Black Ruby.

It was the day before term ended, another Hogsmeade trip. Harry and I watched as Hermione and Ron departed. I was with Harry when he pulled out his invisibility cloak from his pocket.

'I'm going to Hogsmeade, you coming?' he stated throwing me a mischievous grin, he knew for a fact I would not turn down a trip to Hogsmeade.

'You'll have to stay under the cloak....' he stated pulling it over the two of us. We made our way out to the courtyard we were almost there.....so close. But Fred and George spotted our tracks in the snow. The grabbed hold of an arm each and dragged us back to the Clock tower. They pulled the cloak from our bodies and handed Harry a piece of parchment.

'What's this rubbish?' he asked when Fred handed him a piece of parchment.

'"What's this rubbish" he says,' Fred laughed. 'That there's the secret to our success.'

'It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me,' said George, 'but we know it off by heart.'

'So we've decided your needs are greater than ours. Early Christmas present for you.'

'And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?' asked Harry.

'A bit of old parchment!' said Fred, mortally offended. 'Explain, George.'

'Well … when we were in our first year, Harry – young, carefree and innocent –'

'Since when were you two innocent?' I asked sceptically. For it was well known that Fred and George were always pulling pranks and whatnot.

'– well, more innocent than we are now – we got into a spot of bother with Filch.'

'We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason –'

'So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual –'

'– detention –'

'– disembowelment –'

'– and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.'

Harry and I looked at each other before he said, 'Don't tell me –'

'Well, what would you've done?' asked Fred. 'George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open and grabbed – this.'

'And you know how to work it?' I asked.

'Oh yes,' said Fred, smirking. 'This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school. George, if you will.'

George took out his wand and tapped the parchment, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'

At once, think ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point George's wand had touched the parchment. They joined each other, they criss-crossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly black words. Tiny footprints with labels at each of them traced the parchment in different places.

'"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Hooves",' read Harry aloud, '"are proud to present the Marauder's Map" What the hell was a Marauder?

'We owe them so much,' said George reminiscently.

'Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers,' added Fred pretending to wipe away tears.

'Hang on,' said Harry, looking more closely at the map. 'This is Hogwarts. And that – no, is that really –?'

'Dumbledore,' said Fred.

'In his office,' said George.

'Pacing. Does that a lot.'

'So you mean this map shows –' I started.

'Everyone.'

'Everyone?' Harry couldn't believe it.

'Everyone.'

'Where they are –' continued Fred.

'– what they're doing –'

'– every minute –'

'– of everyday.'

'Brilliant!' said Harry.

'Now listen,' said George. 'There are seven secret passageways out of the castle. We'd recommend –' both of them pointed at the map. '– this one.'

'The One-Eyed Witch passageway,' explained Fred. 'It'll lead you straight to Honeydukes cellar. But you best hurry. Filch is heading this way.'

'Right,' said George briskly, 'and don't forget. When you're done, just give it a tap and say –'

'Mischief Managed,' they both said, George placing his wand tip on it again. 'Or else anyone can read it.'

Harry and I followed the trail, we exited Honeydukes and met up with Ron and Hermione. We ended up in the Three Broomsticks. We watched as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, Hagrid, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge and My Mother... enter and be led out of the crowded bar by Madame Rosmerta. Harry pulled the invisibility cloak out again and dragged Ron, Hermione and I after them. They weren't to hard to find, we just followed Hagrid's booming voice. We stood huddled under the cloak listening intently through the door. It didn't take a genius to work out what they were talking about.

'Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,' said Madam Rosmerta, who had joined them. 'Of all 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 know the half of it, Rosmerta,' said Fudge. 'The worst he did isn't widely known.'

'The worst? Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?'

'I certainly do.'

'I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?'

'You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta,' murmured McGonagall. 'Do you remember who his best friend was?'

'Naturally,' said Madam Rosmerta. '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.'

I felt Harry tense beside me and grabbing my hand.

'Precisely,' said McGonagall. 'Black and Potter. 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,' chuckled Hagrid. 'Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money.'

'You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!' said Flitwick. 'Inseparable!'

'Of course they were,' said Fudge. '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.'

'When Harry Potter's parents realized they were marked for death, they went into hiding,' said McGonagall. 'Few knew where they were. One who did was Sirius Black. And he told You-Know-Who, regardless of the fact that he himself had lost his wife and daughter to You-Know-Who's Death Eaters not the year before.'

'Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!' Hagrid said loudly, causing me to jump slightly. McGonagall ssh-ed him. 'I met him!' growled Hagrid. 'I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead … an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' now he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!'

'Do you know who else I feel sorry for?' said Professor McGonagall. 'One of Harry's best friends, Rhuben. I'm surprised no one's caught on yet. The similarities between her and her father are beyond belief...' McGonagall continued. With that one statement my whole world came crumbling down. I wasn't who I thought I was. I wasn't Rhuben Tuesday... I was Rhuben.....Black. I stood frozen to the spot. I barely heard what my mother had to say about all of this.

'As am I Professor, I asked Harry to look after a murderers daughter.....He knows nothing of any of this...Neither does she! I kept her Father's identity a secret from her all her life...' my mother sobbed. I felt my knees give out beneath me. I felt sick. I pulled off the cloak and ran. I ran all the way to the Shrieking Shack, where I cowered sobbing for all I was worth.

'Ruby!?!' I heard Hermione yelling along with two other voices I recognised as Ron and Harry's. Harry spotted me first and ran to my side, picking me up and cradling me into himself. I buried my face into his chest as I sobbed.

'He was their friend!' I yelled 'HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!' I screamed. 'He was their friend and he betrayed them...he betrayed everyone who trusted him...he betrayed me!' I muttered as Harry stroked my back and ran his fingers through my hair.

'I hope he finds me....because when he does I'm gunna put him through the pain he's put us through...I'm gunna make him see how much it hurts...and I'm gunna kill him! I won't let him hurt you...I promise!' Harry vowed to me looking me directly in the eyes. Using his thumbs he wiped away the remainder of my tears. I smiled weakly, Harry wrapped his arm around my waist as Hermione, Ron, Harry and I made our way back up to the castle.

The Holidays came and went and soon enough we were back to school work. In the first Quiditch match of the spring term Harry fought off three Dementors with an almost full Patronus. But the night after I was awoken by Hermione shaking me and dragging me down the spiral staircase which led to the Girls Dorms. Harry met us and gave Hermione a strange face. 'That is preposterous, Weasley,' McGonagall was saying. 'I mean, how could Sirius Black possibly get through the portrait hole?'

All I needed to hear was his name and I froze, eyes wide. Hermione and Harry noticed, both placing their arms around me. McGonagall noticed this and gave me a sympathetic glance. Before carrying on.

'I don't know how he got in,' said Ron. 'I was a bit busy dodging his knife.'

'Percy, have you seen Sir Cadogan?'

Sir Cadogan was in a portrait in the common room, trying to woo a lady with some flowers. He looked up at us all when Professor McGonagall called him.

'How may I serve you, Madam?' he asked.

'Excuse me,' she said politely, making her way to the portrait, 'is it possible that you let a mysterious man into Gryffindor Tower tonight?' Sir Cadogan walked through three portraits and into another with a group of wizard around a chess table, thinking.

'Certainly, good lady,' he said. 'He had the password. Checkmate!' He ran is arms over a chess game, ruining it. 'He had the whole weeks, in fact, on a little piece of paper.' As Sir Cadogan said this, he flung his arms out causing a wizard to fall out the window. McGonagall was not impressed.

'Which abysmally foolish person wrote down the passwords and then proceeded to lose them?' She turned round to Neville and sighed. 'Is it always going to be you, Longbottom?' Neville nodded. 'Well, Sirius Black is gone tonight. But I think you can all safely assume that he will, at some future time attempt to return. Now, I speak for the entire staff when I say while we take every precaution to ensure your safety it is incumbent upon yourselves to act responsibly. Understood?' There was a group "yes" and she left the common room. Hermione ushered me to the couches before Ron glared at Crookshanks.

'And this bloody cat ate my rat!' Ron was still on about that?

'That's a lie!' said Hermione.

'It is not, and you bloody well know it.' Ron stalked up the boys staircase. Hermione then stormed off up to the Dorms.

I could have killed him. He was right there. He was close enough to touch. I could have killed him.' Harry muttered still holding me. I sniffled against his shoulder.