Blood Status || Marauders Era

Chapter 104|| October 1981

Halloween rolled around, and, as I had to go into work for a huge casualty that my department focused on, I left Leo to Sirius. October was one of the busiest times of the year for our department, dealing with Halloween pranks that have gone too far, scaring people with dark magic, or even actually using dark magic on unsuspecting people like Muggles and excusing it as some Halloween fun.

I entered the Ministry through apparition, as I usually did, coming face to face with the huge statue and walking past it to get to the golden elevators that always felt like a rollercoaster ride. Stepping in one of those, and squishing next to a colleague I recognised as Boderick, we nodded at each other awkwardly and when my stop came, Level Two, I got off with another awkward nod.

Entering my office, I saw the Head of Office, a strict and greying Barty Crouch Sr, looking exceptionally stressed, he had been very much so, especially after the arrest of his son who had tortured one of my friends. It was awkward between many people in the department, after his son had been branded Death Eater, and many of us had seen our friends killed by one of them before.

I had never forgiven him. The torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom wasn't forgiven by many people because they were so loved, everyone cared about them. Two of the most wonderfully kind people had one of the harshest endings, or half - ending. It hurt, when I first visited the two in St Mungo's, and I knew it would be my last visit. I couldn't do that any more, it broke me.

The day went by with a lot of paperwork and some quiet working, a coffee break now and again, until at one point in the late afternoon, a man came rushing in, most likely an auror - as they were on the same floor - and he started shouting about something big that had happened. "Slow down, what are you saying?" Crouch asked the rushing man.

"There's been a huge scene. A man is threatening another wizard on the street, it's a Muggle environment. They say he's gone mad, supposedly he's a Death Eater. He even betrayed his friends," my ears perked up, it seemed to be a different case to the one's that we usually got. The most we had ever dealt with was a Muggle killing or two. Never on the Death Eater scale.

"What is the man's name?" Crouch asked impatiently. By now, the whole office was sneakily glancing in their direction and trying to hear the name of this man who was threatening and betraying his friends. The auror's eyes shifted to look at me, noticing that I was watching him speak, and said, "His name is Sirius Black."

"What!" I shouted, standing up suddenly from my chair, some paper sliding from the desk in front of me. Everyone ignored my outburst, I was usually quite loud, but an elderly witch who I was known to confide in looked at my sympathetically whilst I hyperventilated. 

"I'll gather a team; you can go now Claud. Pattinson, Crosby, you're on it. Pattinson, don't do anything stupid. I'll gather some more people, it may be a dangerous Death Eater, meet us in the atrium," Crouch said.

My knees weak, I walked to the elevator with Crosby, a young wizard who joined three years ago, with blinding blue eyes. "I'm guessing you aren't nervous because this is your first Death Eater?" he asked kindly. I shook my head, not speaking, if I did, I might be sick. Sirius Black, a Death Eater? The idea itself was laughable. He would never betray... Peter.

Peter Pettigrew, the shifty, withdrawn man who recently had disappeared from the Earth about a month ago. The man they switched it to last minute because he would never have been suspected the be the Potter's secret keeper. My heart jumped with accusation and sadness. If this was really true, and someone had betrayed their best friends. That meant any of the three people. Lily, James or Remus.

I tried not to cry as I stood in the elevator with Jake Crosby, and as the doors opened, I rushed out in front of him, so he couldn't see the tears starting to gather in my eyes. "Pattinson? Crouch said to wait for him in the atrium." I stopped in my tracks, taking in my actual surroundings, I was near one of the fireplaces, a whole bunch of people were staring at me, and Crosby was stood a few feet from me.