Hermione clung to Harry, burying her face in the back of his robes, her stomach did somersaults, threatening to empty its contents. It was easier if she didn't look. Charge stupidly to distract a werewolf? Sure, that was no problem. But heights? That she couldn't take.
"Your nails, Hermione," Harry called over the wind rushing over their ears.
"Sorry!" Hermione loosened her grip, realising she had dug her nails into his middle.
They flew for a while, Hermione felt it was an eternity, but it did end as they ducked through the large window of the Astronamy Tower. Once they landed on the sweet, sweet stone floor, Harry leapt off Buckbeak's back, and Hermione slid off the hippogriff onto unsteady legs.
"Harry!" Sirius Black whispered, his dark eyes nearly falling from his head.
The gaunt, unkempt man sat in the center of the tower bound with rope to a chair. He looked less like a dangerous madman and more like the starved, neglected wrongfully convicted man he was. Hermione wondered how she hadn't pitied him before.
"What are you two doing here?" Black-Sirius-asked. "Don't you know what will happen?"
Harry and Hermione set to untying the ropes, something easier than expected.
"This is Buckbeak," Harry introduced Sirius. "He's going to fly you out of here."
Sirius's eyes grew in size once more and he stared at Harry in disbelief. "H-how?"
"It's a very long story," he answered.
Harry told Sirius about freeing Buckbeak and their plan, thankfully leaving out Hermione's time-turner and the fact she was an animagus. The two connected, Sirius placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.
Hermione left them to it and placed her ear on the door. Moments passed and suddenly she heard voices approaching.
"They're coming!" Hermione whispered.
"Shit," Sirius stared at the door before turning back to Harry. "I wish we had more time."
Harry looked up at him, his face solemn. "I-I could come with you."
Sirius shook his head. "Fugitive life isn't something I'd want for you, Harry. Trust me, it's best you stay here. I'll keep in touch, I promise."
"But-" Harry stared at the door. "Okay. Just be careful."
Sirius enveloped Harry in a tight hug with a smile. "You too."
Sirius mounted Buckbeak and flew off into the distance. Harry and Hermione watched as they two became a faint silhouette on the full moon. Hermione noticed Harry pale and his eyes glinted behind his specs. Sirius Black might have been the closest thing Harry had to a father and now he watched him fly away, not knowing when, or if he'd ever see him again.
Hermione bit her lip knowing she'd feel the same if a mother miraculously appeared and didn't leave her by choice.
"Harry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, but we have to go."
"I know," he nodded.
The two got under the invisibility cloak and quietly left the room, heading for the spiralling stairs. As they entered the corridor the voices clearly belonged to her father and Fudge. Soon, they saw them, her father trying to convince a sceptical Fudge.
"This," her father explained to Fudge, producing a crystal phial with clear liquid. "Is vereserum. We'll dose Black and myself. Once we've determined our stories match, we can start the man hunt for the real culprit, Minister."
"Perhaps you were confounded as well?" Fudge suggested, growing pink. "There's no way Peter Pettigrew is still alive. And if he is running around as a rat somewhere, he's harmless. Black on the other hand is Britain's most wanted. And you, Severus Snape, are the man who captured him. This is huge. Think of it. It could be worthy of the Order of Merlin, Second Class at least."
"I have no love for Sirius Black," he father said coolly. "He's cruel, arrogant and completely devoid of decency."
Hermione's breath caught in her throat. Every fiber of her body froze, unable to move. She simply stared, unable to believe what she heard. Would he really do it?
Harry beside her shook with rage. He seemed ready to believe her father was capable of destroying an innocent man's soul.
"However," her father continued. "I'm not about to surrender him to the dementor's Kiss without proof."
"First Order then!" Fudge cried, his voice cracking and plump face pink. "Come on, Severus, Order of Merlin, First class and all you have to do is nothing. No one would know!"
Her father folded his arms and stared down at the stout man. "My daughter would. The answer is 'no'."
"You'd pass up the Order of Merlin for a child?" Fudge demanded.
"She's my child, Fudge!" he loomed over the minister, his expression impassable. "And you'd do well to remember it."
A moment of silence passed between them, a heavy one and the air grew thick. Neither was about to back down. One was perhaps the most powerful man in Britain (aside from Dumbledore) and the other was, well, her father.
Hermione's stomach tied itself in knots as they waited for one of the men to break the silence. Finally a flustered Fudge rose his hands with a heavy sigh.
"Fine!" he cried. "We'll use the damn potion."
"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" her father asked.
"I see where she gets her disposition." Fudge grumbled.
That was when her father turned on his heel and leaned in dangerously close to Fudge."That is where you're wrong. My daughter is a far better person than I could hope to be, or you for that matter."
He thinks...he thinks I'm a better person than him? Hermione stared at the scene, not believing her ears.
"And you should be grateful for that," her father continued. "Because she's far more clever than you or any of your cronies."
Hermione had no clue what to think. For years she believed he thought her stupid, petulant and naive. Sure, she knew he loved her like many parents love their children, but she never thought he saw a single redeemable quality within her. She barely believed she had redeemable qualities most of the time. Save the times she felt as though she were swept up in an almost manic arrogance born from anger.
He thought she was clever. He thought she was decent. And somehow Hermione couldn't process it. Perhaps she wasn't as clever as he thought.
"W-well I'd never!" Fudge snapped, seemingly sharing Hermione's disbelief, if for different reasons.
"Hermione!" Harry hissed in her ear. "We need to go, now."
They managed to get to the hospital wing before there was a chance to be discovered. Harry uncovered them and quickly dashed into his bed, trying eagerly to look as if nothing happened. Hermione nearly did the same when she was struck by a sudden idea.
"I'll be back!" Hermione said.
"Back?!" Ron coughed. "You two just left."
Hermione lifted her timeturner to answer his question, to which Ron's ears burned scarlet and he nodded with an embarrassed grimace.
"Hermione," Harry looked around. "Why risk it? We saved Sirius."
Hermione checked her watch. If she was going to act, she had to do it then.
"I'll explain everything later," she said.
Before anyone else spoke, Hermione dove under a bed and turned back at three hours once more.
I'll never get used to this, Hermione thought as she crawled out from under the bed in her cat form.
Harry and Past-Hermione were together under the invisibility cloak, getting ready to leave. Hermione could smell them and crept up behind them.
She could smell herself, a weirder sensation than seeing herself. She followed Harry and her past self out the door dashing in the direction of the Owlery once she was certain she was out of their earshot.
Hermione moved freely, knowing the students would just see a cat, with so many wandering the corridors, she was easily ignored. Until Seamus and Dean found her.
"Hi, kitty," Seamus crouched to pet her.
Hermione wondered if it was better to tolerate it for a second, dash off or scratch him. That's when he looked up at Dean.
"Isn't she gorgeous?" he asked.
At least I'm a pretty cat...she sighed.
Dean shrugged. "I guess she's a pretty cat."
"Me Mam used to have one with different coloured eyes when I was little," Seamus explained. "I thought about getting one again. Do you think you'd like a cat?"
Dean blinked at him a moment and shook his head. "I think I'd prefer an owl."
"I could get an owl," Seamus mused.
"Wait," Dean said. "Didn't you say you wanted a cat?"
Seamus's face visibly flushed and Hermione took the cue to dash off, hopefully with no more insights to her former classmates' lives. She doubted Seamus wanted her to see him get flustered.
She made it to the owlery without further incident and surveyed the owlery. Aside from several owls flying about and resting on their perches, the tower had a single window. She transformed back into her human position and summoned parchment, a quill and ink. It wasn't Lupin who sent Hagrid that letter. It was her.
But why did I use Lupin? Hermione tapped the quill to her lip. A familiar speckled brown owl landed on her lap, smaller and probably eager to be of use. Hermione scratched his cheek as she thought.
Lupin transformed on school grounds...or he will. That must be why I chose him. Hermione hated herself for it, but she knew he was likely to be fired either way. Dumbledore would believe he didn't summon him anyway.
"Am I wrong?" Hermione asked, staring into the owl's yellow eyes. "I-erm-I think I have to. Besides, I already did it. Sort of. What do you think-erm-Owlister?"
The owl stared at her, apparently unimpressed.
"Owlbert?" she squeaked. "No, that's taken. We'll figure out what to call you later. Can you send this letter to Hagrid?"
Hermione finished the forgery and fed him a peanut before releasing him through the window. With the letter sent and the strange owl in flight Hermione banished her writing utensils. Remembering that she once thought of making a fountain pen to carry on her. What happened to that?
She got to her feet and got ready to leave before she spied a familiar girl with dirty blonde hair and silver eyes staring at her from around the corner.
"Hi, Hermione," she smiled weakly, stepping from behind the corner.
"L-Luna?" Hermione choked.
Luna averted her gaze. "I-erm-I was sending Daddy a letter when I saw you."
"How much did you see?" Hermione tried for a cold tone, unsure if she felt betrayed or relieved.
"I saw you with the little owl while you wrote that letter," her cheeks flushed pink. "You were so sweet with him. I sometimes forget you're quirky too."
"Quirky," Hermione bit her lip with a nod. She thinks I'm crazy...or maybe…"That's not what I meant, Luna. Did you see anything-erm-else. With-erm-me that is?"
Luna smiled vaguely and stared off into the distance, giving an exaggeration of her usual dreamy look. "I always knew you were a cat fairy. Though I don't think anyone would believe Loony Lovegood if she told them. I think I'll keep it to myself.
Relief washed over Hermione. Luna wasn't only going to keep it to herself, but she also wasn't going to ask questions. A tension Hermione wasn't aware of disappeared from her shoulders and she felt a weak smile come to her despite herself.
"Thank you, Luna," she said. "And Luna?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't think you're mad. I-I-erm-I hope you know that."
Hermione next dashed down to the dungeons next. Luckily this time she wasn't stopped by any students this time. Though at one point she thought Millicent Bullstrode would stop her, when Pansy called to her.
Hermione sat outside her father's office door, waiting for him to leave. Like clockwork, she saw him exit his office with a goblet in hand. His expression was somewhere between irritated and relieved. Hermione could only speculate as to why, but once she was alone she abandoned it.
Hermione ensured she was alone, this time peeking behind each corner, and resumed her human form. She then unlocked the door and let herself in.
Archimedes dosed peacefully on his perch, opening his yellow eyes as she shut the door behind her.
"Hey, birdbrain," she said, softly producing a peanut.
The owl hooted a greeting as well.
"Can I get you to do something for me?" she asked, letting him eat from her palm.
Archimedes listened, the intelligence of a mage-bred animal clear behind his eyes. She knew he could understand her. She just didn't know if he would listen.
Here goes nothing…
"Archimedes," Hermione quickly drew a picture of Pettigrew's rat form and presented it to him. "There's an animagus that looks like this, missing a toe from his paw. He's grey and fleeing the grounds. Probably in the forest. He's weak and wandless. But there's also a werewolf, so you need to be careful, okay?"
Archimedes turned his head to display he was listening. Perhaps he'd do it. She hoped.
"Bring him to the hospital wing when you find him, okay?"
The great tawny owl hooted in assent before flying out of the small window above them.
Hermione left and rushed back to the hospital wing, once again as a cat. Some students noticed the tiny cat zooming by them and speculated as to why, but for the most part she was ignored this time.
She then crept into the hospital wing, once again on the heels of Harry and her past self. She slinked into a corner, hiding in the shadows until she saw herself turn the time-turner and vanish from sight.
"I really hope we don't have to get used to that," Ron groaned.
"I don't reckon we will if we do," Harry said, starring at the space Past Hermione was once in.
Hermione stepped from the shadows and resumed her human form to startled jumps from Harry and Ron.
"Ow!" Ron cried, jostling the slings that held his legs.
"Sorry, Ron," Hermione said, crawling into her own bed.
"Where'd you go anyway?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked out the window and stared at the moon. "I think I might have helped catch Pettigrew. At least I hope I did."
"This is going to destroy my career!" Fudge's voice lamented from beyond the door.
"I'm sure you'll survive, Corneilius," Dumbledore sighed, entering the room.
"You!" Fudge pointed at her father, who entered behind them. "You wanted him to testify."
"And his disappearance certainly put an end to that," he snapped before glaring at Harry. "I don't believe his testimony is worth anything while he's in the wind. Do you, Potter?"
"I-erm-I-erm-" Harry flushed pink. "No, sir."
Hermione drew her knees up to her chest. She had to hope Archimedes would find Pettigrew. Otherwise, they would have done nothing.
"Leave the poor boy alone, Severus," Dumbledore admonished. "These three were here the whole time. Unless you believe they could be in two places at once?"
"I suppose not, Headmaster," he sighed, resting a hand on Hermione's head.
A silence passed between the lot of them before an owl's screech echoed through the hospital wing from one of the window. A great tawny owl flew into the wing with a grey lump in his talons, landing on the foot of Hermione.
"Archimedes?" Hermione cried with relief. "Good boy."
"Hermione?" her father said slowly. "Is that-?"
"Wh-what is this?" Fudge's voice cracked.
Hermione cupped the stunned rat in her hands, examining him to be sure that he was, indeed, Pettigrew. She reached into her robes and grabbed her wand.
"F- shit!" Hermione cried as Pettigrew's teeth dug deep into her hand.
She released the rat and he scurried off, dashing across the floor before her father grabbed his wand. He waved it silently and the rat took the form of a plump grey man lying prone on the floor, trembling.
"Is that proof enough for you, Minister?"