Ariana watched Harry as time reversed. His face was the epitome of shock, amazement and bewilderment.
A Time reversed in a dizzying backwards blur, as if someone was reversing a tape. Everything that had happened in the Hospital raced past them, including themselves.
Ariana saw a quick flash of herself being tended to by Madame Pomfrey, then carried in by a hurrying Snape, tailed by Ron and Hermione.
If she was to allow her feeling to take over, she would be a mess. She could never look at a full moon and appreciate its beauty ever again, because now, it would cause a brutal transformation into a supernatural creature.
She put a cork in the bottle that contained her feelings, although it wouldn't hold for long. Her main focus was Sirius.
The time reversal ended. The sky was no longer as dark as coal, but a burnt orange, the sun peaking out from above the horizon.
Ariana lifted the chain off of Harry's neck and Hermione removed it from her own, allowing the white-haired witch to tuck it back into her shirt.
"What just happened? Where's Ron?" Harry questioned, looking about his surroundings madly.
Ariana and Hermione ignored the question, knowing they had a limited amount of time to complete their mission.
Hermione looked up at the clock on the wall. "Seven-thirty. Where were we at seven-thirty?"
"Um... Going to Hagrid's," Ariana said, trying to remember where they were.
"Come on! We can't be seen!" Hermione stated firmly, grabbing a confused Harry's arm.
All three of the students tore out of the Infirmary, sprinting towards the Sundial Garden. That is where they should of been around this time, and around there is where they were supposed to change something that was about to happen.
Ariana and Hermione were in the lead, showing Harry where to go. They came to a mad, huffing halt at the archway that allowed entry to the castle.
"Hermione! Ariana! Will you please tell me what it is we're doing?!" Harry begged, craving the information he needed to go on.
Hermione held a hand up, silencing him. Ariana pitied him, knowing how it feels to be kept in the dark. She placed a hand in his back, guiding him forward. The boy blinked in disbelief when he saw what the girls were staring at: himself, Hermione, Ron and Ariana.
They were watching themselves confront Draco, Crabbe and Goyle at the monoliths. Ariana peered at the scene, watching herself.
It was an odd feeling, definitely. At least it gave them the opportunity to analyse herself. She looked good, but of course she was critical of everything about herself.
"But that... that's... us. This is not... normal," Harry stuttered, his mind blown.
Ariana turned away from the scene, the time Turner now dangling from its chain in her fingers, glinting a little in the small amount of sunlight.
"This is a Time-Turner, Harry. McGonagall gave it to us first term. This is how we've been getting to our lessons all year," Hermione explained, fingering the small object.
"You mean, we've gone back in time?" Harry asked, wrapping his head around the concept of time travel.
"Yes. Dumbledore wanted us to return to this moment. Something happened here that he wants us to change," Ariana answered, tucking the Time Turner away again.
A soft smack was heard. Ariana and her companions spun around to see Draco falling to the ground, running his reddening face. A smile appeared on Ariana's face as Hermione gave Draco exactly what he deserved.
"Good punch," commented Harry admiringly.
"Hurry! Malfoy's on his way!" Ariana hissed under her voice, pulling Harry and Hermione underneath the bridge near them.
Mere seconds later, footsteps clamoured above their heads. Ariana's sense of smell had started to develop, so she could smell the scent of each boy on the bridge.
"Not a word of this to anyone, understood!" Draco growled. "I'll get that jumped-up Mudblood one of these days. Mark my words..."
Ariana felt anger rise inside her hearing someone talk about her friend in that disgusting manner, but it wasn't as much rage as Hermione felt.
With her eyes narrowed, she reached up and send Malfoy sprawling. Before they were caught, Harry and Ariana tugged her back into hiding. All three of them ducked out of sight as Draco's confused eyes darted in their direction.
Ariana subconsciously held her breath as he looked about, then released it once he hurried off with his goons.
"Look. Buckbeak's still alive," Harry stated when they emerged from underneath the bridge.
Ariana looked down toward the pumpkin patch and, right enough, Buckbeak was contently munching on a dead ferret. Their other selves were hurrying off to Hagrid's, walking down the slope, revelling in Draco's pathetic reaction to being punched.
"Of course!" Hermione gasped. "Remember what Dumbledore said. If we succeed, more than one innocent life could be spared."
"Buckbeak? But... how will saving Buckbeak help Sirius?" Harry questioned, his eyebrows knitted together.
"We'll see," Ariana added ominously. "Come on. We're talking to Hagrid."
The trio took the opportunity to make a run for the pumpkin patch while their past selves were inside with Hagrid.
Ariana found that the pain she had previously felt had subsided quite a generous amount. She presumed that her bite had been sealed with silver powder and Dittany, and it seemed as if she had been given a potion to ease the pain.
When they reached the bottom of the hill, the three students ducked behind a pile of large pumpkins.
Ariana's nose immediately picked up on the pungent scent of the dead ferrets. "Oh my God," she gasped under her breath, holding her fingers flat against her nostrils.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, whispering.
"The smell of those ferrets is repulsive. I suppose my senses are heightening already."
Harry and Hermione nodded sadly. Ariana returned a small smile, then all three peered around the side of the pumpkins, observing themselves inside the hut, once again watching the pathetic hug.
Ariana noticed Hermione studying the scene with fascination. She shared an amused look with Harry, both of them knowing Hermione was more interested in Ron than she was prepared to admit, and vice versa.
Hermione caught sight of their amused looks. "What?"
"Nothing," her two friends said immediately.
Ariana looked up towards the slope, noticing how Fudge and his companions were striding down the slope, arriving in a cloud of cawing crows.
"Here they come. I better hurry," Harry said, about to release Buckbeak.
"No!" Ariana protested. "Fudge must see Buckbeak before we take him. Otherwise, he'll think Hagrid set him free! And that would be awful."
Harry nodded, agreeing with her logic, his eyes returning to the hut. Ariana's eyes travelled back, following Harry's lead. Ron was being given Scabbers, unbeknownst to them at the time that it was Pettigrew.
Harry started to rise, knowing exactly who that rat was. "That's Pettigrew -"
Hermione caught him before he could, speaking fiercely, "No, Harry!You can't!"
"Hermione, that's the man who betrayed my parents! You don't expect me to just sit here..." He gave Ariana a pleading look, hoping that she'd understand.
"Harry, I would burst in there if I could, but we can't. Could you imagine being inside with Hagrid and watching as we burst through the door? We would think we've gone mad!"
Of course, Ariana wished she could slam through the door and gut Pettigrew, but that wasn't possible. Anyway, if Pettigrew died, the truth died with him, thus condemning Sirius to a terrible fate.
"Awful things can happen to wizards who meddle with time. We can't be seen," Hermione added, backing Ariana up.
Ariana saw the others drawing closer, and found it odd that they hadn't left the hut yet. "Fudge is about to arrive... Why haven't we left yet?"
~~~~~
Question:
Whose motorbike did Hagrid use to deliver baby Harry to the Dursleys'?
A: Sirius Black's
B: Remus Lupin's
C: Nymphadora Tonks'
Congratulations to Blackstars36 for answering the previous question correctly.