Chapter Thirty: A Matter of Time
The sun was beginning to set as Robert finally finished his lesson. The warmth of the day was going with the light. He picked up his shirt and jacket, and donned them. As he put his shirt on, something felt wrong. He realized that he was putting on Harry's shirt. Harry had come directly from his Potions class, and had brought his wand with him, hiding it in the shirt, instead of leaving it in his dorm as he normally would have. Captain Grissom was adamant that the wands were not to be brought, unless there was no time because of other classes. Then, they were to be kept hidden from sight.
This was not the first time this happened, taking the wrong jacket. But as they were both the same size and the same rank, it was more an amusement than anything else. Robert mused that this was the first time Harry had forgotten about his wand, but then Harry usually had enough time to return to his dorm first. The boy shrugged his shoulders and put the jacket on. He would return it when he went to the Great Hall.
He went quickly back to his house, knowing that he was already late to dinner, but he needed to wash. Robert smiled. Whenever they had sword practice, he was almost always the last, and the Captain always took longer with him. Dueling was the one skill he excelled at that Harry could not match, but then Robert had been taking lessons from the moment he could walk. It was worth it to be late for dinner on occasion. His dream, from the first day he joined the Navy was to become a commissioned officer, a full Lieutenant. It was not the rank that mattered so much, but the first thing a commissioned officer received was his sword. It became part of his uniform.
Cleaned and changed, Robert began his short trek to the Great Hall. Both wands, his and Harry's, were tucked safely inside his shirt. He hurried his pace when he heard noise ahead of him but stopped short and stepped into the shadows of a small nook when he saw the procession of figures.
There looked to be a dozen adults, but Robert only recognized the teachers among them, and one other, the Minister of Magic. As they passed, Robert noticed something else. There were four students with them. One was in Hagrid's arms. He did not see whomever Hagrid was carrying but he could make out that the boy was in a naval uniform.
Robert knew it had to be Colin Creevey, because he could make out the other three students clearly. Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron looked the worst of the lot with his arm bending in the wrong place. He was unconscious and being floated toward the infirmary. Hermione was walking unaided but she had a worried look on her face. Harry kept insisting he was fine, but Professor McGonagall kept her hand under his arm anyway. After the crowd passed Robert stepped out of the shadows to follow but stopped again when a hand was placed on his shoulder.
"I think you should wait," Albus Dumbledore whispered from behind him. "If they see you, it might make for awkward questions."
"What happened, Professor?"
"Do you remember Professor Trelawney's prediction? The one that Harry is not supposed to know about."
"I did not tell him," Robert said truthfully.
"And Lord London refuses to tell anyone how he found out."
Robert was surprised. "Roger knows?"
"Your brother knows a great many things that he should not. I mean no slight against you, but he seems more his father's son than you."
Robert nodded. "Our housekeeper warned me, but I thought she was having a jest." He paused. "Did they meet Voldemort?"
Dumbledore noticed the unspoken thought: "without me". He smiled sadly. "Nothing as simple as that. They encountered Peter Pettigrew."
"They caught him?" Robert felt almost as strongly about the traitor as Harry did.
"Sadly, no. Harry let him get away. His friend Ron was injured, and there were . . . complications. I think it is safe to proceed, now."
Dumbledore led a confused Robert to the infirmary, carefully avoiding a nearby open doorway where the adults were in deep discussion. Albus told Robert to wait, and stepped into the infirmary. Robert took the time to listen to the voices in the other room. The names of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were being frequently mentioned. Robert understood. Pettigrew might have escaped but he had been seen. They were talking about how Harry's godfather, in this world, might be innocent.
"Robert," came the soft whisper as Hermione stepped out of the infirmary. She quickly put her arms around him and gave him a kiss. "I do love you," she told him. The two hugged each other, then turned as Harry and Dumbledore also came out. He quietly led them away from the open doorway until they were far enough away that they could not be heard.
"I think you understand now, Miss Granger. Three turns should do it."
"What do you mean?" Robert asked.
"I have a time turner," Hermione answered, showing him the hourglass-shaped locket. "That's how I've been taking all those classes."
"Robert," Harry explained, "we need to go back in time, three hours. There are things each of us must do." He grabbed his brother's hand and Hermione activated the time turner. All three disappeared.
Albus smiled lightly and walked back to the infirmary to stand guard. Two minutes later, Harry and Hermione came around the corner. Albus opened the door to the infirmary and let them in. He then proceeded to the conference room to discuss the fate of Sirius Black.
Harry finished putting on a clean uniform and went down to the common room where Ron and Hermione were waiting. He was wearing a sheepish grin. Hermione gave him a curious look, begging an explanation.
"Remember, Hermione, I told you I picked up Robert's jacket by mistake? He has my wand."
Ron snorted and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You'll see him in the Great Hall," Ron assured his friend. "SCABBERS?"
Harry followed Ron's eyes and saw the rat. It had obviously come out of some hole and was surprised by the reception. All three students exchanged quick looks and held their tongues. Ron began to walk toward the rat, carefully calling it "Scabbers" the entire time. The rat decided to run but was stopped by the sudden appearance of Crookshanks, Hermione's cat. It stopped again, and Ron grabbed it.
"Put him in your pocket," Hermione called out as she pulled out her wand. Ron paused briefly, then did as he was told.
"He keeps squirming," Ron said anxiously as he tried to hold his pocket closed.
"Then let's get to Dumbledore," Hermione told him.
"But what if he changes back?" Harry asked.
"He can't," she assured him. "I've put an unbreakable charm on you pocket. He can't transform because he doesn't have enough space. Pettigrew is trapped like a rat." Hermione grinned at her clever joke.
The three left the common room and headed toward the headmaster's office, although at a slow pace. Scabbers, knowing his disguise was revealed, was writhing and squirming in every direction in an effort to get free. Then he was free. Rats have teeth and he managed to bite though the cloth. Ron let go off his hold as the rat sank its teeth into his finger. Scabbers dropped to the floor, and raced toward the Great Hall.
The three Gryffindors gave pursuit, and were in time to see the rat jump out of an open window on the first floor. They raced to the main doors to be joined by a large dog, the animagus Sirius Black.
"He jumped out that window," Harry quickly explained as he opened the door. The dog raced through and quickly caught the scent of his prey. Harry watched as Remus Lupin came running up. They followed him outside as they told him what happened.
"Sirius intends to kill Peter," Remus told them. "We have to stop him."
Instantly, they were running again. They had one advantage in catching up. The rat, being smaller, could change directions more quickly, but the dog was faster. Sirius had not caught Peter but he held up his escape by constantly cutting off his route to the Forbidden Forest.
As they ran off into the dusk, three figures stood up from behind a set of bushes.
"He won't kill him," Hermione assured Robert. "Sirius knows we believe him."
Robert nodded. "And before I forget, Harry, here's your wand."
"You already gave it to me," Harry said as he pulled his wand from inside his own shirt. "You gave it to me earlier."
Robert looked at the wand in Harry's hand and the one in his own. They were clearly the same.
Hermione laughed at the look on Robert's face. "Now you know why you had to go back in time with us."
Robert laughed as well. "I must assume then that Harry needs his wand. Then why are the two of you here?"
"We need to do something. At least Dumbledore said we did." She looked over Robert's shoulder. "You're coming back from practice. We should hide."
"We do not have to," Robert said. "I did not notice anything. It is already dark. If you will excuse me, Harry, I will try to find you." They smiled at the jest. There was enough barking from the dog. Robert could easily follow the noise.
As he left, Hermione's smile dropped away. "I wish I could stop him."
"He has to do this," Harry told her. "You know that. If we stop him, we all die. It would make an interesting paradox, but I prefer this outcome." He put his hand on Hermione's shoulder. "There is still the chance he may recover."
Hermione nodded. She had a task to do. She needed to raise an alarm without actually doing so. She motioned Harry to follow her to Hagrid's hut. There as they expected was the hippogriff, Buckbeak. Hagrid had introduced them to the animal previously. They insisted on meeting the creature that almost (that should have, Ron claimed) bit Malfoy.
She and Harry approached the hippogriff carefully. Both sighed in relief when it recognized them and nodded. Hermione quickly untied the hippogriff and began to lead it away. She knew that the people in Hagrid's hut would be out shortly but she needed Buckbeak to make a disturbance. As Harry opened the gate and ran to the agreed upon hiding place, Hermione made the effort to tell Buckbeak what she wanted him to do. The creature surprised her by nodding, then doing nothing. Hermione backed away, but was exasperated by the hippogriph just looking at the open gate.
Hermione tried pushing Buckbeak but the hippogriph pushed back, making a noise when she fell on her rump. She was positive it was laughing at her.
Hermione frowned as she stood up, trying to think of what to do. It had seemed like such a simple idea. Then her frown became a smile as her foot kicked a loose rock. Picking up the small rock, she said insincerely, "I'm sorry, Buckbeak," and she threw the rock at the Hippogriph's flank.
Buckbeak out a screech. It ran around the corral it was in and continued to screech. Hermione ran around the side of the hut as the door opened and people began coming out to see what the racket was about. The hippogriff ran out of the gate in the direction that Hermione had hoped, much to her relief. The men gave chase.
Hermione crossed her fingers. The moon was just beginning to rise.
Robert ran as quickly as he could. He knew that he was not told something, that he could not be told something. He knew Pettigrew would escape, and he knew Harry would have to let him go. And suddenly he realized why. It was night, and shortly, the full moon would rise. Remus Lupin had been so intent on catching Pettigrew that he had forgotten to take his potion.
In the dim light of dusk, he could make out the various figures. Three adults, three teenagers. One adult, obviously Uncle Remus, had his wand pointed at Pettigrew. It had to be Pettigrew. Robert recognized the other man as Sirius Black. Sirius Black was trying to control his anger, trying not to kill the traitor.
"Harry," Robert said quickly as he came up to his brother, "You may need this." Sirius Black was heard to gasp as he saw the twins together for the first time, but Robert turned quickly to Remus Lupin. "Uncle Remus," He shouted. "Your potion."
Remus looked up, startled, saw Robert and Harry both holding wands. "Make sure he doesn't escape." As the two boys, and Ron and Hermione, trained their wands on Pettigrew. Remus reached into his pocket and pulled out the forgotten potion. He pulled off the cap as the first sliver of moonlight shown over the horizon.
In a gasp of pain, the potion was dropped. Sirius Black pulled away from looking at the twin boys to see his friend begin his transformation. At the same moment, Pettigrew changed shape.
"Find him," Sirius called as he tried to pull his friend away. "I'll keep Remus safe."
Sirius changed into a dog as Remus completed his transformation and quickly forced the enraged wolf away from everyone else and into the Forbidden Forest. Pettigrew suddenly reformed as a man, directly behind Ron, and grabbed his wand. He hit the boy with surprising strength and threw him to the ground. The snapping sound of a bone was heard as Ron tried to break his fall. Pettigrew backed away as Ron writhed on the ground.
"Don't worry, Harry. I won't try anything on you. I know about your little trick. But if you and your friends don't drop your wands I will do something to him." Pettigrew pointed his wand at Ron.
"Expelliarmus," Hermione called out, then added casually to the now empty handed Pettigrew, "I don't think Ron has to worry. "
Suddenly three noises were heard. From Hagrid's hut the hippogriff could be heard screeching. At the same time, a rustling was heard in the woods nearby. The third noise was Harry letting out a low moan as he fell to one knee clutching his scar. Despite his condition he still had his wand trained on Pettigrew.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, then saw them. Dementors. She looked to Harry, who nodded to her, then watched as he told Pettigrew to either help or leave. Pettigrew looked toward Hagrid's hut, the newly risen full moon shining full on his face. He chose to leave. A second later, a rat was running toward the Forbidden Forest.
"Get ready, Robert," Harry said, "We can do this. Hermione, try to get Ron back to the castle, we will hold them off."
Robert, ashen faced, nodded, and tried to think a happy thought, and found one. He turned to Hermione and said in a strong voice, "I love you." On saying that, the shock of feeling so many dementors dissipated and he was prepared for the task. He raised his wand as he had done in practice so many times and shouted the Patronus spell. A White Raven formed in the air in front of him and flew at the dementors, holding them at bay. A White Stag joined it, and Harry and Robert began to back away as Hermione tried to drag an unconscious Ron. Robert grunted under the strain, then saw the stag falter. As he watched, the stag disappeared and Harry collapsed to the ground. He stepped in front of his brother and tried to maintain his control but he noticed the Raven beginning to fade. In his fear, the Patronus vanished completely and the dementors approached unhindered. The first one seemed to grab him, and Robert was forced to look in its face. He could smell the stink of the creature as it brought its head down to his. He was already unconscious when another Stag, shining powerfully, knocked the dementor away.
Hermione watched from her vantage point. The Minister of Magic, along with Hagrid, Professor Snape and three men and women from the Ministry, had stopped to stare. In a tableau, they saw Sirius Black as a dog and Remus Lupin in werewolf form near the edge of the forbidden forest. Henry Somerset, nee Harry Potter, was with his brother and his housemates guarding a lone figure. Five of the six people recognized him. But the last part of the scene was what caught their attention. Dementors were flooding the school grounds and heading straight for the small group.
Harry struggled after he fell and saw his brother in the hands of the dementor. He raised his wand feebly and half uttered the spell. To his surprise and delight the stag, stronger than before, attacked the dementor and forced it to drop his brother. Smiling in relief, Harry fell back unconscious.
Her part had been so easy, Hermione thought, as she tried to rejoin Harry without being seen. She found a good hiding spot and tried to make out where Harry was. She spied him quickly, knowing where to look. He had his wand raised and was casting the Patronus Spell. The brilliantly shining stag would hold off the dementors until the help arrived. It would not be long. Hagrid and the others were racing across the field toward them.
"How curious," Albus Dumbledore said from behind her. "Remus dropped his map. I found it and thought to check on Harry and Robert. Imagine my surprise when four dots appeared."
"Is that how you knew?" Hermione asked.
"I suppose it is," Albus told her with a smile. "I assume I am not needed here, and that everyone will be heading for the infirmary. If you and Harry go to that side of the school, you will find a secret door left open. And now, if my judgement is correct, I must stop Robert from going to dinner."
Hermione grinned at the thought that the Headmaster had understood everything from one simple glance at the Marauders Map. She looked up to tell him but he was already gone. By the time she turned back the stag had disappeared, but other Patroni had taken its place and the dementors were beaten back.
It was with great relief that Hermione rejoined Harry. They knew what would happen next and knew they were not needed. They watched Hagrid and the Minister lead everyone back to the school then went inside by means of the door that Dumbledore had left open. Curiously, it disappeared as soon as they closed it behind them.
Hermione sat next to Robert's bed and held his hand, although it felt like ice. Madam Pomfrey tried to console her, then left her to sit. Harry stood in a corner, not knowing what to do. His brother was dying.
There was a knock on the door, and Father Maurice entered the room. Behind him was an old priest wearing an eye patch. The priest smiled at Harry, then proceeded to Robert's side. Father Maurice gently urged Hermione to step away and let Father Peter do his work but the priest waved his hand. Hermione was to stay.
Father Peter stood on the other side of the bed and looked at the unmoving boy. He gave Hermione a warm smile and whispered in a harsh voice. "Watch." He pulled down the blanket and opened Robert's shirt, laying his right hand on the bare chest. The left hand he placed on the boy's forehead. Then Father Peter began to pray.
Hermione watched the strange scene as she continued to hold Robert's hand. She had heard of the laying on of hands but had never witnessed it. For almost an hour the priest made his silent prayers, his lips moving but no sounds coming out.
"His hand," Hermione said with a surge of surprise and joy. "It's becoming warm."
Robert awoke briefly to find his hand pressed against Hermione's cheek. He tried to tell her not to cry but he was too tired. Instead he felt into a natural sleep.
"It was Pettigrew," the Minister finally acknowledged after Hagrid and one of the men and the woman who accompanied the Minster swore to sign affidavits to that effect. MacNair was the only one to continue expressing his doubts, but that was because he had his own plans.
Dumbledore had forced the issue by stating that all four of the students now in the infirmary had seen the man, and talked to him. He was forced to add that, because of circumstances, one of those students would not survive.
Cornelius Fudge, however, would not accept the responsibility. The students had known about the dementors. Remus Lupin, who was supposed to have his condition under control, had failed to take his potion. Sirius Black had proven to be an illegal animagus. (So had Peter Pettigrew but that was beside the point.) If anyone were to be blamed for what happened, it should rightfully be Dumbledore for permitting a Werewolf, of all things, to live on the school grounds. MacNair vocally agreed with the Minister.
By the end, a decision was made. Dumbledore was given the task of explaining away the injuries to the Somerset boy to the empire and appeasing them. Remus Lupin was to be banned from the school and its grounds and, in what the Minister considered a stroke of genius, Sirius Black's case would be reopened provided he remained on the school grounds. Fudge even suggested he be offered Lupin's former position as a gesture.
Albus objected to none of this because of one fact: the dementors would be leaving. Nor did he tell the Minister that Robert Somerset was now sleeping comfortably because of a Healer from that other world, so barbaric and backward, while Madam Pomfrey was helpless to do anything.
Father Maurice Pannier finished his breakfast and walked to his office. He met with several students that morning, fifth years preparing for their O.W.L.'s. He smiled easily as he talked with each of them. When he first came to Hogwarts his position was supposed to be a decoration, but many students found it easier to discuss problems with an adult who was not a teacher or a parent. He was keep busy on most days.
Shortly before noon there was a knock, and Remus Lupin walked in.
"Remus, you should not be here."
"They let me get my things," Remus said sadly. "I need to ask a favor."
Father Maurice nodded, knowing what the man would ask. "If I can do it, I will."
"Professor Quirrell told me about a cure."
"Did he tell you everything?"
"He did," Remus admitted. "I told him I would think about it. I didn't. But after last night . . . with Harry there, and Robert and . . . If not for Sirius . . ." He stopped talking as a sob broke his voice. "I want this more than anything."
Father Maurice reached into his robes and pulled out the control stone he always carried. "Come, Remus. Take my hand." As Remus grabbed hold of his hand, Father Maurice set his will upon the stone, and the two men removed to another world.
