Title: What Do You Think?

Harry went right after Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling.

"Oh no," James said sarcastically, grinning. "What a shame."

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But… well… think about it. Once my name's cleared… if you wanted a… a different home…"

"Are you asking Harry what I think you're asking him?" Remus said.

"Well that depends. Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?" Sirius replied.

"Nevermind."

"Wow, Sirius, that would be amazing if you took Harry in," James said. "Then he wouldn't have to deal with those terrible people. No offense, Lily."

"Trust me, none taken," she responded. The mention of her "relatives" brought quite a scary look to her face.

I wouldn't want to be the Dursleys right now, James thought, noticing her look.

Snape's head was scraping the ceiling but Black didn't seem to care.

"It's not just that I seem not to care, but I actually don't," Sirius confirmed.

"Yeah I mean it!" said Harry.

"Great," James said. "Now Harry can live with Sirius and actually have a good childhood. This will be perfect."

"Yeah, maybe I can teach him some marauder secrets now that he has the map," Sirius agreed.

"I feel bad for the kid," Remus said seriously, despite having a slight smile on his face.

"Oh my -" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

"Oh my," Lily echoed. "And everything was going so good for the first time all book."

"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now."

"Yes, run away," James agreed. "Good advice, Sirius."

"Thanks."

"Too late. Pettigrew had transformed."

"Oh no, that traitor is getting away again," James said in frustration.

Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back

Lily gasped. James looked at Sirius with a sympathetic look on his face, having been in that position many times before. Remus had his face in his hands, blaming himself for everything that went wrong in the last few minutes.

They pelted toward it, and Harry, running flat out, felt the cold without realizing what it must mean –

"Not again," James muttered.

And then Harry saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake toward them. He spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure his vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them…

"Can this night get any worse?" Lily asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Sirius replied.

Something was driving the Dementors back… It was circling around him and Black and Hermione… They were leaving… The air was warm again…

"Okay…" Remus began, trying to comprehend the quick change of events. "That was unexpected. Pleasant, but unexpected."

(Watching the Patronus that saved him return to its creator)

Someone who looked strangely familiar… but it couldn't be…

"What? Who?" Lily asked, hysterical.

"Lily, calm down," James said. "It's okay, they're safe."

"It's not okay, dementors just attacked my son. I'm supposed to just accept it?"

James didn't answer her. Why? Because he wanted to live longer than the next minute.

Chapter title: HERMIONE'S SECRET

"Finally, it's all explained," Sirius said. He liked this whole "no more mysteries" part of the book. He was never that good at mysteries.

"…by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape…"

"Oh really?" Remus asked. "Yeah, because he really did a lot of good."

"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

"That better not happen," James said. "If it does, I'll… I'll… I'll -"

"You'll what?" Remus asked.

"I'll be very mad."

"That'll show them."

(Both lines were taken from Snape in the same exact passage.)

They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent.

They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed.

"That's funny. Why would you want to catch someone who's innocent?" James asked.

"Because Snape's lying," Sirius answered.

"Personally, I try and treat him like any other student."

"I told you he was lying."

"The boy has undoubtedly been foolish…"

This remark seemed to upset James, since he said, "I'm not liking Fudge too much anymore. He better sleep with one eye open."

"Why, is something wrong with the other one?" Sirius asked.

She was carrying the largest block of chocolate he had ever seen in his life.

Sirius' eyebrows automatically raised.

"Down boy," Remus said, treating him like the dog he was.

"As for you two… you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied you're – Potter, what do you think you're doing?"

Harry was sitting up, putting his glasses back on, and picking up his wand.

"Good job," James encouraged. "Disobey the rules."

"Do you really think this is the best time?" Lily said.

"It's always a good time."

But Madame Pomfrey suddenly stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into Harry's mouth; he choked, and she seized the opportunity to force him back onto the bed.

"That's not very nice," Lily said.

"I've never known her too be so bossy before," James commented.

"Then you've obviously never spent a night in the hospital wing after transforming into a werewolf," Remus said.

"No… no I haven't."

"But you believe us."

"Yes, I do," said Dumbledore quietly.

"Good," Sirius sighed. "At least Dumbledore knows and can do something about it."

"If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight."

"More than one?" Remus asked, confused. "Who else besides Sirius?"

"No idea," James said.

Harry didn't have a clue what was going on.

"Neither do we," Sirius agreed.

He saw a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from it.

"Oh, of course," Lily said. "How did I not figure that out?"

"Figure what out?" James asked.

"It's a Time-Turner."

"A what?"

"You'll see."

Hermione seized Harry's arm and dragged him across the hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed him inside among the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind them.

James couldn't help but grin. It seemed neither could Sirius. "Wonder what they're doing in there."

"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered, lifting the chain off Harry's neck in the darkness. "Three hours back…"

"How did they do that?" James breathed, shocked.

"Wow, I didn't know that was possible," Sirius said.

"What, have you not grasped the concept of magic, yet?" Lily asked, mimicking James from when he showed her the Room of Requirement.

"I have, but… that's amazing. Even we haven't done that."

"It's called a Time-Turner," Hermione whispered.

"Oh, that's a Time-Turner," James said.

"Yes, it's very useful, but extremely dangerous," Lily replied.

"I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons."

"Well, that explains it," Sirius said. "That must be why the chapter is called 'Hermione's Secret'."

"Figured that out all on your own, did you," Remus asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did."

Harry frowned; he felt as though he were screwing up his whole brain in concentration.

"So do I," Sirius agreed. "And I'm not even there."

"We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak – they can escape together!"

"That sounds pretty hard," James said, skeptically.

"And dangerous," Lily added, worry clear in her voice.

From what Harry could see of Hermione's face, she looked terrified.

"I can relate."

"Doesn't sound like anyone's there… Come on, let's go…"

----------

A/N: I tried to add some more humor in this chapter. I'm not sure if it worked, but I tried nonetheless.

Oh and by the way... review.