"Maybe I was seeing things," said Harry. "But... from what I could see... it looked like them.... I've got photos of them...." 

Hermione was still looking at him as though worried about his sanity. 

I know it sounds crazy," said Harry flatly. He turned to took at Buckbeak, who was digging his beak into the ground, apparently searching for worms. But he wasn't really watching Buckbeak.

 He was thinking about his father and about his father's three oldest friends... Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.... Had all four of them been out on the grounds tonight? Wormtail had reappeared this evening when everyone had thought he was dead.... Was it so impossible his parents had done the same? Had he been seeing things across the take? The figures had been too far away to see distinctly... yet he had felt sure, for a moment, before he'd lost consciousness....

 The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting clouds. Hermione sat with her face turned toward the Willow, waiting.

 And then, at last, after over an hour... 

"Here we come!" Hermione whispered. 

She and Harry got to their feet. Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Lupin, Ron, and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots. Then came Hermione and Amelia... then the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upward. Next came Harry and Black. They all began to walk toward the castle. 

Harry's heart was starting to beat very fast. He glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud was going to move aside and show the moon.... 

"Harry," Hermione muttered as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do...." 

"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again.. said Harry