When All is Lost (Book 1)

2. Black's Return

As Sirius stood up, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked over to his side, ready to explain everything. "BLACK!" Fudge screamed. "MEN! TAKE HIM-" "NO!" Hermione said. "Sirius is not a murderer!  He was framed." "I suppose he threatened to kill you if you didn't defend him. Stand back Ms. Granger." Said Fudge. "Minister, please. He's my godfather. Just listen to what we have to say." Harry pleaded. "How can you explain the murder of thirteen people, and your own parents Harry? Wouldn't  you be angrier than you could imagine if you met your mother's killer?" Fudge asked. "He didn't kill my MOTHER!" Harry screamed. "What is going on in here?" Said a familiar sly voice. It was Snape. "Professor, I thought that you weren't allowed in our Dormitory, or common room." Hermione said. "Silence!" Said Snape. "I could hear the Minister yell your name from the dungeon Black. I suppose the dementors will be here any moment." Hermione gave Harry a look of terror. "It was Pettigrew! Pettigrew tortured the secret out of Sirius and he turned into a rat, which lost him a finger!" Harry said. "Yeah. Pettigrew was my rat Scabbers." Ron pitched in. But they were all too late. They saw dementors from far and wide coming to the window. "Accio firebolt!" Harry blundered, and the firebolt zoomed into his hand. "Sirius! I need you to fly as fast as you can." Harry said, as he scrawled a note on the back of his letter to him, and tied it to the broomstick. "Read the back of this letter when you're on the broom." Harry said. "Thank you." Sirius said, and he mounted the broom, and kicked off into the sky. "POTTER! YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!" Snape snarled. "He's a good person." Harry said quietly, and got into bed with Hermione and Ron.

The next morning, all of the Gryffindors who slept in front of the window were not in bed, but in the hospital wing. "Breakfast looks good!" Colin Creevey said as he put some eggs on his plate. "You know Harry, I believe that Sirius is good, and even if he does get killed-" "Shut up Colin!" Harry grumbled. "Sorry Colin." Hermione said, pulling Harry and Ron away. "Look at you two, we're 17. Let's act like it! I know that Colin means well, and you do too. Be nice!" That weekend at Hogsmeade, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran into Malfoy at the exit of the Three Broomsticks. "Hello Potter." Malfoy sneered. Hermione started to turn away, but she didn't at the words, "Of course the mudblood's running." "Shut UP Malfoy!" And Hermione steered Harry and Ron away.

"Harry, why are we walking to the shrieking shack?" Ron asked, dodging a thorn bush. "I told you. I told Sirius to hide here." Harry said, gesturing toward the back door of the shack. When they walked in, they felt freezing, and Harry suddenly went blank for a moment. They heard creaking on the second floor, and voices, loud yelling voices, and then a piercing scream. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sprinted up the stairs and what they saw made Harry pull out his wand and yell "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The dementors were all flying around a weak and almost dead Sirius Black. All of the dementors seemed to be impacted by Harry's curse and they flew out of the window, leaving Sirius behind. Hermione stared at Sirius, and she started to cry. She leaned on Ron's shoulder and they sat down. "It's all my fault." Harry said, with tears in his eyes. "I killed him." He said again  "Harry stop!" Hermione said through many tears. "Harry," Hermione kept stopping and crying through her sentence, "Harry you- you didn't do this, he-he- he had it coming and we all know it. I- I know it's the hardest thing to bare but-" Hermione stopped talking when The Minister and Mr. Crouch apparated into the room. "Oh get out you slimy gits." Ron said, holding Hermione tighter. "You killed him." "What's the girl upset about? I can't believe they chose such wimps as school champions, can you Mr. Crouch? Look at all of them whimpering." Fudge said. "YOU KILLED AN INNOCENT MAN! YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Hermione screamed, falling back into Ron's arms once again. 'Innocent? Little girl, he killed fifteen people." Crouch said, looking at Sirius and cracking a smile. "HOW CAN YOU SMILE? HE'S DEAD! YOU SENT THE DEMENTORS HERE! PETTIGREW FRAMED HIM! WOULD HARRY DEFEND HIM IF HE DIDN'T BELIEVE HIM? HE STOOD UP TO A THREAT FROM VOLDEMORT! SURELY HE WOULDN'T BE AFRAID OF SIRIUS BLACK!" And after that remark, Hermione ran over to Sirius and started to try every spell that she could, to make him wake up.

When Hermione stopped, she was breathing very fast, and she ran up to the third floor, followed by Ron. "Potter, do you really believe Black?" Fudge asked. "He was my dad and mum's best friend, of course I trust him. Don't follow me." And Harry walked up to the third floor. Ron was comforting Hermione, and when Harry walked in, he said, "Honestly Hermione, you're more upset than Harry." "No one's more upset than me." Harry said in a low voice, sitting down on a surprisingly comfortable ripped four-poster bed. "Harry, Ron, I'm a real drag aren't I, making a scene. I'll go back to the castle. Can I borrow that cloak Harry?" Hermione said, getting up and pointing at the invisibility cloak. "Come on Hermione! You're not boring us." Ron said. "I never said that I was boring you!" Hermione said with dignity. "Bloody hell!" Ron said suddenly. "What-" Hermione was going to answer, but she looked at the door and saw Professor Lupin. "Hermione my dear, whatever is the matter?" He asked kindly. "Didn't you see?" Hermione said, starting to cry once again. "Harry?" Lupin said, seeing that even Harry and Ron were upset. "How'd you get here?" Harry asked, wondering how he didn't see Sirius on his walk up. "I saw you three through the window at the three broomsticks. Thought I'd come up to see what was going on after I saw the Minister and Crouch carrying a rubbish bag out of the back door." Lupin said. "Wait, Crouch and Fudge were..." Hermione stopped. "Carrying a rubbish bag out, did you not hear me?" Lupin asked. "Sirius." Hermione said quietly. "What my dear?" Lupin asked, walking forward. "Sirius!" Hermione said loudly. "You mean... the dementors..." Lupin looked horrified. "SIRIUS!" Lupin screamed, and he looked as though at this moment, he could become a werewolf.

That night in the common room, Hermione surprised them and had a great time helping Ron and Harry make up more death predictions. "I can't belive you think that Professor Trelawney is going to belive that Professor Lupin killed you as a werewolf!" Hermione said breaking out into a humongous laugh. "Um, guys?" Ron said. "What?" Hermione asked smiling. "Tomorrow we start the first task." He said, pointing at the calendar. Hermione and Harry stopped smiling. "Ron, don't be silly. That's next week isn't it?" Hermione said, sounding quite unsure. "No. Didn't you hear McGonagall tell us it's been moved up?" Ron asked. "And when was that?" Hermione said, not taking her eyes off of the copy of Harsh Deaths that no one knows about Accept for You that Harry borrowed from Fred Weasly earlier that day. "After we went to Hogsmeade." Ron said. "Yeah, the worst trip to Hogsmeade ever." Harry added. "Well, I wasn't listening to her." Hermione said, patting Crookshanks on his bottle brush tail. "That's a change." Ron said getting up. "Where're you going?" Harry asked Ron. "To bed. We need our strength. We don't even have a clue what the first task is." Ron said. "You three!" It was Professor McGonagall. "Us?" Ron asked cluelessly. "Yes you three!" She said impatiently. "The headmaster would like to see you." "Alright." Hermione said, and she walked out of the portrait hole followed by Harry and Ron.