The holidays passed so quickly for the students. By the time they all got back, the school was once more cloaked in white soft snow. Not to mention that Christmas was almost here. And that meant one thing.
"Last call to Hogsmeade! Come on now!"
All the kids laughed as they ran through the courtyard towards the train station. Harry watching from the clock tower with a straight face. The only ones who looked a bit glum and pale were Gajeel, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy. All of them looked…. Distant and pale. Natsu threw an arm around Lucy, as if consoling her about something. Gray patted Lucy on the head as she gave him a hug, patting him on the back too. Gajeel walked past them, rubbing Lucy's hair before joining Draco and his goons.
He tilted his head, confused if something had happened over the holidays. He shook his head with a sigh as the four of them walked after the other kids. He backed away from the clock face, throwing his plan into action of getting to Hogsmeade.
"We should but the carrot on now."
"On it. You got the hat Fred?"
"Right here."
As the twins continued to build their snowman, Fred noticed a set of footprints, mysteriously indenting the snow. He softly tapped his brother's arm and pointed to the footprints. The twins looked at each other, and nodded. They both stepped forward, deliberately looking away, then grabbed the invisible force by the sides.
"Guys! Let me go!" A voice squirmed, two streaks of lines following the invisible being. "You're clever Harry!" George praised. "But not clever enough." Fred tisked. "Besides, we got a better way." George smirked. "Guys, come on! I'm trying to get to Hogsmeade!" Harry said with a bit of struggle in his voice. "We know." The twins said in harmony.
"Don't worry."
"We'll get you there."
"We'll show you a quicker way."
"If you pipe down."
Harry continued to struggle as the twins continued to pull him into the school, which the twins admired for him trying to do. "Come on guuuys~!" Harry pleaded. "Now Harry." Fred started, stopping at a small wooden staircase in one of the towers. "Come and join the big boys…" And with that' the twins let him go.
Harry slipped off his invisibility cloak, messing up his hair a bit and crookening his glasses. "What are you doing?!" He hissed, violently wrapping the cloak around his arm. The twins looked around the room, making sure no one was there to listen in. When they determined the area was safe, Fred pulled out a piece of yellow brown paper folded nice and neatly. Harry took it, and looked at the twins in confusion. "What is this rubbish?" He said violently, looking at the map. George and Fred looked at each other and scoffed. "What is this rubbish he says. This!" Fred tapped on the map lightly before putting his hand to the side on his hip. "Is the secret to our success." He said, smirking a bit. "It's a wrench giving it to you believe me." His brother admitted. "But! We decided that your needs are greater than ours. George! If you please." Fred said bowing back a bit. His brother, one step ahead of him, slipped out his wand and cleared his throat. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He declared, and tapped the map with his wand. Slowly, the paper began to slowly reveal black blocks and curls of ink across the paper.
"Mrs Moony, Wormtail, Patford and Prongs proudly present…." Harry looked up, puzzled. "The Marauders Map?" Fred nodded, George muttering something about owing them. Harry opened the Map, his eyes baffled. It was a perfect layer of the school! Every room, every footstep, every secret room and hallway. "H-Hang on… is that…?!" He gasped.
"Dumbledore"
"In his office."
"Pacing."
"Does that quite a lot."
Harry watched the banner with Albus's name wave as he walked up and down in his office until he spoke up. "So you mean this map shows…" Fred nodded. "Everyone." "Everyone?" Harry repeated.
"Everyone."
"Where they are."
"What they're doing."
"Every minute."
"Of everyday."
"Brilliant! Where did you find this?" He asked, a smile beaming from his face. "Filch of course. First Year." Fred said, leaning back on the wall folding his arms. "Now listen. There are seven secret passageways out of the castle. We recommend…." Both of the twins pointed to the same spot. "This one." They said together. "The One-Eyed Witch Passageway. It will lead you straight to Honeydukes cellar." George informed. "But you better hurry. Filch is heading this way." Fred cautioned, pointing at the moving pair of feet heading to where they were. "Oh, and Harry. Don't forget, when you're done, give it a tap and say "Mischief managed."" The twins said together as Fred tapped the map. "Otherwise anyone could read it…" They said together.
Harry watched as the ink began to fade away, but before it was completely gone, he swore that he saw Professor Scarlet, McGarden, Marvel, Straus and Makarov enter Dumbledore's study. Then the map went blank once more. Harry shook it off and put the map in his pocket. He cloaked himself into invisibility again and headed towards the passageway.
He pushed the floor up from above him, his hands slipping a bit, causing the tile to close down on him. "Oof!" He groaned a bit, before pushing the tile back up again. He peeped up, noticing he just missed the owner as he went upstairs with a couple of jars in hand. Once Harry heard the door close, Harry leapt up and silently put the tile back. He stopped at the end of the stairwell and slipped the invisibility cloak on. The stairs creaked as he stepped up, accidently knocking over a few items lined along the stairs.
When he reached upstairs, his eyes couldn't believe it. The walls were piled with candies, all shapes and sizes. For pranks, for treats! Caldrons bubbled with muggle treets like melted chocolate, and also with unknown liquids like a sweet scented green goo. Students from Hogwarts were the main customers for the day. All of them were smiling, high on sugar. All of them carrying lollipops, fairy floss, and all kinds of sweet looking treats. Harry smacked his lips a bit, craving something sweet now. As he past Neville and Seamus chatting away, he noticed an uneaten lollipop in Neville's hand. "Wha-!" Neville exclaimed, feeling the treat slip from his hands. "Sorry Neville! I'll buy you a treat the next time we come here!" Harry promised, tucking it under his cloak to eat the delicious candy. With his stomach now satisfied, he made his way to find Hermione and Ron.
Hermione and Ron stared at the old house that stood outside Hogsmeade, hanging around the fence that prevented them from going forward. "It's meant to be the most haunted building in Britain…. Did I mention that?" Hermione asked, giving a bit of a laugh at the end. "Yeah. Twice…" Ron muttered. "Oh…" Hermione mumbled, looking down a bit. "Do you want to move a bit closer?" Hermione asked, turing to Ron. "I'm sorry what?" Ron asked, not sure if he heard the question correctly. "You know, to the Shrieking Shack?" Hermione said with a bit of a snark. "A-Actually, I'm uh…. I'm fine right here…" Ron said, swinging his hands into a clap.
"Well well well what do we have here?"
Hermione and Ron groaned, knowing who's voice that belonged to…. Both of them turned around, seeing Malfoy and two other Slytherins approaching them. "You two shopping for your dream home? Bit grand for you isn't it Weasle-Bee?" He stopped in front of them, looking at Ron. "Don't your family sleep in uh… one room?" Malfoy asked, trying to sound sincere and curious, but you could definitely tell that was NOT the case here. "Shut your mouth Malfoy…" Ron muttered, looking down. "Ooo not very friendly. Boys, I think it's time we teach Weasel-Bee how to respect his superiors." Draco said with a snitch, flicking his jacket. "Ah, hahaha, hope YOU don't mean yourself!" Hermione laughed, before stepping in front of Malfoy, taking a fighting stance. "How DARE you talk to me…. You filthy little mud-blood!" Draco spat in disgust.
Suddenly, a cold object flew into Draco's cheek. He gasped, everyone looking at the direction of where the snowball was thrown. The Slytherins scanned the open area, panicking where it came from. "W-Who is there?" Draco called out. There was silence for a bit, the crisp cold air nipping at everyone's faces. Then….
SLAM!
SLAM!
SLAM!
A barrage of snowballs flew at the Slytherin students, all of them trying to protect themselves from the oncoming attack of snowballs. Hermione and Ron watched on, jaws dropped. "Don't just stand there! Do something!" Draco ordered, pushing his henchmen around. "Like what?!" One of them panicked. Suddenly, the boy's beanie got pulled, while the other goon's trousers got pulled down to his ankles, exposing the cold to his legs. As the boy tried pull his pants back up, he felt someone kick his behind causing him to scream and fall flat on his face into the snow. Hermione and Ron tried not to laugh, but couldn't hold it, laughing at their misfortune. The invisible force continued to toy with them, grabbing another one by the scarf and twirling him around. Draco began to panic, and tripped over the former's body, still a little dazed by the kick. After the mysterious thing was done with the guy with the scarf, Draco felt something pick up his feet and drag him towards the Shrieking Shack. Draco screamed, and the figure dropped his ankles. Draco took this as an opportunity and ran for it. As he did, he pushed his "friends" out of the way, demanding for them to move out of the way. His goons followed him, yelling for him to wait up. Hermione and Ron continued to smirk and laugh as they ran away. Suddenly, Ron's beanie tassels began to mysteriously float up, and began to play with Hermione's hair. "Harry!" Hermione smiled, knowing it was him. Harry flicked off his invisibility cloak, smiling and laughing. "Bloody hell Harry. That was not funny." Ron sighed with relief, Hermione and Harry continued to snicker.
"Hey Hermione! Ron! I got the cocoa! Why were Draco and his goons running aw-" Natsu stepped out from the woods, holding three cups of hot cocoa. He stopped, noticing the extra party member. Harry gave a little wave with a cheeky smile. "Harry! I thought… Weren't you…." Natsu started, a bit confused why he was there. Harry looked at his cocoa cups, then at the trio. "Hot cocoa?" Natsu offered with a smile.
"Eh?! A map that shows you everything in Hogwarts! That sounds so cool!" Natsu smiled, walking with his friends. "Speak for yourself! Never mentioned anything to me about a Marauder's Map…." Ron grumbled. "Harry's going to return it to Professor McGonagall, aren't you Harry?" Hermione said, turning to Harry. "Oh sure. Along with the Invisibility Cloak?" Ron scoffed. The four of them continued to walk through Hogsmeade, until a hammering sound echoed from one of the nearby buildings. "Oh look, it's Madam Rosmerta. Ron fancies her." Hermione teased. "That's not true!" Ron snapped back.
"Ah! Professor McGonagall!" Harry gasped and Ron and Natsu swiftly stepped in front of Harry so that no one could see him. The professor walked up to the man on the carriage, welcoming him. "Who's that?" Harry whispered. "Cornelius Fudge. One of the Ministers working for the Ministry. Dad works with him a lot." Ron explained. Cornelius stepped off, chuckling a bit when Hagrid accidently broke the carriage door. "Ah Rosmerta! How is business?" The minister asked, stepping towards the blond woman. "It would be a lot better if there were no Dementors coming to my pub EVERY NIGHT!" She scolded, stepping forward towards the minister, hammer in her hand. Cornelius stepped back a bit, before Rosmerta backed off going back to hammering. "W-We have a killer on the loose!" Cornelius reasoned, stepping forward. "Oh Sirius Black in Hogsmeade!" Rosmerta sang, not giving a damn about his reason. "So, what would bring him here then?" She asked, not realising four students were watching her. Cornelius leaned towards her ear, whispering something to her. She then turned around, mouth to the ground. "Harry Potter?!" She exclaimed.
The students listening in widened their eyes in surprise as McGonagall and Cornelius rushed the pub owner in, shushing her. Ron, Natsu, and Hermione looked at each other, then noticed someone was missing. "Wha-! Where'd Harry go?!" Natsu whispered harshly, looking around. Hermione joined, then noticed footprints leading to the pub. "Harry!" Hermione called out, following the prints, the boys behind her. Hermione burst into the pub after Harry entered. "Oi! No underaged wizards allowed in today!" One of the talking heads next to the door snapped. "Now shut the damn door!" Another yelled. "So rude…" Hermione muttered, stepping back. "Thick heads…" Ron and Natsu muttered together. "Thick heads?!" The heads exclaimed, yelling at the teenage wizards. The three of them sighed, sitting down on the empty bench next to the pub, waiting for Harry to come out.
The three sat in awkward silence. They did give a bit of small talk and some possible theories of what they were talking about up there. Suddenly the door burst open, footprints hurrying away from the pub. "Guys look!" Hermione pointed. The three of them watched the footprints walk away, pushing through an elf choir. Everyone looked around in shock, wondering what happened. The trio quickly rushed after him, following him out of Hogsmeade into an empty area. The three stopped, hearing soft sobs coming from a rock. Just where the footsteps had ended. Hermione slowly stepped forward, kneeling at the rock. She slowly reached to the seemingly open space, and wrapped her fingers around a velvet like material. She took a deep breath and slowly removed the cloak off Harry. He seemed very upset.
"Harry…. What happened….?" Hermione asked softly. Harry sniffed and wiped a tear. "He… He was their friend…. And he betrayed him…. HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!" Harry yelled, his voice echoing in the woods. Natsu, Ron, and Hermione stayed silent. Natsu looked down. He wanted to say something. He knew it wasn't true.
"...I'm sure that's not true….."
Everyone turned around, looking at Natsu who had his head looking down at the snow. "...What….?" Harry said, growling a bit. "I mean… I'm sure there's a logical explanation…" Harry stood up, marching over to Natsu. "Maybe we should look into it and-" Harry grabbed his collar with both of his hands. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND NATSU!" He screamed. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE AN ORPHAN! TO HAVE SOMEONE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TRUST BETRAY YOU!" Ron winced. Harry didn't know… That Natsu was an orphan before he found his family. Natsu stood there, a bit shocked.
He growled, then grabbed one of his wrists. "You're right... I don't know, but you're my friend I was just trying to help!" He argued, looking at him in the face. "FRIENDS DON'T MAKE EXCUSES FOR THEIR PARENTS' MURDERER NATSU! HE WAS MY GODFATHER AND MY PARENTS FRIEND! AND HE MURDERED THEM!" Harry screamed. "YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT PASTS?! ABOUT FAMILY?! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE SEEN! I'VE SHARED THE PAINS OF LOSS! I'VE SEEN BETRAYALS! MY FRIENDS WERE NEARLY KILLED LAST YEAR! And about family...? WHAT ABOUT THEM?!" Natsu pointed at Hermione and Ron, who looked scared of Harry and Natsu's bickering. "YOU DON'T CONSIDER THEM FAMILY?!" He roared. Harry stayed silent, until rage overtook him, and pushed Natsu to the ground. "Natsu!" Hermione screamed.
Harry panted, then looked at his Ron and Hermione. "I hope he finds me! Because when he does, I'm gonna be ready! And I'm going to kill him!" Harry yelled, and ran off. "Harry!" Hermione called, running after him.
Natsu laid there, silent, his eyes shaded by his hair. "Hey. You okay Natsu?" Ron asked, walking up to Natsu and offered his hand. Natsu stayed silent, then took his hand. "Thanks..." He muttered. "I don't think I've ever seen you that angry..." Ron said, looking in the direction of where Harry walked. "I... I just need some time alone..." Natsu whispered, and walked past Ron. As he walked away, the horrible memories of Tenrou Island, Lisanna's death, the disappearance of Igneel... and because of Lupin's training, his memories were more painful than ever. Damn it... why did he have to fight with Harry? Why did he have to hide the truth from him? Why can't he tell him? He cried as he made his way back to Hogsmeade, wiping any tears away.
"Natsu! We were looking for you!" Lucy called out, waving with Gray and Gajeel with her. "Where've you…. Been….?" Natsu walked right past, not acknowledging them. "What's up with Salamander?" Gajeel muttered. "Beats me. Never seen him this down before…" Gray noted. Lucy stood there, wondering what was bothering him. Ron panted up to them about ten minutes later, bending over. "Ron, what happened?" Gray asked. "H-Have you guys seen Natsu around? Haven't seen him since he stormed off..." He said, gasping for air. "Y-Yeah, went that way... What happened, he seemed upset earlier..." Lucy asked. Ron stood up, bending his back a bit and sighing out. "Uh... He and Harry got into a fight..." Ron softly admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "WHAT?!" The three of them exclaimed.
"Yeah, into an argument about Sirius... escalated quickly..." Ron said, still baffled at Natsu's angry side. "Anyway... thanks!" Ron thanked, and ran where Lucy pointed. "I hope that idiot didn't reveal anything important..." Gray sighed, turning around to continue through Hogsmeade, Gajeel grunting in agreement and followed him. Lucy stayed behind, watching Ron find her guildmate.
"Natsu…" She whispered.