Chapter 50:

Carefully, the two of them stuck to the edges of the lawn, sneaking behind the greenhouses and into the edge of the forest until they could see Hagrid's house. It was utterly bizarre, Harry thought, hearing his own voice as Hagrid let them in under the invisibility cloak. "You've been doing this all year?" he murmured to Hermione. "Does it get any less weird?"

"Not in the slightest," she replied quietly, and the two shared a slightly manic smile. "We have to wait for the Committee to see Buckbeak, or Fudge will think Hagrid's hiding him."

The wait was excruciating. But finally, Hagrid opened the back door, and Harry could see himself, Ron and Hermione walk out of it. They threw the cloak over themselves, entirely unaware of their audience.

Harry was lucky that Buckbeak was familiar with him; once it was safe to move, the hippogriff was reluctant to leave Hagrid's pumpkin patch, and as Harry's furiously beating heart reminded him that it would just take one glance out the window for the people in Hagrid's hut to see him and ruin everything, he quietly begged the huge beast to move. At last, Buckbeak was at the treeline, trotting at Harry's side. He forged on into the woods, skidding to a halt when Hagrid's back door slammed open. Harry couldn't stifle his smirk when Macnair and the Committee member exclaimed over Buckbeak's disappearance, even if Dumbledore did sound far too amused for his liking. Had this been the man's plan all along? Had he known about Pettigrew the whole time?

"And now we wait?" Hermione asked him, hugging herself around the waist with her good arm. Harry glance up through the trees; the sun was barely setting. It would be hours yet before Sirius would be captured.

"And now we wait," he agreed. "We should move, we won't be able to see the Whomping Willow from here." They stuck to the edge of the forest, hiding in the growing shadows as they moved closer to the Willow. They watched as Hermione appeared, sprinting after Scabbers. It was strange, watching things that had already happened from an entirely different perspective. Watching himself do things he'd already done.

At last they were all down in the tunnel, and it was silent once more. "How the hell have you been keeping track of yourself all year?" Harry breathed, shaking his head in astonishment. "I'd go mad." No wonder Hermione had spent the whole school year looking like she was on the verge of a breakdown. She was living about five extra hours to every day. Having to remember where she'd been at what time and who had seen her, so she didn't accidentally cross her own timeline. All for the sake of a few extra classes?

"It's been tough," Hermione agreed. "A few times I'd turn it back a couple of hours just to take a nap in an empty classroom. I don't think I'll do it again. It's too much."

"Dumbledore and McGonagall never should've let you do it in the first place," Harry muttered. "They should've just told you to self-study. You're smart enough not to need the lessons."

Hermione blushed, ducking her head bashfully. "It doesn't matter now. I've already dropped Divination, and I think I'll drop Muggle Studies as well."

That still left her with Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, but Harry didn't say a word as they both caught sight of Professor Lupin sprinting across the grass towards the Willow. He levitated a branch to press the knot, sliding into the passageway like he'd done it a million times before. He probably had.

Shortly after, Snape appeared. He used the same branch as Lupin, grabbing Harry's invisibility cloak on the way down. A possessive urge reared in Harry, telling him to grab the cloak out of Snape's hands, but he ignored it. To his astonishment, Snape had been on their side. He'd been willing to listen. He couldn't remember how long they'd been in the Shack for, once Snape had shown up. Surely it wasn't this long? It felt like they'd waited an age already. Buckbeak scratched impatiently at the ground.

At last, they heard footsteps. The strange group began to emerge from beneath the Willow; Snape levitating Ron, Lupin dragging Pettigrew, Harry and Sirius beaming at each other with Hermione bringing up the rear. Harry's chest tightened as the moon became clear, and everything all went horribly, horribly wrong.

"What if whispered, transform.

we

went after watching

him?" he Pettigrew "And try and look for a rat in the dark, with a werewolf running about?" Hermione retorted. Harry conceded the point. Then, he froze.

"Hermione, we need to move," he urged. She huffed.

"Harry, we can't interfere!"

"No, we need to move, before Lupin runs into the forest," he reminded pointedly, already up on his feet and yanking on Buckbeak's rope. Horror filled Hermione's eyes, and she whipped around. "Hagrid's cabin," Harry said, already running, Buckbeak at his side. "It'll be empty by now."

Fang barked at them when they threw themselves through the door, but Hermione soothed the huge dog. Buckbeak seemed delighted to be home, making himself comfortable in the bed Hagrid still had made up for him. "Don't go to sleep," Harry lightly scolded the animal, rolling his eyes.

They listened to Lupin howl and Sirius yelp, unable to see anything through Hagrid's window. "Why didn't you follow me?" Harry asked, knowing that outside at that moment a version of him was running towards the lake.

"I couldn't leave Ron," Hermione retorted. "I thought about getting help, but— I couldn't leave him. And then Dumbledore showed up anyway." Harry scowled to himself — Dumbledore, as always, swooping in at the last minute. How convenient.

When they couldn't stand waiting any longer, the two students and the hippogriff snuck out of the cabin. Sure enough, there was Dumbledore, striding down towards the lake. Harry watched with his jaw clenched as the headmaster conjured stretchers for his and Sirius' unconscious forms, hurrying back to do the same for Snape and Ron while Hermione jogged at his side the whole way back to the castle.

From there, the clock was ticking — as soon as Macnair appeared to summon the dementors, Harry tugged on Buckbeak's rope to wake up the dozing hippogriff, then hoisted himself up onto the beast's back. Getting Hermione up there wasn't quite so smooth, with one of her arms out of commission, but with a bit of fumbling she was seated behind him, her face buried in Harry's shoulder, whimpering quietly.

Her arms were a vice grip around Harry's waist, but he ignored it, focusing on guiding Buckbeak up to the correct window. "He's there!" Harry reached over, knocking on the glass firmly. Sirius, slumped inside the office, sat up in shock. He scrambled to his feet, hurrying over to the window. Hermione raised her wand, unlocking it with a spell, and Sirius wrenched it open.

"Harry!" he gasped, stunned. "How?" "Get on, there's not much time," Harry urged, shifting Buckbeak forward slightly so Sirius could climb on behind Hermione. "The dementors are coming."

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