I don't own Harry Potter. Never will.
Edit: As of March 24th, this work has also been posted to AO3 under the same username.
The sun had set long ago, but the Whomping Willow's frozen silhouette was still standing proudly against the darkening sky. For the past hour, Harry and Hermione have waited patiently nearby, knowing their past selves would soon appear along with their friend Ron, Professors Lupin and Snape, and the accused murderer Sirius Black.
The memories of the Shrieking Shack were still fresh in Harry's mind, as the ongoing events only passed a few hours ago. Sirius Black was innocent, Peter Pettigrew was alive and breathing, and no one knew except them.
Harry wanted nothing more than for the world to know the truth. How Sirius Black never betrayed his parents, how it was Peter Pettigrew who killed the twelve muggles and framed Harry's godfather. But a few minutes from now, the rat will manage to escape once again.
"Harry," Hermione said. "Do you know why the Dementors let Sirius go? I was under the assumption that the Dementors were to kiss him on sight. Unless..." She turned her head to face him. "You were able to cast a Patronus. You've never done it in front of them before and..." he reeled his head to meet her inquisitive stare.
"No, I wasn't able to do anything. It wasn't me," Harry said. "Someone else did, I don't know who it was." If there was one thing that disturbed him most about tonight, it was the mystery figure that produced the lustrous Patronus that had rescued both Sirius and himself. "It is almost as if I should know, they felt as if they were distant somehow."
"Distant? As if they cast it from far away-"
"Not physically, no," Harry said hastily. "But like they lost a piece of something — something that feels familiar... almost as if we lost it together," Harry finished in a whisper.
It wasn't until Hermione noticed movement by the Whomping Willow that either of them spoke again.
"Look, we are coming back out" Hermione muttered. Harry looked up to find seven figures that seemed to emerge from the heart of the tree, though not all of them were on two feet. Both Severus Snape and Wormtail were floating a few feet off the ground, courtesy of Remus Lupin. Though unlike Snape, Wormtail was also stuck in a full body bind. Harry couldn't find it within himself to be too concerned about their health.
"We still have a few minutes until he transforms," Hermione said, eyes searching the horizon. Harry found she was right, the sun had set a while ago, but the glow of the full moon was already starting to appear over the Scottish hillside.
"Yeah," Harry said lamely. Even though he knew what was going to happen, it did not mean he was looking forward to it.
"I knew the transformation was painful, but after seeing it..." her voice dropped to a mere murmur. "To go through so much pain every full moon, and to lose control of yourself for an entire night. No one should have to endure that." Harry noticed droplets began to form in her eyes as she said this. Not knowing what to do, Harry wrapped his arm stiffly around her, wanting to comfort his friend in any way possible.
When Harry noticed Sirius pull his past self aside, he told Hermione "Sirius invited me to live with him once he is freed, after this is all over."
Hermione looked up at him with a sincere smile. "That's great Harry," she said. Tears still stained her cheeks, but her genuine happiness for him was evident.
"I am never returning to the Dursleys again," Harry declared. "We are going to find a nice house, somewhere where he can see the sky and we can play quidditch. We will have a large meadow where he can run freely and roam the countryside as a dog. The house doesn't have to be large, just a home. For the two of us."
A piercing howl into the still night propelled both Harry and Hermione onto their feet. Only a few yards away, Remus Lupin's mind found itself suffocating under the pressure of the full moon as the Moony's animal instinct took its place as the leader of his body.
As Lupin lost command of his body, his grip on his wand loosened allowing it to drop to the ground. As soon as the magic holding Peter faded he leaped forward and seized the fallen wand. With a wave, he transformed himself into a rat and began to scamper into the forest.
"Not this time you don't," Harry growled, but just as he put a foot forward he felt a tug on his arm.
"No Harry, you can't!" Hermione hissed grabbing his arm. "We can't interfere."
"Hermione, that man betrayed my parents, I am not letting him get away again. Not while I can prevent it."
"But remember why we are here. We rescued Buckbeak, now we need to free Sirius. If we don't help him tonight he is already dead."
If Hermione's unyielding grip hadn't stopped him, her words would've completely halted any substantial momentum he possessed. Even though he knew she was right, he couldn't ignore the burning ache he felt when the outline of a rat vanished into the distant underbrush.
An enraged growl brought their attention back to the Whomping Willow, where Sirius had already transformed into Padfoot and was locked in an intense battle with Moony the Werewolf.
The two exchanged a string of blows before Black managed to find himself on the werewolf's back and began to shred into its neck. The wailing lycanthrope threw himself backward sending Padfoot flying into the air and onto his back where he landed with a yelp. The werewolf took this as an opening to dash into the Forbidden Forest, with Sirius quick to pick himself back up onto his feet and commenced the chase.
"Let's go, we need to follow them," Harry said. Hermione gave him a curt nod, and they were off.
They rushed deep into the forest, heading in the general direction of every howl, yelp, and bark they heard. Using this as a guide they quickly found themselves near a small clearing with the two enraged combatants.
Both Padfoot and Moony were wounded, with fur matted in a mix of mud and blood. Sirius was particularly injured. While bearing no extreme outward cuts, his front left paw was slightly twisted and his breathing came out heavily labored.
It was then Harry realized where they were, this was the clearing he had found Sirius in with the dementors. The place where the mysterious figure had saved both of them with a Patronus like Harry had never seen before. Harry scanned the edges of the clearing, hoping their savior had arrived early and was watching, just as he and Hermione were.
Before Harry could relay this information to Hermione, the werewolf charged at Sirius. As the distance between the two lessened Padfoot deepened into a crouch and pushed himself into a leap.
As soon as a sharp cry left Sirius's mouth Harry knew the animagus had miscalculated his jump. The charging werewolf's head found Sirius's underside, sending him flying back towards the heart of the clearing.
All his senses seemed to drain from Harry's body as he watched Moony trudge victoriously towards Sirius, who was beginning to return to his human form.
As the werewolf towered over Sirius's frame, instinct took hold over Harry's body. His hand searched the ground grasping the closest rock and with a cry, he hurled in the direction of the werewolf.
"Wait! Harry!" He heard Hermione's warning, but it was too late. The rock had left his hand hitting Moony squarely on the head. The werewolf whipped its head around to face them. It bared its teeth, curling its lips up into a snarl.
There was no hiding now. "Run!" Harry yelled, grabbing a shocked Hermione's hand and pulling her into a run beside him. The trees began to whiz past them and form a series of brushstrokes while his heart hammered at his rib cage as it attempted to escape his chest. Behind them, Harry could hear the earth being beat into submission by a pattern of gradually accelerating strides. The sound grew louder and heavier until he could feel the earth shake beneath his feet and the hastened breaths tickled his neck.
Harry pumped his legs harder until his feet seemed to leave the earth. The roots of the trees seemingly reached up at his ankles as both he and Hermione weaved their way through the forest.
An abrupt force suddenly took hold of his shoulders as the weight of the moon seemingly pulled him to the soil. Harry pivoted his body around to be confronted with a werewolf lording over him, right paw up, and claws outstretched.
Harry heard a scream as the werewolf slammed its claws downward, making a swiping motion straight towards his face. Harry squeezed his eyes shut before a flash of pain crucified his body and an empty world embraced him.