Sorry for the long waits between updates. Updates from now should go back to weekly updates since I'm on break now!
"Harry," Granger said, crossing her legs. "There's something I don't understand... Why didn't the dementors get Sirius and Edward? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed out... there were so many of them..."
"I saw something silver galloping across the lake. It made the dementors retreat."
Granger's mouth fell open.
"There's only one thing it could have been, to make the dementors go," said Harry. "A real Patronus. A powerful one."
"But who conjured it?" Edward asked. As far as he remembered, there was no one capable of summoning a patronus at that time. Could it be that someone else was with them all along?
"Didn't you see what they looked like?" said Granger eagerly. "Was it one of the teachers?"
"No," said Harry. "He wasn't a teacher."
"But it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those dementors away... If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see-?"
"Yeah, I saw him," said Harry slowly. "But... maybe I imagined it... I wasn't thinking straight... I passed out right afterward..."
"Who did you think it was?"
"I think-" Harry swallowed. "I think it was my dad."
"Harry, your dad's- well- dead," Granger said quietly. Her voice was infused with pity.
"I know that," said Harry quickly.
"You think you saw his ghost?"
"I don't know... no... he looked solid..."
Edward lowered his voice like Granger. "Harry, the thing was about to Kiss you. I saw my dead mother- or what was supposed to be her, whenever I'm near those things. That's what you probably saw- an illusion."
The alchemist lowered his voice even more, as if speaking any louder could physically hurt Harry. "Your dad's dead, Harry. The dead don't come back to life."
Edward whispered the last sentence too bitterly that Granger stared at him for a while. She then looked from Harry to Edward with an incredulous look, as though not sure who to be worried more for.
"Maybe I was seeing things," said Harry. "But... from what I could see... it looked like him... I've got photos of him... I know it sounds crazy." He turned to look at Buckbeak, who was digging his beak into the ground, apparently searching for worms. But his gaze was unfocussed, still disturbed by the ridiculous theory.
Edward narrowed his eyes. He knew that look. The contemplative and yearning look. The dead do not come back to life. The dead never come back to life. He opened his mouth to knock even more sense into Harry's head but Granger shot him a look and gently shook her head. Edward frowned and ignored her.
"Harry, you know it can't be your dad right? If you have any reason to believe the dead can walk, quash it now. The dead can never come back, not in your world. Not in mine."
Harry gave a noncommittal grunt and nodded, still deep in thought. Edward's eyebrows drew closer together in worry. He would have to keep an eye on Harry throughout the rest of the night. Harry was not to be trusted even with himself tonight.
It was a mistake Edward would not let anyone else make. It cost him much more than an arm and a leg. The loss of his limbs was nothing compared to the guilt. He might as well have murdered his baby brother that night.
"Here we come!" Granger whispered. She peered over the shrubs and motioned Edward and Harry to stand and get ready.
Edward scrambled to his feet as quietly as he could and turned his head to where Granger was looking.
Harry and Black climbed out of the Willow first, followed by Granger and Weasley. The next figure almost made Edward's heart stop. A floating figure drifted closely after them, head lolled in an awkward angle, dark hair covering its face. Its arms dangled loosely at its sides, feet pointed and off the ground. It took him a moment before Edward recognised his head of house. Snape banged against the Willow but he did not react.
A second later, Lupin, Pettigrew and Edward stumbled out. It looked more like Lupin and Pettigrew were dragging Edward along though with him being shorter than the other two. Edward clenched his teeth in annoyance but controlled himself.
Harry was staring at the sky instead of the group. Edward glanced up briefly at the cloudy sky and knew that any moment, the clouds would part and the moon would shine upon the group.
"Harry," Granger said warningly, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do…"
"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again," said Harry quietly.
"How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?" snapped Granger. "There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius; we're not supposed to be doing anything else!"
"Shut up!" Edward hissed as their past selves drew closer to them. The clouds dispersed slowly, bathing the ground with icy blue light.
Lupin froze and began twitching violently. From a distance, the transformation did not look as horrific as when he was up close. Edward shuddered as Lupin's arms extended into sinewy forelimbs. Claws sprung out from them. One limb flayed around, almost taking Edward's head. A cold chill ran through him. Edward had not noticed then how close he was to death.
"There goes Lupin," Granger whispered. "He's transforming."
Edward glared at the dismissive way she spoke. It would have been different if she was the one chained to a furious beast.
"Hermione!" said Harry suddenly. "We've got to move!"
"We mustn't, I keep telling you-"
"Not to interfere! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!"
Granger's eyes sprang open wider and her hand flew straight up to her mouth.
"Quick!" she moaned, dashing to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The dementors wilt be coming any moment-"
"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now- come on!"
"Wait! What about us?" Edward hissed, staring at himself in distress. Lupin had clamped his teeth around Edward's automail and the plate was cracking.
"We're fine!" Harry shouted. And they were. The three Gryffindors were running away from Lupin, back towards the lake at Black's instructions. "We have to go!"
"Of course you're fine!" Edward snarled. The plate had cracked and Lupin had sunk his teeth into the connection wires. Edward clapped his hand over the broken plate in his automail and winced. The pain was not something you would forget easily. "I'm not! You guys go back to Hagrid's! I'll catch up with you later!"
"Lupin will be running in here soon!" Granger protested.
"Lupin needs to be occupied!" Edward roared back, trying to block out his own bloodcurling scream from the clearing.
"You can't get involved!"
"Fine! I won't! I'll climb up a tree and hide there. I need to know that he won't come back! I'll be fine!"
"You can't-"
"There's no time! GO!" Edward commanded, infusing his words with authority that the Gryffindors obeyed without question. They took off, leaving Edward alone. Edward grimaced, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
He lied to Granger. What Granger could not understand was that predators, praying mantis to full grown lion, never ran away from their prey. Lupin was no praying mantis, not even a lion. He was a few hundred kilograms of teeth, claws and a killer instinct. He may retreat for a moment from Black's unexpected attacks. But he would not stay there for long.
Edward would be down. Black would be weak and injured. They were both practically lying on dinner plates.
Lupin charged into the forest, blood streaking from his front limbs and his soft underbelly. Edward froze, surprised that the creature had appeared so quickly. The creature did not notice Edward at all and shook its head wildly, blood splattering everywhere. It turned around and roared, bunching its muscles and preparing to sprint back into the clearing.
Edward pushed aside his confusion and used the beast's moment of hesitation to his advantage. He clapped and slammed his palms onto the ground. The earth rumbled and softened under the creature's weight.
The creature let out a yelp as its back legs were being sucked into the ground. Edward clapped again and the ground hardened, holding the creature in place.
Furious, the creature swung its head around again until it caught sight of Edward a couple of metres away. It snarled viciously. Spittle flew in all directions.
Edward groaned at the bad breath of the creature but he was not given much time to fully show his displeasure. The hideous creature broke open the hardened mud around it like paper and scrambled out of it towards Edward.