★ ★ ★

Harry had used his invisibility cloak to keep himself hidden. He found his crossed passed with his two best friends where he decided to mess with them and threw snowballs at Malfoy and his goons for a laugh.

After a while the trio walked around the village before Harry told them about the map the twins gave him.

"Those weasels," Ron muttered which annoyance, "never told me about any mauraders map."

Before Harry can reply, Hermione comments, "harry isn't going to keep it. He'll turn it over to Professor Mcgonagall, aren't you?"

"Oh sure, along with his invisibility cloak." Ron adds on sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Oh look who it is— madam Rosmerta!" she states with a teasing tone. "Ron fancies her."

"No I don't!" The boy stubbornly denies.

They watch as Fudge, Minnie and Hagrid greet Rosmerta and walk through the pub with delight.

"Rosmerta, my dear! I hope business is good!" Fudge greets with a smile.

"It'd be a lot better if the Ministeru wasn't sending dementors into my pub every other night!" She ridiculed, half joking half serious.

"We have a killer on the loose!" Fudge states, trying to reason his actions.

"Miralette Crouch in Hogsmeade," the woman mocks, "— and what would bring her here?"

"Harry Potter." Minnie whispers in the woman's ear causing her to stop her actions.

"Harry Potter. . ?" She repeats with disbelief.

They look around before going inside making the trio watching share a look. Harry already had disappeared into the Pub, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Madam Rosmerta joins the group, dropping off their orders.

"A small gillywater —"

"Mine." said Professor Mcgonagall's voice.

"Four pints of mulled mead —"

"Ta, Rosmerta." Said Hagrid.

"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and an umbrella—"

"Mmm!" Said Professor Flitwick, smacking his lips in delight.

"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister."

"Thankyou, Rosmerta, m'dear," said Fudges voice, "lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself won't you? Come and join us . . ."

"Well, thankyou very much, Minister."

Harry watched the scene in confusion.

"So what were you talking about outside with Harry Potter?" The woman who owns the pub asks.

"What else m'dear, but Miralette Crouch? I dare say you heard what happened up at the school on Halloween?"

"I did hear a rumour." Admits Madam Rosmerta.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" Said Minnie with an exasperated look.

"Do you think Crouch is still in the area, Minister?" whispers Rosmerta.

"I'm sure of it." said Fudge shortly.

"You know that the dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said the woman, a slight edge on her voice, "scared all my customers away. . It's very bad for the business, Minister"

"Rosmerta m'dear, I don't like them any more then you do," he says uncomfortably, "necessary precaution. . unfortunate, but there you are . . I've just met some of them. They are in 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 out Professor Flitwick voice— making harry jump, forgetting he was there.

"All the same," demurred Fudge, "they are here to protect you all from something much worse than. . We all know what Crouch's capable of . ."

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," said Madam Rosmerta with a thoughtful look, "Of all people to go to the dark side, Miralette Crouch was the last I'd have thought . . I mean I remember her when she was a young girl at Hogwarts. If you'd told than what she 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 she did isn't widely known."

"The worst?" She repeats, "worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do," said Fudge.

"I can't believe that," she said, "what could possibly be worse?"

"You say that like you remember her at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," Harry's Professor mummers, seemingly emotional about the conversation of Miralette., "do you remember who her best friends were?"

"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh, "never saw one of those three without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here— ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the triple act Miralette Crouch, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Harry nearly drops his invisibility cloak whilst he holds onto the walls for stability, the words shocking him.

"Precisely," said minnie, "Crouch, Potter and Black. Ringleaders of their own little gang. All three were very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact— but I don't think we've ever had such a trio of troublemakers—"

"I dunno," Hagrid chuckled, "Fred and George Weasley along with that Jordan boy could give 'em a run fer their own money."

"You'd have thought Crouch and Potter were brother and sister with the way they acted." Chimed in Professor Flitwick, "The same with Black and Potter as brother!" He continues, "inseparable!"

"I always knew Crouch and Black had something going on, when they got together everyone was thrilled! Myself included." Minnie comments with a bright smile as she remembers the past years.

"Of course they were inseparable," said Fudge, "Potter trusted both Black and Crouch beyond all his other school friends. — Black was surprisingly a wise choice. . Crouch on the other hand. . — Nothing happened to their relationship when they left school. Crouch was maid of honour as Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named them Godparents to Harry Potter. Harry of course has no idea he even had a godmother, nonetheless who she actually was, of course. You can imagine how that would torment him."

"Because Crouch turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" mutters Rosmerta in a hushed voice.

"worse then that, m'dear. . ." Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a low tone, "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 their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?" questions Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat before answering.

"It's a very 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 refuses 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 Crouch was the Potters' secret keeper?" Whispered the woman, covering her mouth in shock at the revelation.

"Naturally," said minnie, her stern face filled with sorrow, "It was between Black and Crouch but Lily chose Crouch instead of Black, being obviously closer with her and James agreed with his wife." She shared, "James potter told Dumbledore that Crouch would rather die than tell where they were, that Crouch and Black were both planning on going into hiding themselves . . and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' secret keeper himself."

"But James Potter insisted on using Crouch?"

"He did. James told him that he wouldn't take no for an answer and insisted on using the girl," said Fudge breathlessly, "and then, barely a week after the Fidelius charm had been performed—"

"Crouch betrayed them?" Responded Rosmerta, still having trouble grasping on that sweet young girl who adored James. They were best friends. Brother and Sister by everything other than blood— and yet . .

"She did indeed. Crouch was tired of her double-agent role, she was ready to declare her support openly for you-know-who, and seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. Black had obviously no clue on this, poor man must have been distraught just thinking about it. .

. . As we all know, you-know-who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. This left Crouch in a nasty position indeed. Her master had fallen at the very moment when she, crouch, had shown her true colours as a traitor. Against The Potters, Against her friends and even Sirius Black despite them happy she craved power more than anything. She then had no Choice but to make a run for it—"

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid yelled out so loudly that half the bar went silent.

"Shhh!" Hissed Professor Mcgonagall.

"I met her!" growled Hagrid, "I musta bin the last ter to see her — other then Black — before she killed all those people! It was me who rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Black and Crouch had gotten there minutes before I did. They had jus' got him out the ruins, poor little thing, with a great big slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead. . . an' I ask how they arrived, on that flyin' motor bike Sirius used ter ride. Never occurred to me what Crouch was doing there. I didn't know she'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-keeper. Thought they had jus' heard the news o' you-know-who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', they was, especially Crouch. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"

"Hagrid, please!" Professor Mcgonagall spoke shakily, "keep your voice down!"

"How was I ter know she wasn' upset abou' Lily and James? It was You-Know-Who she cared abou'! An' then she says 'Give Harry ter me and Sirius Hagrid, I'm his godmother, Sirius is his godfather. We'll look after him—' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Crouch no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black and Crouch argued, but in the end, she gave in. Crouch told me ter take the motorbike ter get Harry there. 'We— I won't need it anymore,' Crouch said. She left after that, Sirius still begged for a few minutes to be able to take Harry but I still said no.

"I should have known there was somethin' fishy going on' then. Crouch is known to be very persistent and headstrong with getting what she wants, why would she just back off that easily? It was all too easy now that I think about it. And that motorbike! She loved it— probably more than Sirius who actually owned the damn thin', what was she givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' she need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew she'd bin the Potters' secret-keeper. Crouch knew she was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, that's why she left so quickly. Knew it was a matter of hours before the Ministry was after her.

"But what if I'd given Harry to her, eh? She'd probably had kill' Black for standing in ter way before pitching off the bike halfway out ter sea.
Her bes' friends' son! She could've polluted his brain with his ways!"

A long wave of silence followed after Hagrid story. Then Madam Rosmerta with some satisfaction, "But she didn't manage to disappear, did she? The ministry of manage caught up with her the next day!"

"Alas, if only we had," said Fudge weakly. "It was not we who found her. It was little Peter Pettigrew — another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Crouch had been the Potters' secret-keeper, he went after Crouch himself."

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

"Hero-worshiped Crouch, Black and Potter," said minnie, "never quite in their league talent-wise. I was often sharp with the boy. You can imagine how I — how I often regret that now. ." She mutters coldly.

"There, now, Minerva," said Fudge softly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses— muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew corned Crouch. They say he was sobbing 'Lily and James, Miralette! How could you? And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Crouch was quicker. She blew Pettigrew to smithereens."

Or did she?

Professor Mcgonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "Stupid boy. . Hopeless boy . . . always hopeless at duelling— should've left it to the Ministry. . ."

"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Crouch before little Pettigrew did, I don't care she's a woman— I wouldn't've messed around with wands— i'd've ripped her limb— from — limb," Hagrid roared.

"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 Crouch once she was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first one the scene after Crouch had 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 Crouch was standing there laughing like a bloody mad woman. With what was left of Pettigrew in front of her. . . a heap of bloodstained robes and a few — a few fragments —"

Fudge's voice stopped abruptly. There was a sound of five noses being blown.

"Well there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge, "Crouch 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. Crouch's been in Azkaban ever since. She was thrown in there by her own uncle, Barty Crouch Sr, he didn't even bat an eye."

The woman listening let out a long sigh.

"Is it true she's gone mad, minister?"

"I wish I could say that she was," said Fudge lowly, "I certainly believe her masters defeat unhinged her for a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those muggles was the actions of a desperate and cornered woman — cruel . . yet pointless." He states, "Yet I met Crouch on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit murmuring to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them— but I was quite shocked at how content Crouch was. She spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought she was merely bored — asked if I'd finished my newspaper, cool as you please, said she missed doing crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the dementors have on her — and she was in one of the most heavily guarded cells in the place, you know. Dementors outside her door, day and night."

"But what do you think she's broken out to do." Asked Madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister— she isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is she?"

"I daresay that her — er — eventual plan," said Fudge evasively. "But we hope to catch Crouch long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing . . . but give him back his most loyal and devoted servant and I might shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again. . ."

"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the Headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle." Minnie reminded him, not wanting to continue the conversation about the girl who used to be her favourite student.

As they all left, Harry was left in the room as he stood in shock under his invisibility cloak before running out the three broomsticks catching the attention of Ron and Hermione who were outside waiting for him.

They found him, away from the village, in a clearing by the woods. Sitting on a large rock, angry tears pooling in his emerald green eyes.

Hermione approached Harry and gently pulled off the invisibility cloak, enabling for the duo to see him.

"She was their friend! She was my godfathers girlfriend! And she betrayed them all!" He yelled out into the forest, his angry controlling him, "SHE WAS THERE FRIEND! — I hope she comes after me. . cause when she does, I'll kill her!"

After half an hour of sitting there calming down, he realised he needed more answers. The only way to get that was Sirius and Remus. He put away his anger from them and stormed right back to the castle, Ron and Hermione trailing behind.

Due to their minds being busy they seemed to notice the brown shaggy dog watching the scar-headed boy with sad eyes, before she turned around unable to look at the sight for any longer.

★ ★ ★

"moony, I'm telling you we need to tell Harry, I mean he needs to know sooner or later." Sirius shouted frustratedly waving his arms around as he follows the taller man through the room. "He has a right to know who his godmother is. He has a right to know her! Atleast of her or to know stories of her!"

Remus held his head in his hands for a few seconds, trying to calm his frustration that's bubbling, "I agree with you Padfoot, you know this but this isn't the time or place, due to the situation—"

"— you mean your BESTFRIEND who broke out of Azkaban?" Sirius argues cutting Remus off.

"exactly! She broke out of Azkaban, she isn't my best friend anymore— not after betraying the Potters." He states truthfully causing Sirius to groan.

"How many times do I need to tell you— She. Was. FRAMED!!!!" He screamed at the man.

"How many times do I need to tell you that I don't believe you. You have no proof, your memory is obviously fuzzy from the traumatic night." He replies sternly with a frown, waving him off making him scowl at his friend.

Sirius replies cursing a bunch of profanities under his breath. He looks back at his best friend, "We will finish this conversation later," he warns earning a stubborn nod and roll of the eyes from Remus, "What would be the right time to reveal everything in your wise-smartypants-judgement."

"After Crouch gets caught," Remus says, hatred spiking through his words, "we won't tell him everything but the things he needs to know first, then by time he'll learn more about her."

"This is stupid," Sirius disagrees, ignoring his friends offended look, "something is going to go wrong I feel it."

"If we tell him about her right now, he will go blind by rage and go after Crouch, we need to let the ministry handle it not the 13 year old." Remus continues stubbornly ignoring his words. Remus suddenly gets a thought, "Do you think we should tell Dumbledore?" Remus asks suddenly, causing the other man to tense.

"Tell him what?" Sirius asks sharply.

"About mira— Crouch. Her being an animagus." Remus responds calmly, picking at his nails.

"We don't need to," he ignores the way his friend was about to say something and continues, "there's no need to—" he cuts himself off before starting again, "there's no need, it'll be fine, Harry won't find out, your usually right and we will all be happy." Sirius states optimistically with a tight smile.

However that smile soon drops when Harry Potter barges in, an all too familiar angry look on his face. Sirius turns over to his friend with his eyebrows raised, 'i was right' he mouths getting flipped off in return.

★ ★ ★