A/N: Howdy! Welcome back to Harry Potter and Destiny's Last Chance! …I realize it's been a while, and I'm so sorry for the delay! To quote Kakashi Hatake, "I got lost on the path of life"; I went through a very emotionally taxing period in my life which really killed my inspiration to write. In the meantime, I finished my classes and earned my Bachelor's Degree! I'm working on getting enrolled in classes to begin my Master's Degree in Psychology and will hopefully be starting in May. I've also been dealing with some medical issues; I was diagnosed with chronic migraine and am working hard to get it under control. I was just diagnosed with plantar fasciitis as well, which drains my energy. Dealing with both problems of these constant problems wreaks havoc on my emotional state as well, but I'm trying really hard to persevere and stay positive. I would like to thank those of you that are bearing with me and my lack of an organized update schedule, and would also like to thank you for your continued interest and support in my story; it means so much to me!
Legal jargon:
-J.K. Rowling owns all canon Harry Potter characters, spells, locations, creatures, etc.
-Yana Toboso owns all canon Black Butler characters, items, locations, etc.
-Reptilia28 owns the "Don't Fear the Reaper" challenge and its rules
-I own Emily Tarleton, Selena Menzel, the Ignominia potion, and any other characters, spells, events, etc. that don't appear in the canon storyline of either Harry Potter or Black Butler. This includes any changes to the canon storyline of either series.
Now, without further ado, onto Chapter 8!
Chapter 8-The Curious Incident of the Rat and the Firebolt
The next morning came with 2 tired Gryffindors shuffling down for breakfast while sleepily pawing at their eyes. Neville frowned deeply at his friends' states as they took their seats at the Gryffindor table.
"Are you two ok?" he asked with concern.
Stifling a yawn, Harry replied, "Just tired…" while Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Nightmares?" the Longbottom heir questioned.
"No; just couldn't sleep," Hermione supplied, which was basically true; she and Harry couldn't sleep while they were in the Room of Requirement trying to undo the shit storm that was Harry's destiny with interferences from both Voldemort and Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry. That's pretty rough," Neville commented sympathetically. "I imagine everything that happened yesterday probably didn't make it easier for you either, Harry."
"No, not at all," the raven-haired boy agreed. "I'm exhausted, and I feel like I just took a Bludger to the head."
"Speaking of Quidditch, do you know what you're going to do about a broom yet, Harry?" Ron asked curiously.
Before Harry could answer that no, he'd been too busy with the Potions disaster the day before to think about replacing the Nimbus that had been destroyed the day before that, Hedwig swooped down in front of him with a long wrapped package.
"Whoa! What'd you have there, Harry?" Seamus asked from a few seats down.
"I'm not sure yet," Harry answered, though he was more alert now at the familiar package. With everything going on, I'd forgotten about Sirius sending me a Firebolt!
Harry quickly unwrapped the package to reveal the beautiful new broom, much to the amazement of everyone at the table.
"Potter, is that a Firebolt?" Oliver Wood asked as he walked down from his spot further down the Gryffindor table.
"Yeah," Harry confirmed.
Oliver grinned widely. "With you on a broom like that, there's no way we won't win our next match!"
"Who's it from?" Neville asked curiously.
Harry looked for the card he knew wouldn't be there before saying, "I don't know; it doesn't say."
Hermione frowned. "Doesn't that seem suspicious?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" asked Parvati.
"Well, wouldn't someone who was being so generous as to send Harry a new, expensive broom want to let him know who they were so he could thank them?" Hermione reasoned.
"Oh, Hermione, you worry too much!" Lavender giggled.
Hermione shot the annoying blonde a look before rising from her seat with the excuse of needing to use the ladies' room. When she returned a few minutes later with Professor McGonagall in tow, Harry was the only person who wasn't surprised.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger says that you've received a new broom from an anonymous source?" the Scottish witch questioned.
"Yes, ma'am," Harry answered.
The Head of Gryffindor House sighed before declaring, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate your broom for now, Potter." This information brought on a flurry of horrified questions or comments from the House of Lions.
"Professor, you can't be serious!" exclaimed a gob smacked Oliver.
"I can and I am, Mr. Wood," she replied. "This broom needs to be stripped down and checked for hexes or dangerous charms that would cause Mr. Potter harm. I am most concerned about not knowing the identity of the person who was generous enough to provide Mr. Potter with a new top-of-the-line broom."
"Oh, come on! Who would curse a broom and then mail it to Harry?" Ron asked exasperatedly.
"Oh, I don't know, Ronald," Hermione began sarcastically. "Maybe Sirius Black or another of Voldemort's supporters?"
As expected, everyone sans Harry and Hermione flinched at the mention of the Dark wizard's name. As Ron opened his mouth to retort, Harry spoke up.
"Guys, it's fine. Hermione's right; it's suspicious that someone would send me a broom without telling me who they are, and really, Ron, it's no secret that Voldemort wants me dead. It would be so easy for one of his cronies to curse a broom and send it to me."
As he looked around at the group, Ron looked sulky, Professor McGonagall looked surprised but proud, and everyone else looked shocked at Harry's acceptance of his broom being taken away. It was Hermione's reaction, however, that stuck with Harry the most. His true best friend's face went from surprise to relief to teary in seconds. She appeared to hesitate for a minute before she flung herself at him in a bear hug.
"I was so afraid that you were going to be furious with me! I know you need your broom for Quidditch, but I'm so scared that someone's done something to it and you'll be hurt or killed!"
Harry hugged her back before cheekily asking, "Or worse, expelled?"
The curly-haired witch laughed as Harry turned her own words back on her. "You prat!"
"I could never be angry with you, Hermione, for caring about my well-being. I don't know what I'd do without you." I am such an idiot! Why didn't I let her explain herself last time? That makes perfect sense, especially because last time around we didn't know that Sirius was innocent!
Hermione gave Harry another big hug before pulling away with a contented smile on her face. Professor McGonagall was also smiling.
"I must say that I'm proud of you, Potter. I expected that you would argue against the confiscation of your broom but am pleased that you are being so mature about the matter. We will be as prompt as possible, but know that your safety comes first."
"Of course, Professor; I understand," Harry replied.
"Very well then. I'll be taking this now and will return it to you as soon as possible," said Professor McGonagall.
As their Head of House walked away with the Firebolt, most of the Gryffindors began whispering in a conspiratorial manner, as they normally did. Hermione appeared worried about how her House felt about her but was comforted when Harry squeezed her hand and Neville reassured her, "You did the right thing, Hermione. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks."
"Well, I guess we should head to Divination," said Harry unenthusiastically as they got up from the table
"Oh! I forgot my essay!" said Neville. "Would you mind waiting?" he asked his friends.
"Sure," they agreed. While they waited for Neville to return, Hermione looked around before whispering to Harry, "I know that Sirius is innocent, but for some reason, he's supposed to be the bad guy. I knew that if you used a broom without knowing who gave it to you and something happened to you as a result of someone tampering with the broom that Sirius would be blamed."
"You're bloody brilliant as always, Hermione! That's a great idea!"
Hermione blushed at the praise, but before she had a chance to respond, Neville had returned and the trio made their way up to Professor Trelawney's classroom. The rest of the morning passed rather peacefully, and Harry had been so caught up in enjoying how smoothly the day was progressing so far that it wasn't until they were going to Gryffindor Tower to drop off their books before lunch that Harry realized that someone was missing.
"Hey, where's Ron?" he asked. Neville was just opening his mouth to answer when the portrait swung open to reveal a hysterical Ron Weasley. He was clutching what appeared to be a bed sheet, and when his gaze locked on to Hermione, his face turned redder than his family's famous hair.
"YOU!" he roared angrily.
"What? What's wrong with you, Ronald?!" Hermione asked in confusion.
"LOOK!" Ron bellowed, thrusting the sheet under Hermione's nose.
The bushy-haired witch inspected the cloth.
"Is that blood?!" she asked in alarm.
"YES! And do you know who's missing?" the youngest Weasley growled.
"No," the Granger girl answered.
"Scabbers! He's nowhere to be found! Guess what else was on the sheet?"
"What?"
In reply, Ron let loose of the sheet with his right hand and brought it up to Hermione's eye level before opening his hand. In his palm were a few ginger hairs.
"Your little beast murdered him!" Ron accused angrily.
"Ron, Crookshanks didn't eat Scabbers!" Hermione argued back.
"Yes he did! Why else would there be blood on my sheets, and hair from your cat? Harry, you've seen how that demon goes after Scabbers!"
I always took your side before, Ron, but I can't do it anymore. Hermione is always left alone and belittled, Harry thought to himself. Aloud, he responded, "Ron, Crookshanks is a cat, and Scabbers is a rat. Cats and rats chase each other; it's not like Crookshanks targeted him."
The youngest Weasley boy's face reddened at the Boy-Who-Lived's answer. "You're really going to take Hermione's side?! That mangy beast hasn't left Scabbers alone since she got it!"
"All cats chase rats, Ron. Crookshanks isn't doing anything unusual. Besides, Scabbers wonders off a lot. Are you sure he's not just roaming around?"
Ron's answer was to give a shout of rage before storming back to the boy's dormitory and slamming the door as hard as he could.
"Oh dear," Hermione sighed as she sat down in one of the armchairs.
"Don't you dare blame yourself, Hermione. Even if Crookshanks did do something to Scabbers, it doesn't make him a monster. He's a cat just doing what cats do," said Harry.
"Harry's right, Hermione. Besides, Ron loses Scabbers almost as much as I lose Trevor. If he was really concerned that Crookshanks might do something to Scabbers, he should have made sure he secured him so that Crookshanks wouldn't have access to Scabbers," Neville added.
Hermione smiled gratefully at her friends. "Thanks, boys. It really means a lot to me that you're standing by me. It doesn't happen too often…"
Harry shook his head. "You better get used to it, Hermione, because we're going to be standing up for you more often!"
"Yeah! We're your friends and we've got your back!" the Longbottom boy agreed enthusiastically.
Hermione giggled and stood to hug her friends. "Thank you so much!" Once she'd released them, she cleared her throat and said, "Well, let's go get lunch before Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Ron ignored Harry and Hermione at lunch when he finally shuffled down, and when he saw Neville engaged in conversation with the duo, he also ignored him and began making a show of talking to Dean and Seamus instead. His ignoring streak continued through Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions, in which Ron's surly attitude cost Gryffindor several points for his belligerence towards Professor Snape. Harry was glad to be able to escape from Ron's wrath once classes ended for the day, and he jumped at the opportunity to stay away from Gryffindor Tower for a while when Hermione suggested going to the library to work on their homework. With Harry's studiousness and Neville's growing confidence after Professor Snape stopped bullying him and started being a much more efficient teacher, the two boys finished their homework within two hours. However, Hermione still had a while to go, which didn't surprise Harry in the least bit. Feeling very sorry for his future soulmate, he asked, "Is there anything that we can do to help you, Hermione?"
"No, not really. I'm working on Arithmancy right now, and I still have to work on Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies," the Brightest Witch of her age replied tiredly.
"What do you have for Muggle studies? I've been raised in a Muggle home for 12 years, so I'm sure I can help you with that," Harry countered.
"I'm no expert, but Gran's library is pretty extensive, and I've read some of her books about Runes. Since this is a beginner's class, I'm sure I can at least make it easier for you to finish up quicker," offered Neville.
Hermione's eyes shined with tears of gratitude, and she beamed brightly at the two boys. "Thank you!"
Indeed, with Harry and Neville's help, Hermione's unruly mountain of homework became a manageable molehill that was done in another 2 hours, just in time to grab some dinner and go to sleep after a long day. As Harry lay in bed that night, he thought about the day's events.
So Pettigrew's done another disappearing act for now, which means that Hagrid will be telling us about the order to execute Buckbeak any day, and shortly after that I'll get to see Sirius again before it all goes to hell and we have to help him and Buckbeak escape. As much as I'd love to plan to capture Pettigrew and put an end to it now, it's the only way to save Buckbeak's life as well. Plus, even though I dread allowing Voldemort to return, I need to let some things still happen in order to ensure that the rest of the Horcruxes end up where they were last time. I have no idea whose murder Riddle used to make Nagini a Horcrux, nor do I know when he entrusted Hufflepuff's cup to Bellatrix LeStrange. He clearly didn't tell Lucius Malfoy that the diary was a Horcrux, but Bellatrix is arguably his most devoted follower, so he likely trusts her more. I do intend on capturing Pettigrew on that night though! Sirius is absolutely not going to spend the rest of his life under house arrest in a place he hates because of Peter bloody Pettigrew!
Harry's prediction came true four days later when Hedwig dropped off the barely legible note from Hagrid informing them that Buckbeak was sentenced to death.
"They can't do that!" Ron protested indignantly. The red-head had begrudgingly began speaking to Harry, Hermione, and Neville again after his continued outbursts in Potions had cost Gryffindor a dear number of points and most of his housemates then started giving him the cold shoulder, though the relationship between Ron and Hermione could only be considered civil, and he had yet to apologize for ranting and raving at Hermione.
"Yes they can, and they're going to," Hermione argued, fighting to keep the emotion out of her voice. "Poor Hagrid, and poor Buckbeak!"
"The execution is in a week," said Harry as he read the note over another time. "We need to go see Hagrid on that day."
"Yes, of course," Hermione agreed.
"What good will that do?" Ron asked.
"We're moral support, if nothing else. At least Hagrid won't feel so alone," Harry reasoned. Of course, Ron had no idea about the true significance of Buckbeak's execution date.
Ron nodded his agreement, and the plan was set.
True to their word, in a week's time, the trio began their trek down to Hagrid's hut. Like last time, they passed Malfoy and his goons but, to Harry's great shock, his adversary was not mocking Hagrid. Rather, he looked down at Hagrid's hut with an unreadable expression before muttering to Crabbe and Goyle, "Let's get out of here."
"What do you suppose they're up to?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"I don't know. I've never seen Malfoy so quiet before, especially when he has a chance to brag about having a hand in Hagrid's misery," Hermione answered.
Harry didn't say anything aloud, but to himself he wondered if his own show of maturity this time around was creating similar feelings in the blond Slytherin. That was all the time he allotted for stray thoughts, wanting to stay focused on his mission of reuniting with his godfather and capturing the traitorous Pettigrew.
Just as much of the year had gone, the trio's original visit to Hagrid before Buckbeak's scheduled execution went the same way, with Hagrid presenting them with a very much alive Scabbers and thanking them for their support before hurrying them out of his home before anyone saw them there. Also like last time, Scabbers bit Ron and tried to escape. Just as Ron grabbed his rat, a loud, snarling growl rose from the hill. The three Gryffindors saw a shaggy black dog staring them down and baring his teeth at them.
Sirius! Harry rejoiced internally. Just as he'd had to with Remus, Harry forced himself to not show any emotion at seeing his beloved godfather once more, even if he was in his Animagus form at the present moment.
Hermione shot her raven-haired friend a sideways glance, knowing how emotionally overwhelming it probably was for Harry not to show his joy at seeing Sirius again. Before she could think any further on the matter, the hulking dog lunged at Ron and began trying desparately to reach the rat held tightly in the redhead's grasp. Determined to keep his prey, Padfoot dragged Ron along by the leg and disappeared under the trunk of the Whomping Willow. Remembering the nightmare that had been trying to get inside the tree last time, Harry quickly pulled Hermione out of the tree's reach.
"Harry? What's going on?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"There's a way to stop the tree's movements so we can go inside without dodging its attacks," the young wizard explained. Harry looked the tree's trunk over a few times before nodding confidently at remembering the secret knot's location. He pulled out his holly wand and pointed it a large rock lying in the grass. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Using the spell, Harry guided the rock over to just above the knot before releasing the spell, causing the rock to drop on the knot and freeze the Willow's movements. Hermione was gaping at him.
"That's fantastic!" the witch gushed as Harry pocketed his wand and they made their way to the cavernous entrance at the base of the tree's trunk.
"It sure comes in handy," Harry agreed as they stepped down into the hole.
A/N: Sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but the next scene is going to be so action-packed that it warrants having its own chapter. Besides, I've made you all wait long enough for Chapter 8 and I would like to give it to you before I dive into the pretty lengthy Chapter 9. I already have the outline for the chapter and promise to have it up in far less time than this chapter took! I apologize once again for the long delay between chapters!