Outside The Three Broomsticks, Hermione kept looking toward the entrance anxiously while snow continued falling around them.
"He's taking too long," she said quietly.
Ron shoved his hands deeper into his pockets against the cold.
"Maybe they're still talking upstairs."
Victor, however, was watching the door carefully.
Then faint footprints suddenly appeared in the snow moving away from the pub by themselves.
"There he is," Hermione said immediately.
Harry kept walking fast without looking back, heading away from the village path until he reached the edge of the woods near Hogwarts. By the time they caught up, he had stopped near a tree, breathing unevenly.
For a moment none of them spoke.
Then they heard it.
Harry was crying quietly.
Hermione's expression softened immediately while Ron looked uncomfortable, clearly unsure what to say.
Victor stepped forward calmly and pulled the Invisibility Cloak off Harry's shoulders.
Cold air hit Harry's face instantly.
His eyes were red, anger and grief mixed together so heavily that it looked painful just to stand there.
Harry looked directly at Victor first.
"You knew?" he asked.
Unlike Ron and Hermione, Victor didn't look confused about what Harry had heard upstairs.
Victor held his gaze for a second before answering.
"Yes."
Harry's expression tightened immediately.
"You knew what Sirius Black did?"
"Yes."
"And you knew he was my parents' friend?"
Victor gave another small nod.
That was enough.
Harry grabbed the front of Victor's robes suddenly, anger finally spilling over properly.
"Then why didn't you tell me?" Harry demanded. "Why didn't you tell me that Sirius Black betrayed my parents?"
Ron froze at the sudden outburst while Hermione looked alarmed.
Harry's grip tightened slightly.
"He was their friend!" Harry said, voice shaking now. "My dad trusted him and he handed them over to Voldemort!"
Victor didn't react much to being grabbed.
He just looked at Harry quietly while snow continued falling around them.
"Because," Victor said calmly, "hearing it from me would not have changed how much it hurts."
"Harry," Victor said calmly, even with Harry still gripping his robes, "I'm your friend. Do you really think I wanted to watch you hear something like this?"
Harry's grip tightened slightly.
"I knew there would come a time when you learned the truth," Victor continued quietly. "I just didn't see the point in being the person who caused this."
For a moment Harry didn't say anything.
Snow continued falling around them while Hermione watched nervously nearby.
Ron still looked shocked from everything Harry had overheard upstairs.
"And what were you planning to do after learning it?" Victor asked suddenly. "Go after Sirius Black alone?"
Harry's expression hardened immediately.
"If I have to."
Victor looked at him for another second before sighing quietly.
"That," he said, "is exactly why I didn't want you finding out like this."
Harry finally let go of Victor's robes.
His hands were shaking slightly now, partly from anger and partly from emotion he clearly didn't know what to do with.
Then Harry looked toward the dark woods near Hogwarts.
"Didn't Sirius Black already break into Hogwarts once?" he asked quietly. "If he comes again…"
His expression darkened.
"…then this time he won't get away."
Hermione looked alarmed immediately.
"Harry, don't say things like that."
Ron, however, looked angry too now after hearing everything upstairs.
"He betrayed your parents," Ron muttered. "Honestly, if I saw him—"
"But you won't," Hermione interrupted sharply. "Because Sirius Black is dangerous."
Harry barely seemed to hear her.
Right now, all he could think about was his parents trusting Sirius Black—
And Sirius Black betraying them to Voldemort.
***
Like that, December passed at Hogwarts.
During one of those weeks, Fred and George eventually handed Harry the Marauder's Map after deciding he clearly needed it more than they did.
Honestly, after watching Harry constantly sneak around the castle under the Invisibility Cloak, the twins looked almost proud while giving it to him.
"This," Fred had declared while handing over the parchment, "is one of the greatest magical objects ever created."
"Try not to get expelled immediately," George added.
Harry had stared at the map in amazement the first time he opened it properly.
Ron thought it was brilliant.
Hermione thought giving Harry a magical map made entirely for breaking school rules was a terrible decision.
Victor thought it was probably the most useful thing inside Hogwarts after the Room of Requirement.
Then Christmas came and went, and before anyone really noticed, 1993 ended and 1994 began.
Winter slowly faded over Hogwarts as spring arrived across the grounds. Snow melted away from the courtyards, grass returned around the lake, and students finally stopped walking around wrapped in five layers of clothing.
Even the Dementors around Hogwarts became slightly less aggressive compared to before.
After nearly five months, they still hadn't found Sirius Black anywhere near the castle, and many students had started relaxing because of it.
Though not completely.
The Dementors were still there, drifting around the edges of Hogwarts often enough to remind everyone that Sirius Black was still free somewhere outside.
*****
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