Today was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year and, much to Adam's joy, this year he was allowed to go. No more sneaking through the tunnel to Honeydukes to get into the village! Adam thought triumphantly.
After the events of last weekend, Adam thought that both he and Ginny deserved some recreation. Ginny, much to Adam's relief, had been released from the hospital wing the day after the Quidditch match and Adam had duly completed the detentions that Professor McGonagall had given him during the week. He didn't regret punching Malfoy and would do it again in an instant if he tried to hurt Ginny.
However, Adam was determined to try and put all of that out of his mind and enjoy his day out with Ginny.
Adam and Ginny walked hand-in-hand through Hogsmeade. Their first port of call was Honeydukes, where Adam, taking advantage of his new-found wealth, bought sweets for both of them.
"I'd like to get some of your family Christmas presents," Adam told Ginny as they discussed where to go next. "This is probably my only chance to do some shopping."
"Adam, you don't have to!" Ginny exclaimed. "And how will you explain having the money to buy things for us?"
"If I only buy a few small things I can say there was some spending money in with the money the school gives me."
Ginny seemed unconvinced.
"Even if they ask Professor Dumbledore, he's hardly going to say anything! He wants it kept a secret as much as me!"
Ginny finally relented and they spent the morning going around the shops. Adam bought several gifts for the Weasleys and he debated whether or not he should get something for Ginny while they were out. He decided against it; he wanted her gift to be a surprise. Plus, she wouldn't let him spend much money and Adam wanted to get her something special.
As the two of them, having finished their shopping, were walking back towards the Three Broomsticks, they heard a dog barking. Adam spun around and saw a large black dog following them up the street. Once the dog saw them, it darted away down a side street.
Immediately realising what the dog was, Adam and Ginny followed it through the streets of Hogsmeade. Leaving the town and climbing up a hill, they eventually reached a small cave where the dog stopped.
"Alright, guys?" Sirius asked, once he had transformed.
"Sirius!" Adam exclaimed, stepping forward and shaking his hand. "Why haven't you written or anything?"
"The Ministry is monitoring postal owls. They know I'm in the country, so they're trying to catch me by tracing any letters sent to me or any that might be from me," Sirius explained sadly. "So that means you shouldn't write to me, at least for now."
"Oh, okay," Adam said sadly.
"So how have things been?" Sirius asked, sitting down on the grass near the cave.
Adam and Ginny sat down next to him.
"Good, thanks. Ginny was injured in the last Quidditch game though."
"What happened?"
"Draco Malfoy deliberately knocked her off her broom."
"What?!" Sirius exploded. "Bloody Malfoys!"
"Yeah," Adam replied hesitantly. "I punched him."
"Good lad. You gotta protect your girl," Sirius replied with a wink and slapped Adam on the back.
Adam felt himself blushing at the praise he wasn't sure he deserved.
"I'm right here!" Ginny exclaimed loudly.
"Sorry," Adam and Sirius apologised.
"Boys!" Ginny exclaimed, with an amused expression her face.
They all laughed and Ginny shared out some of their sweets with Sirius.
"So how have your classes been?" Sirius asked.
"Good. Professor Moody is really good!" said Ginny enthusiastically. "Though Snape has been picking on Adam. We think Dumbledore's told him."
"Really?" Sirius mused. "Dumbledore does trust Snape. That might explain why he's told him. And, well…" Sirius paused, "Snape and your dad were kind-of rivals at school. That probably explains why he's now taken a disliking to you."
"What happened in school between them?" Adam asked curiously, he was always eager to hear anything about his parents.
"Well…" Sirius hesitated. "We... James and I... used to… well, pick on him."
"Oh," Adam replied, feeling shocked.
"I'm not proud of it, and neither was your father. But it does explain why Snape dislikes you."
"Am I anything like my dad?" Adam asked, suddenly. He remembered being picked on by other kids when he went to primary school and hated to think that his dad had perhaps been a bully.
"Well," replied Sirius hesitantly, "I expect, from what you were like as a baby, that underneath all those spells you look quite like him, but your personality is much closer to Lily's."
Adam couldn't help but smile at the comparison to his parents. "Thanks."
Sirius was silent for several seconds, as if he didn't know what else to say.
"Did you get a chance to ask Albus about your parents?" Sirius questioned, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, he said he didn't know anything," Adam replied.
"Hmm, something doesn't add up. Albus ran the Order of the Phoenix when You-Know-Who was around. He must know."
"He says he doesn't know," Adam reiterated. "But I wouldn't put it past him to just not want to tell me."
"Hmm, I'll see if I can dig anything up. He was after them for some reason. Someone else must know why!"
"Thanks, Sirius," Adam said brightly. Perhaps Sirius would have more luck in solving the mystery.
"Right. I think you guys need to get back to the village before you're missed," Sirius said as he glanced at his watch.
"When will we see you again?" Adam asked as they stood up.
"I'll make arrangements to see you over Christmas," replied Sirius with smile. "I'll cook up a Christmas dinner for us."
"Brilliant!"
"Can I come, too?" Ginny asked eagerly.
"Of course, as long as your mum's happy with you coming."
"We'll have to come up with some excuse," Ginny said, turning to Adam.
"Right," Sirius said, looking at his watch again. "You guys need to go. I don't want you to get caught out here with me."
With the conversation over, Adam stared at Sirius for a second before hugging him awkwardly. Adam and Ginny then turned and began walking back towards the village. Just before they lost sight of the cave, they turned back to wave, but Sirius had already vanished.
Sighing, Adam and Ginny walked back towards the village. Adam wished he could see Sirius more often; they hardly ever saw each other as it was. He was his godfather! He should be able to see him as often as he wanted.
"Shall we head to the Broomsticks?" Ginny asked brightly, as if sensing his sombre mood.
"Yep," Adam replied, making a concerted effort to be more cheerful. He held out his arm with a grin. "Shall we?
October 18th 1995
Defence Against the Dark Arts was once again firmly entrenched as Adam's favourite subject. Professor Moody was proving to be an excellent teacher. His lessons were challenging, fun and, most importantly to Adam, they were actually using some very cool and useful spells. So every Wednesday, the thought that the day finished with Defence Against the Dark Arts helped Adam through the other rather boring lessons he had: History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy.
After their Arithmancy lesson, Adam and Ginny arrived in the Defence classroom ahead of the rest of the class and sat at their usual desk.
"Today's lesson will be a practical lesson! So, books away!" Professor Moody announced once the rest of the class had arrived. "I will be placing the Imperius Curse on each of you. You must do your best to resist it," he instructed them, as he paced back and forth at the front of the classroom.
The class was silent. Professor Moody waved his wand and the desks all slid aside.
"Professor Dumbledore has given me special permission to use this curse today. He wants you to know what the curse feels like. Now," Professor Moody paused, "Creevey, you first!"
Professor Moody pointed his wand at Colin and the class watched in amazement as he danced around the classroom, performing a variety of pirouettes before finishing with a curtsy.
Adam watched in amusement as his other classmates hopped and danced around. Ginny was particularly amused at the antics of her room-mates.
"Weasley, you next."
Adam squeezed Ginny's hand encouragingly. She had suddenly gone very pale.
When Professor Moody placed Ginny under the spell, she began to move across the room and twirled. However, after only a few seconds, she stopped and looked confusedly around the room. Professor Moody moved his wand and again Ginny began to twirl around. However, once again, she soon stopped, looking dazed.
"Well done, Miss Weasley!" Professor Moody exclaimed. "Listen, you lot! She was able to resist the curse after only a few seconds under my control. Twenty points to Gryffindor."
Ginny returned to Adam's side, still looking pale.
"You okay?" Adam asked.
"Yeah..." Ginny began shakily.
"Winters! Are you listening to me? Your turn."
Adam walked nervously to the centre of the room. He saw Professor Moody point his wand at him.
Run across the room.
Adam felt his leg begin to move.
Why?
Adam stopped moving.
Run across the room.
No. I don't want to.
The next thing Adam knew he was lying on the floor. Apparently, one of his legs had tried to walk across the room, while the other hadn't.
"Well done, Winters!" Professor Moody exclaimed. "Another twenty points to Gryffindor!"
Adam climbed to his feet and returned to stand next to Ginny. He noticed the rest of the class were staring at him and Ginny. Great, he thought, more attention on us.
"That's all for today. Before next lesson, I want you to all read up on resisting the Imperius Curse!" Professor Moody announced, finishing the lesson once all of the class had taken their turn.
As the class began filing out of the classroom, Professor Moody's voice rang out again. "Winters! Stay behind."
Adam and Ginny waited in the classroom until the others had filed out. Once the classroom was empty, Adam approached Professor Moody's desk.
"Unless the two of you have married secretly, then your name is definitely not Winters!" he said, pointing to Ginny. "I didn't ask to see you, so get out!"
Ginny huffed loudly and stormed out of the classroom.
"That was mean," Adam said. "I wouldn't have minded her staying."
Professor Moody simply shrugged. He waved his wand and the door slammed shut.
"I've wanted to have a private talk to you for a while," he paused, "Harry."
Adam tensed.
"Don't worry, Dumbledore told me. He wanted me to keep an eye on you," he paused, taking a swig from his flask. "You're a good kid and I know Dumbledore has kept a lot from you recently. At the end of the day, this is your life and I believe you have a right to know everything."
"Yeah!" Adam agreed, feeling a surge of excitement. "He won’t even tell me what really happened to my parents," he blurted suddenly.
Moody stared at him for a second.
"Dumbledore knows and won't tell me," Adam continued weakly, trying to explain himself.
"Well, I think you already know the answer to that. Voldemort was after them, so they went into hiding, but he found them when Pettigrew betrayed them."
"Yes," Adam replied. "I know that. But why was he after them? What had they ever done to him?"
"They were members of the Order of the Phoenix," Moody replied.
"So were many others. But they didn't go into hiding and Voldemort didn't come to kill them personally!"
"Okay," Professor Moody said taking another swig of his flask. He lowered his voice. "I really shouldn't tell you this. But I heard something Dumbledore said once. Something about a Prophecy."
"A Prophecy?" Adam questioned, feeling a surge of excitement. At last some new information!
"Yes, that's all I know, and I shouldn't even know that," Professor Moody paused. "It's Dumbledore's biggest secret."
"Thank you! It's a start, at least. I need to know what happened."
"If you need anything, you can come to me, lad," Professor Moody replied.
"Thanks, sir!" Adam exclaimed.
"One more thing," Professor Moody said gravely. "Don't tell Albus about this. He doesn't want you to know. He could pluck the memory of you ever knowing about the Prophecy right out of your mind."
Adam gulped. Would Dumbledore really do that to him?
Feeling strangely buoyant with this new information, Adam burst out of the classroom and nearly bumped into Ginny, who was leaning on the wall outside. She still looked rather pale.
"Are you okay?" Adam asked.
"Yeah," Ginny replied. "That spell just reminded me of the Diary."
Adam pulled Ginny into a hug.
"You fought it, though! You beat it! It may have been able to control you when you were eleven, but not now!"
"Thanks!" Ginny replied with a grin and she gave Adam a quick kiss.
"So, what did Moody want?" Ginny asked as they walked down the corridor.
Adam glanced around to make sure the corridor was empty.
"He says a Prophecy was the reason my parents were attacked," Adam said in a hushed voice.
Ginny thought for a second. "Well, it's not much, but it's a start. We should do some research on Prophecies."
"Yeah," Adam said. "I mean, they're like someone predicting the future, aren't they?"
"Yeah, I think," replied Ginny. "I really don't know where to start researching though."
"Let's ask Hermione," Adam suggested.
Ginny nodded in agreement. "We can probably nab her now, at dinner."
Adam and Ginny walked down to the Great and Hall and deliberately sought out Hermione at the Gryffindor table.
"Hi, Hermione," Ginny said as she approached the table.
"Oh, fine," Ron said with a wave of his fork. "Don't say hi to your own brother!"
"Hi, guys," Hermione said with an exasperated look at Ron, as they approached. "How's it going?"
"Oh, fine," Ginny replied. "Actually, we were wondering if you might be able to help us find some information, after dinner, of course."
"Oh, okay. What are you after?"
"We're looking for anything on Prophecies."
"Oh, that sounds like Divination," Hermione replied. "We can go and look in the library and grab a book after dinner."
"A load of rubbish if you ask me," Ron said between bites of food.
"Well," Hermione replied carefully, "I'm not convinced about Divination myself, but there is definitely a lot of literature about it."
After they had eaten dinner, Adam and Ginny followed Hermione up to the library. Ron and Neville however, politely declined the offer of accompanying them.
"Ron and Neville aren't as committed to revision as I am. I try to do an hour, at least, every night, to get ready for my OWLs," Hermione commented as they entered the library.
Hermione seemed to know exactly where she was going and she led them right to a specific section of the library, where she rapidly disappeared between some shelves. Adam and Ginny quickly followed and they found her levitating a book down to them. She opened the book and started flicking through.
"Here we go... 'A Prophecy is a prediction made by a Seer. Generally, a Prophecy is made involuntarily. When the Seer is telling the Prophecy, they are generally unaware'."
"Okay," Adam said.
"That doesn't tell us much more than the obvious," Hermione said. She continued flicking through the book.
"Here's some more. 'Due to the high percentage of Prophecies that come true, they are all recorded by the Ministry of Magic. The memory of the person to whom the Prophecy was made is copied by the Ministry and recorded, along with information pertaining to the Seer that made the Prophecy, the person that witnessed the Prophecy and the person that the Prophecy is about.'"
"So the Ministry has all Prophecies recorded?" Adam queried.
"Well, according to this. I must admit I didn't know about these records."
"Can we have the book? We'll read through it in our own time."
"Sure," Hermione said brightly. "Why did you need to know all this?"
"It was just something Professor Moody said, made me curious," Ginny said as she gestured to the book. "This probably has far more information that we'll ever need."
"Thanks a lot, Hermione!" Adam said. "We're going to head back to the common room now, are you coming?"
"Oh, no," Hermione replied. "I need to get some books for my revision, but you guys go ahead."
Adam and Ginny dashed out of library, checking out the book as they left. When they returned to the common room they sat down and poured over the book, re-reading all the relevant sections together.
"So if there was a Prophecy about my parents, then it must be in the Ministry of Magic," Adam surmised.
"Yeah," Ginny replied. "We could ask Professor Moody or Sirius,"
"Yep," Adam agreed. "Let's ask Moody and we can ask Sirius when we see him at Christmas."
December 25th 1995
Adam sat at the kitchen table at The Burrow, eating another delicious meal cooked by Mrs Weasley. This was his second Christmas with the Weasleys and he had, once again, had an amazing time. To make things even better, for the first time he had some money and had been able to buy some presents, although he had to be careful not to buy anything too expensive.
The arrival of the Christmas break had been a very welcome rest for Adam and Ginny. Even though their OWLs weren't until next year, many teachers were already starting to pile on the work to prepare for them. Professor McGonagall was probably the worst for that and Adam was sure she had set double the amount of essays as last year! Over the last few weeks, Adam had found Potions becoming increasingly difficult, too. The work itself had increased in both difficulty and quantity, not to mention that Professor Snape had continued to single him out. The most frustrating thing about having his potion repeatedly marked 'failed' was that because Ginny always sat next to him, Snape ended up taking it out on her, too.
Professor Moody's lessons had continued to be excellent. Although none had been as dramatic as the lesson on the Unforgivable Curses, he was still a very good teacher. However, he had not yet been able to find any further information on Prophecies, but Adam supposed that the information on that would be top secret. Adam expected it would take Professor Moody some time to find anything out. Even so, Adam still intended to ask Sirius when he saw him in a couple of days time.
Once Christmas dinner was finished Adam, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny all helped clear up the table. Percy, much to Mrs Weasley's irritation, hadn't come for Christmas dinner. Apparently, he was too busy with work.
"Thanks, everyone! I'll sort the rest out. Go and have some fun!" Mrs Weasley said once the dishes were removed from the table and ready for washing up.
"Adam, can I have a word, please," she said as they were trooping out of the room.
Adam waited patiently for the others to leave the room, seeing Ginny shoot him a concerned look as she left. He hoped he wasn't in trouble somehow.
"Now, Adam, we really appreciate the presents you bought us! Thank you! But I know you don't have much money… so you shouldn't have spent that on us," said Mrs Weasley, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"But, Mrs Weasley," Adam replied, he had been half expecting this conversation, "you've been so kind to me, I just wanted to give you all something. I had some spending money from the school and I wanted to spend it on those I consider my family."
"Oh, Adam," Mrs Weasley said with a wide smile, "I know. I'm just saying you don't have to buy us things."
Deciding it was better not to argue, Adam simply replied, "Okay, Mrs Weasley. Thanks for the lovely dinner."
"You're welcome, Adam," she replied, hugging him.
Adam wandered back out into the living room, looking for Ginny.
"What was that about?" she asked, from her position on the sofa.
"Me spending money on presents," Adam replied, in a slightly defeated tone. Ginny had told him this would happen.
"Told you so," Ginny replied, sticking her tongue out.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks for the sweets, mate," Ron replied, looking slightly red.
"Cheers," Adam replied.
"Anyway, guess who Ron received a present from," Ginny said cheekily.
Ron flushed red again.
Adam shrugged his shoulders.
Ron sighed. "Okay, it was from Hermione, alright?"
"What's embarrassing about that?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing, really," Ron replied, still looking slightly red.
"You did get her a present, didn't you?" asked Ginny.
"Yes, of course. I even invited her over for Christmas, but her parents wanted her to stay home."
"Shame," said Adam. "What about Neville?"
"Oh, his Gran won't let him come visit. Never has. She didn't even let him come to the World Cup."
"That's strange," said Adam. "Any idea why?"
"Nope, I guess his Grandma is just quite strict."
"Hang on," Ginny asked. "Why his grandma? What about his parents?"
Ron froze. "He doesn't live with them. He's never mentioned them."
"Strange," remarked Ginny.
"Don't ask him," Adam told them, remembering how uncomfortable he felt about his past. "If he doesn't want to tell you, don't pry."
"Oh," Ron said, looking a little uncomfortable. Adam guessed he probably had probably already attempted to pry.
"Hey, how about we get the twins and have a game of Quidditch?" Ginny asked, interrupting the slightly awkward silence. "It's not too cold out."
Adam grinned. "Sounds good."
"Right, let's go then!"
Ginny dashed upstairs to get Fred and George, and Ron and Adam dashed outside to get the brooms. There was never a bad time for Quidditch.
December 30th 1995
"Happy Christmas!" Sirius said, grinning from ear to ear as Adam and Ginny entered Number Twelve Grimmauld Place with Remus.
Now that all the Christmas festivities at The Burrow were over, Mrs Weasley had consented to allow Ginny to come and visit with Adam. Of course, she didn't know they were going to visit Sirius Black, wanted criminal.
Adam still felt guilty that he and Ginny had to lie to the rest of the Weasleys, but there was no other way around it. What would they think if he told them he was Harry Potter?
Sirius pulled Adam and then Ginny into a hug as they closed the door behind them.
"Come to the kitchen. I've some food on!" he exclaimed, almost bouncing with excitement.
They walked down into the kitchen and Adam paused in shock. Sirius really had outdone himself. The table was loaded with a large cake, trifle and other treats.
"Wow!" Ginny exclaimed.
The four of them sat down in the kitchen and tucked into the food that Sirius had provided.
"This is really good, Sirius," Adam replied with a grin as he filled his bowl with trifle.
"Thanks!" Sirius replied. "It's a rule at Christmas that you must eat as much food that's bad for you as possible."
"Where's Tonks today, Remus?" Ginny asked with a cheeky smile, as she cut herself a piece of cake.
To Adam's private delight, Remus blushed slightly. "Oh, she's with her mum and dad," he replied, slightly evasively.
Ginny winked at Adam. She had a theory that Tonks and Remus were seeing each other and, to be honest, Adam thought it was probably true. Remus, however, was saying nothing.
"Couldn't she come today?" Ginny said sadly. She really liked Tonks.
Remus shook his head. "She's been working long shifts at the Ministry and today has been her first day off for weeks."
"Oh."
"Did you hear about the incident a couple of days back?" Sirius asked. "Tonks ended up having to sort that out."
"Right old mess it was, too," Remus agreed.
"What happened?"
"I've a newspaper around here. I'll show it to you later," Sirius said. "Nothing dramatic. Just an internal mess for the Ministry."
Once the four friends had finished as much of the food as they could eat, they went and sat around the fire. After they were settled, Sirius rummaged in a pile of discarded papers, pulled one out and handed it to Adam.
Senior Ministry Official Taken Ill A senior Ministry Official was taken ill yesterday. Bartemius Crouch Sr., head of the Department of Magical Cooperation, was found wandering the corridors of the Ministry of Magic late last night. Mr. Crouch was found on level 9 of the Ministry. He was wandering in a daze and was apparently unable to communicate with Ministry security who found him. It is believed that in his confused state Mr Crouch was trying to find his way to the famous Courtroom Ten where he presided over trials of many Death Eaters, including his own son, after the conclusion of the Wizarding War. Initial reports from medical officials appear to suggest that Mr. Crouch has suffered a major mental breakdown, with stress being quoted as the only reasonable cause.
Adam put down the copy of the Daily Prophet and passed it to Ginny so she could read it. He vaguely remembered Crouch. He had been around school a lot last year for the Triwizard Tournament.
"So Tonks was the 'Ministry security'?" Adam asked.
"Yep," said Remus with a smile. "She told me Crouch was a right old mess. Hardly knew who he was, poor man."
Once Ginny had finished with the newspaper, conversation turned to more mundane matters. Adam and Ginny filled Remus and Sirius in on what had happened at school and Sirius and Remus, much to Adam's delight, shared some stories about his parents while they were at school.
"Right guys," Sirius began, once Remus had left the room to use the toilet. "I've asked around, but had no joy in getting anymore information about why James and Lily were attacked. I don't want to tell Remus, though. If Albus finds out I'm helping you guys, I'll get into trouble and I don't want to drag Remus into it. Plus, he trusts Albus. Perhaps too much…"
"But we found something, Sirius!" Adam said excitedly. "My parents were attacked because of a Prophecy. Apparently, a record of all prophecies are stored at the Ministry, but we haven't been able to find out anything else."
"Good work!" Sirius replied, clapping his hands together. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about Prophecies or where they might be kept at the Ministry," Sirius paused. "But Tonks might! I'll ask her!"
"Thanks!" replied Adam, once again feeling like they were making progress. "Will we be able to meet you during term again? So you can fill us in?"
"I'll come up for the next Hogsmeade weekend. I should have been able to find something out by then."
"So," Ginny began with a sly grin, deftly changing the subject as Remus' footsteps echoed down the hallway, "Sirius, what do you reckon about Remus and Tonks?"