Since it is Christmas, I'll be posting two chapters early. Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄
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Chapter 14
LB
The morning of Hogsmeade, I stuffed my bag with the letters and photographs Moony had collected and headed to the great hall for breakfast. My eyes traced the Gryffindor table until I found the legendary trio sitting in the middle of the table.
"Goodmorning." I smiled as I sat down next to the twins' brother.
"I don't think we officially met." The Granger girl said a little hesitantly as she held out her hand formally. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"Alec." I shook her hand and turned to the redhead next to me. "Ronald, right?"
"Ron." He said with his mouth full.
"Ronald!" Hermione chastised him. Harry and I shared a look and snickered.
"Are you ready to go, Harry?" I asked, as I nudged my head to the doors.
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked a little accusatory. I looked with wide eyes from her to Harry, who shot me a look, to not say anything.
"Since I can't go to Hogsmeade, I asked Alec to help me with potions."
"Oh! Harry that's great." Hermione clapped her hands excitedly, her mood changed in an instant. "I heard you're going for your OWL tomorrow, so you can do the NEWT's this year. Is that true?" She turned to me with large eyes filled with... Envy, adoration?
"I - uhm – I am. How -?"
"News travels fast here." Harry chuckled as he stood up.
"Apparently." I bit the inside of my cheek. "Maybe I'll see you guys later at Hogsmeade when we're done." I said to the other two and headed out of the great hall, Harry was following me from the other side of the table. When we exited the great hall, the twins appeared.
"Where are you two going?" Fred asked with a grin.
"You know we're going to Hogsmeade." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, and Fred, George." Harry suddenly spoke up as he stepped up next to me. "Don't tell Ron and Hermione where we're going, I'm not allowed in Hogsmeade. Hermione will go on about that it's against the rules. And Ron... well he'll be disappointed that I'm not going with him."
"Merlin, Potter. Alec has only been here for less than two months, and you drag her into your scheming." Fred chastised the younger boy, pointing his index finger at him.
"You can corrupt anyone if you blink those green round eyes of yours, can't you?" George huffed. The twins looked at each other from Harry's astonished face before laughing exaggerated. They hung to each other as if their lives depended on it. "Alright, we'll keep our mouths shut."
"What did you say you two were doing?"
"I'm helping him with potions."
"Good lie." George said.
"Yes, indeed. The best lie is one with the truth mixed into it."
"I don't need help with potions!" Harry exclaimed, but the looks the twins shot him told something different and Harry mumbled to himself.
"Leave him alone, you big bullies." I shoved them to the great hall. "You two are mean when you're hungry. Go eat, I'll see you two later." I turned back to Harry. "Ready?"
He nodded and I started walking. "Where are we going?" He asked.
"You'll see." I winked.
LB
We were standing in the tunnel underneath Honeydukes and I went to push the hatch before I climbed back down the ladder and looked to Harry.
"What? Was someone there?" He asked looking from the latch to me.
"No, but... Your friends are going to be in Hogsmeade, are you going to duck every time you see them?"
"No." He bit his lip nervously. "You can't tell anyone alright?"
"What? Are you secretly an Animagus?" I asked excited.
"No, I wish." He said and I deflated a little, but my interest peeked as he took something out of his bag.
"Is that..?" I gasped as my fingers skimmed the fabric. I was surprised he confided in me with this, but maybe it was because of the friendship between his parents and Moony.
"An invisibility cloak, yes. It was my dad's."
"Wow, that's amazing." I said as I stroked the soft fabric. "Oh, Mo- my uncle won't hear the end of this!" Harry looked confused, so I added. "You don't think he didn't know about this? If your dad had it in school..."
"Oooh." Harry said slowly as he caught on.
"Come on, put it on." I gestured with my hands. Harry grinned as he wrapped the cloak around his shoulders and the rest of his body disappeared. Only his head floated in the air. "Zalig!"
"What?"
"Amazing! Sorry." I smiled. "First drinks? It should be fairly empty now. Everyone's going shopping first, at least that's what the others tell me."
"Sure." He said before pulling the hood over his face. "What about you?" His voice said. "What if they spot you?"
"I have my own invention." I said pulling out my own cloak and put it on. "Not as good as yours, of course. But it hides my identity." I said as I pulled the hood over my head.
"Wow." Harry said in the same manner as me, and his hand became visible as he reached out and touched the hood. "I thought it was lights in the great hall that night that I couldn't see your face. You made this?"
"Yes, there is only one of this out there. I'm thinking about putting patent on it. My teachers at Beauxbatons wanted me to publish about it but seeing the whole Sirius Black thing."
"Did you know him?" He asked, and I shook my head. "Sorry, I didn't-"
"No, it's okay. Let's talk about it somewhere else."
"Right, not in a cobweb filled tunnel." He snickered, as he pushed a cobweb out of the way. "But you should really put a patent on it, before someone tries to steal it from you."
"I'll think about it. Now let's get out of this dark hole." I said as I climbed the ladder again. I pushed the hatch open, just a little. And when I saw it was safe and pushed it open and quickly climbed out.
LB
"Two butterbeers, please." I said to the woman named Madam Rosmerta came to ask for our orders. "Do you want something to eat, Harry?"
"No, not yet. Just had breakfast." He smiled shyly at the woman. She smiled and walked to the bar. I shook of my coat and hung it on the back of my chair. "So..." He said nervously. "Your uncle knew my parents?"
"Not just knew." I huffed as I pulled out the letters and photos. "They were best friends in school." I showed him a photo of Remus and James. "You could've been twins; you look so much like your dad. This is a picture of him and his best mates in the common room." I showed him the next picture and went from left to right. "That's Remus, professor Lupin, then you have..." I took in a breath. "Sirius, then your dad and then Peter."
"Peter?" He frowned. "Is that the one-"
"Yes."
"Can I ask? What does your uncle think about all of this? He was their best friend; he must have an idea on what had happened?"
"He doesn't talk about it much, to be honest." I said as I flipped through the photographs. "He never understood what happened, and he never got a chance to go talk to him himself. But he always thought something was off. Like maybe he was imperiused or something, I don't think he ever thought he would betray his best friends, betray you."
"Betray me?"
"I -" I looked up with my eyes wide. Fuck. "Because you're his best friend's son, of course."
"Alec?"
I closed my eyes and sighed, handing him a picture without looking up. I heard him gasp as his eyes scanned the picture. Madam Rosmerta came over with the two butterbeers and I accepted them with a smile.
"He was my godfather." He said quietly. His hand tight around the photo. I quickly took it out of his hand and straightened in on the table. "He was my godfather, and he handed me over to Voldemort just like that!" He nearly screamed.
"Harry, calm down." I placed my hand on his and his eyes locked with mine. "I can't tell you if he did or didn't do it."
"Of course, he did, the evidence was right there."
"But Harry, Lupin did know him. I heard him talk to himself late at night, trying to figure out what happened that night. He made himself crazy thinking about it, he says that there are so many things that don't add up."
"He's your father, of course you take his side." He snapped.
"No." I snapped back, and Harry's eyes turned large. "Remus is my dad, in more than blood. Sirius is the one that fathered me, but he isn't my dad, and he will never be my dad. So, don't you ever think I would choose his side because we are related. He broke my mother's heart and he never wanted anything to do with me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean -" He stumbled over his words. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Actually, it's not, but you don't know my story so I can't blame you." I shrugged, looking down at the photographs.
"Do you want to tell me?"
"Don't you want to know more about your folks?" I asked with a raised eyebrow as I took a sip from my butterbeer.
"I do, but I want to hear about yours too." He said sincerely.
"Maybe another time. I'm not quite ready to tell anyone." I said softly.
"When you're ready." He squeezed my hand. "Is that my mum?" He asked as a red head filled a picture.
"Yeah, this was when she was pregnant with you. Your dad thought it was smart to take his highly pregnant wife to an amusement park. Remus told him she couldn't do anything there, but he thought because, in his words, they were magical." Harry snorted in his drink. "She could go in a rollercoaster."
"Merlin, he knew even less than I do about pregnant women." Harry laughed as he cleaned his trousers from the spilled butterbeer.
"I think anyone who thinks a little logical would know not to bring an eight-month pregnant woman to an amusement park." I grinned. "Did you know that your dad was mad for your mum for years? But your mum couldn't stand him."
"No?" Harry gasped with a laugh.
We talked about his parents and a bit about Beauxbatons for almost two hours before I pulled the hood over my head and Harry put his cloak on and we went to visit the shops. I had told him; he should talk to Remus about his parents. I knew he wanted to talk to him about them for ages. I duplicated the photographs he wanted and gave them to him, so he could put it in the photo album he received in his first year. I spotted the twins with Alicia and her friend Katie in Zonko's and they recognized my hood in an instant, they shot me a wink but didn't bother me as I walked through the store. I saw Lee and Angelina huddled together at the fireplace in the three broomsticks as they shared a plate of fish and chips. We also passed Hermione and Ron as they visited Honeydukes, but neither of them looked long enough to figure out who was under the hood.
Harry and I decided to walk back to the castle above ground, Harry still with his cloak on just in case we might spot someone who would get him into trouble. I pushed my hood off, as I enjoyed my sweets from Honeydukes, passing one to Harry under the cloak from time to time. It was late in the afternoon when we arrived back in the castle, and we decided to go sit in the great hall already. Since we were there on time, I actually did help Harry with his potions essay and gave him some tips to use during class. When it was nearing five-thirty, the great hall started to fill. Fred and George had come in alone and took a seat across from me and Harry. Next in the hall was Lee and Angelina who looked happy as they sat down next to the twins. Then Ron and Hermione walked in, the latter looking angry as she sat down next to me and Ron next to Harry. Apparently, Ron had scared her near the shrieking shack, making her fall down in the mud. So, now they weren't speaking to each other..