Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JKR does

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Snowflakes swirled around in the air and landed softly on the ground, adding to the powdery layer of snow already there. Icarus trudged through it, wishing that snow wasn't as cold as it was; his feet were freezing. Next to him, Alan had his head tilted back and his tongue stuck out of his mouth as he tried to catch the snowflakes. Icarus felt tempted to trip him. Phillip was on the other side of Alan, and Renée was on Icarus's right.

Icarus had asked Renée if she wanted to come to Hogsmeade with his friends and him in order to make up for ditching her in the library. She had said yes, and now here they were, walking to Hogsmeade in the snow.

"He's seen snow before, right?" Renée asked, looking at Alan as he jumped into a pile of it.

"He has," Icarus confirmed, stopping and watching as Phillip attempted to drag Alan out of the snow. Eventually, Phillip gave up and returned to Icarus and Renée. They resumed walking and Alan soon joined them, snow sticking to him. His cheeks were red, and so was his nose, but he was grinning like a madman.

After a few more minutes of walking, they saw the tops of buildings and houses, lights glowing from the windows. They hurried down a small slope, careful not to slip and fall. They reached The Three Broomsticks and entered. The warm air and cheerful atmosphere enveloped Icarus immediately and they found a table near a corner to sit at.

"Phillip, I'm cold," Alan complained once he sat down.

"Well, maybe don't jump into a pile of snow next time," Phillip said.

Four people Icarus recognized entered the pub: Professor McGonagall; Professor Flitwick; Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper and the new Care of Magical Creatures professor; and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. He watched as they ordered drinks from Madam Rosmerta. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a Christmas tree move a few inches.

"Is it weird to see your teachers drink?" Icarus asked when Madam Rosmerta returned to the adults' table with their drinks in hand.

"Depends on the teacher," Alan answered. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Trelawney was knocking 'em back between her classes."

Madam Rosmerta started up a conversation with the adults that, even though Icarus could hear what they were saying, tuned them out. Well, that was until he heard his last name get mentioned. Then suddenly his ears perked right up.

"I didn't hear a rumor," Madam Rosmerta said.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" That was McGonagall, sounding exasperated.

"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" Madam Rosmerta whispered, and Icarus barely caught it.

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

"Icarus?" Renée asked.

Icarus held up a hand at her, then signalled to the professors' (and minister's) table. Renée must have known what he meant by that because she didn't say anything else, nor did Phillip and Alan.

"You know the dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta. "Scared all my customers away. . . . It's very bad for business, Minister."

"Rosmerta, m'dear, I don't like them any more than you do," Fudge said, sounding uncomfortable. "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 inside the castle grounds."

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

"Hear, hear!" Flitwick squeaked.

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

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," said Madama Rosmerta. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have 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 have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't knos the half of it, Rosmerta," Fudge said. "The worst he did isn't widely known."

Icarus furrowed his brows and leaned toward the group a little more. What could be worse than murdering thirteen people?

"The worst?" Madam Rosmerta said, voicing Icarus's thoughts. "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 remembered him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," McGonagall murmured. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," Madam Rosmerta replied, giving a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here—ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Icarus's eyes widened. His father had been friends with James Potter. How did he not know that? Why didn't anyone bother to tell him?

"Precisely," said McGonagall. "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!" Flitwick said, putting in his two cents. "Inseparable!"

"Of course they were," Fudge said. "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. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him. I mean, look at poor Diana Solace; I'm pretty sure her heart broke when she found out what Black did, so there's no way that Harry should be allowed to know. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" Madam Rosmerta whispered, and Icarus had to strain his ears to hear her.

"Worse even than that, m'dear," Fudge said before dropping his voice so low that Icarus couldn't hear what he said next.

"How does that work?" Madam Rosmerta asked when the minister had finished speaking.

Icarus tuned everything but the conversation he was currently eavsdropping on out.

"An immensely complicated sort of spell—" Flitwick began.

"Icarus?"

Icarus started. "Huh?" He looked around to see that Phillip, Alan, and Renée were all standing and looking at him expectantly.

"Were you not paying attention? We're going to go visit Honeydukes," Renée said.

"Oh, sorry," Icarus said. "I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" she questioned.

"About how he could listen in on their conversation," said Phillip, jerking his head the at teachers and minister.

"Was not."

"Icarus, I've known you since we were eleven. You were totally eavsdropping on them."

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" a voice roared, silencing half the bar.

Icarus turned to see a fuming Hagrid with the others trying to calm him down. For a second, he made eye contact with him, and that seemed to upset Hagrid even more.

"C'mon, let's go," Renée said quiely, grabbing his hand and leading him out of The Three Broomsticks, but not before there was another deafening shout of "I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"

Phillip, Alan, Renée, and Icarus quickly exited the bar.