Chapter 24: A Trip Through the Rabbit Hole
"I need you to come with me," Luna Lovegood said softly. Blaise had no choice but to follow, she had his wand and it was pointed right at him. She spun him around and directed him onto the grounds, away from the crowd leaving the Quidditch Pitch.
Blaise watched as they approached the Whomping Willow, and it suddenly stopped swinging. He assumed Luna had something to do with it, but he didn't rightly know since he wasn't looking at her. She directed him into the tunnel and kept him at wandpoint as they walked through it until it opened up, revealing a house which Blaise recognized as the Shrieking Shack.
She sat Blaise in a nearby chair and kept him from moving.
"I've been told your father can help me." Blaise gave her a blank look.
"Our printing press was stolen, and without it we can't continue writing the Quibbler. The regulations on printing presses are so ridiculous; you can't have one unless you already do."
"That's the pureblood way of controlling the media," Blaise pointed out. Luna shook her head, her wide eyes staring at him.
"Can he help?"
"It depends on what they're doing with the stolen printing press. I can mention it to him to keep an eye out," Blaise said reasonably. "I assume you're Luna Lovegood?"
She nodded.
"I'll see what I can do."
"A rat!" Luna squealed. Blaise rolled his eyes. The rat scurried behind him. "Women," he muttered. Then, everything went black.
Daphne, Tracey, Lily, and Hermione were all crowded around Harry's bed as Pomfrey bustled about.
"Will he be alright?" Tracey asked anxiously.
"Humph," Poppy said. "He just has bruises along his side, a slightly cracked rib, fractured arm, a mild concussion, and two contusions on his lower back. It shouldn't take too long to have him back up and causing trouble all over again."
Daphne resisted the urge to snort. Tracey leaned over Harry and squeezed his hand affectionately.
They sat around waiting for Harry to regain consciousness as Pomfrey applied various salves to Harry's injured body.
"Well at least he got the snitch," Lily said.
"Lily, he could have died!" Hermione said. "And all you care about is Quidditch? You're worse than Ron Weasley."
"I resent that," Lily fired back. "Besides, Harry would agree with me."
"And has Harry always been right?"
"When has he been wrong?"
"All the time, I'm sure," Harry croaked.
"Harry!" they all cried in unison. He suppressed a grimace. He lifted his good hand to his ear and shoved the other ear into the pillow.
"Noise… bad…" he muttered. They laughed. Tracey swooped down and kissed him swiftly.
"You had us all worried," she said. The other girls nodded. Harry looked at each of them in turn.
"Well it's not that bad. I got the snitch didn't I?" he said cheekily, mainly to annoy Hermione.
It worked. She huffed at him but couldn't conceal her relieved smile.
"Where's Blaise?" he asked curiously.
"He was right behind us wasn't he?" Daphne asked, turning to Lily.
"I thought so," she replied.
The Hospital Wing door opened, admitting a tired looking Blaise Zabini.
"You alright?" Blaise asked.
"I should ask you the same question," countered Harry. Blaise waved him off.
"Had to get my winnings," he said with a saucy grin. Harry smirked.
"Nice to know someone is profiting from my misery."
"Well I won double since you got knocked out." Harry tried to muster up a glare but it didn't come off properly.
Everyone else laughed.
"Well, we'd better go, finals start tomorrow and I, at least, need to study," Hermione said.
"Typical," muttered Daphne. Hermione blushed.
"I should also," Tracey said.
"Also typical," muttered Lily. Daphne and Lily suppressed a chuckle.
"Time to go," Blaise said, clapping his hands. They all abandoned Harry in his moment of need, leaving him alone in Madam Pomfrey's clutches.
Harry moaned. "Don't leave me alone with her! She'll kill me!"
"I'm a nurse, Potter. My job is to make sure you don't die," Madam Pomfrey replied, swooping in from her office.
"It's the perfect cover," Harry countered, a maniacal gleam in his eye. She sighed and shoved a potion down his throat. Harry pretended to gag, which turned into a real gag- healing potions do taste awful after all- and shuddered before trying to lay still.
"Good try, Mr. Potter." Harry sighed and moved again. "Worth a shot," he said with a grin. Madam Pomfrey shook her head.
Exams started and Blaise caught an illness, which didn't bode too well for him. He had to drink a potion hourly to keep the virus inside him from spreading. Harry felt sympathetic for his best mate.
Blaise wasn't the only one getting Harry's sympathy. Hagrid had also lost his appeal for the Hippogriff, and a day after exams were over, Buckbeak was to be executed.
It was with a heavy heart that Harry took his exams, but he felt like he did reasonably well. He also began to keep a sharp look out for Wormtail; according to Future-Harry he had made his reappearance at the end of the semester. He told Blaise to keep an eye out for a rat with a toe missing.
Harry had walked out of the Great Hall and headed towards Gryffindor Tower to talk to Hermione, but he was confronted by Tracey.
"Hey Tracey," Harry said with a smile. He was greeted with a slap in the face.
"Don't Hey Tracey me, Potter. I can't believe you had the nerve to do that."
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Herm-!" She slapped him again.
"Tracey, are you mad?"
"I'm furious!" she shrieked. "I saw the two of you come out of a broom cupboard. It's over!" She slapped him again and stalked off. Harry was confused, and Blaise came up behind him just as clueless.
They found Hermione and the three walked outside discussing the situation about Buckbeak with Hermione and Blaise.
"We should probably go visit him," Hermione said.
"It wouldn't hurt. He's pretty sad about Buckbeak," agreed Harry. Harry was about to bring up what just happened with Tracey but Malfoy appeared.
"Talking about that bloody beast, are you Potter? Let it go, he doesn't deserve to live anyway. He's just a filthy half-breed, like your little friend there."
Hermione glared at Malfoy. So did Blaise. But Hermione's face turned red with anger. She had already been stressed out from exams, which she had told Harry about, and on top of Buckbeak, it was no small wonder that last shot made her crack. She went to punch Malfoy right in the face-
But surprisingly it wasn't Hermione's fist that hit him, but Ron Weasley's.
Malfoy dropped to the ground, whimpering in pain, while Weasley stood there smirking and rubbing his fist.
"He shouldn't talk like that," Weasley said.
"I could have taken care of it myself," Hermione shot back.
"I know," Weasley replied, "but I've wanted to hit him for much longer than you have. Trust me."
Harry found himself not repulsed by Weasley's company, which was a first.
"I hate that bloody git," Weasley spat.
"You're not the only one," Harry commented. Weasley looked at Harry for a bit.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said gruffly.
"Is this like 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?'" Hermione teased.
"No!" they both returned.
"I won't ever be friends with you, Potter, just so you know," Weasley said.
"I'm not looking for friendship; I've filled my quota of Gryffindor friends."
"Well, well." Weasley had already decided he could never befriend Potter, not after what happened to Percy… That point had been further driven in when his parents had written him a letter about visiting Percy in St. Mungo's for his birthday. He was still unresponsive. They just didn't have the heart to stop taking care of him.
"Well, we're off to visit Hagrid if you'd like to go," Hermione offered.
Harry looked at her sharply. Blaise merely shrugged and drank his potion for his sickness.
"Are you still sick, Blaise?"
"Another day or two is what Pomfrey said."
"Sorry mate," Harry said, clapping him on the back.
"Sure," Weasley said finally. The four of them headed down to Hagrid's cabin, making the oddest group of people to visit him yet. Hagrid opened the door and looked at them, surprised.
"Hello," he said, his eyes red. Buckbeak was tethered in the garden off to the side of the house. "Come in," he said roughly.
"They're comin' soon ter kill Beaky," he said with a sob.
"I'm sorry, Hagrid," Harry said, patting his arm comfortingly.
"You did what you could," Hermione said consolingly.
"It wasn't enough!" Hagrid said, before breaking down again. "It's just not fair," he mumbled.
"Let me get tea," Hermione said, and she began rummaging around in his cupboard. Blaise went over to help.
"Zabini, is that a rat?" Weasley asked suddenly. Blaise shrugged.
"Yeah, why?"
"Is it missing a toe?" he asked quickly. Harry perked up at that.
"Yeah, why?"
"SCABBERS!" Weasley yelled. He ran and clutched the rat to him greedily.
Harry swore under his breath. He never told Weasley about Wormtail. This could be touchy. Better to stun the rat when they got outside, then reveal the animagus.
"You lot should get goin' because they'll be here soon. I don't want you seein' it."
The foursome nodded and left the cabin, on the way back to school.
"Listen, Weasley, about your rat," Harry began tentatively. Blaise pulled out his wand and cast a spell at the rat. It took off, right towards the Whomping Willow. Future-Harry chuckled in his mind.
Some things never change.
They took off after the rat, casting spells at it. Suddenly, Sirius, in his grim form, took off after the rat too and chased it into the passage to the Whomping Willow. Future-Harry began laughing even harder in Harry's mind.
Harry glanced back at Hagrid's and saw the executioner's axe come down. Buckbeak's time had come.
The four of them chased after the rat and the dog, which had thoughtfully prodded the knot to freeze the tree so they could follow.
Weasley made it out of the passage first, followed by Harry. Hermione was behind him and Blaise brought up the rear.
When they got in, Harry saw spells flying. Sirius, in his dog form, was already stunned on the floor, and Weasley took the next curse. Hermione fell forward into him, dropping her wand, but helping Harry to dodge the next curse from Pettigrew, and Harry was able to stun him from the floor. He scooped up Hermione's wand and pocketed it, then spun around and was disarmed by Blaise.
"Blaise?" Harry asked questioningly.
Blaise began to laugh.
"You're a fool, Harry Potter. Just like your father."
"What are you on about, Blaise? What the hell are you doing? Give me back my wand."
"You don't need it."
Harry watched as the stunned Pettigrew turned into Blaise Zabini, and the Blaise in front of him became Peter Pettigrew.
"Polyjuice…" Harry muttered.
"Naturally. And it worked so well. What sickness needs a potion once an hour? Really, Potter, I thought Slytherins prided themselves on intelligence."
"That's the Ravenclaws," Harry said.
"Whatever," Pettigrew said dismissively. "We're going to make a deal."
"A deal?" Harry asked. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, take a look around the room. Zabini, Granger, Weasley, and Black. All out of the way at the moment. And you don't have a wand. So you are going to do what I say."
Harry slowly began to pull Hermione's wand out as he kept his eyes on Pettigrew.
"They all escaped," Pettigrew said. Harry stopped his efforts to pull out the wand. It could wait. Pettigrew had information.
"Who?"
"Bellatrix, Rookwood, and Dolohov. I heard things. Voldemort is back. He freed them."
Harry already knew this. But he wanted to know what Pettigrew would add to it.
"What's your point?"
"I need to get out of the country. You're going to help me."
"Why?"
Before Pettigrew could answer, Lupin burst into the room and fired a curse, but Pettigrew dodged, transformed into a rat, and ran to another room. Lupin took off after him and searched the room. Harry pulled Hermione's wand out and enervated Blaise, Sirius, and Hermione. He left Weasley where he was. Then he saw a rat dart past him and he managed to stun it.
"Got it, Lupin!" Lupin ran back into the room and took the stunned rat from Harry. Sirius had transformed back from his dog form, scaring Hermione, who tried to curse him, but Harry still had her wand. The effort was rather fruitless, and Harry suppressed a grin.
"Now we can kill him, Remus," Sirius said.
"What is going on here?" Hermione asked. Blaise looked confused too. They both turned to Harry.
"I think we should explain," Harry said softly. Remus and Sirius both turned to him.
"You know how my parents were betrayed by a close friend?" Harry asked. Hermione and Blaise nodded.
"I don't remember how much I've told you all, but it was Pettigrew who really betrayed my parents. Sirius here was originally the Secret Keeper but he switched to Pettigrew. Pettigrew was a Death Eater and turned my parents over to Voldemort. Sirius ended up getting arrested for the crime. Rem- Professor Lupin here, is a werewolf-"
"I knew it!" Hermione cried. Remus sighed.
"So my father, Pettigrew, and Sirius became animagi to be with him during the full moon. Sirius is that dog you saw earlier, Pettigrew was formerly Scabbers the rat. My father was a stag."
"That's right," continued Sirius. "And I escaped- well it's not important how I escaped," he amended hastily after a sharp look from Harry, "but I had to get Peter, so I could have my name cleared. I hadn't killed anyone."
"Not for lack of trying," someone else said. Everyone turned to the door and had their wands summoned from them.
Sirius stared at Snape in shock.
"Severus," Lupin began.
"I don't want to hear it, Lupin. You'll get yours in a moment."
"Black, I know a dementor that is dying to kiss you right now. We'd better not keep him waiting. Although it may be a her; I really don't care."
"I'm innocent, Snape," Sirius protested.
"Innocence does not work for you, Black. How about that little trick of yours from fifth year?" Snape's eyes flashed menacingly. Sirius paled.
"Haven't mentioned that have you?"
"What happened, Professor?"
"Miss Granger, you are lucky you're still alive, stay out of business that is none of your concern," Snape snapped.
"What did the bastard do, Professor Snape?" Blaise asked. Snape smiled. It looked very dangerous.
"As you know, Lupin here is a werewolf. I had practically uncovered his secret. Black, and the rest of his Marauders, thought they would try to help me out, although really they were just trying to kill me. Black sent me to the Whomping Willow and told me to prod the knot at the base of the tree so I could find out what Lupin was up to. He had already transformed and was in the shack waiting for me. Potter got cold feet at the last second and pulled me back before I would be killed. He didn't want to get in trouble, you see. A dead student is hard to talk your way out of, even for James Potter."
"How fitting, that it will be your end here tonight, instead of mine," Snape sneered.
"Look, this rat is Peter Pettigrew; with him I can prove my innocence. Let us revert him back to his human form," Sirius pleaded. Snape stared at the rat for a second, and then smirked.
"And if he's not?"
"Then let the dementors have me," Sirius said confidently. Blaise and Harry both looked at Snape. He knew something. Harry thought back quickly over what had happened. They had chased a rat in here, and then Blaise had turned into Pettigrew. That meant the rat they chased wasn't Pettigrew. What if the rat Sirius had wasn't Pettigrew…
"Very well," Snape said. Harry knew Sirius was doomed. And with him went Harry's animagus training. He couldn't very well let that happen.
Snape waved his hand for Sirius to cast the spell, and a flash of blue-white light erupted from Sirius's wand, enveloping the rat. It fell to the floor and remained there. The rat wasn't Pettigrew.
Snape chortled. Sirius stared between the rat and the wand in his hand. So did Lupin.
"Impossible…" Sirius and Lupin both muttered. Snape cast an incarcerous at Sirius and he was wrapped up in ropes.
"Maybe the dementors can spare the werewolf a kiss as well." Snape pointed his wand at Lupin and smiled.
"I didn't see that coming," Lupin said softly. He looked to Harry.
"What a happy day," Snape said.
Snape decided to stun Blaise as well for safe measure and directed Lupin out at wandpoint holding Sirius to help him out. Snape instructed Hermione to help Weasley out and Harry to help Blaise. Snape got them out of the Whomping Willow before he realized his mistake.
The full moon was up, and Lupin hadn't taken his potion. Snape swore. He began firing spells at Lupin but Sirius managed to tackle Snape to the ground through the ropes.
"Trying to kill me again, Black?" sneered Snape. "Your little plot didn't work last time, it won't work now either. What a strange sense of déjà vu."
He shook Sirius off but Lupin had already transformed and was heading straight at Snape.
Harry stared in horror as Snape took aim at the approaching werewolf. He pulled Hermione's wand out of his pocket. He couldn't let Snape kill Lupin. He needed to know if he was from the future or not.
The wand caught on a pocket of his robes and Harry pulled it out but was holding it the wrong way.
"I won't miss you, Lupin. Avada Kedavra!"
Harry tried to conjure something to block the curse, but he wasn't fast enough. However, Lupin, in his werewolf form, was fast enough. He managed to bite Snape in the wand arm, but Snape's spell was still right on course, dropping the werewolf straight to the ground, unmistakably dead.
Harry stared at Lupin's body in horror, and his attention was caught by a rat running off. A rat with a wand in its mouth.
"Wormtail," Harry snarled, and he took off after him.
"Harry!" yelled Sirius, and he transformed, getting out of the ropes, and took off after Harry. Hermione was left with two stunned students and an angry potions professor.
Snape strode off quickly. He didn't think he could get away with killing them, although it was tempting. He had more important matters to attend and he didn't have the time. Although staging a death by werewolf would have been believable, but he honestly didn't have the time.
Harry began firing spells at Wormtail but the rat kept dodging and Sirius was trying to catch him in his mouth. The rat dodged too much for them and suddenly dove into a hole. They caught up to the spot and Sirius began to dig into the hole while Harry began casting reductos.
The rat was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, Harry began to feel cold, and Sirius fell over to the side, weakened dramatically. He transformed back to a human and collapsed.
Future-Harry whispered in Harry's mind- dementors.
Harry spun around, Hermione's wand in hand, and tried to face them. There were almost a hundred dementors and at the front was Snape, pointing the way to Sirius.
Harry tried to cast the Patronus Charm, but it was feeble at best, nonexistent at worst.
He went through a series of happy thoughts, ranging from being sorted to Slytherin- which fizzed between strong and a mere puff- winning the cup, which produced a semi-corporal haze- and pranking Snape, which finally got Prongs the Patronus to appear in all his glory.
Prongs held off three of them before he disappeared. Snape had already vanished.
Future-Harry just kept urging him to hold on and think happy thoughts. Future-Harry managed to temporarily take hold of Harry's body- which had never happened before- and cast a Patronus thinking of how he had the opportunity to see everyone again who had died.
The blinding flash of light that came from that patronus held the dementors off long enough for reinforcements to arrive, in the form of Hermione, Professor Dumbledore, and sadly, Minister Fudge.
McGonagall was with Blaise, Weasley, and the body of Professor Lupin, and she brought them into the Hospital Wing.
Sirius was locked into a room to await the dementors, Harry was stuck in the Hospital Wing with Hermione, and they heard Snape talking to Fudge outside the door.
"Well done, Professor Snape, you have done this country a service. Order of Merlin, First Class, I daresay." Fudge's voice sounded rather fixed. It was strange to Harry's ears.
"Thank you, Minister."
"We have Black locked up and will be sending the dementors to him shortly. It's fortunate they didn't harm Potter," Fudge stated.
"If Potter would have stayed out of the way, this would already have been dealt with," Snape said shortly.
"Quite right, quite right, we'll have to have a talk with him." Harry heard footsteps.
"I've just finished speaking to Sirius Black. I will handle it from here, Cornelius."
"Not to worry, Dumbledore, I'm here to make sure we cut off all the loose ends, as it were."
"Yes, we need to clean this all up properly," Snape said silkily.
"Well, let's go get the dementors. Would you care to join me, Professor Snape?"
"I'd be happy to," Snape replied.
Dumbledore walked into the Hospital Wing and saw that Harry was awake.
"Harry, Hermione. We need to talk." Blaise and Ron were both still out, and Harry and Hermione looked at Dumbledore questioningly.
"I presume we all know that Sirius Black is innocent," he stated.
Harry and Hermione nodded. "However, we have no proof. And Professor Snape has a much more believable account of the events that have transpired tonight. His will hold up to scrutiny. Without Pettigrew, ours will not."
"What can we do, Professor?" Hermione asked. Harry, due to Future-Harry, already knew what was happening. Future-Harry had been expecting this since they followed the rat to the Whomping Willow. While they had taken a much different road to get there, they had still arrived at the same point.
"What we need, is more time." Hermione's eyes widened.
"Sirius is in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this, both of you: you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law, you know what is at stake… You-must-not-be-seen."
"I am going to lock you in. It is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."
The door closed behind Dumbledore. Harry headed to Hermione swiftly as she fumbled with the neck of her robes.
"Get the time-turner already, let's go. We don't have time," Harry hissed. Hermione stared at him in shock. But to her credit, she just prepared to send them back in time.
She put the chain over both of them and turned it back three times. They landed in the entrance hall and looked thoroughly disheveled.
"Quick, broom closet, someone's coming," Harry said urgently. They closed the door behind them as someone turned the corner. The footsteps died away and they opened the door and began to head towards Hagrid's to save Buckbeak, which Harry had explained in the closet. They headed down there as fast as they could, but both of them missed the narrowing eyes of Tracey Davis burning into their backside.
They were ahead of the confrontation with Malfoy, and Harry heard the screaming of Tracey Davis as she broke up with him.
"Did Tracey just break up with you?" Hermione asked.
"Through an unfortunate and entirely unforeseeable series of circumstances that had nothing whatsoever to do with me, yes."
Hermione snorted. "What happened?" And then it dawned on him.
"She must have seen us come out of the closet together. She was yelling at me about being in a broom closet with someone."
"I'm sorry," Hermione said.
"It wasn't meant to be," Harry said with a shrug. "Not really. I think we're better as friends anyway."
Hermione didn't know what to add to that. Malfoy spared her the trouble.
"Here comes Malfoy, looks like we're about to see Weasley throw a punch."
The scene replayed as they had expected it to and they followed the foursome to Hagrid's, hiding off to the side, looking at Buckbeak.
"Now, we'll have to free him after the Ministry's execution committee sees him. We won't have a lot of time."
"Okay," Hermione replied. "So that must be what Dumbledore meant! We can save Buckbeak!"
Harry grinned. They waited awhile, saw the four of them leave again and head off, and then watched as the committee walked towards Hagrid's. They spotted Buckbeak and knocked on the door, heading inside. Harry quickly pulled the rope apart and bowed to Buckbeak, who looked at him and bowed back. He then pulled him by the rope towards the forest and they were able to sneak him away without incident.
"Excellent, that worked well," Hermione said.
"It was a lot easier than I expected." They heard the thud of an axe as the executioner swung it in frustration.
"Now we wait," Harry said. "Fairly anticlimactic, huh?"
Hermione chuckled nervously. "We should head to the Whomping Willow to see what's happening."
"Agreed," Harry replied, and the two of them headed there. Everyone had already entered the passage and they got there just in time to watch Lupin enter the tree.
"Next is Snape, then we wait until we all come out."
"Remember, we mustn't interfere, Harry," Hermione reiterated.
"There's got to be something we can do for Lupin," Harry said.
"We can't! If we save him, his werewolf form will still be alive, and be able to attack us. Who knows what could happen! There's nothing we can do."
Harry swore. "You're right." Then he ran. "Wait here!" Hermione shouted a loud whisper at him, but he cast a disillusionment charm and was gone. He had to know if Lupin was from the future. He headed up to the room and made it when Snape began to lead everyone out. He tried a non-verbal Legilimens three times before it worked.
He got one surface thought from Lupin: Damn, I forgot to take the potion.
By that point they had exited the tunnel and Harry had to get out of the way as Lupin transformed, but the young wizard was thoroughly frustrated. He wouldn't get an answer to his question. Although it mostly sounded like Lupin wasn't, because he would have remembered about forgetting his potion the first time.
Future-Harry reminded him about Sirius though. If Lupin came back, Sirius did too. Harry nodded resolutely, and he returned to Hermione to wait until Sirius was taken up to Flitwick's office. Hermione moved near the spot where Harry and Sirius had been attacked by the dementors to see what was going on, and when they would have to head up to the Tower. She would come back for Harry and Buckbeak when they had been taken up to the school.
Harry began a conversation with Future-Harry.
"We were able to produce that Patronus, it was pretty strong. Don't you think we're ready to take on Voldemort?" Harry asked.
Future-Harry pondered the idea.
"Let's get Sirius out of here first. Then we'll talk about it."
"Fair enough," Harry replied.
He waited patiently for Hermione but ended up deciding to go to the spot himself. He got there just in time to see his Patronus, which prompted a gasp from Hermione, and they watched as he and Sirius were taken back to the school.
"Well, about ready to save Sirius?"
Hermione looked a little nervous. "We'll just fly up on Buckbeak to the right window. Shouldn't be too difficult."
"I hate flying," Hermione muttered.
"You want me to stun you and cast a sticking charm?" Harry asked with a smirk. She swatted him.
"No, I'll be fine. I'm a Gryffindor, right?"
She sounded more like she was trying to assure herself, so Harry let her be. He waited for someone to leave the castle to get the dementors and saw Fudge and Snape walk out five minutes later.
"Now," Harry hissed. He hopped on Buckbeak's back and Hermione jumped on behind him, holding him tight. The two flew up and up and up, Buckbeak's wings beating furiously. Harry guided him towards the West Tower and began counting windows. Hermione was muttering about her hatred of being in the air, causing Harry to chuckle.
"I really don't like this- oh no- this is horrible- oh!"
"Whoa!" Harry had cried, pulling back on Buckbeak's rope, causing him to come to a stop, only now hovering in midair. He knocked on the window and Sirius looked up in surprise. He still looked completely miserable.
Sirius stood up and moved to the window. Hermione whipped out her wand and cast the unlocking charm, springing Sirius from the office.
"Get on," Harry said urgently.
"What- how?" Sirius asked weakly.
"You honestly didn't think I'd leave you to the dementors after I went to all that trouble to get Wormtail, on top of what you promised me did you?" Harry asked with a grin.
Sirius shook his head. He hopped onto the back, sandwiching Hermione and giving her a bit more comfort since she wouldn't fall off backwards as easily.
"Up!" Harry commanded. Buckbeak landed on the battlements and Harry and Hermione dismounted from the hippogriff.
"Get out of here, the dementors are coming for you," Harry said briskly. "Owl me."
"How can I ever thank-?"
"Get that potion finished already. Bring it by Privet Drive during the summer."
Sirius squeezed his shoulder. "I'll see you soon, Harry. Deep down, down here," he said, putting his hand over Harry's heart, "you truly are your father's son. Regardless of what house you're in, you possess the same qualities that made your father a good person. You're a good man, Harry. Always remember that."
Speechless, Harry could only nod. Sirius took off on the back of the hippogriff, leaving Hermione and Harry watching him go.
"We need to get back to the hospital wing, Harry. We have ten minutes. Let's go!"
They moved down the stairs swiftly, having to pause a couple of times when they heard voices. Fudge and Snape would be returning with the dementors any minute!
They heard Peeves cackling ahead of them and ducked into a closet.
"How horrible," Hermione mumbled. "He's probably happy Sirius is going to be kissed."
"Well, not anymore, at any rate," Harry said. Hermione smiled. They heard his voice fading away and they left the closet and kept walking quickly.
They turned the corner and ran. "Two minutes!" Hermione said breathlessly, checking her watch.
"Let's move then, I don't want to know what will happen if we don't make it back in time."
"Don't talk about that, Harry," Hermione said.
They reached the end of the corridor that held the Hospital Wing and saw Dumbledore outside of the door, his wand out.
"Good luck," they heard him say.
"Professor," Harry hissed. Dumbledore looked up and saw them. He stopped from locking the door and ushered them inside. He locked eyes with Harry.
Harry nodded. Dumbledore smiled.
"We'll talk later," he replied, and locked the door behind him. Harry and Hermione quickly got into their respective beds and sat quietly, waiting for the outburst that was surely imminent.
"Mr. Potter, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey said. She demanded he eat chocolate. Harry happily complied.
After Harry's fourth piece of chocolate a primitive scream of rage vibrated the very foundation of Hogwarts.
"I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM MYSELF!" Snape roared.
"We should have left someone with him," Fudge could be heard saying, trying to placate the absolutely livid Severus Snape, who was practically foaming at the mouth. "He must have Disapparated."
"YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS– HAS– SOMETHING– TO– DO– WITH– POTTER!"
"Severus, be reasonable," Fudge pleaded.
"THIS IS REASONABLE! POTTER HELPED HIM ESCAPE! I KNOW IT!" Snape barged through the doors of the Hospital Wing, Fudge and Dumbledore behind him.
"NO ONE MAKES A FOOL OUT OF ME, POTTER! OUT WITH IT! WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"Professor Snape! Control yourself!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. A wave of Snape's wand silenced her.
"Really, Snape, Harry has been in here the whole time," Fudge said.
"YOU– DON'T– KNOW– POTTER!" Snape stalked to Harry's bed menacingly. Harry began to get a headache. Snape pointed his wand directly at Harry.
"Would you prefer Legilimency or Veritaserum?" he whispered dangerously. Harry tried to grab his wand but Snape blasted it away from him.
A shield sprang up between the two of them. "That will do, Severus," Dumbledore said, a hint of steel in his voice. Snape waved his wand and cancelled out Dumbledore's shield spell, prompting a raised eyebrow from the venerable headmaster.
"Not quite, Dumbledore. He helped a murderer escape. Black was capable of murder at sixteen, if your memory is still as sharp as it used to be. Tom Riddle was capable of the same feat."
Dumbledore's eyes lost his twinkle completely.
"How do you know that?" Dumbledore asked.
"Irrelevant," Snape said dismissively. "I want this foolish boy interrogated. I, as his head of house, will follow through with that. You have crossed me one time too many, Potter."
Snape pulled a bottle of Veritaserum out of his pocket and amid Fudge and Dumbledore's protests poured five drops, more than necessary, on Harry's tongue.
Harry thought furiously. He could use Future-Harry to help evade some of the questions, as well as plausible deniability he hoped. His higher thought processes had slowed down tremendously. This would be difficult.
"What is your name?" Snape asked.
Harry thought about saying Tom Marvolo Riddle, but thought better of it. "Harry James Potter."
"Where were you when Sirius Black escaped tonight?" Snape asked. Technically, Harry had been in two places at once.
"Hospital Wing," Harry replied in a monotone.
"There," intervened Dumbledore. "Unless he could have been in two places at once, he had nothing to do with Black's escape," reasoned Dumbledore.
"Did you help Sirius Black escape?"
Harry decided that Snape was talking about Sirius's escape from Azkaban.
"No," Harry replied.
"That's enough. Dumbledore, you know the use of Veritaserum is closely monitored by the Ministry. Having a member of your staff use it in front of me, the Minister of Magic? What are you playing at?"
"Severus has just suffered a severe disappointment," Dumbledore replied with a weary sigh. "I presume you'll have the dementors out of here? They nearly kissed Harry here."
"Of course, they'll be gone by morning."
Snape was still trying to figure out what to ask Harry. "The antidote, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. Snape pulled it out and administered it to Harry. Snape looked furious; Harry could have sworn his eyes had flashed red.
The antidote was taken by Harry and he was no longer compelled to tell the truth. Snape looked him in the eye. "One day, Potter. One day."
Harry stopped by Lupin's office the day they were leaving and took back his Marauder's Map. Dumbledore was there waiting for him.
"An ingenious creation, was it not? By some of the more- shall we say- inspired wizards of a generation."
Harry merely nodded mutely.
"Such a tragedy that befell the four of them," Dumbledore said sadly. "One dead, one traitor, one betrayed and in jail, and one left to mourn the other three, and is now also dead."
"Hopefully it doesn't foreshadow our own fate," Dumbledore said with a sigh. He had seemed tired lately, and Harry felt like taking it out on the headmaster, but he knew it was childish. Dumbledore at the moment seemed like he had a large burden on his shoulders and was unloading it on Harry. No that wasn't quite accurate, more like confiding in Harry.
"It seems like the more I try, the more people I fail," Dumbledore stated. "I apologize, Harry, for any pain I may have caused you, directly or indirectly."
Harry grunted in acknowledgment. "I will try to get through to Severus, I do not know why he was unable to control his emotions, although his complete and utter hatred of your father and his friends is certainly to blame for his blindness to his own actions."
"Will anything happen to him since he killed Professor Lupin?" Harry queried. Dumbledore shook his head.
"While the death of Professor Lupin was quite regrettable, it was clearly a case of self-defense, as the Professor had been attacking him as a werewolf. Professor Snape even suffered a bite, which may or may not cause him to transform into a werewolf every full moon. Also, werewolves are not afforded the same status as normal witches and wizards, thus killing a werewolf would be akin to slaughtering an animal."
"That's a fairly prejudiced Ministry viewpoint from the way you paint it."
"It's merely the way it has been. Ironically, it is similar to how the Muggles persecuted the Wizarding World in general. Of course, I doubt the irony would be appreciated."
Harry snorted. "You did a good job the other night, Harry. I'm very proud of you."
"Thank you, sir," Harry replied. "But it wasn't enough. Lupin was killed and I couldn't capture Peter."
"You still managed to spare an innocent man a horrible fate, and stayed the hand of the executioner on the matter of a proud Hippogriff."
"Would you consider it a victory for our side or a loss?"
"Peter may cause problems, but Remus and Sirius essentially traded one life for another. Either one would have happily given their life up to protect the other, that was the strength of their friendship. It had suffered an inordinate amount of trials and had crumbled once, but managed to repair itself on the loyalty that still remained. You are the last viable link connecting them Harry, and regardless of your feelings for Sirius Black, know he would willingly lay his life down to protect you. He's a good man to have at your back."
Harry didn't bother asking how Dumbledore found out about his turbulent friendship with Sirius. He also never noticed that Dumbledore didn't answer the question. "Speaking of Sirius, has he explained to you the circumstances surrounding his escape from Azkaban right?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "It worries me that he has an oath to Lord Voldemort. It also worries me that Lord Voldemort was strong enough to break into Azkaban, while my sources told me he had been in Albania. I have a suspicion it had something to do with that diary we saw last year. I fear that a cunning, powerful, and ambitious sixteen year old Tom Riddle has been thrown into this war as well and is fortifying his own side. It feels like the calm before the storm. Bellatrix, Rookwood, and Dolohov have all been mysteriously silent upon their release. Why Fudge claimed to have freed them is beyond me. I cannot fathom any of his actions and I have talked with him on numerous occasions to try and understand him. I checked for the imperious curse but it didn't seem to be present. Polyjuice is possible but unlikely. Also highly unlikely is a mind controlling potion. Sadly, I fear that he is acting on what he believes to be is right, which is just as dangerous. Uncertain times lie ahead for us, Harry. I ask that you remain vigilant. Peter escaping could be the least of our worries."
"Where do you think Peter will go now?"
"He will most likely try and find Lord Voldemort. He will need protection, and Lord Voldemort is the only one in the right position to offer it. I fear next year may see the return of Lord Voldemort."
"Will we be able to stop him?" Harry asked. Dumbledore seemed to hesitate, and was on the verge of saying something, before he stopped. Looking back at this moment, Dumbledore was about to tell Harry the prophecy. Had he done so, it more than likely would have created a flood of memories the Voldemort in Harry's head would have been unable to stop and Harry would have been traveling a much different path. However, Dumbledore was reluctant to impart that knowledge at this juncture, thus unknowingly keeping Harry on a road that was quickly becoming paved with good intentions.
The words: will we be able to stop him, floated in Dumbledore's mind for a moment as he took the time to seriously consider his answer without revealing the prophecy. The only answer he had was hope.
"I hope so, Harry. I hope so."
They had announced at the feast that Lupin had died defending students. The banners were black in honor of his passing.
He had retold what happened to Blaise and the rest of his friends, filling them in on the events that had transpired. Blaise had apologized profusely, explaining Luna Lovegood had needed his help on something and Pettigrew had attacked him. Looking for Luna, Harry saw her sitting at the Ravenclaw table eating without a care in the world.
"Pettigrew is out there," Harry said bitterly. "He wanted to leave the country though, we'll see what happens."
"Better to just wait until next year. Leave it be," Daphne advised. Harry left the table to have a long overdue talk with Tracey.
"Just so you know, me and Hermione didn't do anything together," Harry said softly.
"I know," Tracey replied. "I think we're better off friends though."
"Yeah, neither of us really knew how to act, did we?"
Tracey chuckled. "It was a good first relationship though. Thank you, Harry," she said with a smile and kissed him on the cheek. The conversation was a lot faster and easier than he had expected.
Soon enough, they were on the train and heading back to King's Cross, leaving Harry to think about the things that had been bothering him.
How did Snape get a cell phone, and who was he talking to?
Were he and Future-Harry ready to take on Voldemort inside his head?
What were Bellatrix, Rookwood, and Dolohov up to?
What would Wormtail do now?
Where was the diary-Riddle?
Where was Voldemort?
What were the contents of Sirius's oath to Voldemort/Riddle, whoever it was?
Were Lupin and Sirius from the future?
Would he be able to become an animagus?
Those were the burning questions in Harry's mind. The coming school year would bring an answer to all of those questions. As the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, Harry knew that next year would be a hell of a lot different.
He walked up to the Dursleys and Vernon gripped him roughly.
"You're going to wish you had never been born this summer, boy. Don't think I forgot how you killed my sister, you little freak," he said in his best effort of a threatening tone. The effect was truly lost on Harry. He actually wanted to crack a smile, remembering how his accidental magic gave Aunt Marge a heart attack.
Suddenly, all of Harry's friends- and their parents and siblings- swarmed Vernon.
"Leave him alone," Mr. Greengrass said dangerously. Mr. Zabini nodded as well, holding his wand pointed right at Vernon's heart.
"You'd be better off not messing with Harry," Pollux Moon said while his twin, Castor, glared as well, as if trying to burn the message into Vernon's eyelids. Harry wondered if there was a curse to etch an image into someone's eyelids.
"See all the trouble you started?" Harry asked his uncle.
"Well- I didn't think–" he sputtered.
"That's just it," interrupted Harry. "If you don't think, then you shouldn't talk."
Harry spun around abruptly and left to the car that would take him to Number Four Privet Drive.
"Oh, by the way," Harry said when Vernon approached him. "I've faced the guy who murdered my parents. And I was unafraid. Do you really think I'd be afraid of a great big Muggle like you? Stay away from me, and maybe you won't end up like your sister."