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SIYE Time:1:19 on 29th March 2024
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The Opposing Movement
By BigFatMaybe

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Category: Pre-OotP, Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Other, Sirius Black
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama
Warnings: Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Sexual Situations, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse
Rating: R
Reviews: 86
Summary: Christmas, 1993. Harry Potter is spotted in the company of wanted fugitive Sirius Black, and is forced on a dark, treacherous path. Pursued from all directions by a Ministry intent on capturing him, and the ever-persistent threat of a seemingly immortal Voldemort on the horizon, the road ahead will be dangerous, and the toll will be higher than ever before…
Hitcount: Story Total: 30770; Chapter Total: 2027







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This was it. Their one chance of proving that Sirius was innocent and thus clearing his name, and indirectly Harry's too. Catch Pettigrew, and it was all over.

“I still can’t believe Scabbers was Pettigrew all along,” Ginny sighed. She said what was on everyone’s mind at that moment.

Melchior first tried convincing them to wait and think it through a bit, but Sirius and Harry were having none of that. Especially Sirius was more than ready to go that same evening, but even Harry had to admit that that was a bit too rash. Still, he could sympathize with Sirius’ eagerness.

In the end they took their discussions and plotting well into the evening and spent the entirety of the next day, June 8th, planning out their move as best as they could.

They had two entranceways into Hogwarts: the Shrieking Shack and the secret tunnel that Harry and Ginny had found last fall. But Melchior was quick to point out the downside to the latter, namely that Harry was the only one who could access it. If Sirius and Ginny somehow split up from Harry, it would become completely useless to them. They weren't planning on splitting up at all, of course, but Melchior repeatedly told them there was always a very real possibility of that happening.

"Ginny and I can't cast a Patronus Charm, but Sirius' and Selene's should be enough to hold the Dementors off long enough, right?" Harry asked after a rushed dinner. Melchior wouldn’t come with them. “My back would only slow you down,” he said.

"Selene will not be going with you either," Melchior replied.

"What?" Sirius, Harry and Selene asked together.

"I said she's not going. I won't allow it."

"But we need her!" Harry argued, but Selene’s protests were much louder than his.

"That's fucking bullshit! I was in Hogsmeade for months and I fought Aurors in Paris! Why the fuck can't I go now?" She burst out and she rose up from her chair in fury. She looked threatening, dangerous, as she leaned over Melchior with her fists clenched.

"That was different, and you know it,” Melchior said, unfazed. “If I knew you would be fighting Aurors, I wouldn't have sent you at all in the first place. And you weren't breaking the law in Hogsmeade. You were simply living there under a false name, nothing more.”

“But-”

“No, Selene, listen to me. In this case you would be helping two highly wanted criminals get into one of the most tightly guarded areas of Wizarding Britain. They'll arrest you on the spot, and we can't have that, for many reasons. You know that." Melchior said calmly.

Selene ground her teeth together. "But I'm a grown-up! You can't force me!" She shouted after a moment of hesitation.

“She’s right, you know,” Sirius supplied.

“You stay out of this, Black!” Melchior bit out. He turned back to Selene. "You know damned well I can force you, and you know damned well why. Don't tell me you've forgotten."

"But…" She was silent. She then hissed at him, showing her teeth, and Harry thought for a moment she was actually going to attack the man. But Melchior calmly held her gaze until Selene was forced to look away.

"Fuck this!" She shouted. She stomped towards the front door with as much noise as she could, swearing in several different languages, somehow managed to pull on her shoes and jacket mid-march, and slammed the door shut behind her. Harry was surprised it didn't break from the force of the impact.

"It's been a long time since she last was this angry," Melchior said, filling the silence that Selene left behind. "She'll be back in a day or so, though. Don't worry."

"A day?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Yes. Do you remember about the various contacts I had outside of Britain? I still own those houses, and I granted Selene access to them a while back. It's not healthy for a young woman to stay cooped up in a shack, you know. It’s best if she lets off some steam on her own before she comes back."

"And you're sure she'll be alright?" Sirius asked warily.

"Of course. But that’s none of your business." And with that, the conversation was over.

Harry went to bed later that night, but he couldn't fall asleep. Their planning made him anxious, as did the fact that Pettigrew could flee Hogwarts whenever he wanted. The one chance for his and Sirius’ acquittal could be out of their grasp again, and they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Harry was sure that they would never have a chance like this ever again if they missed this one.

But despite that, what he thought about the most was Daphne.

Earlier today he made the mistake of mentioning her to the others. Melchior, Sirius and Ginny fell over themselves to tell Harry why he couldn't go to her while they were there. It was too risky; you don't know if she's being watched; you don't know if she's to be trusted; we can't afford to enter the castle itself… It was maddening.

He hadn’t really had a chance to think about her too much the past few months, but now everything came crashing down around him and he was shocked at how much he missed her.

He missed flying and Quidditch, and he missed some of the people at Hogwarts, like Hagrid, Hermione, Fred and George, and Tracy Davis, who had always been kind to him, and of course Professor Lupin. But he missed Daphne so, so much more, and his heart ached at the thought of being so close to her tomorrow, yet so far away.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized he wanted to talk to Selene about it.

Now that he thought about it, he was convinced that she was the only one who would actually listen to him and not dismiss him, like the others did earlier today: Ginny didn't trust Daphne, Melchior refused to allow Harry to put everything to risk just to see her again, and he still didn't know whether Sirius would take him seriously or just crack jokes about it.

Somewhere during his fretting he slipped into a restless sleep.

{}---{}---{}

Harry stumbled downstairs the next day, still in his pyjamas and barely awake.

"Morning," Melchior said as Harry slumped in his seat next to Sirius. Harry mumbled something in reply, rubbed his eyes and grabbed some egg and toast.

"Here, have some bacon while you're at it," Melchior put some rashers on his plate. “You’ve probably got a very long day ahead of you. You’ll need your strength.”

“Oh, and to Harry you’re supportive then?” Sirius suddenly snapped. He slammed his knife on the table. “Offering food and such? What, did you tell him night-time stories as well last night, then? Tuck him into bed while you’re at it?”

Harry dropped his toast, shocked at this sudden outburst.

“Nothing’s stopping you from doing so yourself, Sirius,” Melchior bit out in an equally frosty tone. “And I’ve really got no choice but to be supportive. I know if I stop you three from leaving now, you'll just sneak away behind my back, so I'm allowing you to go. But that doesn't mean I endorse your plan. I believe I told you from day one that patience-"

"I know exactly what you said, enough with your stories," Sirius interrupted. "Fact is, Pettigrew's a rat in every sense. He'd flee at every sense of danger. We wait a few more days and we'll certainly have lost him."

"And is it worth risking your souls? The souls of your godson and his friend?"

Sirius gave Melchior a foul look in reply. The two men sighed almost in unison and got back to their breakfast. Harry looked from one man to the other, but, strangely, neither said anything anymore. Thoroughly confused, he resumed nibbling on his toast.

He then heard Ginny come downstairs behind him, but he was too tired to bother with greeting her. She flopped down next to Harry, and looked just as tired as he was. Yet she ate just as much as she did every day. Harry still wondered where she left all that food.

"Come on, Harry, you need to eat," Melchior urged him again. Harry nodded and tried to shove his thoughts aside. For a long time the only sound at the table was the ticking of cutlery and chewing noises.

"Selene's still away then?" Ginny asked, breaking through the silence.

"Yes, she is. I expected that, though, and she'll be back tonight, probably. It's best to let her vent for a while. You don't want this house to explode, do you?"

The ticking and chewing sounds stopped for just a moment.

"Is she that bad?" Harry asked.

"Yes, definitely. I thought that would have been clear by now. It’s actually the most important reason why I don’t want her to go with you today. Selene… She's a lovely girl, heart of gold, and I love her, but she's not completely right. You know how aggressive she can be."

Ginny rubbed her throat.

"But blow up the house she lives in?" Sirius pressed.

"Blow up this house? If she's emotional enough, she'd do it. Without second thought. I know her better than anyone, Sirius. I raised her myself."

"Raised her to your own psycho pet?" Sirius muttered.

"Sirius," Harry said warningly, but the words were already out. Melchior slammed his hands on the table, and he looked ready to murder Sirius on the spot.

"Stop acting like a child and be a man for once," he ground out.

"Ha!" Sirius barked, raising his chin challengingly. "That the best you've got? I'm more man than you've ever been. I could break your back with one bite, but you've already done it to yourself already."

Melchior stood up and Sirius immediately followed, chairs clattering to the floor behind them. Harry exchanged a worried look with Ginny.

"You are without a doubt the most egocentric, childish person I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. Look at you," Melchior spat. He raised his chin. "Constantly whining like a little puppy about me, the shelter I gave you and the meals I fed you. Too proud to even say 'thank you' once, and so desperate to get your old friend back that you've pulled his son to your own damn level: a hopeless, wanted criminal!"

"You shut your mouth before I do it for you!" Sirius shouted. Harry stood up and pulled out his wand. He saw Ginny do the same beside him. "You think I want that? You think I want Harry to be like me? Have you seen the fucking state I was in before? But I guess you know all too well what Harry needs, don’t you? You’ve been playing daddy to him ever since the day we arrived here, you fucking-"

Harry had enough. He produced a loud bang from his wand, courtesy of Fred and George. Melchior and Sirius stopped their fight, Sirius mid-tirade and turned on him as one. The murderous look in their eyes made him falter. But Ginny took over.

"Right, both of you need to stop being such thick-headed idiots!" She put her hands on her hips and made an intimidating figure, despite her size. "Sirius, your one chance to prove your innocence is out there! Melchior, your daughter is out there because you've chased her away and you're just sitting here and picking fights! Why?"

"She's not my daughter," Melchior argued, though in a much lower volume than before.

"She's all you have. Come on, Harry, you'll need to pack Sirius' bag as well. I don't think he'll be doing it himself." She grabbed his hand, and Harry found himself being dragged up the stairs a moment later. He had a brief glimpse of Sirius and Melchior looking at Ginny in shock, all their anger forgotten.

{}---{}---{}

When he and Ginny arrived downstairs again a while later, their bags packed with bare necessities, Harry saw Sirius and Melchior sitting at opposite ends of the room, studiously ignoring each other. Harry cleared his throat, and they both looked up.

"Everything's ready," he said. His voice cracked, to his annoyance.

"Very well," Melchior said, his voice much softer than before. His knees popped loudly as he stood up from his sofa. "Gather round everyone."

They made a circle around the dining table. Harry handed Sirius his backpack and slung his own over his shoulder.

"Are you ready?" Melchior asked, looking at each of them intently. He then pulled out a small piece of black cloth, three grey stones with the size of a thumb, a glass jar with a few small air holes in it that was charmed to prevent Animagus transformations, and finally his wand. He handed them all a rock each, Harry the jar, and put the cloth on the table.

"Portus," he said. The cloth glowed blue for a moment. "Now touch it. Not your whole hand, Harry, a finger should be enough.”

He paused for a moment.

“You'll arrive in the Shrieking Shack. Your best chance to grab Pettigrew unseen is when that groundskeeper Hagrid's in the school for dinner. And whatever happens, you've all got your way back, provided you're not on the school grounds. I'll say it again, just to be sure: don't activate the Rock while you’re inside Hogwarts' protections, because you don't want your mangled, torn body to be spread out between here and there. I've put a trace on all of you, so that we know where to find you if it does go wrong. If you need to escape, don't worry about being separated. Don't be noble and try to wait for the others, because that-"

"Yeah, yeah, come on, hurry up. He could sneak away at any moment," Sirius interrupted. Melchior breathed in deeply, probably to calm himself down, and then looked Harry straight in the eye.

"Ten seconds now. I'll be waiting at the Rock with the car. Stick to Sirius, and Harry, don't do anything rash. I know you-"

They didn't hear the rest of the sentence, because at that moment the portkey activated. Melchior and his house disappeared, and for a moment it was just the three of them, a strong pull on his navel and a whirling mess of colours surrounding them.

Then it was over. They were back in Britain.

Harry and Ginny landed on the wooden floor in a heap, but as Harry looked up, he saw Sirius still on his feet. They were in an old, dusty and utterly ravaged room, and Harry couldn't see anything that wasn't broken. Chairs, a table, wallpapers, the floorboards… everything was torn apart and covered in dust. An image of Professor Lupin trashing the room as a werewolf crossed his mind, and he shuddered.

"Fantastic landing," Sirius grinned. He helped the two children up and they dusted themselves off. The floorboards creaked under their feet.

Harry, in automatic fashion, almost pulled out his wand to make himself invisible, but remembered at the last second that they could be traced again here. "No magic, unless it's an emergency," Melchior had said a million times. Harry fished out his invisibility cloak instead, and hid himself and Ginny underneath it while Sirius changed into a dog.

True to their plan, they entered the tunnel beneath the rickety old shack and walked along its entire length. Even though they'd gone over every possible detail so many times, Harry was still surprised at how long it took to traverse the tunnel. And halfway through he started having doubts about the whole thing as well.

What if Sirius and Melchior were wrong, and the Dementors did know that they'd entered the school grounds? What if Dumbledore or the Ministry had another way of knowing where they were? It was a much less spirited Harry that finally reached the other side.

They sat down near the entrance and Harry tried to make himself as comfortable as possible. They would be sitting here for half a day, maybe even longer. He was thankful that Sirius remembered to cast a warming charm on them beforehand. Even though it was the beginning of June, they were still underground and out of reach of the sun. A steady breeze came in through the opening by the Whomping Willow and sitting still on the cold, slightly moist ground wouldn't help much in keeping them warm either.

He was surprised, though, at the amount of feelings that welled up inside of him when he caught a glimpse of Hogwarts through the hole in the tree. He couldn’t really make sense of it. He felt sad, and yet somehow very happy at the same time and he reckoned that this was what nostalgia felt like. Then there was that pull...

He studied the many towers that were basked in sunlight, and wondered behind which window Daphne was right now. He was now closer to her than he'd been the last five months, and he missed her so much it ached. He wanted to go into the castle right now to find her, apologise to her for not taking her with them last Christmas… kiss her. Hopefully she would accept his apology and come with them after all…

"Stop it," Ginny said from beside him.

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking, Harry. You can't go to her now." A small movement of Sirius' ears suggested he was listening in.

"I know," Harry grumbled. "You don't have to remind me of that again. One million times was just about enough."

"Oh, stop whining, Harry, you're not the only one. I miss my family, you know? My brothers are in there as well!"

Harry lifted his head up from his knees and looked at her in surprise.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” he said.

“I know,” Ginny grumbled.

Sirius got up, trotted towards them, sniffed around a bit to find them despite their invisibility, and finally curled up against them and laid his head across Ginny's lap.

"Right," Harry said, scratching Sirius behind his ears. "But you'll see them soon enough when we catch Pettigrew."

"We will," Ginny said with confidence. "Have you got the map?"

"Yeah, it's right here," Harry pried the Marauder's Map from the pocket of his coat and activated it. After a moment of searching, he found what he was looking for.

"Hagrid's still in his hut, and so is Pettigrew. Now let’s hope that Hagrid will leave soon."

But he didn't. In fact, the man's dot only moved once the whole afternoon, when he moved to the garden in front of his hut.

After an hour or so, a figure appeared at the entrance of the tunnel. Harry and Ginny pulled out their wands as one, and Sirius got up, growling. Harry had his wand pointed at the figure in an instant, ready to cast a stunning spell. If they were caught now...

But then Sirius relaxed and gave Harry and Ginny a reassuring, happy look. The figure entered the tunnel and trotted towards them, its ruddy hairs and ugly, squashed face now clearly visible in the sunlight.

It was Crookshanks, Hermione's cat.

He and Sirius greeted each other by touching snouts and then sniffing each other's butts. Then they crawled under the cloak and lay down against Harry and Ginny. Harry went back to scratching Sirius, Ginny stroked Crookshanks' back. They shared a smile underneath the cloak. Of course it was Crookshanks.

When Harry saw Hermione for the first time after last summer holidays for their first studying session in the library, she wasted no time in telling Harry all about the cat that she'd bought in Diagon Alley during the summer.

Listening to Hermione describe the animal, Harry assumed it was a beautiful, graceful and incredibly smart cat. When he saw the cat sneak around the halls at night a few days later (Harry was doing the very same), his mental image of the animal was shattered.

But he couldn't deny that the cat was smart. In fact, when Harry and Ginny visited Sirius during the Hogsmeade weekend around Halloween, Sirius told them he'd made friends with an ugly, but very smart cat during his trips around the school grounds as a dog. That was when Crookshanks came trotting into their cave, as if he knew they were talking about him.

In the end, Harry never told Hermione about the secret life of her cat. After all, she was just his highly annoying, but incredibly useful study partner.

It was around four o'clock, according to Harry's watch, when Sirius made a strange, whiny sound. He changed into his human form again, and quickly lifted his head from Ginny's lap. Harry stopped scratching behind his ear just as quickly.

"Walden Macnair!" He hissed, pointing at the courtyard on the Marauder's Map. Harry and Ginny (who was still blushing), looked closer at the map. "What's that sodding bastard doing here?"

"Who's Walden Macnair?" Harry asked. He leaned back as much as he could. It was very crowded underneath the cloak at the moment.

"A bloody Death Eater, that's what he is. Escaped prosecution by claiming he was under the Imperius Curse, just like Malfoy did. Why would he be here?"

They didn't have to wait long to know the answer.

"Hey, look," Ginny said a while later. Harry, who was dozing off whilst leaning against the wall of the tunnel, returned to the present again. He looked at where Ginny was pointing.

"Hermione and Ron?" He asked. "Oh, look, there's Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe." The dots met each other in front of the castle and didn't move for a while. Eventually, Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe returned to the castle.

"Hermione and Ron are going to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "Hermione went there a few times, you know, with Buckbeak’s hearing just before we left, but Ron's never been there before, has he?"

"Dunno, Maybe that changed while we were away?" Ginny pondered. She then very abruptly turned to look at Harry, with a gleam in her eyes. “What if they’re boyfriend and girlfriend now?” She asked eagerly.

"But they fight all the time!" Harry protested.

"They're heading inside. Oh no…" Sirius groaned. Pettigrew's dot moved until it almost merged with Ron's.

"That moron!" Harry growled. "He's going to ruin everything!"

"Wait," Sirius said. "Look who's coming: Dumbledore, Macnair and Fudge! And they're all going to Hagrid's too! What's happening?"

"Well, there's only one thing where the Minister needs to be at Hagrid's hut, isn't there?" Ginny said.

"Yeah, they’re about to throw the strangest party ever,” Harry said sarcastically. “Hey, why don’t be pop in as well? The set would be complete!”

Ginny regarded him contemptuously.

“Oh,” Harry realized. “Right, that.”

“What are you two on about?” Sirius asked.

“Remember Buckbeak?” Harry asked him. Sirius nodded. “Well, they’re probably about to execute him. Hagrid’s lost the hearing.”

"That's probably why Ron and Hermione were there, then,” Ginny said solemnly. “Hermione did say she was going to help Hagrid defend Buckbeak, didn't she?
Maybe she wanted to say goodbye… Oh, look, they're leaving again."

"Right, sod this," Sirius said, making Harry and Ginny look up from the map. "You two wait here. I’m going to fetch our rat."

And then he was a dog again, and he disappeared through the hole before they could stop him. Crookshanks was on his heels, and he pressed his front paws against that specific knot on the bark of the Whomping Willow, momentarily freezing the tree and allowing Sirius to run away from the tree unharmed. Harry and Ginny crawled towards the entrance of the tree and watched how Sirius waited in the shadows until Hermione and Ron were not too far away from the Willow.

"How is he going to steal Pettigrew away from Ron?" Harry asked. "He's not going to change back into his human form, is he?"

"He'd better not," Ginny mumbled beside him.

He didn't. Sirius ran towards the pair, took Ron's leg between his jaws and dragged him towards the Willow, Ron's screaming clearly audible. Crookshanks pressed the tree again when Sirius got close, and Harry and Ginny stepped aside when he entered the hole underneath the tree. He didn't stop there, though, but dragged Ron further into the tunnel.

"He'd better not have hurt Ron," Ginny said angrily. “Honestly, what was he thinking?”

"Come on, we can't stay here," Harry said, pulling Ginny along by her sleeve. Harry took a moment to dispel the Marauder’s Map, and then they set off, jogging through the tunnel as fast as the low ceiling allowed, still hearing Ron shout in anguish further ahead. Sirius, even with his baggage, was much faster than them, and when they finally arrived in the Shrieking Shack, there was already a trail of blood going upstairs. Ginny grimaced at the sight, but Harry felt little sympathy towards Ron. He was always the loudest among the Gryffindors who taunted him, and just now he had almost ruined their chances of catching Pettigrew.

They ran upstairs and entered what once was a living room. Ron was cowering in a particularly dusty corner, whimpering and clutching his leg, and Sirius stood over him, still in his Animagus form. Harry was about to pull off his cloak when they heard a sound downstairs and moments later, Hermione showed up in the wrecked door opening. Her hair was bushier than ever before and she looked around the room in panic, still panting from running all the way through the tunnel.

"Ron!" She shouted when she saw him. She pointed her wand at Sirius, but Harry was quicker.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted. Only then did he remember that he could have casted that silently. Hermione whirled around to see Harry pull the cloak off him and Ginny and catch her wand deftly.

Sirius changed into himself again immediately.

"Harry! You’ve activated the Trace!" He moaned.

"She was going to curse you, Sirius! Bloody hell, Hermione, what were you thinking?"

"Harry?" Hermione asked bewilderedly. She backed away until she bumped against one of the deteriorated walls. In panic, she looked around for any ways of escaping, and Crookshanks chose that moment to come trotting into the room, completely at ease. He immediately went towards Sirius and rubbed his head against his leg affectionately. Hermione stared at her cat in shock.

"Ginny!" Ron cried. He tried to get up, but his leg didn't allow it. He yelped and adjusted his grip on his leg. Sirius whirled around and raised his wand at Ron.

"Ron!" Ginny ran towards him and kneeled down beside him. "I think I can heal that, hang on…"

"Ginny, we don't have much time right now," Sirius said. "Grab Pettigrew, and…"

"Don't you talk to her, Black! Stay away from her!" Ron now shouted. He tried to put himself between Sirius and Ginny, but Ginny stopped him from moving.

"Ron, they're both innocent. Now lie still, you'll only hurt yourself more!"

"Ginny!" Sirius pressed. "Get that rat!"

"Harry? What are you doing here?" Hermione asked. She looked very small, backed away in the corner like that, with her hands against the wall beside her.

"We're here to prove that Sirius is innocent," Harry replied shortly. The Dementors were now probably closing in on them, along with all the Aurors and Dumbledore. It was like a net slowly tightening around them.

"Ginny, we need to go, now!" He urged.

"Right, right! Ron, where's Scabbers?" Ginny asked. She hadn't been able to heal Ron's leg yet.

"Scabbers?" Ron spluttered.

"Yes, Scabbers. Hagrid gave him to you just now, didn't he? Where is he?"

"How d'you know that? And why would you want Scabbers?"

“Honestly, Ron! Do you have to play the idiot? You always do that at the most-”

“Ginny!” Sirius interrupted. “You can pick fights with your brother later, get on with it!”

“Right, sorry,” Ginny said, and she started rummaging through Ron’s pockets without further comment, despite his ardent protests. A few moments later she fished the rat out of one of the pockets of her brother’s Hogwarts robes. He was thrashing wildly in her grasp and squeaked loudly.

"No! What are you going to do to him? Why Scabbers?" Ron moaned in despair.

"Harry, the jar!" Sirius said, looking more agitated than ever. Harry ran over to Ginny, grabbed the magical jar from his coat, and together they managed to squeeze Pettigrew into it. Harry screwed the lid on it and breathed a sigh of relief. That was one part done. Now they had to leave.

"We can teleport to the Rock from here," he said. "Shall we?"

"But what about Ron?" Ginny asked. "His leg's broken, and I can't heal it!"

"Who in the bloody hell cares!" Sirius cried. "The Dementors are coming, Ginny! I'm not going to get Kissed because of one broken leg!"

"But we can't just-" The thundering sound of someone running up the stairs made them all stop and look around.

It was Remus Lupin who appeared in the doorway, panting loudly, clutching his heart and leaning against the doorframe.

Sirius shouted something and rushed over towards his friend, and tackled him in a hug.

"Remus, my friend! How did you know we were here?" he asked, pulling back from their embrace.

"I saw a black dog disappearing underneath the Willow, friend. I don’t need any more hints to know that you’re here,” Professor Lupin said, grinning.

Sirius let out a barking laugh. “Oh, Remus, have I missed you. Come on, we were just leaving, and look-“

“Yeah, well you’d better do that fast then,” Professor Lupin interrupted. “They were about to execute that Hippogriff when a group of Aurors came. They must've known somehow that you're here, because the last thing I saw before I went into the tunnel was Fudge running off, and I heard Dumbledore saying he was going to fetch the Dementors."

"I cast a spell," Harry said. "They must've noticed."

"Damn," Remus swore.

"And Buckbeak?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Still alive, I think."

Harry met Ginny's gaze. His heart was racing, his hands were shaking and his stomach felt dreadfully heavy. They were running on borrowed time, but he saw that Ginny had the same plan as he did.

"It's perfect!" Sirius cried. "Come on, you two head back with Pettigrew and I'll get that beast."

"No way. You're not going alone," Harry said.

"Harry, remember what Melchior said-"

"He called you egocentric and childish," Harry retorted. He ignored the confused stares of the others in the room.

"Good point," Sirius acknowledged. "Very well, then. Remus? What about you?"

"You've got Peter, then?" He asked. Harry held up the jar containing the rat. Professor Lupin eyed it with a look of pure abhorrence, then he cleared his throat.

"I was here for my monthly transformation and to my surprise I found Hermione and Ron here, but Sirius, Harry and Ginny were already gone. That should cover us all." Sirius opened his mouth to argue but Professor Lupin cut him off with a wave of his hand. "No, Sirius, we've already discussed this. I'll only be a danger to you if I come with you. I’m transforming tonight!" Sirius deflated and nodded, downcast.

"What about Ron and me?" Hermione asked. Harry gave her back her wand. She accepted it and smiled wanly at him.

"You were kidnapped by the evil Harry Potter, Sirius Black and Ginny Weasley, but they kindly let you live," Ginny said.

Ron stared at her like he'd never seen her before.

"They… they didn't kidnap you, then?" He asked her.

"No. They’re innocent." Ginny replied. She hesitated. "Say… say hello to the others, will you? I miss you all." And at that moment, she briefly looked like a scared little girl.

Ron swallowed, and then nodded at her.

"Good luck," Professor Lupin said, and he hugged the three of them as they left the room.

“We’ll see you soon,” Ginny called back, but Harry didn't look back once, and moments later he, Ginny, and Sirius ran as fast as they could through the tunnel, towards Hogwarts again.

It all seemed perfect a moment ago: they would save Buckbeak and immediately go back to Melchior again. Then they would handle Pettigrew, Sirius would be acquitted and the three of them could finally live a normal life again.

But they weren't there yet.

"We might as well use magic, right?" Ginny asked between her panting. "They know we're here anyway."

"Probably," Harry puffed. "Disillusion ourselves, then?"

"Yeah. The cloak's useless for running."

They disillusioned themselves whilst running, and Sirius changed into a dog mid-stride. Mercifully, they didn't encounter anyone in the tunnel, only Crookshanks, who sprinted ahead of them. Harry wondered for a moment what Hermione would think of her cat after today.

"We're really doing this, are we?" Ginny asked the others when the tunnel began sloping upwards.

"Don't think about it, Ginny," Harry panted. "And please don't make me think about it, either."

Finally, they reached the end. Crookshanks went out of the hole first to freeze the tree, then Sirius and finally Harry and Ginny stumbled over the thick roots into the daylight. The sun was setting, and that gave them a rather annoying glare as they sprinted down the grassy hill towards Hagrid's hut. Harry saw no sign of the Aurors or Dementors. They were probably at the Shrieking Shack now, but that didn't do much to allay Harry's fears. He'd seen how fast Dementors could be during the Quidditch match last fall.

Sirius arrived at the hut much earlier than Harry and Ginny. When Harry finally halted in Hagrid's front garden he saw Buckbeak, securely chained to a large wooden pole. He lay on the ground, but eyed the mutt that was prancing around in the front yard intently. Hagrid was nowhere to be seen, and when Harry peeked into the groundskeeper’s hut, he saw that it was empty.

"How do we get him to come with us?" Ginny asked, very close to him. Harry jumped at the sudden, disembodied voice. He tried to calm down and looked around. There, next to the hut. A pile of dead ferrets. He remembered the first lesson of Care for Magical Creatures, when Hagrid lead them to a clearing in the forest, a large amount of dead ferrets slung over his massive shoulder.

"The ferrets," he mumbled to no one in particular. He ran towards the pile, careful not to step on the small plants in Hagrid's kitchen garden, batted Sirius away, who was sniffing the carcases, and ran back towards Buckbeak. Harry remembered just in time why Buckbeak was in this position in the first place: Malfoy ignoring Hagrid's warning and not respecting the proud animal. It didn’t end well for him.

Harry looked around for any sign of life. Hagrid was nowhere to be seen, for some reason, but more importantly, neither were the Aurors and Dementors. The hill towards the castle was completely deserted.

“Did you hear that?” Ginny asked from beside him.

“Hear what?” Harry asked.

“Never mind.”

Harry looked around for any sign of life one last time, and then cancelled his disillusionment charm.

Buckbeak made a surprised noise and immediately sprung to his feet. Harry controlled his shaking body and bowed down towards him, not once breaking eye contact. He could almost hear Ginny holding her breath as they waited for Buckbeak to react, and he had to resist looking around to see if the coast was still clear. Finally, just when Harry thought he couldn't handle it anymore, the Hippogriff sank into an elegant bow.

He breathed out shakily and threw a ferret at Buckbeak, remembering how Hagrid had fed him. Buckbeak caught it, swallowed it in one go and then looked hungrily at the other carcases Harry was holding.

"Not yet, Buckbeak," Harry said to him. His voice cracked. He sounded stupidly frightened, he thought.

He slowly edged closer to the animal, feeding it another ferret to be safe, and then tried to loosen the chains.

"I'm going to reveal myself too, Harry, be careful," Ginny said from somewhere behind him. Buckbeak made a very affronted noise when yet another person appeared out of thin air, but he didn’t lash out. Harry tried to mollify him with another ferret. He still had five left. He paused for a moment until Buckbeak had bowed to Ginny as well, and then continued again.

"C'mon, hurry up!" Ginny said.

"I'm trying!" Harry said. "Here, you take the ferrets. I need both my hands for this." He fed another one to Buckbeak and tossed the bundle of the remaining ones towards her. She barely caught them.

Try as he might, Harry was unable to dislodge the chains. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, there was a knot he couldn't loosen and the large and heavy rings proved very annoying to deal with. He sneered and swore under his breath. He pulled and pulled, and pulled again, but it was no use at all. He looked at Buckbeak, trying to gauge his mood.

The Hippogriff was looking back at him in curiosity, probably wondering what that human was doing, but he didn’t look distressed at all. If only Harry felt the same. He slowly pulled his wand out and aimed it at the chains. Praying it wouldn't scare Buckbeak too much, he waved his wand in a controlled fashion and thought: “Reducto”.

The rings of the chain burst apart with a loud "clang!" that sounded much too loud. Harry had no doubt that someone had heard that.

Buckbeak gave an indignant cry, but thankfully didn't do more than ruffle his feathers and whip his tail around a bit. Harry fumbled a bit more with the chains, and then finally they came loose from the stake.

"Got it!" He shouted triumphantly. Ginny cheered and Sirius barked excitedly.

"C'mon, Beaky," Harry urged the Hippogriff. He walked in the direction of the Forbidden Forest and pulled on the chain, intent on leaving the Hogwarts grounds as quickly as possible so that they could return to Melchior. But Buckbeak didn't want to leave. He braced his front legs and raised his chest, a stance that clearly said: "No. I stay here."

Harry gritted his teeth in annoyance, turned around and pulled on the chain with all his strength, leaning forward to try and make the animal move using his body weight, but it was no use at all. The dark edge of the forest never looked more enticing. Sirius growled, probably just as agitated as Harry was.

"Try and lure him with the ferrets, Ginny," he said. No reply. He turned around. Ginny wasn’t the only one there anymore.

His heart sank when he saw a large group of Aurors standing there on the edge of Hagrid’s garden. Harry couldn't see how many, twelve, thirteen? There were far, far too many. One held Ginny by the arms; all the others had their wands pointed at Harry, Buckbeak and Sirius.

Buckbeak edged away from the group towards Harry, and stood in front of him protectively.

"She's struggling, sir," the man holding Ginny said.

"Stun her," one of the Aurors commanded. He had long, greying hair that looked like manes of a lion. His eyes looked yellow as well in the setting sun. "They might have put her under the Imperius curse, or given her a potion."

"Let her go!" Harry shouted. He pointed his wand at the group, and all the Aurors gripped their own wands more firmly.

One of the men next to Ginny put his wand against the side of her head and cast a stunning spell. She stopped struggling and slumped in her captor's arms.

"Harry Potter, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Ginevra Weasley, for assaulting a Hogwarts Professor, for helping a wanted fugitive remain hidden from the Ministry and a very long list of other crimes. Now, put the wand away, and step away from the Hippogriff," the man who seemed to be the leader called. His voice was calm, commanding.

Harry was about to shout a retort, but he was distracted by Sirius taking the sleeve of his coat in his mouth and tugging on it. Harry understood the hint. He took a step backwards and tugged the chain in his hand. Buckbeak edged away as well, but didn't once turn his back on the Aurors.

"Sir!" One of the Aurors said. "That dog! It’s the Grim!”

Harry could almost feel the ripple of fear that passed through the group of Aurors. He used the brief distraction to edge away even further. He looked behind him. It was too far. His best chance was probably to climb on Buckbeak and fly away, but that wasn't a good chance at all.

"Don't move!" One of the Aurors shouted.

"Stay in your Animagus form, and we run when I say so," Harry hissed at Sirius from the corner of his mouth. He was afraid that the moment Sirius changed back into himself would be the moment when the Aurors stopped waiting and started fighting. A bead of sweat slowly crawled down his neck. He looked at Ginny’s unconscious form and hoped that when she woke up she would understand that this was the last thing he wanted to do.

“NOW! PROTEGO!” Harry cried, and pandemonium broke loose.

An almost solid, shimmering shield bloomed before him, Buckbeak staggered, Sirius sprinted away towards the forest and the Aurors immediately started firing curses. But Harry stood his ground. Curses and spells impacted his shield, collided with each other, some hitting Buckbeak after they were deflected. But Harry stood his ground.

He felt that same energy course through his veins, just like Melchior taught him. He felt that energy flow through him, and out through his wand and into the shield.

But it wasn’t enough. Harry’s hands were slippery from the sweat, he felt tired, and more and more cracks started forming in his shield. Harry gripped his wand tighter and willed himself to remain standing, even though everything inside him screamed for relief. He clenched his jaw and jabbed his wand at the shield… and to his surprise the shield grew.

Despite the barrage of curses, despite his tired body, the shield crystallized before his very eyes. The Aurors and their curses and spells became a blurry mess behind the translucent shield, the cracks retreated the same way they came, and Harry’s heart soared at the sight. He didn’t understand how, but it wasn’t over yet.

He straightened his back, spanned the muscles in his wand-arm and felt for Buckbeak’s feathers with his other hand. He felt the warm feathers between his fingers, but didn’t once avert his gaze from his shield spell.

His thoughts raced. He had to get on the Hippogriff’s back now, but how could he do that without breaking his shield? He couldn’t. There was nothing else to do than to remove the charm, climb on Buckbeak’s back as fast as he could, and simply wish for the best.

He counted to three in his head, hesitated for just a moment, and then, with one last burst of strength, he broke the spell. He felt the energy from before drain from his body, but he paid no mind to that as he jumped onto the staggering beasts’ back. Something singed a lock of his hair, and he closed his eyes as he felt Buckbeak spread his wings, turn away from the Aurors, and finally they lifted up into the air. Harry was amazed that no spell had hit him.

He opened his eyes dared to look behind him. The Aurors were still firing curses at him but there was already a rapidly growing distance between them and Harry, and their spellcasting weren't accurate enough to hit him or Buckbeak. He saw Ginny, still unmoving, but he didn't see a sign of Sirius anywhere. He hoped he had managed to flee as well.

Even though he was out of range of the Aurors and now soaring high above the treeline, he didn't feel at ease in the slightest. Ginny was taken, Sirius was missing and the Ministry now knew where he was and would surely be able to trace him. It was hopeless.

He didn't even know if he could transport Buckbeak with him to the Rock, but if he could, he doubted the Hippogriff would take being transported over hundreds of miles in a few seconds too well. He'd already seen what those claws could do, and he didn't want to be torn to shreds.

And what about Ginny? Who knew what the Aurors were doing to her now. They might be taking her straight to the Ministry, like Melchior said, and there they would pump her full of Veritaserum. Then she would confess to opening the Chamber of Secrets, and she would be thrown into Azkaban immediately, where she would be rotting until she was either insane or dead. And Sirius was gone too, but how could one person shake off an entire team of Aurors? And it was getting so cold now…

He gasped and looked around him. The sky, once cloud-free and full of colours caused by the sunset, was now dark, steely grey, with swirling clouds looming threateningly above him. Harry's tired fingers grew numb with the cold, and it became even harder to hold onto Buckbeak's feathers. He looked ahead of him again when Buckbeak cried out in distress.

Dementors. Dozens of them, crowding the steely-grey sky. They didn't seem in a hurry, floating eerily in the air like that, because they knew without a doubt that their prey had nowhere to go. Buckbeak turned right to avoid the flock of creatures, but there were even more there. Harry looked around him, but there were Dementors everywhere around them. They were surrounded, and utterly trapped.

He heard screaming, and knowing who it was, he almost welcomed it.

"Not Harry! Please, not Harry!"

Buckbeak changed the beat his wings to slow down and cried out in distress.

"Stand aside, stupid girl, come on, stand aside…"

Buckbeak swayed up and down on the spot in mid-air. Jumping off now was no use. Although Harry could still faintly make out the branches beneath them, he would certainly not survive the drop. He tried to think, but the mist inside his head numbed him completely.

"No, not Harry, please! Take me, kill me-"

Harry buried his head between Buckbeak's feathers and clung onto him tightly, willing himself to not succumb to the Dementors and escape…

The Rock. He dared to let Buckbeak go with his right hand, dug into the pockets of his coat, and found the little stone that was his escape.

"Not Harry! Please… mercy… mercy…"

He wanted to get away from here. He wanted to be safe, he wanted it to end. And that was when he felt himself be pulled away, to safety.
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