Author's Note: Sorry for the delayed update. I would have updated on Friday, but was caught up in planning ahead for this story and MWS. Also, I have not finished writing my essays and they are seriously starting to annoy me [I honestly can't wait for the end of term]. But anyway, here is another update for Phoebe.

Dedications: Chapter goes out to the following people: Fan of Fics, KingdomHeartsNerd and 10th Squad 3rd Seat.

Shout outs: Big hello to Culdrencakeaddiction and Misssmartt for adding me to their Story Alerts. Big thank you on my part.

In responses: First to Fan of Fics: The Eagle is supposed to be presented as wise, and it just seemed to fit Serefina so perfectly. At first it was meant to be for Phoebe, but I have another in mind for her. As for the Dementors she did attempt her Patronus but she was too overcome with false hope and bad memories that it didn't take affect straight away, the Russian accents don't necessarily mean Durmstrang students; Phoebe can speak Russian and she doesnt go to Durmstrang. And the twin cores will be explained soon.

10th Squad 3rd Seat: Phoebe would love a hug. She will need one by the end of all this.


"What are you doing here? If Phoebe were to catch you -"

"Is that all you care about? If Phoebe were to catch me? She doesn't know me! What is she going to do?"

"She is brighter than anyone can ever imagine! She will pick up on the connection before anyone else, Aiden!"

"That's beside the point and you know it! What are your true fears of me being here?"

Phoebe blinked as she lay listening to the whispered conversation of her Godmother and someone that she did not recognize; all she did get was a name. Aiden. Who was this 'Aiden', and why did it matter if she knew him, if she were to catch him? And was connection could she possibly make of him?

"I have no fears of you being here, Aiden, I just want to know why!"

"The twin cores,"

There was a pause.

"How do you know about them?"

"He told me! He told me everything there was to know about the twin cores. She is one half, isn't she?"

There was another pause, and Phoebe could almost imagine her Godmother shaking her head. "What makes you think she is a twin core?"

"There are only two four-core elementals in existence, she is one of them! It is not that hard to make the connection when you think about it."

"That is why you are here," Serefina said. "To make the connection. Unite the twin cores."

"Yes. It is time they were united. You cannot keep it a secret forever! She deserves to know!"

"And she will know," Serefina argued. "When I believe the time is right, if she is told at the wrong moment then it could turn everything upside down. She is still unfit; she does not have full control of four elements yet. Telling her now could turn her completely against us. We must wait until the right moment."

There was an aggravated sigh. "And when will that be?"

A slight tremor rocked the dormitory. "Do not take that tone with me Aiden; I make the choices when it comes to Phoebe's safety, not you! If you so much as breathe a word to her about all this, do you understand?"

There was another pause, and then -

"Yes. I understand."

"Good. Now, you are to return to Salem," Serefina instructed. "You tell Thomas that operation 'Twin-cores' does not go ahead until I have given my say so; tell him that Phoebe is not ready for it, and when she is, I will send her to him."

Phoebe turned away from the whispered conversation, and rolled her head over the pillow to look to her left; her gaze connected with Harry's, who had been lying in his bed and staring at the door in curiosity.

"What are they saying?" he asked.

"Something about Twin cores," Phoebe answered. "I'm not completely sure, but Serefina is telling him that I am not to know about anything to do with the topic subject, that I am not ready to know."

"Doesn't that worry you?"

Phoebe shook her head. "No, I will know soon enough, I have already mastered the control of my water powers, and after tonight I think it is safe to say that I have mastered my air powers too. Rowena will be pleased."

Harry smiled as he watched Phoebe push herself carefully up into a sitting position, and look around the dormitory. James and Ron were lying in separate beds on the opposite side of the Hospital wing, Ron's ankle had been bandaged, and so had James's arm and leg. Hermione was sitting on the edge of her own bed looking thoroughly shaken at the events that had taken place in the past few hours, and Terence was sitting on the bottom of Phoebe's bed playing with invisible lint from the covers. He looked up as Phoebe shifted.

Madam Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the dark ward to Phoebe's bed. The elemental turned to look at her. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate Phoebe had ever seen in her life. It looked like a small boulder.

"Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly. She placed the chocolate on Phoebe's bedside table and began breaking it apart with a small hammer.

"How's James?" said Phoebe. "And Ron?"

"They'll live," said Madam Pomfrey grimly. "As for you and Mr. Potter...you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied you're - Potter, what do you think you're doing?"

Harry was sitting up, putting his glasses back on and picking up his wand.

"I need to see the Headmaster," he said.

"Potter," said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, "it's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The Dementors will be performing the Kiss any moment now -"

"WHAT?"

Harry and Phoebe had jumped out of bed. But their shouts had alerted those who were conversing in the corridor outside the Hospital Wing, because seconds later the door had opened and Cornelius Fudge and Severus Snape entered the ward.

"Harry, Harry, what's this?" said Fudge, looking agitated. "You should be in bed - has he had any chocolate?" he asked Madam Pomfrey anxiously.

"Minister, listen!" Harry said, "Sirius Black's innocent. Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the Dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's -"

But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face. "Harry, Harry, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control..."

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"

"Minister, listen, please," Hermione said; she had hurried to Harry's side and was gazing imploringly into Fudge's face. "I saw him, too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and -"

"You see, Minister?" said Snape. "Confunded, all of them...Black's done a very good job on them..."

"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harry roared.

"Minister! Professor!" said Madam Pomfrey angrily. "I must insist you leave. Potter is my patient, and he should not be distressed."

"I'm not distressed; I'm trying to tell them what happened!" Harry said furiously. "If they'd just listen -"

But Madam Pomfrey suddenly stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into Harry's mouth. He choked, and she seized the opportunity to force him back onto the bed.

"Now, please, Minister, these children need care. Please leave -"

The door opened again. It was Dumbledore and Serefina. Phoebe jumped at the sight of her Godmother and the Headmaster. "Sirius Black -"

"For heaven's sake!" said Madam Pomfrey hysterically. "Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster, I must insist -"

"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with these students," said Dumbledore calmly. "I have just been talking to Sirius Black -"

"I suppose he's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in Potter's mind?" spat Snape. "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive -"

"That, indeed, is Black's story," said Dumbledore, surveying Snape closely through his half-moon spectacles.

"And does my evidence count for nothing?" said Snape. "Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign of him in the grounds."

Phoebe shook her head. "That was because you were unconscious! You didn't arrive in time to hear -"

"Miss Blackheart, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"

"No!" Phoebe snapped. "I won't! You weren't there when Professor Lupin and Sirius told us the whole story, and then when you were there you tried take control of everything! You're not in charge here, Professor! You don't know the whole truth; you just want revenge for something that Sirius did to you in the past!"

Snape looked murderous, but Phoebe looked equally murderous; both Student and Professor were glaring at one another from across the hospital wing, and it wasn't until Fudge step in did either one of them back down.

"Now, Snape," the Minister said, "this young lady is disturbed in her mind, we must make allowances -"

"I would like to speak with these students alone," said Dumbledore abruptly. "Cornelius, Severus, Serefina, Poppy - please leave us."

"Headmaster!" spluttered Madam Pomfrey. "They need treatment, they need rest -"

"This cannot wait," said Dumbledore, "I must insist."

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door behind her. Fudge consulted the large gold watch dangling from his waistcoat.

"The Dementors should have arrived by now," he said. "I'll go and meet them. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs."

He crossed to the door and held it open for Snape and Serefina; the latter consulted her goddaughter with a calculating look before leaving the ward completely. Snape, however, remained.

"You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?" Snape whispered his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face.

"I wish to speak to these students alone," Dumbledore repeated.

Snape took a step towards Dumbledore.

"Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen," Snape breathed. "You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me?"

"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus," said Dumbledore quietly.

Snape turned on his heel and marched through the door Fudge was still holding. It closed behind them and Dumbledore turned to Harry, Hermione, Terence and Phoebe. Both Phoebe and Harry burst into speech at the same time.

"Professor, Black's telling the truth - we saw, Pettigrew -"

"- He escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf -"

"- He's a rat -"

"- Pettigrew's front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off -"

"- Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius -"

But Dumbledore held up his hand to stem the flood of explanations.

"It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time," he said quietly. "There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word - and the word of four students will not convince anybody. A street full of eye-witnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper"

"Professor Lupin can tell you -" Harry said, unable to stop himself.

"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the Forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than dead. I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little -"

Phoebe huffed. "I can relate..." she muttered.

"But -"

"Listen to me, Harry. It is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours."

"He hates Sirius," Hermione said desperately. "All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him -"

"Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady - entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife - without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence."

Phoebe frowned. "What if you could see what we saw in the Shrieking Shack?" she questioned.

"I wish we could, Phoebe," said Dumbledore sadly.

"No, you can," Phoebe insisted. "All you need is our memories. All six of our memories are exactly the same, because we all witnessed the same thing!"

Harry, Hermione and Terence stared at Phoebe in surprise. That was a true fact.

"If you were to confirm that our memories were exactly the same," Phoebe continued, "the Ministry of Magic could view them, and come to the same conclusion, and even though we do not have Pettigrew as evidence the sentence would be overruled, and Sirius would still be free!"

Dumbledore stared wondrously at his student.

"Would that work?" Harry wondered aloud.

"It is the only chance we've got," Phoebe answered. "I mean, it's not like any of us can go back in time"

Hermione suddenly looked sheepish.

Phoebe eyed her best friend curiously. "There isn't a way for us to go back in time, is there?"

"Now pay attention," said Dumbledore, speaking very low and very clearly, "Sirius is locked 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, all of you. You must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law - you know what is at stake...you - must - not - be - seen."

Harry exchanged a look with Phoebe who shrugged to indicate that she didn't have a clue what was going on any more than he did. Dumbledore turned his heel and looked back as he reached the door.

"I am going to lock you in. It is -" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

"Good luck?" Harry repeated, as the door closed behind Dumbledore. "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?"

Phoebe eyed her best friend curiously; a small glint from Hermione's neck caught her attention. Oh, I can't believe I didn't see that before! She thought. "Hermione, how long have you been time-travelling?"

"Nearly all year," Hermione answered, removing a very thin, fine golden chain from beneath her shirt. "Now come here. Quickly!"

Harry moved forward looking completely bewildered, Phoebe grabbed Terence's hand and pulled him up from the bed as Hermione threw the chain around their necks.

"What are we doing?" Harry said, completely lost.

Hermione turned the hour-glass pendant over three times.

The dark ward dissolved, and the sensation of flying, very fast, backwards swarmed over the four of them. A blur of colours and shapes rushed past them; their ears pounding. And then their feet hit solid ground, and everything came into focus again.

~*Phoebe*~

"Hermione, what -?" Harry started, looking around. They were standing in the deserted Entrance Hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors.

"In here!" Phoebe said, seizing Terence's arm and dragging him across the hall to the door of an empty room, she opened it, pushed him inside, followed and waited for Hermione and Harry to join them, when they had she slammed the door behind them.

"What - how - Hermione, what happened?" Harry stuttered.

"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered.

"How far back?" Phoebe asked.

"Three hours,"

Phoebe nodded and turned back to the door, and pressed her ear against it as none of this was a surprise to her.

"But -"

"Shh! Listen! Someone's coming! I think - I think it might be us!" There was a pause. "Footsteps across the hall...yes, I think it might be us going down to Hagrid's!"

"Are you telling me," Harry whispered, "that we're here in this room and we're out there, too?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "Phoebe?"

"I'm sure it's us," the elemental answered "it doesnt sound like more than four people...and we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak -"

She broke off, listening intently.

"We've gone down the steps..."

Hermione nodded and turned back to Harry, who was staring at her questionably. "It's called a Time Turner," she whispered, "and I got from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies...I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once."

"That's why you were always disappearing on us," said Phoebe. "Why me, Ashlyn, Harry and Ron clashed in Transfiguration the first day back; you was in Ancient Runes and you was in Divination, but you disappeared before Transfiguration."

The bookworm nodded in confirmation.

"I can now tell Ash that we weren't going crazy," said Phoebe, turning back to the door. "Unless we can't tell anyone about this, then I can just tell her that Ron is crazy!"

"But I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"

"There must be something that happened around now he wants us to change," said Harry slowly. "What happened? We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago..."

Buckbeak!

Phoebe gasped. "'If you succeed more than one innocent life will be spared...'" she muttered. "Oh, My God! That's it!"

"What's it?" Hermione, Harry and Terence asked at the same time.

"Three hours ago, Buckbeak was executed!" Phoebe stated. "Dumbledore told us that if we succeed then more than one innocent life will be spared...Buckbeak was unfairly executed, he didn't do anything, and he was innocent! Dumbledore sent us back to this particular time, so that we could save Buckbeak!"

Harry frowned. "But how is that going to help Sirius?" he asked

"I don't know," Phoebe shrugged, turning to press her ear to the door. "Come on, I can't hear anyone else...let's go."

Phoebe pushed the door open. The Entrance Hall was deserted. As quietly and quickly as they could, they darted across the hall and down the steps. The shadows were already lengthening, the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest glided once more with gold.

"If anyone's looking out of the window -" Hermione squeaked, looking up at the castle behind them.

"They'll see four students walking around on the grounds," said Phoebe. "Relax; they won't know it's us."

Harry nodded. "If it makes you feel better, we'll run for it. Straight into the Forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout -"

"OK, but we'll go round by the greenhouses!" said Hermione breathlessly. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"

Harry looked confused, but before he could say anything Phoebe and Hermione and broke into a run. Both girls tore across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, paused for a moment behind them, then set off again, fast as they could, skirting around the Whomping Willow, tearing towards the shelter of the Forest.

Safe in the shadows of the trees, Phoebe turned and grinned as Harry and Terence joined them. "You know for a pair of Seekers, you guys are slow," she teased.

Both Terence and Harry glared at her.

Phoebe grinned. "Now, what?" she asked, turning to Hermione who was beside her panting.

"We need to sneak over to Hagrid's," Hermione answered. "Remember to keep out of sight."

"Yes, ma'am," Phoebe saluted, before turning back to the two boys. "Think you can keep up this time?"

But not waiting for an answer, the elemental turned and silently darted through the trees, keeping to the very edge of the Forest. Then, as they glimpsed the front of Hagrid's hut, they heard a knock upon his door. Glancing over her shoulder, Phoebe spotted the other three close by, and motioned for them to follow her closer towards the edge of the Forest.

Phoebe pressed up against a wide oak trunk and peered out from the side, she felt a body cover hers and glanced back to see Terence standing directly behind her; Harry and Hermione stood opposite her, peering around another large oak tree.

And then Harry's own voice reached them from Hagrid's front door.

"It's us. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off."

"Yeh shouldn't have come!" Hagrid whispered. He stood back, and then shut the door quickly.

"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry said fervently.

Phoebe glanced across at him. "Really? As if hunting a Basilisk wasn't weird enough for you?"

"Let's move along a bit," Hermione whispered. "We need to get nearer to Buckbeak!"

They crept through the trees until they saw the nervous Hippogriff, tethered to the fence around Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"Now?" Harry whispered.

"No!" said Hermione. "If we steal him now; those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!"

"That's going to give us a window of about sixty-seconds," said Phoebe.

"That's impossible!" Terence whispered. "There is no way you'll get him out of there without being caught!"

Phoebe bit her lower lip; this was starting to seem impossible.

At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside Hagrid's cabin.

"That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Hermione whispered. "I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment -"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard Hermione's shriek of surprise.

"Hermione," said Harry suddenly, "what if we - we just run in there, and grab Pettigrew -"

"No!" said Hermione and Phoebe.

Hermione shook her head, as Phoebe turned back to the hut.

"Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important Wizarding laws. Nobody is supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen -"

"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"

"Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?" said Phoebe.

"I'd - I'd think I'd gone mad," said Harry, "or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on -"

"Exactly!" said Hermione. "You wouldn't understand you might even attack yourself! Don't you see? Professor McGonagall told me what awful things that have happened when wizards have meddled with time...loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!"

Harry sighed. "OK! It was just an idea, I just thought - wait a minute, why can't he go in?" he pointed at Terence.

"Because when we come out," Phoebe answered, "he and James are waiting on top of the slope for us, and don't you think it will be a bit strange if he suddenly appears in Hagrid's hut and again on top of the slope? More to the point, why would he want Scabbers in the first place?"

"Because he knows who Scabbers is,"

Phoebe nodded. "He does! Past Terence doesn't! Think about it Harry, everything we know about Sirius and Pettigrew hasn't happened yet, either one of us breaking in there and demanding ourselves to hand over the Rat will cause chaos."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Phoebe," Terence murmured, he was staring up at the castle where a cluster of people where coming down the slope.

"Here they come," Phoebe confirmed. "We're about to come out!"

And sure enough, moments later, Hagrid's back door opened and the Golden Trio and Phoebe walked out of it with Hagrid.

"It's OK, Beaky, it's OK..." said Hagrid to Buckbeak. Then he turned to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Phoebe. "Go on. Get goin'"

"Hagrid, we can't -"

"We'll tell them what really happened -"

"They can't kill him -"

"Go! It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"

Phoebe watched herself grab Harry's arm and tugged him in the direction of the front of the house.

"Go quick," said Hagrid. "Don' listen..."

There was a knock on Hagrid's front door. The execution party had arrived. Hagrid turned around and headed back into his cabin, leaving the back door ajar. Phoebe watched as her past self-lead the way around the house.

"Please, let's hurry," Hermione whispered. "I can't stand it, I can't bear it..."

Fudge appeared in the window causing past Phoebe to withdraw backwards into past Harry; Terence tensed at the exchange out in the pumpkin patch, and glanced down at his girlfriend and then across at the Harry that hid behind a second oak tree; his arm wound around Phoebe's waist and he held he between himself and the tree.

"Go!" past Phoebe ordered and the four students in the pumpkin patch took off up the grassy slope. Past Harry grabbing Phoebe's hand and pulling her along behind him.

Despite their past self's had left, Harry, Hermione, Phoebe and Terence could hear everything that was being said inside the cabin from the door which stood ajar at the back of the house.

"Where is the beast?" came the cold voice of Macnair.

"Out - outside," Hagrid croaked.

Terence pulled Phoebe out of sight as Mcnair's face appeared at Hagrid's window, staring out at Buckbeak. Then they heard Fudge.

"We - er - have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it, Serefina. Macnair, you're supposed to listen too, that's procedure -"

Macnair's face vanished from the window. It was now or never.

"Wait here," Harry whispered to Hermione. "I'll do it."

As Fudge's voice started again, Harry darted out from behind his tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin patch and approached Buckbeak.

"It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the Hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called for condemned, shall be executed on the sixth of June at sundown. Sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair..."

Phoebe edged around the Forest towards the pumpkin patch where Buckbeak was staring at Harry, who was fumbling with the chain.

"Come on, Buckbeak," Harry murmured, "come on, we're going to help you. Quietly...quietly..."

"...witnessed below. Serefina, you sign here..."

Harry glanced up and spotted Phoebe, she was waving at him to hurry up. He shrugged, before throwing his weight onto the rope, but Buckbeak had dug in his front feet.

"Well, let's get this over with," said a reedy voice from inside Hagrid's cabin. "Hagrid, perhaps it would be better if you stayed inside -"

"No, I - I wan' ter be with him...I don' wan' him ter be alone -"

Footsteps echoed from within the cabin.

"Buckbeak, move!" Harry hissed, tugging harder on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. The Hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. They were still ten feet away from the Forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door.

"One moment, please, Macnair," came Dumbledore's voice. "You need to sign, too." The footsteps stopped. Harry heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little fast.

"Harry, hurry!" Phoebe mouthed, waving him urgently towards her.

Dumbledore's voice could still be heard talking from inside the cabin. Harry gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They had reached the trees.

"Quick! Quick!" Phoebe moaned, darting out from behind her tree, seizing the rope too and adding her weight to make Buckbeak move faster.

"Stop!" Harry whispered, when they were at a good distance from the garden. "They might here us -"

Hagrid's back door had opened with a bang. Harry, Phoebe and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the Hippogriff seemed to be listening intently.

Silence...then -

"Where is it?" said the reedy voice. "Where is the beast?"

"It was tied here!" said the executioner furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"

"How extraordinary," said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.

Phoebe frowned and turned to Harry, was it possible that Dumbledore...knew?

But how could he? He hasn't told us to go back in time yet the elemental thought, turning her attention back to the pumpkin patch.

"Beaky!" said Hagrid briskly.

There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung at the fence in anger, and then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs.

"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"

Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to get back to Hagrid. Harry and Phoebe tightened their grip and dug their heels into the Forest floor to stop him.

"Help!" Phoebe mouthed at Hermione and Terence, who darted forward silently and grabbed the rope, putting their own weight into keeping the Hippogriff beside them.

"Someone untied him!" the executioner was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the Forest -"

"Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" said Serefina. "Search the skies, if you must...but I have other arrangements that I must attend too. Hagrid. Headmaster."

"Serefina," Dumbledore said, his voice still sounding amused.

The sound of retreating footsteps alerted Phoebe and her friends to Serefina returning to the castle.

"Sirius must have James by now," Phoebe whispered. "If not History changes, because Serefina is going to catch us fighting with Crookshanks."

Harry nodded and looked around at Hermione. "Now what?" he whispered.

"We'll have to hide in here," said Hermione. "We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius' window. He won't be there for another couple of hours...oh; this is going to be difficult."

She looked nervously over her shoulder into the depths of the Forest. The sun was setting now.

"We're going to have to move," said Harry. "We've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on."

"OK," said Hermione, getting a firmer grip on Buckbeak's rope. "But we've got to keep out of sight, Harry, remember?"

They moved around the edge of the Forest, darkness falling thickly around them, until they were hidden behind a clump of trees through which they could make out the Willow.

"There we go..." Phoebe whispered, pointing at herself in the distance. She had approached the Whomping Willow and was lowering herself into the ground and out of sight. Hermione was next, followed by Harry, Terence and Ron. "We're in."

The moment they disappeared, the tree began to move again. Seconds later, they heard footsteps quite close by. Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge and the old Committee member were making their way up to the castle.

"Right after we'd gone down into the passage!" said Hermione. "If only Dumbledore had come with us...or if Serefina had caught us seconds before..."

"I would have been grounded for eternity!" Phoebe hissed.

"Not to mention Fudge and Macnair would've come too," said Harry bitterly. "I bet you anything Fudge would've told Macnair to murder Sirius on the spot..."

They watched the four men climb the castle steps and disappear from view. For a few minutes the scene was deserted. Then -

"Here comes Lupin!" said Harry, as they saw another figure sprinting down the stone steps and haring towards the Whomping Willow. Phoebe looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely.

They watched Lupin seize a broken branch from the ground and prod the knot on the trunk. The tree stopped fighting, and Lupin, too, disappeared into the gap between its roots.

"If he'd only grabbed the Cloak," said Harry. "It's just lying there..."

He turned to Hermione.

"If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and -"

"Harry, we mustn't be seen!"

"How can you stand this?" he asked Hermione fiercely. "Just standing here and watching it happen?" he hesitated. "I'm going to get it and -"

"Harry, no!" Phoebe hissed, grabbing her friend around the middle and holding him back, and not a moment too soon. Just then, they heard a burst of song. Hagrid was making his way up to the castle, singing at the top of his voice, and weaving slightly as he walked. A large bottle was swinging in his hands.

"See?" Hermione whispered. "See what would have happened? We've got to keep out of sight! No, Buckbeak!"

The Hippogriff was making frantic attempts to get to Hagrid again. Phoebe and Terence seized the rope, both straining to hold Buckbeak back. They watched Hagrid meander tipsily into the castle. He was gone. Buckbeak stopped fighting to get away. His head drooped sadly.

Barely two minutes later, the castle doors flew open yet again, and Snape had come charging out of them, running towards the Willow.

Harry's fists clenched as they watched Snape skid to a halt next to the tree, looking around. He grabbed the Cloak and held it up.

"Get your filthy hands off it," Harry snarled under his breath.

"Shh!" Phoebe hissed, prodding him in the ribs.

Snape seized the branch Lupin had used to freeze the tree, prodded the knot, and vanished from view as he put on the Cloak. No sooner had Snape disappeared, Serefina arrived.

Phoebe watched as her Godmother manipulated the Earth around the Willow, causing it to stop moving, she too, then disappeared. "Your Godmother can control elements too?" Hermione asked turning to her best friend.

"My whole family can," Phoebe answered. "I'm the only one who has control over all four elements though," she added, her mind snapping back to the conversation she had overheard between Serefina and the mysterious boy outside the Hospital wing.

"There are only two four-core elementals in existence, she is one of them!"

What had he meant? And what were the twin cores?

"So that's it," said Hermione quietly. "We're all down there...and now we've just got to wait until we come back up again..."

She took the end of Buckbeak's rope and tied it securely around the nearest tree, then sat down on the dry ground, arms around her knees. Harry mimicked her actions, as Terence pulled Phoebe onto his lap, and wrapped his arms around her, as she rested her head on his forehead.

"Harry," Phoebe called quietly. "There is something I don't quite understand...why didn't the Dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed out...there were so many of them..."

Harry glanced across at the elemental before explaining everything that had happened down at the Lake. He explained how, as the nearest Dementor had lowered its mouth to Harry's, a large silver something had come galloping across the lake and forced the Dementors to retreat.

"But what was it?" Hermione asked her mouth open slightly by the time Harry had finished.

"There's only one thing it could have been, to make the Dementors go," said Harry. "A real Patronus. A powerful one."

"But who conjured it?"

Harry didn't say anything.

"Didn't you see what they looked like?" said Hermione eagerly. "Was it one of the teachers?"

"No," said Harry. "He wasn't a teacher."

"So it was male," said Phoebe. "But it must have been a pretty powerful wizard, to drive all those Dementors away...If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see -?"

"Yeah, I saw him," said Harry slowly. "But...maybe I imagined it...I wasn't thinking straight...I passed out right afterwards..."

"Who do you think it was?"

"I think -" Harry swallowed, knowing how strange this was going to sound. "I think it was my dad."

Silence.

Phoebe and Hermione exchanged looks, before Phoebe addressed Harry in her usual soothing voice. "Harry, your dad's - well - dead," she said quietly.

"I know that," said Harry quickly.

"Do you think you saw his ghost?"

"I don't know...no...He looked solid..."

"But then -"

"Maybe I was seeing things," said Harry. "But...from what I could see...it looked like him...I've got photos of him..."

Hermione, however, was still looking at him as though worried for his sanity.

"I know it sounds mad," said Harry flatly. He turned away from the two girls and looked at Buckbeak instead, Phoebe frowned sadly, but didn't say anything else, instead she buried her face further into Terence's shoulder; as his arms wrapped around her tighter, as if protecting her from the breeze which had started to pick up around them.

The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting clouds. Hermione sat with her face turned towards the Whomping Willow, as Phoebe fought to remain conscious, as the silence played on her need to sleep.

And then, at last, after over an hour...

"Here we come!" Hermione whispered.

She, Harry, Phoebe and Terence got to their feet. Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Lupin, Ron and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots. Then came Hermione...then the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upwards. Next came Harry and Terence, then Phoebe, Serefina and Black. They all began to walk towards the castle.

Phoebe glanced at Harry, as if reading his thoughts, and touched his shoulder. "Harry, we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do..."

"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again..." said Harry quietly.

"How do you expect us to find a rat in the dark?" snapped Phoebe. "There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius. We're not supposed to be doing anything else!"

"All right!"

The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they saw movement...

"There goes Lupin," Hermione whispered. "He's transforming..."

"Hermione!" said Harry suddenly. "We've got to move!"

"We mustn't, I keep telling you -"

"Not to interfere! But Lupin's going to run into the Forest, right at us!"

Phoebe gasped. "He's right! We've got to get out of here!"

"Quick!" Hermione moaned. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide?"

"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now - come on!"

They ran, fast as they could. Buckbeak cantering along behind them. They could hear the werewolf howling behind them...

The cabin was insight. Harry skidded to the door, wrenched it open and Hermione, Terence and Buckbeak flashed past him; Harry threw himself in after them and bolted the door. Fang the boarhound barked loudly.

"Shh, Fang, it's us!" said Hermione. "That was really close!"

"Yeah...wait...where's Phoebe?" Harry asked, realizing that Phoebe was not present. He turned to Terence.

The Slytherin shook his head. "I don't know she was right behind me!"

"You don't think she remained in the forest, do you?" asked Hermione. "Remember what she said about Werewolves not affecting Elementals like they did Humans? That she was stronger, she could hold them off?"

"No, she wouldn't have stayed behind," Harry defended. "She only has control over two of her elements, and her Elemental core is still weak."

"So where is she then?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know..."

"We need to find her!" Terence said, looking out of the window into the growing darkness.

"I'll go out and look for her," Harry said. "Besides, I can't see anything from here; we won't know when it's time -"

Hermione looked up. Her expression was suspicious.

"I'm not going to try and interfere," said Harry quickly. "But if we don't see what's going on, how're we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius? Plus, we need visual on Phoebe!"

Terence hesitated. "I'm coming with you,"

"No! Phoebe would kill me if anything happened to you," Harry told him. "Stay here with Hermione and Buckbeak. I'll find Phoebe and bring her back."

The Slytherin glared at the younger Gryffindor male, his mind working overtime as he tried to quell his jealousy. He knew how close Phoebe and Harry were, and he also believed that there was nothing between them, but he couldn't shake the feeling of jealousy after seeing how many times Phoebe run off after Potter, or how many times it was always his girlfriend and Potter in life threatening situations. "Fine..." he grudgingly agreed.

Harry stepped outside again and edged around the cabin.

~*Phoebe*~

"Damn it," cursed a male voice. "We weren't supposed to knock her out, just grab her and talk to her!"

"What are we going to do?" asked another male voice. "There is a werewolf in these woods, and we have to get to the lake."

"Wait, isn't she supposed to be at the lake?"

"This is future Phoebe," answered the first male. "If I know Dumbledore, which living with an Elder has given me the privilege of knowing these things, he would have sent Phoebe back in time to save that Hippogriff."

"But why did he send four students back? Wouldn't it have been easier to send only Blackheart and Potter?"

There was a pause...a heavy intake of breath, before -

"She is not a Blackheart..."

"She was raised a Blackheart,"

"Being raised does not quell who you were born to be,"

There was another pause.

"Aiden, I know you are upset that Serefina gave you up at birth, and then agreed to raise his daughter, but you cannot take your anger of him out on Phoebe. She didn't do anything wrong."

"I am very aware that it is not Phoebe's fault!" the first voice - Aiden - stated. "But the fact remains, my own mother gave me up because I was a danger of ruining his family; and then several weeks later she agrees to raise his child? Another who is exactly like me, wouldn't it have made more sense to raise us together, rather than keep us apart?"

Aiden's companion sighed. "It is all very confusing and I am sure that Serefina has reasons for not raising you and Phoebe together; but you must understand that what she did with your father was against the rules. Not only was he a married man, but he was also expecting children when he got your mother pregnant with you..."

"DO YOU NOT THINK I KNOW THAT?" Aiden snarled, his eyes flickering cobalt blue, and a near-by tree burst into flames.

There was a whine; both Aiden and his companion whipped around, startled to find a werewolf snarling at them from a few feet away.

"SCRAM!"

There was a strangled scream and the two companions took off into the trees, leaving an unconscious Phoebe on the Forest floor with an approaching rabid Werewolf.

Lupin approached the unconscious student, lowered his snout and sniffed at her form; he backtracked slightly and sneezed before turning his head skyward and letting out a loud howl.

He considered Phoebe's body once more, before turning and taking off once more into the trees.

~*Phoebe*~

Phoebe groaned as her gaze slid back into focus, she blinked and looked around noticing the canopy of the trees above her. Then everything came flooding back. She was in the Forbidden Forest; she had been running behind Terence, Hermione and Harry back to Hagrid's cabin to avoid being killed by Professor Lupin who had now transformed into a werewolf.

A howl startled the elemental, causing her to push her bruised and battered body up off the floor. Whirling around, Phoebe looked in just about every direction for any indication that the werewolf was close, but she couldn't see anything and oddly enough this brought a little sense of comfort.

Phoebe paused at the sound of yelping in the distance. Sirius. That meant the Dementors were closing in on him...she and Harry would be running to him any moment...

Glancing over her shoulder, Phoebe could vaguely make out the outline of Hagrid's cabin through the trees, whoever or whatever had struck her during the run couldn't have done it any closer to civilization, could they? Were they stupid? Or plain idiotic? What if she had yelped or screamed? That would have caught the attention of her friends and then where would the attackers have been? And more to the point, why had it been her they had attacked? They were spoilt for choice, had four students to target and they had targeted her. Why?

They could have been Voldemort supporters Phoebe thought as her feet stumbled over roots and grass, and carried her in the direction of the Lake. But it was still risky for them to have attacked me in so close proximity of the others, unless they were that desperate...

Phoebe's thoughts disappeared as she reached the edge of the lake, there were the Dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake...they were moving away from where Phoebe stood, to the opposite bank, where tiny glimmers of silver appeared and disappeared.

"Harry..." Phoebe murmured, as she watched herself hit the ground on the opposite bank. Harry landed on his knees beside her as a flicker of silver protected him from a near-by Dementor, but it didn't last long; as the light flickered off the Dementor reached up and removed it's hood, before reaching out for Harry in front of it

Phoebe could feel her heart pounding in her ears, as she watched the Dementor pull Harry's face up towards its gaping mouth and start to suck in the air surrounding them.

I have to do something...

Taking a hesitant step forward, Phoebe removed her wand from inside of her jacket, raised it and -

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Phoebe jumped at the sudden yell of an all too familiar voice, spinning around she spotted Harry standing a few yards in front of her, on the edge of the lake. His wand outstretched in front of him. A blinding, dazzling, silver animal burst out from the tip of his wand. Phoebe raised her hand to protect her eyes from the fierce glare of the creature as it galloped silently away across the black surface of the lake. It lowered its head and charged at the swarming Dementors...now it was galloping around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the Dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness...they were gone.

The Patronus turned. It was cantering back towards the figure at the edge of the lake, which Phoebe recognized as Harry.

The Patronus stopped on the back. Its hooves made no mark on the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its antlered head. Harry raised his shaking hand to touch the silver mist as it vanished.

"Prongs," he whispered, as Phoebe approached him from behind. "It wasn't my dad who cast the Patronus. It was me...I just thought it was my dad..."

"It's because you are a carbon copy of your father, Harry," Phoebe answered. "I've seen the pictures of him, remember? You are exactly like him in every physical aspect! The only difference is your eyes. You have your mother's eyes."

Harry smiled as he looked down at the Elemental beside him; Phoebe returned the smile and reached out to take his hand. "Come on," she said softly. "We better get out of here before Snape arrives to 'save' us -" she nodded across the lake "- it's nearly time to save Sirius."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, and turning their backs on the lake the two friends hurried back up the slope and disappeared into the trees, missing the two figures that had appeared on the opposite bank, and had rolled past Phoebe over onto her back.

~*Phoebe*~

Hermione shook her head. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout and find Phoebe!"

"I just saved all our lives..." said Harry. "Phoebe, tell her!"

"He's telling the truth, Hermione," Phoebe nodded. "I just watched him cast a corporeal Patronus."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "You conjured a Patronus that drove away all those Dementors! That's very, very advanced magic...

"I know. I knew I could do it this time," said Harry, "because I'd already done it...Does that make sense?

"No," Hermione and Terence answered simultaneously.

Phoebe giggled and wrapped her arms around Terence's waist. "Don't worry, point is he just saved mine, Sirius and his own life, if he hadn't then we would be dead right now; and you two would have disappeared because you wouldn't have had to go back in time to save anyone.2

Terence nodded as he wrapped his arms around Phoebe's shoulders. "How's your head?" he asked, remembering that he had told them she had been struck from behind when they had been running for the cabin.

"Sore," Phoebe answered. "Whoever hit me went for a blitz attack. Cowards..."

Hermione smiled sympathetically. "Right, it's nearly time," she said tensely, looking at her watch. "We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing..."

They waited, watching the moving clouds reflected in the lake, while the trees around them whispered in the breeze. Buckbeak, bored, was ferreting for worms.

"D'you reckon he is up there yet?" said Harry, checking his watch. He looked up at the castle, and began counting the windows to the right of the West Tower.

"Look!" Phoebe whispered. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!"

The friends stared hard into the distance, trying to distinguish the moving figure across the law.

"Macnair!" said Terence. "He's gone to get the Dementors!"

"This is it," Harry said.

Hermione and Phoebe nodded, and according to plan, Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak's back and Harry gave her a leg up. Then he placed his foot on one of the lower branches of a near-by bush and climbed up in front of the bookworm. He pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like reins.

"Well meet you in the courtyard," Phoebe said looking up at them.

Harry nodded. "Be careful, Professor Lupin is still in here somewhere."

"We're not that far away," Phoebe reassured him. "Go get Sirius and meet us in the courtyard. Go on! And be careful."

"OK," Harry nodded again. "Ready? You'd better hold onto me, Hermione..."

He nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels.

Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air, leaving Phoebe and Terence on the Forest floor as Harry and Hermione headed towards the castle.

"Come on," Phoebe said, turning to Terence. "We don't have much time..."

She started to walk away.

Reaching out, Terence caught her hand and pulled her back. Phoebe stumbled into him. "What are yo -" she started but cut off as Terence leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled away, Phoebe frowned. "What was that for?"

"Felt like it," Terence answered.

Phoebe considered him for a split second, before smiling. "You're weird..." she told him. "But I like you."

"I like you too,"

The Gryffindor giggled as she dropped her head onto his chest. "Come on, Harry and Hermione would have rescued Sirius by now."

And slipping away from his embrace, she grabbed his hand and pulled him across the darkened grounds towards the Courtyard.

A shadow fell over them and Phoebe didn't need to look up to know that it was Buckbeak returning to the courtyard with Harry, Hermione and Sirius perched on his back.

~*Phoebe*~

Buckbeak landed with a clatter on the battlements and Harry and Hermione slid off of him as Phoebe and Terence joined them.

"Sirius, you'd better go, quickly," Harry panted. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you've gone."

Buckbeak pawed the ground, tossing his sharp head.

"Where is James?" Sirius asked urgently, "and the other boy? Ron?"

"They're OK - Ron is still out of it, and James is mending nicely," Phoebe answered, "Madam Pomfrey says she will be able to make them better. But you better go, quickly - go find Samantha, explain to her everything that has happened, go have the life you were supposed to have!"

But Black was stared at her for a moment, a ghost of a smile on his lips at the mention of his wife.

"How can I ever thank -"

"GO!" Harry, Hermione and Phoebe shouted together.

Black wheeled Buckbeak around, facing the open sky.

"We'll see each other again," he said. "You are - truly your father's son, Harry..."

He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. Harry, Hermione, Phoebe and Terence jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more...the Hippogriff took off into the air...he and his rider became smaller and smaller as Harry gazed after them...then a cloud drifted across the moon...they were gone.


Copyrighted ©

Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx

Chapter updated Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 3:20am