Chapter 11

It was the second Hogsmeade trip this year. The one where everyone went to buy Christmas presents for each other. Harry and I, of course, couldn't go. How I hated watching them go without us. We watched from the Clock Tower as the students ran towards the station. If only I was invisible…and then the thought occurred to me. As if Harry knew what I was thinking he turned and smiled. "You want to go to Hogsmeade?" I asked him.

Quickly, we ran towards the Gryffindor Common Room, passed Sir Codagon and I ran up to my room where the cloak lay. Once it was in my hand, I draped it over our shoulders and we quickly made our way to the Courtyard. We were finally going to Hogsmeade! As we walked through the double doors to the courtyard, we slowed our pace. It was snowing and we didn't want anyone to notice the snow was stopping on something and moving in a horizontal direction. We noticed Fred and George making a snowman and we slowly tried to make our way past them. But then, suddenly, Fred and George lunged at us and grabbed us by our arms and dragging us backwards. "Who thought of this idea?" asked Fred.

"Elliot, who else do you think?" replied George.

"Well, it's clever, Elliot."

"But not clever enough."

"Besides, we've got a better way."

"Oh come on, guys, we want to go to Hogsmeade!" I gritted.

"We know!" they replied in unison.

Harry and I tried to fight to get away, but they pulled us out of the snow and into the corner by the stairway. "Now, come play with the big boys," they smiled.

Once they pulled the Invisibility Cloak from around us, I shouted, "What the bloody hell are you two doing!"

They silenced us and as George looked around, Fred handed me a parchment. "What's this rubbish?" I asked.

"Rubbish she says. That there's the secret to our success," replied Fred.

"It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me," continued George.

"But we've decided your need's greater than ours. George, if you will..."

George whipped out his wand and placed it on the parchment in my hands while clearly stating, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Suddenly, intricate ink lines surfaced on the fiber of the paper, spreading like veins. Harry and I looked down as Harry read, "'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present The Marauder's Map'...?"

"Ah... Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. We owe them so much," sighed George.

I opened the map and studied it. It was then that I noticed what it was. "Hang on. This is Hogwarts! And that... No. Is that really...?" I asked, pointing to a moving dot on the map with the label "DUMBLEDORE."

"Dumbledore," replied Fred.

"In his study," continued George.

"Pacing."

"Does that a lot."

Harry and I looked at them like they were mad. "You mean, this map shows..." began Harry.

"Everyone," stated Fred.

"Everyone?" I asked.

"Everyone," smiled George.

"Where they are," continued Fred.

"What they're doing."

"Every minute."

"Of every day."

I couldn't believe it. "This is brilliant! Where'd you get it?" I asked.

"Nicked it from Filch's office, of course, first year. Now listen. There's seven secret passageways out of the castle. But we'd recommend..." started Fred.

"This one," they both finished and pointed to. "The One-Eyed Witch on the third floor," took over George.

"But you best hurry. Filch is heading this way. Oh. And, Elliot? When you're done, make sure to give it a tap and say, 'Mischief managed.' Otherwise, anyone can read it," they both replied.

Before they left, I asked, "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Consider it an early Christmas gift for the both of you."

And with that, they left. Together, we reopened the map, swore the oath, replaced the Invisibility Cloak and made our way towards the One-Eyed Witch. As usual, the halls were empty. Almost everyone was gone. Finally, we just arrived at the Divination Stairwell and approached the statue. "How do we get it to move?" I asked.

Harry looked down at the map in my hands and found the two dots that were labeled "HARRY POTTER" and "ELLIOT POTTER" and saw a speech bubble appear with the word, "DISSENDIUM." I stared at Harry as I asked, "Dissendium?"

Suddenly, the statue slid forward and revealed a dark hole that lay beneath it. I smirked as we slowly made our way into the hole. The passage led to a dark tunnel. Harry and I pulled out our wands and used the Lumos spell so that we could see where we were bloody going. Finally, a light appeared in front of us and when we looked at it, we found that we were in Honeydukes! The candy shop! We remained hidden as we moved through the back room and into the shop. There was candy everywhere! I almost removed the cloak when Harry grabbed my arm and hissed, "Do you want to get caught? We'll come back later!"

I nodded and we made our way outside. Once we were in an area where we could reveal ourselves, we removed the cloak, muttered, "Mischief Managed," to hid the map and stared in wonder. Hogsmeade was amazing! There were shops and so many people! However, we weren't sure where Ron, Hermione, Rachel and Amanda were. "Where do you think they are?" I asked.

It was then that we saw Malfoy heading off somewhere with his two goons behind him. He had that smirk on his face that always meant trouble. However, I thought of a brilliant plan. Quickly, I covered Harry and I with the cloak and slowly followed them. They headed through the forest to an old shack. The Shrieking Shack. There, we saw Ron and Hermione. I could barely overhear Hermione state, "It's meant to be the most haunted building in Britain. Did I mention that?"

"Twice." I stifled a laugh. Only Hermione would say something intelligent twice. Then, Hermione asked, "Should we move a bit closer?"

"Huh? Oh... All right..." I had to laugh. Ron's mind was such an idiot sometimes. We watched as they took two steps closer and Ron then said, "Actually, it's fine from here."

"Perfect."

We then watched as Draco moved towards them. As h began to head towards them, I turned to Harry beneath the cloak and whispered, "Make as many snowballs as you can."

"Why?"

"Revenge is best served cold."

As we rounded up as many snowballs as we could, I continued to overhear their conversation. "Well, well. Look who's here. You two shopping for your dream home? Seems a bit grand for you, Weasel-Bee. Don't your family all sleep in one room?"

Now my ears were turning red. "Shut your mouth, Malfoy."

"Now that's not very friendly. Boys, I think we're going to have to teach Weasel-Bee to respect his superiors."

"Hope you don't mean yourself!"

GO HERMIONE! Then, Draco set it off. "How dare you speak to me, you filthy, little mud…"

But I didn't let him finish. I fired a snowball right at his head. The moment it hit him, he turned to see where it came from. Since me and Harry were invisible, he didn't see a thing. He then whimpered, "Who did that!"

I turned to Harry and whispered, "On my signal, you fire the rest of these snowballs at him, but stay hidden. I'm going to go have some fun."

I then took the cloak and draped it over myself as I headed forward. Malfoy was still in shock. The moment I was in place, I let my feet be seen. Harry then fired as many snowballs as he could. Malfoy was scared to death! I then took my moment and ran up to them. I first took out Crabbe and Goyle. I tripped them to where they wre both on the ground. I then pulled Goyle's hat over his head and dropped his trousers. I could hear Hermione and Ron laughing. I then tripped Crabbe once more as I grabbed Malfoy and shoved him to the ground. Once he was done, I flipped him and pulled him closer to the Shrieking Shack. He was screaming like a baby girl. Once I was close enough to my comfort, I let him go and watched as he ran away whimpering with Crabbe and Goyle. Once they were gone, I snuck up behind Ron and Hermione who were laughing. For some laughs and giggles, I started toying with the fluff balls on Ron's hat. He was scared too! I then started playing with Hermione's hair, who caught the gist, but wrongly shouted, "HARRY!"

I watched as Harry appeared over the clearing and waved with a smile. Ron turned to look at me and screamed. Hermione, however, laughed, "Elliot!"

Laughing, I removed the cloak and took a bow. "Bloody hell, Elliot, that was not funny!"

"Oh yes it was!"

Together, we made our way to Hogsmeade in which we told Hermione and Ron all about Fred and George and the Marauder's Map. "Those weasels! Never told me about any Marauder's Map!" exclaimed Ron.

"But Elliot isn't going to keep it. She's going to turn it over to Professor McGonagall, aren't you?" replied Hermione, glaring at me.

"Oh sure. Along with my invisibility cloak, my pack of exploding snap cards, my…" I began.

"Oh, shut up!" she sighed.

Just then, Rachel and Amanda came out from a shop and smiled when they saw Harry and me. Without a word, they came up and gave us each a hug. "How did you get here?" asked Amanda.

Before I could reply, I heard the ever familiar voice of Fudge shout, "Rosmerta, m'dear!"

We looked up ahead to see Cornelius Fudge emerging from a Ministy sleigh, Hagrid swinging the door clear and ripping it clean off the fittings. When he stepped down, he joined McGonagall and Madam Rosemerta. I then went on to tease, "Oh look, it's Madam Rosmerta. Ron fancies her."

"It's not true!"

But Harry and Rachel shushed us as we listened. "I trust business is good?" asked Fudge.

"It'd be a right sight better if the Ministry wasn't sending Dementors into my pub every other night," she replied, causing Fudge to step back into a pile of horse dung. "Ah, but we have a killer on the loose."

"Sirius Black? In Hogsmeade! And what would bring him here?"

McGonagall and Fudge looked around and whispered something, which Rosemerta shouted, "Harry and Elliot Potter!"

They shushed her and pushed her inside the pub. Something was up and Harry and I were about to find out. While everyone was still staring, I draped the cloak over Harry and my shoulders and followed them in. I felt a tad bit guilty for leaving them all behind, but I wanted to know. We hurried on, trailing Fudge and McGonagall up a dark stairwell as Rosmerta leads them into a small back room. As the door started to close, Harry and I rushed forward, barely missing the door from closing. Quickly, we hid in the corner and listened as they started their conversation. "Come on then. Let's hear it," stated Rosemerta.

"Years ago, when the Potter's parents were marked for death, they went into hiding. Few knew where they were. One who did was Black. And he told..." began McGonagall.

"You-Know-Who. I've heard this rot. It was all over The Daily Prophet back in the day. And I'll say now what I said then: Of all the boys I ran out of here, Black's the last who would've gone over to the dark side. Hearsay. That's all the Ministry had. Hearsay."

"Ha! Tell that to Peter Pettigrew!" chimed in Fudge.

"Peter Pettigrew?"

"Little lump of a boy? Always tagging after Black and..." replied McGonagall.

"I remember him. What's he got to do with it?"

"After the Potters were killed, Pettigrew went looking for Black. And, unfortunately... found him," continued McGonagall.

"Black was vicious. He didn't kill Pettigrew. He destroyed him. A finger. That's all that was left. A finger…there's your hearsay," replied Fudge.

Rosmerta looked to McGonagall. "Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead. And now he wants to finish what he started."

"Harry and Elliot."

"But that's not the worst of it," replied Fudge.

We looked on. "The Potters are not the only ones in danger. Black had another friend; Andromeda Sinclair," began Fudge.

Sinclair? As in Rachel? I paid more attention than ever before. "She went into hiding as well, for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named came after her and her daughter as well. Black, however, did not know that Andromeda had sent her daughter off with Dumbledore, but now he does and has come to finish her too, no matter if her godfather is on Hogwarts' grounds," he continued.

"On grounds? As in a Professor?" asked Rosemerta.

"Remus Lupin," replied McGonagall.

I nearly fell over. Professor Lupin was Rachel's godfather! I almost fell over laughing! But that's not all she had to say. Rosemerta asked, "I suspect there is something even worse."

"Yes there is. It is this: Sirius Black was and remains today... Harry and Elliot Potter's godfather."

That was enough for both of us. Quickly, we made our way out of the room and out of the pub, not caring that doors were opening by invisible people. As we got into the snow, we pushed through the carolers and made our way to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Once we were out of town, I ran from underneath the cloak and climbed a tree. I wanted to give Harry as much space as humanly possible. As I sat there, I watched as Ron, Hermione, Rachel and Amanda came running and looked straight at the invisible Harry. I sat in silence as Hermione approached him and removed the cloak. It was at that moment that Harry said, "He was their friend. And he betrayed them. He was their friend!"

Harry's voice echoed through the forest. With what I could tell was his angry voice, he replied, "I hope he finds me. Because when he does, I'm going to be ready. When he does, I'm going to kill him!"

I felt exactly the same way, but I was holding it all in. That what I always did. I watched as Rachel and Amanda turned around and spotted me in the tree. Quickly, they came to the base of the tree and shouted, "Elliot, come down!"

I ignored them and looked away. "Elliot, you're going to have to come down at some point," stated Amanda.

I sighed as I jumped from my branch and fell on the ground in front of them. Once I was in their face, they asked, "How are you?"

"Angry. Confused. Vengeful. You take your bloody pick. Oh, but I do have to admit that am I somewhat amused."

Amanda and Rachel looked at my like was crazy. "Amused? How can you be amused? You're father's best friend betrayed your parents," said Amanda.

"Not by that, but Black…he's after Rachel here too. Oh, and the best part; your godfather, Rachel…it's Professor Lupin! So, I can finally laugh at something."

I probably shouldn't have told her that right then and there, but I was so angry and furious that I needed to make someone else feel somewhat close as to what I am feeling. Amanda looked at Rachel in shock and Rachel nearly fell flat on her face. "You're joking right?" she squeaked.

I shook my head with the most disgusting grin I could ever pull off. I don't think I ever made that face again and I am so glad that I didn't. Finally, McGonagall's voice came echoing, sounding the return to Hogwarts. Amanda, Rachel, Ron and Hermione were about to leave when Hermione asked, "Will you two be alright?"

As much as it was a lie, I nodded and quickly, I covered both Harry and I up and we headed back to the tunnel towards Hogwarts. All the while, I thought of how Sirius Black had better hope he doesn't find us because when he does, he'll be sorry for the day he betrayed our parents.

TBC…

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