Raylynx's POV
The next morning, at breakfast, a loud roar of gleeful laughter and horrified yells sounded out in the middle of the Gryffindor table. I looked up to see Neville sprinting out of the Great Hall as quickly as his legs would take him. He was holding out a steaming envelope in front of him like it was a time bomb- which it was. Just outside the Great Hall, I heard the envelope explode and the next moment, Augusta's furious and intimidating voice roared, "NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM, YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME TO THE ENTIRE FAMILY!"
"Er - would you happen to know what exactly Neville did?" I asked McGonagall, who was sitting besides me.
"In an act of supreme idiocy, Mr. Longbottom wrote down a list of Gryffindor passwords and left them lying around," McGonagall said tersely. "Apparently, Sirius Black somehow got a hold of it. Hence, Sir Cadogan let Sirius Black into the common room, putting everyone in danger."
A horrible realization hit me: that list of passwords I'd taken to Sirius had been Neville's.
"I hope that Longbottom will learn from his mistake this time, lest he kill us all with his next bout of forgetfulness," McGonagall went on to say. Her nostrils flared slightly. "I've banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, imposed a detention on him, and forbidden anyone to give him the password into the tower."
I suddenly put down my fork, no longer hungry. Remus watched me out of the corner of his eye, and when I put down my fork, he put his down too, and sighed deeply.
"Professor," I said weakly, "don't you think you were a little harsh…?"
"Perhaps," McGonagall replied, her lips pursed in a thin line, "but Longbottom must learn to be more responsible, especially in light of current circumstances."
During my break that day, I sent an owl to Hogsmeade with an order for a Chomping Chinese Cabbage, since I knew Neville liked Herbology. It was an expensive cabbage, but well worth it if it did anything to lessen Neville's suffering as a result of my taking the list of passwords to Sirius. That evening, I snuck in as Crookshanks and left the cabbage on Neville's desk before going to find Hermione.
Hermione opened her arms out to me, and I jumped into them. I licked her face and she giggled. Then, she sighed and said, "I've had a very strange day today, Crookshanks. And I still don't know whether I've done the right thing…"
She stroked my head softly as she said, "I dropped Divination. Professor Trelawney said something to me and I- I should have ignored it, but it just hit me and I couldn't take it anymore. I told her that I was quitting to her face and I walked out of the classroom in the middle of class. Me? Can you imagine it? I still don't feel like it's real, that I really did that."
"And that's not all," Hermione said. "I learned that they're going to execute Buckbeak… Hagrid told Ron, Harry, and me. And then we came across Malfoy laughing. He's so cruel. He knows he did the wrong thing, that he didn't listen to what Hagrid said about respecting Hippogriffs. He wasn't even badly injured, but he's going to let the Ministry kill Buckbeak. Oh, it's just too horrible. I did a lot of reading up for the case, and I thought we stood a good chance. But from what Hagrid said, it sounds like Draco's father has the whole committee under his thumb. And seeing Draco Malfoy laughing like that… I don't know what got over me, I really don't. But before I could ever think it through, I punched him."
I mewed in surprise and looked up at her.
"I know," Hermione said miserably. "But it was just so unbearable. All of it. The Time Turner's driving me crazy, I'm worried about Sirius Black coming after Harry, and I was so sick of fighting with Ron, and then knowing Buckbeak is going to be executed because of someone like Malfoy…"
Hermione let out a huge breath and fell back on her bed. "Ron did make up with me, though," she told me, as I snuggled up in her blankets next to her. "He said he'd forgiven me about Scabbers… Well, I don't know if he has to forgive me, seeing as you didn't do anything, did you, Crookshanks? But the point is that we're friends again. And he told me that my punching Malfoy was bloody brilliant." At this, a small smile finally graced her face. She looked up at the ceiling before her eyes fluttered shut and she fell asleep. I stealthily got up and using my teeth, carefully dragged the blanket over her before silently dropping down onto the floor and leaving the room.
At the end of my third year lesson two days later, Hermione came up to me after class.
"Um, Professor Kingsley…" she said, a bit hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"I just wanted to let you know that I did drop a class… Divination, actually."
I looked up at her, trying to appear surprised. "Did you?" I said.
"Yes... Well, I can't say it was thought-out decision." She tried to appear prim and formal, but then she burst out, "It was horrible, to be honest. I- I shouted at Professor Trelawney and walked out in the middle of class…" Hermione buried her face in her hands as her cheeks turned scarlet. "I don't know what came over me!"
"Well, as a fellow Professor, I can't condone you yelling at Professor Trelawney," I said, "but if this is what get you some more sleep at night, then maybe it's not so bad."
Hermione paused. Then, she said, "I think it was because Divination just seemed so… so fanciful compared to some of the other subjects."
"It does tend to be difficult to pin down in any usual method of logic, yes," I said.
"Professor Kingsley, do you believe in… in prophecies and Divination and all that?" Hermione asked me, clearly expecting me to say no.
But I paused, thinking of Trelawney's prediction about Harry and Voldemort…
"The prophecy…" I mentioned.
"Oh?" Dumbledore said.
"Has it been fulfilled now?"
"Yes, and in being fulfilled, the prophecy has now been set in motion."
"Self-fulfilling prophecy?"
"Perhaps."
Today, I gave Hermione the same answer: "Perhaps."
It was difficult to believe, but exams were nearly upon us. All of the professors and students became preoccupied with preparing for them. I arrived early at the Great Hall one morning, clutching a stack of parchment for exam hypotheticals and final review sessions under my arm. I sat at the table and poured myself some pumpkin juice as I tiredly went over the questions again, trying to make sure whether I had given the right level of context for each question. Remus came in a bit later and sat besides me, carrying his own stack of papers.
Remus and I had not talked since the night of Sirius' break-in. We sat together at meals, but neither of us made any conversation, or at least, not any serious conversation. We were scheduled to do a night shift tonight, though, and I wondered how that would go.
After classes, I sat at my desk again, poring over the questions I'd reached from my classes at every level to try to dissect if there were any fundamental themes I had not explained properly. It was interesting, but even after a number of years of teaching, there was always something to adjust and something to be better at and of course, every class was slightly different. My nose was buried deep in papers when I heard a soft knock on my door.
I frowned. Is it already time for the night shift? But no, I still had ten minutes. There was another knock.
"Come in," I called, and waved my wand so that my door opened.
To my surprise, Jasper walked in. "Jasper!" I said, getting up from my seat immediately.
"Raylynx." In quick, purposeful strides, he reached me and embraced me tightly.
"I wasn't expecting you," I said, quickly stepping back and looking up at him. "Is it all right that you're here? Mad-Eye won't yell at you for being here instead of on duty?"
"Yes," Jasper replied firmly. He looked so tired. His face was thinner than when I'd last seen him, and dark rings appeared like subtle bruises under his eyes. My heart sank. I bit my lower lip. I should be comforting him, and instead, I'm going to... Merlin, how did I become such a cruel person? But I have to.
"I didn't want to make you come all the way here to Hogwarts," I said, feeling torn. "That's why, in my letter, I asked where I could meet you."
"Well, I couldn't give away my location, and traveling is a small price to pay to see you again, my love." He reached out to touch my face, but I stayed out of his reach, shifting away subtly.
Jasper paused. "You seem upset that I came," he noted, slowly dropping his hand. His voice was as quiet as I'd ever heard it. "Is it because now I've travelled all the way to Scotland just for you to break up with me?"
My eyes flew up to his face. Our eyes met, and in that one instance, everything was communicated between us.
He swallowed. In a slightly hoarse voice, he asked, "Is this because I've been absent for so long?"
"No," I said softly.
"Because I can change that," Jasper said, determined, his voice suddenly rising. "If it's commitment you need, I can give it to you without any hesitation. In fact, I've come to ask you for your ha-"
I shook my head firmly. "It's not because of that. Jasper, I know who you are. You need adventure, to feel risk, to be doing something important," I said feelingly. "I've always known that about you, and I'm so proud of you."
"Then, what is it?"
I hesitated as I tried to find the words. How can I explain this? All of this…? When I don't even know what's going on myself.
Raylynx, be strong, I warned myself. You mustn't ask him to pity you in any way. You can't make this harder for Jasper than it already is. You can't betray your emotions, not now, not in front of Jasper… You've made your decision, now stick to it. Show some conviction, for once in your life! A cold, sickly feeling spread from my chest throughout my body. I felt faint and almost nauseous. Guilt, I realized, was a physical experience just as much as it was an emotional experience.
Jasper slid his finger under my chin and lifted my face. Gazing into my eyes, he said softly, "Tell me that it's something that I can change."
But it's so hard. It's so hard when he's right in front of me, asking me to love him, telling me he'll love me. Eyes fast becoming wet, I slowly shook my head. "It's not you, Jasper," I whispered.
"It's not me…" he repeated. He let me go and turned away. "If it's not me that's the issue, then I can't solve it either, can I?" He turned back to me and cupped my face in his hands. Then, he asked, "Is this because of Sirius Black?"
I didn't say anything, but my expression was beginning to collapse into something too truthful, too honest… into pain. I tried to keep steady, to return his gaze, but I finally looked down, ashamed.
Jasper watched me for a moment, and seeing that I was about to fall apart, held back the things he wanted to ask, the proposal he wanted to make, and dropped his hands away from my face to push the box holding the ring deeper inside his pocket so that I wouldn't see it.
"I see," Jasper said quietly, and made to turn away and leave.
"Wait, Jasper." I reached out and gently grabbed his wrist. "Imagine… Imagine if your wife came back," I whispered, pleading with him to understand me, begging for him to realize that it wasn't that I loved him any less, but that… that I simply loved someone more.
Jasper turned back to me, and his eyes were full of a deep melancholy that he had never revealed to me before. "I have," he said softly. "Many times."
Then, he reached down and gently removed my hand from his wrist. For a moment, he just stood there, holding my hand. His fingers were warm and steady against my trembling hand. "It's true that there is a place in my heart that belongs only to her. Annabelle." He spoke her name with such warmth, voicing the syllables as though the name itself were some delicate thing – a spring of baby's breath, or a newly born dove. "I would never deny that."
"But," he said, and his voice became grittier, "I still would have chosen you."
I breathed out. Our eyes met once more. I tried to say his name, but my voice became lost inside of myself, swallowed up by all of the emotions language had not yet formed words for.
"I suppose that's the difference between us," Jasper said, and his voice was fast becoming pained. "I never truly had you." He suddenly pulled me close to him and put his arms around me, pressing me softly against him. For a long moment, he just held me. Then, he whispered, "I'll miss you, partner." I knew by his voice that he was crying. He stepped back, letting go of me, and turning, walked out of the room.
Remus' POV
When Raylynx left the staff table at dinner without saying anything to me, I sighed. I had regretted being so abrupt with her as soon as the words left my mouth. I just couldn't help it. I couldn't help except to show my disapproval of her whole-hearted, foolish trust in Sirius. The thought of Raylynx making herself so vulnerable to Sirius angered me because the truth was that there was still no evidence of Sirius' innocence. There never had been.
But I knew that I shouldn't have suddenly interrogated her like that. No wonder she froze up like that. No wonder she avoided me. I realized that I had unwittingly inherited this trait from my father. He used to treat me the same way. He would act perfectly normal and then, at the end of dinner, suddenly say, "Rem, I told you not to make friends in this village, didn't I? That girl you were speaking to on the street- she wasn't your friend, right?" It was not so much what he said as the way he said it- catching me off guard like that, that made me feel like I had been wronged. And so, even if I was going to argue with Raylynx (and Merlin knew I would to keep her safe), I didn't want it to be because of the way I had caught her off guard.
I looked up at the clock. I intended to greet her as she left her office for guard duty and to apologize to her before we started our shift together. There were about eight minutes left, so I pulled on my cloak and headed out of my office. I made it to her office in good time, taking advantage of a few secret passageways here and there. I raised my hand to knock on her door when I heard the soft murmur of voices come from the other side of the door, from inside her office.
I paused. A voice floated through the door and reached my ears. "…a place in my heart that belong only to her. Annabelle. I would never deny that." I frowned. Who is Annabelle?
"But I still would have chosen you."
Then, I heard Raylynx's voice. She said simply, "Jasper…" but the way she said it, the way her voice seemed to break many times over that two-syllable name, made my heart skip a beat as an uneasy, yet sympathetic feeling permeated through me.
Jasper? I thought wonderingly for a split second. Then, it hit me. Right, Jasper Riley. I'd met him last year. He'd been at Raylynx's side when she was ill in the hospital wing here at Hogwarts. He was a werewolf, and he had astonished me with how easily he spoke of our shared affliction. I'd also been shocked to see that he and Raylynx seemed to be together romantically, and I would be lying if I didn't admit how surprised I was to see Raylynx so affectionate with someone other than Sirius. Not that I ever saw Raylynx and Sirius together in any romantic way, but she so obviously loved Sirius that it made me feel strange to see her trying to be with someone else. And perhaps that was part of the awkwardness – it was clear to both of us that she was trying, that it wasn't natural, it wasn't easy. Though I never spoke of it with Raylynx, I knew that she struggled to open up to someone else, someone other than Sirius. I remembered going to Raylynx's brother's Quidditch games with the two of them. He would be casually affectionate with her, and her face would be burning red. So was mine, for that matter. She never mentioned it to me, and I was more than keen on playing along with our pretend-I-never-noticed line. But even though I initially felt quite uncomfortable, I realize that that was part of her attempt to move on, to get her life back. It cost her heavily to attempt to do so, but she tried, and I was proud of her for that.
"I suppose that's the difference between us." Jasper's voice broke into my ruminations. "I never truly had you."
I held my breath.
Then, I heard footsteps coming towards the door. I quickly backed away, but it opened rather quickly. I froze as Jasper walked out. He saw me, standing there. He swallowed hard, then he reached out and put his hand on my shoulder and said thickly, "Will you – Will you make sure she's all right for me?"
And he was gone, quicker than in the blink of an eye. I hadn't even had a chance to respond, not that I knew what to say. As his footsteps disappeared around the corner, my gaze returned to Raylynx's office. He'd left the door open. I took a deep breath and then slowly and cautiously stepped in.
Raylynx was sitting at her desk, gazing at the small pile of wood charms that lay there. She wasn't sobbing, but I could make out the fast-falling tears streaking down her face. Before I could say anything, Raylynx quickly wiped her face with her sleeve and said in a rather stuffy voice, "I'm all right. Just… Just let me get my wand. And we'll go for our shift." She reached out for her wand, but her vision was so blurry that she accidentally brushed her fingers against it instead, knocking it off onto the floor.
I walked up to her side and picked up her wand for her. As I straightened up, I glanced over at the small pile of charms she'd slid over to the middle of her desk. Raylynx followed my gaze. "Oh," she said, and tried to laugh, but it came out almost like a sob instead. "Um… they're charms that Jasper sent me. He went looking for this magical creature all over the country, if not the world, and in every forest he passed through, he would collect a piece of wood and have his uncle carve a charm into it. Like this, see?" Raylynx picked one up and showed it to me. "Then, he'd… he'd send it to me… to remind me he was… thinking of me." The charm slipped from her fingers and rolled back onto the desk. She stayed like that, frozen for a long moment.
"Raylynx," I tried to say. My voice caught on itself, and I coughed lightly. I held out her wand. She reached out and grasped it, but for some inexplicable reason, neither of us let go of her wand. We both stood there, holding onto it.
"Why…?" Raylynx whispered the word so quietly, but so regretfully that her voice reminded me of glass reaching its shatterpoint. "Why did everyone I trust tell me to move on? Sola… Jamie… You… You all told me that moving on was the right thing to do."
"And it's not," she said, and her voice broke heavily. "It's not…" She breathed in, and it was a sharp, trembling gasp of air.
I let out a soft breath.
Her lashes became thick with tears as she murmured, "You told me… You told me that Sirius be different, that he wouldn't remember me, that he wouldn't be the same anymore… But he is. He's the same person I fell in love with… and now I've- I've hurt Jasper twice. I tried so hard to do the right thing, and all it's come to is this… Why didn't I trust myself?" Her fingers tightened around her wand as she berated herself. "Why do I never trust myself? And it's Jasper for paid the price for my cowardice. I hurt him. I hurt him…" With her other hand, she reached up and pressed her palm against her eyes. Her shoulders jerked once as she took a sharp, shuddering breath.
I didn't know what to say. Her words confirmed that she had in fact met Sirius, but that didn't seem so important anymore.
Raylynx shook her head, gathering herself, even as more tears splashed down onto the desk. Wiping her eyes as well as she could, she finally tugged slightly at her wand, and it slipped out of my loose grasp. In a quiet voice, Raylynx said, "We're late, aren't we? Come on, Remus. Let's go." She turned and left the room first.
I never, ever knew what to say in such situations. When I happened upon grief, words failed me. I wished I knew what to do or say, but I kept quiet as I followed after Raylynx. I hoped that in following her lead of not talking about it, I would be helping her and respecting her space, but a part of me also felt ashamed of not being able to say anything.
Seeing the look on my face, Raylynx attempted a watery smile and said, "I'm all right, Remus. Really."
"I know you are," I murmured, but my voice was heavy.
We walked down the long hallway together. The patrol was uneventful, but as we started to turn the corner of the last corridor, I put my arm out to stop her and whispered, "Do you hear that?"
We paused. It sounded like two people arguing – or rather, one person berating the other.
Raylynx and I moved forward together. As we turned the corner, I saw the outline of Severus' back and over his shoulder, I saw Harry standing there, looking both sheepish and defiant. They were both illuminated by a strong light coming from Severus' wand tip.
Snape was growling at Harry, "Why you insolent little-!"
"Professor!" I interrupted, stepping forward.
Snape whirled around. "Well, well. Lupin. Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?"
Avoiding being blinded from his wand light, I turned my head slightly to look at Harry.
"Harry?" Raylynx said, stepping up from behind me. "You all right?"
"That remains to be seen," Snape said thinly. He held up a piece of parchment. "I have just now confiscated a rather curious artifact from Mr. Potter, which he was carrying around in his pockets as he roamed the corridors on his own, at night."
I shot Harry a troubled look. What is he doing, wandering at night on his own, when Sirius is yet to be found? It's dangerous. But before I could say anything, Snape approached me and said in a rather snide voice, "Take a look, Lupin." I took the parchment. An invisible but hard-hitting bolt of lightning struck me where I stood. There were words scrawled on it, but even before I had read them, I knew from the ever so familiar handwriting of four friends what this was. But I did read it, to give myself time to think. Realizing that Severus, Harry, and Raylynx were all watching me, I tried very hard to control my expression as I read:
"Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."
"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Mooney and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."
"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."
"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."
"Well?" Severus said impatiently.
I did not immediately answer. Raylynx, too, had gone silent behind me, though I heard a soft "pft" escape her lips as she read the parchment from over my shoulder.
How in the world did Harry end up with this? You mean to say that this piece of parchment has been floating around Hogwarts, being used by students, all of these years? I thought Filch had it, after he confiscated it from James when James and Sirius got caught carrying out that hare-brained fireworks operation in our sixth year…
"Well?" Severus pressed again. "This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?"
I finally looked up and risked a half-glance at Harry to warn him not to interrupt me.
"Full of Dark Magic?" I said lightly. "Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke shop —"
"Indeed?" said Severus, who seemed to have considerable difficulty in opening his jaws enough to speak through his anger. "You think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don't think it more likely that he got it directly from the manufacturers?"
I paused, trying to play off his obvious insinuation. "You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?" I said, picking the name I thought Harry was least likely to recognize.
Raylynx realized what I was trying to do. She called out to Harry. "Harry, do you know any of these people?"
"No," Harry replied quickly.
Severus looked unconvinced, so I spoke quickly before he could say anything further. "You see, Severus? It looks like a Zonko's product to me."
Seeing Snape's disbelieving face, Raylynx began to speak. "If you remember, Zonko's is the joke shop in Hogsm-"
Snape cut her off. "I know what Zonko's is," he hissed at her.
"Do you?" Raylynx said, keeping her voice mild, but her words were mocking. "You've set foot in a joke shop, have you?"
I subtly but firmly reached over with my foot and stepped on hers. The best thing for us to do was to get Harry out of this situation as quickly as possible, and annoying Severus Snape until he exploded was not the best way to achieve that goal.
Just then, Severus made to snatch the Map back out of my hands, but I instinctively pulled it away. To cover up the sudden awkward interaction between us, I said hurriedly, "Nevertheless, I shall – ah- pursue any hidden qualities it may possess. As you said, it is my area of expertise."
"Harry, if you would come with me," I said, and Harry crossed over to me. "Yes, well, good night, Severus." And the three of us left Severus behind in the dark hallway.
By the time we reached my office, I have to admit, my head was clouded in anger. What was the boy doing, wandering around the corridors at night, completely unprotected? What if, after all this, something happened to him simply because he decided to be young and reckless? Sirius has already managed to make it into the castle twice, and nearly got to Harry last time. How could Harry have been so thoughtless as to go around the castle at night on his own after that? And not just the castle, I realized. This is how Harry must have gotten to Hogsmeade before. This is why he already knew about the Butterbeer. He must have found out about that passageway behind the one-eyed witch's statute. I continued to ponder how dangerous this all was. And if he had left the map somewhere, or lost it somehow, and Sirius managed to get to it, the way he got Neville's passwords, then Sirius would have a direct route straight to Harry…
"Close the door, Harry," I said when we got into the office.
He obliged. Then, turning to me, he said, "Professor, I-"
"I don't want to hear explanations," I said shortly. "Now, I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago."
Harry looked amazed.
"Yes, I know it's a map," I said tersely.
"I don't want to know how it fell into your possession," I said quickly, truly not wanting to have the responsibility of knowing how many students had gotten away with terrible behavior thanks to this Map.
"I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in," I said to Harry. "Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry."
Harry nodded, not at all surprised.
"Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?" Harry wondered.
"Because…" I hesitated, not wanting Harry to know that James, Sirius, Peter, and I had made this map, especially when I was trying to make him take the dangers of this Map seriously.
Raylynx stepped in and said, "Because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely entertaining."
Harry was quite impressed. "Did you two know them?" he asked us curiously.
"We've… met," Raylynx replied quietly, her eyes flickering over to me.
I gazed down at Harry. He isn't getting it, I realized. He's not taking this seriously. He doesn't understand that the entire Wizarding community of my generation – the Minister, Dumbledore, and all of the Professors are trying to watch out for him.
I sighed internally, steeling myself for what I was about to say. But it needed to be said: "Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the Dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you…" I saw Harry's face fall, and his eyes darkened. I felt guilty, but I knew this had to be done. He had to understand, at least a little, of the seriousness of the circumstances, and of just how reckless his actions were. I paced back and forth, clutching the map in anger. What was Harry thinking? No, what were we thinking when we made this map all those years ago? Of course, I couldn't imagine the darkness that my life would become shrouded in, but even so, if my making this map had in any way led Harry to the possibility of harm, how could I forgive myself?
Harry was watching me walk back and forth with guilty eyes.
Raylynx knelt in front of Harry and looked into his face. Her voice sincere and warm, she said, "You understand what Professor Lupin is saying, don't you? Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. It would be a poor way to repay them — gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks."
"Yes, Professor," Harry said, his voice hoarse. He tried to clear his throat, but failing, just nodded.
"Now, return to your dormitory," Raylynx said, her voice gentle but quite firm. She stood back up and then added, "Oh, and don't take any detours. If you do, we'll know." She tapped the map in my hand.
Harry nodded again. He started to leave silently. But then, he turned around at the doorway. "Professor Lupin. Just so you know, I don't think the map always works. Earlier, it showed someone in the castle. Someone I know to be dead."
"Dead?" Raylynx repeated uneasily.
I merely lifted an eyebrow. The map never lies, I already knew. The map doesn't make mistakes. We made sure of that when we created it. Hence, why it's so dangerous.
"Oh really?" I said, mostly just humoring Harry with the question and not really meaning it. "And who might that be?"
I was not at all ready for the name that came out of Harry's lips. Not at all. Nothing could have prepared me from hearing Harry say the name: "Peter Pettigrew."
