69

Ginny's horse Patronus looked almost like a gleaming unicorn as it stepped lightly through the gloom and snow, illuminating everything around it. If Ginny hadn't been so desperate and frantic to find the others, she might have felt smug at the Dementors' obvious frustration, at the resentful way they hung back just outside the reach of her Patronus's light. As it was, she only spared them an angry glance every now and then, making sure they were keeping their distance. Most of her attention was on the Homenum Revelio spells she kept casting, always to no avail.

She had lost her enchanted coin in the fall, not to mention her broom - the Dementors had ripped that straight out of her hands only seconds after Severus had fallen - and she had no idea where she was, which direction she should walk in, or where any of her friends might be, assuming they were even still alive. She felt like she had been walking for hours in this endless gloom, but she suspected it had been more like twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes, and no sign of anyone, not even a Death Eater. It made Ginny uneasy. This shapeless gray world made her feel as if she'd stepped through another gate, into some other reality, a cold, wretched, empty reality. She wondered if the Dementors had come from a place like this. Had there been humans there, once? Had the Dementors destroyed them all? How could they have come into being in the first place?

She shook the thoughts away. The Dementors' origins were irrelevant now. She just needed to get away from them. But was that even possible? What if they simply followed her wherever she went? Even if she made it outside the wards, she couldn't just leave. All of her friends were trapped in this gloom, too.

Or dead. Trapped or dead.

Ginny shivered, and her Patronus tossed its head, its mane wispier than it should be, starting to dissolve into the gray.

Get a grip, Ginny.

She focused on her usual happy memories - stealing her brothers' brooms out of the shed at the Burrow so she could teach herself to fly, laughing at the twins' adventures, the smell of her mother's cooking, her dad's smile, Harry's wonder at all the magic in their lives, Harry's adorable shyness whenever she tried to take the next step - and then added one more, an incredulous sense of triumph that she had, however briefly, faced down Lord Voldemort and won. All by herself, too.

Of course, destroying the locket had also sort of been facing him down, but she hadn't been alone then; Snape had been right there, convinced she could speak Parseltongue and open the locket, even willing to hand over a basilisk fang, however briefly. It was bizarre to realize that the person she was most looking forward to telling about her latest Dark Lord encounter was Snape, of all people.

She snorted. Uncle Sev. Merlin, but their lives had changed.

Feeling encouraged, or at least a little more sure of herself, she cast the Homenum Revelio spell once again, and felt a triumphant surge of happiness when the spell swept over a living human.

It could be a Death Eater, she reminded herself.

Then at least I'll have something to do, the most Gryffindorish part of her brain responded.

There wasn't much point in being stealthy in her approach. She couldn't extinguish her Patronus, and it was no doubt a beacon to anyone near enough to be touched by the revealing spell. She only hoped that, if it was a Death Eater, the stupid git was so desperate for a Patronus that he didn't immediately attack.

Nonetheless, she got a Shield Charm in place, just in case.

But she knew, long before she found the person, that it wasn't a Death Eater. The faintest hint of silver glowed through the mist somewhere ahead: another Patronus. Ginny couldn't make out its shape, but she knew it wouldn't belong to a Death Eater. The only Death Eater who had ever been able to cast one was Snape, and he'd been a traitor, thankfully.

And speaking of Snape… The Patronus ahead of her was beginning to take form, and she was almost certain it was a doe. It was faint, its outline blurring into the mist as if the conjurer was struggling to hold the spell, but it definitely wasn't a stag.

She would have been happier to find Harry, but it was very strange indeed to realize she was almost as happy it was Snape.

But why was he casting a Patronus? He'd made it out of Azkaban without one. Was there someone with him, someone who needed protecting? Someone he wasn't able to just Transfigure into an animal?

Frowning, Ginny hurried forward, tripping a little in the snow and squinting as the reflection of her Patronus in the mist only made it more difficult to discern the Patronus ahead of her. But yes, there it was - definitely a doe, definitely fading.

And then, as the light of the two Patronuses shone in hair that was a darker red than her own, Ginny understood.

Lily was curled up in the snow, her wand hand shaking, her green eyes fixed not on her own Patronus, but on Ginny's. Hope and fear vanished into sheer relief as she recognized Ginny, and in the same moment her struggling doe vanished.

"Hey!" Ginny said sharply, lunging forward as the Dementors swept from the mist toward Lily. Ginny wasn't close enough that her Patronus could protect them both. It galloped ahead, then back, tossing its head wildly as the Dementors tried to find some way around it.

Then Ginny was at Lily's side, and the Dementors, to her angry satisfaction, had to concede defeat.

"Lily," she said, "are you hurt?" Not waiting for an answer, she tugged the glove off Lily's left hand to make sure the ring was still glowing. A soft blue light fell over the snow all around them.

"Thank Merlin," she breathed.

"I'm not hurt much," Lily said, in a small voice. "Just so tired… There are so many… And it's so c-cold…"

"Here," Ginny said, reaching into a pocket. She'd been saving her single Chocolate Frog for an emergency, and a pregnant Lily lying here on the verge of passing out seemed to qualify.

Lily's fingers were shaking too much to unwrap the chocolate, so Ginny did it for her, handing the frog over before putting her own, much better gloves on Lily's hands and wrapping her cloak around the girl's shoulders.

"You'll be cold," Lily said, but Ginny could tell the protest was half-hearted.

"You're pregnant," Ginny said, which effectively ended all argument. "Here."

It felt reckless to conjure a fire, but her Patronus was already filling the gloom with light, so why not add a little warmth? Bright orange flames burst to life in front of them, sizzling into the snow, and Ginny had to hold her wand steady to keep them going. Lily let out a little sob of relief, and crowded almost too close to the flames for safety.

For several moments they sat in silence, Lily gazing into the fire, Ginny alternating between watching her and peering out at their surroundings. Dementors hovered at the edges of her vision, but with her Patronus so strong, she wasn't afraid of them.

Lily was, though. Ginny could see the way her eyes flickered up every once in a while, furtive and frightened. She wondered if the fear was for her or the child inside her. What did Dementors do to unborn babies, anyway? Could they suck the happiness out of them? Were the babies even capable of being happy yet? If a pregnant woman was Kissed, could they Kiss the baby, too?

If the Dementors did affect babies, then Narcissa's baby was probably going to be even worse than the Draco Malfoy of Ginny's world. Unless the same thing had happened to him? Maybe that was why he was such a git…

But no, a pregnant woman in Azkaban would have been a complete scandal in her world. Everyone would have known about it. Here, though… When rape was Ministry-sanctioned, how could a pregnant woman in Azkaban raise any brows?

She knew Harry was convinced this world had been messed up by their presence, but she couldn't agree. This place was dark, horrible, a twisted version of their own already fairly twisted world. She wondered if there were darker worlds even than this - or maybe lighter worlds, better worlds than her own. Worlds without Voldemort. Worlds without Dementors.

Harry was getting himself worked up over the idea of fixing not just this but many worlds, and she understood, she really did. But would she be able to keep going with him, if he decided to do this again? When she imagined her future, it was always with him in it, but it was their future, not the past of some other world. Could she live her life like this, for him?

She looked at her Patronus, the wild, powerful horse. She wasn't like Lily; her Patronus didn't match her partner's. She couldn't imagine there ever being a time when her horse might turn into a timid doe. And she knew Harry's would never change from a stag - from his father's form. Did that mean they didn't belong together? Or did it just mean they were both too stubborn to change for each other? Could it work out if they didn't?

It couldn't work out if Harry went off on more otherworldly missions, and she stayed behind. One or the other of them would have to make the sacrifice - to stay or to go. And Ginny didn't want to go. She had gone willingly, this once, but to do this again, and again, and again? She looked back at Lily. Could he really expect her to give up their future, so his parents could live?

Lily caught her staring, and must have seen some of the dissatisfaction in her face. "Should we go? Do you know how to get out?"

"No," Ginny said. "And as we don't have brooms, getting beyond the wards won't change anything. We can't Apparate."

Lily looked almost guilty, her hand automatically moving to her abdomen.

"Can you conjure a Patronus again?" Ginny asked. "Maybe we can send a message. I can't imagine it would hurt, sending people Patronuses in this mess." She gestured at the gloom around them, in which they could both clearly see Dementors moving.

"All right," Lily said. "Expecto Patronum!"

Her doe materialized, much stronger than before. The fire and chocolate had obviously done her a lot of good.

"Tell it to find whoever's closest," Ginny said. "There's no point in sending it to someone who could be miles away, we don't even know if anyone has brooms anymore. They went straight for mine…"

"Ours, too," Lily said. "All right… Er, could you find whichever of our friends is closest, and tell them Lily and Ginny are here, and to follow you back to us?"

The doe arched its neck downward in a nod, then darted away, vanishing gracefully into the mist. For several minutes neither of them spoke. Then Lily said quietly, "What if it can't find anyone?"

Ginny turned away from the Dementors to stare at her. "Don't be stupid."

"But -"

Ginny only narrowly resisted the urge to point out that if Lily, of all people, had survived, even after captivity and torture, then there could be no doubt most of the others had. Instead she said, "Everyone out here survived Azkaban last night. They know how to protect themselves from Dementors. Most of them have strong Patronuses, and even if for some reason they can't conjure them, they have other ways of protecting themselves. Hermione can Transfigure her mouth away. Prince can Occlude. Sirius and James can turn into animals. The only one I'd be worried about is Severus…" Ginny trailed off, disturbed by the thought, wondering if the younger Snape could Occlude well enough to protect himself, or if his crush on Hermione was enough to give him a decent Patronus.

And he had been on her broom. His safety had been her responsibility. She knew there wasn't anything she could have done to stop him from falling - she hadn't even been able to stop herself from falling - but the worry remained.

"What about Harry?" Lily asked.

Ginny looked at her, not surprised that she hadn't spared much time on Severus, but a little surprised that she was worried about Harry. James must have told her, then.

"If anyone's all right, it's Harry," she said. "He's got the strongest Patronus of anyone I know. He could cast it in his third year…"

Lily's eyes widened. "In his third year?"

"Yeah," Ginny said. "It's one of his best spells. And if anyone managed to stay on his broom, it's him. He was the youngest Seeker in a century. Although come to think of it, he did fall off his broom when Dementors were around… But that was before he knew how to conjure a Patronus. It's why he learned, actually. So he could keep playing Quidditch." She rolled her eyes affectionately.

Lily was staring at her almost hungrily, the way Ginny had sometimes seen Harry look at the photo album of his parents. Her hand was on her stomach again.

"Your baby might be different," Ginny said, not bothering to pretend she didn't know what Lily was thinking. "All the circumstances are different, the timing, everything…"

"Then it didn't happen this way?"

"No," Ginny said. "Definitely not."

"But how is this even possible? Time travel -"

"Sorry," Ginny said. "Prince gave us strict instructions not to tell."

"Prince?" Lily said sharply. "You mean Severus, don't you? Severus Snape?"

"Well, I don't call him Severus. I prefer 'Uncle Sev.'"

"But he's the one who did this? He figured it out?"

"Him or Hermione. I'm not sure which. Harry's the one who actually did it, though. No one else would have been that reckless."

"But… what if he dies? Or, I mean, what if he's never born?"

Ginny shrugged. "I told you, I can't tell you the details."

"But if he's never born -"

"You'll still have a baby," Ginny said impatiently. "Things will just turn out differently for you, that's all."

Lily looked appalled. "How can you be so - so -"

"None of it's happened yet," Ginny said. "This is… a different timeline."

Slowly, Lily said, "And your timeline… it'll still be there?"

"Yep. So don't worry about Harry. He'll be fine. Assuming we get out of this mess."

Lily looked troubled. "And this timeline… there isn't any way to erase it? To go back and save all those people at the wedding? That could only happen in… a different timeline?"

"As far as I know." Ginny wasn't sure if that was true - she knew there was a Gate of Time, although she knew next to nothing about it - but, no matter how much she wished the massacre at Godric's Hollow hadn't happened, she didn't think Lily Potter messing around with the Gates of Azkaban could possibly end well.

Worse, she'd involve James. And Ginny had seen enough to know that Harry's dad wasn't half the man Harry was becoming, Harry's obsession with saving his parents aside.

Lily was still processing what Ginny had said. "And Harry… everything that happened in your timeline, with us dying, that's all… permanent?"

Ginny couldn't mistake the sadness in Lily's eyes for anything other than compassion for her son, and she felt herself softening a little toward the other girl. "Yeah, it's permanent."

Lily shuddered, tears filling her eyes. "So he came here… so we could live… without him? It won't change anything for him?"

"He's not trying to change it for himself," Ginny said. "He just wants you to get to live."

Lily let out a little sob. "But what about him? My baby…" She had her arms wrapped around her midriff now, hunching forward to encircle it. "He won't ever have… us?"

Ginny sighed, and sat down beside her, putting her arm around the girl who might have become her mother-in-law in a different world. "He did have you, in a way. Your love kept him alive."

Lily looked at her, teary-eyed and confused.

Ginny sighed again. "All right, I'll tell you some of it. It started with this prophecy…"

Severus had taken a leaf out of Hermione's book, and Transfigured his mouth away. He wasn't as skilled at Transfiguration as she was; McGonagall had never taught them this particular spell, and he could feel from the uneven ridges in his mouth that he hadn't achieved quite the smooth expanse of skin Hermione no doubt had, but the Dementors weren't getting in, and that was all that mattered.

He had also managed, to his amazement, a wispy, silvery, incorporeal Patronus. His Occlumency shields had started collapsing even before he was wrenched off of Ginny's broom, and by the time he hit the ground with magically reduced momentum, he had been nearly broken beneath the weight of the memories flooding into him. Summoning up a memory of kissing Hermione in Azkaban had taken all of his resolve, but it had given him this: the barest hint of protection, enough to keep the Dementors at least a few feet away from him, though he felt like his Patronus was every second in danger of collapse.

But his luck had held, more than he could have possibly anticipated: the silver of his Patronus had glinted off something gold in the snow - a Galleon. And not just any Galleon, but one of Hermione's Galleons. He didn't know who it belonged to - Ginny, maybe, or one of the others, if the others had also been attacked mid-air. But it had burned recently, melting the snow around it as it flared hot with a message. HG alive.

That had strengthened his Patronus considerably, and although it was still incorporeal, it was bright enough that the Dementors had to back off a little more, leaving him room to at least breathe, and send a reply. She answered that she was heading west, and he was halfway through casting a compass spell when he paused, guilt spiraling through him.

He had to at least try to find Ginny, didn't he?

But his revelatory spells revealed nothing. Aside from the Galleon, he found no sign of her. Maybe she had stayed on the broom, unlike him. She had clearly been a skilled flyer, and her Patronus had been nothing short of blinding. She could have stayed airborne, and been driven away from him. She could even now be searching for some sign of him.

But what sign could he give her? In this mist, any sparks or flare would go unseen. And even if there had been no mist, he would have hesitated to send so obvious a signal, when there were still presumably Death Eaters around.

Yet he saw no sign of them, nor of Inferi. Only Dementors surrounded him, waiting impatiently for his shapeless Patronus to fade. Severus gripped his wand tightly, resisting the fears that seemed to creep, not from within him, but from the wraithlike creatures all around. Stray, terrifying thoughts reached out for him from the mist. What if something happened to Hermione? What if Ginny was dead? Where were Lily and the baby? And where was his older self?

He pushed the thoughts away, determined to have hope, even if the coin in his hand stayed cold, even if no one else echoed his and Hermione's messages of survival. It felt strange to focus so intently on feelings he had felt so rarely: hope, faith, friendship, trust. How often had he dismissed such things as weaknesses? But now they were the only protection he had. He might not be in danger from the Kiss, with his mouth in this state, but madness? How long could he endure the combined malice of what appeared to be every Dementor in Britain?

He drove the fear away, staying close to his Patronus and searching, still, for any sign of Ginny. It was several minutes later that he saw his first trace of another human.

Footprints, small enough that he was certain they were feminine, but closely followed by another pair, large enough that they must have been a man's. He couldn't tell if the two were together. It looked like they had both been running - snow was kicked in every direction - but whether they were running as allies, or as enemies, he couldn't tell.

There was nothing to do but follow them, and he did, cautious now, half-tempted to banish his Patronus so he would have the advantage of approaching without light. He felt recovered enough now that his Occlumency shields might hold, at least for a little while. Dare he risk it?

He balanced his wand in one hand, the coin in the other. Then, steeling himself, he let the Patronus fade.

His shields bent beneath the force of hunger that slammed into him, the Dementors gliding closer, though his sealed mouth was still an obstacle they could not overcome. He held on to that thought, imagining his mind was similarly sealed, impenetrable and defiant in the face of their greed.

Despair still clung to him, but no memories surfaced, and Severus stepped forward, aiming a few strong hexes at the hands that reached for his robes. They could only temporarily deter the Dementors - hexes had very little effect against beings of so little substance - but their hands were physical, and a jolt of hot magic could sting them, if only for a moment.

Angry, the Dementors backed off, still close enough to feed on him, but not touching him, and not hindering his path. Maybe it didn't matter to them if he found the two he was following; maybe they had already been Kissed. Regardless, Severus found himself slowly but steadily moving forward, his shields trembling, his eyes watering with the pain of it. He wanted his Patronus back, but getting hit by a Death Eater's Killing Curse because he was lit up like a Christmas tree was a risk he couldn't take.

And yet, despite his fears, he thought he saw, not the green of a curse, but the silver of a Patronus ahead of him. Heart leaping, he rushed forward, ignoring the crunch of snow beneath him, ignoring everything but the hope that distant glow had given him.

He had almost reached the light when he realized, with a spasm of horror, that it was a gleaming shark swimming through the mist.

Severus stopped running immediately, momentarily too panicked to realize why the sight filled him with dread. Then he remembered Azkaban, and Crouch coming to see him, just after he had halfway escaped and managed to race back to his cell with a potentially unconvincing cover story. The shark had been there, too, darting back and forth in front of the cell bars with those cold, dead eyes. He could see those eyes now, empty and glowing as the Patronus slid through the gloom with jerky, aggressive movements.

Severus sank into the snow, making himself smaller, holding his shields in place with enormous effort. His hatred and, yes, fear of Crouch threatened to overwhelm him, but he pressed it down.

He could duel the man. He might have to, if Crouch found him, here so close to the Death Eaters' lair. Severus couldn't imagine that the wizard who had cast a Cruciatus Curse on his own colleague and murdered his own house-elf would give Severus time to explain that he had been a prisoner, and not one of the Death Eaters Crouch was no doubt seeking.

But what was he doing here? Were the Aurors here, as well? Hadn't Crouch been in Azkaban? Had the Death Eaters captured him, too? Had he escaped like Severus and Lily? Or had he escaped Azkaban during the confusion, and tracked the Death Eaters down? What was he after?

Severus had no time to ponder the matter further. He could hear footsteps crunching through the snow all-too-near. Did he want to duel Crouch? Could he win?

Then he heard, not more footfalls, but a woman's scream, a tormented scream, a scream like those Severus had heard emerge from his own mouth last night while Bellatrix tortured him. And, in the moment the screaming stopped, Severus thought he heard a man's laughter.

The crunching footsteps turned instantly in the other direction, no longer moving steadily, but running. Severus didn't hesitate. As the shark Patronus swept away, he followed, Silencing his feet as he went.

The shark's sudden sharp turn was all the warning he had that Crouch had stopped running. Severus dropped again, peering through the gloom, seeing only indistinct figures illuminated by the mist. Then he heard Crouch's voice, very near and very harsh.

"SON!"

It took Severus only an instant to realize that the man who was torturing the woman must be Barty, Jr., and an instant more to ascertain from the woman's sobs that she was still alive. The shark Patronus swept over her, and Severus saw Dementors sweep back, as if they had been gathering around her. He couldn't see her, but Crouch said, "Alice Longbottom."

"Yes," Barty said. "I owed her, for last night. But the Dementors will see to her now."

"My Patronus -"

"Will only last as long as you are alive, father. Avada Ked-"

"Crucio!"

The spells lanced out simultaneously, and Severus saw both figures dodge. He flattened himself against the snow, feeling more than seeing the Killing Curse race past him. He needed to find cover.

He needed to get to Alice before the shark disappeared.

Inching around the edge of what was rapidly becoming a fierce duel, Severus ignored the warring Crouches as much as was possible while still keeping an eye out for stray spells, his attention fixed on Alice. He could see her now, but her face was unrecognizable, covered in blood. It was only as he got closer that he saw why.

"Admit it, father!" Barty shouted. "You always wanted this! You've dreamed of it! I know I have!"

Severus tried to ignore the memory of shouting at his own father that way the summer after his mother had died, the summer Severus had been of age, and capable of using magic against his father without detection.

"You are no son of mine!" Crouch shouted.

Yes, this fight was all too similar to his memories. But his own father had been helpless, and so Severus had held back. He already knew no such mercy would be shown here.

He reached Alice finally, and met her horrified, agonized eyes with pity as he saw the ruin of her face. It looked as though she had vanished her mouth, as he had - and Barty, wanting to give her to the Dementors, had cut her face open again, leaving a crooked gash where her mouth should have been.

Alice was sobbing, but couldn't speak. Without lips, with only this bleeding horror, what words could she hope to form?

Severus could say nothing, with his mouth sealed, but he met her gaze and pressed a finger to his blank face, where his lips should have been. They could not afford to draw the wizards' attention now. The shark was darting back and forth between Crouch and Alice, illuminating the scene in shifting shades of silver and gray. Silently, Severus began casting a healing spell, the same one he had designed for Sectumsempra. It was with relief that he saw her skin begin to heal.

The Dementors understood what was happening. He felt their sudden rage, their cold darkness rushing forward only to be driven back by the cold-eyed shark that darted their way again. Severus knew it couldn't be much longer; sooner or later one or both of the Crouches would be dead, and the shark would either reveal his presence or vanish altogether.

But Alice's face was nearly smooth again now, only a scar lingering where moments before there had been a gaping hole. She might have the scar forever, a rough line across her lips once her mouth was restored. With dittany, Severus might have done more, but as it was…

Alice's eyes showed only relief, though. She reached up and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it tightly before letting it go. A silent thank you.

Then her hand was gone, searching the snow for what he immediately realized must be her wand.

Accio wand! Severus thought. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then the wand spun through the mist toward them, landing neatly in Alice's hand. She waved the wand immediately, conjuring half a dozen hummingbird Patronuses with a single spell. Grabbing Severus by his robes, she wrenched him up and started running.

"No!" a voice shouted behind them, and a spell shot between them, blasting into a tree in front of them and igniting it in flames. Alice fell back from the blast, and Severus went back for her, only to gasp as the fiery tree seemed to rise up, its branches reaching for the sky, its heat suddenly unbearable.

Severus met Alice's gaze for one terrified moment, as they both fully understood what spell Barty had cast. Then she dodged one way, he another, as the fiery tree, no longer consisting of any wood, slammed down between them.

He saw her running, her hummingbird Patronuses dull in comparison to the brilliant orange that had exploded around them. Even the Dementors were falling back, and Severus couldn't help seizing on that thought. If he could gain control of this fire -

Behind him, he heard shouts from the Crouches, not of anger this time but of pain. Barty was not concentrating on the fire; how could he be? Severus, still staggering away from it, raised his wand and bent all his will toward it.

The tip of his wand glowed orange as well, his own Fiendfyre racing to the surface so easily he was almost startled by it. Then his flames joined the raging tree of fire, and it was no longer a tree, but a great dragon, spreading its wings across the sky and setting a hundred Dementors ablaze.

Severus felt astonishment, joy, fury, fiery satisfaction. He knew Fiendfyre could not destroy the wraiths, but it burned their robes and, no doubt, their clammy, decaying skin. They fled so frantically that, with sudden clarity, he saw the blue of the sky, streaked gold with sunlight, and red with the sparks of his magic.

But he couldn't hold the spell forever; not all of the magic was his own, and he could feel it fighting him, although whether at Barty's direction or of its own volition, he wasn't sure. Gasping at the effort, he tried to force it down, feeling almost feverish as the fire fought him, watching as his dragon twisted and transformed into something hideous, some mutated beast that was a reflection of another wizard's soul.

Gritting his teeth, he strained against the fire, refusing to give it free reign, refusing to relinquish control. He felt as though every spark of magic within him had been drawn into this battle, as though his body itself had become fire.

Then, with no warning, the resistance vanished, and his magic crushed the Fiendfyre so utterly that the force of it threw him back in the snow, his body suddenly like ice.

For a few brief moments, he lay there panting in bright daylight, the early sunlight sweeping across the distant mist and rendering it almost beautiful. He could see why the Fiendfyre's resistance to him had failed; Barty's body was lying motionless and bloody in the snow, his eyes as open and empty as the shark's. But the shark, too, was gone; Crouch, Sr. was lying motionless as well, dead like his son.

Severus just had time to process this when he saw the waves of mist rolling toward him, racing in from every direction. And there, racing ahead of the tide, was -

"Hermione!" he tried to shout, but without a mouth the sound was strangled. She had no mouth either, but he could see that she had seen him, and he scrambled to his feet, sprinting toward her. He could see her otter Patronus trying to hold off the Dementors behind her, but the mist was closing in, about to overtake her.

Hermione! he tried to yell again, involuntarily. Hermione! Expecto Patronum!