Draco Malfoy *3rd Year*

Chapter 19

Bats flew towards us and Buckbeak snatched them up and ate what he could catch

"' Least someone's enjoying himself," Hermione sighed, shifting as the position she had been sitting in became uncomfortable.

"Hermione..." Harry trailed off as I rested my head on his shoulder

"Yes?" She said looking at him

"Before. Down by the lake. When I was with Sirius... I did see someone... that someone made the Dementors go away..." He said

"With a Patronus. I heard Snape telling Dumbledore when we were taken to the hospital. According to him, only a really powerful wizard could have conjured it." Hermione responded

"It was my Dad," Hermione looked at me

"It was my Dad who conjured the Patronus," He repeated

"But, Harry, your Dad's..." She trailed off

"Dead. I know. I'm just telling you what I saw." Harry said defensively. Hermione sighed and don't push Harry any further.

"Here we come," I said standing up as I watched people come out of the Whomping Willow.

"You see Sirius talking to me? He's asking me to come live with him," Harry told me, I smiled

"Really?" He nodded

"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..." A howl pierced the night and our conversation. We looked towards the willow

"It's happened. Lupin's transformed," Hermione whispered

"Which means Pettigrew is slipping safely into the night. While we just stand here..." Harry said angrily. A fierce growl is heard as we watch Sirius transform into the dog and throw himself at the werewolf. We watch as the past Harry throws something at the werewolf and it turns and stalls towards him. Hermione then cups her hands together

"OWWWWWWWWW!" Harry rips her hands away

"What are you doing?" He hisses

"Saving your life," She said back quickly before cupping her hands together once again and making a wolf call.

"Thanks. But we have to move," Harry said

"Why?" Hermione asked turning to him

"Because that werewolf you just called is running right this way," We looked at each other and ran. We sprinted into the forest and hid behind a very large tree, we heard the werewolf approach and I hoped to Merlin it wouldn't find us.

"Buckbeak. We've got to find him," Hermione whispered shakily. We turned and jumped when we saw the werewolf standing fifteen feet away from us. I was frozen, I felt my heartbeat in my throat, it went to jump at us when suddenly Buckbeak was charging into the clearing shielding us from the werewolf. The werewolf snarled at Buckbeak and went to charge at him when Buckbeak reared up and slashed him with his talons right across the face. The werewolf stopped and whined before turning and running away into the cover of darkness.

"Poor Professor Lupin is having a really tough night.." I said as I pulled my jumper tighter around me as a chilly wind blew through the trees.

"Let's go," Harry said and we took off running again, this time towards the lake where the dementors were surrounding Harry and Sirius. We were on the other side of the lake

"This is horrible..." Hermione said sadly, she couldn't tear her eyes away from it.

"Don't worry. My Dad will come... Right there... you'll see... he'll come... any minute... he'll conjure the Patronus," Harry sounded so sure of himself. He eagerly watched where he thought his dad would come

"No one's coming, Harry..." I sighed watching as the dementors sucked the life out of my best friend.

"HE WILL! He will come!" Harry reassured us, and mostly himself.

"No one's coming! You're dying, both of you... and no one's coming!" Hermione said shaking her head. A look of determination overcame Harry's face. He stepped out and drew his wand

"Harry, no!" I cried out

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He yelled, his voice ringing through the trees. The lake exploded bathed in white light as a stag emerged from the tip of Harry's wand. I watched in complete awe as this beautiful, powerful luminous creature sent out waves of light, pushing away the dementors from himself and Sirius. Harry doesn't let up until each and every dementor is gone, only then does he finally lowered his wand.

Buckbeak soared through the air, I laughed in delight as we whooshed through the night. Up ahead we could see the dark tower where Sirius was being kept

"You were right, Hermione. It wasn't my dad I saw earlier. It was... me. I saw myself conjuring the Patronus before. I knew I could do it this time, because... because I'd already done it. Does that make sense?" Harry grinned in pure glee

"No." Hermione wobbled looking down

"But I don't like this!" She screamed as Buckbeak plummeted towards the tower. We landed and Hermione pulled out her wand

"BOMBARDA!" She yelled and the cell door flew open with a bang. Sirius smiled at us as we helped him onto Buckbeak. We took off again and Sirius laughed, his hair blowing in the wind

"You truly are your father's son, Harry!" He breathed out as we landed in the courtyard

"I'll be forever grateful for this. To all of you." He smiled as he helped me off Buckbeak

"I want to go with you," Harry sighed

"One day perhaps. For some time... life will be too... unpredictable. Besides, you're meant to be here," Sirius said gesturing to Hogwarts

"But promise me something, Harry," Sirius said looking him in the eye

"Anything," Harry said earnestly

"Trust yourself. No matter the challenges you face -- and I fear they will be many -- you'll be surprised how many times you can find the answers..." He tapped his heart

"..here," Harry nodded, the promise was seen in his eyes. I walked over to him

"Alright, Harry?" I grinned

"Yeah. Alright, Aurora" I nodded.

"Aurora.," Sirius said, I looked over to him and my smile faded a little

"Yes?" I asked.

"Your name is Aurora," he said and I nodded giving Harry a confused look, he shrugged in return.

"Do you know me?" Sirius hesitated.

"I knew your parents" He smiled fondly

"Knew? Do you not anymore?" I asked tilting my head. His face dropped a bit then he smiled again, but this time it didn't feel as real.

"I just haven't seen them in a while that's all," I nodded. Sirius then climbed onto Buckbeak and gave him a whack and they soared off into the night sky. We watched for a while when we heard the clock tower go off.

"We have to go," Hermione said and we ran off towards the hospital wing, as the last bell chimes we arrive outside the wing to see Dumbledore closing the doors. He then turned to us

"Well?" He asked our panting forms

"He's free -- Sirius. We... we did it," Harry said tiredly

"Did what?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye before he started humming and went down the stairs. We looked at each other and shrugged before entering the hospital wing just in time to see a flash of ourselves disappear, Ron blinked and looked confused

"How'd you get over there? I was just talking to you... over there," Hermione gives Harry and I a mischievous grin

"What d'you think, Harry? Too much for him -- everything that's happened tonight?"

"Afraid so. Always been a bit of the nervous type, Ron has. ," Harry nodded making me laugh. Ron started at us looking dumbfounded as we grinned at each other.