enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 3: Two Places At Once

Felicity's POV

We lead Buckbeak through the Forest towards the Whomping Willow, tempting him with the dead ferrets. "Now what?" Harry panted as we continued dragging the large brute through the thickets. "Now we save Sirius," Hermione declared, dangling another dead animal in front of the hippogriff's face. "And how do we do that?" I asked, desperately hoping she had a plan. "No idea," she replied.

We finally came to a clearing between the trees where we could perfectly see the Whomping Willow. "Look," I pointed out, "it's Lupin." We watched as he cast the Immobulus charm on the tree and followed us down the tunnel at the base of the tree. Moments later, Hermione spoke up. "And look, that's Professor Snape." I could make out his crooked nose even from a distance. Snape raced after Lupin and Harry sighed. "And now we wait." "Now we wait," I repeated.

Buckbeak was chained to a tree behind us, snapping at bats and moths that flew too close to him. "At least someone's enjoying himself," Hermione said with a gentle smile. "Yeah," I agreed, grinning fondly at the creature. "Guys?" Harry started. I turned to him as Mione said, "Yeah?" He looked hesitant. "Before, down by the lake, when I was with Sirius..." he trailed off before continuing, "I did see someone. That someone made the dementors go away."

"With a Patronus?" Hermione asked doubtfully. I winced at how disbelieving she sounded. As wizards and witches, we should probably be a little more open-minded, but dead parents conjuring Patronus charms was a little too far-fetched. "I heard Snape telling Dumbledore," Mione persisted, "According to him, only a really powerful wizard could have conjured it." Harry was stubborn. "It was my dad," he insisted, "My dad conjured the Patronus." I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Harry, your dad is-" "Dead. I know," he said, cutting me off, "I'm just telling you what I saw."

There was a brief pause before Hermione sprang to her feet. "Look," she pointed, "Here we come." I watched as we all surfaced from the tunnels, one by one, before separating. "You see Sirius talking to me there?" Harry said, nodding to where the two of them stood, "He's asking me to come live with him." Hermione beamed. "Harry, that's great," I said supportively. "When we free him, I'll never have to go back to the Dursleys'," Harry explained, looking more than excited by the prospect, "It'll just be me and him. And we could live out in the country, someplace you can see the sky." He was quiet for a moment before finishing. "He'll like that after all those years in Azkaban."

We grew silent as we watched the scene before us. Sirius, now in Animagus form, leapt at our professor-turned-werewolf. "Let's go," Harry muttered, taking the lead. We stopped behind a tree where we could more easily see Harry pelting the werewolf with rocks. The werewolf edged closer and closer to Harry before Hermione raised her hands to her mouth.

"AoOooOooOOoO!" she howled, not much like a wolf at all. My jaw fell open as Harry and I tried in vain to pull her down and shut her up. She got Lupin's attention and managed to let out another howl before I held my hand over her mouth. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" I hissed. "Saving Harry's life," Hermione responded, shaking us off. She looked smug for a split second before the werewolf came hurtling down the slope, directly towards us.

"Now what, Wolfie?" I asked Hermione. She gulped. "Uh, I didn't think about that," she said meekly, "Run!" Lupin lumbered after us, causing my adrenaline to pump and propel me forward almost faster than my legs could take me. We hid behind a tree 5 people wide and waited, catching our breaths as the werewolf slowed to a stop and began sniffing around. The three of us gradually began circling around the tree, avoiding the wolf's gaze as best we could, before I realized it was silent. Barely breathing the words out, "Where is he?"

A branch snapped behind us and we all whirled around to see the beast rushing towards us. I closed my eyes and felt Hermione next to me as Harry wrapped his arms around us, shielding us from the werewolf. Just as I expected to feel claws and teeth tear us apart, the shrieking of a hippogriff interrupted. I turned back to face Buckbeak and Lupin as the first reared up, striking out with its taloned feet and flapping its wings with a long, drawn out screech.