Chapter 15 - Year 3, part 4

Author note:
In my country we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December - so Merry Christmas! In case you're among the part of the population that doesn't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have an amazing day and even better weekend. 3

Here's a long one for you!

June 23rd, 1994, 6.15 PM.

Everything was the same.

Well, everything was as much the same as it could possibly be considering how she felt like the world was falling down around her. So, things were running pretty smoothly.

At least she didn't have a basilisk breathing down her neck this year. It didn't stop her from having the sudden urge to peek around the coming corner, instead of just walking around it like she always did. Of course, she knew that it was stupid since the damn thing was dead… But, why not do it anyway? maybe there was something she would have to look out for anyway?

Peeking around the corner, she saw nothing but an empty hallway.

Unintentionally, she blew out a breath of relief.

Not today, Satan.

Shortly after, she entered the Great Hall and spied the Slytherin table as she walked to take her seat at the Gryffindor's. Theo was talking to Draco, who instantly looked up and met her eyes when she entered. Odd, how had he known that she would arrive just now? Or was he waiting for someone else?

He lifted his hand and waved to her directly. It was like her body was working on its own accord as she started feeling the muscles in her arm tensing up to lift the damn thing - it was then that someone walked right past her and waved happily back to him. A girl, with straight, black, shoulder-length hair.

Pansy Parkinson.

So, he hadn't actually waved at her. She frowned before schooling her features into one of pure disregard - considering everything. The world could burn itself to shreds today, it would seem.

She sat down between Harry and one of the Weasley twins and started piling food onto her plate. The boys were eerily quiet, which didn't usually happen. To her right, the Weasley twins were talking loudly and excitedly about an exam they had just finished, but to her left - there was silence.

She ate softly for a while before it became unbearable. Without removing her eyes from her plate, she spoke softly; "Is someone going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to force it out of you?"

No one said anything. No one even moved a muscle. For a couple of seconds, she even wondered if they were breathing or not. Then Harry Spoke: "Buckbeak's being executed tonight."

She stiffened involuntarily. When she hadn't been reading up on exams and doing the damn things, she had been doing everything in her power to try and save the beast - even going so far as to drag Theo and Draco into her research.

It had all been in vain, and they had not been able to find anything useful.

"There must be something we can do." Harry hissed and pushed his plate away from him in anger. Time is running out!" Hermione gasped, and clutched her Timeturner. Maybe there was something she could do?

After grumpling for a while and deciding that they would at the very least go give their sympathy to the Gamekeeper, they left the table and decided to meet up again in an hour to go down to the hut.

"Did you have a good chat with Remus?" Neville suddenly asked by her side. She had been so deep in thought; she hadn't even realized that he had gone from one side of the group to the other to talk to her.

"Not really, actually, he was a bit irritable actually - as one usually is when they're to have a furry problem on a particular night." she shrugged, matter-of-factly. "Why? Was I supposed to ask him about something?" She frowned in thought, thinking if she had forgotten something.

"No no, you were just gone for a while, and I figured that maybe the two of you had just had a good chat. nothing else."

"Oh." she started, her head whirring while trying desperately to think of an excuse. "I, ehh, I met Professor… Vector, and discussed one of the questions on my test." Neville hummed in acknowledgement, like it might have been the most normal thing in the world.

It was just a small white lie, really. She had in fact gone to see Remus during his monthly thing, but she had also been to the Hospital wing because her own monthly thing had not appeared for the second month in a row.

Apparently, stress could do that to one's body. Maybe she should just get used to not having her period in those couple of months each year, when exams and homework would be the only thing on her mind.

June 23rd, 1994, 10.05 PM.

Watching a Hippogriff having its head chopped off, ultimately wasn't at the top of her list of things she enjoyed to do. As of right now, it was so close to the bottom she thought that it might actually be scraping it.

She, Harry and Daniel were walking slowly back to the castle under Harry's invisibility-cloak - Neville having backed out at the last minute because he didn't feel prepared enough for his exam in potions the following morning. "I can't believe they did that…" Daniel whispered angrily. The three of them had gone to talk to Hagrid a bit before the inevitable was to happen, but had run out the back door when something shattering on the table alerted them to Dumbledore, a Ministry official and the executioner arriving.

They hadn't dared leave for fear of being caught out after curfew, so they had hidden behind the hut until they knew no one would spot them before moving towards the castle hidden under the invisibility-cloak.

It was probably gruesome. Of course, she hadn't visibly seen it - but hearing that ax chomp down… Knowing what it was hitting, was enough for her stomach to start rolling.

It was with that feeling in the back of her mind, that she slid out from under the cloak. They were so far away anyway, no one could spot them - and if they could, the trio would be screwed anyway once they realized why.

Hugging herself closer as they trudged on, none of them saw or heard their fellow classmate before he almost barreled into them.

"Scabbers! Come back!"

Ron didn't even acknowledge that he had just barely run into Harry and Daniel, but just sprinted on as fast as he could - chasing his old, overgrown rat.

Bloody pest, Hermione thought to herself as she remembered the trouble Weasley had given her over Crookshanks.

The three friends returned to their stroll back to the castle, only just sharing weird looks before moving on. They had barely walked ten steps, when Harry suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. His head and focus were turning from the direction of the castle towards where Ron had run off, and back, multiple times. He had a deep frown set on his face and his entire posture seemed to sort of stiffen, all at once.

"Harry?" Daniel asked from beside him, "What's wrong?"

Harry didn't answer and his frown somehow managed to deepen even further as his focus seemed to snap and hold on to Ron who for some reason seemed to be battling with the Whomping willow.

What an idiot.

As if suddenly remembering an essay for the next lesson, Harry gasped loudly and took into a sprint towards Weasley. Ron and the Whomping Willow.

"What on earth is he doing?" Hermione asked, looking at Daniel and seeing a thoroughly confused look in his eyes that she was certain she was currently mirroring.

Their confusion was rather short, though, as Harry shouted back at the two of them; "It's him! Peter pettigrew! Peter! Scabbers is Peter!" She was still trying to comprehend what the hell he was yelling back at them, as she watched the tree stop moving - and Ron disappeared down into the roots.

She was frozen to the ground. On one hand she had just watched a boy she had gone to school with for three years disappear into a murderously violent tree when following his pet rat, on the other hand, he had also been so mean to her ever since their first meeting, and he had verbally attacked her for having a cat who does what cats do.

Now, Harry believed that rat to be none other than Peter Pettigrew. A man who had supposedly been dead for twelve years. Who was the reason why Sirius had been sent to Azkaban all of those years ago. One of the reasons why Sirius was once again on the run, and why she hadn't either seen or heard from neither Harry nor Daniel for the entire summer last year.

That rat was the reason behind so much hurt, anger and heartbreak.

She was seething and shaking with such intense fury that she couldn't move.

"He disappeared into the tree! We need to catch Peter!" Harry yelled back to them, somehow bringing Hermione back from where she was fighting her internal battles. "Come on, Hermione!" Daniel commanded as he gave her arm a sharp yet short pull in Harry's direction, forcing her into a run beside him as he let go.

Just before they reached the tree, Harry was flung to the side by a large branch.

Hermione and Daniel both hurried to each side, eager to make sure that he was alright, but he just pushed them aside to look at where Ron had disappeared. "How do we get down there?!" He was gasping for air as he pushed himself up, and ran towards the tree. Hermione and Daniel right behind him.

Luckily for her, the tree had somehow decided that Harry and Daniel were the ones it liked the least, which gave her the opportunity to move in closer to see where Weasley had disappeared into. Jumping or crouching every now and then to away any stray branches coming her way, she spotted a single hole at the bottom of the trunk.

An opening large enough for a person to crawl through. "I see it! Now we just need to find a way to get down there!" she yelled back to the boys, only to me smacked in the side by a branch.

She was flung away, instantly losing all the air from her lungs as she hit the ground. She was gasping for breath all the while waving Harry away as he hurried for her. "Don't worry about me! We need to get down there!"

Behind Harry, she could see Daniel fighting his way around the tree branches, only to be hit by it as well.

How the bloody hell did Weasley get down there?!

Suddenly, so suddenly that it seemed almost comical, the tree stopped mowing. Hermione carefully inched closer but stumbled back in shock as a great, orange beast, unexpectedly jumped into view.

"Crookshanks!" Daniel bellowed as he sprinted for his cat while Hermione was hauled to her feet by Harry. Before Daniel could reach it though, the cat disappeared down to where it had jumped up from. Soon enough, Hermione and Harry were at Daniel's heels to get to the tree and see where crooks had disappeared to.

They found the cat meowing loudly by the hole under the tree - only just disappearing as the three of them appeared, still wondering what the hell had just happened before they ran after and into the hidden passage.

"I guess he wants us to follow him…" Hermione said quietly as she lit the surroundings up with a softly muttered Lumos.

They hadn't been walking for long before Daniel broke the silence: "Where do you think this leads to?"

"I don't know." Harry answered just as quietly, and Hermione found herself wondering why they were talking so hushed when there was no one around but them. "But there's only one way to find out."

A short while later they started hearing commotion and softly uttered curses. The trio eyes each other before Hermione extinguishes the light, forcing them to continue forward in the billowing darkness.

"No, Scabbers, stay here."

"Ron? What's wrong?" Harry asked softly from the darkness as they neared a dark figure in the darkness. If there was one place where she would never have wished to be in such close proximity to the redhead, a dark passage under the ground would be pretty high on her list.

A small yelp came from where Ron was standing when Harry talked. Maybe he hadn't heard them arriving? Ron yelped a second time, this time in something sounding a bit more painful.

"No! Scabbers!" Ron yelled and she heard him push against something, until a trapdoor above their heads opened up.

They were under a house!

Crookshanks jumped up and out of the hole, and disappeared out of view.

Ron hurried upwards and they heard his thundering foodsteps all around above them only for them to abruptly stop. Then he screamed.

It was laced with horror and panic - but most all, it was pain. Something had hurt him. Badly.

"No - no." He whimpered painfully as Harry, Daniel and Hermione made their way carefully up the steps and into the house. There were two ways this could go… 1) they either saved their horrendous classmate and would possibly suffer the same fate as him. Or, 2) they left, never looked back, and forgot that they had ever seen him running across the front lawn of the castle in the first place.

But, weren't they Gryffindor's after all? There had never really been a second option for them.

"Leave him alone!" Weasley yelled, followed by a dragging sound and another painful whimper.

Daniel motioned for the staircase in front of them and hurried forward, followed by Harry and then her taking up the rear. She wasn't going to fight him on the 'protect-the princess'-nonsense, right now. She was terrified all the way into the marrow of her bones.

"No, don't come any closer!" He yelled again, as they carefully neared the door.

Through a crack in the door, they could see Ron's shoulder. Looking over his shoulder at her and Harry, Daniel motioned with his fingers '1-2-3', before nodding. They agreed with nods of their own.

The first finger went up.

Then the second.

As the third should have appeared, he flung open the door, wand in hand and rushed into the room with Harry and Hermione right on his heels.

They positioned themselves in front of Ron, and pointed their wands on the danger of the room.

"Remus?" Hermione asked gobsmacked, looking at her teacher and older family friend. The surrealness of the situation was nothing compared to the bewilderment and confusion in Harry and Daniel's voices.

"Dad?"

The large, black dog in front of them was in fact none other than Sirius Black. Crookshanks was purring loudly against his leg.

"But…" Sirius growled loudly, taking her by surprise and she stumbled back in shock. She knew what Sirius was, knew of his animagus form but…

"I don't understand…" Daniel whispered as he lowered his wand. "What are you doing here, dad?"

Remus suddenly came in from the side and pushed them out of the way as Sirius growled loudly again. He pushed them back against the door that they had just arrived from, and went to stand between Ron and Sirius with arms stretched wide.

Ron was pushing himself further and further away from them as he dragged his leg painfully under him.

There was a large bloody wound in it.

"Listen, Ron, I know it hurts, but this is what's going on. -"

Ron started screaming louder as Remus tried to come closer.

"No, please listen - Ron, listen -" Ron continued screaming like death itself was standing in front of him.

Sirius growled loudly again which resulted in Remus turning towards him. "No, you shut up, Sirius! You've done enough!" He snarled, before turning back to Ron with a helping hand outstretched towards him. Weasley only pushed himself further away, but ended up hitting the wall.

Looking at the red head, she saw the panic clearly rise in his eyes once again, and turned to where Sirius was now standing.

He looked a little rougher for wear than he had done when she'd seen him last, but all in all… He just looked like himself. Long, curly, black hair, tattoos showing where his shirt and pants didn't cover. He just looked like good old Sirius - who needed a serious nap.

She wanted so much to go give him a hug, but was abruptly brought back to reality when he openly snarled at Ron. anger appeared to have overtaken every fiber of his body. She watched his chest rise and fall with each haggard in and outtake of breath, eyes blazing with fury. "Just let me have him! It'll be over soon enough!"

Sirius stepped forward, one step from jumping across the room when Daniel jumped forward and threw himself in front of him, both hands pushing against the chest of his father.

"Dad! You can't do this - he hasn't done anything!"

Something flickered in Sirius's face by the touch of his son, but then it changed into pure agony. He then put his hands on both of Daniel's shoulders, and forcefully removed him from in front of him. It didn't look like it could have hurt her friend in any sort of way - but more like he was physically removing him from danger. "He did everything. He betrayed us all. Me, Remus, James-" His voice cracked even as his eyes kept their focus on Weasley. She watched him swallow hard, "He sent me to Azkaban. He sent Harry to the Dursleys - he should have never been there in the first place. I lost-, we lost so much Dan, and it needs to end."

She gasped loudly as the realization of what Harry had said before hit her like a brick, "He doesn't want Ron. He wants Pettigrew." She whispered, though she might as well have shouted it to the room that was completely silent, apart from Sirius' growling and Ron's whimpering.

How in Merlin's name had she forgotten about the one thing that forced them to come here in the first place?!

"Pettigrew," Sirius spat venomously, "is a fucking rat - and he deserves to die for what he's done."

All eyes zoomed in on Ron who instantly stopped moving when he noticed the attention on him. "I - I'm not a Pettigrew! I'm Ron! Ron Weasley!" He stammered nervously, his throat bobbing as he did. His eyes frantically went to each person's face in that room before it focused on Harry, he made to crawl towards his friends but seemed to argue against it. "Harry! Harry, you know who I am!"

"I know who you are - that's why I don't care." Harry answered, his voice void of emotion except for the anger that laced every word, "Just give up Scabbers, let Remus heal your leg and get out of here."

"Sc-Scabbers?" Ron's voice wobbled even as she felt eyes turn to Harry beside her.

"How did you know?" It was Remus speaking this time, and Harry answered him immediately; "In short - the Marauders map once showed me Peter Pettigrew in Ron's bed in the middle of the night, but when I peeked in there was only Ron. But then Ron sprinted across the front lawn after a bloody rat that he said Crooks had killed. It just clicked. How did you know?"

Hermione looked at Remus who's brows were furrowed deep, but it was Sirius who answered angrily. "The newspaper this summer about the Weasley's trip to Egypt - rats don't normally look like your old schoolmate disguised and missing a single, fucking, toe." He snarled.

"But we've had him for years!" Ron yelled defensively and hugged Scabbers closer to his chest. The rat was still struggling violently to get out of the red-head's hands.

"Rats don't live for twelve years you moron." Hermione snapped at him and watched his face redden at her tone. He might be terrified with Sirius, but with her it was an entirely different, and much more hatred-induced feeling. "Give up the rat - I won't be holding Sirius back when he tries to jump you, that's for sure."

"No! Scabbers is my rat!" Ron tried again but flung the rat out of his grasp with a cry.

Everything went very quickly after that, Scabbers almost made it across the room towards a hole in the wall when Remus pointed his wand at him - and then there was suddenly a small, plump man sitting on his knees in the middle of the room, in the place of the rat. The man was shaking violently, his hands grasping at each other and smelling loudly like he hadn't entirely grasped that he wasn't a rodent anymore.

He tried in vain to reason with his former friends or Ron whom he still saw as his 'master'. Ron looked on in disgust and avoided any sort of contact between them when Peter tried to approach him.

"I'll kill him." Sirius growled.

"No, you won't." Harry said, his voice void of any kind of emotions. It was the first time Hermione had ever heard or seen him this cold, and she prayed that she would never have to, again. "We need to clear your name first. Hopefully the minister's still at school. Also, my parents wouldn't have wanted his two best friends to become killers."

Remus pointed his wand at Pettigrew again, and Hermione watched as robes whirles around the little man. "Let's get back to the castle and fix this mess." Remus said.

They all walked back to the school after that, Ron floating along silently as the wound in his leg wouldn't let him walk. He had been very verbal in his dissatisfaction about the vicious Sirius Black being the one to wield the spell, but in the end it had been better than walking.

"Why are you even here?" Hermione heard Daniel ask from behind her. She was walking in the front by Remus's side, who was forcing Pettigrew along. The man-made-rat might be walking by himself, but he didn't seem wholly satisfied by the situation as he mumbled about a 'master'.

At this point, Hermione wasn't convinced that he was referring to Ron.

"I've spent every single, full moon with Remus since I returned from Azkaban. I wasn't going to let a bloody rat put a stopper to that." Sirius fumed.

"You mean to say that you've been here every damn month for the entire year, yet you didn't stop to say hi once?" Harry demanded tensely. She could almost see him shooting daggers at Sirius, and Sirius returning the attack with a shrug and a smile that he thought got him out of anything in the world.

Surprise, it didn't always work.

At the very front of the group, Crookshanks waltzed on like he didn't have a care in the world - playfully flicking the knot at the bottom of the tree-trunk on its way out. "Does this mean that you can come home again?" She asked, finally voicing the fears that had slowly returned to her as the school year grew ever clearer to an end.

Would she be alone again for another summer?

She heard Sirius sigh as she moved out of the underground corridor and into the night. "I don't know, Hermione. I really hope so."

"But now that we have Pettigrew, certainly -" he would be in the clear.

"I know, Hermione - but I really don't know."

The group moved swiftly out of reach of the damned tree and trudged towards the castle without another word.

The unfairness of the world was weighing Hermione down, and she felt she had to say something. Do something.

But what could she do?

She was a child, and nothing more. She knew how the Potter-Black-Lupin family viewed her - she knew she was a part of the family. But she also knew that her opinion in the matter, or her fear of loneliness, wasn't nearly as important as what else they had going on at the moment.

She couldn't even start to think how it would feel to be on the run.

How it felt, to not be able to go home.

In the back of her mind, a picture of William surfaced unexpectedly. William, battered and broken and looking like he was at his wit's end. William, on the run and unable to come home.

The clouds above them parted and bathed them in the beautiful light of the moon, bringing her out of the dark train of thought her brain had brought her down.

A loud groan beside her drew her focus from the moon to Remus. The man turned and looked at her with big, yellow eyes. They were wide with pain and confusion, before realization seemed to dawn on him and his head whipped to Sirius.

"The potion! It's in the shack! I didn't - shit, I didn't -"

As panic burst through each of them at what was happening, Pettigrew saw his vantage point and threw himself around Remus's rapidly changing form. Hermione barely managed to call to attention before Peter - still bound by the incarcerous - got a hold of Ron's wand from his pocket. A blinding light exploded from him, Ron fell unconscious to the ground and Pettigrew was gone.

"RUN!" Sirius bellowed before transforming into the black dog and attacked Remus from another angle to let the children get away. Hermione rushed for Ron who was breathing, though shallowly. She found herself momentarily relieved, but was also sure that in a few hours she would once again dream of never having met him in the first place. She dragged him up by the shoulder, Harry assisting from the other side while Daniel had his wand pointed in the direction of his father and pseudo-uncle like he would somehow be able to make a difference.

Meanwhile, the werewolf and the dog had disappeared into the edge of the forest where the kids could hear them fighting. A large whimper, though, made Harry almost drop all of Ron's weight onto her as he turned towards the focus.

It was only by sheer willpower that she didn't drop the redhead then and there - not that he wouldn't have deserved it. But come on, she wasn't that evil. Though Harry had decided to step away and leave her with Ron, the weight of the boy suddenly started lessening.

She looked to the side and beheld a sight she would only have ever dreamed of.

"Neville! What are you doing here?" She gasped exhaustively as her friend helped her carry the load.

"You guys never returned to the common room so I went to check up on you - apparently something's happened, and I'm not sure I want to know what." His head whipped in the direction of the forest as a particularly nasty snarl - followed by a whimper - erupted. His eyes widened and he seemed to visibly swallow a lump in his throat, as Daniel and Harry both took off in a sprint.

"Can you-" She suddenly didn't know what to say. Her mind was dragging her in a million different directions and she didn't know how to stay rooted. They had to get Ron to safety, but they also needed to get help. And Daniel and Harry were on their way to fight a werewolf. And Sirius was injured. And there was a werewolf loose on the grounds - what if other students were out? did they have to lure Remus away or incapacitate him? Could they incapacitate him?

"I'll take him and find help. Go if you need to." Neville said willfully, and she didn't know if it was the Gryffindor in him standing up and doing what he thought he could do, or it was 'nervous Neville' wanting to be as far away from trouble as possible?

Did it even matter?

"Thank you." She said, looking at her and willing all of her gratitude to show in that one look.

"Go!" He nudged her with a look and that was all it took for her to follow the two boys down the hill and into the dark forest.

The closer she got, the more noise she could hear. Snarling, whimpering, growling and yelling as spells were firing.

Through the trees she could see the remains of a smoke cloud while red and green sparks lighting up the surrounding trees in a rainbow of colours as the two collided.

She ran, as quickly as she could, legs stinging painfully with effort, into the clearing where she watched her two best friends defend their father from the man's own best friend.

She wasn't surprised to see them only use spells that would either distract or render him unconscious.

Daniel tried a spell that was supposed to momentarily blind, but Remus quickly - too quickly - shook it off and stalked towards Daniel. Harry did everything in his power to take the attention to him instead, but Remus ignored him completely.

Sirius laid unconscious behind Daniel.

Remus slowly stalked closer, so very low to the ground as he openly sneered. Her friend stubbornly stood his ground, widened his stance and ducked low - covering his father with as much as his body as possible.

She couldn't just watch without doing anything.

Harry started throwing rocks at Remus, doing everything in his power to get the beast out of that damn fight-mode.

She started clapping loudly. Stomping the ground and jumping up and down, "HEY! HEY! HELLOO! I'M HERE! COME AND GET ME! HEY!" She screamed at him. Picked up a large rock and threw it with all her power.

He ignored her.

"DANIEL! RUN, DAMNIT! RUN!"

He also ignored her, though she could see him grasp his wand a bit tighter - his wand arm raising ever so slightly.

Remus by some miracle stopped.

It wasn't a miracle…

Remus moved backwards, putting all of his weight on those muscular hindlegs. She watched as he planted his front legs properly into the ground - and leaped with a murderous snarl.

"Arresto momentum!" She yelled with her wand trained on the wolf. It was so sudden that she didn't know how she hadn't even thought of it before. She wasn't sure it had even worked - or would work in their favour, until Harry bellowed a 'FLIPENDO!' and Remus was knocked out of the way and into a tree where he fell to the ground, and remained in the same position he had been in when he jumped.

Harry and Hermione, as one, rushed to Daniel who sagged into their embraces in relief. "I thought -, I thought that was it." He breathed out, his voice jagged and choked.

The relief was short-lived, as they heard the werewolf get back up, somehow looking even angrier than before.

He growled loudly at them.

The tree friends went back into fighting stances with their wands raised, when a howl sounded somewhere behind them.

Her mind didn't react further than sudden fear at having to battle another wolf. Before Remus ran off into the woods and towards the continuing howling.

They all watched the direction in which Remus had disappeared, but then relaxed a bit when they didn't instantly see him return.

"We need to get Sirius to a healer." Harry said and used 'wingardium leviosa' on the man to carry him inside.

"But what about the minister? Pettigrew's gone so there's nothing to prove that dad's innocent after all. What if they just drag him right off to Azkaban again?" Daniel ranted, he shivered and hugged himself as if to protect himself from the hurt.

She didn't know why, but she found herself mirroring his stance. The chill and hurt was seeping into bone and marrow. She was almost all the way by Harry's side before she realized what she was doing.

"Why is it so cold?" Harry asked, finally voicing what she was beginning to wonder, herself.

It shouldn't be so cold in June.

Their breaths started coming out in small visible puffs as they each exhaled.

"Shit." Harry gasped, looking upwards,

As he gasped, she realized dark figures closing in on them from every direction.

Dementors.

Harry lowered Sirius to the ground so as to defend the group.

How, she didn't know. She didn't know the spell to use against dementors. Why the hell didn't she know the spell?!

She looks on as Harry points his wand to one that seems bigger than the rest. "Expecto Patronum!" but nothing appeared from his wand.

The dementors were closing in on them.

Behind Harry, Sirius rolled onto his back but laid otherwise motionless. Daniel sagged over him, protecting him, and sobbed for him to help them.

"Please." He pleaded, but Sirius didn't move.

"Expecto Patronum! Hermione, help me! Expecto Patronum! Come on, Daniel! EXPECTO PATRONUM!" a small silvery mist escaped his wand and the dementor sagged momentarily.

She pointed her wand towards the dementor closest to her, as it opened its hideous mouth as if to yell at her. "Expecto… Patronum.. Expecto -"

June 24rd, 1994, 12:20 AM

There was so much light.

Even before she opened her eyes, she could see how bright it was.

But it was night? wasn't it? Why wasn't it dark?

Her head was hurting so badly, she was groggy, hurting and tired - yet wide awake. She tried to open her eyes, but shut them instantly at the light blinding her.

Very vaguely she could hear a conversation happening not far from her, but the sounds were swimming and she couldn't quite understand what they were saying or what was going on.

Where was she?

She must be at school, because she was pretty sure she could hear McGonagall speaking in a hushed voice.

Was that snape? And Dumbledore?

"He's in the tower… Where he was… Should be… but why would he…" Bits and pieces of a conversation floated back to her, but she didn't know what they were talking about. Who they were talking about.

"Heard the explosion… Longbottom… They were laying by his side… Dementors are gone… The kiss… Inappropriate… He's still out…"

The more she heard the more she remembered. It rushed back to her all at once, yet too slowly for her to really comprehend it.

"SIRIUS!" She gasped and bolted upright, almost falling over the edge of the cot as dizziness hit her. Comforting hands quickly came to support her.

Fully opening her eyes, she saw that she was in the hospital wing. The brightness was torches and candles lit around the room. It really wasn't that bright…

"Don't worry Ms. Granger, we got him." Dumbledore said from the group of people in the room. McGonagall was patting her shoulder affectionately and gave her a tight smile, then looked to the other side of her, and said; "Potter - welcome back."

Following the professor's look, she saw identical cots with Harry, Daniel and in the back, Ron. Harry was looking at her with as much confusion, grogginess and hope as she was sure she was showing herself.

"You mean, you really got him? He was running for so long but you found him just like that?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Well," Minister Fudge started, "It was all because of your lot, it would seem. If you hadn't caught him in the first place, we wouldn't have either. The mass murderer has finally been caught and will be held accountable"

She frowned in confusion, "How did you know?"

"How did we know what, Ms. Granger?" Fudge asked, talking slowly like she was a child ten years younger. It was slightly infuriating.

"How did you know that it was him? Did you talk to dad? Is he okay?" Harry answered for her, the questions tumbling out of his quickly while hope shone in his green eyes.

The adults in the room looked at each other with deep frowns, but didn't answer.

"If you caught Pettigrew then what's the issue? Where's Sirius?" Her voice was slowly rising at the possible insinuation that even after having caught Peter, they still weren't going to let Sirius off the hook.

It was McGonagall who turned to her, her face one big question mark. "They didn't catch Pettigrew - they caught Black. Not that I understand any of this in the first place, Headmaster." She directed the last to Dumbledore who stood silently and watched what unfolded.

"But dad isn't a mass murderer! It's Peter Pettigrew!" Harry said loudly in disbelief looking from one adult to the next in hope that one of them would tell them that it was a prank.

Sirius would jump out from behind a curtain in any minute, and tell them that it had just been to rile them up.

It wasn't funny.

"Pettigrew's been dead for 13 years, Harry." McGonagall, and by using Harry's given name, Hermione had no doubts in her mind that her professor really did believe the man to be dead.

"But he's telling the truth, Professor!" Hermione began in Harry's defense, "It's not Sirius - it really is Pettigrew. We saw him!" She continued to tell the cluster of adults everything that had happened and what had been said. "Or are you just going to send him to Azkaban once again without reason or a trial? Without hearing his side of the story? without looking into his memories?"

Their head of house looked thoughtful for a moment while her eyes went from Hermione to Harry, and back again. The other professors and the minister were talking in hushed voices that Hermione couldn't hear.

"I believe you," she finally said in a low voice to Hermione, "but unfortunately there are others who are not so inclined. I can tell that a lot has happened tonight that shouldn't have happened. Maybe all that we needed was more time?" McGonagall lifted her hand to the middle of her chest right above her heart. So slowly, she tapped it, three times.

Hermione's eyes widened painfully in understanding, though she also said that she doesn't actually want to use it. The exhaustion she felt every time she used it - the constant need to rush about everything - she didn't want that.

But she also knows that she has to.

Lives could be lost if she didn't.

Behind Professor McGonagall, Professors Snape and Dumbledore escorted Minister Fudge out. They were almost by the door when Snape turned around ever so slightly and inclined his head while meeting her eyes. Then he gave her a small - knowing? - smile, and turn back around.

"Ms. Granger?" Minerva whispers as she turns around to follow, "Remember not to be seen."

And then she left. She hadn't even taken the first five steps before Hermione was jumping out of the bed and to Harry who was looking at her curiously. She drags him out of the bed and onto the floor where she pulls out the Timeturner and shoves it over Harry's neck.

"Hermione, what are you -" He tried as he looked at her oddly - not that she didn't blame him.

She didn't answer him. She pulled out the turner, turned it three times to indicate the correct number of hours and slid it back into place. Without letting go she looked up into Harry's green eyes and spoke, "Remember to breathe." Then she spun it to start the mechanism.

Just like all the other times, the world instantly started spinning. She felt herself being pulled physically back as lights blinked and changed, and sounds roared around her. She thought she might have heard Harry yelling, but she wasn't sure. She didn't usually bring anyone along for the ride.

June 23rd, 1994, 9:30 PM

As they landed back on the floor of the hospital wing, she instantly supported Harry as he swayed violently on the spot - even though she felt like vomiting from pure exhaustion herself. Should have had some Invigoration Draught on hand, she thought to herself then thought better of it.

Looking up at Harry she found him very pale, and even slightly green-ish. Had she looked that bad the first time?

She didn't have much time to think of anything else as a sound by the door alarmed her. She quickly pushed around behind a curtain.

"Hermione, what's going on?!" He whispered to her, but she shushed him with a hand over his mouth. "I'll tell you in a moment." She whispered back. Through the crack behind two curtains, she watched madam Pomfrey as she walked into her office and shut the door behind her.

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and sprinted across the room with half an eye on the healer's door.

You cannot be seen.

Peeking out through the door and finding no one there, she dragged Harry out. He must really hold on to the fact that she would explain herself, because he was really showing his good graces of patience at the moment.

They quickly made their way outside, ran across the bridge and hid behind the wall. If she remembered right; she, Harry and Daniel were supposed to show up soon.

While hiding, she told Harry about the Timeturner, about what McGonagall meant by her words and what she thought they had to do.

He outright gasped. "That's how you did it! I knew there was something odd going on, and I was right! You should have told me!" He crossed his arms and was obviously put out about having been left in the dark.

They then heard footsteps on the bridge and both shut up as their dobbelgängers appeared alongside Daniel. "This is so weird." Harry whispered while tapping down his own wild hair.

When the trio had made it almost all the way to Hagrid's, she and Harry followed. "I know I could have told you, and I wanted to so many times - but I made a vow to tell no one. Even you guys."

They moved around the hut and into the edge of the forest, where they watched the interactions inside the house. Looking towards Buckbeak she realized that there was perhaps more than one life to be saved today.

An idea popped into her head.

"Harry?"

He turned to her in question. "We need to save Buckbeak, he'll be Sirius' ticket out of here." He looked sceptical to say the least, but then he tilted his head in though and nodded.

"I think… I think that could work. When?"

She explained how the executioner needed to see Buckbeak first, also their original selves needed to get out of there as well. As for the 'when'? Well, they needed to be quick about it if they were to succeed.

Right before Dumbledore, the executioner and the minister for magic arrived, Hermione realized what she had to do and threw a rock through the window, breaking something on its way - and thereby alerting their original selfs that they had to leave.

Soon enough Hermione, Daniel and Harry ran out of the hut and disappeared, followed very shortly by knocking on the front door.

"Now!" she whispered and Harry rushed over the fence and into the kitchen garden.

She watched as he bowled low to the Hippogriff, who then bowed back. The reins were untied and Hermione used some ferrets that she had picked up from the fence where it hung, to lure it out of the garden.

A few minutes later they were a good way into the garden and heard the swing of an axe hitting something hard. Stone? A tree stump? She didn't know - she just hoped it wasn't someone.

They had camped on the other side of the lake, where they knew the dementor-attack would happen. Hermione hated being here and already got the chills even though there were none of the prison-guards around.

"How long have we got?" Harry asked from where he was petting Buckbeak softly down the mane.

"Just short of an hour I'd wager - maybe about half an hour until we'll start hearing them." She said in a low voice. It was like the forest was pressing in on them and she looked anxiously around at even the smallest of noises that might be out of place.

"How did you manage all that time?" He asked softly after a while, now standing by the lake and looking over it. He looked like he might start flicking stones across the water, but then didn't dare disturb the water anyway.

"It just did. At some point it became like second nature… Then the exhaustion set in." He looked at her like he had no idea what she was talking about, but on the other hand knew exactly what it was about. She knew the feeling. "The point where I started falling asleep in between classes, in the great Hall or the library, without realizing it. I would just wake up and have people stare at me oddly. That was when it really started hitting me how bad it was." She vividly remembered that day a mere month ago when she had come to the realization that she liked Draco.

It felt like a lifetime ago considering how much had happened within the past couple of hours.

But the last month in itself, had been excruciatingly long.

She had found herself looking for the head of blond hair. Longing for his comfortable, joyous laughter. The ways he frowned when he was deep in thought.

This exam-period had wrecked their normal schedules, so even though she had had to use the Timeturner every now and then to make it to all of them, it had left no sparetime to use with neither Draco nor Theo.

"I remember that." he said thoughtfully.

"What?" Her head whipped to look at his back as he kept watching the lake. Had he seen them in the library?

"I remember arriving for lunch one time, and you were fast asleep, hidden behind a big tome. I sat beside you and let you have 15 more minutes of sleep before waking you when the others walked through the door. You were so confused I thought you might have spent the entire night studying. It all makes sense now, I guess." He finished, looking over his shoulder and giving her a soft smile.

"Yeah…" She muttered as she sat down on a log and started stacking stones - just to pass the time.

"What do you think will happen to Sirius? What about Em?" He asked quietly from where he sat beside her, making his own stack for the 6th? 7th? time.

"If we don't succeed - I don't know. They seem pretty set on the fact that he did all those things, and doesn't want his side this time around either. Either he'll be sent to Azkaban or they'll… He'll be…" She couldn't finish the sentence. Saying the words would somehow make it real, and she didn't have the heart to tell Harry that he might lose his dad for the second time in a lifespan.

It just wasn't fair.

Life wasn't fair. Not anymore.

Harry seemed to agree as he hunched forward a bit and rested his underarms against his thighs, but said nothing.

"I'm sure Em will do anything in her power to get him back, but sometimes… Sometimes that just isn't enough." She finished remorsefully, her eyes prickling painfully as tears started their slow appearance. She blinked rapidly a few times to stop them.

She shuffled over a bit and put her arms around him. "I know I'm not helping - I'm sorry."

"It's okay… I asked for it, I guess. You never were one to hold back on the truths." He said quietly and sat up, once again leaning forward with underarms resting on his legs that were bouncing up and down.

She couldn't stand it anymore. She could hear Harry's breathing and Buckbeak as he dug in the ground for something to munch on, but apart from that it was silent. Not even the wind or the sound of water from the lake, hitting the bank, could be heard.

The chill also hadn't left her bones.

"I wonder what's going on… It's not like we're that far into the forest, but they should have arrived in the clearing by now." Harry said thoughtfully.

"Maybe the forest is eating up the noise…" She wondered out loud as she looked around. "Let's move closer to the tree."

"No! No, we have to stay here." He exclaimed, looking horrified as she turned around to look at him.

"What's wrong?"

"I - I have to be here when he comes." Harry stuttered, looking out at the lake beyond her.

"But we'll be able to see him if we go closer, Harry. We'll just need to run quickly so that they don't see us." She reasoned, confused by his sudden outburst.

"No, you don't understand! I have to be here when he arrives. I have to see him… I have to -" He stammered, looking around frantically like someone might be waiting behind a tree, waiting for their moment of surprise.

"Harry… They will arrive in a moment, and we will change the future. We will save Sirius!" She tried to reassure him, but he seemed to get more and more frantic by the seconds as he started pacing.

A soundless, blinding light in her peripheral had her whipping around towards it, eyes large in a sudden burst of panic. "It's happening…" She whispered, perhaps more to herself than her surroundings that were sure to eat up all the noise anyway. Without much thought, she took off towards what must have been the explosion, her inner Gryffindor telling her that she had to help.

She had to save Sirius.

Had to somehow stop Remus's transformation.

Had to catch Peter.

"Hermione! Stop!"

"We have to do something, Harry!" She yelled back at him in frustration, turning back to look at him. The hope and fear in his eyes was so clear that it made her take a step back. "Harry, he'll… We have to-" She tried.

Noises of struggle were slowly starting to drift towards them and she once again focused to see silhouettes being illuminated by the moon, just at the edge of the forest.

"No, Hermione! I'm telling you - I have to be here when he saves Sirius!"

"When he… Who will save Sirius?" She inquired, confused. Harry had been so off the hinges and confused, and she had thought this entire time that he merely wanted to wait for his adopted dad to appear… That he simply didn't want to leave of fear of missing his chance at saving the man.

"What are you talking about?"

The noises of fighting became ever clearer and a loud, throaty whimper broke through the deep darkness of the forbidden forest.

Harry and Hermione both watched on, transfixed, as the whimper was silenced by shouts and different-coloured sparks, when the original Harry and Daniel tried to stop Remus from attacking Sirius any further.

Someone threw a smoke cloud at Remus, obscuring her and Harry's view momentarily, but it quickly fell to the ground again.

She and Harry were too far away to make any immediate difference, but they could see the shadows of Daniel, the other Harry and Remus through the remains of the smoke, as they were lit up by the different spells. Also, the growling and snarling… The ever-present whimpering… She wasn't sure she would ever be able to forget those sounds.

Any minute now, the other Hermione would arrive.

The spells and shouts seemed to go on for all eternity, until they suddenly stopped.

"HEY! HEY! HELLOO! I'M HERE! COME AND GET ME! HEY!" Her original self shouted as she clapped her hands loudly while stomping the ground.

It wasn't working.

"DANIEL! RUN, DAMMIT! RUN!"

She watched as Daniel moved into the defensive; his wand arm raised, lowering slightly more towards the ground while his legs inches further and further apart, taking up as much of Remus's view of Sirius, as he could.

A snarl ripped through the forest as Remus jumped forward.

"Arresto momentum!" Hermione bellowed simultaneously with her original self. Realizing what she had just done, she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth and jumped behind the nearest tree.

She felt her chest rise and fall rapidly as she heaved for breaths in panic.

Had they heard her? Had they seen her?

Had they seen Harry?

Looking to the side she saw Harry laying fully on his stomach on the forest floor, behind a fallen log. 'Idiot!' he mouthed at her when he looked up.

Looking away from him, she focused zoned in on the fighting group where she now noticed the large werewolf, laying against a tree not too far off of the group.

She didn't dare feel any relief, knowing that soon enough, he would stand and prepare for attack once again.

She found herself wishing for the bright light of flying spells, as the current silence meant that she and Harry had next to no vision of what was going on.

A large growl echoed towards them and Hermione did the one thing she could think of, in a situation where she didn't even think.

She howled. Again, and again, and again until they heard the stamping feet of a werewolf barreling through the forest - towards them.

"Fuck." She snapped at herself and jumped towards where Harry was standing, who in turn dragged her back and towards Buckbeak who looked ready to defend anything on their behalf.

They barely made it behind him, before Remus was running around a tree and right into their path.

He growled loudly and made to attack, but was pushed back as Buckbeak went onto his hindlegs and kicked Remus in the chest.

Remus fell back whimpering, rolled back a couple of times before standing up slowly. This time, though, he limped ever so slightly, away from her, Harry and Buckbeak, until he was fully clear of them.

Hermione was still looking in the direction that Remus had disappeared, when Harry whispered: "It's happening."

"What's happeni-" She didn't need to finish the sentence as she turned towards her best friend and saw the throngs of dementors appearing from every corner and nook of the forest and sky. They even slithered past the two of them while they did everything in their power to not move a single muscle.

They're not here for us. She thought to herself as she tried hard to fight down the sadness that was tugging her down like a warm duvet on a cold winter night. When the window was open and she could hear the rumble of heavy rain against the roof on the barn, lulling her into a deep sleep.

A deep sleep, where your foot would slowly slide outside the warmth of the duvet, hanging off the side of the bed. Hanging, where the monsters under the bed would reach up, grab her around the ankle and drag her down and under that bed.

Drag her into insanity, suck her soul out and rip it to pieces.

"Any minute, now. He'll come, and he'll do the spell." Harry somehow managed to whisper through the haze that surrounded her mind.

Who? she wanted to ask, but couldn't find the will to do so. Instead, she slid to her knees on the ground with her arms hanging limply by her side.

She felt empty, as she watched first Daniel and then normal Hermione succumb to the darkness, and fall to the ground. On the other side of the lake, by their side, Harry was fighting a losing battle against the dementors as he yelled the Patronus-charm one after the other, in vain.

The loneliness of sitting alone in the field behind her house, day after day after day, was so vivid she could feel the hollowness in her chest.

Looking at herself in the mirror, pinpointing the exact places where she looked different from the other girls in her dormitory.

"I can't believe I have to be around someone as stupid as you. Why would I ever want to be friends with you. A witch who's afraid of flying. It's pathetic." Someone sneered down at her and she felt a tear rolling down her cheek like she was back in the library that no longer held the comfort that she needed.

As if a mechanism triggered inside her, her face turned on its own accord. Harry was yelling something, his wand outstretched towards Sirius, Hermione, Daniel and Harry who were on the other side of the lake in different states of consciousness.

From Harry's wand burst out anything but the silvery mist that had appeared when she herself was on the other side of the lake. This time it was a fully corporal being.

She couldn't quite make out what it was, but it was big, regal and flooding the entire clearing with bright, silvery light.

"Well jump on, Munchkin, I'll give you a piggyback ride." Daniel said loud and clear as if he was standing right beside her, her answering "Onwards, Mighty Steed!" following just as quickly.

It was hard to look in the direction of the being and its light-explosion, but she felt like she had to watch.

"I'm your friend." Draco's voice echoed in her head, "You're smart, and kind and you try so hard to not be afraid of that broom." She could feel the ghost of his warm arms around her small frame as he held her.

It was beautiful.

As warmth and love for and from her friends returned to her mind and body, she realized what was happening.

The spell thundered across the lake and into the Dementors who in turn scattered and disappeared into the darkness, once they realized that fighting back would be useless. It circled the unconscious Daniel, Harry, Hermione and Sirius a couple of times to make sure that they were out of harm's way, before slowly trotting back to Her Harry.

Harry, with glistening eyes, held out his hand for the creature.

The stag - Hermione realized - sniffed at Harry's hand and nuzzled against it, before disappearing into thin air.

As the stag disappeared, the darkness of the forest returned, only this time it didn't feel like it was pressing them down and isolating them from the rest of the world.

It was just an ordinary forest.

Her best friend suddenly sniffed and Hermione raised from where she had been sitting on her knees on the ground. "H-Harry?" She whispered as she carefully stepped closer to him.

Harry slowly turned towards her; his eyes shining with tears. "I really thought he would come. I'm so stupid. I'm so stupid, Hermione." He released an anguished sob.

"Who, Harry?" She asked as she neared him even further, asking the question even though she feared she already knew the answer…

"My d-dad." He sobbed openly, "I was so sure that I saw him throw that Patronus. That… That he was watching and protecting us. I wanted to see him so bad! But it wasn't him! It was me! I just saw myself! And I-I miss him so much!" He crushed against her shoulder and clung his arms around her as he cried for the father he had lost, yet never really known.

"I'm so sorry, Harry… I'm really sorry." She said in a hushed voice, feeling her own sadness resurfacing even though the Dementors were long gone.

This was a different kind of pain - one that she would always take on her shoulders if needed.

It was mere minutes later that she watched over Harry's hunched body, that Professor Snape appeared to bring their original selves to the hospital wing, and Sirius to be locked up. She whispered as much to Harry, and carefully moved them out of sight without letting go of her hurting friend.

Carefully, she pushed Harry up so he was standing fully again. Using both hands, she removed his tears and rested them on his cheeks while looking into his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"No?" He answered instantly, trying to avert his eyes though Hermione wouldn't let him.

"I didn't think so - but we need to save Sirius." She whispered as he hung his head. "Maybe Em can show you pictures and tell you lots of stories when you get home."

He nodded somberly and turned away from her with a sniff. "Let's go get him." He just said, his voice painfully void of emotions.

A short while later, Buckbeak was hovering outside a window in the designated tower and they could see Sirius on the other side. Hermione quickly guided him to the side before blasting the wall in to let him escape.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked them incredulously as he stared at the two of them, before eyeing the Hippogriff in obvious disbelief.

"Saving your sorry ass - get on, already!" Harry barked and Hermione almost instantly felt Sirius take place behind her.

"You're grounded for a month when you get home, young man." He announced while taking a hold around Hermione's stomach, muttering a quiet apology for doing so.

"I think I can live with that." Harry murmured before steering Buckbeak downwards, to a large courtyard that held enough space for them to land safely.

They had barely touched down before all three of them were off. "I can't believe you just did that. I cannot believe you just did that!" Sirius mumbled against Harry's hair, as he held his Godson tightly. "And where's Daniel?"

"He's in the hospital wing." Hermione stated from where she stood a little off to the side. Sirius instantly looked at her in horror, like he wanted to bolt for the wing, so she clarified; "He's alright. It's a long story that you're definitely not getting tonight."

"You need to go." Harry said and the sound of the belltower emphasized his words. Looking at her watch, she saw that they were running out of time.

12:15

"So do we!" She hissed at Harry. They had 15 minutes to make it to the Hospital wing without being seen by Dumbledore, Snape and the Minister for Magic.

"Go!" Harry hissed at Sirius and handed him the rails for Buckbeak.

"But-"

"Go, Sirius! We're all running out of time!" Hermione reiterated.

"Fine! Fine! I'll see you soon - both of you!" He called as he mounted Buckbeak and grabbed the rains more comfortably.

"GO!" They both shout-whispered at him.

"Thank you, kids." He said softly, before Buckbeak lifted and flew into the sky.

"We need to run, Harry!" She said quickly. already on her way to the door.

Harry was right behind her.

Luckily, they didn't meet anyone on their sprint through the castle. They ran up the stairs, skipped steps when they could, stopped at corners and peeked around before running again - but most of all, they listened.

They knew that at any time, a ghost, the poltergeist, Filch or a teacher could spot them, and then they wouldn't make it in time.

They hurried up the last flight of stairs and went directly for the corner of the hallway, where they stopped and listened.

There were definitely footsteps.

Harry tapped her shoulder and pointed to an alcove by the opposite wall. Hoping that they would be far enough out of sight, they hurried over and behind the tapestry that covered the entrance.

"I'll call for a Dementor immediately." A voice she by now recognized to be Minister Fudge's. "They'll happily escort him off to Azkaban again."

The voice grew louder as they neared the stairs in front of Harry and her.

"Why not give the man the hearing?" Snape asked.

"Why bother? The family left their house last summer and no one has seen him since then. That's more or less a confession right there. I wouldn't hold it against him to lie his way out of Azkaban this time around as well." Fudge scoffed and Dumbledore hummed in agreement.

Peeking out as softly as she could, she saw the three men passing them and walking down the stairs.

They were halfway down the stairs when Hermione reached a hand behind her and grabbed at whatever she could reach - It felt like his jumper? - and tugged softly, hoping that he would understand what she wanted.

When she felt Harry shift and grab her hand, she carefully lifted the tapestry even further and tip-toed out of the alcove. They sneaked across the hallway as silently as they could, all while having an eye out for the adults in question. As soon as they cleared the corner, they hurried as quietly as they could, towards the door that their head of house now emerged through.

She said nothing, but nodded her head at them in greeting and smiled softly.