Fate Set Right

Prologue

June 9, 1994

"We've got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us. Before Dumbledore locks the doors," Hermione warned Harry, and with that, they took off.

Along the way, they had to dive into an alcove as Fudge and Professor Snape passed them by.

"The Kiss will be performed immediately?" Professor Snape asked. Hermione noted that for all his desire to have Sirius in custody, he didn't look very enthused about the Dementor's Kiss.

Fudge continued to blather, and as they passed, Hermione swore that Professor Snape's eyes met hers in the shadows. It had been like that since she'd arrived at Hogwarts: with every scathing remark and sneering insult, there was something like regret in his endless black eyes. Quiet apologies that she didn't understand and no one else saw. She justified it with the fact that she was one of the few Gryffindors who was kind to Rory, though that didn't explain first year.

When he and Fudge passed, they continued their route to the hospital wing. There was a moment of panic when Professor Dumbledore locked the doors, but when he turned and smiled, Hermione was sure it would be all right.

"Well?" he asked quietly.

"We did it!" Harry let out breathlessly. "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak...."

Dumbledore beamed, then flicked his wand. His Patronus came out of the tip and hovered in the air in front of him. "Events have occurred as they should, go to the safe house, he'll meet you there." The phoenix took off and Dumbledore turned back to them. "All is as it should be. Now, get inside, I'll lock you in."

Once inside, Hermione and Harry returned to their beds, allowing Madam Pomfrey to fuss over them and feed them chocolate, needed now more urgently than hours before.

"What do you mean, gone!" Fudge bellowed through the door, and Madam Pomfrey frowned.

"What do they think they're doing?" she grumbled.

"I can assure you, Minister," -Snape's sneering grew louder- "if anyone knows what happened, it would be Potter."

A moment later, the doors to the hospital wing flung open and an angry Cornelius Fudge followed a displeased Potions master.

The latter may have accused Harry of knowing something, but his eyes fell accusingly onto Hermione. She felt herself shrink into bed, absently holding the Time-Turner, careful not to jostle it.

"You've caused trouble in the past," Fudge was saying to Harry. "I forgave that business with your aunt, and we knew there was something going on last summer. We know that Sirius Black is your godfather, boy, it would—"

"Cornelius, I think you're forgetting a very important fact," Professor Dumbledore interrupted, eyes twinkling. "The door was locked when we came in. From the outside, no less. How could he have helped Sirius Black if he was here under Madam Pomfrey's care?"

Professor Snape snorted and the Minister frowned in confusion.

Hermione clutched the Time-Turner tighter.

"The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day," the Minister lamented, shaking his head. "We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers again ...."

Dumbledore placed a hand gently on Fudge's shoulder and steered him toward the door. Hermione caught snippets of the conversation: Dementors removed from the school, maybe bringing in dragons instead.

"Do not think for one moment that I believe a locked door would stop you from aiding in Black's escape," Snape declared in a menacing tone. "And believe me," –his eyes held Hermione's while he faced Harry- "there will be an extensive conversation about this later."