Ginny curled up on the windows seat in the common room. She was reading but slowly, her eyes drifting of the page to look at the dazzling snow. She hoped snuffles was all right out there in the cold. Harry told her a few weeks later that he thought he saw the grim causing Ginny to choke on her drink at the moment. Once again Ginny had her hopes up to spend the day with Harry only to find him missing, Ginny suspects that Harry was with professor Lupin.

Professor Lupin had promised lessons on how to defend you from dementors. So Harry might be there. Ginny snapped her book shut, and walked off to her dorm. She pulled on an extra jumper, her cloak, a scarf, hat and a pair of gloves. She might be able to find snuffles and sneak him to the kitchen for a Christmas feast.

She exited the tower only to walk into Harry.

"Oh hi Harry" she said blushing

"Hi Ginny" Harry mumbled looking down at his feet. Come on you can do this! "Er going somewhere?" he asked

"Thought I'd go for a walk" Ginny mumbled allowing her hair to hide her face.

Harry reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear "how about you go to hogsmead with me?"

Ginny looked up "Harry you can't go to hogsmead and neither can I"

"Fred and George gave me this map, it shows you the secret passages of Hogwarts and the whereabouts of every person" Harry muttered "so do you want to come? As date?"

WAIT! WHAT! DID HE SAY THAT?????

Harry looked at Ginny hopefully; she looked up and smiled "I would love to"

"Great, come on follow me" Harry said pulling Ginny along the corridor with his eye on the map. Inside his head he was singing. Harry stopped at the old crone and got out his wand, Ginny watched in interest as he tapped it against the hump and muttered "dissendium".

The stone slid away, revealing a narrow twisted passage. Harry tapped the piece of parchment and muttered "mischief managed" he put the parchment in his pocket and then muttered "lumos". Harry and Ginny walked through slowly. It could have been twenty minutes when they reached to a dead end. In front of them were steps. They climbed up only to hit the ceiling.

"Ow" Ginny mumbled

"Sorry, I didn't realise this was the end" Harry whispered he patted the ceiling only to find a trapdoor. He wretched it open and got out. He was in a cellar, a cellar full of sweets. He pulled Ginny out.

They heard a door open much closer at hand; somebody was about to come downstairs.

"And get another box of jelly slugs, dear, they've nearly cleaned us out- said a woman's voice.

A pair of feet was coming down the staircase. Harry leapt behind an enormous crate dragging Ginny with him. They waited as a man shifted through the boxes. They crept out and quickly ran up the stairs.

They eyed the sweets, both of them never seen so many sweets in one place before. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of every flavour beans, and another of fizzing whizzbees, the levitating sherbet balls Ron had mentioned; along yet another wall were special effects sweets: droobles best blowing gum (which filled a room with bluebell-coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery toothflossing stringmints, tiny black pepper imps (breath fire for your friends!), ice mice (hear your teeth chatter and squeak!), peppermint creams shaped like toads (hops realistically in the stomach!), fragile sugar-spun quills and exploding bonbons.

"Grab a bag and put in as many sweets as you can in it" Harry said "whatever you think is the best"

Ginny nodded and began shoving various chocolates and toffees. "Ron told me about butterbeer in the three broomsticks. After I pay for this we can share them there" Harry said.

"You're spoiling me" Ginny murmured

"I'm spoiling the pair of us" Harry said pulling Ginny into the queue. "We deserve this after those bloody dementors"

"Thanks" Ginny said smiling up at Harry.

Harry's heart started the beat faster; he leaned down, his lips closing in on hers-

"HARRY WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Hermione shrieked

"Dam it" Harry muttered angrily

"Shh, Hermione let us pay for our sweets and we'll explain everything" Ginny hissed

"GINNY!" Ron shouted dropping a bag spilling levitating sherbet balls on the floor.

"Shh" Harry and Ginny hissed. They quickly paid for their sweets and headed to the three broomsticks. Ron was upset that Fred and George didn't gibe him in the map and Hermione wanted Harry to hand it in to McGonagall. They were enjoying a nice drink in the three broomsticks; Harry reached for Ginny's hand under the table. He liked the small smile she had on her face when his hand clasped hers.

A sudden breeze ruffled his hair. The door of the three broomsticks had opened again. Harry looked over the rim of his tank and choked.

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had just entered the pub in a flurry of snowflakes, shortly followed by Hagrid, who was deep in conservation with a portly man in a lime-green bowler hat and a pinstriped cloak: Cornelius Fudge, minister of magic.

In an instant Harry and Ginny ducked down under the table.

Somewhere above them, Hermione whispered "mobiliarbus!"

The Christmas tree beside their table rose a few inches off the ground, drifted sideways and landed with a soft thump right in front of their table, hiding them from view. Staring through the dense lower branches, Harry saw four sets of chair legs move back from the table right beside theirs, then heard grunts and sighs of the teachers and minister as they sat down.

Next he saw another pair of feet, wearing sparkly turquoise high heels, and heard a woman's voice.

"A small gillywater-

"Mine" said professor McGonagall voice.

"Four pints of mulled mead-

"Ta, Rosmerta" said Hagrid

"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella-

"Mmm!" said professor Flitwick, smacking his lips.

"So you'll be the redcurrant rum, minister"

"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear" said Fudge's voice. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself won't you? Come and join us….."

"Well, thank you very much minister."

Harry watched the glittering heels march away and back again. His heart pounding uncomfortably in his throat. This meant he had to spend a lot of time trapped under a table with Ginny, what if she wanted him to kiss her?

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, minister?" came madam Rosmerta's voice.

Harry saw the lower part of Fudge's thick body twist in his chair as though he was checking for eavesdroppers. Then he said in a quiet voice, "what else m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Hallowe'en?"

"I did hear a rumour" admitted madam Rosmerta

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" said professor McGonagall exasperatedly.

"Do you think Black's still in the area, minister?" whispered madam Rosmerta

"I'm sure of it" said Fudge shortly.

"You know that the dementors have searched my pub twice?" said madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away….it's very bad for business minister"

"Rosmerta, m'dear, I don't like them anymore than you do" said Fudge uncomfortably. "Necessary precaution….unfortunate, but there you are….I've met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore-he won't let them inside the castle grounds"

"I should think not" said professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"

"Hear, hear!" squeaked tiny professor Flitwick, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground.

"all the same" demurred Fudge "they are here to protect you all from something much worse….we all know what Black's capable of…."

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it" said madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. "Of all the people to go over the dark side, Sirius Black was the last I'd 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 gruffly "the worst he did isn't widely known"

"The worst?" said madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with curiosity. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do" said Fudge

"I can't believe that, what could be possibly worse?"

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

"Naturally" said madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "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"

Harry grabbed hold on Ginny's hand tightly.

"Precisely" said professor 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!" chimed in professor 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."

"Because Black turned out to be in league with you know who?" whispered madam Rosmerta.

"Worse even than that, m'dear….." Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew you know who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against you know who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, you know who wasn't easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the fidelius charm."

"How does that work?" said madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

"An immensely complex spell" he said squeakily "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person or secret keeper and is henceforth impossible to find – unless, of course, the secret keeper chooses the divulge it. As long the secret keeper refused to speak, you know who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"

"So Black was the Potters' secret keeper" whispered madam Rosmerta.

"Naturally" said professor McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself….and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' secret keeper himself."

"He suspected Black?" gasped madam Rosmerta

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping you know who informed of their movements" said professor McGonagall darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to you know who"

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"

"He did" said Fudge heavily "and then barely a week after the fidelius charm had been performed-

"Black betrayed them?" breathed madam Rosmerta.

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for you know who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters death. But as we all know, you know who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colours as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it-

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet.

"Shh!" said professor McGonagall

"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't know 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!" Hagrid roared.

"Hagrid, please!" said professor McGonagall "keep your voice down"

"how was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was you know who he cared abou'! An' then he says "give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him" ha! Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncles. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. "I won' need it anymore" he says

I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters secret keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night knew it was a matter o' hours before the ministry was after him.

But what if I'd given Harry to him eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His Bes' friend's son! But when a wizard goes over ter the dark side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to em' anymore….."

A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Then madam Rosmerta said with some satisfaction "but he didn't manage to disappear did he? The ministry of magic caught up with him next day!"

"Alas, if only we had" said Fudge bitterly "it was not we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew – another of the Potters friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters secret keeper, he went after Black himself"

"Pettigrew…that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" said madam Rosmerta.

"Hero-worshipped Black and Potter" said professor McGonagall "never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him, you can imagine how I – how I regret that now…" she sounded as though she had a sudden head cold.

"There, now, Minerva" said Fudge kindly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eye-witnesses – muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later – told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing. "Lily and James, Sirius! How could you!" and then he went for his wand. Well, of course Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens…"

Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "stupid boy….foolish boy….he was always hopeless at duelling…should have left it to the ministry…"

"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't've messed around with wands – I'd've ripped him limb- from – limb" Hagrid growled.

"You don't know what you're talking about Hagrid" said Fudge sharply. "Nobody but trained hit wizards from the magical law enforcement squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was junior minister in the department of magical catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I – I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him…. A heap of blood-stained robes and a few – a few fragments –

Fudge's voice stopped abruptly, there was the sound of five noses being blown.

"Well there you have it, Rosmerta" said Fudge thickly. "Black was taken away by twenty members of the magical law enforcement patrol and Pettigrew received the order of Merlin, first class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black's been in Azkaban ever since"

Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh. "Is it true he's mad minister?"

"I wish I could say that he was" said Fudge slowly "I certainly believe his master's defeat unhinged him for a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those muggles was action of a cornered and desperate man – cruel….pointless. Yet I met Black on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark, there's no sense in them….but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought he was merely bored – asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the dementors seemed to be having on him – and he was one of the most heavily guarded in the place, you know. Dementors outside his door day and night."

"But what do you think he's broken out to do?" said madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious minister, he isn't trying to rejoin you-know- who, is he?"

"I daresay that is his – er – eventual plan" said Fudge evasively "but we hope to catch Black long before that. I must say you know who alone and friendless is one thing….but give him back his most devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again…."

There was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone had set down their glass.

"You know Cornelius, if you're dinning with the headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle" said professor McGonagall.

One by one, the pairs of feet in front of Harry took the weight of their owners once more; hems of cloaks swung into sight and madam Rosmerta's glittering heels disappeared behind the bar. The door of the three broomsticks opened again, there was another flurry of snow and the teachers disappeared.

"Harry?"

The smell of Ginny became overpowering as she leaned closer.

"It's all right to cry Harry" she whispered pulling him into an embrace.

Authors note: so sorry it took long to update. Been busy revising for mocks. Never fear in two weeks it'll be over and I get a WHOLE week extra to write more Harry and Ginny fluff.