AN - Again, I apologize for the delay getting this out. My word processor is officially out, meaning I have a bit more work to do to get each chapter out. The story is far from dead, so don't worry about that.

deathwing17, thank you for your review. I'm happy that you're enjoying and thank you for giving such a strange story a chance.

The sound of frozen gravel crunching under footsteps was something Hermione had always been fond of. As much as she'd enjoyed warm weather, there was a special place in her heart for the cold weather. It was just homey to her. She wasn't paying any particular attention to the gravel at this point, however.

She'd spent much of the morning getting ready for the day ahead, the trek to Hogsmeade at eleven. She dabbled a bit with makeup, her normally bushy hair was just a little more under control. It took her half an hour to pick an acceptable outfit, which wound up being her hiking boots, jeans, a shirt her father gave her last Christmas and a pink sweater.

Mike was walking next to her as they chatted away about anything and everything. He was dressed in his multi-cam uniform as per usual, but he wasn't wearing the vest or the majority of the gear normally on him. The only gear he wore was a belt with a radio and his handgun. It was his 'relaxation' look, as he called it.

"Did I mention you look great today?" Mike asked. He'd said it more than once, but it really rang true and he wanted to keep reinforcing the idea.

"Yes, you did." She couldn't help the smile across her face. They were getting closer to the village. Without the entire school around they were able to go wherever they preferred without fear of a huge crowd. Ron and Eric made plans to play wizard's chess at one of the shops in town, even leaving with Mike and Hermione. They quickly felt out of place and decided to forge on ahead.

"Just checking, cause-" Mike stopped short when Hermione tripped over a larger rock. She fell forward and Mike snatched her arm, keeping her from falling. "You alright?"

"Yeah…" she replied sheepishly. He didn't immediately let go, holding her closer. The warmth felt nice with him close by and without thinking about it she wrapped her arm in his. Her heart almost stopped, she hadn't intended to do it, but it was done. Mike, without missing a beat, smiled and continued on walking and holding her close by.

"Well, you feel free to trip anytime you like," he laughed.

"Look," Hermione called out. She wasn't really sure what to do or say, she was pretty far out of her element. She was used to being made fun of by boys, not held close. Not to say she didn't like this better, she just wasn't sure how to act. She left her arm wrapped in his, but diverted attention. "There in the tree."

"Huh…" Mike looked at it. It was a sac hanging from a tree branch, just off the beaten path. Mike peered closer. Black, small eggs. He knew this… "Doxy eggs, right?"

"RIGHT!" Hermione beamed at him. He'd been with them studying and working on homework, but she hadn't expected him to remember any of it. They continued on the path, chatting happily, arm in arm. Once they reached town, Hermione led him to the Three Broomsticks.

"Just the two of you, then?" Madam Rosmerta asked.

"Yeah," Hermione replied. The barkeep started to grab them small menus and Hermione halted her. "Just a couple butterbeers, please."

"Of course," the barkeep said, off to get them their drinks. Mike gave Hermione a questioning look, and she just smiled, leading him to a booth. They only sat for a moment before the drinks were delivered.

"Butterbeer?" Mike asked. He'd heard of it, of course, but never tried it. He hadn't had much beer in his time, even as a soldier who could put his life on the line the bars still had an age limit. Still, beer seemed a good start. Butter was goon in a lot of things, though he wasn't certain about mixing the two.

"Just give it a try," Hermione picked hers up and took a sip.

"Any final words?" Mike joked, picking up his mug. She rolled her eyes and he took a sip of the thick liquid. It was surprisingly sweet, and the warmth of the drink was pleasant. "Not bad, not bad at all." He took another swig.

"I told you," she replied, taking another drink of hers. They continued talking and taking sips of their drinks, each enjoying the other's company.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Harry flicked the map open for the thousandth time today. He could see everyone in the castle, everyone save the soldiers. He assumed that because they were non-magic that they didn't show up. He wasn't certain.

He was tired of sitting idly in the castle while everyone else went out. He now had the means to make his excursion possible. He'd daydreamed about making a trip to Hogsmeade more than once. He knew of several sights he wanted to see, places to go.

The question was, could he do it? He'd been wrestling with it since he'd received the map from the twins. The map, coupled with his father's cloak, made him think it'd be a cakewalk now. But should he? He was tossing the same two arguments back and forth in his mind for the last week.

On the one hand, he knew that a crazed serial killer was on the loose and hunting for him. His chances of being attacked were a lot higher if he wasn't at the castle.

On the other hand, he was tired of being left out. The map showed anyone nearby and the cloak kept him invisible. He would be perfectly safe. Plus, Hogsmeade was being patrolled heavily by the soldiers already. The chances of running into Sirius Black were slim to none, and he could always throw the cloak back on and run.

So it really wasn't that dangerous, right? Everyone was overreacting. There was no reason he should stay cooped up in the castle all day. Harry jumped up and opened his trunk, extracting the cloak given to him by his father. He balled up the cloak and closed the map, giving the guards a nod on his way out of the common room. He walked to a bathroom where he carefully pulled the cloak over himself and once he was satisfied he wouldn't be seen, he started the journey to freedom.

He'd decided to use a hidden passage that Fred and George pointed out. It led straight to the basement of Honeydukes, one of the prime spots on his list to visit. He carefully snuck past several of the roaming patrols before making it to the statue that he needed to get through. It took a moment of waiting until the hall was clear, and he tapped the back of the statue with his wand.

"Dissendium," he whispered. The back of the statue ground open louder than he was comfortable with, but a double check of the hall found it to be empty. He crept down into the passage and slowly worked his way through. It seemed to take forever, and it didn't help that his heart was hammering in his ears.

"There's no real risk," he whispered to himself for the umpteenth time. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he reached the end. There was a wooden trapdoor above him and with a heft he got it open. He crept up and closed it gently again. He could hear talking upstairs. He'd made it.

Brad laid in his bunk, eyes open, for only a moment longer. He'd been tired after the night patrol, and it didn't help that he wasn't able to get to bed until almost 1030. Now, at 1300, an hour past noon, and here he was…wide awake.

"Waste of time," he sighed to himself, sitting up. He'd just have to play catch-up when he went to bed tonight. He got his fatigues on and decided to go to the command center to see how things were going. He knew that half his squad planned a day in Hogsmeade. Jason said he planned on practicing with explosives at the range. A short walk brought him face to face with Major Price, who wore a very tight look on his face.

"Captain," the major said, eyeing the operator distastefully. Evidently he was still a little irritated about the shooting incident.

"Sir," Brad replied, attempting to keep a straight face. The last thing he wanted was to antagonize the major further. It was tough, however, as the major clearly had bandages to both shot sites on his chest, forming what looked like comically erect nipples underneath his uniform shirt.

"Goddamnit, Captain," Price sighed, catching Brad's glance down at his chest. "Get a good look….satisfied?"

"Ye…no, sir." Brad changed mid-sentence, not wanting the major thinking he had targeted them directly. "I apologize that you're in any discomfort, sir."

"Discomfort," the Major huffed. "Shoot a man where you did…" he muttered to himself, thumbing through the current taskbook. There was nothing on the agenda that required attention, much to his displeasure. "Nothing on the board. Carry on, Captain."

"Sir," Brad gave a sharp salute and turned on his heel, the smile that had been fighting to break out earlier caught up. He hoped the Major missed it as he left the room. He wasn't sure what to do at this point though. He figured he'd check the usual hangouts for Harry, see if he was up for another sparring session. It had been a little while.

Nothing in the common room, the Great Hall was completely empty, and Lupin hadn't seen Harry all day. He checked the library, even though the homework was done, and found nothing. Finally, he called out on the internal castle security channel on the radio, asking the patrols and sentries for information on who last had eyes on him.

The sentries at the common room checkpoint said they'd last seen him around noon. None of the exterior door checkpoints saw him leave, meaning he had to be in the castle. Where, though?

The paranoid side of Brad won out and he ordered the patrols to search for Harry. It took almost an hour and a half to find out he wasn't in the castle at all. They searched all of the likely spots that he might be, ultimately coming up empty-handed. Harry Potter was missing. Brad switched to the wide circuit, transmitting to every soldier on guard duty.

"Does anyone have eyes on Harry Potter?" he requested. One by one, units stated no.

"We'd better go back to the castle and figure this out," Mike said begrudgingly. "Lot of radio traffic about something."

After a fantastic time with Hermione, and at least three butterbeers, Mike was not excited about ending things anytime soon. Eric and Ron had finished their little tournament of wizard's chess. It was a tie after three long games, and neither had the will to continue. They'd left and found Mike and Hermione, joining in.

Eric and Mike had focused more on what they'd been doing, rather than the traffic on the radio. That said, it was obvious something was going on. For the last couple of minutes units had been checking in with "negative location." That meant that they were searching for something. Mike and Eric figured they'd get called in and it was better to be proactive.

What they couldn't see, just outside the door to the Three Broomsticks, was the source of their grief. Harry had no way of knowing they were looking for him, but appreciated their departure all the same. He didn't figure the soldiers would approve of him being out and about. It was better that they were leaving.

The two operators passed through the door and Harry snuck in before it shut. He peered around the bar. There was nothing of interest going on, it was almost empty. There were no soldiers present, but that was unsurprising. They had kept routes in and out of town under constant surveillance and you couldn't throw a rock without hitting a two-man patrol. The town was quite safe.

Harry made his way slowly to the booth in the corner where his two closest friends sat. He thought for a moment on how to reveal himself, eventually settling on thumping down while still invisible.

"Yie!" Hermione yelped as he flopped down, and Harry fought to stifle a laugh. Ron jumped as well, Madam Rosmerta and the only other patron in the Inn gave them a questioning glance before returning to their respective activities. His two friends recognized the laughter immediately and Hermione elbowed the invisible figure hard in the ribs.

"Ouch!" he called out quietly between his laughs.

"Are you mad?" Hermione whispered incredulously.

"What?" Harry played his best attempt at innocent, though Hermione was obviously less than amused.

"I think it's bloody brilliant!" Ron said a little too loud. No one looked over, but he earned a harsh look from Hermione anyhow. She turned back to where Harry was seated.

"You shouldn't be here," she was obviously upset. "You could get in so much trouble…and what if Sirius found you here!?"

"Come on, Hermione…good to see you, mate." Ron said. "Well…you know." Harry smiled, though they couldn't see it. "How'd you even get here?"

Harry explained everything about the map Fred and George had given him. They'd called it the Marauder's Map, and it showed the location of every student and staff member, along with several secret passages.

"Why didn't they give it to me?!" Ron exclaimed, "I'm only their brother!"

"It doesn't matter, because Harry's going to turn it in, right?" She seemed to think she already knew the answer.

"Why on earth would he do that?" Ron asked.

"If I turned it in they'll want to know where it came from. They'll know Fred and George nicked it." Harry wasn't interested in giving the map up.

"What about Sirius?" she whispered back harshly, as though they'd lost their minds. "What if he's using one of the secret passages?"

"There are seven total," Harry explained, hoping to ease her concern. "Four that Filch knows about, one with a collapsed tunnel, one that leads to the bottom of the Whomping Willow, and the last one…well unless you know there's a tunnel entrance under Honeydukes, you'll never find it."

"He'd have to know they're there, Hermione." Ron said. "And the owners of Honeydukes live right over the shop. They'd hear someone breaking in, right?"

"Well, perhaps, but-" Hermione started, only to be interrupted by Harry, who sensed the wavering in her resolve.

"Plus you can't throw a rock without hitting a soldier out there. And after Christmas it'll be the dementors again." Harry said. They were all hoping that the Ministry would find fault with the dementors and let the soldiers keep patrolling the town, but no one was truly convinced.

"Yes…but…" Hermione started, but Ron was ready with the finishing blows.

"Who's going to see him with the cloak on?" Ron asked. "It's Christmas, Hermione. Let him have a break."

"I…" she sputtered. She wasn't wholly convinced, that much was clear. But she didn't have a better argument either.

"Have you seen the Fizzing Whizbees?" Ron asked excitedly. They talked and caught up in their booth, Ron ordering several more Butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta. It was only a short time later that the door to the Three Broomsticks opened.

"Oh," Hermione exclaimed, surprised to see Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and the Minister of Magic himself. "What are they doing here?"

"Dunno," Ron replied. "Not like they can see Harry under the cloak though."

"Right." Harry and Hermione replied simultaneously. Harry's heart was hammering. He knew logically that they couldn't see him, but that didn't stop his worry. Madam Rosmerta greeted the new customers, who sat close-by at the bar, ordering their favored drinks while idly talking amongst themselves.

"Why, what else but Sirius Black, m'dear?" the Minister replied to a question Harry hadn't heard. It piqued his interest, however. The three students listened closely.

"Boss, what's up?" Mike called. He and Eric had just made it back to castle grounds and came across Brad and Jason walking with a purpose. Brad stopped, meeting up with them. "Heard a bunch of traffic, what are we looking for?"

"Harry's-" Brad started but was almost immediately interrupted by Major Price who was half jogging down the steps.

"Captain, report!" he called out. The major had a stern look on his face. He'd never received information from anyone, just started hearing callout for a location on Harry.

"Sir," Brad racked his brain for just a moment longer. He'd checked everywhere he could think of. It was time to admit what he didn't want to. "Sir, Harry is missing. We have checked every likely spot on the grounds."

"Goddamnit," Price muttered. "Goddamnit! Where are his friends?"

"Hogsmeade, sir." Mike replied, feeling the same adrenaline rush. Had Black made it past them?

"Take a Humvee and get them, bring them back. Maybe they'll know something." Mike didn't wait for anything else the Major might have to say. He and Eric started for the nearest Humvee, and it wasn't long before they were racing down Hogs Highway, toward town.

"Captain, we need to get this fixed, fucking now." The Major turned to head back to the command center to direct search efforts. "Stay here, get info out of the friends."

"Copy," Brad said hollowly. It was hard to swallow, Harry going missing.

"Harry?" Hermione asked softly. They'd been stunned into silence once the conversation about Sirius Black had started. No one could say a word as they overheard the truth. Sirius Black, the godfather of Harry Potter. The man who betrayed them, who cost Harry his parents.

It had been a few minutes since staff left, the Minister headed back to the Ministry and the professors off to do some additional tasks around Hogsmeade. Even still, none of the trio spoke a word. Harry couldn't believe it. He wanted to kill Sirius.

BOOM! The door bust open, startling everyone inside and knocking all three students out of their momentary stunned silence. Eric and Mike burst inside, receiving a dirty look from the barkeep and the few other patrons.

"Guys," Mike said, greeting the two visible students. "Harry is missing, tell me you know where he is." Mike was hoping against hope that there was still some mistake. There shouldn't have been a possible way that Sirius could get past them, yet here they were.

"I, uh…" Ron sputtered, trying hard not to look at the not-so-empty seat next to him.

"He might be in the third floor girl's room." Hermione said, looking down at the table. "No one goes there because of the ghost…it's a good place when you're feeling low."

"Right, we'll let Brad know and have him check it out." Mike said, holding a hand to Hermione to help her up. They extracted themselves from the booth and turned for the Humvee. Hermione's face flushed hard with conflicting emotion as she followed. When they approached the Humvee, she did her best to hide her wand movement as she muttered a spell. Before Mike could pick up the radio, it shut off.

"Seriously?" He hit the power button several times, then smacked the radio hard. Nothing roused it, it was completely dead. "Guess we're doing this the old fashioned way, let's go."

Harry had been listening when Hermione gave him his hint. If he wanted to get back without attracting a ton of attention for visiting Hogsmeade, he needed to get to that bathroom. He followed the group out of the Three Broomsticks, made his way to the tunnel and ran faster than he'd had to before. Thankfully, it was a direct route to the third floor, where the Hog's Highway wound around a little bit. Hopefully he would have enough time.

At the end of the tunnel, he ensured he was completely covered by the cloak, then worked his way quickly to the bathroom. He made it, panting. He worked hard to catch his breath as he folded the cloak and stuffed it under his robes. He heard bootsteps outside and did his best to look innocent as he sat down on an empty bench in the room.

"Harry?" Brad called out.

"Yeah?" Harry's voice almost cut out at the attempt to speak and he cleared his throat. One by one, Brad and the rest of his team entered the bathroom, a look of relief flooding their features.

"Fuckin' a," Mike said, letting out a breath. Harry's two best friends entered the bathroom next, a mirrored look of relief on their features as well.

"Principal found, repeat Principal found. Third floor women's room." Brad called on his radio.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"We've been looking all over for you, man." Jason said, patting Harry on the back. Brad finished up a talk on the radio.

"Let's head outside, Major Price is on the way over," Brad called out, looking decidedly unexcited. They all walked outside.

"Why the girl's room, dude?" Mike asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders. There wasn't further chance to answer as a very charged looking Major Price rounded the corner.

"Attention!" he barked loudly, and the four soldiers snapped to a sharp attention. The three students nearly jumped out of their skin but managed to remain still. The major stalked up to the group, eyeing them all before landing on Harry. "You alright?"

"Ye…" Harry's voice cut out and he had to clear his throat again. "Yeah."

"Been here the whole morning, have you?" Major Price stared hard at the student, who just nodded his head.

"Good…good." The Major eyed him for a moment more, then looked over at the Captain who stood ridged. "So…are we just not checking the castle before we declare someone missing?"

"I didn't think to check the girl's room, sir." Brad replied crisply.

"You didn't think to check the castle before declaring someone fucking missing?" The Major asked. "Before declaring Harry goddamned Potter, missing?" His voice never raised an octave, nothing above a conversational tone. Somehow that made it more menacing.

"No, sir," was all Brad could reply.

"Special-fucking operator…top-notch soldier, and you couldn't do this one FUCKING THING RIGHT!?" Price was getting red in the face as he bellowed at the Captain. "Do you have any idea the magnitude of fuck-up this is? I had to call Colonel Sumner and tell him that Harry Potter is missing. I had to tell the commanding officer of this task force that we couldn't perform our duties, because you jumped the damned gun and called him missing without searching the castle thoroughly!"

"I don't think that's quite fair," Harry tried to interrupt. His heart sank further with every word out of Price's mouth as Brad squarely took the blame for Harry's adventure. "I was in the girls' ro-," his attempt to defend the Captain was cut short as the Major turned.

"This is not your fucking business, shut the fuck up." Major Price's finger was less than an inch from Harry's nose. Price held that for a moment, then turned back to Brad. "Your sole purpose for being here is to protect and defend these three, especially him." He pointed back at Harry, staring straight into Brad's face. "If you can't keep tabs on him, then get the fuck out of here and let someone who can do the job step in."

"I'm fully capable-" Brad started, but was cut off by the Major.

"Fucking prove it. This had better never happen again. Am I crystal clear?" The Major aimed the question at the four soldiers in front of him.

"Yes, sir!" they all called out. Price stared at them a moment longer.

"Fall the fuck out." He turned on his heels and left the group in a stunned silence. Brad turned to look at Harry once more. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He simply turned and walked away, his team following.

The trio stood at the entrance to the third floor girl's room for a long while, completely silent, processing a whirlwind of emotions. Residual fear from the worry of being found out, relief that they weren't, guilt over the rough way Major Price handled their friends on Reaper Team, along with guilt for misleading Reaper in the first place. Shock at the revelation about Sirius Black.

"That wasn't fun," Ron said. A true understatement if they'd ever heard one.

"We should tell them, Harry," Hermione said. Her eyes were a little teary, the guilt obviously eating her more than the others.

"Tell them what?" Ron asked. "We didn't get in trouble. I don't want the Major pissed at me like that, do you?"

"Obviously not," Hermione said sharply. "But they just took the punishment for you sneaking out, Harry. You don't think they should know what happened? They're thinking they did something wrong."

"I know…" Harry said numbly. This was all too much, too much for one day. He just wanted a day to vacation outside the castle. Instead he got this. "We'll talk to them tonight," his voice hollow. He was not looking forward to admitting it. He knew it was going to go poorly, but he ultimately agreed with Hermione. He couldn't leave them thinking they'd failed. It was his fault, not theirs.

"Erm, you guys have a minute?" Harry asked. The trio found the four operators in the common room. None of them were talking, they were mostly recovering from the serious ass chewing from earlier. They'd skipped dinner altogether as well.

"Yeah," Brad sighed. He'd tried to hide it, but he was putting up a front. If he'd had his way, he would have been left alone at the moment. Regardless, the trio stepped the rest of the way into the room.

"It was my fault, earlier," Harry started.

"No, we should have kept a better eye on you. Just never thought to look in the girl's room," Brad replied as though it was final.

"I wasn't in the girl's room…" Harry let the statement hang for a moment. The soldiers said nothing, so Harry continued by pulling his father's cloak out. "This is an invisibility cloak…my father's…I used it to sneak to Hogsmeade today. I didn't think anyone would miss me…" Harry explained everything, only omitting the map and what they'd overheard. He didn't want to risk losing the map and getting the twins in trouble, and he was still processing what he'd learned about Sirius.

"I ran to the girl's room when I found out you guys knew I was missing." Harry finished his explanation. No one said a word. "I didn't think anyone would find out."

"Jesus, Harry…" Brad trailed off. "Seriously?" Harry braced himself for a tirade similar to that of Major Price's. It didn't come, at least not in volume. "You could have been killed. So much could have gone wrong, man. We are all here to protect you. We can't do that if you go running off like that…"

"I just wanted to see it," Harry said lamely.

"Just wanted to see it?" Brad repeated it, as though trying it on for size. By the look on his face, he didn't like it. "You heard the Major, you already know how many resources were spent looking for you. And you know how bad the Ministry wants us out, in favor of dementors I'll add. Shit like that, that's gonna get us replaced real fast."

"I'm sorry." The last thing Harry was interested in was the school being full of dementors.

"Don't be sorry, just don't fucking do it again." Brad stood up. "If I need to keep eyes on you 24/7 I'll do it."

"You won't, I'm done sneaking," Harry replied.

"Good…good." Brad looked around at everyone. "Been a long day, let's get some sleep." Everyone broke off, but Mike hung around, catching Hermione's eye.

"So…" Mike said, trailing off. He wasn't sure how to approach it. "Did you know?" She stared back at him, but he could read the guilt in her eyes even before they watered. He didn't want to believe it, so he waited for her.

"Not until you left…after all the talk on the radio," came her meek reply.

"You didn't think to say anything?" he asked, but didn't wait for a response. "You're too smart to tell me you didn't know how dangerous it was from him to be away like that. Was that you, the radio?"

"I…er…yeah."

"What if we needed help? Heaven forbid, we spotted Sirius. I thought you were a lot smarter than that." Mike sighed, rubbing his scalp. He hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd trusted her, thought that she, out of anyone, would get how serious they needed to take this threat. "I don't know what else to say…" Mike walked upstairs to the boy's dorm, opting for a bed there and leaving a silent Hermione behind.

AN - Thanks for reading. Again, please feel free to leave a review.