Chapter Text
Sirius's soul plopped back into his body, just as he had been promised, and he drew in a shaky breath. Beside him, Harry was collapsing with the strain of having cast his Patronus so many times. This time, however, Sirius did not pass out, as he had the first time around.
Instead Sirius scooped Harry up and then he was running, stumbling and tripping occasionally. They made it back to the Shrieking Shack and Sirius put Harry down for just a moment, to allow himself the chance to transform and poke the knot to freeze the branches. Once they were inside the tunnel — safe from the dementors but not yet from Moony — Sirius took Harry's wand and cast an enervate.
Harry jolted awake, looking around wildly. As soon as he spotted Sirius, he dove for him and pulled him into a tight hug. "You're alive," he gasped into Sirius's shoulder.
"Do you remember…"
"Diving into the veil after you? Yes." Harry shuddered.
Sirius pulled him tighter. "You've got to get back to your little witch and save Buckbeak," he reminded him.
"I know," Harry agreed, though it took a moment before he loosened his hold. "As soon as you've got them, get out of here."
"I will," Sirius promised. He used Harry's wand to conjure an unbreakable box with a locking lid and a few air holes, just big enough to hold the rat, then he stuffed it into Harry's hands along with the wand. "Give that to your little elf friend."
"I will," Harry agreed. "I'll see you on the platform?"
"I'll find you there. Now go."
"Dobby," Harry called out, and the little elf appeared beside him with a pop. He immediately handed over an identical box to Sirius, who grinned fiercely when it rattled from within. "Dobby, are you my elf?" Harry asked.
Dobby looked confused, but nodded. "Dobby is."
"Good," Harry sighed in relief. "Can you use a time turner alongside a witch or wizard?"
Dobby shook his head, looking dejected. "House-elves cannot be using time turneys, Master Harry Potter, sir."
"That's alright," Harry reassured him. "Can you sense that there's been another me and Hermione running around out there tonight?"
"Oh yes, second version of you and yous Grangey both," Dobby agreed.
"What about the current version of Hermione, is she alone?"
Dobby concentrated for a moment. "Alone and about to reach Hogwarts doors."
"Good, pop me to her, please," he instructed.
Dobby grabbed his hand and immediately popped him away, landing them both beside Hermione, who let out a quiet shriek. "Thanks, Dobby. Please return to Sirius and do as he asks, okay?" Harry said.
"Dobby will, Master Harry Potter!" he said cheerfully.
"What—" Hermione started to ask, but Harry quickly shushed her.
"No time," he said, quickly dragging her away from the front doors. "Snape and Ron will be here any second. We need to use your time turner."
"I don't—"
"Hemione, please," Harry begged. "I'll explain it when we have more time. But we need to go back three turns."
Hermione bit her lip, but finally nodded, and pulled the chain out from underneath her blouse. It expanded in her hands, and she quickly threw it over Harry's head as well, then sent them back three turns.
As soon as they were back earlier in the day, Harry called for Dobby again. "Dobby!" The elf immediately popped to his side, looking happy to see him. "Dobby, you know Ron's rat, Scabbers?"
"Dobby knows."
"Did you know that he's secretly an animagus."
Dobby scowled. "Oh, bad rat man! Hiding and sneaking around Master Harry Potter!"
Harry grinned. "Well that bad rat man is going to be found out later tonight. Then, at moonrise, he's going to escape our custody. I need you to take this box," he handed over the box Sirius had conjured, "and catch the bad rat man as soon as he runs away from us. Then wait somewhere safe for me to call you again, alright? There's going to be dementors and a werewolf running around these woods, so it's important that you get to safety as soon as you've caught Scabbers, yeah?"
"Oh, yes, Master Harry Potter sir!" Dobby said enthusiastically, throwing his arms around Harry's knees in a hug before popping away.
"And now we have a little time to kill until we can follow our other selves down to save Buckbeak," Harry said, turning expectantly to Hermione. "Fire away."
"How'd you know I had a time turner?" Hermione asked first.
"Sirius," Harry replied simply. He felt awful about lying to his best friend, but it was necessary. She couldn't know anything else about his plans, as her mind was totally unprotected.
Hermione deflated. "He saw me using it when he was skulking around? Oh! And I was so careful about people; I never even noticed him or Scabbers or anything else!"
"Hey, it's okay," Harry quickly reassured her. "I think we've hit our quota on secret animagi until at least next year. I'm sure no one else saw you." Though he would need to — heh — but a bug in her ear about security charms before Rita Skeeter became a problem next year. Even if Harry wasn't there — maybe especially if Harry wasn't there, she'd need to be more cautious about her personal security.
"So now Dobby is going to catch Scabbers — I mean Pettigrew — when we lose him," Hermione said, clearly thinking through the possibilities. "All we'll need to do is evade Professor Lupin and the Dementors, and get back here. We can free Buckbeak when there's a chance, and then he and Sirius can escape together until you can retrieve Pettigrew from Dobby and get him cleared, officially."
"That's the basic plan," Harry agreed. There was no reason for Hermione to know that he had no plan on turning Pettigrew over right away. Harry already knew that Fudge would kill Pettigrew to cover up his crimes, just as he'd killed Barty Crouch Junior rather than risk the truth getting out there. No, Harry and Sirius were going to need help outside of Britain, but that was something that Hermione — at least, at this age — couldn't handle yet. She still believed in authority figures, as Umbridge hadn't ripped away those blinders yet, and she had no idea the lengths that authority in Britain would fail him.
"Well then we'd better get going," Hermione decided. "We don't want to miss our chance with Buckbeak, or run into ourselves."
It wasn't hard to catch up to their younger selves mere moments before Snape appeared, floating Ron before him. He quickly ushered them inside with a glare, to where Dumbledore was waiting. Harry's confidence in the man had taken several hits over the last few years, but he played along as they were ushered upstairs. He even played along as Dumbledore suggested that they use the time turner, though they didn't need to anymore. He played along as Fudge blustered in and declared them confounded, played along as Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping them overnight, and played along as they went through the motions of packing and leaving Hogwarts.
Only Harry knew that he wouldn't be returning in a few months with the others. He was sorry he wouldn't get to befriend Luna, or become closer with Neville, though he wouldn't regret missing out on Ron being a prat about the Tournament.
When they were alone on the train, Ron having ducked out to use the loo, Hermione turned to Harry expectantly.
"You saw the way the Minister acted," he reminded her. "I wouldn't trust him not to make Pettigrew disappear. Sirius will know who it's safe to talk to."
Hermione looked doubtful, but thankfully nodded her agreement.
When they reached Kings' Cross, Harry exchanged hugs with both of them, unsure when he'd see them again — unsure if they'd even want to see him, when that time came. Then he disappeared into the crowd, ducked into a hidden corner, and pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket. Once he was fully covered, he slipped onto the muggle side of Platform Nine and three quarters.
It didn't take long for him to spot the random man standing a few meters away, holding a sign that said "Prongslet" on it. Grinning, Harry headed towards him. As he drew close, he murmured, "Hey Padfoot." His godfather grinned and tucked away the sign, then began to lead Harry out of the station. They passed the Dursleys on the way, and Harry was extraordinarily grateful for his invisibility cloak as they did so.
Once they got outside, Sirius led him down a side alley until they were out of sight of passers by. Then he grabbed Harry's arm and disaparated them.
It hadn't taken long to reconnect with Dobby, who had been waiting at Grimauld place for them. Kreacher was already gone, his head mounted on the wall. They gathered up the trunks that Dobby had spent the last day packing, including the contents of the library and potions lab, collected Buckbeak from the backyard, and took off. It was a six hour flight to reach the Black cottage in Siren's Glen, so they did it in two hops, stopping for dinner at a little pub in Dover, while Dobby took care of Buckbeak and remained hidden. Hedwig had also been sent on ahead, so Harry didn't need to worry about her. Sirius's polyjuice had long since worn off, but he had also taken the time at Grimauld to shower, shave, and freshen up, so he looked nothing like his wanted posters.
When they reached Siren's Glen, a small, all magical village much like Godric's Hollow or Hogsmeade, they quickly made themselves at home in the Black family cottage. Buckbeak enjoyed exploring the back yard while Dobby got to cleaning, and Harry and Sirius relaxed after their long flight.
Tomorrow they would get down to business: after all, they had a resurrection to foil and Death Eaters to kill. And once Albus "Forgiveness" Dumbledore was no longer in charge of the ICW, they'd have a rat to reveal. Not to mention Harry would need to spend the next two years homeschooling to study for his international OWLs. But for now they relaxed and, without a bevy of Order Members bustling around trying to keep them apart, they could get to know each other. After all, they now had all the time in the world.