The Marauders: Year Seven Part One

Who Else Knew?

The village of Hogsmeade was a Christmas wonderland. 

The snow had fallen in great heaps over the week leading up to the holiday festival and the various shopkeepers had decorated their windows with bright and colorful lights and displays that drew the attention. The warm lights from inside cast shadows of the window frames on the street and the Fountain had been bewitched for the special occasion to distribute hot chocolate so that witches and wizards need only walk up, produce a tea cup, and scoop as much of the warm drink as they wished. There was an energy among the students and villagers in general as they milled about, carrying their packages, smiling as they breathed in the ever-present smell of dragon-fire roasted nuts and popcorn wafting through the air. Vendors had come to Hogsmeade for the event, too, setting up carts and little booths, selling foreign wares and homemade pieces like knitted sweaters and trinket boxes, muggle gifts, blown glass creatures that really moved about, jewelry made from home-grown crystals of vibrant colours, and loads of special foods.

Sirius could see why Dumbledore had decided to shuffle about the usual schedule of things to allow for the students to attend the festival. There was so much goodness happening on the streets of Hogsmeade that it was hard to believe that any evil existed anywhere at all in the world, and it seemed that was precisely what the students needed at this time of the year - a bit of relief from the awful things happening in the news. Everyday somebody was called to the Headmaster's office, it seemed, to collect bad news, so that students waited with held breath whenever a house elf was seen about the castle.

Of course, Sirius himself wasn't attending the festival. Rather, he'd snuck out of the Shrieking Shack to come down to the main road to meet with James and Lily, and he'd figured it wouldn't hurt to have a look-around while he was waiting for them to arrive... and if he happened to have bought a small box of chocolates - all that he could afford - for Remus's Christmas present, well, what was the harm in that?

James and Lily, after talking about Walburga's arrival at the Evans's house, had decided that their best bet was to find out what exactly Walburga knew. What this would require was finding out who exactly had told Walburga Black about Lily having the locket. At first, this had seemed a daunting task - after all, everyone in the Order knew about the locket, and it could've been any one of them, James had originally reckoned, until Lily pointed out that it was impossible it was any of the Order members. "First of all, if it had been anyone in the Order, they would've known that the locket was no longer with me and it would be rather irrelevant that I ever had it at all. She'd know that it was here at the castle instead of my house," Lily explained, "And secondly, if it was someone in the Order the contract Remus and Emmaline made would've kicked in and we'd be able to tell who it was."

"Excellent point, Evans," James had said, nodding. Then, "Well who else knew about you having the locket?"

"Only you and me," Lily replied. "I don't even think Remus and Sirius knew until after it was at Hogwarts, and I know Peter didn't," she added the last bit hastily, given everything that was already going on with Peter and Voldemort, she didn't want anymore piled upon him.

James said, "Well I didn't tell her."

"I know," Lily replied.

James had hesitated, then, "Snape knew."

Lily had been quite adamant that Severus Snape would never have told Walburga anything, and that he couldn't have been forced to either. He knew how to practice occlumency, she had reminded James, and Voldemort couldn't force any knowledge out of him that he kept locked up in his mind. Surely if Severus Snape could keep Voldemort out, then he could keep Walburga Black out as well... Besides that, Lily had said, Severus Snape wouldn't betray her like that. "He has done, though," James said, "He used the amortentia potion on you and he tried at taking advantage of you and he's hurt you how many times? Lied how many times? Dunno what you consider betrayal, but all of that falls under the category to me, at least."