ALWAYS (Harry Potter fanfiction) (Snape fanfiction)

Chapter 19

"You're not going, you're hurt" Hermione said as she put a sort of necklace around herself, Harry and Arabella.

She took out a time turner, and Ella watched in amazement as she turned it. The world around them seemed to shift, the light changed and even the atmosphere.

"It's seven thirty, where were we?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, I was with Sirius, where were you before Sirius appeared?" Arabella asked them.

"With Hagrid"

They ran towards Hagrid's hut, however, they encountered with a curious scene. They watched as the scene played out, finishing with Hermione hitting Draco in the nose. Arabella flinched, and furrowed her brow.

"You got a nice arm, Hermione" Arabella told her. She saw what happened and saw how Draco was being an ass to them, so this time, there were no excuses, he got what he asked for.

"You think?" Hermione asked and Arabella nodded.

"He needs to be brought down to his senses from time to time, he needed it" Arabella told Hermione and smiled at the younger girl.

"Let's go" Harry said and they went to behind the pumpkins to see Buckbeak, "c'mon, let's free him"

"No! Fudge has to see him, Harry. Or he'll think Hagrid freed him" Hermione told him and he reluctantly nodded.

They waited a while until Fudge saw te Hippogryph, but the trio still didn't get out of the house. Hermione saw a rock on top of a pumpkin and threw it towards the house, a jar broke. In front of Arabella, there was another rock, so she took it and threw it. It hit Harry in the head, but it made them turn to look at Fudge.

"That hurt" Harry told his sister, a topic that the had still to talk about.

"Sorry" Arabella told him truthfully.

They hid behind the trees while Harry, Ron and Hermione hid where they were. Later, they tried and achieved to get Buckbeak away from the open and got him into the woods. They went to the entrance of the Whomping Willow to wait for themselves to come back out.

"Harry?" Arabella asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you think we can talk?" Arabella asked him and he sighed, and nodded.

"I'll be over there, watching Buckbeak" Hermione said and Arabella thanked her silently.

"I know what you want to talk about, Arabella" Harry told her abruptly.

"I- I actually don't know what to say... I practiced so many times what I would tell you and how... and now I am blank" Arabella told him, she sighed and threw herself to the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her.

"I don't know, I didn't know how you would react" Arabella told him, "but now you know"

"My mum, she, did she cheat-" Harry began but Arabella cut him off.

"Don't even say it, Harry. Mum would never do that, I was born before your parents got engaged. Mum loved James, and she loved you very much, you shouldn't doubt that, not for a second, you hear me?" Arabella told him seriously.

"Okay..." Harry said, trying to process it all.

"Harry, don't hate me, please. I never told you and I'm sorry, but don't doubt for a minute that I love you. I lost a brother already, Harry, please don't make me lose another" Arabella told him sweetly, putting her hand on his cheek.

"I don't hate you, just let me get used to the idea of having a sister, okay?" Harry asked her and she nodded.

After the talk, they sat in comfortable silence as they waited. It was dark when they came out, and they had to painfully watch as Professor Lupin transformed and Pettigrew escaped. When Harry went after Remus and Sirius, it was Hermione who howled, saving Harry's life but guiding the werewolf towards them. Lupin tried to hunt them, Arabella had to use her wand a couple times, to distract them at least, finally, it was Buckbeak who saved them. They went to the Black Lake, and watched as Arabella slowly healed Sirius, and saw her become visibly weaker.

"You're dying" Hermione told her and she nodded.

"You have no idea" Arabella told the girl, remembering the white room the looked like Spinners End, where Altan and Lily met her.

After some seconds, the dementors started to appear and surround them, Harry did his best effort at keeping them at bay, but they were too many. They saw as Arabella crumbled down next to Sirius and the dementors started to suck her happiness off too. A white veil, almost imperceptible, covered her and Harry for about a minute, but later disappeared. Arabella knew that it was Lily trying to protect them.

"My dad's gonna come, I saw him" Harry told the girls.

"Harry, we're dying" Arabella reminded him.

"No one's gonna come, Harry" Hermione told him.

Harry Potter took a deep breath and came out of his hiding place. Took out his wand and casted the most powerful Patronus Arabella had ever seen, it was fully corporeal and it achieved to draw all hundreds of dementors away. After the dementors were gone, they mounted Buckbeak and went to the highest tower, were Sirius was kept prisoner.

"Bombarda!" Hermione and Arabella casted, the lock and part of the wall were blasted off in identical explosions.

They went down to the patio and Hermione and Arabella waited as Harry said goodbye to his godfather. Afterwards, he mounted the creature and told Arabella that if she ever needed something or somewhere to stay, she could always find it with him.

After watching Sirius go away, the trio returned running to the infirmary, encountering Dumbledore along the way and told him they had succeeded. They entered the Hospital Wing just as they were disappearing at the same time.

"B-b-but how? You just disappeared!" Ron exclaimed and they all laughed nervously.

"How high are you, Ronald?" Arabella joked.

"Yeah, you cannot be at two places at once," Harry said and they all laughed.

In the end, more than one innocent life were saved.