𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                                         CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
                              ─── BACK IN TIME & COMMITTING A CRIME

Charlus laid still with his eyes tight shut. He felt very groggy. His limbs felt like lead; his eyelids too heavy to lift, his ribs aching in pain. He wanted to lie here, on this comfortable bed, forever...

"What amazes me most is the behavior of the Dementors... you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?""No, Minister... by the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances..."

"Extraordinary. And yet Black, White-Riddle, Charlus, Harry, Alistair and the girl -" "All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black and White-Riddle, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle."

There was a pause. Charlus' brain seemed to be moving a little slow, as the words he was hearing seemed to be processing slowly, making them difficult to understand.

 In an instance, he opened his eyes.

Everything was slightly blurred. He was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the very end of the ward, he could make out Madame Pomfrey with her back to him, bending over a bed. Charlus squinted. Ron's red hair was visible beneath Madame Pomfrey's arm.

Charlus moved his head over on the pillow. To his left lay Harry, wide awake, and in the bed to his right lay Hermione. Moonlight was falling across her bed. Her eyes were open too. She looked petrified giving the boy déjà vu of the time where she was actually petrified - oh god, that haunted image.

When Hermione saw that Charlus was awake, she pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voic​es of Cor​nelius Fudge and Snape were com​ing through it from the cor​ri​dor out​side.

 Madame Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the dark ward to Charlus' bed. The boy turned to took at her. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate they had ever seen in their lives.

"Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly. She placed the chocolate on Charlus's bedside table and began breaking it apart with a small hammer.

"How's Ron's leg?" the two Gryffindors and the two Slytherins asked at the same time.  "He'll live," Madam Pom​frey said grim​ly. "As for you four , you'll be staying here until those fractured ribs of yours heal properly - Potter, what do you think you're doing?"

Charlus sat up, threw the covers off of himself, and picked up his wand before heading for the door. "I need to see the Head​mas​ter," he said.

"Potter," Madame Pomfrey said soothingly, "it's all right. They've got Black and White-Riddle. They are locked away upstairs. The Dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now -"

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Har​ry jumped up out of bed; Hermione had done the same. Alistair followed. But his shout had been heard in the cor​ri​dor out​side; next sec​ond, Cor​nelius Fudge and Snape had en​tered the ward.

"Charlus- Harry what's this?" Fudge said, looking agitated, and ignoring Alistair completely. "You guys should be in bed – have they had any choco​late?" he asked Madam Pom​frey anx​ious​ly. "I'm good too, thanks for asking," Alistair said sarcastically.

"Min​is​ter, lis​ten!" Charlus pleaded. "Sir​ius Black and Daniel White-Riddle are innocent! Pe​ter Pet​ti​grew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the De​men​tors do that thing to Sir​ius and Daniel, they are –"

But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face. " Charlus, Charlus, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control..."

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled from behind Charlus as he moved to his side. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MEN!" "YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING UNDER CONTROL!" Alistair growled. "YOU JUST CARE ABOUT YOUR OWN SELF IMAGE!"

"Minister, listen, please," Hermione said; she had hurried next to her friends and was gazing imploringly into Fudge's face. "I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and -"

"You see, Min​is​ter?" Snape said. "Con​fund​ed, the four of them ... Black and White-Riddle have done a very good job on them ..."  "WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Charlus roared.

"Min​is​ter! Pro​fes​sor!" Madam Pom​frey said an​gri​ly. "I must in​sist that you leave. They are my patients, and they should not be distressed!" "We're not distressed, we're trying to tell them what happened!" Charlus said furiously. "If this fool would just shut up and listen —"

But Madame Pomfrey suddenly stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into Charlus' mouth. He choked, and she seized the opportunity to try and force him back onto the bed.

"Now, please, Minister, these children need care. Please leave."

The door opened again. It was Dumbledore. Charlus wasted no time before he swallowed his mouthful of chocolate with great difficulty and got up again. "Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle-"

"For heaven's sake!" Madam Pomfrey said hysterically. "Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster, I must insist -" "My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with the Potters, Mr. Black and Miss Granger," Dumbledore said very calmly. "I have just been talking to Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle-"

"I suppose they have told you the same fairy tale they have planted in these children's minds?" spat Snape. "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive -" "That, in​deed, is Black and White-Riddle's sto​ry." Dum​ble​dore said, survey​ing Snape close​ly through his half-​moon specta​cles.

"And does my ev​idence count for noth​ing?" Snape snarled. "Pe​ter Pet​ti​grew was not in the Shriek​ing Shack, nor did I see any sign of him in the grounds.""That was be​cause you were knocked out, Professor!" Hermione said earnest​ly. "You didn't arrive in time to hear –" 

"Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!""No YOU—!" Charlus said angry and pointed an finger at Snape, "—should hold your tongue! This doesn't concern you!" "POTTER-!"

"Now, Snape," Fudge said, star​tled, "the young la​dy and the young man are dis​turbed in their minds, we must make al​lowances –" "I would like to speak to Charlus,Harry, Alistair and Hermione alone," Dum​ble​dore said abrupt​ly. "Cornelius, Severus, Pop​py – please leave us."

"Head​mas​ter!" Madam Pom​frey splut​tered. "They need treat​ment, they need rest –" "This can​not wait," Dum​ble​dore said. "I must in​sist."

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door behind her. Fudge consulted the large gold pocket watch dangling from his waistcoat. "The Dementors should have arrived by now," he said. "I'll go and meet them. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs."

The Minister walked to the door and held it open for Snape, but the professor did not move. "You surely don't believe a word of Black and White-Riddle's story?" he whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face.

"I wish to speak to Charlus,Harry, Alistair and Hermione alone," Dumbledore repeated. But instead, Snape took a step forward. "Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle showed they were capable of murder at the age of sixteen," he breathed. "You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster You haven't forgotten that they once tried to kill me?"

"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly.

  Snape turned on his heel and marched through the door Fudge was still holding.  It closed behind them, and Dumbledore turned to Charlus,Harry, Alistair and Hermione. The four of them burst into speech at the same time, even Ron had chimed in from his hospital bed.

"Pro​fes​sor, Black and White-Riddle are telling the truth – we saw Pettigrew –"

"-my uncles are innocent, Snape's just being a childish idiot -"

"– he es​caped when Pro​fes​sor Lupin turned in​to a were​wolf –"

"– Pet​ti​grew's front paw, I mean, fin​ger, he cut it off –"

"-Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius and Daniel-"

But Dumbledore held up his hand to stem the flood of explanations.

"It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time," he said quietly. "There is not a shred of proof to support Sirius Black and Daniel White-Riddle's story, except your word — and the word of five thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius and Daniel murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius and Daniel had been the Potters' Secret-Keepers."

"Professor Lupin can tell you -" Harry said, unable to stop himself.

"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the Forest, unable to tell anyone anything," Dumbledore said, putting a hand up causing Harry to stop speaking. "By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius and Daniel will be worse than dead. I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little - and the fact that he, Sirius and Daniel are old friends -"

Alistair tried to reason, "But -" "Listen to me, Alistair. It is too late, you understand me?" Dumbledore said. "You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours."

"He hates Sirius and Daniel," Hermione said desperately. "All because of some stupid trick Sirius and Daniel played on him when they were kids -"

"Sirius and Daniel have not acted like innocent men," Dumbledore reasoned. "The attack on the Fat Lady - en​ter​ing Gryffind​or Tow​er with knifes - without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius' and Daniel's sentence."

Charlus raised a brow, "But you believe us?" "Yes, I do," Dum​ble​dore replied qui​et​ly. "But I have no pow​er to make oth​er men see the truth, or to over​rule the Min​is​ter for Mag​ic ..."

The three Gryffindors' and the two Slytherins' faces had fallen. They had grown used to the idea that Dumbledore could solve anything. They had expected Dumbledore to pull some amazing solution out of the air. But no... their last hope was gone.

"What we need," Dumbledore said slowly, and his light blue eyes shifted from Charlus to Hermione, "is more time." "But -" Hermione began to say, and then her eyes became very round. "OH!"

"Now, pay attention," Dumbledore said, speaking very low, and very clearly. "Sirius and Daniel are locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than two innocent lives tonight. But remember this, you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law - you know what is at stake...You - must - not - be - seen."

Neither Charlus or Harry or Alistair had a clue as to what was going on. Dumbledore had turned on his heel and looked back as he reached the door. "I am going to lock you in. It is -" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Ron asked from his hospital bed. "Good luck?" Harry repeated as the door closed behind Dumbledore.

Charlus shrugged as he looked to Hermione for answers, "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?" "More time? Hermione, do you have a time turner?" Alistair asked Hermione, who quickly looked up at him in surprise, but didn't say anything.

Hermione was fumbling with the collar of her sweater, pulling from beneath it a very long, very fine gold chain. "Sorry, Ron, but seeing as you can't walk," she said urgently before she turned to Charlus,Harry and Alistair, "Quickly! Come on!"

The three boys moved towards her, completely bewildered. She was holding the chain out. They saw a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from it.

"Here -" Hermione said. She had thrown the chain around Charlus' neck, gently before wrapping it around Harry's and Alistair's as well. "Ready?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes." Alistair said confidently. Charlus tried to look at the hourglass, but Hermione slapped his hand away. "What are we doing?" Harry asked her, completely lost. Hermione, however, ignored him and turned the hourglass over three times.

Suddenly, Charlus had the sensation that he was flying very fast, backward. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past him, his ears were pounding. As if a tape was being rewinded, every moment that occurred in the hospital wing during the day had had flickered in a dizzying speed.

All while, from outside the window, darkness gave way to dusk and sun 'un-set' itself, returning to its place on the low horizon. And then Charlus felt solid ground beneath his feet, and everything came into focus again -

He was standing next to his brother and his both friends in the now, deserted hospital wing and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the windows. He looked wildly around at Hermione, the chain of the hourglass cutting into his neck.

"'Mione, what - ?" Charlus began to say. "What just happened?" Harry inquired, completely dazed. "Where'd Ron go?"

Hermione ignored both of the boys and looked to the clock on the wall, "Seven thirty. Where we at seven thirty?"

"Pfft," Alistair scoffed, raising his arms up in confusion. "As if I know." "Huh?" Charlus said and furrowed his brows before glancing at Harry, who stood there confused, "I dunno, going to Hagrid's?"

"Come on!" Hermione said instantly, grabbing hold of Charlus' arm and pulling him forward, "And we can't be seen."

The light brown-haired boy let Hermione guide him through castle, while Harry and Alistair followed closely behind them. Soon enough, they had reached the wooden bridge that would lead them to Hagrid's Hut.

However, as the Potter twins went to continue forward, Hermione put an arm out in front of them to hold them back. "Hermione, will you please tell us what's going on? What is it that we're supposed to do?" Charlus whispered.

The girl, however, didn't reply. She shushed him as she held up a hand, peering out from behind the wall as did Alistair. Slightly taken aback, Charlus followed her gaze, as did Harry, and the two of them blinked in disbelief.

Across the grounds, Charlus saw himself, along with Harry, Alistair, Ron, and Hermione, about to confront Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

"But that..." Harry trailed off, completely dumbfounded. "That's... us. This is not... normal."

Charlus looked to Hermione instantly, looking for answers - this situation was completely insane.  As if she could read his mind, Hermione held up the tiny, gold hour-glass necklace once again. "You see this?" she asked. "This is a Time-Turner. McGonagall gave it to me first term. This is how I've been getting to all of my lessons all year."

Charlus' eyes had widened, "You mean we've gone back in time?" "Yes." Alistair said as if it was the most normal thing ever. "Dumbledore wanted us to return to this moment," Hermione explained to them. "Clearly something happened that he wants us to change."

Then, a soft smack was heard in the distance, causing the four of them to peer down the hill once again. Malfoy had just been hit, and was now holding his face as he landed flat on his backside.

Charlus had an amused smile plastered on his face as he whispered to Hermione, "Great punch, by the way." "Thanks," Hermione replied with a chuckle before she pulled her three friends out of sight as Malfoy and his goons ran past them.

Seconds later, the four of them emerged from their hiding spot. Charlus looked down the hill, still marvelled at the sight of himself, Harry, Alistair, Ron and Hermione heading down the slope to Hagrid's Hut.

His green eyes shifted to the pumpkin patch, and he smiled, pointing out what he saw to his brother and his friends, "Look! Buckbeak's still alive!"

"Of course!" Hermione said with a smile as she finally understood. "Remember what Dumbledore said. If we succeed, more than two innocent lives could be spared!" "Buckbeak?" Harry inquired, "But how's Buckbeak going to help us save Sirius and Daniel?"

Suddenly, Charlus put the pieces together, "Isn't it obvious? Dum​ble​dore just told us where the window is - the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've got Sirius and Daniel locked up!  We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius and Daniel!  Sirius and Daniel can escape on Buckbeak - they can escape together!"

From what Charlus could see of Hermione's face, she looked terrified. "If we manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle!" "Well, we've got to try, haven't we?" Alistair said, who was overjoyed at the possibility of this working.

The four of them moved down towards the Hut. As Buckbeak feasted on a ferret, Charlus,Harry, Alistair and Hermione ducked behind a pile of pumpkins.

"Now?" Charlus whispered, referring to releasing the Hippogriff. He was eager to save the fascinating beast. "No!" Alistair said. "Fudge has to see Buckbeak before we steal him. Otherwise, he'll think Hagrid set him free."

"That's going to give us about sixty seconds," Harry said, gulping slightly. This was starting to seem impossible.

At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside Hagrid's cabin. "That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Hermione whispered. "I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment -"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard Hermione's shriek of surprise. "Guys," Harry said sud​den​ly, "what if we – we just run in there, and grab Pet​ti​grew –" "Great idea-" Charlus began to say, but got cut off by Hermione.

"No!" she said in a ter​ri​fied whis​per. "Don't you un​der​stand? We're break​ing one of the most im​por​tant wiz​ard​ing laws! No​body's sup​posed to change time, no​body! You heard Dum​ble​dore, if we're seen –"

"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"

"Charlus,Harry," Alistair whispered, grabbing their shoulders to make sure they didn't run off. "As much as I want to get a hold of that piece of scum, we could cause serious trouble by going in there."

Charlus and Harry continued to look confused so Hermione spoke up, "Charlus,Harry, what would you do if you saw yourselves coming into Hagrid's house?"

"I'd - I'd think I'd gone mad," Charlus said as he lowered his head, "or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on -"

"Exactly!" Hermione said. "You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourselves! Don't you understand? Professor McGonagall told me all the horrible things that happened when wizards messed with time... Lots of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!"

"Okay!" Harry agreed. "It was just a thought. I thought..."

But before he could finish, Alistair nudged him and pointed towards the castle. Charlus, Harry and Hermione moved their heads a few inches to get a clear view; Dumbledore, Fudge, the old Com​mit​tee mem​ber, and Mac​nair the ex​ecu​tion​er were coming down the hill.

"They're coming and..." Hermione trailed off as she looked back to the Hut. "We're not leaving... why aren't we leaving?"

Just then, on the ground beside her, Hermione noticed the same jagged-looking stone from earlier. Without second thought, she took a hold of it, stood up a little, and threw it through the open window.

SMASH!

The sound of the glass jar breaking was heard within the Hut. Harry looked at the girl is disbelief, "Are you mad?!"

Hermione ignored him, however, swiftly whistling another rock through the window and - CONK! - it bounced right off the back of Charlus' head. The light brown-haired boy could practically feel the pain all over again, and instantly rubbed the back of his head, "That hurt, you know?"

Hermione's eyes had widened, "Oh my - I'm so sorry!" "Good shot," Alistair whispered teasingly. "Could've knocked some sense into him though."

"Oi!" Charlus muttered, hitting his best friend on the back of the head. The young  Black  instantly rubbed the spot where he had been hit. "Ouch!" Alistair said before he turned around to face the boy.

"Not fun when it's you, is it?" Charlus replied sassily. "Shush, you two," Hermione said as Fudge and his colleagues had arrived at Hagrid's door. "We're about to come out!"

And sure enough, moments later, Hagrid's back door opened, and Charlus saw himself, Harry, Alistair, Ron and Hermione walking out of it with Hagrid. It was, without a doubt, the strangest sensation of his life, seeing his past self like that.

"It's okay, Beaky, it's okay..." Charlus' past self said.

Just like before Hagrid shrugged them off as he went back inside to open the door. As the past versions of themselves headed for their hiding spot, Charlus,Harry, Alistair and Hermione had dashed into the trees directly behind them.

The four of them watched their past selves from behind the trunks of the tree, but Hermione had gone a step further as she reached up to push a branch out of her way. She took a moment to look at her past self and asked, "Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?"

 "Hermione!" Charlus whispered as he pulled the girl back.  He placed a hand over her mouth while Harry and Alistair stood at a tree next to them, their eyes wide. "Don't make a sound."

The past Hermione snapped her head back, glanced at the trees behind her and looked for anything suspicious. As that happened, Hermione could hear Charlus' heart beating due to the proximity of their bodies. She even looked into his eyes in admiration, paying no mind to their past self's voices exchanging in conversation before they all darted up the hill.

When the coast was clear, Charlus removed his hand, and gave Hermione a quick glance that said, "Phew! That was close."

Harry peered his head out first, making sure that their past selves were indeed, out of sight. After him, Charlus,Alistair and Hermione slipped out of the trees and headed towards Buckbeak.

Charlus could hear Fudge's voice as he approached, "It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, shall be executed tonight at sundown -"

The boy reached the Hippogriff in a record-breaking time. Careful not to blink, Charlus stared up into Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes once more and bowed. Buckbeak sank to his scaly knees and then stood up again. Quickly, Charlus began to untie Buckbeak from the post as Harry,Alistair and Hermione kept lookout.

"... sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair..." "Come on, Buckbeak," Charlus murmured, "come on, we're going to help you. Quickly... quietly..." "... as witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here..."

 When untied, Charlus began to pull the Hippogriff forward, but Buckbeak failed to move.

"Well, let's get this over with," the reedy voice of the Com​mit​tee mem​ber said from in​side Ha​grid's cab​in. "Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside -" "No, I – I wan' ter be with him ... I don' wan' him ter be alone –"

Footsteps echoed from within the cabin. "Buckbeak, move!" Charlus hissed and tugged harder on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. The Hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. They were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door.

"One moment, please, Macnair," came Dumbledore's voice. "You need to sign too."

The foot​steps stopped. Charlus heaved on the rope. Buck​beak snapped his beak and walked a lit​tle faster. Hermione's white face was sticking out from behind a tree as Harry and Alistair looked cautiously at the cabin.

"Charlus, hurry!" Hermione mouthed. Charlus could still hear Dum​ble​dore's voice talking from within the cabin. He gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They had reached the trees...

"Quick! Quick!" Hermione moaned, darting out from behind her tree, seizing the rope too and adding her weight to make Buckbeak move faster. Alistair looked over his shoulder before following his friends and the beast back into the forest; they were now blocked from sight; they couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all.

"Stop!" Harry whis​pered to them. "They might hear us –"

Hagrid's back door had opened with a bang. Charlus, Harry, Alistair, Hermione, and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the Hippogriff seemed to be listening intently.

"Where is it?" the reedy voice of the Com​mit​tee member said. "Where is the beast?" "It was tied here!" the ex​ecu​tion​er said fu​ri​ous​ly. "I saw it! Just here!""How ex​traor​di​nary," Dum​ble​dore said. There was a note of amuse​ment in his voice.

"Beaky!" Ha​grid said huski​ly.

There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung it in anger. Then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs, "Gone! Gone! Bless his lit​tle beak, he's gone! Mus​ta pulled him​self free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"

Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to get back to Hagrid. Charlus, Harry,Alistair and Hermione had all grabbed hold of the rope, tightened their grip and dug their heels into the forest floor to stop him.

"Someone untied him!" the executioner was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the forest." "Mac​nair, if Buck​beak has in​deed been stolen, do you re​al​ly think the thief will have led him away on foot?" Dum​ble​dore said, still sound​ing amused. "Search the skies, if you will... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea - or a large brandy."

"O' – o' course, Pro​fes​sor," Ha​grid said, who sounded weak with hap​pi​ness. "Come in, come in ..."

The two Gryffindors and the two Slytherins listened closely. They heard footsteps, the soft cursing of the executioner, the snap of the door, and then silence once more." Now what?" Charlus whispered, huffing slightly as he pulled on Buckbeak's rope.

"We'll have to hide in here," Hermione said, who looked very shak​en. "We need to wait un​til they've gone back to the cas​tle. Then we wait un​til it's safe to fly Buck​beak up to Sir​ius and Daniel's cell. They won't be there for an​oth​er cou​ple of hours , this is go​ing to be difficult ..."

She looked nervously over her shoulder into the depths of the forest. The sun was setting now.

"We're go​ing to have to move," Har​ry said, think​ing hard. "We've got to be able to see the Whomp​ing Willow, or we won't know what's go​ing on." "Okay," Hermione said, getting a firmer grip on Buckbeak's rope. "But we've got to keep out of sight, remember..."

They moved around the edge of the forest, darkness falling thickly around them, until they were hidden behind a clump of trees through which they could make out the Willow.  "There's Lupin!" Har​ry said sud​den​ly.

As the Whomping Willow began to thrash, its violence oddly muted at this distance, Lupin takes a stick, pokes a knot at the base of the tree, and instantly the Willow calmed. Charlus watched in awe, "Wait until Fred and George hear about that one!"

A couple moments had passed since Lupin had descended into the roots of the tree, then Hermione's voice alerted the boy's focus back to the tree, "Snape's coming, too,"

 As Snape made his way down as well, Alistair turned to his friends, "And now we wait." "Now we wait."

The four of them sat in the lengthening shadows as they waited for their past selves to reconvene on the surface. "Guys..." Harry spoke breaking the silence and causing Charlus,Alistair and Hermione to look at him curiously. "Yeah?"

"Before," he began, "down by the lake... when we were with Sirius and Daniel... I saw someone... that made the Dementors go away, with very powerful Patronuses..." "Yeah, I saw them, too," Charlus said slowly. "But... I thought I maybe imagined it... I wasn't thinking straight... I passed out right afterward..."

"Who do you think it was?" Hermione questioned. "Dunno,"Alistair said with a shrug. "But they must have been really powerful wizards, to drive all those Dementors away..." "I think –" Charlus swal​lowed, know​ing how strange this was go​ing to sound. "I think one of them was our dad."

Charlus immediately glanced up at Hermione and saw that her mouth was fully open now. She was gazing at him with a mixture of alarm and pity. "Charlus, your dad's -" she said quietly.

"Dead, I know," Charlus said sadly. "I'm just telling you what I saw." "I saw him too," Harry said softly, reaching a hand out to his brother. Charlus sent him a smile, taking a hold of his brother's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go.

Alistair and Hermione nodded, not wanting to pressure their friend further. The black-haired boy shifted his gaze beyond the trees, back towards the Whomping Willow. "Here we come," he said, rising to his feet.

Charlus,Harry and Hermione got to their feet as well. Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Ron,Charlus and Harry walk out first clambering out of the hole in the roots. Then came Hermione with Alistair and the unconscious Snape. Next came Lupin, White-Riddle and Black, pointing their wands aggressively towards Pettigrew as they shoved him out onto the ground.

Charlus,Harry and Harry watched their past selves as they engaged in conversation with Sirius and Daniel. The present versions of Charlus, Harry and Alistair were grinning ear to ear.

"You see my uncles talking to us there?" Alistair asked, which caused Hermione to nod in response. " They are asking us to come live with them."

"Really? That's great," Hermione said, surprised. "Yeah," Harry said, sighing with a smile as he thought of living with them. Charlus nodded, his voice was wishful as he spoke, "When we free them, Harry and I will never have to go back to the Dursley's. It'll be just the five of us. We could live in the country, someplace you can see the sky. I think they will like that, after all those years in Azkaban."

Charlus' heart was starting to beat very fast. He glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud was going to move aside and show the moon...

Charlus, Harry and Alistair shared a glanced after they watched Peter Pettigrew intently with a glare from the trees - almost agreeing on what they should do.

"Guys," Hermione muttered as though she knew exactly what they were thinking, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do..." "So we're just go​ing to let Pet​ti​grew es​cape all over again ..." Har​ry said qui​et​ly.

"How do you ex​pect to find a rat in the dark?" Hermione snapped. "There's noth​ing we can do! We came back to help Sir​ius and Daniel. We're not sup​posed to be do​ing any​thing else!"

"But Hermione, that man -" Charlus began to say, but got cut off by Hermione again. "I know, but we can't," she said softly. "Please, Charlus." "Fine," he said reluctantly.

The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they saw movement -

"There goes Lupin," Alistair whis​pered. "He's transform​ing –"

A fierce growl was heard as three silhouettes - the dogs and the werewolf - bound into the tall grass. Charlus watched as the past versions of him, Harry, Alistair and Hermione had chased after Sirius and Daniel.

The light brown-haired boy quickly turned to Harry and Alistair, "You go down to the lake, and see who's casting the Patronuses. Hermione and I will get Buckbeak ready for Sirius and Daniel's escape."

Harry took Alistair's wrist and began to pull the boy along with him as they started to run. Then, in what felt like slow motion, Charlus watched himself get confronted by Lupin in his werewolf form. The boy gulped - this didn't look good, even from this angle.

"OWWWWWWWW!"

Charlus wheeled around, and spotted Hermione, who cupped her hands around her mouth and howled. He instantly covered her mouth once again, "What the hell are you doing?"

The girl shrugged him off, "Saving your life!"

Charlus looked back to the tall grass, Lupin was frozen still in his werewolf form. As expected, he began to approach Charlus' past self once again.

"OWWWWWWWW!"

This time the boy didn't stop her. "Thanks." he said gratefully, "But we have to move." "Why? We're supposed to -" "Hermione, he's coming for us!"

The girl snapped her head in the direction he was pointing. The werewolf had started charging towards them at full speed. "Yeah, didn't think about that," Hermione  replied, slightly startled, "RUN!"

Charlus and Hermione dashed for their lives, leaving Buckbeak behind, as they ran deeper into the forest before ducking behind a large tree.

The sound of thudding footsteps and low growls echoed around them. As it approached the tree, the two of them silently sidestepped in the opposite direction, until the werewolf disappeared.

Then, the sound of a branch snapping had startled the two of them. There stood Lupin, fifteen feet away, waiting patiently. Without realizing it, Charlus and Hermione stepped out, but froze instantly.

The werewolf poised itself  and prepared to pounce. Hermione shrieked in fear as Charlus wrapped his arms around her protectively, both of them hunching over, terrified, preparing for what was about to happen.

SKREEEEK!

The trees around them began to shake with fury of a hurricane, as Buckbeak charged into the clearing, screening Charlie and Hermione. The werewolf snarled angrily, and began to charge. But with lightning fast reflexes, Buckbeak's claws slashed in the air, only inches away from Lupin's face.

The werewolf stopped and backed away, its eyes fueled by rage. Then it howled loudly before turning and dashing away into the forest.

Charlus and Hermione looked up to see Buckbeak flapping his wings proudly, as he watched the werewolf disappear. Then, without having time to realize what was happening, Hermione had wrapped her arms around Charlus' neck and buried her face into his chest.

"That was so scary." she breathed out, her voice shaking slightly. The boy instantly comforted her by caressing her back and trying to lighten the mood by joking, "Poor Professor Lupin's having a really tough night."

Hermione giggled slightly, pulling back, but not letting go. She peered into the boy's eyes. Damn, those green eyes, which were now illuminated in the moonlight. The bushy haired girl blushed slightly - they had yet to address their near-kiss in the roots of the Whomping Willow.

"Charlus...."

The boy gulped. This was it; he was going to go for it. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her. He wanted to share an intimate moment with her after nearly facing death because honestly, life was to short to lie to himself about what he truly wanted.

Almost as if she read his mind, Hermione gave the boy a small nod. It was all the encouragement he needed. She wanted to kiss him as much as wanted to kiss her. Slowly, the boy leaned down, shrugging off the realization of what was to happen, as that was only going to make him think twice about what he was doing.

Then, when there lips were about to touch, a high-pitched whistle and the aggressive flap of Buckbeak's wings had caused them to jump apart from one another.

Oh for fucks sake, you stupid Hippogriff -

Charlus couldn't help but let out a muffled, annoyed groan before he looked in the direction of Buckbeak. The beast was staring up to the sky. Both, Charlus and Hermione followed its gaze, and spotted at least a hundred Dementors emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding to the lake.

Right - almost forgot - Harry and Alistair needed their help, Sirius and Daniel still needed to be rescued -

Hermione sighed, sadly, "Let's go."

The two of them took off towards the lake with Buckbeak following behind them. Charlus had no thought in his head except his father. . . If one of them was him. . . if it really was him. . . he had to know, had to find out. . .

The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there was no sign of anybody. On the opposite bank, Charlus could see tiny glimmers of silver - his own attempts at a Patronus -

Then, they spotted a bush at the very edge of the water. Charlus saw Harry and Alistair peering desperately through the leaves behind it. Him and Hermione crouched down next to Harry and Alistair, the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished. A mixture of terror and excitement coursed through Charlus – any moment now...

"Come on!" Charlus muttered, staring about. "Where are you three, come on -"

But no one came.

Charlus raised his head to look at the circle of Dementors across the lake. One of them was lowering its hood. It was time for the rescuer to appear - but no one was coming to help this time -

And then the explanation dawned on him - he understood. So had Harry. They hadn't seen their father and two other people, they had seen themselves and Alistair.

"Together?" they asked Alistair, who nodded. "Together!"

Without thinking twice, the three boys flung themselves out from behind the bush. Hermione stayed put, holding Buckbeak back as Charlus,Harry and Alistair pulled out their wands.

The three shared a glance, and nodded. Quickly, the light brown-haired boy thought of the first happy memory that came to mind. All the near kisses he 've had with Hermione.

"EX​PEC​TO PA​TRON​UM!" they yelled at the same time.

Out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist , but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. Charlus screwed up his eyes, trying to see what it was. It looked like a horse. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black surface of the lake next to Harry's horse-like Patronus and Alistair's cat- like Patronus.

He saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming dementors.... Now it was galloping around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness.... They were gone.

The three Patronuses turned. They headed back towards their makers across the still surface of the water. Charlus and Harry's Patronuses weren't horses... they were stags. They were shining brightly as the moon above... they were coming back to them...

They stopped on the bank. Their hooves made no mark on the soft ground as they stared at Charlus and Harry with their large, silver eyes. Slowly, they bowed their antlered heads. And just then Charlus realised. "Prongs," he whis​pered.

Alistair turned his head away from his friends and focused on his Patronus. It wasn't a cat exactly. It was a panther,just like his biological mother's patronus and animagus form. But when his trembling fingers reached for it, it vanished. The boy remained standing there, his hand outstretched.

                                            ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

"I can't believe it... You three conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those Dementors! That's very, very advanced magic." Hermione spoke in awe as her friends had retreated back to her and Buckbeak.

"I knew we could do it this time," Charlus said, "because we'd already done it... Does that make sense?" "I don't know." Alistair replied while Harry nodded, "Felt the same way."

Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak's back and Charlus gave her a leg up. Then he placed his foot on one of the lower branches of the bush and climbed up in front of her. Harry and Alistair had taken the back, as Charlus pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like reins.

"Ready?" he whispered to Hermione. "You'd better hold on to me -"

He swore he could feel the small smile on Hermione's face against his back as he nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels.

Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air. Charlus gripped his flanks with his knees, feeling the great wings rising powerfully beneath them. Hermione was holding him very tight around the waist; he could hear her muttering, "Oh, no - I don't like this oh, I really don't like this -"

Charlus chuckled before he urged Buckbeak forward. They were gliding quietly toward the upper floors of the castle... He pulled hard on the left-hand side of the rope, and Buckbeak turned that way.

Harry tried to count the windows that were speeding past. "Whoa!" he said as Charlus pulled backwards as hard as he could.  Buck​beak slowed down and they found them​selves at a stop, un​less you count​ed the fact that they kept ris​ing up and down sev​er​al feet as he beat his wings to re​main air​borne.

" They are there!" Alistair said, spotting Sirius and Daniel as they rose up beside the window. He reached out, and as Buckbeak's wings fell, was able to tap sharply on the glass.

Black and White-Riddle looked up. Charlus saw their jaws drop. They leapt from their chairs, hurried to the window and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Stand back!" Hermione called to them, and she took out her wand, still gripping the back of Charlus' shirt with her left hand. "Bombarda!"

The window sprang open. "How – how –?" Black said weak​ly, star​ing at the Hip​pogriff. "Get on - there's not much time," Charlus said, gripping Buckbeak firmly on either side of his sleek neck to hold him steady.

Black and White-Riddle placed a hand on either side of the window frame and heaved their heads and shoulders out of it. It was very lucky they were so thin. In seconds, they had managed to fling one leg over Buckbeak's back and pull themselves onto the Hippogriff behind Alistair.

"OK, Buck​beak, up!" Charlus said, shak​ing the rope. "Up to the tow​er – come on!"

The Hippogriff gave one sweep of its mighty wings and they were soaring upward again, high as the top of the West Tower. Buckbeak landed with a clatter on the battlements, and Charlus,Harry,Alistair and Hermione slid off him at once.

White-Riddle stared down at the two Gryffindors and the two Slytherins in awe, "We will be forever grateful for this. To the four of you."

Sirius turned to Hermione with a smile. "You truly are the brightest witch of your age." he told her before he looked at his nephew and the twins. "We'll see each oth​er again," he said, softly. "You're your father's sons, Charlus, Harry... You too, Alistair."

He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. Charlus,Harry,Alistair and Hermione jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more, the Hippogriff took off into the air. He and his riders became smaller and smaller as they moved further and further away. Then a cloud drifted across the moon.... They were gone.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE
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