I apologize for such a long wait on this story! This one's set up is difficult, but thank you to everyone who has stuck by it from the very beginning. Enjoy!
Harry slowly climbed up the tower to the owlery. It was pushing midnight, and he had just finished his first weeks' worth of homework. He had tried lying down and falling asleep, but it did not come easy to him. His thoughts strayed to the case that still captured the front page of the newspaper every morning. It brought back a long-lost memory of something similar happening in the other reality, and he had a feeling it had something to do with his godfather. He racked his brain to try and remember his old world, but those memories were not coming easily anymore. It left him feeling confused, and slightly frightened at the prospect that a dangerous prisoner might be released into the world. He didn't know how to feel about it; after all, what if the man was innocent of the crimes he supposedly committed?
His father was convinced the man was guilty and deserving of several more years in jail, but on matters that pertained to Lily, Harry knew how stubborn Severus could be, and how long the man could hold a grudge. What if Severus was wrong about the Dark Arts Healer not changing? Maybe the doctor was completely rehabilitated and would be no harm to society.
Harry turned up the stairway and came to the owlery door.
Some fresh air and quiet might help him sleep better. He knew if anyone caught him wandering after hours, his father would have a lot to say on the matter, but Harry had always found that moving around a bit in the dark helped lure him to sleep, especially when he could breathe in the fresh night air. He wouldn't be long, and he would walk straight back to Gryffindor Tower when he was done.
He opened the owlery door and startled at the glowing brown eyes staring back at him.
: My apologies, the female kitsune said as she settled back down on a perch.
"It's okay," Harry said, moving into the owlery and sitting on a ledge across from the vixen, looking over the Hogwarts grounds below them. "I didn't think anyone would be up here. Much less a fox."
: I like it up here.
"Haya, right?" Harry asked.
: Hayami, the fox said. But yes, Haya for short is fine. I do not usually use my shortened name with strangers.
"Oh. I could use Hayami. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable."
: That's very kind, but really, I do not mind.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned back against the cold stone wall.
"So, what brings you up here? Sam doesn't usually come up here around the birds."
: Really? She asked, though she sounded uninterested.
"He doesn't like them. Unless he gets to eat them."
Haya gasped at that, and Harry jumped at the sound. He stared at the fox, who turned her head in his direction, her ears lifting.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
For a second, Haya didn't answer. Then she leaned closer to Harry and the voice in his head almost sounded like a whisper.
: You mean we can't eat these birds up here?
Harry's eyes widened and he shook his head. His eyes looked around for Hedwig and Phantom hopefully, glad when he finally spotted the snowy owl and the great gray.
"No! You didn't, did you?"
Harry also tried to find Draco's owl, but the stubborn creature was never easy to spot.
: Not yet, but I was considering it. Oh well. What brings you here? I am a night animal, but humans generally are not.
"I just wanted some air. Somewhere relaxing to think before I try sleeping again."
: It is a beautiful view up here. Haya turned her attention to the view of the mountains beyond the moonglade in the lake. Harry smiled and followed her eyes, staring up at the star lit sky above them. He nearly forgot what had been bothering him all night, and he gladly allowed his brain to settle on the scenic picture rather than what was happening with the case. He lost track of time, but he finally returned to his dorm and managed to get a few hours of restful sleep.
The next morning, Harry nibbled at beans and toast as he listened to his friends discuss homelife happenings.
"Ginny's doing well," Ron said. "Mum and Dad said her therapy seems to be helping tons, but she's still not ready to come back to Hogwarts."
"Can you blame her after what she went through?" Hermione asked as she adjusted a gold chain around her neck. "Who would want to come back to a place of trauma?"
"Oi, you're making me feel worse, Hermione," Ron complained. "I was supposed to protect her, and I failed that. I'm an awful big brother."
"You said it first," Fred said as he and George walked down to where they were sitting, sliding in next to Ron.
"We should make it official," George added. "Ron, the world's most awful brother. Would you like Mum to weave that in your Christmas sweater?"
"You've fallen even below us, little brother," Fred said, clapping Ron on the back. "Without lifting a hand, at that."
"That's really not helping, guys," Ron muttered, glaring at his older brothers.
"Cheer up, mate," Fred said. "We're only joking. This is hardly your fault."
"You were out on a deserted island pretending to be cat food," George added. "Ginny has some things to work through, but she'll be back to school in no time."
"She's a Weasley, after all," the twins said as they stood up, clapping Ron on the shoulder one last time and following their classmates out of the Great Hall.
"They're right, you know," Draco said. "What happened to Ginny wasn't in your control. Don't beat yourself up over it."
Ron sat up and picked through his breakfast, a rare thing for him to do.
"It's just hard not to think about the what ifs I could have done," he said.
"You can think about that all you want but it still won't change a thing," Hermione said. "Right, Harry."
"What?" Harry said, blinking and looking up at his friends. "Uh, yeah, sure. Right."
Harry grew uncomfortable with everyone's eyes suddenly glued on him. He realized he had zoned out of the conversation and allowed his mind to wander to the situation with the Niles Case and why his father was so insistent on being involved with the trial. He swallowed his bite of beans and toast and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to pull himself back to the present moment.
"Err, sorry, I guess my brain was elsewhere," Harry apologized.
"You don't say," Draco commented.
"It's okay," Ron said as he reached across the table for a scone. "I'm feeling a lot better about Ginny actually. I just hope she comes back to Hogwarts soon. She really was looking forward to it when she became a first year."
"Yeah," Harry agreed genuinely. "I hope so, too. She deserves to have a safe experience in Hogwarts."
"Like Scabbers does," Ron said, earning an eye roll from Hermione.
"Don't start up with that again," she snapped. "Crookshanks is innocent. I don't know what happened to Scabbers, but I'm sure he'll turn up. Maybe he found a love interest in the castle."
"You mean like Sam," Draco smirked at Harry. "Where is he, by the way? He never seems to be around."
"Him and Dad," Harry said. "They both seem really preoccupied lately. Dad is always taking off anymore, he's hardly around after classes. I don't really know what Sam is up to anymore."
"I could take a guess," Draco said, winking at Harry.
Harry snorted, then said, "Maybe. He'd different with Haya though."
The bell chimed, and as the group stood to leave, Harry caught a glimpse of Hermione's gold necklace, and his breath caught in his throat as he recognized the swirling hourglass that rested against Hermione's chest. It struck him hard like an old memory slapping him in the face, a brief vision of flying on Buckbeak's back with Hermione came to the forefront of his mind, vanishing just as quickly. He shook the feeling away as he watched Hermione quickly hide the time-turner under her robe.
As they left the Great Hall, Harry stopped Hermione just outside the door, pulling her aside before Draco and Ron could notice them disappear behind the corner.
"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked in an alarmed tone.
"Where did you get that?" Harry asked in a low voice.
"Get what?" Hermione asked, her tone suddenly suspicious.
"The time-turner," Harry clarified, jabbing a finger at her chest where he knew the time turner rested. "The one you're wearing right now."
"You saw it?" Hermione asked. "How did you know . . . well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone I have it. You can't either."
"Who gave it to you?' Harry asked.
"Professor McGonagall," Hermione answered. "She talked to the Ministry of Magic about it and managed to get me permission for its use with strict rules."
"Do you know how much of a hassle those things are?" Harry asked.
"I think I can manage, thank you. How else am I supposed to attend all my classes?"
"I don't know. Maybe by dropping a couple of them?"
"I could learn so much more this way. I'll be fine, Harry, honestly, why does this bug you so much? Can't you give me a chance? If I think it's too much, you'll be the first to know."
Harry didn't really understand why the time-turner was agitating him, and he could not find the right words to give any semblance of a reason that might appease Hermione, who was staring at him with her arms crossed and a small glare on her face. Harry sighed and shook his head.
"I've . . . heard stories about how dangerous they could be is all—you know, from my uncles who both happen to be aurors."
Hermione's glare softened and she glanced down at the time turner.
"I did read the manual the Ministry sent with it," she said. "It talked about some of the dangers time travel can have on the human mind, but the instructions were straight forward, and they laid out the rules I have to follow clear as day. If I adhere to everything I've read, there shouldn't be too much trouble, right?"
Harry rubbed the back of his neck again.
"I guess not," he said. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Okay," Hermione said. "I promise. Can we go to class now? We're going to be late."
Harry nodded and followed Hermione to their first class, which was Charms that morning. They arrived just as the bell rang and Ron gave them a strange look as they entered. Harry ignored his look and tried to focus on school for the remainder of the day, hoping the classes would help take his mind off the case and his father's strange behavior lately.
Sam glared down at the dark clothed wizard below from where he sat on the roof, his ears perked. The wizard walked up toward the school from the gates, then moved around the castle, and Sam jumped from one roof to the next to keep him in sight. He wondered where on earth the wizard was coming from, and to show up at the school at this time of night when the majority of the castle was sleeping. The wizard entered the school through a side entrance, and Sam misted into a ghostly figure that flew off the roof and through the side opening before it closed.
He flew toward a large pillar, solidifying into fox form once more on a ledge of the pillar, peeking out from behind it. He waited until the man was mostly down the hall before jumping from the pillar to the floor, running to dive behind the knights in the hallway.
He heard the footsteps stop, and Sam froze behind the knights, his tails lifting in alarm as he waited for movement to continue. Silence reigned for several seconds before the footsteps carried on their way.
Sam's ears flattened as he darted out from behind the knights and he trotted along the wall, keeping close to it to stay in the shadows. As he came to the end of the hall, he glanced down each corridor to see which way the wizard went. Seeing the tail end of the cloak whip around another corner to his right, Sam quickly ran down the hall after the man, misting to fly up to a windowsill.
He remained in mist form for a moment when the wizard paused again. The man looked down the hall before slowly walking once more, pulling out a large piece of parchment and scanning it, illuminating it with his wand.
Sam solidified once more, stalking along the windowsill slowly, his eyes focusing on the parchment the man was reading. With his keen eyesight even in the dark, Sam managed to pick out a few words on the parchment: Mary Whitlove, age 31 at time of medical malpractice, continues to suffer—
Sam startled and slid to a stop as he nearly ran right into Haya, who was sitting on the windowsill in front of him.
"What are you doing?" she asked him, her ears perking.
"I—uh, I was . . ." Sam looked past her, but the wizard has disappeared. Sam huffed, his ears dropping.
"You weren't . . ." Haya began, looking over her shoulder then back at Sam, ". . . spying on your human, were you?"
"Spying?" Sam spluttered. He chuckled nervously, his ears pivoting back. "Who said anything about spying? I was just making sure . . . he got to his rooms safely, that's all. I wouldn't spy on Severus, never!"
"Hmm," Haya hummed, a small smirk playing on her lips. "And here I thought you liked your humans. You're proving to be more fox after all."
Haya jumped from the windowsill, bouncing off a pillar and landing lightly on the ground below. She trotted gracefully down the hall back toward the entrance, her three tails trailing behind her. Sam hesitated; a bit frustrated that he did not get to finish reading the parchment Severus had returned with, but also feeling a desire to follow the vixen. He sighed, then misted and flew down to Haya before returning to solid form and trotting next to her.
"I do like my humans," Sam said, "I'm just afraid one of them is a bit lost. And potentially a little obsessed."
"About what?" Haya asked, tilting her head at Sam.
"Something that happened to his family many winters ago." Sam shook out his fur. Severus was keeping a lot of information from Sam, he was sure of it. He hated to question Severus, but Sam did not completely trust him to handle the case without risking prison and leaving his son fatherless. Sam looked at Haya and decided to think of something else. "What brings you into Hogwarts castle anyway? I thought you didn't like being surrounded by a bunch of humans."
"I don't," Haya agreed as she pushed open the entrance door and slipped out, Sam following after her. She sat on the first step to the castle and stared up at the starlit sky. "That is why now is the perfect time to explore the castle. It's dark, it's empty, it's mysterious."
"It's beautiful," Sam concluded for her as he sat next to her.
"It is," Haya agreed. "I see why you stick around."
Haya glanced back at the castle.
"They seem like very nice humans," she said. "The boy and his father."
"They mean well. I care very much for them. Not all humans are bad, you know."
"I know. I also know that you still owe me a flower."
Sam's eyes widened and he offered an apologetic smile.
"I'm telling you, a bird stole it!"
"Todds and their excuses," Haya teased, fluffing out her tails behind her. "I gave you one job."
"It's the truth. Honest."
The two foxes sat outside the castle sharing in each other's company, laughing at small jokes, and enjoying the nightlife.
Later that same night, a rat scurried through the dark, empty hallway of Azkaban. It licked its paws and cleaned its face for a moment before moving toward the entrance, waiting patiently as a couple aurors walked by with their patronuses at their heels, one a Doberman dog, and the other, a grizzly bear. The aurors themselves were dressed in traditional official auror uniforms, lightweight black and red robes under long brown trench coats.
The rat waited until the aurors opened the entrance and stepped outside of the castle before it slipped out the door before it slammed shut.
Scurrying along the rocky shoreline, the rat stayed several yards away from the aurors and watched as they greeted two new aurors arriving in boats with their patronuses already sitting at their castors side, this time, one was a lion, and the other was a runespoor.
The aurors shook hands as they spoke in low voices, laughing and happily exchanging parchments despite the several dementors above their heads. The patronuses snarled and snapped at any dementor that got too close.
The rat decided to test boundaries and moved closer to the boats, slowly and as quietly as it could. It sniffed around the shore, backing away quickly when a large wave struck the rocks and splashed toward the rat. The last thing it needed was to drown before it even had a chance to get on the boat.
Suddenly, the Doberman patronus turned from its owner and snarled at the rat.
Squeaking, the rat turned and ran back up the rocks. The Doberman gave chase, barking intently, its castor following it curiously with her wand drawn.
Just as the Doberman had the rat cornered at the entrance door that the rat was digging away at, a raven dove in and snatched the rat, flying away from the auror and barking dog.
The rat squealed and nipped at the bird's golden tail feathers in alarm, but the talons gripped the rat tighter, constricting the rat's ability to breathe. It struggled for air while the bird flew gracefully through a barred window and dropped its catch inside the small cell.
The rat took several minutes to catch its breath while it panicked, looking around and trying to figure out where the bird had taken it. It was a small cell, much smaller than his own, with a small, four inch thick bed pushed into the farthest wall away from the window.
"So it's true," a man's voice said. "Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus. And you've been trying to break out of Azkaban."
A hand scruffed the rat, and it trembled as it dangled helplessly in the man's hold. He knew that sinister voice—Niles!
"Well, Pettigrew," the man said as he brought the rat closer to his own face. "You now work for me. And you'll leave when I tell you to. If you refuse, well, you might become bird food."
Niles held the rat above the raven sitting on a wooden perch shoved into a hole in the rock. The raven cawed and opened its mouth in anticipation.
The rat squealed and squirmed in Niles grasp. Message received.