"Hermione, what -" Harry began but was cut off by the bushy-haired girl.
"In here!" She exclaimed, pulling the both of them into a broom closet just off to the side. She opened the door, shoved both of them in, and then closed it right behind them.
"OW!" Alex groaned, having run straight into a broom handle.
"What - how - Hermione, what happened?" Harry asked breathlessly.
"We've gone back in time," Hermione answered quietly, taking the chain off of both of their necks. "Three hours back..."
At Hermione's words, Alex's eyes widened in realization. They would have time to save her parents. That was if she wasn't dreaming like she suspected herself to be. "Harry, do me a favor and just punch me right in the arm, make sure I'm not dreaming," she spoke into the darkness.
"Only if you do the same," Harry responded.
Simultaneously, they punched each other in the arm as hard as they could. It only resulted in them whining out of the pain that would surely form into a bruise later. "Okay, definitely not dreaming," she confirmed.
"But -" Harry began to say but Hermione cut him off again.
"Shh! Listen! Someone's coming! I think - I think it might be us!" She said, her ear pressed against the door. "Footsteps across the hall... yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid's!"
"Are you telling me that we're here in this cupboard and we're out there too?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes," Hermione confirmed with her ear still against the door. "I'm sure it's us. It doesn't sound like more than four people... and we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak -" she paused to listen to what was happening outside the door. "We've gone down the front steps..." She then sat down on an upturned bucket, looking around anxiously but both Alex and Harry had about a million questions running through their head.
"Where did you get that hourglass thing?" Harry asked.
"It's called a Time-Turner," Hermione told them, "and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies... I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But..." She paused, thinking to herself. "Guys, I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius and Alliana?"
"Pause for one second," Alex cut off both of their trains of thought. "You have a Time-Turner and never once thought I could've used it to prevent that kiss between Fred and I?"
"You and Fred kissed?" Harry gasped.
"Not now, Harold!" Alex snapped before looking at Hermione.
"I just told you, Alex," Hermione argued quietly. "I couldn't use it for anything other than my studies."
Alex let out a heavy sigh but nodded. "Yeah, alright."
Harry was still shocked over the revelation of Alex kissing Fred but he quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts as there were more pressing matters they needed to attend to currently than Alex's love life.
"There must be something that happened around now he wants us to change," Harry told the both of them slowly. "What happened? We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago..."
"This is three hours ago, and we are walking down to Hagrid's," Hermione quickly said. "We just heard ourselves leaving..."
"Dumbledore just said - just said we could save more than two innocent lives..." Harry spoke to himself.
Alex snapped her fingers in realization. "Guys, we're going to save Buckbeak!"
"But - how will that help your parents?" Hermione asked.
"Dumbledore said - he just told us where the window is - the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've Sirius and Alliana locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue them! They can escape on Buckbeak - they can all escape together!" Harry told them as Alex nodded in agreement.
"If we manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle!" Hermione told them while looking slightly terrified.
"Well, we've got to try, haven't we?" Harry defended.
"Yeah, these are my parents, Hermione," Alex stated firmly before another thought hit her. "How are we all going to fit on Buckbeak?"
"We can worry about that later!" Harry responded as he stood and pressed his ear against the door. "Doesn't sound like anyone's there... Come on, let's go..."
He pushed the door open to find that they were alone in the entrance hall. Alex took a glance around as they began to walk out the front doors of the castle.
"If anyone's looking out of the window -" Hermione spoke softly as she glanced back at the castle.
"We'll run for it," Harry stated firmly. "Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout -"
"Okay, but we'll go around by the greenhouses!" Hermione told them. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"
"Merlin's beard, that is so confusing to process," Alex mumbled as she followed behind the both of them.
They sprinted off the course they set and made it into the forest. Alex leaned against her legs for a second before looking at Harry and Hermione. "Why do people assume that because I play Quidditch, I must be a master sprinter as well?" She asked breathlessly.
"Right," Hermione spoke, ignoring Alex's statement. "We need to sneak over to Hagrid's... Keep out of sight, guys..."
Carefully, they made their way through the trees, sticking to the edge so they wouldn't get lost further in. Alex did not want a repeat of the previous year when they had walked into Aragog's lair and were nearly eaten by his thousands of children. They made it to a wide oak tree and peered around both sides of it at Hagrid's hut. Alex could hear a knock and then the door opened to reveal Hagrid and then they heard Harry's voice saying the same thing he had earlier that day. Or was it now? The whole going back in time was very confusing to Alex.
"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry told them.
Alex looked up from where he was standing over her. "Really?" She questioned. "This is the weirdest thing we've ever done? Do you not remember drinking polyjuice potion last year? Or helping Hagrid with Norbert? Visiting Aragog? Going to retrieve the Sorcerer's Stone? Going into the Chamber of Secrets? Any of that ringing a bell?"
"We've never traveled back in time and spied on ourselves from a distance," Harry told her.
"Touché," she responded. "I'm just saying, we're only in our third year, so who knows what adventures the next few years will bring us?"
"Let's not bring that onto ourselves, okay?" Harry almost begged her.
"Both of you be quiet!" Hermione told them. "Let's move a bit. We need to get nearer to Buckbeak."
They made their way through the trees before they could all see Buckbeak tethered in Hagrid's garden. Alex could see he looked nervous, probably sensing how either they were close or he was sensing his impending death.
"Now?" Harry asked quietly.
"No!" Hermione and Alex exclaimed quickly.
"If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!" Hermione told him while Alex nodded.
There was a sound of china breaking inside the cabin. "That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Hermione told them. "I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment -"
On cue, they could hear Hermione let out a shriek and Alex shortly after since she had been startled by it. Alex shook her head, not believing that this was happening in front of them. Harry was right, this had to be the weirdest thing they had ever done.
"Guys, what if we - we just run in there and grab Pettigrew -"
"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important Wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen -"
"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"
"Harry," Alex began, "what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?"
"I'd - I'd think I'd gone mad," Harry told them, "or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on -"
"Exactly!" Hermione exclaimed. "You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourself! Don't you see? Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time... Loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!"
"Okay!" Harry exclaimed. "It was just an idea, I just thought -"
"I know, Harry," Alex told him. "I want Pettigrew caught just as much as you but that can't happen right now. We just have to let the natural order of events -"
But Hermione cut them off as she nudged them to look at the castle where Dumbledore was walking out with Fudge, the ancient Committee member, and the executioner. They were coming right for Hagrid's hut.
"We're about to come out!"
Again, on cue, the back door opened and the four of them came walking out with Hagrid. Alex had to shake her head because of how weird it was to see themselves. Hagrid was trying to calm Buckbeak down before telling the four of them to leave. He was met with their protests before telling them to leave again. Then they disappeared under the Invisibility Cloak.
Alex heard a knock from the front door, signaling the arrival of the execution party. Hagrid walked back into his cabin, leaving the back door open. They all watched the grass flatten where their feet moved to head back to the castle.
"Where is the beast?" Macnair's voice asked.
"Out - outside," Hagrid told him.
Alex ducked out of sight when she saw Macnair stick his head out Hagrid's window to see Buckbeak. Her heart was beating in her chest as she heard Fudge begin to explain the process of what was supposed to happen.
"Wait here," Harry told the two girls. "I'll do it."
At the sound of Fudge's voice, Harry ran over to the garden, lept over the fence, and walked up to Buckbeak. Alex followed slowly behind, staying slightly crouched so as to not be seen by those inside the hut. They could hear Fudge reading the statement inside as Harry bowed to Buckbeak, who bowed back. Then he began to untie the rope holding Buckbeak.
"Hurry up, Harry!" Alex whispered to him.
"Come on, Buckbeak," Harry mumbled to him, "come on, we're going to help you. Quietly... quietly..."
Harry was struggling to pull Buckbeak with him, but Buckbeak was putting up a fight. Alex listened carefully to what was happening in the hut. She could hear the elderly Committee member telling Hagrid to wait inside but Hagrid insisted on being with him when it happened.
"Buckbeak, move!" Harry hissed.
With some more tugging from Harry, Buckbeak got the idea and began to follow him somewhat reluctantly. As soon as he was close enough, Alex grabbed the rope and pulled as well. They had about ten feet to go before they were safe by the cover of the trees.
"Hurry!" Hermione mouthed from where she stood by the trees.
Alex pulled with all over might before they had finally reached the trees and Hermione came over to help. "Quick! Quick!" She told them, pulling Buckbeak into the trees completely.
"Stop!" Harry whispered to them. "They might hear us -"
The back door of Hagrid's hut opened and there was a beat of silence before someone spoke, "Where is it?" The aged Committee member asked. "Where is the beast?"
"It was tied here!" The executioner exclaimed angrily. "I saw it! Just here!"
"How extraordinary!" Dumbledore exclaimed though Alex could hear that it wasn't entirely concerned like they were.
"Beaky!" Hagrid spoke.
There was a swishing sound and thud of an axe. It sounded like the executioner had swung his axe into the fence in anger. Then there was the sound of howling from Hagrid.
"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!" Hagrid sobbed.
At the sound of Hagrid's voice, Buckbeak tried to pull himself to where he could hear his voice, which made the three friends pull him back as hard as they could.
"Someone untied him!" The executioner exclaimed. "We should search the grounds, the forest -"
"Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" Dumbledore asked. "Search the skies, if you will... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy."
"O' - o' course, Professor," Hagrid told him. "Come in, come in..."
They all listened closely for a few seconds before the sound of the door closing was followed by silence. The three friends looked at each other.
"Now what?" Harry asked.
"We'll have to hide in here," Hermione told them. "We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius and Alliana's window. They won't be there for another couple of hours... Oh, this is going to be difficult..."
"We're going to have to move," Harry told them.
"Yeah, we've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on," Alex added, looking around to see the sun beginning to set.
"Okay," Hermione responded, grabbing Buckbeak's rope. "But we've got to keep out of sight, guys, remember..."
They moved along the edge of the forest carefully and then found themselves hidden by a clump of trees with a clear view of where they could see the Whomping Willow.
"There's Ron!" Harry spoke suddenly.
They watched his figure running for Scabbers and Alex came into view a second later as Ron dived to grab the rat. Alex tripped over his foot and landed beside him as he fought to keep Crookshanks away.
"There's Sirius!" Harry told them, pointing to the large black dog coming into view. They watched him seize Ron before dragging him into the roots of the Willow. "Looks even worse from here, doesn't it?" Harry asked. "Ouch - Alex just got whacked - and now she's diving into that hole - look, I just got walloped by the tree - and so did you - this is weird -"
"It really is," Alex agreed. "Look, there's my mum flying in after me." They watched the tawny owl duck under the branches before disappearing into the hole as well.
The tree was thrashing its lower branches around before the tree completely froze. "That was Crookshanks pressing the knot," Hermione told them.
"And there we go..." Harry mumbled. "We're in."
A few seconds later, they heard footsteps and spotted Dumbledore heading back up to the castle with Macnair, Fudge and the decrepit Committee Member.
"Right after we'd gone down into the passage!" Hermione exclaimed. "If only Dumbledore had come with us..."
"Macnair and Fudge would've come too," Alex reminded her.
"I bet you anything Fudge would've told Macnair to murder Sirius on the spot..." Harry finished bitterly.
"Here comes Lupin!" Harry exclaimed a few minutes later. They watched him seize a broken branch and manage to prod the knot on the trunk. The tree stopped fighting again and Lupin disappeared as well.
"If he'd only grabbed the Cloak," Harry told them. "It's just lying there..." Then he looked to the girls. "If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and -"
"Harry, we mustn't be seen!" Hermione exclaimed.
"How can you stand this?" He asked her fiercely. "Just standing here and watching it happen?" He paused. "I'm going to grab the Cloak!"
"Harry, no!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Oh, no you don't!" Alex cried, jumping right onto his back and since he wasn't expecting it, he fell face first into the ground with her on top of him.
The sound of someone singing caught their attention and they all looked to see Hagrid walking towards the castle, looking inebriated as he swished a large bottle of something around.
"See?" Hermione whispered as Alex climbed off Harry and helped him stand back up. "See what would have happened? We've got to keep out of sight! No, Buckbeak!"
He had tried to get to Hagrid again. They all quietly grabbed the ropes and pulled him back. Hagrid made it into the castle and once he was out of sight, Buckbeak stopped fighting.
A few minutes later, Snape came running out of the castle and toward the Whomping Willow. Harry was visibly angry as he watched Snape looking around before picking the Cloak up.
"Get your filthy hands off it," Harry mumbled.
"Shh!" Hermione whispered.
Snape disappeared from view as he put the Cloak on and seemed to go down into the hole of the Whomping Willow.
"So that's it," Hermione spoke quietly. "We're all back down there... and now we've just got to wait until we come back up again..."
Alex plopped down on the ground as Hermione tied Buckbeak to a tree before sitting down next to her.
"Harry, there's something I don't understand... Why didn't the dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed out... there were so many of them..." Hermione spoke quietly.
Harry sat down next to them as he seemed to be deep in thought. "I saw it," he told them. "It was something big and silver and it was galloping across the lake and forced the dementors to retreat."
"But what was it?" Alex asked.
"There's only one thing it could have been, to make the dementors go," Harry responded. "A real Patronus. A powerful one."
"Wow," Alex mumbled.
"But who conjured it?" Hermione asked.
Harry fell silent, like he was thinking about the answer. Alex furrowed her brow as she watched the gears turning his head, wondering what was going through it.
"Didn't you see what they looked like?" Hermione asked.
"Was it one of the teachers?" Alex asked.
"No," Harry answered. "He wasn't a teacher."
"But it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those dementors away... If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see -?"
"Yeah, I saw him," Harry said slowly. "But... maybe I imagined it... I wasn't thinking straight... I passed out right afterward..."
"Who did you think it was?" Alex asked.
"I think -" Harry began, though he swallowed nervously. "I think it was my dad."
Alex's eyes widened at his statement and Hermione glanced nervously at her, unsure what to say in response to that. Alex could only shrug before they both looked at him as he glanced at them.
"Harry, your dad's - well - dead," Hermione told him.
"I know that," Harry said quickly.
"You think you saw his ghost?" Alex asked.
"I don't know... no... he looked solid..."
"But then -"
"Maybe I was seeing things," Harry said. "But... from what I could see... it looked like him... I've got photos of him..." Again, Alex and Hermione exchanged nervous glances, which didn't go unnoticed by Harry. "I know it sounds crazy." He finished quickly.
They stayed silent the rest of the time, unsure what they were supposed to say. Alex looked over at the Whomping Willow, keeping an eye on it for the next hour.
"Here we come!" Hermione spoke, watching their group emerge.
Alex stood quickly, knowing what was about to happen. She grabbed her wand from up her sleeve and Hermione noticed their stance.
"Guys, we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do..." Hermione told them.
"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again..." Harry grumbled angrily. Alex even clenched her fist as well.
"How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?" Hermione snapped at them. "There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius. We're not supposed to be doing anything else!"
"All right!" Alex snapped back.
Alex squinted her eyes to see them stopping and movement. "There goes Lupin," Hermione told them. "He's transforming -"
"Girls!" Harry said suddenly. "We've got to move!"
"We mustn't, I keep telling you both -"
"Not to interfere! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!" Alex exclaimed, realizing Harry's train of thought. "And I don't know about you two, but I really don't want to come face to face with a werewolf at the moment!"
Hermione gasped before running to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The dementors will be coming any moment -"
"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry quickly told them. "It's empty now - come on!"
They ran as fast as they could, Buckbeak following behind. Alex's heart nearly stopped when she heard the howling coming up behind them, closer than she would've liked it to be. Harry ran up to the door of the cabin and pulled it open. They all ran in quickly, causing Fang to begin barking at them.
"Shh, Fang, it's us!" Hermione told him as she pet him to quiet him down. "That was really close!"
"Yeah..." Alex agreed.
"I think I'd better go outside again, you know," Harry told them. "I can't see what's going on - we won't know when it's time -" Hermione looked at him suspiciously. "I'm not going to try and interfere," Harry told her. "But if we don't see what's going on, how're we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"
"I'll go with him, 'Mione," Alex told her. "I'll make sure we stay hidden."
"Well... okay then... I'll wait here with Buckbeak... but guys, be careful - there's a werewolf out there - and the dementors -"
The two of them stepped out and ran around the cabin. Alex heard the yelping of Sirius and shared a worried look with Harry. The dementors were closing in on him now. They both looked over at the lake. Before Alex could stop him, Harry took off toward the lake to the opposite shore.
"Harry!" She called, running after him.
He threw himself behind a bush across the lake from where they were. Alex came up beside him to watch the scene, unsure of what he was thinking. She watched herself across the lake attempting to protect her mum and dad but she passed out soon.
"Come on!" Harry mumbled. "Where are you? Dad, come on -"
"Harry," Alex spoke softly with a shake of her head.
Harry was still watching the scene with Alex watching him carefully before he seemed to realize something and ran out from behind the bush.
"Harry!" Alex cried quietly.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry yelled.
Alex watched as his Patronus burst from the end of his wand and and galloped across the lake, chasing the dementors away. Her mouth gaped open as she watched it happen with amazement before the Patronus came galloping back towards him and Alex could see what it was.
"It's a stag," she whispered to herself.
"Prongs," Harry confirmed.
He stood there for a second and Alex walked out partially, smiling at him before the sound of hooves behind them caused them to turn. Hermione was walking up with Buckbeak.
"What did you do?" She asked furiously. You said you were going to keep a lookout!"
"I just saved all our lives..." Harry told her. "Get behind here - behind this bush - I'll explain."
Harry then told her what had just happened with Alex nodding, still amazed over what she had just witnessed.
"Did anyone see you?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, haven't you been listening? I saw me but I thought I saw my dad! It's okay!"
"Harry," Alex finally spoken breathlessly. "I can't believe it... you conjured a Patronus that drove away all those dementors!"
"That's very, very advanced magic!" Hermione told him.
"I knew I could it this time," Harry told them, "because I'd already done it... Does that make sense?"
Alex and Hermione shared a confused look. "I don't know - Harry, look at Snape!"
They looked over around the bush to see Snape walking over to the passed out individuals and levitating them all onto conjured stretchers. Then he began to take them back up to the castle.
"Right, it's nearly time!" Hermione told them. "We've got forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and Alliana and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing..."
"Okay, how are we all going to fit on Buckbeak?" Alex asked. "My mum broke her arm, she won't be able to fly herself down."
"You're right," Hermione realized before a thought came to her mind. "Follow me!"
They all followed her toward the paddock where they had their first lesson for Care of Magical Creatures earlier in the year. By some struck of luck, there was one hippogriff tethered in the paddock. She was sitting on the ground and looked to be very depressed.
"Cleo!" Alex exclaimed, walking toward the inky black hippogriff she had met earlier that year. "What are you doing here?"
"I remember around Christmas, Hagrid mentioned how one hippogriff remained here because according to him, Buckbeak and Cleo are a mated pair. She's refused to leave the grounds without him," Hermione told her.
Carefully, Alex bowed her head, keeping eye contact with the hippogriff. Cleo bowed back and she approached carefully, petting her head. Then when she saw Buckbeak, she trotted over and nudged him lovingly, Buckbeak doing the same in return.
"Okay, that is adorable," Alex commented as she admired the two loving on each other. "Great, a pair of hippogriffs have a better love life than me."
Harry and Hermione laughed at her comment before they walked the hippogriffs out of the paddock and to where they could see the castle again.
"D'you reckon he's up there yet?" Harry asked, glancing at his watch.
"Look!" Hermione exclaimed. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!"
They glanced through the darkness and there was a man hurrying down the grounds and to one of the entrances. "Macnair!" Harry exclaimed. "The executioner! He's gone to get the dementors! This is it, you guys-"
Alex quickly climbed onto the back of Cleo, who had knelt down to let her up. After making sure Harry and Hermione were on Buckbeak okay, she nodded at Harry, who told Hermione to hold onto him. Alex nudged Cleo's side and both of the hippogriffs took off into the air.
Carefully, Alex held the reins to not hurt Cleo as they flew behind Buckbeak. When Harry pulled Buckbeak to a stop, Cleo followed right behind him.
"There they are!" Harry exclaimed before he was able to tap on the glass.
Sirius and Alliana looked up, eyes widening when they saw the kids. Sirius ran forward and tried to rip it open but it was locked.
"Stand back!" Hermione called. "Alohomora!" The window sprung open.
"How - how -?" Sirius began.
"Get on - there's not much time," Harry told him. "You both have got to get out of here - the dementors are coming - Macnair's gone to get them."
"Alliana first!" Sirius told them, moving to help her since her arm was broken. She carefully climbed onto the back of Cleo with Alex.
When Alex maneuvered Cleo away, Sirius climbed onto Buckbeak with Harry and Hermione before they followed them up to the top of the tower, landing less than gracefully. Alex slid off of Cleo, allowing Alliana to scoot forward and seize the reins. She smiled down at Alex, who had tears in her eyes.
"You'd better go, quick," Harry told them after he and Hermione slid off Buckbeak. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you're both gone."
"What happened to the other boy? Ron?" Sirius asked, sounding worried.
"He's going to be okay." Harry confirmed. "He's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick - go -"
But Sirius and Alliana only watched the kids with total admiration. "How can we ever thank -"
"GO!" The three teenagers urged, even though tears were falling down Alex's cheeks for having to watch her parents leave her life for who knew how long.
"We'll see each other again," Alliana told them, sending a warm smile to Alex.
"You are - truly your father's son, Harry," Sirius told him before looking at Alex. "And I'm very, very proud to call you my daughter, never forget that."
"I won't," she told him with a tearful smile. "Now go!"
The three of them jumped back as both the hippogriffs took off flying into the night. Alex's eyes welled up with tears as they become smaller and smaller before they disappeared completely from sight.
"I love you, Mum and Dad," Alex whispered to herself.
☽
Okay, we have like one, maybe two more chapters left! Also, I decided that once I'm done writing my current Top Gun fanfic, I will be posting my George Weasley fanfic, sound okay? Okay!
Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!
Love you guys!
-Squid☽