Lost my gloves
You give me one
Wanna hang out?
Yeah, sounds like fun

"It's Nice to Have a Friend"
Taylor Swift

HARRY:

The morning of the Hogsmeade trip, I saw Hermione and Ron off and started wandering the castle, looking for Lucy. She had said she was going to get up early to hit the Quidditch Pitch with Ginny, but it was so cold and snowy outside I half-hoped they had called it quits and come in early.

"Psst, Harry!"

The twins were on the third floor, peeking around a statue of a one-eyed witch.

I cocked my head to the side. "What are you doing here? How come you're not going to Hogsmeade?"

Fred winked. "We've come to give you a bit of festive cheer before we go. Come in here."

I followed them into an empty classroom, George closing the door behind me.

George smiled. "Early Christmas present for you, Harry. Fred, if you will?"

Fred dramatically drew a piece of parchment from his robes and laid it out on a desk. I stared at it for a second, half-expecting it to jump up and start dancing. When nothing happened, I asked, "What's that supposed to be?"

George patted the parchment fondly. "This, Harry, is the secret of our success."

"It's a wrench, giving it to you, but we decided last night, your need's greater than ours."

"Anyway, we know it by heart. We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore."

I still suspected that they were playing me. "And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?"

Fred closed his eyes and hissed as if I'd stabbed him and insulted his mother. "A bit of old parchment! Explain, George."

"Well, when we were in our first year, Harry --- young, carefree, and innocent --- well, more innocent than we are now --- we got into a spot of bother with Filch."

"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason-"

"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual-"

"-detention-"

"-disembowelment-"

"-and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."

I started smiling. "Don't tell me..."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Well, what would you've done? George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open, and grabbed this."

"It's not as bad as it sounds, you know. We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."

"And you know how to work it?" I asked.

"Oh yes. This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."

"You're winding me up," I said.

"Oh, are we?" George took his wand out and tapped it to the paper ceremoniously. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The parchment came to life then. Green words appeared at the top of the page.

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP

I stepped forward to take a closer look at what I soon realized was a map of Hogwarts. Tiny dots labelled with even tinier names moved around the map. Dumbledore was pacing in his office. Peeves was flying in circles in the trophy room. I glanced around the map further and saw a bunch of secret passages that all seemed to lead...

"Right into Hogsmeade," Fred said, as if reading my mind. He traced them with his finger as he began to explain. "There are seven in all. Now, Filch knows about these four, but we're sure we're the only ones who know about these. Well, us and Lucy. She's never used them, but we've shown her. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it's caved in, completely blocked. And we don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. And as you might've noticed, the entrance is right outside this room, through that one-eyed old crone's hump."

I nodded, figuring I should just pretend Lucy hadn't told me anything about the passages.

George patted the map fondly. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. We owe them so much."

"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers."

"Right. Now, don't forget to wipe it after you've used it-"

"-or anyone can read it."

"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' And it'll go blank. Oh, and Harry, one more thing." George grew uncharacteristically serious. "Just one... condition."

"Name it, and it's yours," I said, admiring the map.

"Well, now you hold the secret to our success as professional Lucy-finders," Fred began. "But with the two of us and Cedric graduating soon enough, we reckoned it was time to start trying to find someone who could take care of her the way we've tried to."

"The key is to know when to follow her and when to give her space," George said. He pointed to the Quidditch Pitch. "If she's in the stairwell, she's almost always studying. You can study with her if she's there, but good luck trying to have a conversation. But if she's in the stands, it's because she's thinking too much about something. Sometimes, Cedric is already there, and if he's there, he's taking care of her. But if she's alone and Cedric's dot is nowhere near there, you should find her and see what's on her mind before she self-destructs."

"If she's in the Hufflepuff common room, don't worry about it. We don't know how to get in, she refuses to tell us, and she's always there with Cedric and Henry and a couple other people anyway," Fred informed me.

"If she's at the Black Lake, though, she really wants to be alone. Not even Cedric can talk to her when she's there." George sighed. "She's been there a lot lately. There and the Hufflepuff common room."

I scanned the map. "Looks like she's in the Gryffindor common room at the moment. I'll see if she wants to go to Hogsmeade with me."

"That's the spirit," George said with a wink.

Fred puffed up his chest and did his best Percy impression, even pushing imaginary glasses up his nose. "So, young Harry, mind you behave yourself."

"And we'll see you in Honeyduke's."

With identical winks, they slipped out of the room, leaving me alone with the map and my thoughts. Knowing immediately what I had to do, I snatched up the map and shoved it in my robes. I darted up to the Gryffindor common room, where Lucy was still sitting on the window seat, gazing out of the window with a sad look on her face.

I tried to wedge myself into the empty half of the seat, without much success. I snickered. "You know, we fit a lot better in this tiny seat two years ago."

Lucy smiled and stretched out her legs mockingly. Her stockinged feet still didn't touch the other end of the seat. "You're the only one who grew."

I tried to stretch my legs out like her, but my knees were still bent at a sharp angle when my feet hit the wall, making her laugh. "I don't know, Lu, I think I still fit."

"Yeah, mhm, of course you do." Her smile grew ever so slightly. "Are you heading to Hogsmeade? I know the twins were, ah, giving you your Christmas gift early."

"You know about the map?" I asked.

She nodded. "I've only actually used it a couple of times, but yeah. Pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"I'll say. Well, I headed up here to ask if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me since you're here by yourself. So... Lucy, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"Sorry, Harry, I wish," she sighed, "but I'm waiting for a package today. I need to get it from Malachi before Cedric does."

"Oh, it's okay," I said, though I felt a pang of disappointment. I grinned. "Is it his Christmas gift?"

"Something like that," she replied. She smiled. "Well, have fun! Don't get killed by Sirius Black or the Grim without me. Oh, and just in case you've forgotten, the spell for the statue is dissendium."

"Alright, thanks for the reminder. See you when I get back?"

"If you want to find me, you might want to use the map. I don't want to sit here all day," she laughed.

I headed out of the common room and made my way back down to the third floor, watching my little dot as I went. Once I reached the statue, I watched as my dot drew his wand and tapped the statue, "Dissendium" appearing in a little speech bubble by his head. I quickly copied the action, and a small hole opened up in the statue. Checking one last time to make sure I was alone, I shoved the map into my robes and jumped in.

After sliding for a bit, I landed on solid ground. It was dark, so I illuminated my wand.

"Mischief managed," I said smugly, wiping the map clean. Mischief had in fact been managed, and I was going to make the most of it.

It took what I guessed was an hour to reach Honeyduke's. I banged my head against what seemed like a trap door, and I froze, hoping nobody had heard me. But when nothing seemed to have happened, I edged my way out of the door and crawled up the stairs.

Nobody paid me any mind as I slipped through the crowd of Hogwarts students. I couldn't help but laugh to myself when I imagined the look on Dudley's face if he could only see where I was. There was enough candy to keep even Dudley occupied for a long time, and he could eat candy like nobody else I'd ever met.

I found Ron and Hermione in a corner of the store labeled "UNUSUAL TASTES." Surely enough, they were looking at blood-flavored lollipops.

"Ugh, no, Harry won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.

"How about these?" Ron asked, holding up a jar of Cockroach Clusters.

"Definitely not," I said with a grin.

Ron just about dropped the jar as he whirled around.

Hermione looked even more shocked. "Harry! What are you doing here? How... how did you...?"

"Wow, you've learned to Apparate!" Ron exclaimed.

"'Course I haven't," I replied. I lowered my voice and briefly explained about the Marauder's Map.

Ron seemed offended. "How come Fred and George never gave it to me? I'm their brother!"

"There was... another condition," I said, thinking of what they had said about Lucy. "They want me to use it for something else."

"But you aren't going to keep it! He's going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?" Hermione asked.

I shook my head. "I can't!"

Ron looked at Hermione incredulously. "Are you mad? Hand in something that good?"

"Besides, Hermione, if I hand it in, I'll have to say where I got it! Filch would know Fred and George had nicked it!"

Hermione could barely keep her anger restrained. "But what about Sirius Black? He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers have got to know!"

"He can't be getting in through a passage. There are seven secret tunnels on the map, right? Fred and George reckon Filch already knows about four of them. And of the other three, one of them's caved in, so no one can get through it. One of them's got the Whomping Willow planted over the entrance, so you can't get out of it. And the one I just came through, it's really hard to see the entrance to it down in the cellar, so unless he knew it was there..." I hesitated. What if he did know? What if that was how he broke into the castle on Halloween? I shoved the thought away quickly. "We would see him, anyway. Everyone has a dot."

Ron pointed to the front door, where a sign read:

BY 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? I'd like to see Black try and break into Honeyduke's with dementors swarming all over the village. Anyway, Hermione, the Honeyduke's owners would hear a break-in, wouldn't they? They live over the shop!"

"Yes, but... but... look, Harry still shouldn't be coming into Hogsmeade. He hasn't got a signed form! If anyone finds out, he'll be in so much trouble! And it's not nightfall yet. What if Sirius Black turns up today? Now?"

"He'd have a job spotting Harry in this snow. Come on, Hermione, it's Christmas. Harry deserves a break."

Hermione still looked at me as if I were a bomb about to explode, so I smiled.

"Are you going to report me?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Oh, of course not, but honestly, Harry!"

Before she could scold me further, Ron grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to look at more candy. Once the two of them had made their purchases, we stepped out into the snow. The two of them shouted through their scarves what each of the buildings were as we passed them. As the snow fell harder and harder, we decided to head to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeers.

While Ron got the drinks, Hermione and I found a small table in the corner of the room that was partially hidden by one of the largest Christmas trees I'd seen in my entire life.

Ron returned quickly with massive tankards of butterbeer. We clunked them together with a hearty "Merry Christmas!" and took sips. It was even better than the bottles Fred and George got for Quidditch parties. It seemed to warm me from the inside out.

I found myself wishing Lucy were there with us, feeling the same warmth from head to toe despite the storm I knew was blowing outside. What Fred and George had said about her didn't surprise me; something had changed after the Quidditch match. There was a new fragility in her eyes, as if her blue irises were actually made of stained glass all this time and something had made them begin to crack. She spent less and less time in the common room, and while I had noticed her absence, I never really wondered where she was. It made sense that she was spending more time with her brother, because I knew Cedric was really her best friend regardless of what she said about Hermione, but the fact that she spent so much time alone at the Black Lake made me sad. I wondered for the millionth time what she had heard around the dementors, and what could have possibly happened in her past that was as traumatic as my parents being murdered by Voldemort. I believed her when she said she didn't know. But I still didn't understand any of it.

Not two minutes later, the doors of the inn opened to reveal Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, and Cornelius Fudge. I choked on my butterbeer, all thoughts of Lucy forgotten.

Without saying a word, Ron and Hermione worked together to shove me under the table. Hermione whispered a spell I didn't recognize, and the Christmas tree moved ever so slightly to hide me from view. I cursed myself for not wearing the Invisibility Cloak --- I'd definitely wear it next time. I squinted through the branches to try to see what I could.

Everyone ordered their drinks, and the Minister asked Madam Rosmerta to join them.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" she asked as she took a seat.

"What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?" he replied.

"I did hear a rumor," she said.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" Professor McGonagall hissed. Hermione stiffened next to me.

Hagrid didn't respond before Madam Rosmerta asked another question. "Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?"

"I'm sure of it."

"You know that the Dementors have searched the whole village twice? Scared all my customers away! It's very bad for business, Minister."

He sighed. "Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do. Necessary precaution. Unfortunate, but there you are... I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore, because he won't let them inside the castle grounds."

Professor McGonagall exhaled sharply through her nose. "I should think not. How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"

"Hear, hear!" Professor Flitwick agreed.

"All the same, they are here to protect you all from something much worse," Fudge said. "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..." Madam Rosmerta's voice trailed off. "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. The worst he did isn't widely known."

"The worst? Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do."

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

Professor McGonagall shifted in her seat. Her voice was sad when she spoke. "You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta. Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally! 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!"

I dropped my empty tankard in shock, earning a sharp kick from Ron that I barely felt.

"Precisely. Black and Potter," Professor McGonagall replied. "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 chuckled. "I dunno. Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers! Inseparable!" Professor Flitwick added.

Fudge agreed immediately. "Of course they were. 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. 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?" Madam Rosmerta asked in a soft voice.

"Worse even than that, m'dear. 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?"

Professor Flitwick cleared his throat and explained, "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 Potters' Secret-Keeper?"

"Naturally," Professor McGonagall said. "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."

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"

Fudge replied next. "He did. And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed-"

"Black betrayed them?"

"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 bellowed, making half the bar go silent. Professor McGonagall shushed him, but he only lowered his voice slightly before continuing. "I met him! I musta 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!"

Professor McGonagall's voice was pleading. "Hagrid, please! 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 shoulda 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!"

Nobody said anything for several seconds. I felt so claustrophobic beneath the table I had to fight the urge to sprint out of the inn and never turn back.

"But he didn't manage to disappear, did he?" Madam Rosmerta asked. "The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!"

Fudge sighed. "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."

"Pettigrew... that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?"

"He worshipped Black and Potter. Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I... how I regret that now..." Professor McGonagall said in a choked voice.

"There, now, Minerva, 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."

Professor McGonagall blew her nose. "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 said in the darkest voice I had ever heard him use.

Fudge shook his head. "You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid! 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..." He blew his nose before speaking again. "Well, there you have it, Rosmerta. 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 sighed. "Is it true he's mad, Minister?"

"I wish I could say that he was. 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 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? Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?"

"I daresay that is his, er, eventual plan. 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..."

Someone set down their glass.

"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle," Professor McGonagall said.

The adults all rose one by one and disappeared.

"Harry?"

Hermione and Ron looked down at me wordlessly.

I pushed myself back up and set my tankard on the table.

"I should get back," I said, my voice sounding foreign to my own ears.

Hermione nodded. "You should," she agreed in a high voice. "We'll meet you there as soon as we can."

I shook my head. "No. Don't. It's fine. Just... just stay. Enjoy the rest of the day." I rose to my feet and rubbed the back of my neck. "I'll see you at dinner."

I turned quickly and hurried out of the inn into the snow. I made it back to Hogwarts in what seemed like no time at all. I stood by the statue for a couple of seconds, not sure what to do. I quickly ducked into the same empty classroom I had been in with Fred and George that morning, though the morning seemed like a week ago at that point, and drew out the map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," I said, my voice cracking on the last word. Hogwarts came to life in front of me. Lucy's dot was in the Quidditch Pitch, in the commentary box. I wiped the map clean with a muttered "Mischief managed" and hurried back outside, wrapping my robes around me and bowing my head against the snow.

Surely enough, Lucy was sitting at the top of the commentary box, a book open in her lap, but she wasn't reading it. She was watching the snow falling slowly from the sky, a troubled expression on her face. I stared up the stairs to join her, and her eyes flickered over to me, widening in surprise.

"Oh, hi, Harry." She closed her book quickly and smiled. "You're back sooner than I thought you'd be. How was Hogsmeade?"

I couldn't bring myself to answer. I sat next to her and stared straight ahead, looking for the words to say. "Sirius Black killed my parents," I said finally.

"What?"

The words poured from my mouth before I could stop them. "My parents knew Voldemort was after them, after us. They made him their Secret-Keeper. He betrayed them. He was their friend, and he betrayed them." I took a shaky breath. "Cornelius Fudge said himself that the dementors of Azkaban don't affect him. He... after everything he did..." My throat closed with frustration, so all I could make was a strangled choking sound. "He doesn't have to hear my mother being murdered by Voldemort every time they're near him. He was the best man at my parents' wedding. He was my dad's best friend. Professor McGonagall said they were inseparable. Lucy, I... it's not fair!"

I placed my head in my hands and shuddered. Lucy reached forward with a gentle hand and rubbed her hand up and down my arm. "I'm so sorry, Harry," she said, her voice laced with the same pain I felt. "How did you...?"

"We were in the Three Broomsticks," I replied after a moment. "Me and Ron and Hermione. Then Cornelius Fudge and Professor McGonagall and Hagrid and Professor Flitwick and Madam Rosmerta all started talking right next to us, not noticing anybody listening. But we heard everything." One last confession tumbled from my mouth. "Sirius Black is my godfather. He tried to take me from Hagrid the night... the night my parents..."

Lucy didn't say anything, just sitting next to me, slowly moving her hand up and down my tricep. "I'm sorry, Harry, I wish I had something to say..." she said after a couple minutes of silence.

"It's okay, Lu." I lifted my head and turned to look at her. "I wouldn't know what to say, either. I don't know what I need to hear. Just... just you being here helps."

"Well... I can do that," she replied, smiling.

My eyes strayed to the book in her lap. "Please don't tell me you're actually studying on the last day of term."

She laughed. "No, I'm not. Archie loaned it to me to read over Christmas."

"What is it? It's a massive book."

"The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis," she read off the cover. "Apparently it's seven books all in one. Archie said it was his favorite series for years, and he said that if I finish this, he'll give me other books to read over summer, since..." Her smile faltered, and she got a faraway look in her eyes again.

"Since what?" I prodded, my curiosity getting the better of me. I wanted to think about something else, anything else.

"Cedric got a summer internship at St. Mungo's," she explained, looking out on the Pitch. "He leaves as soon as he finishes his O.W.L.s, and he'll be gone until the last week of August. I'm ecstatic for him, of course, I know being a healer has been his dream forever. But-"

"But you'll miss him?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "I will."

Everything clicked into place. Spending more time with Cedric. The fragility in her eyes. Her brother was her rock. To lose him, even just for a couple months, had to be a nightmare for her.

"I've been trying to spend as much time with him as I can," she continued, "but he does still have to study for his O.W.L.s, and I reckoned I need to try to get used to being on my own."

"You won't be on your own, Lu," I said. "Not entirely. I mean, the Weasleys will be home this summer, right?"

"Hopefully," she said with a nod. She turned to me and smiled. "And I'll have you too, right?"

"Definitely. I think I'll need you more than you'll need me, quite frankly. You just... understand me, you know?"

Lucy's cheeks reddened. "Maybe better than you know," she whispered, almost as if I wasn't supposed to hear it. She looked me up and down. "Bloody hell, Harry, where's your coat? You do realize there's a blizzard out here, right?"

"I forgot to grab one on the way to Hogsmeade, since I was so excited about the map," I admitted. "Then I came straight here once I got back." I laughed. "So you're more concerned about my lack of coat than Sirius Black being my godfather?"

She grew even more red in the face, her eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter. "To be fair, Harry, it's a lot easier to say 'Maybe we should go inside before you freeze to death' than 'Let's go hunt Sirius Black to the ends of the earth to avenge your parents.' Obviously I'm ready to do that too, but I generally try to stick to solving one problem at a time." Her eyes wandered to my hands. "Harry, you don't even have gloves."

I looked down. "I must have lost them. I took them off in the Three Broomsticks and stuck them in my robes, but they must have fallen out in the tunnel. But I'm fine," I protested as she started taking hers off, "really. I don't mind."

"At least take one," she said, passing me the right-hand glove. "Unless you want to head inside?"

I shook my head. "I'd rather stay here with you. Ron and Hermione were looking at me as if they thought I would disintegrate."

"Well, I know you're stronger than that." She paused, and in that moment, I believed her. I wouldn't let what I had learned that day break me. "You are, however, still human," she said with a grin, "and you look like a very cold one at that. Want to head back to the castle? I can help you look for a replacement broomstick; Oliver gave me his latest edition of Which Broomstick? if you're interested."

I nodded. "Sounds good." I shivered. "Bloody hell, Lucy, I wasn't actually cold until you said something."

She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Want my scarf?"

"No, but I'll race you back to the castle to warm up."

"You're on."

I won by a slim margin. Lucy skidded to a stop behind me, her breath creating white clouds in front of her face. "I blame this stupid book!" she exclaimed. "It's heavy! It slowed me down! I demand a rematch after the next Quidditch practice!"

I laughed. "Yeah, sure, whatever. I'll beat you twice, if you really want."

"You're on," she said, swatting my arm with the book.

"Ow! Yeah, that really is heavy."

"Told you so," she chuckled.

We pored over possible broomsticks until dinner, during which Ron and Hermione continued to look at me as if I were about to keel over and die on the spot. Lucy tried to lighten the mood by telling the story of the first time the twins showed her the map, but she and I soon recognized that the other two had dark clouds of worry over their heads. She started to slip back into her shell, and at the end of the meal, she left to run to the Owlery one last time, even though she said she hadn't seen Malachi at all that day.

Without her, I only had Ron and Hermione's anxious glances for company, so I retreated up to my dormitory. It was only once I was there that I realized I was still wearing Lucy's glove.

I tucked it into the drawer of my nightstand, promising myself I'd give it to her in the morning. A familiar leather cover caught my eye, and before I really knew what I was doing, I had drawn the photo album from Hagrid out of its special hiding place. I sank slowly onto my bed, flipping through the pictures until I found the section devoted to my parents' wedding.

My parents both smiled and waved at me, but I could only see the best man over my dad's shoulder. I never would have recognized him, if I hadn't known he was the same person whose face was now on every corner of the British wizarding world. His eyes were devoid of madness; rather, they were alight with laughter. His cheeks were round, not sunken, and his hair was neatly combed, not hanging bedraggled around his face.

It wasn't fair. Why did Sirius Black get to ask for the crossword section of newspapers from his cell in Azkaban while I had to hear the screams of my mother every time I passed a dementor? It wasn't fair.

I shut the book and tossed it back into the drawer, slamming the drawer shut. I ripped off my robes and my glasses and yanked the hangings around me as I jumped into bed.

Ron's voice came a couple minutes later, when the dormitory door opened. "Harry?"

I remained motionless, pretending to be asleep. He left after a few seconds, and I rolled onto my back.

White-hot fury coursed through my veins. Sirius Black's face flashed across my vision whether my eyes were open or closed, the same face I had seen over my father's shoulder. My imagination ran wild, playing scenes of Sirius Black blowing up the street, telling Voldemort my parents' hiding spot, laughing after killing Peter Pettigrew. I heard Voldemort laughing too, as he killed my mother. I tossed and turned violently all night, falling asleep around dawn.

When I stumbled down the stairs, the first thing Hermione said was, "Harry, you... you look terrible."

She and Ron were the only ones in the common room.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

Ron looked up from his Peppermint Toad. "Gone! It's the first day of the holidays, remember? It's nearly lunchtime; I was going to come and wake you up in a minute."

"Where's Lucy?" I asked, realizing that was the question I was really asking the first time.

"Still asleep," Hermione said. "I reckon she slept just about as well as you did. Woke up screaming for the third time this week. She keeps casting silencing charms on the curtains around her bed so she doesn't wake any of us up when she has nightmares, but sometimes she wakes up so emotional the ring shocks me awake. I haven't told her, of course, because I know that she'd feel bad and stop wearing it altogether. But I like trying to help, even if she still refuses to tell me what her nightmares are about." She sighed and looked closer at my face. "You really don't look well, you know."

"I'm fine," I lied.

Hermione glanced at Ron before looking back at me. "Harry, listen, you must be really upset about what we heard yesterday. But the thing is, you mustn't go doing anything stupid."

"Like what?"

"Like trying to go after Black," Ron answered.

I didn't respond. It was obvious they'd rehearsed this conversation several times, and I didn't want to knock them off-script and have to listen to it all over again.

"You won't, will you, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Because Black's not worth dying for," Ron added quickly.

I stared at them for a second. They didn't understand. Not the way Lucy did. I glanced at the door to the girls' dormitory, hoping that she'd somehow come down the stairs at that exact moment and spare me from this horrible conversation and tell Hermione and Ron to leave me alone. I remembered what she'd said the day before, about hunting Sirius Black to the ends of the earth, and I wondered for half a second if she was serious. But I knew Lucy chose her words carefully, always. She never said something unless she meant it.

When I turned back to Ron and Hermione, they were still waiting for my response. "D'you know what I see and hear every time a dementor gets too near me?" I asked, my voice already testy.

They shook their heads slowly.

"I can hear my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort. And if you'd heard your mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldn't forget it in a hurry. And if you found out someone who was supposed to be a friend of hers betrayed her and sent Voldemort after her-"

Hermione interrupted me, saying, "There's nothing you can do! The dementors will catch Black and he'll go back to Azkaban and... and serve him right!"

"You heard what Fudge said. Black isn't affected by Azkaban like normal people are. It's not a punishment for him like it is for the others," I said through clenched teeth.

Ron looked nervous at that. "So what are you saying? You want to kill Black or something?"

"Don't be silly, Harry doesn't want to kill anyone, do you, Harry?"

I couldn't answer. All I knew was that I couldn't just sit around while he was free. A sudden thought occurred to me.

"Malfoy knows. Remember what he said to me in Potions? 'If it was me, I'd hunt him down myself... I'd want revenge.'"

Ron's eyes flashed angrily. "You're going to take Malfoy's advice instead of ours? Listen, you know what Pettigrew's mother got back after Black had finished with him? Dad told me: the Order of Merlin, First Class, and Pettigrew's finger in a box. That was the biggest bit of him they could find. Black's a madman, Harry, and he's dangerous-"

"Malfoy's dad must have told him. He was right in Voldemort's inner circle-"

"Say You-Know-Who, will you?"

"-so obviously, the Malfoys knew Black was working for Voldemort-"

"-and Malfoy'd love to see you blown into about a million pieces, like Pettigrew! Get a grip. Malfoy's just hoping you'll get yourself killed before he has to play you at Quidditch."

Hermione's eyes filled with desperate tears. "Harry, please, please be sensible. Black did a terrible, terrible thing, but d-don't put yourself in danger, it's what Black wants! Oh, Harry, you'd be playing right into Black's hands if you went looking for him. Your mum and dad wouldn't want you to get hurt, would they? They'd never want you to go looking for Black!"

"I'll never know what they'd have wanted, because thanks to Black, I've never spoken to them!" I shouted, unable to keep my emotions in check any further.

I heard a door open slowly.

"Is everything okay?" a soft voice asked. Lucy had arrived. "What's going on?"

"Everything's fine," Ron said quickly. "Nothing's going on. I was, er, just about to suggest we go down to Hagrid's, we haven't seen him in ages!"

Hermione protested immediately. "No! Harry isn't supposed to leave the castle, Ron!"

"Yeah, let's go see Hagrid, and I can ask him how come he never mentioned Black when he told me all about my parents!" I stood up and turned to look at Lucy.

The sight of her face made my anger diminish from a roaring fire to a single flickering candle. Despite what Hermione had said about how fitfully Lucy had slept, there was no difference on her face. I found myself wondering how many other horrible nights had gone by without anyone noticing a thing.

Her eyes swept from me to Hermione to Ron. "We should probably go see Hagrid," she said slowly. "I went to see him Friday, and he was... well..." She sighed, sorrow crossing her face for the first time. "Buckbeak is going to trial on April 20th. Hagrid is worried sick. I helped him get Buckbeak situated in his hut yesterday, while you were all in Hogsmeade. I had really only just gotten to the Quidditch Pitch when Harry returned."

"I thought you and my sister made plans," Ron said. "It was all she could talk about the past couple weeks."

"Yesterday ended up being too snowy for Quidditch... and for owls, apparently," she added in a soft voice with a glance out the window. She blinked hard and straightened up. "She ended up spending the day in the Ravenclaw common room, and having a great time, from the sounds of it. But anyway, let's go see Hagrid."

Ron and Hermione had nothing to say to that, so we got our cloaks from our dormitories and started down toward Hagrid's hut. But before we got there, however, Lucy gasped.

"Malachi!" We all looked up to see the brown owl, dark against the cloudy sky, shooting over our heads toward the Owlery. "I'm going to go get the package," she said breathlessly, "I need to beat Cedric to it. I... I might not... well, I'll see you all later. Tell Hagrid I'll visit him tomorrow!"

With that, she turned on her heels and sprinted as fast as she could in the same direction the owl had flown.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked.

"I have no idea," Hermione murmured.

The three of us watched Lucy's braids fly behind her until she ran out of sight, then turned and continued on to Hagrid's.

A/N: I'm sorry! I know you're all dying for answers about Lucy's past, but it was Harry's turn for a chapter! I promise, the next one will be very revealing, so hang tight!

The song lyrics in the beginning are from Taylor Swift's "It's Nice to Have a Friend." It's honestly my favorite song off of Lover, and I simply couldn't pass up the chance to incorporate the lyrics into my story. I also went back and added song lyrics to the beginning of every even-numbered chapter, if you're at all interested!

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Don't worry, answers are coming in the next chapter! See you all then, and thank you for reading. :)