The Raven's Call

Time Warp

Sitting in the hospital wing, our cuts and bruises have been attended to, but that leaves one thing. Asteria. She lays lifeless on the bed beside us. "I saw my dad..." I hear Harry mumble from the bed across from me. "What?" Hermione replies, confused. "He sent the Dementors away. I saw him across the lake." "Listen, Harry." Hermione interjects. "They've captured Sirius. Any minute, the dementors are going to perform the kiss." She announces. "They're gonna kill him?!" "No, it's worse. Much worse. They're going to suck out his soul." Dumbledore opens the hospital wing doors as he struts into the room, startling the majority of us. "Headmaster, you've got to stop them!" Hermione protests as she and Harry run up to him. Myself and Alex sorrowfully wander over too. "They've got the wrong man!" "It's true, sir. Sirius is innocent." Harry agrees with a nod. "It's Scabbers who did it." Ron calls from behind us. "Scabbers?" Dumbledore asks, confused. "He's my rat, sir. He's not really a rat. Well, he was a rat. He was my brother Percy's rat. But then they gave him an owl an-" Ron rambles before being interrupted by Hermione, thank Merlin. "The point is, we know the truth. Please believe us." "I do, Miss Granger. But I'm sorry to say, the word of three 13-year-old wizards will convince few others." Dumbledore smiles before walking past us, over to Ron. "A child's voice, however honest and true..." He starts before patting Ron's bandaged foot, causing him to cry out in pain. "...is meaningless to those who have forgotten how to listen." He looks towards the clock tower as it begins to chime. "Mysterious thing, time. Powerful..." He mumbles, walking past us once again. "And when meddled with, dangerous. Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the Dark Tower. You know the laws, Miss Granger. Mister Grey. You must not be seen. And you would do well, I feel, to return before this last chime. If not, the consequences are too ghastly to discuss. If you succeed tonight... more than one innocent life may be spared." He looks Hermione in the eye before staring into mine, I can tell he's thinking what I am. "Three turns should do it, I think." He says with a wink before taking his leave, stopping just before he closes the door. "Oh, and by the way. When in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin. Good luck." He smiles before closing the door.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Ron asks from his bed. "I was gonna ask the same thing..." Alex chimes in. "Sorry, Ron, but seeing as you can't walk..." Hermione says, pulling her time turner out from under her shirt. It seems we both want to save someone tonight. I, too, take out my time-turner. As Hermione throws her chain around Harry's head, I do the same with mine around Alex. In sync, we both turn the necklaces thrice, watching the world rewind around us. "What just happened? Where's Ron?" Harry asks, freaking out. "Where's Asteria??" Alex asks also. "7:30. Where were we at 7:30?" Hermione asks, having just looked towards the large clock down the hall. "I dunno, going to Hagrids?" Harry responds. "Come on, and we can't be seen." Hermione instructs before the four of us take off in a sprint. I stay silent. I have one goal, and one goal only. Save Asteria. 

"Hermione! Atticus! Wait!" Harry demands as we run across the bridge towards Hagrid's. "Will someone please tell us what it is we're doing?" We come to a stop as we hear voices. "Ah! Come to see the show?" Draco hollers like a ringleader in a circus. "That's us..." Alex mumbles. "You! You foul, lothesome, evil little cockroach!" Past Hermione shouts, holding her wand to Draco's throat. "Hermione no! He's not worth it." Ron reasons. Woah, Déjà vu. "This is not normal..!" Harry says before Hermione drags him behind the nearest wall, Alex and I following behind. "This is a Time-Turner. McGonagall gave it to me first term." She shows Harry as I show mine to Alex. "Christmas. First year." I say. "This is how we've been getting to our lessons all year." Hermione continues. "You mean we've gone back in time?" Harry asks. Duh, Harry. Duh. "Yes. Dumbledore obviously wanted us to return to this moment." She says before peeking her head out from behind the wall once more. "Clearly something happened he wants us to change." We look over to the past group of ours and see past Hermione turn away from Draco for a moment, causing him to snicker. Bad move. Past Hermione turns back around and punches him square in the nose. "Good punch." Alex compliments. "Thanks." Hermione replies with a smile. "Malfoy's coming." She announces before we all jump through the arched window, hiding before they can see us. 

"Not a word to anyone, understood?" Draco demands as they run past. "I'm gonna get that jumped-up mud blood! Mark my words." He utters. "That felt good." We hear past Hermione say. "Not good.. Brilliant!" Ron exclaims. "Come on. We should be at Hagrid's" Past Harry announces. Past Hermione looks over to past me and past Alex. "Do you guys want to come see Hagrid, too? We're going to try and cheer him up a bit." "Ah, no, thank you, Hermione. We'll stay here and make sure those cockroaches don't come back." Past me responds with a smile. She smiles and nods before the three of them take off to Hagrid's. Lord, time travel is confusing. The present Hermione, Harry, Alex and I manoeuvre over to one of the pillars, avoiding the past me, Alex and Asteria on our way onto the bridge. Seeing her alive and well makes me feel less upset, for now. "Look. Buckbeak's still alive." Harry exclaims. "Of course! Remember what Dumbledore said? If we succeed, more than one innocent life could be spared.. Let's go."

We make our way down to Hagrid's garden, hiding behind the stack of pumpkins. We hear an indistinct conversation coming from the hut where the trio had been talking to Hagrid. Soon we see Dumbledore, Fudge and the executioner making their way down the hill. "Here they come. I'd better hurry." Harry speaks hastily, about to stand, but Hermione drags him back down. "Fudge has to see Buckbeak before we steal him. Otherwise, he'll think Hagrid set him free." Hermione instructs. "Scabbers! You're alive!" Ron exclaims from the window. "That's Pettigrew." Harry mumbles with angst. "Harry, you can't." Hermione objects. "Hermione, that's the man who betrayed my parents. You don't expect me to just sit here." He argues, standing up again. Now both Hermione and I pull him back down. "Yes, and you must!" Hermione sighs, pulling us down further, hiding behind the pumpkins. "Harry, you're in Hagrid's hut now. If you just go bursting in, you'll think you've gone mad." She explains. "Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time, Harry." I speak up and Hermione nods. "We can't be seen." She finishes before we hear Dumbledore's voice from behind, followed by Fudge's. "Fudge is coming..." Hermione whispers, turning back to the hut. "And we aren't leaving? Why aren't we leaving?" Hermione asks herself, looking around. She finds a small pebble and launches it through Hagrid's window. "Are you mad?!" Harry whisper-yells. Hermione sighs and throws another, launching it at past Harry's head. "Ow.. that hurt." Present Harry moans. "Sorry.." Hermione sighs. We watch as Dumbledore and Fudge enter through the front, while Past Harry, Ron and Hermione escape out the back. "We're coming out the back door.. Go!" Present Hermione demands, pushing us down into the forest behind us and pulling us behind a tree. 

Hermione leans forward, pushing a branch away from her face. "Is that really what my hair looks like from the back...?" She asks softly. "Hermione...!" I whisper to her, pulling her back behind the tree. "What?" Past Harry asks past Hermione. "I thought I just saw... never mind..." Past Hermione mumbles. "Let's go." Ron demands before they run back up the hill to meet back up with past me, Alex and Asteria. Once they leave, present us head back behind the pumpkins, it now being time to save Buckbeak. "Okay, go, Harry, go!" Hermione orders. Harry runs over to Buckbeak, and has a small fight with a Crow biting at his ankles. He bows to the beast, and I smile as Buckbeak bows his head back before resting his head back down on its front legs. "Atti, they've got it from here, we should go..." Alex whispers from behind me. I nod as the two of us leave into the forest. There's going to be a long wait until it's time to save Asteria. But to save her, I will be more than happy to wait.