterbeer.
"Merry Christmas!" he said happily, raising his tankard. A sudden breeze ruffled Y/n's hair. The door of the Three Broomsticks had opened again. Y/n glanced over the rim of her tankard and choked.
Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had just entered the pub, shortly followed by Hagrid, who was deep in conversation with a portly man in a lime-green bowler hat and a pinstriped cloak -- Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic.
In an instant, Ron and Hermione had both placed hands on the top of Y/n and Harry's heads and forced them off their stools and under the table.
Crouching out of sight, Y/n clutched her empty tankard and watched the teachers' and Fudge's feet move toward the bar, pause, then turn and walk right toward her.
Y/n and Harry looked to each other and gulped.
Somewhere above them, Hermione whispered,
"Mobiliarbus!" The Christmas tree beside their table rose a few inches off the ground, drifted sideways, and landed with a soft thump right in front of their table, hiding them from view.
Staring through the dense lower branches, Y/n saw four sets of chair legs move back from the table right beside theirs, and watched as the teachers and ministers took their seats, and began ordering their drinks, until Rosmeta finally reached the MInister.
"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister?"
"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear," said Fudge's voice. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us...."
"Well, thank you very much, Minister." Harry watched the glittering heels march away and back again. "So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" came Madam Rosmerta's voice.
Harry saw the lower part of Fudge's thick body twist in his chair as though he were 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 Halloween?"
"I did hear a rumor," admitted Madam Rosmerta. "Do you think Blacks still in the area, Minister?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.
"I'm sure of it," said Fudge shortly.
"You know that the dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away... It's very bad for business, Minister."
"Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do," said Fudge uncomfortably. "Necessary precaution... unfortunate.... 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 Flitwick,
"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 and betraying Y/n Potter-Lupin, you mean?"
Y/n breath hitched and her eyes snapped towards Harry as if to confirm that what she heard was real. Harry's confused eyes proved her correct.
"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 best friends were?"
"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other two, did you? The number of times I had them in here -- ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the triple act, Sirius, Y/n and James!"
Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk. Ron kicked him.
"Precisely," said Professor McGonagall. "Black, Y/n 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 trio of troublemakers --"
"Inseparable!"
"Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter and Y/n trusted Black beyond all their other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was the best man when James married Lily, and James was set to be the best man at Black and Y/n's wedding.
But that was until she called off the wedding. Horrifying what happened after that. Y/n got married to someone else and they had a child in no time!
Rumours were flying all over the place that she got pregnant before she got married which is why she broke it off with Black.
Black practically went mad! He went on a massive rampage and nearly killed Lupin. Being part of the order, he was forgiven since he never managed to inflict any damage on Lupin."
"Thank Merlin that Y/n was there or else I don't reckon we'd have Lupin alive." McGongall said in a distressed voice.
"Black kept trying to convince everyone that he had calmed down but he completely changed. He lost a part of himself and his attitude and never treated lupin the same way again.
Then Potter and Evans finally had a child and Potter named him the godfather to Harry.
Harry and Y/n have no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment the poor girl."
"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.
"Worse even than that, m'dear...." Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Of course, to understand this, you'd need to know that poor Y/n was almost forced to go into hiding with Lily and James.
With Lupin almost always away on Order business, being a very close friend of Potter and Evans made her a target." McGonagall interjected strongly,
"Especially with a son." She said, "She was of course a very strong witch but as a mother to a toddler, it definetly wasn't going to be easy for her. Evans, at least had Potter around all day to help look after to Harry, but who was going to protect-"
Ron, ever the charmer, let out a sneeze that he'd been holding in, causing the boy's name to go by in a blur,
"-If any death-eater were to atack Y/n?"
"Yes, yes, Not many people are aware that the Potters and Y/n 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 Y/n 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?" said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.
"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "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 they were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"
"So Black was their Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.
"Naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "James and Y/n 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 their Secret-Keeper himself."
"He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta.
"He was sure that somebody close to the James and Y/n had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," said Professor McGonagall darkly. "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."
"But James and Y/n insisted on using Black?"
"They did," said Fudge heavily. "Though I reckon Black used Y/n's guilt against her for not going through with the engagement and manipulated her to use him and James simply followed what Y/n said.
And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed --"
"Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosmerta.
"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, Y/n met her downfall when she was hit by a curse when she took it upon herself to protect her son and Harry when Lily tried to run away. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed.
They say the only reason he turned to you-know-who was because you-know-who promised Black that would reward him with Y/n when he would take over.
The love of his life and the motives for his traitor plans had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colours as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it -"
"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet.
"Shh!" said Professor McGonagall.
"I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me that rescued Harry and Y/n's son from James's house after he and Y/n was killed!
Jus' got them outta the ruins, poor little things, one with a great slash across his forehead, an' the other who kept insistin' that his mother was still alive... Had a great big scar across his arm...
Blood was gushin' out an' all 'e cried about was 'is mother... Even I wouldn' be able ter bear a wound like that...
an' Sirius Black turns up. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Y/n 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 roared.
"Hagrid, please!" said Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!"
"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' James? It was Y/n slippin' his grasp and you-know-who he cared abou'! An' then he says, 'Give the kids ter me, Hagrid, I'm Harry's godfather, I'll look after the two -'
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 and Y/n's son was off to an orphanage. Black argued, but in the end he gave in."
"So- So what happened to the boy? Couldn't Lupin raise him?" Rosmerta desperately whispered.
"Dumbledore said that no one in the boy's family was in any condition to raise a child. His mother was dead, his father was completely broken, Euphemia, Fleamont, and the boy's grandparents were dead.
Of course, his father did everything in his power to keep 'im, but Dumbledore wouldn't listen. He even went as far as warning to sue Dumbledore! Dumbledore kept him in an idle state of mind with a potion and sent the boy off!
Dumbledore said that would be the safest for him, in case Black ever went hunting him down. But what if I'd given Harry and the boy to him, eh? I bet he'd 've pitched them off halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends' sons!
But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to em anymore...." A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Then Madam Rosmerta said with some satisfaction,
"But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!"
"Alas, if only we had," said Fudge bitterly. "It was not we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew -- another of James and Y/n's friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself."
"Pettigrew... that little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" said Madam Rosmerta.
"Hero-worshipped Black, Y/n, and Potter," said Professor McGonagall. "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather harp with him. You can imagine how I regret that now..." She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold.
"There, now, Minerva," said Fudge 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, 'Y/n and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens...." Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly,
"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," said Fudge 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 robes and a few -- a few fragments --" Fudge's voice stopped abruptly. There was the sound of five noses being blown.
"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge thickly. "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," said Fudge slowly. "I certainly believe his master's defeat and Y/n leaving him 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 thought he 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?" said Madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?"
"I daresay that is his -- er -- eventual plan," said Fudge evasively. "But we hope to catch Black long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing...
but give him back his most devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again...." There was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone had set down their glass.
"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, you'd better head back up to the castle," said Professor McGonagall.
One by one, the pairs of feet in front of Y/n took the weight of their owners once more; hems of cloaks swung into sight, and Madam Rosemerta's glittering heels disappeared behind the bar.
The door of the Three Broomsticks opened again, there was another flurry of snow, and the teachers had disappeared.
"Y/n? Harry?" Ron's and Hermione's faces appeared under the table. They were both staring at them, lost for words.
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A/n: Some piping hot tea to feed my children.
You all will die in the next chapter. Please bring some meds and pillows.