Jupiter | Harry James Potter

xxi ; back in time

"Harry, Jove, wake up." Hermione said, forcing my eyes open as she shook me. I was in the hospital wing, and it was considerably darker out.

"I saw my dad." Harry gasped, sitting up slightly in the bed next to me. My head was throbbing, and I felt like I could vomit up all of the cold inside my body.

"What?" Hermione asked, sitting next to Harry on his bed.

"He sent the dementors away." Harry smiled proudly. I remembered my dream, my whole body shivering as I pictured the woman's face. She was the woman I had seen in the crystal ball. She was my mother.

"Listen, they've captured Sirius. Any minute, the dementors are going to perform the kiss." Hermione said, pulling my attention back to reality.

"You mean they're going to kill him?" Harry asked, quickly shuffling out of bed.

"No." Hermione sighed. "It's worse. Much worse. They're going to suck out his soul."

The doors to the hospital wing were thrown open forcefully, and Dumbledore came marching in, his floor length robes flowing fiercely behind him.

"Headmaster, you've got to stop them!" Hermione gasped, stomping forward. "They've got the wrong man!"

"It's true, sir." Harry confirmed. "Sirius is innocent."

"It's Scabbers who did it." Ron said, and Dumbledore's crazed eyes flashed over to him in the bed across from mine.

"Scabbers?"

"He's my rat, sir. He's not really a rat. Well, he was my brother Percy's rat. But then they gave him an owl, then I got-"

"Peter Pettigrew!" I said, cutting off Ron before he could waste any more time. I sat up slightly in my bed, and I felt the world spin around me. "He's an unregistered animagi."

"And we know the truth." Hermione said, and Dumbledore looked at her with his mouth open slightly in shock. "Please believe us."

"I do, Miss Granger. But I'm sorry to say the word of four third-year wizards will convince few others." Dumbledore sighed, then walked over to Ron, who had his leg propped up and bandaged properly. "A child's voice, however honest and true is meaningless to those who have forgotten how to listen." He patted Ron's leg absentmindedly, and Ron let out several whimpers of pain, but didn't say anything.

The clock-tower began to ring, and Dumbledore's face quickly regained his usual mystical expression.

"Mystical thing, time. Powerful. And when meddled with, dangerous." Dumbledore said, walking past Hermione and to the doors. "Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the Dark Tower. You know the laws, Miss Granger. You must not be seen. And you will 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. Three turns should do it, I think."

Harry looked extremely confused, but I knew exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. Hermione was going to go back in time to save Sirius. Dumbledore turned and walked back into the hallway, then looked back once more.

"Oh, and I think you'll be needing these. And Mr. Potter, the gift from your father has been tucked away in your trunk." He winked as he held out a clump of wands. Hermione scurried over and grabbed them from his hand. "When in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin. Good luck." Dumbledore smiled, then shut the doors.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Ron asked as Hermione handed him and Harry their wands.

"Sorry, Ron, but seeing as you can't walk..." Hermione sighed, then pulled her necklace out from under her jacket. "Jove, you coming?"