Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Chapter 6- Hogsmeade
September went by in a flash without any strange occurrences and soon it was October 1. The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year was coming up and all the students were looking forward to it.
Recently Lily stayed up in the girls dormitory until classes were over. She had seen all of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's classes at least once but sometimes she would still check into the potions classroom just to see that things were going fairly smoothly.
It was a Wednesday and Lily was getting bored in the dorms and decided to follow Harry to his first class of the day which was Transfiguration. She always remembered that James was fantastic at that subject but that didn't seem to be one thing he passed on to Harry. She found it amusing that Professor McGonagal was still teaching at Hogwarts. She couldn't imagine how long she had tought there.
After following Harry, Ron, and Hermione down twisting staircases and through winding corridors, they finally walked into the Transfiguration room.
"Good morning," Professor McGonagal said. "Today I will be collecting your signed permission forms to go to Hogsmeade this weekend." she said. "Ron," Harry whispered. "I didn't get mine signed." "Why not?" "Uncle Vernon said he would sign it if I behaved while Aunt Marge was visiting and I left right after that so he never got a chance."
Professor McGonagal walked down the rows collecting the forms. When she got to Harry and Ron's desk, Ron turned in his but Harry didn't have his.
Lily wished there was something she could do but cat's can't write.
The Hogsmeade weekend came all too fast and Lily followed Harry down to say goodbye to his friends. "I'm really sorry you can't come, Harry." Hermione said sympathetically. "Yeah I wish you could come." Ron said. "Yeah so do I. But you guys go enjoy yourselves." Harry said smiling. "Well alright. But next year for sure your coming." Hermione told him.
Ron and Hermione headed off to Hogsmeade and Harry went up to the Gryffindor boy's dorms and Lily trailed behind him careful not to be noticed. On the way there, they ran into Fred and George Weasley. Lily watched the conversation from around the corner. "Harry! Just the person we're looking for!" Fred said. "Hey Fred and George." Harry said. "Why aren't you at Hogsmeade?" "Because we have a better way of getting there." George replied. "And that's just what we want to talk to you about. We heard about you not being able to go to Hogsmeade this year so we're going to give you this." Fred pulled a rather old looking piece of parchment from his pocket and gave it to Harry. Harry looked down at the blank piece of parchment confused. "Yes we know what your thinking." Fred said. "Your probably going to ask us what are we doing with a blank piece of parchment but open it, point your wand in the middle and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'." George said.
Harry opened the parchment, said the words, and slowly it started to reveal burgundy ink. "Well read it." the twins persisted. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders map." Harry read. "Those are odd names." "Well I think there nicknames but that's not the point." George said. "Whoever wrote this map are geniuses. This map, Harry, shows every single secret passageway in Hogwarts including ways to get to Hogsmeade." Fred said. "We've memorized the map so we're going to give it to you. So I suggest that you go get your invisibility cloak and we'll meet you there."
Harry headed up to the dorms, got his invisibility cloak, which Lily recognized as James's old family heirloom, and found the closest secret corridor to Hogsmeade which turned out to be a statue of Ewrick the Oddball.
Harry walked down the long corridor closely followed by Lily. It was quite dark and covered in cobwebs. While walking there, Lily remembered James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter making the Marauders map. She had never approved of it but always thought it amazing however they did it.
When they got there, they ended up in the basement of the candy store. Lily tried to follow the sound of Harry's footsteps up the creaky staircase. When they got up to the store, many students were eating way to much. They'll be feeling that later. Lily thought. Through the crowd, it was hard to distinguish where Harry was until she saw the door open and nobody was there. She quickly scurried through the door and followed him outside.
Once out on the small cobblestone streets, Lily could see Harry's footsteps in the snow. They soon ran into Ron and Hermione who were walking by the Three Broomsticks.
Harry took off the cloak and explained how he got there and showed them the map. "Harry! I see you got here." George said from behind them. "Which way did you take?" Fred asked. "The one by Ewrick the Oddball." Harry replied. "Oh yeah that's a good one." Fred and George agreed.
Once Fred and George headed off to the joke shop, Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned around to see Mr. Fudge, the Minister of Magic, along with Professor McGonagal and Madame Rosemerta talking about something. When they got closer they could hear they're conversation.
"Mr. Fudge, I will not be having dementors coming in and out of my shop every other day!" Madame Rosemerta said. "I know, we'll work that out. How about we go up stairs and talk about this?" Fudge asked.
As they walked in the door, Harry put on the invisibility cloak and followed them. Lily quickly scurried after him. Once they got upstairs, they walked over to the corner and listened in on the conversation.
"Now what is this all about?" Rosemerta asked. "Sirius Black." Fudge replied. "Yes, Rosemerta, that's why we have the dementors here in the first place." McGonagal said. "As I'm sure you know, he's the one who killed 12 muggles and one wizard with a single curse. That wizard being his friend Peter Pettigrew." she explained. "I don't believe I remember Peter." Rosmerta said. "Oh sure you do. He was always hanging around Sirius, Remus, and James." McGonagal said. "Oh yes. James Potter, Harry Potter's father." Rosemerta said. "Sirius was Lily and James's secret keeper. He was the only one who knew where they were and he went and told you-know-who." McGonagal told them. Rosemerta looked shocked. "Yes he was James's best friend. I don't think Harry knows this but Sirius Black is Harry Potter's godfather."
After she said this, Lily heard footsteps walking in a fast pace towards the door. It flung open on it's creaky hinges and while it was still open, Lily ran through it.
Outside, Ron and Hermione were waiting on a bench. They saw Harry's footsteps in the snow and followed him.
"Harry!" Hermione said closely following him and Ron behind her. "Harry, hold on." She walked up and tore the cloak off of him and he slowly came to a stop but he didn't turn around. "Harry what is it?" Ron asked. Harry faced them and took a deep breath. "He was their friend. Sirius Black was my parents friend. And he betrayed them. He's the reason they're dead." Harry told them. "And he's my godfather."
With saying that, Harry sat down on a snow covered rock and stared blankly in the distance. Hermione and Ron sat down next to him and for a few moments their was silence. All that could be heard was the sound of the cold breeze blowing by them and some students in Hogsmeade walking around the snow covered town.
Thanks to all who read and review! This is my longest chapter so far!:) I hope to answer some more questions like about Mrs. Norris in the next chapter.