Running With Wolves

Chapter 20: Hogsmeade

Chapter 20: Hogsmeade

Sirius was starving. The Great Hall was filled with chatter and the smell of warm food. The usual Halloween decorations filled the hall, Jack-o-lanterns large enough to hold people were floating in the air in place of the usual candles that lit the room. Orange and black streamers were strung from wall to wall. Bats flew across the starry sky. In the corner of the enchanted ceiling sat the tiny crescent of the moon.

Sirius tipped several helpings of stew into a bowl and was about to inhale it, when Frank Longbottom sat down across from them, flushed, eyes wide.

"Have you heard about it?"

"Heard about what?"

Somehow, Frank's eyes went wider. "It's all over the school."

"What is?"

"The break in!"

"Slow down Frank. What on earth are you talking about?" said Remus, holding his hands up.

"At Hogsmeade, a group of You-Know-Who's followers broke in to several of the shops. They kidnapped some of the shop owners and trashed the village."

"No way," said James.

"Yeah. It was shortly after we all go back."

"Lucky for us then," Sirius said.

"I'm not so sure," Remus murmured.

"What are you talking about Rem?" asked James.

"Well, either we got lucky, or they planned specifically for it to happen after all the students had left."

"Where's Snape?" Sirius asked suddenly. "What if that's what they were doing in Hogsmeade! Maybe they were helping the Death Eaters sneak in?"

"I highly doubt that," Remus scoffed.

Sirius ignored him. "Frank, what shops did they break into?"

"Um, the Three Broomsticks for sure, that stupid tea shop at the end of the road, Puddifoots? And Honeydukes, I th—,"

"Ha!" Sirius's shout caused Frank to jump so violently, he fell backwards off the bench. Sirius lowered his voice. "I bet they were trying to get into Hogwarts."

"Through that passage in the cellar?" James quirked his head.

"Exactly. We have to figure out where it leads."

"What, tonight?"

"You have the cloak."

"You don't actually think we could stop a bunch of Death Eaters getting into Hogwarts?" Remus asked, incredulous.

"Why not." Sirius shrugged. Remus rolled his eyes. "Come on." Sirius began down the hall. Peter snagged an armload of food as they left.

"Where are we even supposed to start looking?" Remus asked in the common room as James jumped up the stairs to retrieve the invisibility cloak, "just in case."

Sirius glanced sideways at Remus, struggling to formulate a snappy retort. Remus wouldn't look at him, but held his shoulders in a crooked, bored manner, his lips pursing in his irritation. Sirius wiped his hands on his pants and let Remus' question hang in the air.

James launched himself back down the stairs, clutching the silvery cloak under one arm.

"Careful," Remus said as James careened into him. "You're going to put one of us in the hospital wing.