"It had to be him." Sirius did not hesitate. "Who else could it be?"
"Who do you mean?" Pomona asked.
"Snivellus."
"You told him about the plan?"
"What name did his parents give him?" Sirius went on as if he had not heard her.
Pomona rolled her eyes.
"Maybe the owner of the Hog's Head told him," James said, holding his newly bought broom. "He's the headmaster's brother."
"Why would he tell the headmaster?" Sirius looked at James in confusion.
"Because he's the headmaster's brother," James repeated.
As though he found James utterly unreasonable, Sirius jumped onto a trunk filled with Quidditch gear.
"So your plan was to use the Floo Network at the Hog's Head to get to London?" Pomona asked.
"That's right."
"Why don't you believe the owner of the Hog's Head told the headmaster?" Pomona asked Sirius.
"I have a brother too. I wouldn't tell him anything."
Pomona thought of Sirius's brother, Regulus. Like Severus, he lived in the "doom room."
"Not all brothers are like you two," Pomona said.
"You think brothers are always close enough to tell each other everything?" Sirius jumped down from the trunk. "Come on, James. This place is too boring."
"I think you should spend less time with that kid," James told Pomona before leaving. Then the two boys, dressed in Quidditch training uniforms and carrying the trunk, headed toward the pitch.
"Unbelievable."
Then she remembered that there would be a Quidditch match later. Severus would never take part in a sport that left one reeking of sweat, so James and Sirius probably would not give him a taste of their fists on the field, would they?
Still, she was not sure whether they would go looking for trouble with Severus after the match. In any case, she turned to find