The Magic of Family

Chapter Twenty- Time for Trust, Time for Truth

"Hermione," broke in Harry when it seemed like her rambling would go on longer, "what are you talking about? Where is Sephiroth?"

"Oh, Harry, it's terrible the minister is insisting on giving Sirius Black the dementor's kiss."

"Hermione that doesn't answer…" the door of the infirmary swinging open to allow Headmaster Dumbledore entrance interrupted Harry's repeated question.

"Professor!" shouted Hermione launching herself at the aged Headmaster. Harry followed at a more sedate pace, knowing he would not be able to get a word in edgewise with the way Hermione was going on about all that had happened that night and truly not feeling like aggravating his wounds more than they already were. Potions were awesome and all, but they still took time to work completely.

Harry managed to get close enough to the conversing pair to not have to shout his questions in time for Hermione's retelling to run out of steam-or just breath, Harry was unsure if she had stopped once during the entire narrative for something as mundane as breathing-however the Headmaster took over before Harry could once more begin questioning where Sephiroth was-a very logical question in his opinion since the last things he could remember were running from a werewolf and then being surrounded by dementors.

"Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady-entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife-without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence."

"Wait, where has Pettigrew gone? Professor Snape had him…"

"What we need," interrupted Dumbledore, "is more time."

"But-" Hermione began. And then her eyes became very round, "OH!"

At the same time Harry could feel his already strained control on his temper begin to completely unravel as he half-yelled, "What we need is to find Sephiroth and obviously Professor Snape cause that….that….rat could not have escaped from him without help. Something must have happened to him."

Harry could feel his eye begin to twitch as Hermione and Dumbledore both ignored his, completely logical, questions/concerns in favor of the Headmaster telling Hermione where Sirius Black was being held and warning her repeatedly about obeying the law and not being seen.

Harry grumbled to himself as he limped back to 'his' bed-three years and he had been in the stupid infirmary enough times to actually lay claim to a bed, lay claim to a bed well enough that even when he was brought in unconscious Madam Pomfrey put him in it. Finding his wand on the nightstand where he normally put it-once again too often in the infirmary of the supposed 'safest place in Great Britain' for that to be a habit-he quickly snatched it up and began to march, well more like quickly shuffle 'jog' to the doors that the Headmaster was just closing behind his retreating back.

The 'thud' that came with the closing of the heavy doors was almost loud enough to cover the quiet snick of the lock being slid into place, but Harry's sharp ears, a necessity from living with the Dursleys, were able to pick up the noise.

"What...why has he locked the door...what is he…" began Harry as quickly tried pulling the door handle to see if what his ears had picked up was truly what had happened. When the door refused to budge he drew his wand, ready to cast Alohamora, because surely Madam Pomfrey would throw a fit if the Headmaster cast a spell to keep the door locked and happened to prevent any injured students from getting to her.

Before he could cast more than Aloha, he registered the sensation of a body standing entirely too close to his unprotected back and a chain of some kind-small and delicate, and almost non-threatening- slipped around his neck and the dim colors of the nighttime infirmary ward began to swirl around him. A wind that should not exist in the enclosed area picked up and blew his hair into his eyes, carrying with it the muffled sounds of a multitude of voices. The sensations became so disorienting that Harry was forced to close his eyes before the contents of his stomach made a reappearance.

He had just enough time to register the lack of wind and the feel of sunlight on his face before he was unceremoniously shoved to the side and a hand was placed over his mouth. The culprit of all of the manhandling revealed herself to be Hermione when he opened his eyes. Growling, he wrestled her, surprisingly strong, grip from his face and turned his second best glare on her where she was leaned against the door of the broom cupboard that she had pulled them into, listening to what was going on outside.

"Hermione, what have you…"

"Shhh, if I'm right then that should be Ron and myself leaving to go see Hagrid, and I'm assuming you were close behind us."

That eye twitch came again as he was once again interrupted, "Hermione…"

"Shhhh, honestly Harry do you want to get us caught?" interrupted Hermione, once again, as she, once again, attempted to put her hand over Harry's mouth.

"Well maybe," growled Harry as he snagged Hermione's flailing hand by the wrist in an iron grip, "if you take the time to actually explain what is going on I won't get us caught."

Hermione got a sheepish expression on her face as Harry's admonishment, but he was quick enough to catch the brief flair of annoyance in her eyes before she started explaining.

"Well if you had been paying any attention Harry then you would know that Headmaster Dumbledore was telling us how to rescue Sirius. We used my Time Turner to go back three hours to before everything happened and we can use that time to rescue Sirius."

"And what exactly is a Time Turner?" questioned Harry, attempting-and probably failing-to only allow his confusion and not his roiling anger to show in his voice. Hermione's look of haughty superiority did not exactly help in his endeavor.

"Honestly Harry, haven't you been wondering how I've managed to get to all of my classes this year? A Time Turner is a device that turns back time an hour for every turn you give it. Because of the danger of using them-such as seeing yourself or messing up a pivotal part in the timeline-the Ministry strongly regulates who can use one."

"And they gave you one...to go to classes?" Hermione was entirely too smug at Harry's question, obviously thinking he was praising her instead of once again questioning the sanity of all of the adults in his life. They were all insane not to question giving a thirteen year old a highly regulated magical item just so that she did not have to actually choose which classes to take.

"Of course, after all I need to take all of the classes that I can. Now come on," she answered grabbing Harry's wrist and dragging him out of the cupboard and toward the Entrance Hall doors, "we need to sneak down to Hagrid's hut…"

"Hermione…"

"We're going to need to avoid you and Sephiroth, so if you could tell me where you both were hiding that could help us…"

"Hermione…"

"Professor Dumbledore said we could save more than one innocent person if we were careful, so I can only assume that means Buckbeak…

"HERMIONE…"

"but everyone is right there when Buckbeak is executed so it will be extremely difficult to get there without being seen…"

"HERMIONE!" yelled Harry as he finally managed to tear his wrist out of Hermione's grasp, causing her to stumble to a stop, both physically and verbally.

He quickly spoke up before she could start up again, "Would it help if we used my invisibility cloak?"

"Well yes," began Hermione with an exasperated sigh, "but we don't have it with us now do we?"

"You might not," snorted Harry, "but I picked it up after you dropped it. You know, after you stole it."

Harry grit his teeth as Hermione rolled her eyes and held out her hand imperiously for the Cloak, "Harry, we didn't steal the Cloak, but we needed it to go see Hagrid and we didn't have time to ask you for it. We knew you would have said yes if we could find you. Now come on we really do need to hurry, at this rate we should arrive right as my previous self and Ron are leaving."

Harry once more pushed the anger down before he could explode all over Hermione about how there is a very big difference between asking to borrow something and assuming you could borrow something. From the set of her features, Harry could tell that any kind of reaction would be summarily dismissed and instead send Hermione into a lecture about sharing with friends and it would somehow devolve from there into obeying those in authority. Besides, since no one would answer his questions, Harry guessed going along with Hermione's inane plan would be the best way to find his own answers.

So instead of completely losing his temper, Harry simply pulled the Cloak out of his pocket and helped Hermione to have it cover both of them. Quietly and carefully they went down the castle grounds, being extra careful when they passed where Harry and Sephiroth were hiding. It was weird to Harry to see himself standing there beside Sephiroth, but it was even weirder when Sephiroth's piercing green eyes briefly landed on the concealed duo and Harry was positive that they had been spotted. Fortunately, Sephiroth's attention was drawn toward the concealed and struggling Hermione and Ron before Harry could really start to have a panic attack.

Other than almost being spotted by Sephiroth, Hermione and Harry made it to the back of Hagrid's hut without any problems and found a good hiding spot right on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry once again wanted to strangle Hermione when she ran out into Hagrid's back garden and used a brace of dead ferrets to lure Buckbeak back with them into the Forbidden Forest, his dappled tail end just disappearing into the forest when Hagrid and the Ministry team came out of the hut, ready to complete the execution.

While Hermione was attempting to wrangle Buckbeak into staying where she could keep him 'safe,' Harry moved to where he was able to catch glimpses of what was going on at the Whomping Willow. He watched as Sirius pulled Ron into the tunnel and Hermione followed behind with himself and Sephiroth following with Crookshanks. a minute and then Professor Lupin hurried through followed even later by Professor Snape.

As Snape's dark head disappeared into the dark crevice, Harry found himself a good place to rest and wait because nothing would be happening until everyone reemerged from the Shrieking Shack tunnel.

Forty-five minutes later, Harry was just beginning to doze when the eerie creaks of the Whomping Willow died out, the abrupt silence drawing his attention and letting him know that this was the time when things were about to go down.

"Okay Harry this is what we are going to do. We need to...BUCKBEAK NO!" Hermione began before she abruptly had to cut off and chase after Buckbeak as Lupin's howl after transforming into a werewolf had startled the creature into bolting further into the woods and away from the predator.

Harry was not too concerned about her, the majority of the creatures in the forest would have sensed the awakening of a Dark creature and sought to be elsewhere. Plus Buckbeak was half predator, once his prey instincts were satisfied that they were far enough away from the threat, he would stop and allow Hermione to catch back up.

Besides, he had a destination that he needed to reach. Harry was unsure where exactly in the Forest the lake was, but as he watched his past self, Lupin and Black, and then Sephiroth disappear into the gloom off to his right, he guessed that following the vague shapes of the swarming dementors would give him a good idea of where to go.

Cautiously Harry wandered through the forest, close enough to keep sight of the vague outlines of dark, moving shapes but still far enough away to only feel twinges of the dementor's power affecting him. Twenty minutes of ankle breaking wandering later and Harry was finally able to see the lake where he had last seen Sephiroth.

While Hermione had not been very forthcoming on what exactly could happen if their past self saw their future self, she had stressed the dangers of it enough that Harry found it prudent to hide himself in the bushes on the back edge of the lake. He clearly remembered passing out when the light of a patronus joined the strange green light that surrounded Sephiroth, so he should have time to follow Sephiroth before he could get too lost in the twisting branches and gnarled underbrush.

Patiently, he watched as Sirius stumbled into the clearing, attracting more and more Dementors as the first recognized his appearance. With gritted teeth, he watched as Sephiroth helped the stumbling Harry over to the collapsed form. With frost on his lips and the ringing pleas from his dying mother ringing in his ears, he lifted his wand and intoned the spell that had never worked before. With conviction in his heart and fire in his eyes, he watched as silver mist burst from his wand and condensed into the writhing shape that he had glimpsed previously.

As the green light rose to join his patronus, Harry knew that he should begin heading around the lake in an effort to give himself the best chance of catching Sephiroth before he could completely disappear, but he could not help taking a moment to admire the corporeal form of his patronus.

Approaching fifteen feet in length, Harry was not surprised that he had previously been unable to conjure a happy enough memory to create such a behemoth creature. The body of the great serpent twisted in turns in spirals and loops, making it appear larger than it actually was. A foot from its flat shovel-like head sprouted two wings, adding a further five feet to either side.

A flash of silver different from the gleam of a patronus drew Harry out of his stupor of observation and reminded him of why he was actually out here in the first place. Leaving the patronus to complete its job of driving off the swarming dementors, Harry hustled to follow the rapidly diminishing form of his friend.

Harry cursed tree roots and grasping branches in the same breath that he blessed the reflective quality of silver hair bathed in moonlight. Ten minutes of running and he had yet to catch up with Sephiroth, but he had also managed not to lose sight of the other. Finally, Sephiroth's fleeing form collapsed against a large twisted oak, and Harry felt his breath catch in his throat as a dark feathered wing wrapped itself around the shivering form.

Slowly and cautiously, as though approaching a wild animal, Harry approached to within a few feet of the cowering form. Once in arms reach, Harry lowered himself to sit cross-legged on the forest floor and waited. Harry hated when people assumed they had a right to know his every thought and secret, so he would not push Sephiroth to reveal his, but he also would not allow the older boy to believe (or convince himself) that Harry would no longer be his friend simply because he was different.

As the seconds grew and no words were spoken, he could see the tension gathering in Sephiroth's shoulders, revealed through the slight quivering of the dark feathers. Still Harry held his tongue, determined to let Sephiroth tell as much or as little as he so chose. Instead, he took the time to study the dark appendage.

Harry had had his suspicions about Sephiroth, and his family, since the train ride to Hogwarts on September first, those suspicions had only grown after the first disastrous Quidditch match when he had awoken in the infirmary with dark feathers clutched in his hand. He was actually quite relieved to discover that he had not gone insane and there was actually a, mostly, sensible explanation for things.

His perusal of Sephiroth's wing was cut short as the other boy exploded upward in a burst of energy, massive wing mantling behind him in a sign of aggression.

"Why did you follow me! Why are you still here!" yelled Sephiroth, a sneer on his lips and fire in his eyes.

But Harry had seen that fire enough times before, that was a fire born of fear, the fire used to protect oneself from others. So he did not take offense at Sephiroth's mistrust, he did not lose his temper or rise to his feet to be equal with the angered silverette. No, instead Harry remained seated on the ground and met Sephiroth's eyes as he spoke in a calming voice.

"I'm here because I'm your friend."

A scoff, "You would still claim to be friends with a monster."

"I don't see any monsters here, Seph."

Sephiroth threw his wing out to its full six foot span and gestured too it wildly as he continued to shout, "Me, I'm the monster, can't you see that!"

Harry allowed a bit of his anger, at others, at the world, at himself, to fill his voice, "Do you feel like going back to Hogwarts and slaughtering everyone in it? Do you feel like burning Hogsmeade and everyone in it to the ground?"

"No.." began Sephiroth before Harry harshly interrupted him.

"Then you are not a monster. You…"

"NO! I may not want to do those things, but I have! I've killed hundreds, slaughtered innocents, burned villages to the ground and attempted to destroy entire planets! I am a monster." Sephiroth's voice that had started off strong and determined, trailed off to a pitiful whisper as he completed his tirade.

Harry felt his brow furrow in concern as he attempted to understand what the other was talking about. Sephiroth was only thirteen, surely if he had done all of those things there would have been rumors of a new Dark Lord.

Confused verdant green met defeated swirling green and said the only thing that he could in such a case, "Explain."

So he did. With halting words, pacing, shouting, ranting, and whispers, Sephiroth told the story of life in a lab, being 'sold' as a SOLDIER, fighting in a war while still a teen, being in command-yet not truly in charge of his own life, friends and loss, insanity, Mother, fire, death, revival, a rival, death again, reunion, and then the offer of rebirth. An offer given by the very Planet he had sought to destroy, to rule. A chance to live the life he was never given, with parents and siblings.

He spoke of how six accepted the offer of the Planet to be reborn in a different dimension, on a different planet. How his memories were wiped to the most basic and for four years he lived the life of one free from guilt. Of how on his eleventh birthday, he awoke to dreams of fire and death and the whispers of a voice calling for the death of those labeled 'unworthy.'

How Zack, his former Lieutenant, and Aerith, one of the many victims of his madness, had held him, forgiven him, and continued to raise and love him as their child. With Sephiroth's awakening the triplets too began to remember echoes of their former selves and the tale of Hojo was concocted to cover any slips.

Harry listened to Sephiroth's tale and watched the emotions showcased on his face and in his eyes. He watched as the story progressed and the wing withdrew, to be replaced with hunched shoulders and averted eyes.

As the story finished, Harry was not certain if he believed, or even understood, everything that Sephiroth was saying, but he did know that nothing that had been said or done this night had affected how he felt about Sephiroth as a friend, and he intended to prove it to the other.

He only became more determined as he watched Sephiroth shrink even further in on himself, withdrawing from both Harry and the world. Harry had a very Slytherin smirk on his face as he followed a very Gryffindor impulse and tackled Sephiroth to the ground in a fierce hug. The silverette stiffened at the contact and attempted to get away, but Harry was tenacious and would not allow the other to escape his embrace.

Finally, Sephiroth seemed to accept that Harry truly was only hugging him and not attempting anything else and ceased his struggles, instead burying his face in the junction where Harry's neck met his shoulders. Harry allowed him to stay there until he felt the last remains of tension bleed from the others muscles and he could tell that he was finally relaxing, then and only then did he push Sephiroth away from him until he could look him in the eye.

"Nothing that you have said has convinced me that you're a monster, Seph. You might have made mistakes once, but you have yet to say that you have made them now, that you feel the urge to do those things now. This is your second chance and if the thing/being/whatever that sent you back did not view the wing as making you a monster….then neither do I." Harry could only smile at the shock he could see in Sephiroth's eyes as he finished his little speech.

He was caught off guard however when Sephiroth suddenly burst into peals of laughter. When his mirth had finally settled down, Sephiroth flashed Harry one of his true smiles, "Zack said almost the exact same thing when I freaked out the first time the wing appeared."

"Humph," snorted Harry, attempting to turn up his nose in the same way as Malfoy at his most snobbish, "I could always tell the man was smart."

One shared look was all it took for both boys to dissolve into semi-hysterical laughter.

It took several minutes, and purposely not looking at each other, for the boys to get themselves back under control. Sephiroth was the first to speak as Harry cleaned tears of laughter off of his glasses.

"I don't know about you, but I would rather not spend any more time in a forest where a werewolf and dementors are running free."

"Yes, yes, let's go." answered Harry with a last chuckle and a wave of his hand.

It took twenty minutes, and Sephiroth's sense of direction, to make it out of the Forbidden Forest and back onto the castle grounds. By the time they made it to the castle steps, Harry would have sworn that the trek up the flat ground of the grounds took five times longer than all of the running they had done through the forest.

They were just set to open the castle doors when the screech of an eagle pierced the night air, and both boys looked up to see a dark shape winging away from the school.

A.N.-I apologize for leaving everyone on a bit of a cliff hanger, but I had a semi-emergency surgery and the recovery took much longer than I was anticipating. But! while the surgery was essentially a bust, they were able to finally definitively diagnose me with Sinus Tachycardia and start me on medicine for it, which is one reason my surgery recovery took so much longer than expected. No worries though, I am back and will, hopefully, not take so long to get the next chapter out for you all.

Reviews:

buterflypuss: Hello, Duckling. Logan, Rogue, Gambit, and Nightcrawler are my favorite X-Men.

Enjali: Yeah, I've seen some pretty crappy movie werewolves, both real and animated. Hope this chapter answered you're question(s) well enough, sorry it took so long and left you hanging.

Juxshoa: Yeah it is kinda the obvious option isn't it. Hope I didn't make it too trite. OHH kittens..I should add some...or just have Crookshanks adopt Seph.

Scififan33: I can never tell if I'm typing your name right, I feel like I see another "i" in there but I'm also almost as blind as a bat so idk. Seph question answered this chapter, Snape question will/should be answered next chapter.

Pupstarstar: Totally and completely ignored him in order to complete her own agenda.

RavenBensonRoth: Glad you're enjoying it, sorry for the long delay. :)

Avid Reader: Glad you're enjoying it, the rat will get what he deserves, but I needed to set something else up so I'm thinking he won't get it how you want him too.