𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 | draco malfoy [3]

𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈. BACK IN TIME

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
BACK IN TIME

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"Good luck?" Harry questions as Dumbledore leaves the room. "Three turns? What's he talking about? What do we have to do?"

But instead of answering, Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her sweatshirt. From beneath, she pulled out a long, thin, golden chain.

"Giovanna, Harry, come here, quick." She says urgently, and looks at Ron. "Sorry Ron, but seeing as your leg's hurt..."

"What?" The ginger questioned.

Harry and I moved towards her, confused. At the end of the chain was a tiny sparkling hourglass enclosed by a circle. I recognized it.

"That's a time turner!" I gasped in awe.

"Here-" Hermione threw the chain around Harry and I as well. "Ready?" She asked us.

"What are we doing?" Harry asked again.

Hermione, using the dials, turned the hourglass three times. The dark ward dissolved. I had the sensation that I was flying very fast, backward. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past. And then I felt solid ground beneath my feet, and everything came into focus again-

I was standing next to Harry and Hermione in the deserted entrance hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. Harry and I looked wildly around, at Hermione, the chain of the hourglass was cutting into my neck.

"Hermione, what-?"

"In here!" She whispered. She grabbed our arms and dragged us across the hallway.

"What- how-?" Harry was so confused. "Hermione, what happened?"

"We've gone back in time." She lifted the chain off of Harry and I, tucking the time turner back under her shirt. "Three hours back."

"But-"

"Shh! Listen, someone's coming! I think... I think it might be us!" She leaned closer. "Footsteps across the hall... yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid's."

"Are you telling me," Harry began lowly, "that we're here in this hallway, but we're also in the other one too?"

"Yes," Hermione whispered impatiently, "I'm sure it's us. It doesn't sound like more than four people. And we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak. We've gone down the front steps..."

"Why do you have a time turner?" I asked Hermione while we waited.

"I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies.... I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But... Harry, Giovanna, I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"

"Three hours ago we were walking to Hagrid's..." I trailed off, thinking. "Dumbledore said more than one innocent life could be saved..." then it hit me, "Buckbeak!" 

"But, how will that help Sirius?" Harry asks.

"Dumbledore said - he just told us where the window is - the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've got Sirius locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak - they can escape together!" I explained.

"If we manage that... it'll be a miracle!" Hermione exclaimed with wide eyes. Harry looked determined.

"Well... we've got to try, haven't we?" He listened. "It doesn't sound like anyone's in the hall, let's go."

The entrance hall was deserted. As quietly and quickly as we could, we darted down the hall and down the stone steps. The shadows were already lengthening, the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest gilded once more with gold.

"If anyone's looking out of a window-" Hermione glanced back at the castle worriedly.

"We'll run for it." Harry says shortly. 

"Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout-" I sigh.

"Okay, but we'll go around by the greenhouses!" said Hermione breathlessly. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!" 

We tore across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, paused for a moment behind them, then set off again, fast as we could, skirting around the Whomping Willow, tearing toward the shelter of the forest.

Safe in the shadows of the trees, I turned around; seconds later, Harry appeared, then Hermione arrived beside him, panting.

"Right," she gasped. "We need to sneak over to Hagrid's.... Keep out of sight...."

We made our way silently through the trees, keeping to the very edge of the forest. Then, as the three of us glimpsed the front of Hagrid's house, we heard a knock upon his door.

I moved quickly behind a wide oak trunk and peered out from either side. Hagrid had appeared in his doorway, shaking and white, looking around to see who had knocked. And I heard Harry's voice. "It's us. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off."

"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered. He stood back, then shut the door quickly.

The Harry with us now turned to Hermione and me.

"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done."

I looked back, watching as our past selves entered Hagrid's hut.

"Definitely."