Within seconds, Ron Weasley's whole understanding of the world was shattered, and his hair stood on end.
He witnessed things that were unbelievable, and even more incomprehensible, to him.
A few seconds earlier, he had been grimacing and clutching his injured leg, watching in shock as Hermione pulled a long, thin gold chain from the collar of her robe and hung it round her own neck, then Draco's, then Harry's. She had twisted the small, glittering hourglass at one end of the chain three times, and the three of them had vanished from the spot.
A few seconds later, in the blink of an eye, he saw Harry, Hermione, and Draco fly in through the window of the very same Hospital Wing on their broomsticks and land lightly in the middle of the ward... the exact spot from which they had disappeared moments before.
"How did you do that?" Ron asked, his voice trembling, thinking he was going mad. His eyes widened. "How did you get from there to here? Did you fly in?"
"We really do not know what you mean, Ron," Harry said mysteriously.
"Yes, however could one person be in one place and another at the same time?" Draco teased, echoing a phrase Hermione often used.
As he spoke, he naturally raised his arm so that Hermione could help him down from the broom.
Ron opened his mouth, looking even more alarmed.
The three of them could not help looking at him, and finally burst out laughing, nearly setting Ron off laughing too.
"I would get properly angry if you laugh again!" Ron said crossly, forgetting his injured leg. He slapped his thigh hard, then winced, hissed, and fell back onto the pillow.
"All right, all right, do not upset yourself..." Harry rushed over to check on him. "We shall tell you what happened straight away."
To settle Ron's nerves, they shared out the enormous bar of chocolate Madam Pomfrey had left, and explained everything to him:
How they had used Hermione's Time-Turner to travel back three hours and track down another version of themselves;
How Crookshanks had managed to finish off the rat quietly, when no one was looking, accomplishing what Sirius Black could not;
How Harry had conjured the Patronus Charm to save himself, on the far side of the lake.
"Blimey! You saved yourself? That is unbelievable! Wait, Professor Snape's Patronus is exactly the same as your mother's? But a doe and a stag are a pair, are they not? What was his relationship with your father? My head is fit to burst!"
Ron exclaimed in amazement, taking a great bite of chocolate and saying excitedly, yet with some regret, "How much of a show have I missed? All thanks to my leg! Harry, you must tell me it all again..."
Draco shook his head, gently closed the door of the Hospital Wing, and shut out Ron's thousand-and-one question, along with Harry's tireless explanations.
"I expect they will be at it all night," Draco said with certainty, strolling through the castle with Hermione.
The night was deep, and everything was quiet.
"Yes, today has been so long, so full of coincidences and unexpected turns... there is so much to tell," Hermione said softly.
"Quite right," Draco remarked. "Professor Snape's Patronus was rather unexpected."
"It is not so surprising, really," Hermione recalled. "Do you remember when the Dementors attacked you and Harry on the Quidditch pitch? I believe I saw a doe then too. I wondered who had sent it..."
"Everything is clear now," Draco said, walking beside her past a drowsy portrait. "Do you remember what we once discussed... Professor Snape's true feelings for Harry's mother?"
"Yes. Not hatred... it was love," Hermione said.
She recalled the conversation Draco and Harry had had by the Black Lake not long before.
"That doe was conjured by Professor Snape!" Harry had buried his face in his hands and said painfully, "I do not understand! Why is all this happening?"
"Why what?" Draco had asked. "What is troubling you?"
"He was my mother's friend, was he not? But he never spoke to me about my mother's past, the way Professor Lupin did. All year, I have tried to be civil towards him, tried to understand him, even tried to bear all his mockery in Potions, but all I ever got in return was more torment. He has never once been kind to me! He belittles me, sneers at me, he has never shown me any kindness! He even stopped me going to Hogsmeade, he made things difficult for me at every turn! He simply cannot bear to see me happy! He hates me!"
Harry had said, his voice rising with feeling. "I simply do not understand!"
"There is nothing to be confused about. Your godfather said he hated your father, and that he was your father's rival for your mother's affection, so of course he would hate you, since you look so much like your father."
Draco had said calmly, "It has nothing to do with you personally."
"Fine, then let him hate me to his heart's content! Then why did he save me?" Harry had been confused and angry.
"Why did he not simply let me fend for myself? It happened the same way in first year, and again this time. Why would he save the son of his enemy?"
"It is very simple," Draco had said calmly. "He has always felt a deep affection for your mother... and to this day, that has not changed. The very same Patronus is the best proof of it."
"Perhaps it is only a coincidence! Sirius said he and my mother were rivals for years."
Harry had looked at Draco's calm grey eyes, a little alarmed. "It must be common enough for wizards to share the same Patronus, must it not? I do not believe wizards cannot share a Patronus by chance! Fred and George's Patronuses are exactly alike! And they are not lovers."
"They are brothers, with the deepest of bonds, are they not?" Draco had reminded him.
"You will find the connection behind a Patronus runs straight to the soul, and that can never be feigned. I grant you that wizards unrelated by blood may share a Patronus, but between close friends and acquaintances, if their Patronuses are alike, there is usually something deeper behind it. It is very difficult for those without a blood tie, like the Weasley twins, to conjure identical Patronuses; that requires a true resonance of the soul. He must have felt deep affection, a strong kinship, with your mother. That is not something hatred could ever produce; quite the opposite."
Harry had fallen silent.
He had stared quietly at the surface of the Black Lake for a moment, his voice dry. "So, you mean he and my mother were somehow kindred spirits? They produced the same Patronus, did they not? Even my father's Patronus looks different from my mother's..."
"Oh, I do not think you need trouble yourself over that," Draco had said casually.
"Professor Snape's Patronus changed later in life; the doe he sent out was not his original one. I asked my father, and he told me Professor Snape had a different Patronus during his own schooldays. I am quite sure it was not a doe. Your parents' Patronuses are not identical, but plainly the stag and the doe are a pair, and remain soulmates still."
Harry's expression had finally softened.
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