Amie's World of Lies (Harry Potter fan-fic) Book 3 COMPLETED

Leaving

Amie looked at Harry, and saw that he was staring, transfixed, after Sirius. She smiled, and turned to Hermione, grabbing her arm so she could look at the time. She gasped.

"Come on!" Amie said. "We've only got ten minutes to get back to the hospital wing -- before Dumbledore locks the door!"

"Okay," Harry said, tearing his gaze away from the sky. "Let's go..."

"What about the broomstick?" Hermione asked, and Amie realized she still had Draco's broom.

"I'll leave it here," she said, putting it down and putting a charm on it that hid it almost completely. "Now, come on!"

They hurried down the staircase behind the door to the roof, and when they came to the bottom of it, they heard voices. Pressing against the wall, they heard Fudge and Snape walking along the corridor at the foot of the staircase.

"...only hope Dumbledore's not going to make difficulties," Snape said. "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"

"As soon as Macnair returns with the dementors," said Fudge. "This whole Black affair has been highly embarrassing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to informing the Daily Prophet that we've got him at last... I daresay they'll want to interview you, Snape... And once young Harry's back in his right mind, I expect he'll want to tell the Prophet exactly how you saved him..."

Amie could see Harry clench his teeth, annoyed with the conversation. Snape and Fudge walked passed their hiding place, a smirk on Snape's face, and soon their footsteps died away. Amie, Hermione and Harry waited for a few seconds to be sure they were really gone, before they ran in the other direction. Down a few staircases and a along another corridor, they heard cackling laughter.

"Peeves!" Harry muttered. "In here!"

Harry grabbed one of Amie's and one of Hermione's arms, and they darted into an empty classroom. Peeves was laughing outside, and Amie knew that one more second, he would have seen them out there, and they could've been caught.

"Oh, he's horrible," Hermione whispered, her head pressed to the door. "I bet he's all exited because the dementors are going to finish off Sirius..." Hermione looked at her watch. "Three minutes!"

They waited until Peeves was gone, then they opened the door and started running again.

"What'll happen -- if we don't get back inside before Dumbledore locks the door?" Harry panted.

"I don't want to think about it!" Hermione checked her watch again. "One minute!"

They reached the end of the corridor to the hospital wing. "Okay -- I can hear Dumbledore -- come on!"

They crept along the corridor, and Dumbledore walked out, his back facing them.

"I am going to lock you in," he said. "It is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

Dumbledore closed the door and took out his wand to magically lock it. Amie, Hermione and Harry hurried forward. Dumbledore looked up at them and smiled.

"Well?" he asked.

"We did it!" Harry said. "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak..."

Dumbledore beamed.

"Well done. I think --" he listened for any sound inside the hospital wing. "Yes, I think you've gone too -- get inside -- I'll lock you in,"

Amie, Harry and Hermione slid inside the hospital wing, and Dumbledore shut the door behind them. It was empty except for Ron, and he wasn't conscious. Soundlessly, the three of them crept back to their beds, and Hermione made sure her Time-Turner was safely tucked inside her robes. A second later, Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office.