Disclaimer: I am JKRowling, the creator of Harry Potter and this is the special novel I'm going to write after I finish book seven! I'm going to warn you that in book seven Harry will die and Voldemort will win. Then he'll discover love with Molly Weasley – who really is Helga Hufflepuff traveling in time - and they'll make ten little dark lords together! And yes, I do waste a lot of time reading fanfiction instead of writing my own bloody book.

Or not!

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! I don't have much to say to you this time so I'll leave you to the story!

Chapter nine: Hogsmeade

"Oi, Potter, you're sure this is the right way?" Came the voice of Sirius Black.

James silently nodded but realized that Sirius couldn't see him "Yeah I'm sure! Fourth floor. We're on the sixth."

He could sense Sirius shrug behind him "I swear if this is some kind of trap to get me detention…"

James cut him off "Nobody forced you to come Black. If you're too scared go back to the Gryffindor common room."

"Oh no! I'm not letting you have fun by yourself!"

"By the way, why did you invite us to come?" Peter asked a few steps behind Sirius.

James froze not sure if he wanted to tell them that he didn't want to confront a group of seventh year Slytherins by himself. "I figured I owed you for those dance lessons." He lied.

Sirius snorted "It's about time you repaid us!"

James couldn't help to wonder what on earth possessed him to consider Black smart enough to track him down and kill him. Even as it was, Black needed help to do his homework and begged Pettigrew every time to do it for him.

As they reached fifth floor James help a hand in front of the others to prevent them from moving further. "Wait here!"

Sirius looked scandalized "The hell we will!"

"Look," James said in a low whisper "I have to check on some things before we go further. I'll be back. I promise."

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue but Peter put a hand on his mouth "If he gets caught, we have a chance to run." he said so low that James couldn't hear.

Sirius nodded "Right!" he said to James "You go do your thing and we wait. But if you leave us here…"

"I won't!" James promised and went down the same secret staircase that he went down the day before.

He approached the door carefully, trying to not make any noise. He let out his breath after realizing that there wasn't anyone on the other side of the door.

Sirius was pacing left and right on the corridor anxious not bearing waiting for James to come. Peter sat on the floor calmly watching him.

"Do you think it's a trap?" Sirius erupted.

"I don't know. I think we should have a little faith in him." Peter responded.

Sirius ran his hand through his hair "It's just that…we didn't give him any reason to be civil to us. Sure… we try to teach him to dance but he still has to spy on Lupin. I would hate myself! And now out of nowhere, he asks us to join him in getting out of Hogwarts. It seems fishy to me."

Peter shrugged "Whatever it is we will find out soon enough!"

Their conversation was interrupted by James coming to them out of breath "Ok, this way!" he said pointing forward.

After a significant glance towards each other, Peter and Sirius followed, each of them grabbing their wand from the back pocket of their pajamas. Finally, after what seemed like years, they arrived at the fourth floor. Sirius looked at James expectantly and James pointed at the mirror. Everyone approached cautious as if expecting someone to jump from it and eat them.

Realizing that that won't happen, Sirius turned to James "Now what?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

James stared at the mirror for a minute realizing that he hadn't thought of that. He expected that it had a handle or something to open it. He tried to push the mirror out of the way but it didn't move.

"We have to open this!" he said stupidly.

Peter pushed through them with an idea. He took out his wand and pointed it at the mirror "Alohomora!" he shouted but the mirror still didn't move.

All three looked at each other disappointed.

"You think it's a password?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head "No. When I…found out about this, the one who passed through it didn't say anything. Password protected doors need the password to be said before opening."

Sirius sighed "So that leaves us with…what?"

James pondered "Maybe it needs a nonverbal spell. Or to be tapped somewhere."

"Maybe it opens to only some people!" Peter suggested.

"No! That sort of enchantment is powerful. I'm pretty sure Dumbledore doesn't know about this and he could sense if a powerful spell was placed here!" James responded.

"So…that leaves nonverbal or tapping." Sirius concluded.

"Or both!" Peter added.

James nodded.

"What exactly do you know?" Sirius asked.

James looked at Sirius torn between telling him where to go and telling him the truth. "Just that there is a passageway here and that it opens without saying anything."

"And how do you know that?" Peter finally asked.

"It's none of your concern!" James said avoiding looking at them.

"That's why you were so moody today wasn't it?" Sirius realized.

James nodded "That and your curiosity!"

"Maybe if we break it…" Peter suggested.

"Yeah but then everybody will know we're here!" James pointed out.

Sirius marched to the window shouting every spell he knew "Alohomora! Open! Specialis Revelio! Wingardium Leviosa!" but nothing worked.

"Let's tap it! Maybe that will work!" James proposed.

Half an hour later all of them soon realized that that wouldn't work either. Finally all three rested on the floor trying to figure out what was wrong.

James stared at the mirror hoping that if he stared enough it would work. He began looking at every detail of it…

"Maybe it's a spell too complicated for a first year." Peter said.

"You think?" Sirius taunted.

…The frame was made of mahogany, very polished; there wasn't even a speck of dirt on it…

"Let's come back tomorrow!" Sirius suggested getting up from the floor.

Peter nodded and got up too.

…And on top of it there was an inscription "Hope nullifies despair!" Well, that was odd.

"Coming Potter?" Sirius asked.

James ignored his as he approached the mirror. "Hey check this out!" he called.

Sirius and Peter came and followed James's line of sight. They too were surprised that they didn't see the writing earlier.

"You think it's a riddle?" Peter asked.

"No!" James answered "But there's something dodgy about it. How come we didn't see it earlier?"

"Maybe we had to hope or despair or something." Sirius mumbled referring to the writing.

James gently put his hand on it hoping to find some trace of charm as his father advised him to before coming to Hogwarts. Instead he found something else.

"Sirius put your hand here" he said indicating a spot on the writing.

Surprised at being called by his first name, Sirius didn't even try to back out and held his hand over. There was a gap in the frame where some letters were. Reading them out loud, his mouth turned into a smile and laughter came out.

After five minutes, James found out why and he too began to laugh.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

Not able to speak while laughing, Sirius put his hand over H and his other over U succeeding in making a word between his hands.

"Open!" James smiled looking at it. A sudden idea came to him and pushed his fingers over that word and the mirror suddenly disappeared in front of their eyes.

Before them was a dark staircase leading down. The passage had an aura of a cave, stalagmites and stalactites were coming from the earth, sometimes bonding making a column.

Sirius was the first to make a step down followed by James and Peter. As they descended, the stairs were rarer, being replaced by ground. After passing the final stair, James took out his wand and lit it. Sirius looked surprised at him wanting to say something but his pride got the better of him.

"You don't know how to light your wand?" James asked incredulous.

Sirius shook his head dismayed.

"So you know holographic charms and you can clearly cast the full body bind jinx," James said annoyed at the earlier accident "but you don't know how to light your wand?"

James saw with amusement that Sirius was becoming more and more annoyed and he enjoyed every moment of it.

"I didn't have any use for it!" Sirius finally said.

James wanted to ask what use he had to stun a person but maybe some things were better not known.

"Fine!" he finally said "The incantation is Lumos!"

Sirius nodded and lit his wand followed by Peter who for some reason also didn't light it.

The cave was big and soggy, with roots sticking from the roof – James presumed they were under the Forbidden Forest – and various plants growing, some even trying to bite them when they passed. There a permanent smell in it but nobody dared to think about what caused it. After what seemed like two hours, Sirius pointed with joy at the end of it where a pipe and a doorway.

Sirius arrived there first and pushed the door up. With help from Peter and James, he climbed up and a surprised exclamation came from him, then a sound of disgust and then a snigger.

"Here!" he said throwing a rope at them from where he was. Peter came first having the same succession of emotions and then James went up and found out why.

The door led to the interior of a bathroom cubicle which reeked of the smell from the cave. James realized with a start that the contents of waste were dropped…

"I don't know about you but I'm not going back there!" Sirius said following James's facial expressions.

"Well then, let's see where we are! I mean besides the bathroom!" James added.

He was thankful to get out of that place. His shoes would never be the same after this adventure.

The place they were in resembled a tea shop. In a small shop there were small round tables, a bar in a corner – maybe where the waitress was – and two chairs at each table. Though each of them had been to Hogsmeade, none recognized the place.

"What do you think this place is?" Peter asked.

James shrugged "I think it's pretty new. I've never been here before. It doesn't look much interesting."

"My parents sure wouldn't go here!" Sirius admitted.

They went to the front door hoping to get outside. After James successfully unlocked it with the Alohomora spell, they got out to look at their surroundings.

Sirius gave a shriek behind him "I know what this place is!" he said gesturing to the shop sign "It's Madam Puddifoot's tea shop! All couples go here to snog and make puppy eyes." He made a childish disgusted face putting two fingers into his mouth trying to puke while Peter sniggered and James shook his head at Sirius's reaction.

"Potter, memorize this shop will you? I'm sure dear Corinne will love to come here one day!" Sirius teased batting his eyelashes.

Both Sirius and Peter laughed ironically at this before James shrugged and said "Thanks for the advice, I'll remember it!" which ceased their laughter.

"How did you say you found the tunnel?" Sirius asked when they were looking at the windows of some shops.

"I didn't!" James replied bored.

"Exactly!" Sirius retorted.

James sighed "If I tell you do you promise you won't tell anyone?"

Sirius considered a moment and nodded "Yeah. I just don't like secrets kept from me!"

So James told them. He explained how he was exploring the castle – though he didn't tell them why – and that he ran into the meeting. James looked at Sirius at that point but Sirius's face was unreadable. Then he told them that the man disappeared through the mirror.

"Did you hear any names?" Sirius asked after a long pause.

James nodded "Yeah, there was Rabastan Lestrange, Mulciber – the guy who was tortured – and Lucius Malfoy."

Though Sirius didn't have any reaction to the first two names, the last one had a definite reaction on him.

"Lu…Lucius Malfoy?" Sirius asked shaken.

"Yeah? You know the guy?"

Sirius nodded "Yeah…I had the pleasure. Were there," Sirius considered if he should continue "were there any girls there?"

James forced his mind "No…none that I could remember."

He could tell that Sirius was nervous "Narcissa. Was somebody names Narcissa there? Or Cissy?" he asked biting his lip.

"Does she have a last name?"

"Yeah…Narcissa Black."

James stopped to look at Sirius whose lip was bleeding already "Relative?" he asked

"Cousin!" Sirius answered.

"I didn't hear her name or any voice belonging to a girl there." James tried to make his voice sound assuring.

Sirius nodded smiling and continued to walk. They just passed a post office where they saw hundreds of owls resting before Sirius said anything.

"You know I don't approve of the guy! I'm talking of Voldemort" he explained seeing their faces "Sure I hate mudbloods, and I can't stand Evans. I think it isn't fair that muggles just become wizards or witches while we hide all our lives from them but I don't plan to go killing the lot of them."

Peter nodded and James looked surprised at Sirius not expecting sincerity from him. It was almost Christmas and there already were serious changes in Sirius. Weather they were already there from the first day or that he got them in time he didn't know. It was comforting to know that Sirius wouldn't kill him in his sleep, but there was still a long way to go.

Finally they reached a place that was still open. An inn, apparently, and Sirius and Peter sprang forward leaving James behind. He caught up with them at the entrance. Both were wearing a big grin and Peter was drooling staring at the waitress.

The inn was frequented a lot by the two when they came with their families. It was called The Three Broomsticks though James didn't see even one. He was surprised that he missed this place on his visits to this town. His parents insisted on going to another inn much less pleasant where they talked to the old innkeeper for hours.

"Hello dears! What can I serve you with?" the waitress asked when they approached her.

She was very pretty, James noticed. She was young, in her twenties, and had a very charming smile on her face, something that his insides melted seeing.

"Hello Madam Rosmerta!" Sirius said charmingly "We'll have three butterbeers, please!"

She smiled again at them and went to her work.

"Cough up the sickles Potter. I'm not paying for you!" Sirius said after she left.

James put his hand in his pocket only to realize that he was still in his pajamas. Looking at Sirius and Peter he saw that they were too. Curiously, no one sensed the cold of winter.

"They put a heating charm on the town at night!" Peter said noticing his confusion "You don't come here often do you?"

James shook his head "Only on springs. Once or twice!"

Peter nodded while Rosmerta approached them with the bottles. "There you go dears! That will be six sickles!"

Both reached their pockets for money and James was getting frantic. He forgot to bring some with him.

Sirius saw this and snorted "Don't tell me you don't have it! Bloody hell Potter, this is Hogsmeade!" he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Rosmerta looked unsure "Don't worry! It's on the house! Just this time!" she winked at him and retreated.

"Lucky bloke!" Sirius mumbled "When we come back to the castle I'm gonna get me some of these!" he said pointing to James's glasses "Maybe then she'll give me 'something on the house'!"

"Sirius, you already owe her five sickles and three knuts!" Peter pointed out "Last time you came, remember?"

Sirius shrugged "I'm going to pay her…sometime!"

"Where are we going next?" Peter asked. It was weird for James to see the chubby boy so alive and…rational.

"You think we could break into Zonko's? I bet we could find a lot of stuff there!"

James shook his head finally talking about something he did know "I think the owners put an anti thief jinx on the door or something. It's too risky! We were able to get out of Puddifoot's but that place holds nothing over night. Zonko's is full!"

Sirius swore making a few heads from other tables to turn to him.

"Careful Black! One of them," he pointed at the people from the tables "might rat on us. And maybe one of them is Voldemort's follower!"

"You mean a Death Eater?" Sirius asked.

"What?" both James and Peter asked at the same time.

Sirius smirked "What? You mean you don't know?"

Both shook their heads.

Sirius sighed "Alright, if this gets out I'm personally going to kill you! Potter, I'm only telling you this because you shared with us before. Listen," all three brought their heads together and Sirius spoke in a slow voice "one of my cousins, Narcissa's sister, Bellatrix, got an invitation from Lestrange to join Voldemort. She got to send me a letter, a real one that is, not a howler, and told me with great excitement" Sirius looked disgusted saying this "that her 'Dark Lord' accepted her and sent her to kill some muggles. After she did, there was a ceremony – she didn't tell me what, I don't think she trusts me that much anymore – and Voldemort proclaimed her one of his Death Eaters." He finished and all returned to their seats "This guy is really weird if you ask me!" he continued "Wants us to take him seriously but he makes up these nicknames! He's mad! Who takes pride in calling himself Voldemort anyway?"

"Why are they called Death Eaters? I thought they were the Knights of Walpurgis." James asked.

"Don't know! I think his ego doesn't let him use something someone else used before. The Knights were Grindelwald's. He wants something completely his."

"So they eat death?" Peter stupidly asked. He appeared to be shocked by the information as James was.

"Bella didn't say much. Her note was short. I think Voldemort doesn't want the information getting spread, so he could say it himself with a bang! I bet a galleon that in the next two weeks he's going to blow up a town or something."

"Can you get more information?" James asked. Maybe he could prevent this.

Sirius raised an eyebrow "Like I said Potter, my cousin took a great risk telling me this. I don't want for it to get it spread around!" he warned.

James nodded. He gave his word and he would keep it. He wouldn't say anything to Dumbledore. Though it wouldn't hurt to express his worries that something bad will happen…

"So how many cousins do you have?" James asked partly interested.

"Many actually! Either once, twice, thrice removed or something. I remember seeing even a Potter on the family tree though we're pretty much apart so don't start calling me cousin!" James nodded but thought himself more like an uncle judging by his parent's age

"Close cousins are three. There's Cissy, she's a fifth year in Slytherin. Tall, blonde girl looking like something went up her ass. It might be even true because she started dating Lucius Malfoy this summer." James almost choked on his butterbeer at the weird information he was receiving. "I won't be surprised when they announce a baby on the way! Bunch of inbreeds the Malfoys are!" Sirius snorted.

"There's Bella, she finished school a couple of years ago. She was a Slytherin. In fact, my whole bloody family was in Slytherin except for me. I think Dumbledore used Imperius on the hat or something when it put me with your bunch!" Sirius pointed at James "Anyway her face is normal but she's not exactly thin. Tall girl, dark hair, good looking, and proudly wasting it on a Lestrange, though now I think she's using him to get to Voldemort."

"Then there's Andromeda, my favorite cousin. She finished Hogwarts last year. The only one who supported me when I got into Gryffindor. She keeps telling me to ignore the rest of the family and do something I'm proud off. She doesn't really understand the situation clearly does she? I think she's happy that now I'm the new black sheep of the family. Before she was the one hated because she thinks muggles and mudbloods have more to give and that we shouldn't judge then because of their blood. A bit odd that she was in Slytherin! She's a tall red head – funny how that family has so many hair colors – very good looking and big hazel eyes. You can look at her for ages and you can't find something to criticize her body. Even the minister keeps staring at her when he comes over. Peter here asked her to marry him once, poor kid! Anyway these are my cousins! Any questions?" Sirius looked at James, who looked sleepy, as if daring him to ask something else.

James shook his head "No thanks! Come on let's get back at the castle!" Both nodded and all three rose from the table. They greeted Madam Rosmerta good-bye, each in his way, and went outside.

"How are we going back if we don't go through the tunnel?" Peter realized.

"We can't go through the Forbidden Forest! They're vampires and dangerous creatures in there!" Sirius added.

"So how do we go back?" James asked for all three of them.

They looked hesitant and all three sighed. They went back to Madame Puddifoot's and through the cave again not without Sirius putting an anti-smell charm on all of them – though he didn't quite get it right on James and the smell was doubled when he went through it.

"Hey Black!" James said when they were at the mirror "We went through some underground passage but this is the fourth floor!"

Sirius seemed to guess James's question "Don't be too surprised. It's Hogwarts after all!"

James shrugged and went towards the Gryffindor tower. On the way back they weren't as lucky as they were on the way to the mirror. Filch, the caretaker, almost caught them if James didn't hide all of them behind a suit of armor. Peeves also caught a glimpse of them as they were up on the sixth floor staircase and went to give the alarm to Filch. Red in the face from running, they arrived at the fat lady before Filch got there.

The night wasn't over and James got another surprise when he opened the door to their dorm. Remus was sleeping, all covered in wounds in his bed oblivious of the commotion.