-Chapter✦Nineteen-

✧MOONY✧

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"Seven-thirty. Where were we at seven-thirty?" Hermione ushered as she took a look at the clock on the wall, and Harry was still in a mess of confusion for him to properly respond. 

"Er, I ran into you lot or us near where you clocked Draco." She said with her finger-pointing between the three of them, and Harry nodded.

"So going to Hagrid's then?" Hermione offered and it sparked her memory, and thus Cara had followed after them. Thankful that she had her boots and warmer clothes, as Scotland's weather wasn't as warm as it should be in the Spring.

"Hermione! Will you please tell us what it is we're doing?!" Harry huffed in agitation to his confusion, but they were turning around the stone corner to properly peek to see. She had held up her hand to silence him properly and while it annoyed Harry, in seeing themselves, or especially himself, it pushed a sense of alertness to overtake him.

"But that...That's us. This is not...Normal." Completely dumbfounded, Harry turns and Hermione had offered up the hourglass in question. And Cara stared at the beautiful instrument.

"This is a Time-Turner, Harry. McGonagall gave it to me first term. This is how I've been getting to my lessons all year." Hermione explained and Cara smirked, holding back the thought of even with her ability to go back in time—Cara still held the spot above her.

"You mean, we've gone back in time?" Harry said looking between both the witches and Cara nodded.

"Yes. Dumbledore wanted us to return to this moment. Clearly, something happened he wants us to change." Hermione dwelled and they had continued to peek out once more. It was then a soft smack that could be heard.

They caught the better of Malfoy landing on the floor rubbing his cheek.
"That was gorgeous by the way." Cara compliment, having not seen it the first time it happened—And it occurred to her then that the reason she had missed it prior was that she met herself now.

"Thanks. It felt good—Cara! What are you doing?!" She hissed and the Ravenclaw had pointed to herself, leaving both Harry and Hermione to stop.

"I don't know what you are doing Harry, but time travel is the second most dangerous form of magic there is. You can't be that careless!" Cara overheard herself and cringed, is that what she sounded like?

"Sirius is innocent. It was Peter Pettigrew. You were right...We need to stop him from getting captured by the Dementors. If you could—"
"Stop it Harry, if we tell her too much she could go mad!" Hermione's warning had caused Harry to pause in telling the future, and gave the other Cara a look of wonder as to what was alright to say and not.

Cara held up her hand towards herself in an attempt to get her attention. Leaving Hermione to understand what the Ravenclaw meant previously in the fact to know about their duty.

"What time do we go head off?" She called out, and Hermione had given the girl the answer—It was her uncle after all.

"Should I bring anything...? What's happened?" Cara stumbled, realizing she didn't have a quill in order to scribble down the supplies she packed prior and has now. But she did have the one she followed, and thus she scrambled with said parchment from her pocket and placed it on the floor.

"Cara no! You'll go—" Hermione had tried to warn the Ravenclaw, but once again the laughter had turned hysterically between both versions of herself.

"Go mad?... I'm already mad." The two reinstated, and once she had heard the footsteps announcing her departure. Cara had smiled at the Gryffindors.
"Time travel is fairly simple once you get past the impossibilities. Now come! You heard Dumbledore, we have to follow your footsteps." With that reminder, Harry had caught sight of Hagrid's hut.

"Look. Buckbeak's still alive." He deemed, and Hermione gasped. Connecting Dumbledore's instructed words. 

"Of course! Remember what Dumbledore said. If we succeed, more than one innocent life could be spared." Cara's smiled erupted and nodded, Sirius wasn't the only innocent one of today's death tally.

And after all the time Imara, their mother, and Newt took to regaining Buckbeak's freedom. This would make her sister regain her confidence in her ability to help creatures who are less fortunate.

With that, they needed to wait for their past selves to head off to Hagrid's. In order to do this they ran alongside the forbidden forest's edge, they remained completely cautious to the others that are there before them. And Cara smiled to see that Buckbeak was still feasting on the snacks that she had given to him earlier that day—Or essentially within the last twenty minutes.

After hiding away into the patch of pumpkins, Cara caught the two peering into the hut and she followed as well.

Hermione was analyzing the scene, trying to remember what it was that they were discussing. But with Fudge and the executioner coming this way, Cara's heart stalled as she grabbed onto Harry's wrist.

"Here they come. I better hurry." He deemed, starting to get up to his feet but was instantly yanked back down by both Cara and Hermione.
"No! Fudge has to see Buckbeak before we steal him. Otherwise he'll think Hagrid set him free." Harry nods as he positions himself back down, or would've if he hadn't locked eyes on Scabbers.

"That's Pettigrew—" He said with another attempt to get back to his feet, and this time Hermione was much more frantic.

"No Harry! You can't!"

"Hermione, that's the man who betrayed my parents! You don't expect me to just sit here..." He deemed and Hermione hissed.

"Yes. You must! Harry, you're in Hagrid's hut right now. If you go bursting inside, you'll think you've gone mad. Awful things can happen when wizards meddle with time. We cannot be seen." The frown grew on Harry's face by the moment, until it landed on Cara.

"There's a slight understanding, I knew I was going back in time and I know my steps—She's packing a bag as well speak and I took myself off the map."
"Took yourself off the...You can do that?" Cara perked her lips and nodded shyly.

"Yes, it's not that difficult. But I don't think Pettigrew knew how to do it."
"Why would he—"
"Maybe you should ask Sirius when you see him again," Cara said with a kind smile, and at the mention of her uncle, she felt the warmth build up in her chest at the thought of another family member.

"...Fudge is coming and—we're not leaving. Why aren't we leaving?" Cara blinked in confusion, and she was about to offer to go and collect them as she wasn't here at the moment. But instead, the Gryffindor had taken a stone and hurled it into the window.

Smashing a jar in the process.

"Are you mad?!" Harry hissed, and Hermione ignored him and did it once more. Ending up hitting Harry in the back of his head, leaving both his present and past self rubbing the painful stab it caused.

"C'mon. Any minute now we're going to be coming out the back door." Quickly the trio hurried into the trees just in time to see themselves. Minus Cara and in addition to Ron. They had slipped behind the pumpkin patch that the future students had taken to hiding away.

"Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?" Hermione wonders and Cara chuckled lightly into her arm.

"You have wonderful curls, stop it." Harry scolded the two at the opposite tree for causing so much ruckus. But it truly hadn't been all that difficult as their past selves had hurried off and away back into the castle while this Harry had gone forward to free Buckbeak from his chains.

Cara had inched closer as well, smiling softly as the beast had bowed his head to Harry—Clearly, Buckbeak remembered him, and it was such a loyal trait to have that Cara hoped it would aid them later.

"Grab the ferrets!" Cara called out, but Harry was far too occupied to taking the chains off that he hadn't heard. So Cara stepped forward and the beast instantly caught sight of Cara.

He playful snapped his beak forward off to his friend and Cara smiled instantly from that reaction. "It's alright love, we're here to take you elsewhere. But you have to listen to us, alright?" The kind explanation hadn't managed to earn her any reaction, or not as vibrate as to when Cara had taken the rope filled with ferrets.

After taking the first given steps of freedom, Buckbeak had realized somewhere in the midst of running away from Hagrid's hut that this was a walk.

Cara had joined her sister countless times during the year to visit him, and so she offered to hold his lead as the others continued forward and scooped out where to go in the forbidden forest.

"Now what?" Harry questioned, and Hermione looks at the two awaiting an answer as well as their feathered companion. "We save Sirius." She deemed, but left out any other detail in regards to a plan.

"And we do that...how?"

"No idea." Her honesty was refreshing, and Cara not knowing what else was at stake. So she had decided to lean into Buckbeak's neck and run her hand through his layer feathers.

Cara realized, after sitting down against the stump of the tree and a Hippogriff seeking out her attention for a snack—That time travel was more waiting than actually doing.

Dumbledore had offered out three turns in order to save Buckbeak, but how did the Headmaster manage to relay everything so quickly and not settle for another claim.

Unless he knew all along that he would send them on this mission.

However, with the loud thrashing from the Whomping Willow caused Cara had frowned.

"What in the good goddess name is happening?... You actually went down there?" She questioned, and Hermione nodded. "It connects to the shrieking shack."

"I know, it says so on the map. It's where Lupin goes for his—" Speaking of Lupin, Cara's eyes had burned wide with recognition as to see the very man she had mention appearing before the sentient tree.

"It's Lupin..." It had been delicate work to calm the Willow tree, and seeing the man take alone stick and poke a knot at the trunk had been ingenious indeed.

Perhaps there was an easier way inside.

"Is that Snape?" Cara questioned and Harry sighed, recalling what was going on down in the shrieking shack. All the lies being rectified and the truth finally reveals itself, and it was absolutely killing Cara to know that her uncle was just down underneath the tree.

All she had to do was go forward, but she couldn't drastically change everything, acting on impulse is exactly what causes imbalances.

"'least someone's enjoying himself." Hermione's voice had caused Cara to stir, prying open her eyes to see Buckbeak snapping at a few bats and managing to catch one.

"You eat that and you'll get a stomach ache love, be careful." She deemed, and it caused the beast to eye the other he captured in temptation. Cara had reached into her bag and dug out a treat for him, and he hurried on over to gobble it from her hands.

"Before...Down by the lake. When I was with Sirius...I did see someone. That someone made the Dementors go away..." Cara narrowed her gaze at the sense of it all, trying to piece together what it was these two had gone through in this very night.

But she remained quiet, knowing full well that the expression on Harry's face was clouded with doubt.

"With a patrons. I heard Snape telling Dumbledore before we were taken to the hospital. According to him, only a really powerful wizard could have conjured it." Hermione said with a smile, but Harry's firm gaze. "It was my dad." He said with full conviction it was the truth. "It was my dad who conjured the patronus." He reinstated, but Cara shook her head. 

"Harry...Your dad's—"

"Dead. I know. I'm just telling you what I say." The firmness was harsh and Cara sighed, perhaps it would be best for him to believe it was his father.

But Cara knew deep down it was not his father, but he himself.

"Here we come." Hermione ushered, rising to her feet and preparing for chaos to erupt. Yet Cara had remained quite diligent and fixed the likeness of her jumper.

"You see Sirius talking to me? He's asking me to come live with him." Harry said with a please grin.

"Really?" Hermione asked, happy for her friend and the smile that the simple offer had brought him.

"When we free him, I'll never have to go back to the Dursley's. I'm going to tell him I'd like to live someplace in the country. I think he'd like that, after all those years in Azkaban. We don't need a big place and I can help him...You could come over too, Cara."
"Unfortunately I doubt that'll be possible." She admitted with a saddened expression.
"What? Why not?"

"Oh, Sirius and my father hate one another." Harry's eyes had gone wide, and yet again his understanding of the Wizarding World—or the wizarding families around him, was still a black hole.

However, a howl had perfected through the night that caused Cara to gasp. "It's happening. Lupin's transformed." Hermione whispered out in the explanation.

"Moony." Cara had instantly pulled out her watch and cursed, she had packed absolutely everything except wolfsbane!

"Which means Pettigrew is slipping safely into the night while we just stand here..." Harry and the motive but not the means, and especially not when the fierce growling could be heard by two silhouettes in the distance.

A dog and a werewolf.

"Padfoot," Cara whispered with ease, and the chaos happening by the willow tree had her in complete awe.

Being so close to a ravage werewolf—The very same that her mother would nurse back to health during the better part of her time at Hogwarts was both bittersweet and nerve-wracking.

"Lupin hasn't taken his potion, did he?" She ushered, and Harry looked as confused as Hermione at that moment. And Cara scrambled into her bag for something useful, a key ingredient in wolfsbane is Aconite.
And it was best fresh and in a place where the moonlight was most prevalent.

Upon ripping through the better part of her clothes, she felt something among her brother's cloak and sighed in utter relief that his clothes smelled much like the brew.

Throwing the cloak over her shoulders, and the best part of her brother—His habit of leaving vials of ingredients within the pockets of everything, it took a moment to sniff and decipher.

"Aconite!" She hurried, taking a decent handful and offering it to both Hermione and Harry. "Rub it in your skin, it's a werewolf repellent. A bite could be lethal if not passing the curse." Her words were instantly caught, but with this sort of protection—Hermione's own impulse had been rendered decency effective.

"OOOWWWWWW!" Cara's eyes had nearly budged out of her skull to Hermione's foolishness.
"What are you doing?!" The Ravenclaw questioned and Hermione pointed off in the distance.

"Saving his life....OWWWW!" The werewolf had been frozen on the spot, but the second had urged his curiosity and Cara gripped Hermione's hand and pulled.

"It's only a small repellent, this batch isn't the freshest...Why would you do that?!" Cara rushed out her explanation, and the three dashed for their lives among the huge trees. Hermione had overestimated the leaf that caused her skin to burn, but it was no use now.

A werewolf or even a wolf's prime instinct is to chase, to pursue their prey. And all of the teachings had rushed out of Cara's head as she kept up well with the others.

"We've got to find Buckbeak!" Hermione ushered, and that was indeed an idea. A territorial beast would understand that this part of the forest was already occupied, however Cara had stopped her running and turned to face the beast who prowled on all fours.

"Alright mum, you've shown me a million times before...Please goddess—Give me strength," Cara whispered, waiting until he was just within a few feet before whipping her wand forward.

"Homorphus!" She said, offering her wand out in the sense of a Crescent Moon. How on earth her mother had figured out such an option was beyond her, especially in this moment as she watched in torment of the werewolf returning with a few features of her former professor.

"Forgive me Moony, I really don't mean it." She whispered to herself, and once the nature of the wolf was a given way away—She blasted him with as many sleeping curses as she could.
It would be better than him running amuck in the forest.

Even with his slumbering form, Cara had cautiously inched forward and sniffled. She adored her professor and she felt it deep in her heart that while it was the better, it still didn't make it any less easy.

"Cara!" The warning shout from Harry had been just a moment before Buckbeak strived forward on his hind legs.
"Heed! Heed! It's alright!" She ordered, and covered the better part of Lupin's limp form.

"Shh, shh...It's alright, see? He's asleep." She said with her palms facing Buckbeak. He continued to eye the wolf in question, most likely sensing the disturbance and perhaps the scent.

Cara sighed and turned back to Lupin and hurried to pull him up against a tree and sacrifice one of the clothes that she stole from her brother intended for Sirius.

But Remus needed it much more than Sirius at the moment, especially if it would be this cold in the forbidden forest at this time of night.

She whispered both a protective charm around his form as well as adding a warmth charm to the cloak and laid it on him.
"Please be okay in the morning...?" Cara's voice had dripped with guilt, and when Hermione had come closer it was clear that whatever the Ravenclaw had done was in defense and not offense.

"Professor Lupin is having a really touch night..." She whispered, and Cara nodded in response. However there was little else to be done, but at least he wouldn't be uncontrolled throughout the forest.

And one thought was running through the three's mind, and it paired well with the chilling breeze that started to build—The eerie shadows that began to flutter over the only their only source light above them.

Harry's voice had broken through their instilled fear, and they ran further in the direction of the storm.

Mum, father, Romulus...Please forgive me.

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Date Posted: 08-21-2021

Time: 11:28

Words: 3205

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