Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything else that may be referenced in this chapter.
A/N: Enormous thank you to you all for reading, reviewing, following and favouring, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)
Chapter 10
Rose hesitated, biting her lip anxiously: divided between turning to the left, following Draco and ensuring her own safety or turning right, following Harry and helping to save Sirius; putting herself in danger. As she made a decision and turned to follow it, a bone chilling, flesh crawling cold eclipsed her, and the last thing Rose felt was crisp, frost coated grass against her cheek before she fell into oblivion; a faint screaming ringing in her ears.
Chewing.
Loud, slurp-like chewing.
That was the first thing Rose became aware of: that someone was chewing in a slurp-like fashion to her right. Then came her bearings: she was lying down on a very comfortable, soft thing- a bed, she realised sluggishly. The slurp-chewing got even louder as Rose slowly came back into consciousness and registered a faint taste of hot chocolate and a dull ache in her cheek, back, and side; and with this registration came her memory.
Rose's eyes snapped open, though the world was blurred and dark.
"Merlin!"
"Millicent?" Rose recognised her friend's voice. "Where am I? Why can't I see? Who's chewing?"
"Oh, here." Rose felt her glasses be slid carefully onto her nose. As Millicent sat back in her chair, Rose's vision adjusted and she looked around her.
She was in the Hospital Wing. Dim moonlight shone through a window to her right, somewhat illuminating the ward and her friends, who sat around her. Draco slurp-chewed and swallowed some chocolate as he considered her with his head on one side from where he sat atop the next bed.
"How do you feel?"
"Alright, I think," Rose replied, a little puzzled. "What happened? I remember feeling cold, and grass... and someone screaming."
"Dementors," he explained shortly. "They swooped in on Black, and everyone they found nearby: I only just got back to the castle in time. Sev woke up after they left, he said; he thought you'd been Kissed."
"You looked it too," Pansy said. "You were white as a sheet, clammy and, well, empty looking before Madam Pomfrey gave you some hot chocolate."
"What about Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Sirius?" Rose asked.
Draco swallowed another bite of chocolate. "They're alright: except Sirius, he got dragged off; I think back to Azka-"
"Dreadful thing to happen, simply awful, it's a wonder they all survived… I've never heard of such things; by Merlin, we're fortunate you were there, Snape." Cornelius Fudge's voice could be heard from the corridor leading to the Wing, cutting short Draco's reply.
"Thank you very much, Minister." Rose could practically hear Severus smirking faintly.
"Earned an Order of Merlin Second Class, I'd say: First, if I can get it!"
"Well, thank you, Minister, thank you very much indeed." Severus' smirk sounded more pronounced than ever.
"Nasty bruise you've got there; Black's work, was it?"
"No, Minister; it was Rose's, actually. Black had confunded her- all of them in fact- I saw it immediately. They seemed to think there was a possibility Black was innocent, and at times when she is in her right mind, Rose has been known to … embellish her spells."
"I have not!" Rose hissed indignantly. Draco snickered.
"As for Potter, well he's always been allowed a surprising amount of licence… and I have reason to believe that were it not for his rather inflated sense of his own importance the events of this evening wouldn't have occurred." Severus continued.
"Well, Snape; it is Harry Potter, you know." Fudge replied, "... and, between you and me, Snape, without what he did we may not have ever caught Black- what with the behaviour of the Dementors- so I daresay even you've got a blind spot where Harry's concerned as you must have Rose; even if your one for Harry is, er, very, very, very deep down."
There was a pause, during which Rose imagined Severus to be strangling Fudge for even suggesting he turned a blind eye to any of Harry's misadventures.
Heavy footsteps attracted Rose's attention. Madam Pomfrey was making her way up the ward, struggling under the weight of what at first Rose thought to be a small boulder. But as Madam Pomfrey set the boulder onto the small table at the end of Harry's bed and began to break off large chunks, she realised it to be quite possibly the biggest ball of chocolate ever created.
"Ah, you're all awake; excellent!" she said, handing around the chunks. Looking around, Rose saw Harry and Hermione sit up.
"Is Ron alright?" the two chorused.
"He'll survive," Madam Pomfrey's grim tone almost contradicted her words. "But you two and Rose will be staying here until I'm sure you're al- Potter, what on earth are you doing?"
Harry had sat up, pushed his glasses onto his face and reached for his wand. "I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
"It's alright, Potter; they've got Black," Madam Pomfrey explained soothingly. "They've sent for a Dementor: the Kiss will be performed any mome-"
"NO!"
Harry and Hermione leapt out of bed; Draco leapt up from his, evidently thrown. Rose caught her leg in the sheet and fell out of her bed, landing on the floor. Rubbing her elbow, she got to her feet and joined the other three in their staring at Madam Pomfrey, as hurried footsteps sounded outside the door and Fudge and Severus entered the ward. Rose felt a twinge of guilt as she saw that Severus had a purplish blue and yellow bruise roughly the size of half a golf ball above his right eyebrow.
"What's all this?" Fudge looked alarmed. "You should all be in bed; have they had any chocolate?" he asked Madam Pomfrey.
"Never mind chocolate," Draco swallowed his last mouthful as he spoke. "Black's innocent; Pettigrew never carked it: he faked his own death and lived for twelve years in his Animagus form as Weaselbee's pet rat!" he pointed at Ron's unconscious form across the ward. "We saw him!"
Fudge shook his head, a small, rather condescending smile plastered on his face.
"No, no, my dear boy; you're confused: everything's under control-"
"No it isn't," Rose interrupted. "You've locked up the wrong nutter!"
"Rose!" Harry turned to her angrily.
"What? He hasn't exactly acted sane, has he?"
"That's not the-"
"Minister Fudge, please listen," Hermione cut across Harry. "Malfoy's right- I saw Pettigrew- we all did-"
"You see, Minister?" Severus smirked. "They've been confunded- rather nastily, too-"
"WE ARE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harry roared in exasperation. "WE'RE TRYING TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH!"
The doors to the Hospital Wing swung open as he spoke, and Professor Dumbledore entered. All heads swivelled towards him as he made his way through the ward towards them.
"I would like to talk to Harry, Hermione, Rose and Draco alone," he announced quietly, coming to a halt opposite Harry. "I have just finished speaking to Sirius Black-"
Severus snorted derisively. "I expect he's tried to stuff you with the same dragon dung as he has this lot?" he pointed at Harry, Rose, Hermione and Draco. "Something about Pettigrew faking his own death and spending the last twelve years as a rat?"
Dumbledore looked at him piercingly. "That, ah, dragon dung, is indeed Black's story. But I can assure you he never attempted to stuff me with anything of the sort."
Rose snickered. Hermione shot her a look reminiscent of the one she had the previous year; when she had inquired- rather rudely, Rose thought- if Rose was capable of taking anything seriously.
"What of my evidence?" Severus practically snarled. "I saw nothing of Pettigrew in the grounds or the Shrieking Shack: not a head or a-"
"-tail," Rose finished with a small snort. Hermione frowned at her.
"Well, to be fair, Severus; according to your own story you were unconscious for a rather long time: you may not have seen, or heard the full story," Dumbledore pointed out, a little impatiently. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to talk to Harry, Hermione, Rose and Draco alone… forgive me, Poppy-" he added as Madam Pomfrey made a noise of protest, "-but I wouldn't ask such a thing in the present circumstances unless it was important."
Madam Pomfrey huffed, spun on her heel and strode the length of the ward to her office, shutting its door after her sharply.
Fudge pulled a fat gold watch from his pocket and studied it. "I must go and greet the Dementor: he will have arrived by now; I'll meet you there, Dumbledore." He turned and headed towards the doors, holding one open. Dumbledore looked pointedly at the Slytherins.
"I am so confused right now," Millicent shook her head as she and the others trailed past Fudge and left the ward. Blaise and Theo agreed. Fudge continued to hold the door open for Severus, but Severus made no move to leave.
"I hope you haven't forgotten," he took a step towards Dumbledore, his tone icy. "That Sirius Black proved himself more than capable of murder during his fifth year at Hogwarts; and he was sixteen- aren't those oldest supposed to be-," Severus paused for a fraction of a second. "-sensible?"
"I would hope so, Severus," Dumbledore agreed, a definite sharpness to his own tone. "And trust my memory is as good, if not better, than it was in your youth."
Severus made an odd jerking movement with his left arm, but said nothing; instead turning and sweeping down the ward and through the door, his robes billowing out behind him. Fudge closed the door behind him with a faint click. Before the sound had the chance to die away, the four third years had hurried into speech.
"It's true, sir, Sirius is innocent-"
"Pettigrew escaped when Remus transformed: he forgot to take his Wolfsbane in his hurry to make sure we were alright, I think-"
"Pettigrew hit Weaselbee with some kind of fainting spell before he became a rat and scarpered-"
"I tried to stop him, but he dodged, then of course Rems transformed and-"
Dumbledore held up a hand, and the four fell silent.
"Thank you; now, please listen to me," Dumbledore spoke calmly, yet quickly and urgently. "You have no proof. No one is going to be convinced by the words of four thirteen year olds, especially given that a street full of people swore they saw Sirius murder Peter Pettigrew, and I myself swore under magical oath that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret Keeper."
"What about Remus?" Rose asked. "What about his word?"
"Remus is currently deep in the Forbidden Forest, and by the time he in in a fit enough state to say anything at all: it will be too late. In any case, Remus' word will hold little to no weight; there is a great deal of prejudice against Werewolves, not to mention he and Sirius are old friends… Biased or otherwise, Severus' story makes the most sense, and Sirius' breaking into the castle only furthers it: you must see that without Pettigrew alive or dead there is not a thing anyone can do. I have no power over the minds of others, or the Ministry… What we are in desperate need of," Dumbledore's gaze moved to Hermione. "Is more time."
"I-," Hermione sounded puzzled, but then something seemed to click. "Oh!"
"Listen carefully," Dumbledore began. "Sirius is locked in the West Tower- the thirteenth window from the right- Professor Flitwick's office. If you are successful, more than one innocent life will be saved."
"What are you talking about, sir?" Draco asked. Dumbledore turned to him.
"There is a way to save Sirius," he said. "But it involves the turning of time."
"No way," Draco blanched as he and Rose gaped at Dumbledore.
"As in a time turner?" Rose asked incredulously. Dumbledore nodded. "But that's crazy dangerous; especially in a school!"
"If you do not wish to go, you don't have to," Dumbledore said.
"I'll pass, thanks." Draco said at once. Rose hesitated. As it had earlier; a desire to keep herself well back from the front line surged forth.
"I-I'll go." She said finally.
"Sure?" Draco asked, a little surprised. Rose nodded, a bit too firmly. "Okay… I'll tell the others everything- if that's okay, sir?" he asked Dumbledore.
"Yes, I think your friends can be trusted," Dumbledore smiled. "I'm going to lock you three in," he said to Harry, Rose and Hermione as he and Draco headed up the ward. "It is-" Dumbledore glanced at the clock on the far wall. "-five minutes to midnight; so three turns should do it, Miss Granger. Good luck. But remember: you must not be seen." He left the ward.
"Try not to die," Draco said to Rose. "Good luck, though… and to you two too, I guess." He nodded to Harry and Hermione a bit awkwardly and followed Dumbledore from the ward.
"What are we doing? What's a time turner?" Harry asked as the door shut behind Draco.
Hermione hurriedly pulled a long thin gold chain from the neck of her robes. "Come here both of you; hurry!"
Harry and Rose went over to her. "What's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the time tuner's hourglass as Hermione threw the chain around his and Rose's necks.
"The time turner," Rose explained as Hermione twirled the hourglass around three times. "It takes the wearer back in time; how many hours depends on the amount of times the hourglass is spun. Sev used one once- whoa!"
The ground beneath their feet lurched and suddenly they were sucked into a vortex off spinning sounds, colours and shapes. They shot past them, travelling backwards through time, faster and faster-
Solid ground crashed into the soles of their feet, and the world righted itself all at once.
"…Wicked!" Rose cried, staring around the Entrance Hall in awe.
"In here, quickly!" Hermione practically herded Harry and Rose into a nearby broom closet and followed them in, shutting the door behind her.
"Why are we in here?" Harry asked. "And why do you have a time turner?"
"We mustn't be seen, remember?" Hermione whispered, pressing her ear to the broom closet door. "Yes… I think we're coming, Harry; you, Ron and I: we're going to Buckbeak's execution! … It's got to be us- it sounds like three people and we were walking under the cloak… right, we've gone down the front steps," she sat down on an upturned bucket, looking thoughtful.
"Why do you have a time turner?" Harry repeated.
"It's how I've been getting to class all year," Hermione answered absently, her brow furrowed in thought. "I've been redoing the hours over, so I can get to the classes that're on at the same time as others. It was very hush-hush; I promised Professor McGonagall I wouldn't tell anyone; and she had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry so I could have one: she had to say I was a model student who would never use it for anything but my studies- I suppose that's gone to pieces now… But I don't understand how our going back three hours is going to save Sirius!"
Rose bit her lip, thinking so hard she was surprised steam wasn't coming out of her ears from effort. "…Hang on…" she latched onto something Hermione had said. "Buckbeak's execution! Dumbledore said we would save more than one life… We've got to nick Buckbeak and fly him to Sirius when he's in Flitwick's office; then Sirius can fly away on him and we'll have saved both their lives!"
"… That is mental," Harry sounded shocked.
"We'll need a miracle to manage that without anyone noticing!" Hermione wrung her hands anxiously.
"What other choice do we have? I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?" Rose pointed out.
"Yeah," Harry nodded, suddenly determined. He pressed his ear to the door. "Sounds clear; c'mon."
He pushed the door open and the three darted out of the cupboard, across the deserted entrance hall and out into the sunset filled grounds.
"We've got to get to the Forest; that's got the best view of everything," Hermione hissed as they leant against the wall outside the front doors, checking all was well. "We'll have to go round near the greenhouses- keep out of sight of sight of Hagrid's front door!"
Rose never thought she'd be grateful for Flint's intense Quidditch trainings, but she certainly thanked the hours spent running lap upon lap of the Quidditch pitch; passing the Quaffle back and forth until it became a second nature; and the countless, endless sit ups and press ups as she, Harry and Hermione sprinted across the grounds, keeping to the gradually lengthening shadows as much as possible.
"Now what do we do?" Rose asked, coming to a halt in the shadows of the beginning of the forest, Harry beside her.
"Sneak to Hagrid's," Hermione replied, arriving seconds later. "Mind you keep out of sight…"
They weaved carefully between the trees, occasionally venturing deeper into the forest in an effort to stay out of sight. As Hagrid's cabin came into view, Rose heard Harry's voice float over to them from near Hagrid's front door.
"It's us: we're under the Invisibility Cloak."
"Yeh shouldn't've come out 'ere so late," Hagrid's voice replied. Peering around the side of the large tree they were hiding behind, Rose saw Hagrid step back from his front door, then it closed.
"This is so weird," Harry murmured. "Shall we get Buckbeak now?"
"No, wait until the committee have seen him; otherwise they'll think Hagrid set him free." Hermione murmured back.
"We're going to have about sixty seconds…" Harry replied disparagingly as the sound of breaking china echoed from Hagrid's cabin.
"There goes the milk jug…I'm going to find Scabbers soon." Hermione whispered, her gaze focused on the window. Seconds later, they heard Hermione shriek in surprise.
"Hey," Harry spoke suddenly, "What if we just ran in there and got Pettigrew-"
"No!" Hermione grabbed his arm. "We mustn't be seen!"
"We'd only be seen by ourselves, Ron and Hagrid!"
"Harry, I know it's difficult, but we mustn't change anything! We can't alter time any more than we are by even trying to save Sirius; it's too dangerous!" Hermione hissed. "Besides, how would you react if you saw an exact copy of yourself that wasn't actually you?"
"Yeah, Harry, Hermione how would you react?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrows and titling her head to one side pointedly. "I should imagine it'd be pretty terrifying. Not that I'd know, of course."
Harry and Hermione reddened slightly.
"Whatever's the matter?" Rose smirked. "You look suddenly guilty."
Harry opened his mouth to answer, but before he could speak Hermione nudged him and pointed towards the castle. "They've arrived!"
Harry and Rose peered around the other side of the tree; joining Hermione in watching Dumbledore lead Fudge, a very old wizard with hunched shoulders and a long white beard almost as long as Dumbledore's, and a man with a thick black moustache who Rose assumed to be the executioner, as he carried a large axe almost lovingly in his left hand, down through the grounds towards Hagrid's cabin. As the four men came closer to Hagrid's cabin, the back door opened and Harry, Ron and Hermione exited.
"So, Harry; Hermione," Rose whispered. "How do you feel, looking at yourself over there? A touch jarred, perhaps? Maybe even mildly disturbed? How do you imagine you'd feel were you not expecting it?"
"Are you trying to prove a point?" Hermione sniped.
"That depends if there's a point to prove," Rose replied swiftly, smirking. "Any suggestions?"
"Macnair's seen Buckbeak," Harry muttered suddenly, as Hermione began a retort. "Just turned back into the cabin. You two wait here; I'll get him."
He darted out from the shelter of the tree and jumped the fence into the pumpkin patch. As he bowed to Buckbeak and began to work on undoing the rope that tied him to a post, Hermione slipped around the tree and ran for the gate, holding it open. Rose remained where she was, watching Hagrid's cabin anxiously.
"Hurry up," she muttered, her gaze now flickering between Harry, Hermione, Buckbeak and Hagrid's cabin. "Please- oh, thank Merlin," she sighed as Harry and Hermione pulled Buckbeak into the trees.
Moments later, Hagrid's back door burst open and the old wizard lead the others from the cabin, pausing as he surveyed the pumpkin patch.
"Where's the Hippogriff?" he asked sharply.
"What do you mean?" Macnair came to his side. "It was right here- tied to that post!" he pointed, his face reddening in anger. Without warning, he swung the axe into the fence, making it creak ominously.
"How mysterious," Dumbledore sounded more amused than mystified. Hagrid howled, bursting into tears.
"He's gone! Musta loosen the knot- good boy Beaky, yeh clever, clever boy!"
"He must've been untied!" Macnair snarled. "We must search the forest-"
"Really, Macnair, use your common sense," the amusement in Dumbledore's tone was prominent now. "I find it highly unlikely that whoever escaped with Buckbeak did it on foot. Feel free to search the skies if you so wish. I, however, wouldn't say no to a cup of tea- or a large brandy."
"Allow me, Professor," Hagrid blew his nose, beaming; and opened the back door of his cabin.
Macnair was the last to re-enter. Hagrid followed him, closing the door behind him, now humming cheerfully.
"We need to get closer to the Whomping Willow," Rose muttered. Harry and Hermione agreed, and Rose lead the way through the trees over to the Willow, night falling thick and fast around them. They found a small clearing with a good view of the tree and paused.
"Ron!" Harry hissed, pointing. A dark figure was sprinting towards the tree, fumbling with a squeaking blur. Two other figures followed, one skidding to a halt in front of Ron.
"Scabbers keep still! Nothing's going to hurt you-" Ron exclaimed, diving to the ground in an effort to maintain his hold on the rat.
"Look, there's Sirius!" Hermione pointed as a large black dog emerged from further up the forest, and bolted around the Whomping Willow, kicking the knot at the base with a paw as he passed, heading straight for Ron.
Rose winced as Sirius knocked one of the figures to the ground and grabbed hold of Ron. "Who was that?"
"Me," Harry replied, watching as Crookshanks froze the suddenly flailing tree and he and Hermione vanished through the trapdoor after Ron and Sirius. "You and Malfoy should be coming soon."
Roughly a minute later, the front doors burst open and two figures raced down the front steps.
"Look at that!" Hermione pointed. Dumbledore, Fudge, the old wizard, and Macnair were making their way back to the castle.
"How did we not see each other?" Rose muttered in disbelief. "Oh, Draco and I were behind the greenhouses, look…"
"Good thing they didn't see you," Harry muttered. "Then they would've come and Fudge would've had Macnair murder Sirius on sight."
"Yeah," Rose agreed, watching as she and Draco drew nearer. "Hang on… NO!" Rose breathed, her eyes practically bulging from their sockets in indignation. "No way! That is not allowed; that has never, ever been a thing; there is no way in hell that can happen: it's impossible- it's illogical! It's-it's preposterous!"
"What?" Hermione asked.
Rose folded her arms, scowling. "Draco is nearly taller than me."
"…That's it?" Hermione asked incredulously as she, Harry and Buckbeak turned to stare at Rose.
"You don't understand quite how life altering this is-" Rose began.
"We don't, because it isn't."
Rose continued as though Harry hadn't spoken. "-Draco has always been shorter than me!"
"So?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
"So," Rose gritted her teeth in annoyance, "he's nearly 5'6! I have always been two inches taller than him and now I'm not!"
"Well, you'll forgive us if on the overall scale of life your dilemma rates lower than whether to diffuse a bomb through cutting the red or the blue wire," Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Oh forget it." Rose proceeded to mutter darkly under her breath until she and Draco were about to go through the trapdoor.
"Hey, I put that in my pocket when we left the Shrieking Shack!" Harry frowned as Draco picked up the Invisibility cloak.
"This is three hours ago," Hermione reminded him.
"Oh yeah." Harry grinned sheepishly. "I forgot."
"Which means Draco is probably already taller than me!" Rose buried her head in her hands.
"Why is this such a big deal?" Hermione asked.
"It's the principle of the thing." Rose explained.
"... I see." Hermione said, sounding puzzled all the same.
"Oh, good." Roe beamed at her. "Look, Remus is here!"
Hermione turned and saw that Remus was hurrying around the Willow. Soon, he too had vanished through the trapdoor. Moments later, Hagrid skipped tipsily from his cabin, a tankard in one hand. No sooner had he reached the front steps then the doors to the castle burst open and Severus hurtled past him, almost knocking Hagrid over he was running so fast. Hagrid blinked after him rather dazedly, shrugged, and continued into the Entrance Hall.
"That's everyone," Rose sat down on a tree stump as Severus vanished through the trapdoor. "Now we wait until the Dementors have gone, I guess. Do- do either of you hear anything when a Dementor comes near you? Because I do; a woman screaming faintly."
"That's mum," Harry said softly. "I hear her too, but loudly. I hear her screaming and pleading when Voldemort- Voldemort-"
"Yeah," Rose nodded her understanding, saving him from finishing. There was a small silence.
"…There's just one thing I don't understand," Hermione began delicately, tying Buckbeak's rope to a tree and sitting down on a fallen long, where she would have a good view of the Whomping Willow. "What made the Dementors retreat? I remember them coming- there must have been at least two hundred- but then I fainted."
"I saw something," Harry said. "Before I passed out. Someone conjured a patronus- a really powerful one that made all the Dementors leave- even came back to the caster."
"Did you see who it was?" Rose asked. "The glow must've lit them up."
"Yeah. I think-I think it was dad," Harry said softly, staring at his feet.
"Dad?" Rose repeated, "But Harry, you know, dad's, well, you know-"
"I know," Harry said, almost defiantly. "And I know it sounds crazy. But it just looked like him from a distance, that's all; the silhouette was the same as in the pictures I've seen…" he trailed off and turned away, sitting down beside Buckbeak. Hermione faced the grounds, staring tactfully at the Whomping Willow.
Rose didn't know what to say. Part of her wondered if the idea really was as crazy as it sounded; after all, Pettigrew had spent twelve years as a rat, with everyone thinking he was dead… No, Rose shook herself inwardly: she was being stupid, fanciful.
Not wanting to dwell on such things, Rose got up from tree stump and began to pace around the clearing, counting her steps. The number soared higher and higher as the minutes turned to an hour…
"Look!" Hermione hissed, pointing. Harry got to his feet and Rose altered her path to join them in staring across the grounds at the Whomping Willow. Crookshanks trotted through the trap door and across the grounds, followed by Remus, Pettigrew and Ron, then came Severus, Rose and Draco, then finally Harry, Hermione and Sirius. The moon came from behind its cloud.
"We have to move," said Harry suddenly.
"We can't!" Hermione protested, "We're not allowed to interfere!"
"Not to interfere!" Harry hissed. "Remus is going to transform and come right at us when he runs into the forest!"
"No!" Rose panicked. "Oh Merlin what are we going to do, what are we going to do… Hagrid's cabin!" she exclaimed, clinging to the idea in relief. "It'll be empty now- come on!" she grabbed Buckbeak's rope and took off, as a loud bang sounded through the air. Harry and Hermione followed, the latter heaving a sigh of relief as she closed Hagrid's front door.
"That could've been close!" Hermione gasped, trying to calm down Fang as he leapt up at her barking happily.
Harry nodded, going to the window as ice began to form slowly on the pane.
"I-I think I should go and see what's happening," he said. "I won't interfere- I swear!" he added as Hermione looked at him suspiciously.
"I'll go with you," Rose said, joining Harry as he moved towards the door. "We need to know when Severus wakes up, you have to admit," she said to Hermione.
"Well, yes- alright," Hermione admitted. "I'll stay here with Buckbeak, but please remember there's going to be a werewolf and Dementors out there and don't interfere or be seen!"
"We won't," Harry and Rose, promised, leaving the cabin. Harry turned right towards the lake and Rose left, heading back towards Severus. As she slipped back into the forest, she heard Draco shrieking.
Rose knew full well what Harry was up to, and she was going to do the exact same thing: see who made the Dementors retreat, though she was looking to see if her father's patronus had reached her, for Harry had made it sound as though it had not. She reckoned Hermione knew of their true plan, but as long as they didn't interfere or were seen there was no harm in their having a look. Rose slipped as quickly and as noiselessly as she could through the shallows of the trees, coming to a halt and ducking behind a large gorse bush, sighing softly in relief as the whimpers of a werewolf echoed back to her very faintly, as though the wolf was already deep in the forest and moving further away.
Peering over the top of the gorse bush Rose saw herself deliberating over which way to turn. She watched as she came to a decision and turned to the left, to follow Draco back to the castle. As she made to move, two Dementors swooped over her, knocking her to the ground. One remained hovering over her; the other kept moving, following Draco's distant silhouette. Rose stifled a gasp as something brushed past her shoulder, emerging from the depths of the forest behind her.
A patronus; a beautiful silver doe leapt at the Dementor that hovered over Rose, knocking it away from her with one great swipe of its head, just as the Dementor lowered its head to administer the Kiss. The doe kicked out threateningly at the Dementor with its front hooves; making the Dementor jerk backwards. The doe glowered at the Dementor as it turned and glided away quickly. Only once was it satisfied the creature or any of its fellows would not return did the Doe turn its back and stand over the unconscious Rose. As it stood over her, the doe began to fade slowly, until it was little more than a stretch of silverly ash, hovering in mid-air. Rose watched wide eyed from behind the gorse bush as the ash formed itself into a small silverly ball, which drifted slowly downwards and fell into the forehead of her unconscious form.
A/N: Please review! :)