Disclaimer: The only character I own is Diana Dursley, and a handful of other OCs.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The Traitor and a Nightmare

"Uh oh," Maisie whispered, pulling Diana under the table.

"What difference does it make if we're under the table?" Diana hissed. "We're invisible!"

But the two remained under the table. A minute later, Diana heard and saw four pairs of footsteps and Madam Rosemerta.

"A small gillywater-"

"Mine," said Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Four pints of mulled mead-"

"Ta, Rosemerta," said Hagrid.

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

"Mmm," squeaked Professor Flitwick - the only teacher Diana and Maisie could see.

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

"Thank you, Rosemerta, m'dear," came Fudge's voice. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Come and join us..."

Diana palms suddenly felt sweaty. What if the teachers didn't leave for ages? What if she and Maisie would be stuck under the table in the Invisibility Cloak?

"So, what brings you to this neck of woods, Minister?" came Madam Rosemerta's voice.

Fudge lowered his voice and whispered, "What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school on Halloween?"

"I did hear a rumour," admitted Madam Rosemerta.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid," sighed Professor McGonagall exasperatedly.

"Do you think Black's still in the area?" whispered Madam Rosemerta.

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

Diana tensed. If they were going to talk about Black, their conversation would most likely stretch to Harry.

"You know that the dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosemerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away... it's very bad for business, Minister."

"Rosemerta, I don't like them anymore than you do," said Fudge uncomfortably. "Necessary precaution... unfortunate, but there you are... I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore - he won't let them in the castle grounds."

"I should think not," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"

"Hear, hear," squealed Professor Flitwick.

"All the same," demurred Fudge. "They are here to protect you all from something much worse... we all know what Black's capable of..."

Suddenly, Hermione whispered, "Mobiliarbus!" The Christmas tree beside their table rose and moved three inches to the left, hiding their table from view. She must've been thinking the same as Diana - they'd soon arrive on the topic of Harry, and like Diana, she was curious about what the teachers and Fudge would say.

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," Madam Rosemerta said. "Of all people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd've thought... I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd've said you had too much mead."

"You don't know half of it, Rosemerta," said Fudge gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known."

"The worst?" asked Madam Rosemerta. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do," said Fudge.

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"

"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosemerta," Professor McGonagall murmured. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," said Madam Rosemerta with a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I used to have them in here - ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter."

Diana silently spat out her Butterbeer, spraying Maisie, who glared at her. A second later Diana saw Harry's glass coming from above, and Maisie caught it just in time before gently placing it on the floor.

"Precisely," said Professor McGonagall. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course - exceptionally bright, in fact - but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers-"

"I dunno," Hagrid chuckled. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" chimed in Professor Flitwick. "Inseparable!"

"Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."

Diana looked up at Harry, who looked extremely tense.

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" whispered Madam Rosemerta.

"Worse than that, m'dear." Fudge lowered his voice and looked around to see if anyone was listening, obviously not spotting Harry. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was 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 that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?" asked Madam Rosemerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

"An immensely complex spell," he squeaked. "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 refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where James and Lily were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed up against their sitting room window!"

Diana opened her mouth in horror. She knew where this was going, and she did not like it. Maisie looked absolutely horrified, and Diana knew she was thinking the same thing: Black was the Potters' Secret Keeper.

"So Black was the Potters' Secret Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosemerta.

"Naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would rather die than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself... and yet, Dumbledore was worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters's Secret Keeper himself."

Madam Rosemerta gasped, "He suspected Black?"

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," said McGonagall darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information on to You-Know-Who."

"But James Potter had insisted on using Black?"

"He did," said Fudge heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed-"

"Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosemerta.

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colours as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it-"

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" said Hagrid so loudly that half the pub went quiet.

"Shhh!" said Professor McGonagall.

"I met him," growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all those people! It was me who rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed. Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead... an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred to me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd been Lily an' James' Secret Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"

"Hagrid please," begged Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!"

"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily and James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! An' then he says," Hagrid cleared his throat loudly and said in what must've been an imitation of what Black sounded like, "'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him-' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go to his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says.

"I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was only a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him.

"But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends son! But when a wizard goes over to the Dark Side, there's nothin' an' no one that matters ter 'em anymore."

Diana felt sick. Suddenly, she grabbed Maisie's hand and got up from under the table, still under the cloak, and the two of them quietly slipped out of the pub.

Diana and Maisie headed back to the secret passage way, not saying a word.

Diana and Maisie sat in silence in the dormitory for a while. Eventually, Maisie said, "We should get some sleep."

"Yeah," Diana muttered. "Sleep."

She rolled over into an uneasy sleep.

Four month old Diana was sitting in a pram, being pushed by her grandparents, Carl and Andrea Evans.

"Honey, do you think the rumours are true?" asked Andrea anxiously. "About Lily and her husband? And about their son?"

"Let's go find out," said Carl. "I hope they're not."

Suddenly, there was a yell from around the corner.

"Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?!"

Andrea and Carl turned the corner with Diana in the pram. Two men were standing there, holding their wands out.

Diana giggled, she liked the funny men with wands. The taller man withcold, grey eyes focused on her, and the look on his face softened.

BOOM! There was an explosion, and Diana wailed. Bricks and bits of wood hurled towards her, but they didn't hit her, but Carl and Andrea collapsed, dying instantly.

Diana woke up panting.

"What happened?" Maisie croaked.

Diana explained about the nightmare.

"That must've been how your grandparents died," Maisie said, wide awake. "Black must've killed them. And nothing hit you because of accidental magic. But why don't you see this when dementors come?"

"I suppose it's because I don't remember it," Diana said.

As she went back to sleep, she knew one thing. Black was vicious and would murder anyone who got in his way. She was protect Harry from him all she could, but she still didn't understand something? Why did Black look so gentle before he blew up the street?