True enough, a few of my questions got answered. When we reached London, Harry had just come back from Diagon Alley. And well he was the source from which we got to know what exactly was he doing at the Leaky Cauldron and why he had ran away from the Dursleys. 

Turns out that poor Harry accidentally blew up Vernon Dursley's sister Marge when she had insulted James and Lily, so he practically got kicked out and assuming that he would get expelled due to underage wizardry, he ran off on an escapade. 

Quite a long story actually and considering the Minister's unexpected show up... Well, to be precise, Harry had not been expelled and we would be staying with him at the Cauldron until the start of the next school session. As the end of the month was approaching, Mom told us to go and buy our books as soon as possible so today we went to Diagon Alley.

"How about we go to Flourish and Blotts first?" Fred suggested. 

Me and George followed him in that book shop. As usual a lot of books were waiting on the shelves to be taken. I glanced down at my book list. Magical Drafts and Potions, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Rune dictionary etc etc etc.

This year was definitely going to be a nightmare judging on the loads of subjects we had to take. Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Herbology and also at least two of Divination, Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies. 

That truly is a lot of work and with the Prefect duties nothing is going to be any easier. 

I do understand now why Percy hollered at us all the time. Poor him. And now poor us. Though I don't think the twins were fazed by it all in the least. And they would never really pay a lot of attention to the worries of OWLs either so it was quite useless pointing that out. 

"Latest copy of the Daily Prophet," a magazine hawker passed by us, "Black still at large. Ministry having to face a lot of questions. Daily Prophet! Latest edition!" 

Oh yeah, now of all times, I was almost on my way to forgetting the whole ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN thingy for a while temporarily and there it goes all over again. Daily Prophet, indeed. 

George steered me towards the shelves where we had to buy our books and reluctantly I began piling the course books and checking them with a slight tick mark on the list. After we were done at the book shop, we toured the Alley for other supplies such as our Astronomy equipment, quills and parchment. 

We were to meet the rest of our family as well as Harry at Florean Fortescue's Ice cream parlor. Oh and I almost forgot... Hermione had come back from France this morning and also joined us in on the shopping. I observed though that this visit to Diagon Alley was vastly different from my previous one. 

The Alley was the same as ever, of course, but the behavior of the people had changed drastically. An air of terror was up everywhere as witches and wizards spoke in hushed voices discussing the whole Azkaban break out situation instead of creating the usual hustle bustle and going about their business normally.

When we finally reached the Ice cream parlor (after the twins had bought a vast range of stink pellets), everyone was already assembled there. Looks like Hermione finally got a pet as she was hugging a squashy faced cat close to her protectively, glaring all the while at Ron who was petting Scabbers. 

It seemed as if the rat too had taken effect from the terror in the atmosphere as its whiskers drooped glumly and it had a very exhausted expression on its face. Oh wow, now I am giving my opinion on animals as if I am some qualified Vet or a magizoologist as they call it here. Well... Whatever. 

After the head count and a cone ice cream each, all of us made our way back to the Leaky Cauldron where our beds and dinner awaited us. Tomorrow, we would be at Kings Cross boarding the Hogwarts Express. 

Tomorrow will be the start of a new term, the depressing OWLs term. And what more depressing than the fact that Hogwarts would be guarded by those freaking Dementors, or the Azkaban Guards as the others call them here? Oh Lord, have mercy on us all.

***

Back at the Leaky Cauldron, Mom made us have a quick dinner (which I didn't feel like eating, somehow my appetite had simply vanished) then sent us all off to our respective rooms for an early night's sleep. We had to pack as well, so I utilized the fifteen minutes in arranging my stuff in the trunk. 

Ginny was doing precisely the same (we were sharing a room again, I think Mom likes the idea of both of us sorting out our differences and getting to know each other better, not that it's helping though), this time she was carefully checking all her books such that if any mysterious object turns up she would report immediately to Dad. Past experiences are haunting, what else can I say? 

After my packing was done and I still wasn't very sleepy, I decided to go out for a small walk. "Hey Gin, I'm going to get a drink of water," I told her (yes, we do talk, no big deal. It's usually always questions or polite formalities), "you want some?" 

And yeah this is an excuse just in case if Mom decided to drop by, so that she wouldn't get too suspicious on where I had wandered off to. She looked up at me for a while as if considering, then shook her head in a no. Alright then, suits herself.

I went down the stairs cautiously looking around if anyone else was awake. The occasional explosions were coming from Fred and George's room (meaning that they were still inventing), Percy was screaming his head off at someone (yeah, let's take a wild guess; perhaps Hermione's cat Crookshanks ate his notes or something, I'll check on him later), the rest of the rooms too were either silent or noisy. 

I stepped into the kitchen like place that was quite close to the parlor and filled up a glass of water. After drinking it, I came out but noticed that the lights of the parlor were still on. Mom and Dad were discussing something again. And I'm pretty sure this time it is about Sirius Black and his escapade.

There was a clatter of chairs as they got up to leave. I waited for a few minutes, then went inside. The Daily Prophet was lying open at the table and the large photograph of a sunken faced man with long matted hair was staring up at me.

Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner to be held in Azkaban Fortress, still eluding capture... Blah! Blah! Blah!

"Nonsense, entire nonsense," I mumbled but couldn't stop myself from looking into his shadowed eyes, the only part of that sunken face that seemed alive. A face that was once so handsome and glowing with mirth and laughter. 

"What do you think is nonsense?" I spun around startled to hear a voice behind me and saw Harry with a bottle of Rat Tonic in his hands. 

"A lot of things don't often make sense to me," I replied carefully considering each word, "this article, for instance. If only the Ministry spent more time looking thoroughly into facts instead of answering stupid questions, they would find that it will make a great difference." 

He stared at me blankly, of course, how would he know? "You weren't down here at dinner," he stated after a while, "in fact I think it's the first time I'm seeing you in this whole stay at Diagon Alley." 

Fair point. 

"I was busy," I replied, "it's OWLs year, there's a lot for me to study."  

He gave a low nod, "then shouldn't you be studying now as well?" 

"I could ask you the same question. Though I'm aware that both of us happened to be here at the wrong time and might have heard things that shouldn't come into our knowledge."

He got my point immediately, "yeah, by accident." 

I folded the magazine hiding Sirius's photograph from sight. "What do you know about Sirius Black, Harry?" I asked genuinely curious in his answer. 

"He's a murderer, he was in the Muggle news as well, he killed 13 Muggles with a single curse," he pointed out the main facts which he had come to know of in these few days, "and Mrs Weasley thinks he might try to kill me." 

I spoke, "and why would he want to kill you?"

"He was a big supporter of Voldemort," he replied as if that alone was explanation enough. 

Oh I see, so that is what everyone thinks of him now? No one knows him as what he really was, instead everyone believes the fake version of the story. 

"One word of advice," I spoke, "never believe in things you accidentally hear. Sometimes knowing half the facts can turn out to be dangerous. Never believe until you're perfectly sure that what you've heard is the truth." 

He was confused, "I don't understand." 

I had expected that, "the world is full of gossips, Harry. More than half of how we hear things today is nothing but rumors." My eyes flickered towards the magazine in my hand and I muttered, "more than half of this article is nonsense too." 

I was about to step out when he asked, "do you know anything about Black that I don't know yet?" 

I was not expecting that though and my grip round the magazine tightened, "perhaps. But I don't think it will interest you."

"Suppose you tell me anyway."

I considered. I actually considered telling him all I knew. Dad was right in saying that Harry should know but then of course, what could I tell him? There were so many things that could be told in general yet nothing in particular that he would believe. He was looking at me patiently as if waiting for me to answer. 

"Like you and I, Black was once a student at Hogwarts too," I spoke, "yet that's not the only thing which is similar between him and us. He was a Gryffindor. A Quidditch player, a Beater at the school team." 

Harry was unable to mask the shock that took over his face, "a Gryffindor? But he was a supporter of..." 

I interrupted him, "no one knows that for certain." 

He spoke up, "then how do you know that he was a Gryffindor and a Beater in his Hogwarts days?" 

Good question. But before I could answer, someone else spoke up for me, "because Kat has a knack of knowing the most unbelievable things." 

The twins, who else? 

"We wouldn't be surprised if we were told that she has been stalking Black," Fred stated. 

How impolite. 

"I am not stalking anybody," I answered firmly. 

"Yet you are very interested in finding all you can about him," George remarked. 

"Because if you hadn't noticed by now, there isn't a single person who is not interested in the whole Sirius Black situation." 

They shrugged, "yeah, but unlike you they are not collecting all the magazines they can find about him." 

I felt the color rise to my cheeks, so these two have been much more observant than what I gave them credit for, "I am not collecting any magazines." 

George spoke up, "though the interesting fact is that none of the magazines stated anything about him being a Gryffindor." 

I had an answer ready for that though, "remember when we were assigned a detention to scrub the school trophies by McGonagall? Quidditch Cup 1977 went to Gryffindor and his name was in the team members and so was his rank written there. Along with all others. I just happened to see it." 

Fred looked at me in awe, "you have a brilliant memory then." 

I tried to change the topic, "what are you two doing here anyway except eavesdropping on us?" 

They held up Perce's Head Boy badge that now read BIGHEAD BOY, "we've been improving this." 

Harry laughed but I could see it was forced, he too was stressed out about something. Percy was still probably dismantling his and Ron's room in search for the badge. 

"When are you planning to return it by the way?" I asked. Harry had gone by now. 

"Tomorrow morning at breakfast," they replied, "and keep the lecture about not annoying Perce to yourself." 

Ah, of course. I nodded, "I know it's useless to give you both a lecture in the first place. I was just going to bed myself. See you in the morning." 

They nodded, "good night. And one last thing, Kat." 

I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face them, "yeah what?" 

Fred patted me gently on the shoulder, "we're not blind. We know that you know a lot about Black but you don't want to tell us so we are just respecting your choice and not pushing you about it." 

They had me speechless for a whole minute and that is indeed saying something. 

George spoke up,"we can't wait to see Perce's reaction. Right, Freddie?" 

Fred nodded, "now that would be something I call spectacular." 

And with that they left discussing Percy among themselves. But I was more than just shocked at what they had implied on me a while earlier. 

I must say, however, that they are much smarter than I thought and that I should be more careful in whatever I do from now on.

***