Chapter 19

When I woke up, I found myself in the Hospital Wing with Harry telling Hermione something. In fact he sounded like he was yelling. When I sat up, Harry immediately asked me, "Did you see them?"

"See who?"

"The people who saved us. It was our parents!"

"Harry, it couldn't have been your parents," replied Hermione.

"They were," I spoke up. Harry and Hermione stared at me as I continued. "It was definitely them. I mean, who else could have conjured those Patronuses?"

"But Elliot," stated Amanda who was sitting in the chair beside me, "Your parents are dead. There's no way they could have been there."

"But I saw them! We both did!"

"You must have hit your head a little too hard," suggested Amanda.

How was it that no one ever believed us? I know what we saw and it had to have been our parents! What tow people have the same black hair and red hair as us besides us? Before Harry and I could convince otherwise, the doors burst open with Snape, the Minister and Dumbledore. "Here they are, Minister. I found these students helping Sirius Black and it was Miss Potter who attacked me."

And I would do it again in a heartbeat. "But sir, Sirius Black is innocents!" opposed Hermione as she and Amanda approached them.

"Oh is he?" asked the Minster.

"They're telling the truth, sir. It was Scabbers!" shouted Ron.

We all spun and looked at Ron who was lying in a bed across from Rachel, both with their legs in casts. "Who is Scabbers?"

"He was my rat…well he isn't really a rat. Turns out he was Peter Pettigrew who turned into a rat that was originally my brother's pet rat until he got an owl…"

"The point is Sirius is innocent!"I cut off before Ron could continue to ramble.

"And where is your proof?"

Running around somewhere in the Forbidden Forest like the rat he is," muttered Rachel.

"You see, Minister, like I said. Black Confunded the children more than likely to help him escaped" explained Snape.

"But…"

"With the absence of any proof, then I see no reason to stop the Dementor's Kiss."

"WHAT?" we all sang in unison.

Before we could argue Sirius' case anymore, the Minister and Snape left, leaving Dumbledore with us. Once they were gone, I gritted in frustration, "What are we going to do? Any minute now the Dementor's are gonna kill him!"

"Actually they're just going to suck out his soul….which I guess isn't much better…" corrected Amanda.

"Professor, there's gotta be something you can do! Surely you know Sirius is innocent," begged Hermione.

"I do but I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do. If only we had more time."

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to speak to Hermione and Amanda. It made no sense to me. "You know the rules. I shall lock these doors behind me. Make sure you are back by then. If you are successful tonight, more than one innocent life may be saved. Three times should do the trick. I find that retracing my steps is a good way to start. Good luck."

And with that, he was gone. "What the hell was that about?" asked Ron.

I was about to ask the same thing when Amanda and Hermione grabbed Harry and me. "Sorry Rachel and Ron, but seeing as how you two can't walk…" replied Hermione.

Before I could ask what was going on, both Amanda and Hermione pulled out necklaces with hourglasses and wrapped them around our necks and theirs. In sync they turned the hourglasses three times. After the third turn, I watched as it seemed like the room went in rewind. I was confused even as everything stopped and the necklaces were removed. "What just happened?" asked Harry.

Hermione looked at the clock behind us and asked, "7:30. Where were we at 7:30?"

"Heading to Hagrid's," Amanda replied.

"Alright, let's go! Make sure you aren't seen!" hissed Hermione as she and Amanda dragged us away. We ran through the castle keeping to the shadows until we reached the stone circle where what we saw made me do a double take. There was us…all of us! But we were right here. "Is that…is that us?" asked Harry.

"This is not normal," I muttered as I was about to get a better look when Amanda pulled me back.

"You can't be seen!" she hissed.

"How is that POSSIBLE?" I asked with more emphasis.

Hermione pulled out her necklace and explained, "This is a time turner. McGonagall gave them to Amanda, Rachel and I at the beginning of term. That's how we've been getting to all our classes."

"So we've traveled back in time?" asked Harry.

"Exactly…clearly Dumbledore wanted us to change something here," continued Amanda.

We watched as past-Hermione punched Malfoy. Oh how lovely it was to see Malfoy get punched by a girl again. We laughed until we saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle charge towards us. Although the look on Malfoy's face would have been priceless we jumped through the open arch and hid just in time for Malfoy to run past muttering, some revenge statement. Once they were gone we waited for our past selves to run down the hill. We followed them down the hill far behind. My heart jumped for joy when we saw Buckbeak. "Look! Buckbeak is still alive!" I whispered as we hid behind the outrageously large pumpkins.

Harry peered around as Hermione realized, "Of course! Remember what Dumbledore said! More than one innocent life may be spared!"

"Well what are we waiting for?" asked Harry as he went to fetch Buckbeak.

Amanda grabbed his arm and stopped him. "The Minister has to see him first. Otherwise he'll think Hagrid set him free."

Harry nodded as we watched Hagrid give Scabbers to past-Ron. Harry was about to run but I stopped him. I wanted to catch that rat too but I had a feeling something bad would happen if our past selves saw our present or their future selves. "Here comes Dumbledore…but we aren't leaving. Why aren't we leaving?" asked Amanda.

Then Hermione threw a rock into the window, shattering the jar. Almost instantly she threw another and hit Harry, causing him to rub that spot. We watched as our past selves came out the back, forcing us to hide in the forest. As we hid, Hermione moved a branch and asked, "Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?"

A twig snapped and we hid. I could hear past-Hermione say, "I thought I saw…never mind."

Almost instantly they ran and we took their places to rescue Buckbeak. Harry and I approached and bowed and when Buckbeak bowed his head back, we tried to pull the chain but he wouldn't budge. It wasn't until Hermione bribed him with dead ferrets did we get him into the forest, nearly getting caught by the Minister. We had succeeded in one rescue. After that we watched as everyone entered the Whomping Willow and we waited for our return. Harry and I stood watch as the sun began to disappear. "Amazing night," I sighed.

Harry nodded. "I can't believe we get to go live with him after all of this," I smiled.

"But first we got to clear his name and we can't do that without Pettigrew."

"Yeah but we'll find him. I mean, he can't hide forever."

We watched as ourselves left the tree while past-Harry and past-self went to talk with Sirius. "I think we should live somewhere with a view," Harry noted.

"Maybe without a lake, though." We laughed until we watched Lupin transform. Hermione and Amanda joined us and watched as Sirius chased Lupin off followed by past-Harry and past-me. Once they disappeared we followed just in time to see Lupin advancing on our past selves. Then Hermione began to howl. Harry stopped her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Saving your lives!" she replied before howling again. And then Lupin ran towards us. "Now he's coming fur us," Amanda muttered.

"Yeah, didn't think about that…run!"

We ran further into the forest before hiding behind a giant oak. We listened as Lupin smelled around and left. Once we left the oak, we heard a twig break and spun around in time to see Lupin staring at us, a hunger in his eyes. Harry and I pushed Hermione and Amanda behing us, ready to save them when Buckbeak came to the rescue, scaring Lupin off. With Lupin gone, I muttered, "Poor Lupin is having a tough night."

A cold chill swept over us. We looked in the sky to see hundreds of Dementors flying towards…"Sirius!" Harry said as we led the way to the lake.

We came to a stop on the otherside of the lake. The same side where Harry and I saw our parents. We smiled as Harry pointed to the spot and said, "Any minute now our parents are going to show up right there."

As we waited we watched our past selves being drained by the Dementors. "Any minute now," I replied, my heart beginning to flutter.

"No one's coming," pointed out Amanda.

We could see the point in time in which our past selves were saved but our parents were not there. Harry and I looked at each other and realized what we saw. Before any protests, we ran out and, with our wands raised, shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A stag emerged from Harry's wand and a wolf from mine. Bursts of light eminated from the Patronuses as they charged, fending off the Dementors. When they disappeared, we saw our past selves collapse. It all made sense. With the Dementors gone, we ran to Buckbeak and climbed onto his back before lift off. It all made sense…kind of. It was Harry and myself we saw. We could conjure those Patronuses because technically we already did it…although it wasn't really us…well it was…oh my head. "Drop Hermione and I off at the clock courtyard," Amanda shouted over the wind.

We flew Buckbeak down and as soon as Amanda and Hermione got off, Hermione told Harry, "They're keeping him locked away in one of the towers. Alohomora isn't going to work so use Bombardo!"

We nodded before taking flight once more. We quickly found the tower and I jumped off, running towards the cage and, pointing my wand, shouted, "Bombardo!"

When the door swung open, Sirius approached me and said, "Thank you."

"Thank Hermione. She told me the spell."

Sirius and I climbed onto the hippogriff and flew down to the courtyard, Sirius yelling in glee at being free and flying. When we touched down, Amanda and Hermione agreed to watch Buckbeak while we said our goodbyes. Sirius knelt before us and said, "I'm forever grateful to the both of you."

"We want to go with you," Harry replied.

"One day perhaps. For some time...life will be too... unpredictable. Besides, you're both meant to be here."

With a smile, he placed his hands on our shoulders. "You really are your father's son, Harry. And you, you're father's daughter, Elliot."

We both smiled as I placed my hand on his, grasping it gently. "Promise me something…the both of you."

"Anything," we chimed together.

"Trust yourself. No matter the challenges you face - and I fear they will be many - you'll be surprised how many times you can find the answers here," he replied, tapping our hearts.

Sirius hugged us both before approaching Buckbeak and climbing on board. Before he left, he said to Hermione, "Elliot tells me you gave her the spell to set me free."

Hermione nodded. "You really are the brightest witch of your age."

He then turned to Amanda. "Keep those two out of trouble for me."

"I'll do my best," Amanda smiled back.

With a wave, Sirius was gone. We watched him fly away until the clock began to chime. "We got to go!" Hermione ordered as she and Amanda pulled us away. By the time we reached the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore was just about to close the doors. "We did it, Professor!" Harry shouted.

Dumbledore turned to us and smiled. "I knew you could. Now inside before the Minister arrives."

We nodded and entered just as our past selves…present selves?...went back in time. Once they were gone, Dumbledore locked the door and Ron stared at us. "How is it I was talking to you there, and then you were gone and now you're over there?"

Rachel was about to intervene when the doors burst open, Snape coming in with an accusatory finger. "It was them, Minister! It had to be."

"I doubt it, Severus. The door was locked, as Dumbledore demonstrated by using the key. Someone else must have set Black fee," Fudge said.

"But…"

I smiled as Fudge sighed, "It seems we're going to have to look out for him a little longer. Albus, would it be too much trouble for a cup of tea?"

Dumbledore led Fudge out of the Wing. Before Snape left, he glared at us. I smiled and saluted him as he left, closing the door. "Can someone PLEASE explain to me what just happened?" Ron shouted.

With a smile, we all turned to look at him and laughed.

TBC…

One more chapter to go til the end! Please R&R!