❝"I want to save them."
"You're just saying things that I already know, Nellie."
"You're not going to try and stop me?"
"On the contrary, my little Witch. I'm going to try and help you."❞
***
Viatorem Atramento: Ink Travellers. That was what Noell...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Harry wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed to make it through the Honeydukes cellar, through the tunnel and back into the castle. The journey seemed to take no time at all, especially with his head still pounding with the conversation he had just overheard.
Sirius Black was his godfather, and worse yet, he had betrayed his parents and killed another friend. Why had no one ever told him? Dumbledore, Hagrid, Mr Weasley and Fudge... they all knew and had the perfect opportunity to tell him over the summer. So what held them back?
He could feel Hermione and Ron eye him nervously all throughout dinner. He knew they wanted to talk about what they'd overheard but didn't dare because Noelle was sat close by, and as soon as he'd finished his meal he ran straight up to his dorm because he didn't want Fred and George to ask him whether he made it to Hogsmeade or not. He wasn't sure he'd be able to keep his temper in check.
Harry headed straight for the leather-bound photo album of his parents on his desk, drew the curtains around his bed, and started turning the pages, searching until... He stopped on a photo of his parents on their wedding day. Brushing a finger over his smiling parents, his gaze landed on his dad's best man. He would never had guessed it was Sirius Black. His face wasn't sunken and waxy, but handsome and full of laughter. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen the smile somewhere before, but he had no idea how he could have.
Had Black already been working for Voldemort when this picture was taken? Was he already planning the deaths of the two people next to him? Harry felt a surge of rage and slammed the album shut, throwing open the hangings and tossing the book onto his desk.
Harry's head thumped dejectedly onto his pillow. The dormitory door opened.
"Harry?" said Ron's voice uncertainly.
But Harry lay still, pretending to be asleep. He heard Ron leave again, and rolled over to his side, eyes wide open. He had never felt a hatred more poisonous than the one coursing through his being now, and fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of Black cackling high and cold with Voldemort as they blasted his parents and Peter Pettigrew to pieces.
***
Harry woke with a start. The images of the nightmare he'd been having slipped rapidly from his mind like sand through fingers, but he had no doubt it was another horror film of Voldemort and Black colluding together. He turned tiredly in his bed and grabbed his wand, whispering the tempus charm; it was just past two in the morning. His dorm mates were probably deep asleep by now, but Harry couldn't find it in him to join them. As he stared at the ceiling, the events of the day flashed through his mind again... Fred and George giving him the Marauder's Map, sneaking into Hogsmeade with Noelle under his cloak, Noelle saying...
He shot up in his bed. As quietly as he could, Harry rummaged through his clothes to find the yellowed bit of parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered. He tapped his wand on the map, and watched as ink quickly spread to make up the intricate outline of the school. Noelle had said to use the map wisely. "Some people might not be what you think," she'd said. Was she saying that Black had disguised himself as someone in the castle? He pulled the flaps open and his eyes quickly flickered to the dungeons, and he scanned the Slytherin living area. Harry was quickly disappointed; everyone seemed to be who they said they were.
