Serendipity (Fred Weasley HP)

Chapter Nine - A Black Christmas Part 1

Halley was on a mission, not even Peeves dared get in her way. All these years she'd thought that McGonagall had told her everything about her parents, and yet here she was sitting on the biggest piece of information and she had to find out from someone who wasn't even supposed to know either.

She didn't bother knocking, instead, she pushed open the door to her grandmothers' office and marched straight up to her desk. "You lied to me, you told me I knew everything that you did about my parents and you lied." She said angrily with a familiar piercing look that McGonagall never thought she'd see on anyone else.

Minerva's stare was fixed on her granddaughter, sure they'd had arguments before just like any other family, but this was different, this was the first time they'd argued about Halley's past, about her parents and for once the old witch didn't quite know how to proceed. "Close the door and sit down, please." She said, not in her teachers' voice but in her grandmothers' voice, a voice that was for Halley's ears only.

The dark-haired girl did as instructed then waited for her guardian and teacher to say something. "What did you hear exactly?" She removed her glasses and folded her hands neatly on the table in front of her.

"That my father was the secret keeper to James and Lily Potter, that he gave up that secret to you-know-who and that he killed not only a street full of muggles but one of his other dear friends Peter Pettigrew and that's why he was sent to Azkaban, and now that he's out he wants to kill Harry to avenge his master," Halley said and folded her hands on her lap, not taking her eyes off of her grandmother.

Minerva sighed, she knew the Three Broomsticks was a bad place to have such a sensitive conversation, what puzzled her was how Halley had found out since as far as she was aware her granddaughter had left with the Diggory boy before they'd started talking. However, that was not the most pressing matter and could wait till they'd talked properly about the situation. "What do you want to know?"

"I want the truth, the whole story, not just bits of it second hand or rose-tinted. I will be sixteen in five days and my father is on the run for something he didn't do, I think I deserve the whole truth." She was still sure that there had been a mistake somewhere, she couldn't believe that the man she met and the man that Minerva had told her about was capable of betraying his closest friends and killing all those people, there had to be another explanation.

"Very well." Minerva cleared her throat and waved her wand, conjuring a tray of tea and biscuits for them seeing as they were going to be a while. "It started when your mother was murdered. You had spent the day with your grandfather while Melissa and Sirius were doing separate jobs for the Order of the Phoenix and I was here teaching. Sirius came round in the evening to collect you then went home where, as I've told you in the past, he found Melissa's body. What I didn't tell you is that whoever killed her left a note. They wanted the Potters and would go through any witch or wizard who stood in their way." Halley could tell this was a painful topic for the older witch, who dabbed her eyes with a tissue, and after feeling guilty for making her talk about it she did consider ending the conversation, but she also wanted the truth and sometimes the truth hurt but it was better than living a lie, so she let Minerva continue.

"Your father was beside himself, I'd never seen him like that in all the years that I had known him. When he dropped you back with your Grandfather they sent word to me and I arrived as soon as I was able. After her death, the Potters went into hiding and Sirius became the secret keeper, it meant that a charm had been placed over the family to conceal them and the secret of their whereabouts was kept hidden in Sirius, James had insisted that they could trust him because as you know they were practically brothers growing up." It was at this point that Minerva poured the tea and stirred the sugar into hers slowly, prolonging the painful explanation.