"...seemingly average 3rd year..."
Hearing a long-lasting and pained howl made Lisa look up at the darkening sky. The moon was up.
And it was full.
They were frozen in fear watching their lovable teacher transform until it suddenly stopped and looked around. As soon as its eyes fell on them, it growled. Lisa felt herself being pushed back and realized her father was shielding them.
"Get back!" Severus yelled frantically in their direction.
Before the thing could decide to jump on them, a large black dog appeared and started attacking it. Lisa grabbed Harry's arm instinctively.
She heard Harry mumble "Sirius" under his breath as they fought and the dog made the werewolf chase him. Before she could hold him back, Harry ran for them even after Severus's protests.
Severus wouldn't let the rest of them follow and instead took them back to the castle. Hermione and Ron were close to tears and Lisa was shell-shocked.
"We can't just let him go after-"
Severus looked at her in anger. "What were you doing there?!" He shook his head and spared a glance at Weasley and Granger. "Go back to the castle."
"But she was just-" Granger tried to explain.
"Now."
With another glance at Lisa and between themselves, the two didn't need to be told again.
"I asked you a question."
They stared at each other and Lisa's gaze dropped. "It really wasn't as dark outside when I came out- I saw you running towards the willow tree and you looked really panicked and scared. I couldn't help but go after you."
Severus paused, perhaps thinking that it was a nicer reason to be at that place. She didn't know she wasn't supposed to be there until after she was there.
Lisa wanted to ask him more, but he started towards the castle and made her go to the hospital wing with Weasley and Granger in case she had any injuries.
When they got there, Madam Pomfrey insisted they stay the night so they wouldn't get in trouble for being out and about at that hour.
Lisa couldn't go to sleep until after Harry was put in there, but she didn't want to disturb the other patients so she slept knowing he was at least safe in there.
The two of them woke up around the same time in the morning, and Weasley was still snoring. Hermione was already up, and almost in tears, and pointed at the Minister, who had apparently talked with her father.
Lisa realized her father still had no idea that Black was innocent, and now he was going to get the dementor's kiss.
Dumbledore showed up and dismissed Madam Pomfrey. Then, he gave obscure instructions to Hermione.
She looked up at Harry and Lisa and revealed how she had been using a time turner this whole time to do Muggle Studies along with all her other classes. Lisa hadn't even noticed her sudden appearances.
"Lisa, you don't mind staying with Ron?" Granger asked.
"I absolutely do mind," Lisa said, throwing Ron a slightly disgusted look. "I wanna come too."
Harry agreed with her and Granger allowed it.
~
Time-travelling was trippy for Lisa, but she helped Buckbeak escape- apparently Dumbledore implied they should save him as well as Black.
When it started turning dark, they headed towards the Whomping Willow and Lisa and Granger had to convince Harry not to go in and intervene. They didn't know where his cloak was.
Lisa wondered if the hippogriff would stay in the forest where they left it. She should've watched it.
They didn't have time as they remembered Lupin would be coming over there and Harry seemed to really want them to go to one of the lakes in the forest, so they began walking there.
Granger was becoming uneasy. "Look!" She said, pointing at the sky. It was about time for the moon to come out.
"We should be well away from them," Lisa replied. "Why are we coming to the lake, Harry?"
"I need to see something," he responded vaguely. Granger gave Lisa a worried look, and they heard the first bowl of the night.
They reached one of the ends of the river and he had them all hide in one of the bushes.
The howls were getting closer- until they stopped. And a large black dog stumbled into the clearing on the other side. They watched it transform back into Black, and Lisa had to hold Harry back from trying to go help him.
Harry's past self entered and immediately started trying to get Black up.
Lisa felt shivers go down her back and Granger's teeth began chattering. She felt all the joy and happiness slowly suck out of her as depression was creeping over.
When they heard Black yelp, the two of them looked up at what must've been hundreds of dementors.
Lisa couldn't contain a gasp and took a huge step back, as if she was about to run away back to the castle. "Harry, how the bloody hell did you get away from them?"
He looked seriously and said, "I saw someone and their patronus. He looked really familiar- like my dad."
Granger gave him a weird look and tried to convince him his dad was not coming and he needed to help them.
Harry refused.
After a few minutes of nobody showing up and dementors almost sucking all of the soul out of past Harry and past Black, Lisa and Granger made him go help himself.
One last straw was when Harry looked at his past self and saw he was losing consciousness.
He ran towards them and conjured a beautiful, huge stag Patronus.
Lisa just watched in awe as this seemingly average 3rd year produced one of the most difficult spells of any grade.
And it really was gorgeous as it danced around the unconscious wizards, forcing any nearby dementors to scurry away and growing so big the rest of them had to retreat.
She and Granger locked eyes with both mouths agape.
After saving their past selves, they had to go back in time once more to bring Buckbeak to where Black was and Lisa and Granger left Harry and his godfather alone to say their goodbyes.
~
"I've never seen a Patronus like that in real life!" Granger exclaimed to Harry while dragging their luggage down to the common room. They had to keep their voices low so no one would hear- not even Weasley, who was sour he couldn't join.
"That was the first good one I've produced," Harry admitted. "You have to think of the right memories and really feel it."
"What were you thinking of?"
He glanced away. "My parents."
It was a mix of memories, really. He was thinking of his parents, and somehow he felt the Patronus get even stronger when he thought of his days spent with Lisa in hogsmeade- the day where she was thoughtful enough to get him a butterbeer.
He wouldn't admit this to anyone though.
Lisa was already finished packing up and didn't have to bother carrying her stuff. The boys were nice enough to get Lisa's and Daphne's as well as their own.
Lisa spilled everything to her best friend, but made her swear not to tell Draco. Only because he was the one who basically sentenced Buckbeak. Daphne admitted she was glad that he was free.
The last Hogwarts feast of this year was coming to a close. Lisa felt more confident about her upcoming years at Hogwarts. She knew she would eventually win the Quidditch and the House Cups, and she wouldn't have to gain mysterious last minute points like some of the Gryffindors.
She got the chance to say goodbye to Harry, much to her father's displeasure as he watched them. He was even more angry with the boy after being attacked by him. His karma was Severus leaking Lupin's werewolf secrets and causing him to lose his job. Still, he didn't think it was enough.
Lisa promised to write to Harry. "I would send some candy from France, but knowing your uncle..."
Harry's lips turned up in a smile. "Don't worry about it."
When they split up, Lisa found her father with an unreadable expression on his face. He didn't say anything to her, but she knew he was remembering how he told her to stay away from Harry. And to his knowledge, she mostly was.
They Apparated to the Snape manor, one of Lisa's most comforting places to be. She was grateful of her friends' parents helping keep Severus afloat after the death of Lisa's mother.
Without her, they would be dirt poor. She missed her, but this wasn't the time to think on it.
She was busy writing her first letter to Harry.
~ * ~ *
Published 4/7/24
What's your dream career?
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