Disclaimer all that I own is a computer, a microphone and an overactive imagination the rest belongs to Ms. Rowlings and her affiliates.

Author's note. Thank you all for choosing to read this story and a big thank you goes out to my fabulous beta Taint of Taia and to never even or odd my very first reviewer to chapter 1.

Recap

Dumbledore stopped in the doorway turned and said sadly, "Molly says that she has five other children to think about and she believes that it is best for Ron that he does not have to deal with the stress of so many siblings given his current state. It's sad really, having such a gifted child and not showing them the time of day."

With a last goodbye the Granger's very strange visitor was gone say that under that name that in the blink of an eye.

Chapter Two

Time of Their Lives

By: Empathicallychosen

Betaed by: Taint of Taia

"When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers." Ralph Waldo Emerson

(o)(o)(o)

Little Whinging, Surry

It was June 23, 1984 when peaceful Little Whinging was turned to chaos. It was Dudley Dursley's fourth birthday and his parents had spared no expense. Vernon Dursley had rented the park near his home for the day and had set up an enormous, full-blown, carnival. Some people were quoted as saying that such an extravagant party for any child, let alone one of Dudley's age, was heinous. To spend so much money on a birthday party was appalling. Of course, the people saying these things were also the people Petunia Dursley had Park security (whose main job was to make sure no one entered the party without a present for Dudley) had escorted from the party. She watched as they left with an enormously smug look upon her face. Next to security stood an extraordinarily tall man in a red-striped suit and top hat. This man kept repeating, "Hurry, hurry, and have the time of your lives!" as though he were announcing the sideshow at the circus.

However annoying this man was, or how gaudy a person found this celebration to be, everyone was indeed having a splendid time, including Harry Potter (the Dursleys' scrawny nephew with broken glasses). Normally, Harry never had fun when he was with the Dursleys, but today was different. It was not because the Dursleys didn't dare do anything cruel to him while they were in public, or even because of the rides and games the Carnival offered. Harry was having fun because he was with his two best friends in the whole entire world, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, and there was nothing the Dursleys could do about it. Not at the moment, anyway.

Normally Harry could only see his friends if he was being babysat by Mrs. Figg, Ron's caretaker, or if both Mrs. Figg and Hermione's parents were away on a trip. Both of those instances were a rare occurrence. But the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were currently away on business had nothing to do with the threesome being together now. In a crowd of nearly a hundred and fifty people (most of which were Vernon Dursley's clients or people he hoped to impress), it was nearly impossible for Harry's horrible aunt and uncle to catch them together. They most certainly would not have agreed to Harry spending any more time with them than what was absolutely necessary. Harry was indeed very lucky to see his friends once every two or so weeks as it was!

Harry and his friends were chatting happily behind the Ferris wheel.

"Harry, did you have another Prongs dream last night," asked Ron hopefully.

Harry shuddered, he often had conflicting thoughts about Prongs. Prongs was a man who could turn into a moose and do all kinds of other magic too. Harry was terrified of magic. It seemed like nearly every time his aunt or his uncle was hitting him they were shouting about magic. Still somehow when he was around Prongs Harry felt at peace. Harry nodded but was saved from having to go into further detail when his aunt announced they were bringing out the cake.

"Auntie P'unia was yelling at the baker 'cause Dudley's cake wa'n't big 'nough for Dudley," Harry quietly informed his companions as he stroked the stuffed snowy owl in his lap.

Hermione gasped and stuffed a ginger cat to her mouth, perhaps appalled but perhaps more likely to stifle a giggle. Ron, who had been throwing a tennis ball sized stuffed owl into the air, let the owl drop. He widened his eyes as he looked over to the food table where Dudley was stuffing his face with sweets and then turned calmly back to his friends and picked up his toy from the ground.

"They can't do that, silly. Mr. Sorens'n doesn't have a big enough oven." Ron was quiet for a moment, then added, "Nobody does."

Hermione giggled for certain, then.

Mr. Sorensen was the town's baker. He was also courting Mrs. Figg. Though he was as strange as Mrs. Figg was crazy, the three friends took a liking to him. Ron often gained loads of day old sweet rolls from the man, which Ron was only too happy to share with his friends.

Uncle Vernon walked past the Ferris wheel to the catering tent. The three of them froze. Luckily, a group of seven-year-old girls walked by, acting as cover for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry spoke again lowering his naturally quiet voice.

"Uncca Vehnon sa' if da cake in't done the right way, den he's gonna have Mr. Sorens'n run out of town."

Just then, three men came out of the tent carrying the most enormous cake any of them had ever seen. Against their better judgment, the trio fought through the crowds to get a better look at the spectacular desert. Ron was the most enthusiastic and was actually pulling the other two along behind him. Hermione's naturally curious nature had gotten the best of her as well.

"This in't good," Harry told the others eyeing the Dursleys apprehensive.

"C'me on. C'me on, please," whined Ron, exasperated.

Reluctantly, Harry followed a crowd of people over to the food table.

On the top of the cake, there was an enormous roller coaster made entirely out of candy. It even had little gum drop passengers. Any child would be honored to have such a magnificent confection as their own. However Dudley's face with screwed up and he began to wail, "THIS FROSTING IS VANILLA! I WANTED CHOCOLATE!"

Hermione gaped at Dudley, Ron rolled his eyes again, and Harry sighed. After cake had been passed out to everyone but Harry and his friends and the presents had been opened, everyone was free to go back to their rides and games. Unfortunately, Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not slip into the crowd fast enough.

"This place is boring," yawned Dudley, showing his true spoiled nature. Suddenly his face lit up like a hungry wolf who had just spotted his pray. "HEY FELLAS LET'S PLAY PIN THE TAIL ON THE FREAKS!"

Gordon, Malcolm, and Piers stopped to guffaw idiotically at their leader's pitiful joke. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to run, but not quickly enough. For several minutes, Dudley's gang beat the 'freaks' mercilessly. They pulled Hermione's hair and made Ron's nose bleed. Dudley kicked Harry's bladder so forcefully, Harry wet himself. Dudley and his fellow bullies found this highly amusing and came up with several very cruel jokes. Eventually Dudley grew tired and allowed his victims to leave. However, for the sake of their safety, the trio ran and kept running until Harry, eyes blurred with tears, collided straight into a man.

"I'm sorry," moaned Harry.

Harry had hit the man so abruptly that Ron and Hermione ran into him, so that all three of them landed face down on the pavement and their stuffed animals flew into a patch of nearby bushes.

When Harry had detangled himself from his friends and wiped the tears out of his eyes, he looked up at the man and gasped. This man was one of the most frightening men Harry had ever laid eyes upon. Shrouded in black robes and with an alarming skull and serpent burnt into his left forearm, barely showing, the man was even more imposing than Harry's uncle.

"Wh- who are you," asked Ron fearfully.

"Dumbledore . . . the Ministry . . . they think they're so smart. My master will show them, and you three brats are going to help him. With power like yours, he will be unstoppable," smirked the stranger coldly. The words made no sense to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

The man pulled out a long stick. The wind began kicking up dust and dirt into the trio's eyes. The clouds turned a steely sort of gray and the skies snarled like an injured lioness. The trio did not understand what was going on but they knew it was bad.

"Matris, abbas, abbas filius addo una porro lost semen vicis ut vicis ut eram quod ut preteritus et suum absentis cruor!"

The world around them began to spin. Faster and faster it went. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were getting very sick. Colors were whirling past them left and right. They were lifted high into the air. It was like being in the eye of a giant tornado. Hermione didn't even have time to scream before they were thrown roughly to the ground. After getting off of Harry and Hermione, Ron began vomiting violently.

1977

"Where are we?" asked Hermione fearfully, getting to her feet.

Wherever they were, it was not anywhere close to home. They were standing in a dark, massive, and spooky graveyard. The dark outline of a small church was visible beyond a large hill to their right. Ron could just make out the silhouette of an exquisite house on the hill. But how had they gotten there in the first place? And how had it gotten so dark so quickly?

The oddly dressed man stood up. Suddenly, he had friends dressed like him, and lots of them. The new strangers seized Harry and his friends. They tied up the children with ropes that were spit out of their sticks and dragged them roughly through the dirt into the old house. Suddenly, Harry's captor dropped Harry to the ground in surprise, realizing that the boy had wet himself.

"Ugh, disgusting little roaches! Nicholson had better be right about this whole prophecy . . . " the strange man trailed off wiping his hands on his cloak and grabbing onto Harry's hair before the boy could figure out which way to run, the ropes being no hindrance to the boy's legs. They all headed in the direction of the house on the hill.

The three of them were terrified.

This house was the biggest house Harry had ever seen in his life. It was also the scariest. There were no lights; nonetheless, it looked deserted and certainly haunted. Along the outer walls of the Victorian style home, there were enormous spiked vines. They were unlike any vines Harry had ever seen. It certainly was not ivy. What was a little scary was that they looked as though at any moment they would spring up and strangle the life right out of him, as if they were alive. To make this house even more uninviting, in the center of the garbage infested lawn stood a large statue of a monster. It almost looked like a snake and its eyes seemed to follow them as they were dragged through the filth into this house.

Harry did not know what was going on, but he knew one thing was for absolute certain. He did not want to go into this house. He struggled, he kicked, he screamed, he bit, and he cried, but the man who was dragging him so forcefully was just too strong.

Harry caught a glimpse of one of the rooms before they crossed over to the basement. The room was so covered in garbage that he saw no floor. From the smells that bombarded Harry from that room, he was sure that someone had been sick in that room and that no one had bothered cleaning it up. He had just caught a glimpse of a broken mirror splattered with blood before he was thrown carelessly into the basement (the door located beside said room) like a sack of potatoes. Harry noticed that Ron was still struggling with his captor. The man holding on to Ron wasn't pleased.

"Listen to me, you little rodents! You belong to us now. If you even sneeze without our permission, you're going to regret it," he told them viciously.

Harry was surprised Hermione's at behavior she wasn't struggling she wasn't even crying she was just shaking and fiddling nervously with her mother's locket.

"Yer gonna be in big trouble when my Daddy finds out about this," Hermione whispered bravely.

A bald man, who stood in front of Harry, laughed maliciously. "Now what do you suppose a dirty Muggle is going to do to scare us, little girl?"

The man stepped aside once he saw Hermione was properly cowering. Harry could now see the room more clearly one big room with a cement floor and bars on the window and door. The only pieces of furniture in the room were pieces that they, even as young as the three friends were, knew did not belong there. Shoved up against the walls were three steel tables, like the ones you might find in an operating room, except that these tables came equipped with leather straps.

"I'm glad you like it here, as you'll be staying for a long time," said one of the strangers, looking around at the children's terrified faces with frightening glee. With one last menacing laugh, the captors were gone and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were left all alone crying in a strange and dark new environment.

-- -- -- -- --

Aidan Potter was very bored. That was not something that could often be said about someone who worked in the Department of Mysteries. Aidan usually loved his job. It was full of danger, excitement, and intrigue . . . except on the days when he had to do paperwork. Paperwork and processing was a force always unbearable, but today it was so tedious he could barely keep his eyes open. Aidan shoved the file he was working on as far away from his desk as he could and began drumming his fingers on the side of his desk.

"I need more adventure in my life," he said to himself placing his hands behind his neck and his feet on top of the desk.

The statement really was ironic considering that his wife thought he had too much adventure in his life as it was because of his occupation. People had always told Aidan that he should be careful what he wished for, but he never knew how true that was until now. No sooner had he said it then there was a knock on his office door.

"Come in," yawned Aidan.

The door creaked open slowly and four cloaked figures slid into the room. They had an air about them that was almost dangerous. Aidan's feet fell hard off the desk with a thud within seconds Aidan was reaching for his wand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said the center figure lowering his hood. "Calm down. We didn't come here to hurt you. We came here for your help."

Being able to see the man's face did not ease any of Aidan's concerns, nor did it help when the man's friends followed suit. They were all quite thin and resembled a group of corpses. Even through the cloaks these four people wore, Aidan could tell he would be able to see each one of their ribs had those cloaks been removed from these strange visitors. The men were unshaven, covered in dirt and grime, and they smelled like the old sewers in Paris. Their hair was matted and wild. Aidan was sure he'd caught something moving in one of the men's rats nests, though it could have been a play of the shadows.

However, in contrast to the men, the woman's state was perhaps more sorrowful than it was disturbing. It was clear that she had once been perhaps one of the more beautiful and elegant women on the planet. Though she walked gracefully and she projected an air of confidence as though she was the queen, Aidan had seen bag ladies who were in better condition than this woman. He was also certain that the grace and confidence was fake, like a mask, as if it was the only thing she could control at the moment. Perhaps it was. Although Aidan couldn't help but find, himself just a little bit curious, what would a group of vagrants need with his help?

Aidan stared there was definitely something terribly familiar about the men, "Who are you?"

"It's me. It's your son, James, and --" Aidan stood up.

"Liar," Aidan hissed. "My son is only --"

"Seventeen. We know, but this is James, that's Remus, and I'm Sirius. We traveled nine years into the past to reach here. You have to believe us!" said a second man, Sirius apparently, frantically.

"Why should I believe you?" Said Aidan with cold skepticism.

"Last summer at our adoption you lost your temper and called Sirius's mother an old shrew. Procyon tried to hex you. The spell worked, but a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and hit you on the head. Mum said if you weren't already injured she would have killed you," said the man who claimed he was Remus.

Aidan cocked his head sideways, "Boys?"

Sirius, Remus, and James nodded.

"Sorry we startled you, Aidan," said the woman but Aidan didn't recognize her.

"Dad, this is Lily," said James.

"The girl you're always on about?"

"My wife. We need your help, and fast. We have to get back to Azkaban before your spell wears off and someone realizes we're missing," said James hurriedly.

James then that launched into the tale of their wrongful conviction, although he was excluding as much as he had been instructed by the Aidan of the future (1984), meaning the tale was full of holes at best.

"Somehow a death eater managed to sneak into the place my son was living and carry off my son and both of his friends."

Aidan lost his balance as he was so enthralled yet horrified. He found himself reassembling his desk. Remus then took over where James had left off.

"We have to find them and get back to Azkaban before you get arrested as well," said Remus hoarsely, "but we cannot go anywhere until we know they're all right."

Aidan had been pacing around the room trying to absorb all the information that had been presented to him. Now that's a story was finished he went back to his desk and buried his head in his hands for a moment muttering to himself. He looked up to find Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius all staring at him apprehensively.

"We have to get a hold of Dumbledore and Ed Bones. Well, don't just stand there. Are we, or are we not, in the process of a rescue mission?"

-- -- -- -- --

On the first day Ron, Hermione, and Harry had arrived at the manor house, where they had promptly been thrown into the cellar, the muscular man with the salt and pepper beard had taken Harry away from his friends. When they came back, the man had broken every bone in his left hand Harry was normally a very submissive person, eager to please in vein hopes of pleasing his relatives, but now, whenever their kidnappers would demand of them, he became like a zombie. He rarely moved, let alone spoke, even to Ron or Hermione. All he could do was clutch his agonizing hand and sob quietly, shivering in the corner. When his friends sat down next to him, he never said a word. Nothing he tried could ease the pain. Of course, he was still young and the best he could think to do was rub some mud on it. The mud was cool and felt good on the throbbing pain.

On the eighth day of their abduction, a woman came in and demanded they "charm" her appearance because she was in some kind of trouble. When they could not comply, especially because they had no idea what she was asking or how to go about getting it for her, she left the room screeching obscenities at them. She returned a few minutes later carrying a jar of hot oil and proceeded to throw it all over Hermione's arms and legs. Hermione dealt with her pain almost the exact opposite of her friend. Instead being still and quiet, she sobbed loudly at night screaming that she wanted her mummy. Of course it only made her captors much more angry and they punished her horribly. Yet the more they punished her, the more she cried. She was grateful for the wet cold mud, just like Harry, because it alleviated some of the burning sensation that she was experiencing.

Ron was the loudest of them all. The more they tortured him, the more he fought. When his captors weren't present, he stalked about the room like a wild animal trapped in a box. Sixteen days after their abduction, Ron had finally had enough of the screaming, crying, prodding, poking and torturing. The guards had left, thinking that their prisoners were asleep and they decided to go get a drink. Ron, however, was not asleep. He made a decision in a panic and ran through the open door, hoping that he could somehow get away and get help. He didn't even get as far as the landing. In retaliation for his attempted escape, their tormenters had broken both of Ron's legs.

"Let's see you try to get away now," laughed a potbellied woman with flyaway blond hair.

They did not try to get away after that. In fact Harry, Ron, and Hermione had given up hope that they would ever be rescued. They could see out the barred window that it was very late, but they had no way of telling what time it was, even if they had known how to do so. They knew that wherever he was, it would be late enough for Dudley to already be fast asleep.

They were exhausted. Their captors had tortured them mercilessly. The men shouted all the while about magic, but none of the children understood what their captors were saying. Truthfully, they understood only a few things about their captors except for the fact that they were cruel, crude, and smelled like the backside of a donkey. They were also, obviously, out of their minds. After all, everybody knew magic was just make-believe.

Hermione and Ron were huddled into a corner trying to sleep. Harry had given up. His legs were throbbing so hard that to lay down would be more than he could bear it was a pain like nothing he had experienced before. It was as though some of the concrete had been embedded into his muscles and was slowly, excruciatingly, turning them to stone. Harry felt his throat tighten and his eyes were stinging with tears as he leaned up against the cell door, daydreaming that a guardian angel would swoop down and save them. Just when they were soaring through the night sky on the back of winged ponies, there was a great commotion outside the door.

"So what! You found some spell in Slytherin's burial chamber. Big deal! We still don't know what it does." Said a deep voice as it passed the door.

"No, but we could find out," said another.

"How do you propose we do that?"

"Are you daft, Maguire? We have three perfect guinea pigs at our disposal."

Harry raced over to where his friends had lost their battle with consciousness to sleep, and began trying to wake them. Harry knew that their kidnappers got very angry when any of them fell asleep. He didn't want anything to happen to Ron and Hermione. He didn't want to be alone. Whatever his captors were talking about, it sounded as though this would be worse than ever before, and he knew he wouldn't be able to ignore what was coming like before. His friends woke up almost as though they had never fallen asleep. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together waiting tensely for the all-too-familiar sound of their abductors footsteps.

"Excellent idea, Stebbins. Lopez, you watch the door while Plimpton, Nicholson, and I play with our little friends."

Almost immediately, two of the thugs burst through the door. The one called Nicholson surveyed the fledglings with an evil glimmer in his eyes. Although all of their jailers were bloodthirsty and heartless, Nicholson was the most predatory and scary of them all. He was, after all, the one who instigated all of their torture sessions. As he watched them huddled together in that corner, he seemed to be in ecstasy. He just stood there and laughed gleefully.

"What's the matter? Tired?" asked Plimpton in mock concern. "Sorry squibs, but nap time's over."

Nicholson walked in the room and stopped so that he was looming menacingly over them. "We have a very special job for you three."

Hermione burst into racking sobs. Ron tried to comfort her, but Nicholson wasn't going to have that. He kicked Ron in the ribs with full force.

"GET UP YOU LITTLE MAGGOT," Nicholson ordered.

Ron stared at his aggressor blankly clutching his stomach.

"I can't."

"Are you talking back to me you, lazy little Oaf?"

"N -n-no you broke my leg, 'member?" moaned Ron desperately.

Nicholson was now beating Ron fiercely. Ron was already badly injured and Harry was terrified that something worse was going happen. Harry didn't know why he tried to pull Nicholson off Ron. Perhaps his fear of losing his best friend acted as a catalyst. Whatever it was, it inspired him to try and rescue Ron. It wasn't long before Hermione join as well. However Maguire, Plimpton, and Nicholson were much older and stronger and they hadn't been weakened by continuous brutality. Before they knew what was happening, all three of the small children were strapped down to those wretched medal tables.

"Should we gag them Rudolph?" Maguire asked Nicholson staring viciously at Harry, who was the most prone to the most satisfying screams. The boy already had tears streaming down his face from when he was trying to help Ron.

"No. This could be painful and I want to hear them scream," said Nicholson.

Nicholson pulled out his stick. Harry turned away. He didn't understand how such innocent looking sticks could cause him so much pain. This was obviously why Hermione's mummy was always telling them not to play with sticks. Harry hated this part. Never in his whole life had Harry thought he would ever miss the Dursleys. He had dreamed of getting away from them, yet knew, as he lay on the frigid table and staring up at the cracks in the ceiling, all he wanted was to go home.

A scarlet light flashed all around him and he was engulfed in the most excruciating pain he had ever felt. He burst into tears screaming at the top of his lungs, "I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA GO HOME!"

McGuire stood above him laughing. Tears flooded Harry's face he watched with blurry eyes as the ancient light bulb above them swung back and forth. Apart from the physical pain he was feeling, Harry was also in emotional agony. His best friends in the whole world were suffering and all he could do was listen. Harry listened to Ron's tormented yells and Hermione's anguish sobs for what seemed like an eternity.

-- -- -- -- --

Sirius tried desperately to keep up with James. James was Sirius's best friend, but he knew James could be so stupid sometimes. They had just broken down the front door and James was already halfway up the rickety staircase. Sirius had known James for a very long time and he knew at this moment that James had only one thought in his mind . . . Harry. Sirius, of course, was also worried about his precious godchild. He adored Harry, but James's one track mind was making him reckless.

Harry was Lily's son as well, and Sirius had no doubt that Lily was worried out of her mind because of what might be happening to her child. Yet, somehow, she had found the presence of mind to help Remus look from room to room to make sure they weren't walking into a trap. James, however, was being his usual noncompliant self.

Sirius, too, wanted nothing more than to rescue those sweet children and to kill the monsters that took them, but he knew that Harry needed his father and the way James was behaving he was certainly going to get himself, and maybe somebody else, killed.

Sirius was also very worried about the group Aidan had assembled. The group had no idea that they were rescuing the three people who would turn around one day rescued them all from an even greater evil than they were facing right at that moment. They simply thought that they were rescuing ordinary wizard children from their own time. Sirius was terrified that the children being of such a tender age, and not understanding the severity of the situation, might say something and expose them all as time travelers from the future. Furthermore, though their group was not exactly minuscule, they didn't know how many monsters were lurking here. For all they knew, there were a hundred or more Death Eaters upstairs.

Sirius didn't have long to fester in his fears. When he and James reached the landing, four Death Eaters opened fire.

"JAMES! LOOK OUT!"

James's reflexes were quick. He dodged and weaved at precisely the right moment to avoid the deadly curse that had been sent his way. It only took eight shots to take their attackers down. Once the threat was eliminated, Sirius turned his attention to surveying his surroundings. Almost immediately, a gut- wrenching sound reached their ears. Children screaming, crying, begging for their lives. It caught their attention like a flash of lightning. Sirius's heart shattered.

"STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE! NO PLEASE NO PLEEEEEEEAAAAAAASE!"

"Hermione," sobbed Lily who had just joined them on the landing.

It took all the strength and willpower Sirius had to hold James back when he had started to charge toward the door where it sounded like the children were being tormented.

"We have to be careful. If we just burst in on them, they may panic and kill our kids." And all three of those children Sirius did see as belonging to the Marauders as a whole. Thus, it was hard for Sirius to restrain himself, listening to these horrors. All Sirius wanted to do was run into that room, scoop up all three of them, and never let go.

"I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA GO HOME!"

Sirius was not a very emotional man, but, upon hearing his godson's cries, tears were streaming freely down his face. He tightened his grip on James to restrain himself as much as it was to restrain his brother now. Luckily Aidan had finally made it up the stairs with the others.

"Okay, I know this is killing you but you have to stay focused. Leave the Death Eaters to us. You just get those kids out of there." That was all that Aidan said before leading the rescuers forward. Sirius could only think that it was not so hard for Aidan to listen as he was not yet attached to his grandson.

The way Sirius and the others raced for the children was like they couldn't see the battle between the rescue team and the Death Eaters. They didn't even seem to notice the spells ricocheting off the walls that could potentially harm or maim them. When they finally entered the room, they were mortified at the scene in front of them. Three Death Eaters were wrestling with Edgar Bones, Dumbledore, and Aidan. Only feet away, Harry, Ron, and Hermione lay panting, battered, and bleeding, strapped down to a table like animals.

One of Harry's eyes was swollen shut and he was barely recognizable. Hermione was covered in bloody scrapes and bruises and there was an enormous lump on the back of her head. Even from a distance, they could see one of Ron's ribs poking upwards. Remus was shaking with grief, James's fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were as white as a ghost. Sirius wanted to wake up from this nightmare and never so much as think about it again. It was apparent Lily was dying inside, but there was an eerie calm around her. Perhaps she didn't want to startle her charges, or perhaps it was something more.

"My poor babies," she lamented.

Lily approached Hermione, who was closest.

"It's okay. Everything is all right now."

"G-g-go away," Hermione stuttered timidly.

"Its okay sweetie," she looked over at Sirius for help as Remus and James had gone over to free Ron and Harry from their confines.

"You don't have to be scared of us we're here to help you," Sirius could not stop his voice from breaking.

Tentatively he approached the table. He reached for the leather straps, but Hermione tensed and took a shuddered breath.

"Oh, no! It's okay! I'm just going to take away those icky old straps so we can get you out of here," said Sirius trying to keep his voice casual, though it broke even more in the attempt.

With Lily's help, Sirius tried to free the girl from the straps, but failed.

"We're just here to help," said Sirius gently, as he noticed Hermione's growing fear.

Hermione looked over in the direction of Remus and James and began to sob hysterically. Sirius and Lily could only make out the words "Killed Harry . . . killed Ron."

Sirius looked around at the little boys. James and Remus had cast a sleeping spell on them to carry them away easily. Lily smiled sympathetically, with tears of relief pouring silently down her own face. It wasn't just that her son had finally been rescued, but after nearly three long excruciating years, Lily was only feet away from her son. He was close enough to touch, though she didn't dare. Not yet.

Sirius had known Lily for a long time. He could only imagine how much her arms ached to hold her child again.

"Not now. There'll be time for that later," Lily told herself allowed as though saying it would make the horrible hungry feeling inside of her stop, yet she knew the little girl needed her.

Sirius put a hand on her shoulder, but removed it almost instantly. Lily's tears had gotten heavier. Desperate not to look into the doleful mother's eyes, Sirius turned his concentration back to Hermione.

The leather straps that bound the girl seemed almost as though they were attached to the girl. Sirius's hand inadvertently grazed Hermione's skin where the straps were. She whimpered and bit her lip. Sirius winced. The last thing he had intended to do was hurt the child. The straps were magically bonded to Hermione. Sirius needed to use his wand, but, every time his wand got close to the girl, she would start bawling again about how the "sticks" had killed her friends. Sirius ran a hand through the cleanest part of his matted hair. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw Lily rub away the tears so as not to further alarm the already petrified girl.

"Oh no, honey. Your friends are only sleeping," said Lily affectionately.

Her entire focus had completely shifted from her son to the little girl that was almost like a daughter to her. Sirius felt a guilty sense of relief when James had carried Harry from the room. He wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible and, though Sirius loved his godson, right now Harry was a distraction. Harry was safe now that's all they needed to know for the moment. They needed to think about Hermione. Sirius had to admit it surprised him how quickly Lily switched gears.

"Sirius has to use his wand now, that's stick he's holding there see," Lily informed the frightened girl.

"Hermione, I'm going to cast a spell now," Sirius informed her.

He felt it was important not to surprise her given what she'd gone through already.

Hermione whimpered and flinched.

"Don't be scared," said Lily melodically. "He's only wants help you."

Hermione seemed to trust Lily. Then again, judging by the horrible bags under her eyes, Sirius imagined the poor girl was just too tired to fight with Lily on the matter. Sirius immediately cast the spell that would free her of the straps binding her. It took a few moments, but Hermione was finally free. He saw that Hermione was still crying, but it was much quieter now.

"You're tired aren't you? Well, let Sirius help make you sleep. When you wake up, you'll be far away from this place in a nice warm bed where no one can hurt you."

Hermione surrendered, allowing Sirius to cast yet another spell. As Sirius watched the sleeping girl curled up in Lily's arms, he prayed when they returned to Azkaban, the monsters who had done this to his beloved charges would be transferred to his cell.

Author wipes brow there you that that was a the longest chapter in the whole story two down 14 more to go.

Next chapter: Hermione meets a strange monster at the end of her bed and Ron has a run in with a cantankerous nurse.

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