"Harry, I can't believe it... You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That's very, very advanced magic."
Edward found Granger and Harry a few minutes later. Harry was flushed red. He was holding the chimera's leash. Granger was awestruck. They turned around when Edward joined them.
"Ed! What happened to you?" Granger said, surveying Edward. There was a huge gash on Edward's pants leg where Lupin had tore through it and his face and clothes were streaked with mud. His braid had come loose completely and there were twigs and leaves stuck in them.
Edward clapped and pressed his hands to himself. The dirt lifted off from his body and the pants legs mended themselves. It felt good to use alchemy again after his whole internal conflict about the hocus pocus. Using alchemy made him feel like a person of logic, like a scientist again.
"Bad hair day?" Edward said, combing out the knots in his hair and retying his braid again.
"Edward, you promised you would hide and not-"
"If I hadn't done anything, we would have died," Edward interrupted harshly. Granger's eyes widened at his tone but they narrowed again.
"You could have ruined this whole rescue. We were supposed to stay out of the way."
"We were also supposed to survive. Otherwise we wouldn't even be here!"
"You could have avoided direct confrontation." Granger shot back, eyes blazing.
"How?" Edward demanded. "By hiding in the bushes and throwing rocks at the thing?"
"Guys! Quiet!" Harry interjected, holding up both hands warningly. Granger glared at Edward and crossed her hands tightly over her chest. Harry gave both of them a long look and raised a finger to his lips. He pointed at the lake.
Snape had regained conscious and was conjuring stretchers for Harry, Granger and Weasley. He waved his stick once more and the stretchers started to move towards the castle alongside him.
The Slytherin Head crossed over to the other side of the lake using some kind of flying spell. As his figure retreated, Granger glanced at her watch and checked the time.
"We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing."
Snape had reached the opposite end of the lake and conjured stretchers for both Lake Edward and Black. Edward could not see his face from such a distance but from the way Snape's body tensed, Edward had a feeling that Snape would rather leave them there for the dementors.
"Let's go!" Edward said, getting up to his feet the moment Snape disappeared into the castle.
"Not yet!" Granger protested. "Sirius wouldn't be in the cell yet. It would be too early."
Harry nodded in agreement and Edward grinded his teeth. He sat down petulantly, itching to move. Waiting was the worst part. In a few moments, a life can be turned upside down. The horrible part is to wait for that moment and not being able to do anything about it.
The chimera was growing bored, pecking its beak into the ground and searching for worms. It gave up after a while and took an interest in Edward's shiny platform boots. Edward shifted his feet away before they interested the chimera too much.
"HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW FAST WE ARE GOING?"
Edward glanced up and grinned when he saw himself and Black hurtling down his steep makeshift slide. Granger's and Harry's mouth fell open.
The dementors were gaining on him from behind, swooping down towards them with predatory grace. But they were faster. Edward was yelling out something and Black was screaming back at him. They were going down so fast they were almost a blur of colours.
Then, Edward grabbed onto Black's collar and with the friendly help of momentum, launched the man straight into a tree. There was a flash of blue light and the stone slide crumbled away from the top and scooped up the dementors. The stone morphed into a dome and pinned the dementors under it. The light faded away once the transmutation was complete.
Granger and Harry turned to stare at Edward, their mouths still agape. Edward grinned.
"I would give that an eight point five out of ten for dramatic entrance," Edward said modestly. "Needed to improve my landing skills."
Harry shook his head. "You are insane."
"Look! It's Mcnair!" Granger whispered. "He's gone to get the dementors!" The trio turned to see the executioner hurrying down the lake. It was hard to recognise him at first since he was donned completely in black garbs. He was carrying something shiny in one hand and Edward realised it was the ax.
Both Edward and Black had not noticed Mcnair then. But if they had, they would probably be long dead by now.
Edward and Black were at the Willow, hobbling away from the castle. They were arguing about something Edward had already forgotten about.
Unknown to the two at the lake, Mcnair had already spotted them and he had an army of dementors with him. Mcnair was shivering, probably from the effects of the dementors and Edward wondered why he did not cast a patronus to keep himself safe. Mcnair made a gesture with his hand and the dementors glided towards Black and Edward.
"Run!" Edward whispered under his breath from his hiding place. His past self could not see it but the dementors were coming at him from the shadows behind. Black suddenly perked his head up, like a dog who got wind of danger. At the same time, Edward had tensed and looked ready to clap.
Beside him, Harry clutched tightly onto his stick with a look of concentration on his face. Granger swiftly clapped a hand over his and shook her head frantically. Harry relaxed his grip on his stick reluctantly but his face was still taut with tension.
Suddenly, Black pushed Edward onto the ground. Edward made a sound of protest but was too winded to stand up. He kicked him, this time into the hollow in the Willow. The branches of the tree reacted instantly, whipping around frenziedly and protectively. The dementors would have to go through a blender to get anywhere near to Edward.
Black went down as one of the branches cracked against him. He arched his back in pain and collapsed onto the ground. The dementors sprang towards their prey and as a result of their rashness, got slapped painfully by the branches. Edward smiled widely at that.
The dementors changed their tactics and waited until the branches had stilled before they retrieved Black's body and moved back to the castle. One of the dementors decided to turn back and inspect the hollow. It reached its hand into the tree. A flash of blue light and a wall of earth shot up and pinned the hand there.
The dementor screeched furiously and struggled to get free. It looked so savage that Mcnair stared fearfully at it and hurried back to the castle without releasing it.
"Come on! Let's go!" Harry said.
Granger planted her hands on the chimera's back and Harry gave her a leg up. Edward did the same for Harry. Edward stepped back a few paces and ran towards the chimera. He held onto the chimera's back and vaulted himself into the air. He landed neatly behind Granger who had wrapped her arms around Harry's waist.
Harry kicked the chimera's sides with his heels and the creature spread its wings and lifted into the air too quickly.
The movement took Edward by surprise and he quickly grabbed onto Granger's waist to keep himself from falling off.
Granger was clutching onto Harry tightly, muttering over and over how much she hated this. She whispered to herself like a mantra, as if it would make the fear go away. Edward should really introduce her to Quidditch.
Harry urged the chimera forward towards the castle, making a sharp turn at one point which made Granger squeal with fear. Edward could barely stop himself from joining her. His stomach lurched as he almost toppled over from the turn.
Harry started counting the windows and jerked hard on the reins when they reached Black's window. The jerk slammed Edward's face into Granger's back and instantly, his eyes began to water. Edward hoped his nose was not broken.
There were a few things Edward did not know about chimeras; like some chimeras could fly, some chimeras only come out during the full moon, some chimeras are crazy over worms, some chimeras are crazy over human flesh. There was one thing Edward did know about chimeras though- it was that Harry should never be allowed to ride one ever again.