April rolled into May, and May into June. Exam season was frantic, and Harry reluctantly went back to using the Time Dilater each night. He wished he could share it with Ron, though he was increasingly sure Hermione had no need for it.

The Friday before the start of exams was Buckbeak's appeal.

Sirius's barrister had had to work like mad to get a proper one, and Malfoy was pulled out of class to testify. Harry, Ron and Hermione all gathered around the mirror to hear the news direct from Sirius.

Sirius was grinning like a shark when he appeared.

"So what happened?" said Hermione, unable to restrain herself.

"My lawyer happened. Susie Connel. Bloody brilliant. Expert testimony, medical records, cross-examination. Made Lucius and his little copy look like proper fools. Absolutely knocked them off their brooms. Lucius had to call for a recess just so he could hand out more bribes."

"Bribes?" gasped Hermione.

"Way of the world. Not that I paid a single one – just the barrister's fees for me. Malfoy must've spent a hundred times on the affair what I did, at least, and the threats and blackmail are expensive too, in their own way. You shoulda seen the way he stalked out."

They grinned. "Can't wait to see Malfoy's expression at dinner," said Ron, and Harry and Sirius laughed.

"Shame about the hippogriff though," Sirius added absently.

Their laughter cut off abruptly.

"But Buckbeak get off, didn't he?" said Harry.

Sirius snorted. "With the money and threats Malfoy spent? Not likely. They'll execute him next week."

"Then why are you happy?" said Harry.

Sirius blinked. "Because Lucius Malfoy spent thousands of galleons to make Dumbledore look bad for hiring an incompetent Professor-"

"Hagrid's brilliant!" Harry said hotly.

"Sure, of course he is. That's just what Malfoy was after, true or not. But what he got for his money is the chance to look like a thin-skinned idiot with a whinging shite-stain for a son. Plus one dead animal."

"But Buckbeak-"

"Is a cow with a bad attitude. It's a damn shame, but you eat beef every week."

Hermione said, "Hippogriffs are an ancient crossbreed of horses, lions, and eagles."

"Cows, horses," said Sirius, waving his hands as if the difference were immaterial. "Shame we didn't get Susie on it for the initial hearing, but for Lucius Malfoy this is just the first dose of poison before the main course…"

Harry knew what Sirius meant. After months of delays, Pettigrew was about to finally have his own inquest into his history as a death eater, and Sirius was convinced that he'd implicate at least a few former death eaters who'd dodged Azkaban. It was most of what Sirius talked about on mirror calls lately.

"I don't expect we'll get Lucius himself over it," Sirius said, the gleam in his eyes making perfectly clear that he dearly hoped that would happen, realistic or not, "But damage his influence, make him spend a fortune and still get a couple of his lackeys jailed at the end of it? That's very plausible."

Before Sirius could really start ranting, Harry said, "We can't just let Buckbeak die. Couldn't there be another appeal. New evidence, or-"

"Harry, I've already done everything I can. I'll see you the day after exams for the meeting with Dumbledore." Where Sirius, Harry knew, planned to press Dumbledore for the guardianship.

They ended the mirror call, and Harry stared at his friends.

"We should go see Hagrid," Ron said.

"He may not be back yet," said Hermione. "We'll visit after dinner."

But no one answered when they knocked on the door to Hagrid's house that evening.

The next morning, they found Hagrid flat on his back on the floor, a crying drunk with bottles scattered around him.

Just as before, Hermione led him out back to dunk his head in the well. It sobered him up enough to explain, at least.

"Yeh heard about Beaky, then?" he said, blowing his nose in a handkerchief the size of a dishcloth.

"Sirius told us," said Harry.

""e did everything he could. Great man, Sirius Black. I thought we 'ad it when Malfoy called for that break. But in the end-" Hagrid hiccupped. "In the end it wasn't enough. They were scared of Lucius Malfoy, and now they'll come kill Beaky."

"When?"

"Right after me last exams," said Hagrid. "That evening, so as not interfere with lessons, they said."

Harry lowered his voice and spoke quickly. "What if Buckbeak was gone when they came? Maybe the centaurs could look after him."

But Hagrid was already shaking his head. "I'd lose me job, or go back to Azkaban, even. I can't go back there."

And there seemed little else to say beyond that. They comforted him as best they could, pretending to eat the rock cakes he pressed upon them, then went out with him to feed beef haunches to Buckbeak, who was anxious with being tied down all the time.

When the three of them left, Harry said, "We have to do something. If Hagrid can't free Buckbeak, we could."

Ron said, "They'd be sure to pin it on him."

"Not if Hagrid had an alibi. What if he was on the other side of the castle when it happened?"

"They'd still say he did it."

"Not if there were witnesses to Buckbeak getting away."

"Ron's right," said Hermione, sounding immensely pained. "Just think of the trouble we'd be in if we were caught. This isn't just being out in the corridors after hours. It would be a real crime."

"So we'd need alibis too," said Harry. "Even if we were spotted, we could claim it was polyjuice if other people saw us on the other side of the castle when it happened."

"We can't be in two places at once," said Ron.

"I rather think we can," said Harry, looking hard at Hermione.

Following Harry's gaze, Ron looked at Hermione too, and his expression lit with suspicion.

Hermione squirmed.

"Something that could turn turn time, maybe," Harry said.

"How did you know?" Hermione burst out.

"Figured it out."

"When?"

"Weeks ago. Though I wasn't sure until just now."

"I promised Professor McGonagall I'd only use it for class."

"We'd be saving Buckbeak. You heard Sirius – Malfoy only won because of bribes and threats."

She bit her lip. "We'd have to be very careful. And I don't think it can take three safely. I asked Professor McGonagall if it could take two, in case I had to get you away from Black, and she implied that was the limit, so I was never sure what I would do if we were all three there when Black got to you."

"Then it's just us two. We'll use my invisibility cloak, so I'm coming."

Ron said, "It? What's it, Harry? Use what? What are you two talking about?"

"Hermione has a Time Turner."

Ron's face was blank.

Hermione reached under her robes and pulled out a gold necklace with an hourglass on the end. "This lets me go back in Time."

Ron's eyes widened. "Messing with time is bloody dangerous."

"It can be dangerous," Hermione allowed. " If you're not careful, you really can create a paradox and more or less kill yourself with it. It's safer than Quidditch though. Time Turners don't try to mess with time exactly. They just double it up while no one's looking. You can send yourself up to five hours back in the past, but unless you're trying to violate causality, it'll usually turn out that what you're doing was already done by the future you while you were the past you, so rather than time travel the effect is more like being in two places at once for a bit."

Ron said, "So that's how you've been getting to class."

"Exactly. I wanted to tell the two of you, of course I did, but Professor McGonagall would only loan it to me if I promised to keep it a secret from absolutely everyone, and I wasn't going to make myself a liar. But since Harry figured it out, that's different.

They walked back to the castle in a tight knot, discussing what they could do.

#
#

Harry reminded himself that this was the last time he'd ever set foot in the divination classroom and focused on making things up about his crystal ball. But there wasn't one class he cared less about, and he sighed in relief when Professor Trewalney released him

Harry picked up his bag and turned to go, but a loud, harsh voice spoke behind him

"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."

Harry wheeled around. Professor Trewalney had gone rigid in her armchair; her eyes were unfocused and her mouth sagging.

"S-sorry?" said Harry.

But Professor Trewalney didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes started to roll. She looked as though she was about to have a seizure. Harry hesitated, thinking of running to the hospital wing – and then Professor Trewalney spoke again, in the same harsh voice quite unlike her own.

"THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE 12 YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE THE COCK CROWS… THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AJD MORE TERRIBLE THAN HE EVER WAS. TONIGHT… BEFORE THE COCK CROWS… THE SERVANT… WILL SET OUT…TO REJOIN…HIS MASTER…"

Professor Trewalney's head fell forward onto her chest, and she grunted. Then, quite suddenly, her head snapped up again.

"I'm so sorry, dear boy," she said dreamily. "The heat of the day… you know… I drifted off for a moment."

Harry stared at her.

Is there anything wrong, my dear?"

"You – you just told me that the – the Dark Lord's going to rise again… that his servant's going to go back to him…"

Professor Trewalney was thoroughly startled.

"The Dark Lord? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? My dear boy, that's hardly something to joke about. Rise again, indeed-"

"But you just said it. You said the Dark Lord-"

"I think you must have dozed off too dear! I would certainly not presume to predict anything as farfetched as that!"

Harry climbed back down the ladder and spiral staircase wondering… Had he just heard Professor Trewalney make a real prediction? Or had that been her idea of an impressive end to the test?

He rushed back to the Gryffindor dormitory. Ron had finished Divination ages ago (she had saved Harry's divination exam for last, as if it were a treat) and Hermione had just arrived back from Arithmancy.

He told them what had happened.

"You sure she wasn't having you on?" said Ron, worried.

"No. But it seemed different. She was different."

"She's a fraud, Harry," said Hermione. "She obviously just said it to seem impressive."
Ron said, "But what if she wasn't fooling this time? Divination is real, even if it's 'wooly.'"

Hermione rolled her eyes but said, "Then Harry had better contact Sirius, shouldn't he? We certainly can't do anything about it from here."

Though he felt silly about it, Harry went upstairs and grabbed the mirror. "Sirius. Sirius. Sirius," he called, but there was no reply. Harry supposed the mirror was probably left on the desk in the office, where Sirius wasn't.

He thought of sending Hedwig off with a note, but Hedwig wouldn't reach Wales for at least a day, probably longer, and Sirius would've reached and left Hogwarts by then. Anyway, the idea that there had been anything to Trewalney's words seemed more farfetched every moment.

He rejoined his friends and the three of them hurried to Hagrid's, wanting to make sure they were in time. Ron carried Harry's Firebolt and had Harry's invisibility cloak wadded up in his pocket.

Hagrid showed them where he was keeping Beaky, out back by the pumpkins. They fed him rats, and when Hagrid tearfully invited them inside for tea, Ron cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "I'll just play with Buckbeak a bit. And then I have to go up to the castle. Promised Ginny I'd play a game with her later."

Hagrid slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him off his feet. "You're a good brother, Ron. Gotta look after yer family. Beaky now," Hagrid sniffled, "e's been like family too. I…"

Harry and Hermione followed Hagrid inside while Ron remained without, becoming better and better friends with Buckbeak.

They endured a great deal of tearful recollections as they waited for Fudge to arrive.

And waited.

And waited.

"I've got stew in the pot," said Hagrid, pointing to a large cauldron full of bubbling brown liquid and unidentifiable chunks. It smelled alright, but they'd all had too much experience with his rock cakes to take him up on it.

It was nearly sunset when Harry felt an unexpected bite of cold in the air. He looked through the one window they'd left uncovered and saw three men. Fudge, in his lime green bowler hat, Dumbledore, and two men he didn't know, one large and carrying an axe, the other old and fussy.

But Harry's attention was drawn inexorably to the two dementors on either side of the group. They were inactive, reigning in their unquenchable hunger and generally not giving terrible feelings to the Minister of Magic, but he cursed anyway.

He tapped Hermione's shoulder and pointed out the windows.

She hissed. "What did he bring them for?"

"Likes having them around," said Harry. "That's what Sirius says. Makes him feel powerful. Plus, they don't need paying with money."

Lowering her voice, Hermione said, "Can you cast the spell? If you can't, we might need to back out."

"Yeah," said Harry, though the truth was he'd only managed it twice, and never while facing the Boggart dementor.

A knock on the door, and Hagrid escorted the four men in, the dementors remaining outside.

Fudge goggled at Harry.

"Just wanted to be here for Hagrid," Harry said. "And for Buckbeak."

"It's a vicious beast," said Fudge. "Known to the Ministry of Magic to have a taste for wizarding blood."

"Taste for rat, anyway," said Harry, meeting the Minister's eyes. "I've fed him enough to know. Even flew him once. Because unlike Malfoy, I followed Hagrid's instructions."

"Fed him?" said Fudge. "Very lucky you haven't been attacked, then. Yes, very lucky. But you had better take off now."

"We're staying," said Hermione quickly.

"I hardly think that's appropriate."

"We're witnesses for the school newspaper," said Hermione.

I wasn't aware Hogwarts had a school newspaper," said Fudge.

"It's a new initiative," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. "They're hoping to make quite the splash, as the trial of Buckbeak has enraptured the whole student body. Though I will, if you prefer, ask our student representatives to face away while the deed is done."

"Very well," said Fudge, looking distinctly unhappy. "But no pictures."

Dumbledore made several remarks, and Hermione asked a number of annoying legal questions that slowed it all down. They were just signing papers when they all heard a large, outraged squawk.

Harry was first to the door, and he blocked the exit for a moment. Even in the sunlight, he thought he'd seen a suggestion of a silvery light, as from a Patronus, and he wanted to give himself extra time to escape.

McNair pushed him through the threshhold.

The dementors were gone, and Buckbeak's rope had no Buckbeak attached.

"Where is it?" said the reedy voice of the old man. "Where is the beast?"

"It was tied here!" said the executioner furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"

"How extraordinary," said Dumbledore, with a hint of amusement to his voice.

Hagrid began to sob. "Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"

"But the dementors…" said Fudge.

"I suspect they spooked the hippogriff," said Dumbledore.

"They know better than that," said Fudge.

"Do they indeed? I trust you remember, minister, the frequent complaints from both myself and various parents of how unruly they have been. But it may be, in this case, not entirely their fault. After the earlier incidents, a number of our NEWT students took to practicing the Patronus Charm. Suppose that one of them, seeing two dementors skulking at the edge of Forbidden Forest, saw an opportunity to attempt what they'd practiced. They drove off the dementors, and that dark and billowing stampede is what panicked our wayward hippogriff."

Fudge sputtered. "If someone attacked our dementors, we need to find out who."

"I shall endeavor to discover it," said Dumbledore. "Perhaps the dementors, when they return, will be able to offer us some clue." Dumbledore's voice hardened. "But I will not be lining up my students to be examined by dementors."

"Of course not," said Fudge, wilting.

The executioner said, "We should search the skies, the forest —

"McNair, do you really think a panicked Hippogriff will have run away? Search the skies, if you will… Hagrid, I could do with a cup of a tea. Or a large brandy."

"O' — o' course, Professor," said Hagrid, who sounded weak with happiness. "Come in."

"Er," said Harry. "We'd better go."

"Right," said Hermione. "That article won't write itself."

They hurried back to the castle before anyone could decide they were suspicious and think to question them.

They came into Hogwarts through the side door, as it were, and ate a quick dinner in the Great Hall. Hermione wrapped sausages and buns in wax paper for Ron, and they hurried out of sight up to the dorms.

Ron's job hadn't seemed like such a big deal before – he and Ron had done much worse together – but they weren't together, and Harry kept thinking of all the ways it could go wrong.

Hoping to take his mind off it, he proposed a game of chess. Hermione agreed, which was rare even with Ron nagging her about it, but being worried about Ron, Harry played terribly. He kept seeing his mistake right after he'd made the move.

But Hermione missed every mistake he made. She outright blundered first her knight, and then her queen, at which point she resigned.

She smiled when he suggested reading by the fire, and while Harry kept glancing out the window, Hermione kept her eyes on it and only occasionally glanced down at the book open on her lap.

"It's taking too long," said Hermione.

"Ron'll be fine. He's a good flier and Buckbeak likes him."

"There's acromantulas in the forest-"

"Deep in the forest, Ron knows to stay away from them, and they wouldn't catch him on a Firebolt anyway."

"And it just occurred to me that tonight's a full moon, and you've heard those rumors about how some werewolves spend the nights there."

"To be away from anyone they might bite," said Harry. "They'll stay on the other end from the school. And it's not like Ron's going in far. He's staying at the edge, in the air, and that's safe enough."

"He's trying to stay at the edge," said Hermione. "Buckbeak might have other plans." She pressed her fingers into her cheeks and stared out the window.

He said, "You're more nervous about Ron than you were about exams."

"Well of course I am. I get this way about you too, you know, just not when you're there to see it."

He wondered when. When he'd gone to face Quirrell? Quidditch matches he'd been attacked at? There were three of those, come to think. Had she always been waiting with this sort of vibrating, anxious terror?

For the first time, Harry felt guilty over how he'd reacted to the Firebolt mess.

He tapped her arm. "I might take arithmancy next year."

Hermione looked as if she'd been hit by a castle.

"I hated divination, so Sirius and I agreed I'll drop it. We'll start me self-studying third year Arithmancy and Runes over the summer. After a week or two, I'll pick which one I like more and focus on it. I oughta join you in one of them next year. Same level as you."

She didn't smile quite so brightly as he imagined she would for Ron's return, but she enveloped him in a fierce hug and said, "Oh Harry, that's wonderful."

She proceeded to absolutely talk his ears off about both classes, but at least the minutes weren't crawling by at a snail's pace anymore.

More than an hour passed that way, with both of them taking frequent glances out the window.

The Common Room was largely empty when Harry heard a rap on the window.

Hermione ran over and let Ron in. "You're hurt!"

"Just a branch. It's stopped bleeding already. See?"

The cut stretched across the length of Ron's forearm but was very shallow. Hermione nonetheless insisted that he wash it with soap immediately. Once Ron had done so, and, rolling his eyes, promised to see Madam Pomfrey in the morning, they went out the portrait hole and into the corridor.

"Any problems?" said Harry, lowering his voice despite the supposed privacy.

"Had a devil of a time getting that dye Hermione brewed on his feathers, but he's back with the other Hippogriffs now and none too recognizable."

"And it's not uneven? Malfoy won't say to himself, 'That hippogriff has been dyed badly,' if he goes out and looks?"

"Doubt it."

"How about the dementors?" asked Harry.

"Some great silver Patronus chased them off right at the start and I haven't seen them since. Good job there."

"I haven't done it yet."

Ron grinned. "Bloody hell that's weird." He handed Harry the cloak.

Hermione put the hourglass necklace around Harry's neck as well as hers.

After confirming that Harry was ready, she said, "See you in a moment Ron," and spun the hourglass four times.

#

#

Harry and Hermione hid among trees, looking down at the distant dementors from the top of a slope. Fudge and the rest had just gone inside Hagrid's house. Hermione took a deep breath, and from farther than she'd practiced it, used the Knot-Untying Charm she'd learned over the weekend for exactly this purpose.

The rope fell off Buckbeak's neck.

Harry poked the tip of his wand out from under the inivisbility cloak and thought of his room at Sirius's house, of never having to go back to the Dursleys again.

"Expecto Patronum," said Harry, and a spurt of silvery light shot from the tip of his wand, and faded.

"Expecto Patronum," Harry tried again, but he did no better, and the dementors were turning, becoming aware of them. The invisibility cloak felt like a constricting weight rather than a comfort, but he didn't dare take it off and risk being seen.

"Just relax," said Hermione, giving him a squeeze. "We know you did it. Ron said so."

"Not helping," said Harry. He tried again, to worse results than before. The next time was even worse. The dementors were moving toward him now, and he was starting to feel the cold, starting to hear distant screams.

Hermione grabbed his hand. "You can do it, Harry," and she was just as worried for him as she had been for Ron.

And suddenly, Harry realized why he'd only managed his Patronus twice. Leaving the Dursleys had never been what worked. The part of the memory that had sometimes caught, that had sometimes been just enough spark to start the flame, was the way Sirius had promised he didn't have to go back, had seemed to care.

Harry thought of that, and of the lunch at the Indian restaurant with Sirius, Lupin and Tonks all laughing. He spared a moment for Andromeda and Ted acting like taking care of him was something worth plotting for. But mostly, he thought of Ron and Hermione. Laughing together, sitting by the fire together. Going back to the dorms together on that first Halloween.

"Expecto Patronum," said Harry.

The silver stag that rushed out was as bright as the sun.

The dementors were pushed into the forest like flotsam on a wave. Buckbeak shrieked and took off. Harry heard a muffled whoop and knew that Ron, on Harry's broom and wrapped in his cloak, was chasing after the Hippogriff, which was peeling right in the flight above the forest, away from the dementors.

And that was odd to think about, that thanks to Time Travel, he and Ron both had the cloak just then, though that was why they'd done it this way. He and Hermione backed away. Moments later, the door to Hagrid's house burst open, and a Harry who was a few hours younger looked out.

They hurried away, careful not to trip on the cloak.

"We have hours before Ron's back," said Hermione. "We ought to go somewhere isolated to wait."

"I know a place," said Harry, and he led her to the whomping willow.

A Charm stopped its movements, and they ran into the tunnel beneath it.

"Another secret passageway?" said Hermione, pulling off the invisibility cloak and casting the Wand Lighting Charm, illuminating the earthen walls.

"Sirius told me about it. Come'on."

I took longer than he'd expected, but eventually they emerged into a disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up.

Harry said, "Sirius made it sound homier."

"Harry," she hissed. "I think we're in-"

"The shrieking shack," said Harry. "There aren't any ghosts. I reckon Sirius knows how that story got around, but he won't say. He stayed here a lot though, after he escaped Azkaban. Said I should use it too if I ever need a bolthole. He even came back on the sly and fixed it up a little."

"You're sure he wasn't taking the mickey? This is supposed to be the most haunted place in Britain!"

For answer, Harry led her through the halls and to a staircase. Beneath all the dust, artfully replaced, he could see the joists where Sirius had fixed up the once crumbling staircase.

They entered a room as clean as the rest of the house was abandoned. A magnificent four-poster bed was at the center of it. Harry lit a lamp and took a seat on the edge.

"Sirius says this part is safe. I can make noise and lights and all that and no one outside the house will have any idea I'm here, and even if they do, it's just the ghosts, right?"

Hermione took a seat next to him, grumbling about how apparently no one had even bothered to try entering the place before printing the story about the ghosts. "It's absolutely shocking," she said. "It's practically lying to be this sloppy with the facts."

Harry shrugged. He would just as soon everyone else kept on believing the lie.

Hermione said, "Any other big secrets from those mirror calls with Sirius that you've been keeping to yourself?"

"Not really." He lay back on the bed. "We could've gone other places, but I wanted to see here."

"Ron'll want to see it too." She lay back on the bed next to him.

"Reckon so." She was very close, and her eyes were dark in the lamplight. It occurred to Harry that this was about the most private conversation they'd ever had. At Hogwarts, there were always other people around, or at least Ron.

Harry said, "Remember when you asked if I was still angry about the broom, and I said I wasn't?"

She licked her lips nervously. "What about it?"

"I'm still angry, but at me for being so bloody stupid. I always understood you'd done it to keep me safe, but I didn't think you had a right to. But I get it now. I put you in a bad spot. I made you choose between acting like a friend and acting like… like family really, and I held it against you when you made the second choice, and the worst thing is you knew I would. So sorry. And thanks."

Abruptly, she started crying. Harry patted her shoulder, unsure what else to do.

Hermione conjured a handkerchief, dried her tears, blew her nose three times, and said "I'm sorry too. I should've tried harder to convince you."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because it hadn't made any difference with the map and the passageway, so I was angry too. But I didn't think you and Ron would be angry at me for so long, and I was kicking myself for not approaching you and Ron separately."

"What difference would that make?"

"Well… it's just that I find that you and Ron are both more sensible separately than together. Please don't be mad."

"I'm not. You're right. This year…" He shook his head. "I don't know what it was." Or maybe he knew exactly what it was. Marge and the Dursleys, half the school turning on him over their Heir of Slytherin rubbish the year before, the Professors never giving a damn who was trying to kill him, so it seemed like he might as well do whatever he liked and wait to find out whether or not he'd survive what came. "I've been such a child this year. I had better priorities at 11." He clasped her hand and looked deep into her eyes, knowing he was saying this not just to her, but to Sirius too, and to himself. "I promise I'll be more responsible from now on."

Her eyes watered. "I'll hold you to that."

&& Author's Note

This closing scene with Hermione has lived in my head for years.

Thanks reviewers for telling me where to find the "shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant," line. I had it stuck in my head that it was from one of the later books and couldn't find it.

I still don't think Hermione has an accurate impression of Harry's life at the Dursleys even by the end of the story, but she certainly should.