* Last day of school today! I don't know why I went, since it was beasically just an assembly and stuff... Also, I was sick and sneezing... I shoul've just stayed home! Well, enjoy chapter 29! I have about 2-3 more chapters planned in this story...
There was a rush of excitement that was surging through Clara's veins. First, they had travelled through, Time. Time! Clara had never heard of such a thing! Second, they would be letting two innocent beings live tonight.
"I don't understand how that'll help save Sirius," Harry breathed. In fact, Clara had trouble talking too because it was very tight and hot in the broom closet…
Hermione grunted. "Well, Dumbledore said that Sirius was on the seventh floor! We're supposed to fly Buckbeak up and save him! How will we do it without being seen?" Fear was etched all over her voice.
"By being very careful, and not attracting attention to ourselves," John hissed. "And, we'd better get started."
Hermione pursed her lips as she closed her eyes and pressed against the door again. "I don't hear anything…"
Clara nodded. "OK, then let's get out, please!"
There was a murmur of agreement, and Clara tentatively pushed the door open. "Let's go," she said quietly.
They all staggered out, breathing hard. Quickly collecting themselves, they walked down the stone steps that led outside. The sun was setting, causing the tops of the trees to look aflame.
"What if someone sees us?" Clara asked urgently.
"We'll run and hide," John replied,
"That really doesn't help."
John scowled, though he always looked like that. Clara smirked to herself, and they continued walking in the shadows.
"How 'bout we go around the greenhouses? We need to keep away from Hagrid's front door, and we won't be able to see us if there's a building in the way," Hermione offered.
Harry narrowed his eyes. "What?"
John shook his head. "We're in the past, figure it out."
"We'd better get there fast," Clara said, trying to avoid an argument.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Let's run." Before anyone could answer, he took off, sprinting. Clara and everyone else followed. John passed Clara, but he only ran a bit faster than her. Hermione was the slowest, but she was keeping a steady pace behind Clara.
They ran around the greenhouse, until they were at the edge of the forest. John arrived there first, with Harry close behind. Clara halted to a stop, and then Hermione joined them.
"I'm guessing we're going to Hagrid's now?" Clara panted.
Hermione nodded. "...We need to keep quiet," she wheezed. "Sneak our way over."
Everyone nodded, before walking closer, than hiding behind two oak trees that stood beside each other. Then, a knock was heard from the door of Hagrid's hut. Hagrid gingerly opened the door, and he looked pale, and he was shivering.
Clara could hear a gasp escape Harry's mouth when he heard his own voice. Clara, funnily knew the feeling.
"It's us! Hagrid, we're wearing the Invisibility Cloak! Let us in!"
"This is really weird," Harry muttered.
"Sh!" Hermione scolded. "We need to get closer to Buckbeak!"
The four of them crept alongside the trees until they reached the animal. Clara felt immediately happier, even though she barely knew the animal.
"Now?" Harry asked.
"No!" Hermione hissed. "We've got to wait until the Committee sees Hagrid tie him up! Otherwise, they'll think Hagrid just let Buckbeak loose!"
"That plan gives us literally 60 seconds the get everything done!" Harry protested.
Clara winced. "We're not here, er were here… I have no idea what's happening right now, or then."
"Get used to it, I feel it all the time," John muttered.
There was a shriek from inside.
"We've just found Scabbers," Hermione explained.
Harry started forward, and Hermione and John pulled him back.
"What are you doing?" John hissed angrily.
"What if we get Pettigrew now?" Harry asked desperately.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione retorted. "We can't! That would break another law of Time Travel! Nobody's supposed to change time, Harry! We're even doing it right now!"
John frowned. "Well, technically, because we're stuck in a paradox, assuming we've completed our task, Sirius is alive in the future. And that is because of what we do right now. Which means that, if we don't do this, we'll be changing the future."
Hermione huffed. "John, I hate to say this, but we really don't need a temporal lesson right now!"
John knit his eyebrows together. "Well, unless you want Harry to fracture the Universe in two seconds-"
"Ugh!" Hermione exclaimed. "Listen, just don't do it! You might see yourself and attack you, yourself."
"Fine!" Harry hissed. "Just an idea…"
"An idea that could've gotten the whole planet attacked by Time anti-viruses," John said.
"Not now!" Hermione said.
Clara rolled her eyes. In truth, she wanted to find out more about what John knew, but she realized that would anger her comrades.
Clara instead, opted for watching the scenes unfold in front of her. Hagrid walked out to the pumpkin patch where Buckbeak stood, and calmed the hippogriff down.
"We're coming out…" Hermione breathed.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood, watching Buckbeak too.
"Go on! Get out of here! I don't wanna you guys to see that!" Hagrid sobbed.
Instantly, the past three put up a fight.
"They can't kill him-"
"Just go!" Hagrid cried again.
Hermione, Harry, and Ron threw themselves under the cloak, and were gone from sight.
There was a knocking sound, and the execution party had come. The back door was still open from the past people's departure. They could hear into the hut.
"Where is the best?"
"Outside…" Hagrid blew his nose.
Minister Fudge was also speaking. Clara wasn't sure why the Minister of Magic had to attend such a thing, but he was here as well.
Harry shuffled forward. "They've seen Buckbeak. Now, let me." Without waiting for a complete answer, Harry ran forward.
Clara watched in awe as he bowed to the hippogriff, and then once earning Buckbeak's respect, untied the knots that tied Buckbeak to a fence.
Harry carefully pulled Buckbeak back, but Buckbeak didn't want to move. Harry tugged tighter on the rope, hoping to walk Buckbeak the fifteen more feet until safety.
Clara gave Harry a look of disbelief and frustration as he struggles with Buckbeak. John was groaning about people being stupid again.
Finally, Buckbeak decided to walk properly. Harry managed to get Buckbeak to the forest, and to safety.
Clara smiled. "Good job! But what the hell so long?"
Harry rubbed his red hands. "The blasted thing didn't want to move!"
"Uh, we need to get a move on," John said. He started pulling on Buckbeak. Hermione tugged on the rope too.
They were completely covered by the trees, but they stopped when they heard, "Where is it?"
The executioner was extremely angry. He cursed a bit, but in all his frustration, he hit the fence. Happy sobs were heard escaping from Hagrid.
"So, that's what that was," Clara said.
"Yeah…" Harry agreed.
"Well, we can't go back," Hermione said. "We have to wait until everybody has gone back to the castle. Then, we can fly to Sirius's window and save him. Ugh, but he won't be there for another couple hours!"
Clara stretched her arms. "We can't wait here. We've got to know what's going on!"
"But, we've got to keep out of ight!" Hermione reminded them.
John started waking. "We know, we know!"
They walked, until they saw Ron at the Whomping Willow.
"Scabbers! Come here!"
Again, Clara cringed when Sirius bit into Ron's leg. Then, when the Whomping Willow almost hit Harry, and he ducked out of the way, Clara hadn't noticed a twof whipped her in the face. It looked more painful form afar.
Clara touched her face, and cringed when John was hit square in the chest by a branch. He fell down, and luckily didn't seem too affected.
Minuted later, the four of them were in, climbing their way down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. It was weird, because then the tree started moving again. And at that moment, the executioner, Fudge, Dumbledore, and another were walking back to the castle up that very hill.
Another five minutes, and Professor Lupin was running down the hill. He hit the knot on the tree with a long beach, and went inside. Clara noticed how the sky was grey from the cloudy moonlight.
Harry winced. "If I grab the cloak now, Snape won't be able to get it!"
Clara shook her head. "Harry, we just had this conversation minutes ago! You can't do that!"
"But I can't just stand around and watch! I'm going to go!" Harry argued. He got up from where he was kneeling, while everyone cried "Harry!" Well, John muttered "Idiot," but same thing.
Clara grabbed the back of Harry's robes, which caused him to stumble.
Clara was glad she did, too. Because there Hagrid was, singing his drunk arse off. Hagrid stumbled up the hill, taking impressive swigs from his brandy bottle.
Clara smiled at the memory of her doing that once… Wait, what? No. That was the other woman, right? Clara had to leave her thoughts and attend to Buckbeak who was trying to get back to his master.
And then, two minutes later, Snape burst through the doors. He ran down the hill, charging. He stopped at the base of the Whomping Willow, and picked up the Invisibility Cloak.
Harry snarled something behind Clara, but she didn't quite catch it. Snape went into the tunnel after touching the knot with a stick.
Clara sighed. "That's it. Around another thirty to forty minutes until they, we, all disperse and we can get Sirius."
Hermione nodded, and tied Buckbeak to a tree. She sat down into a ball. Clara lay down on her back, looking at the clear sky above her. There wasn't any pollution here… The sky was clear and beautiful, speckled with stars.
"Sometimes I wish I could look at them closer, you know? The stars, I mean," Clara said quietly.
John who was sitting next to her, nodded. "Yeah."
Hermione cracked her knuckles. "Muggles have already visited the Moon. Apollo 11 of 1969…"
Clara smiled. "Yeah, I know. The Moon is the best. I'll always remember Neil Armstrong's foot…"
John shuddered, which caused Clara to prop herself up onto her elbow. "What?" she asked.
John frowned. "Nothing. It's just… A lot more happened in 1969 than anyone remembers…"
Clara was about to ask what he meant, when Harry interrupted her.
"I've seen the Van Gogh painting 'Starry Night.' Reckon the Patronus that saved us at the Lake looks a bit like that…"
Hermione stretched her legs. "Yeah… I saw the blur of light. But I don't understand how Sirius got away… I mean, we all passed out!"
Clara ran her fingers through her hair. "Maybe someone else did it?"
John smacked his head. "Well who'd you think did it? The squashed-faced cat?"
Clara sat down properly, and put her hands up in defeat.
"It was probably a teacher," Hermione concluded.
"No…" Harry muttered. "He didn't look like any teacher…"
John tapped his fingers anxiously, like he had to keep at least one body part moving. "Well, we've narrowed it down to 'he.' "
Clara wrapped her cloak nervously around herself even tighter. "Do you have any idea who it was?"
Harry stared out into the sky again. "I think," he started, "I think he was my dad."
Clara and Hermione immediately frowned. John looked at Harry like he was an idiot, though to be fair, that was the look John gave to everyone.
"Harry, James s dead," Clara said quietly. "He has been for almost fourteen years!"
"I know, I know!"
"Do you think you saw a ghost?" Hermione queried.
"No," Harry replied firmly. "He was, well he looked solid."
John chuckled. "Solid. Interesting way to describe a dead man."
"John!" Clara scolded. She turned her attention back to Harry. "Harry, I know that today has gotten your hopes up and everything, but… Just because Sirius is innocent and Buckbeak is alive, that doesn't mean your father isn't dead."
"But, he looked like the photos I have of him!"
But, they all turned their attention back when their past selves exited the Shrieking Shack. The clouds were about to part…
Harry moved forward.
"You can't be seen! Stay put!" Hermione said sternly.
"I can't just let Peter get away!"
Clara sighed. "Harry, it's too dark anyway. He's a rat!"
"He's transforming!" Hermione whispered.
Harry started to panick. "Hermione, we've got to move!"
"We can't be seen, Harry!"
John shook his head quickly. "No, no. The kid is right. Lupin will come into the forest, right where we are!"
Clara's heart sank. "No, no, no! Ugh!" She launched herself up, and quickly began untying Buckbeak.
"Where are we going to go?" Hermione groaned.
"Hagrid's!" Harry suggested. "No one's there!"
Clara nodded. "Hagrid's sounds much nicer than here, Harry!"
They all looked at each other in acknowledgement. Then, they ran. They made their way into the house, where Buckbeak made himself happy.
Clara hadn't actually been to Hagrid's house, unless it was for an errand or something. It was weird being in a house, uninvited. She felt like an intruder. Well, actually, she was.
"I need to go outside," Harry said carefully.
Hermione gave a suspicious glance toward Harry.
"Just so that we know when it's safe to save Sirius, OK?"
Hermione nodded slowly. He left the house silently. Clara took one look at him, and said, "I think I'd better keep an eye on him. He's probably going to try and sneak out."
She didn't wait for an answer, so she left anyway. She crept along the walls of the house, until she tapped Harry on the shoulder.
Harry jumped, but said nothing.
Clara stood by his side, as they watched their past selves run to the lake. Clara felt Harry shiver when he saw the dementors.
Harry looked at Clara. "I really need to know if my dad was there," he said.
Clara frowned. "Listen, Harry…"
Harry shook his head, and gripped his wand. "No. I'm going to find out anyway."
Clara rubbed her nose. "Harry, I already know who casted the Patronus," she whispered.
Harry looked at her in disbelief. "Who?"
Clara shook her head. "I think, you're going to have to find out by yourself, OK?" She gave him a quick hug. "You'll have to run," she said ever so quietly.
Harry nodded against her hug. Clara pulled away, before giving Harry a quick peck on the cheek. He blushed, and Clara noticed.
"Like I said, if you want to find him, you're going to have to run and catch up to him," Clara said again.
Harry nodded, and he looked sure now. He didn't say anything. Instead, he ran off into the direction of the Lake, straight into the mass of about one hundred dementors. Now, she had to deal with Hermione who was storming out of the house.