Katie's spirits had been exceptionally high as the end of term approached. She had plenty of things to distract herself from her endless thoughts about what Ollivander had said (which she thought about an unhealthy amount). Slytherin had flattened Ravenclaw in their Quidditch game, and another positive was that there was going to be another Hogsmeade visit on the final weekend of the term.

While this made Katie giddy, it made Harry rather gloomy, so she and Hermione done their best to cheer him up on the days leading up to the visit.

On the crisp morning of the Hogsmeade visit, Katie wrapped up well with her cloak and a scarf, as did Ron and Hermione. They bid farewell to Harry and then set off to Hogsmeade with the rest of the school.

"We need to get something extra special for Harry," Katie told her friends. "He's been really upset lately and, well, it's Christmas!"

Ron quirked an eyebrow. "You seem very cheerful today."

"It's Christmas!" Katie repeated before merrily skipping ahead of her friends.

Ron leaned across to Hermione. "Bets on she snogged Harry."

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded.

"What?" Ron held his arms up in surrender. "It would explain why she's so happy."

"Or maybe she's just excited about Christmas." Hermione suggested with a hint of a scoff.

By the time they reached the village, light snow was beginning to fall, dotting the ground in a thin frosting of white.

"Come on, let's get inside before the snow gets bad." Ron said. The girls followed Ron into Honeydukes. The rest of the school seemed to have the same idea as Ron, as Honeydukes was packed with Hogwarts students. Katie browsed the shelves for something sweet to eat. She picked up some chocolate and Fizzing Whizzbees for herself before joining Ron and Hermione at the Unusual Tastes section of the shop.

Hermione and Ron were examining a blood-flavoured lollipop closely. Hermione shivered.

"Urgh, no, Harry won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect." she said.

"How about these?" Katie suggested, shoving a jar of Cockroach Cluster under Hermione's nose.

"Definitely not."

Ron shrieked and Katie almost dropped the jar.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed. "What are you doing here? How — how did you—?

"Wow!" Ron exclaimed, looking impressed. "You've learned how to Apparate!"

"Don't be silly, Ronald," Hermione said. "You can't Apparate in or out of Hogwarts."

"Actually, I got here thanks to this."

Katie watched with her head cocked to the side as Harry reached his hand into his cloak and pulled out a piece of old parchment. Katie stared at it in bewilderment, and Ron almost laughed. Harry hustled his friends into a corner so that they were hidden from sight, pulled out his wand, tapped the parchment and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Katie gasped in astonishment as ink lines begun to spread from the spot in which Harry's wand had touched. They twisted and looped and fanned into every corner of the parchment, then swooping green words began to form. They read, "Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map."

Hermione gasped as Katie as done before. "Hang on, is this—?"

"Hogwarts," Harry nodded proudly. "Fred and George gave it to me. Look, they showed me these secret passages. I think they said there was seven — there's one underneath the Whomping Willow. I used one of them to get here."

"How come Fred and George never gave it to me!" Ron said, outraged. "I'm their brother!"

"But Harry isn't going to keep it! He's going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?" Hermione's tone was almost daring Harry to disagree.

"Not bloody likely!" Ron exclaimed and Hermione glared at him.

***

Katie dragged her friends into the Three Broomsticks to escape the blizzard outside. Ron said that he would go and get some drinks, so the other three sat themselves down next to a rather lavish Christmas tree. Ron returned not three minutes later carrying four steaming tankards of Butterbeer. Katie gulped it down and it instantly warmed her up. She let out a sigh of satisfaction.

A sudden breeze swept over Katie. The door to the Three Broomsticks opened and in came Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, and the Minister of Magic himself. They were all covered in quickly melting snowflakes.

As soon as the four entered the pub, Katie put her hand on Harry's head and pushed him under the table. Hermione muttered a spell and the Christmas tree beside them rose a couple of inches from the floor. It moved slightly and Hermione dropped it gently in front of their table, shielding them from view.

Madam Rosmerta, the owner of the Three Broomsticks, brought drinks over to the Professors and the Minister, who had decided to seat themselves at the table right next to Katie's, so it was easy for she and her friends to overhear their conversation.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" Madam Rosmerta quizzed.

The Minister, Cornelius Fudge, hesitated. "Sirius Black, of course." Katie could tell by the tone of his voice that he was frowning.

"You know, I still have trouble believing it," Madam Rosmerta said thoughtfully. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought... I mean, I remeber him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd of said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," Fudge said gruffly. "The worst isn't widely known."

This particular sentence sparked Katie's interest. She leaned forward on the table and listened attentively.

"The worst?" Madam Rosmerta pressed. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I do."

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

Professor McGonagall spoke next. "You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta? Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," Madam Rosmerta let out 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!"

Katie stiffened and drew in a sharp breath. Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk. Ron kicked him.

"Precisely," Professor McGonagall chimed in. "You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers! Inseparable! 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. Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money." Hagrid chuckled.

"Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends," Fudge said. "Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. They named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."

Katie reached her hand under the table and Harry quickly latched onto it, seeking any form of comfort he could get. Katie felt her heart sink from sadness.

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" Madam Rosmerta whispered.

"Worse than that, m'dear..." Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a low sort of rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore had many spies and one of them tipped him off. He advised Lily and James to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't easy to hide from. Dumbledore told them that the best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work, again?" Madam Rosmerta asked curiously.

Professor Flitwick spoke at last. "An immensely complex spell involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person — the Secret Keeper — and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret Keeper chooses to divulge it."

"So Black was the Potters' Secret Keeper?" Madam Rosmerta almost gasped.

"But, of course!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Potter trusted Black with his life... literally. And..." she paused, "he betrayed him."

Hagrid let out a great howl and fiercely blew his nose into a handkerchief. Katie could feel that Harry's hand was beginning to sweat but she did not let him go.

"After he betrayed the Potters, Pettigrew went after Black—"

Madam Rosmerta cut across Fudge. "Pettigrew? As in Peter Pettigrew, the little lump of a boy who used to trail around after James and Sirius?"

"Hero-worshiped Black and Potter. Never quite in their league, talent-wise, but he was a lovely boy. It's such a shame that he..." McGonagall trailed off mid sentence and Fudge picked back up from where McGonagall left the story off.

"Pettigrew went after Black himself, but Black was too quick, and he blew Pettigrew to smithereens! I arrived at the scene with the Department of Magical Catastrophies and I... I will never forget it. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing in the middle of it all laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him... a heap of blood-stained robes and a — and a finger."

Katie shivered.

"Well there you have it, Rosmerta." Fudge finished.

"Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters but he's the reason they're dead!" Professor McGonagall cried weakly.

Harry squeezed Katie's hand so tight that it hurt, but she still did not let him go. Under the table, Katie heard Harry let out a choked sob, masked by the sound of what was probably his hand over his mouth.

"And he's escaped to come after Harry, to finish what he started." Fudge stated.

A tense silence filled the area before there was a small clink of glass on wood.

"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the Headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle." Professor McGonagall said. There was a screech of chairs as the witches and wizards at the table stood up. The door of the Three Broomsticks opened once more, there was another flurry of snow, and the teachers disappeared.

The very moment he heard the door close, Harry whipped his hand from Katie's grip, jumped out from under the table and rushed out of the Three Broomsticks.

Katie made to chase after him. "Harry—"

Ron grabbed Katie's hand, stopping her from standing up.

"Let him go." Ron said simply. Katie nodded and looked at Hermione, who's face was pale with shock. Her mouth was agape.

"Poor Harry." Hermione whispered, shaking her head.