~ chapter thirteen: the forbidden forest ~
"Nothing," Professor McGonagall said sternly, "I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken."
"Fifty?" I repeated.
"Each." Harry gasped. "And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all four of you will receive detention."
Malfoy nodded, smirking.
"Your hear that, bleach brain?" I snapped. "All four of us. In case you don't know basic mathematics slash addition, you plus me, Hermione, and Harry equals four."
The smirk slipped off of Malfoy's face and he looked at Professor McGonagall.
"Excuse me, Professor," he said. "Perhaps Black heard you wrong. She thought you said ... 'the four of us'."
"No, Ms. Black heard me correctly, Mrs. Malfoy. You see, as honorable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will serve detention with your classmates."
Hermione, Harry and I grinned, as Malfoy sagged, knowing the tables had turned.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"A pity they let the old punishments die," Filch said, as the four of us were led to Hagrid's hut by Filch. "There was a time detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, I miss the screaming."
Malfoy gulped, and Hermione rushed by. "You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the dark forest."
I relaxed, knowing that we wouldn't be serving detention with someone that I absolutely detested.
Hagrid appeared, a crossbow in hand. He sniffled.
"A sorry lot this, Hagrid," Filch said. "Oh, good God, man, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?"
Hagrid sniffed and sighed. "Norbert's gone. Charlie's friends sent him off to Romania to live in a colony."
"Well, look at it this way, Hagrid," I said, trying to cheer him up, "he'll be with his own kind."
"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania?" Hagrid asked, still sniffling. Filch rolled his eyes, and I shot him a death glare. "What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby, after all."
"Oh, for Gods sake, pull yourself together, man," Filch snapped. "You're going into the forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you."
"The forest?" Malfoy burst in. "I thought that was a joke! We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are..." A howl sounded. "...werewolves!"
"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad," Filch said. "You can be sure of that. Nighty-night." He turned and walked back to the castle as Malfoy looked frightened.
"Right," said Hagrid, "let's go."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In the Forbidden Forest, the group walked along to a path to a tree when Hagrid stepped, bent down, and dipped his fingers in a silver puddle. He pulled out his fingers and rubbed them together. A silver trail smeared his fingers.
"Hagrid, what's that?" Harry asked.
"What we're here for," Hagrid replied. "See that? That's unicorn's blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago. Now, this one's been injured bad by something."
Y/N looked at the trees and saw - to her shock - a cloaked figure walking through the trees. She looked at Harry to see if he had also seen the cloaked figure, and by the looks of it, he had as well. They both looked at Hagrid as he went on. "So, it's our job to find the poor beast. Hermione, you'll come with me. Harry, Y/N, you go with Malfoy." Malfoy grimaced, and Harry and Y/N nodded.
"Okay, then I get Fang!" Malfoy said quickly.
"Fine. Just so you know, he's a bloody coward."
Fang whined.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"You wait till my father hears about this," Draco remarked as he, Harry, and Y/N marched through a part of the forest. "This is servant's stuff."
"If I didn't know better, Malfoy," remarked Y/N as they trekked on, "I'd say you were scared."
"Scared, Black?!" He scoffed, and suddenly they heard a howl. "Did you hear that? Come on, Fang. Scared."
They approached a flat ground with gnarled roots all over. Fang stopped, then growled.
"What is it, Fang?" Harry asked.
They looked up to see a cloaked figure who was crouching over the dead unicorn, drinking its blood from the wound. It was an awful sight to witness - Y/N froze up for a millisecond before reaching for Mariana Black's dagger, which she now carried around with her at all times. The figure raised its head, silver blood dripping from its mouth.
"Ah!" Y/N clapped her hand to her scar and looked at Harry to see him clapping his hand to his forehead. Malfoy screamed with pure fear and ran away with Fang, screaming for help.
So it was just Y/N and Harry, left by themselves at the mercy of the figure who slid over the unicorn and rose erect. It advanced toward Y/N first, who backed up and tripped, still not letting go of the dagger. Then, she got up to her feet and let go of her arm to throw the dagger sideways at the figure. Suddenly, it was gone - and the dagger came back to Y/N, like how a boomerang would.
The pain was gone from her scar now, and Harry removed his hand from his forehead. There was the sound of hoof-beats, and a centaur landed next to her. Y/N withdrew her dagger, putting it back in the dagger holder Hermione had made for her.
"Harry Potter, Y/N Black, you must leave," the centaur warned. "You both are known to many creatures here. The forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you."
"But what was that thing Y/N saved us from?" Harry asked, motioning to her.
"A monstrous creature. It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure that the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life. A cursed life."
"But who would choose such a life?"
"Can you think of no one?"
"Do you mean to say," Y/N asked, "that that thing that killed the unicorn... that was drinking its blood... that was Voldemort?"
"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone," Harry realized.
Fang suddenly barked and Harry and Y/N looked to see Hagrid, Hermione, and Malfoy appear. Hagrid had his crossbow ready, but lowered it when he saw the centaur.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Harry! Y/N!" Hermione cried as her group rushed towards the two. She had never been so glad to see them all right. When Malfoy had rushed over to tell them what had happened, she had never been so frightened in her life.
"Hello there, Firenze," Hagrid said. "I see yeh've met our young Mr. Potter and Ms. Black. You all right there, Harry? Y/N?"
Harry and Y/N looked at each other before nodding. Hermione cocked an eyebrow at Harry, and Harry, who correctly guessed what she was assuming, blushed furiously before shaking his head. Hermione made a mental note to corner him after everyone had gone to bed and ask him again, as she knew he wasn't telling her the truth.
"Harry Potter, Y/N Black, this is where I leave you," the centaur - Firenze - said. "You're safe now. Good luck."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"You mean You-Know-Who's out there, right now, in the forest?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"But he's weak," Y/N explained. "He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong! Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself; he wants the Stone for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again. He'll... he'll come back."
"But, if he comes back," Ron, who had now been well enough to leave the hospital wing, asked, "you don't think he'll try to... kill you and Harry, do you?"
"I think if he had the chance, he might've tried to kill us tonight."
Ron gulped. "And to think I've been worrying about my Potions final."
Hermione saw things in a more rational sense. "Hang on a minute." The other three looked at her. "We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared? Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore's around, Harry, Y/N, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around, you can't be touched."
"S'pose," Y/N muttered. She stood up. "Listen, I think I'll be heading to bed. Coming?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, Harry and I have to chat for a bit."
Harry sent her a confused look, and she responded with a meaningful one.
Ron stood up. "Right, if that's all, I'll be heading to bed as well, before you, 'Mione, sit me down and make me study."
And with that, he and Y/N left to head to their dormitories.
Harry let out a sigh. "Hermione, if you're going to sit me down and make me study, I have no interest in-"
"No," Hermione replied, raising her eyebrow again, "we're going to talk about your crush."
Harry's face turned red. "M-my crush?" he repeated, laughing nervously. "Hermione, you're mistaken."
"No, I'm not," Hermione insisted. "I see the way you look at Y/N. You look at her like she's more precious than... than treacle tart or something."
This time, Harry actually did laugh. "Treacle tart? Really, Hermione?"
"W-well..." Hermione blushed furiously from embarrassment. "You're not giving me many options to choose from to compare the looks you give them to the looks you give her! Treacle tart was the first thing that came to mind."
"Well..." Harry ran a hand through his hair. "You've got me. Yes, I do have a crush on her. Actually, I don't know if it even is a crush anymore."
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Y-you mean ... you're in love with her?"
Harry didn't give a direct answer, but the way he sighed was all Hermione needed to hear. "Funny thing, love, isn't it? It's weird - one second she was just my crush, the next second I'm head over heels for her."
Hermione couldn't respond right away. How could she? Her best friend had just spilled that he was head over heels for his other best friend; they were only eleven years old as well! How could he have possibly realized he was in love with her? Hermione was still trying to figure out what the word 'love' meant for her.
"Wow. Um..." She cleared her throat. "Right. Yeah. Love is funny."
And even though she didn't know much about love, she knew that it could be a funny sort of thing.
Maybe, she figured, love was like an ocean, sweet and salty at the same time.
Maybe, she also thought, it was like soaring through the forget-me-not blue, clear sky, weaving in and out of the treetops.
Maybe, she thought, it could be as bittersweet as graduating from primary school.
Hermione Granger went to bed that night, wondering about what else love felt like.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Harry was curled up in his bed, flipping through the scrapbook, looking at the pictures his dad had taken of his mum and the pictures he had taken of Y/N. The light coming from his lit wand gave him enough light to see the pages perfectly.
He realized that the scrapbook had much more pages than his father had originally thought evidently. He hadn't been able to finish the scrapbook, and that was when a thought occurred to Harry.
Maybe that was why his father had passed this down to him.
So that he could finish it himself.
He chuckled lowly to himself. If he couldn't finish the scrapbook before his years of magical education were over, he'd pass it down to his and Y/N's child or children. If they couldn't finish the scrapbook before their magical education was over, they'd pass it down to their children, and the cycle would continue until the scrapbook was completed.
"Harry?"
Harry's eyes widened as he snapped the scrapbook shut, locked it, and stuffed it under his pillow as well with the key before he turned to face Ron. "Ron? What's up? Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"
"I needed a drink of water," Ron said hesitantly. "Mate, are you okay? You look strange."
Harry chuckled nervously before getting back under the covers and nodding. He could tell that Ron didn't believe him, but it was the only thing he could do at the moment. He couldn't make up an excuse that sounded 'likely' at the moment.
He dreamt off into an easy sleep, his dreams now about their children ran ahead in the station while grown up Harry and Y/N walked behind them, chuckling about the littlest things.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Draco Malfoy was the only one awake that night. He stared up at the ceiling of his dormitory, unable to fall asleep as he couldn't get comfortable enough to do so. He kept cursing himself for his stupidity.
Yes, it was true he fancied Y/N. But he wasn't stupid; Potter, obviously, fancied her, too, and he seemed quite the protective type when it came to her.
Draco scoffed. 'Saint Potter.' Always the one to get the girls, even though they were eleven. It was his fault that Slytherin had lost fifty points, although he supposed it did help that Gryffindor no longer had a chance at winning the House Cup.
Having incest relationships weren't a problem if it meant keeping the purity of the bloodline for the Malfoys. His father's request was simple: Get a wife that came from a pureblood family. It didn't matter if the woman was part of the Malfoys or not, she just had to come from a pureblood family.
And Y/N was a perfect candidate for being his wife.
The only problem was that he had made him hate her.
Draco tensed up. How was she going to be his girlfriend, let alone wife, if she hated him? Besides, even if she didn't reciprocate Potter's feelings now, she sure as hell would in their later years of Hogwarts.
Then a thought occurred to him, making him relax. Perhaps this was an enemies-to-lovers trope, like how his mother had used to talk about. Yes, that must be it. Perhaps she'd grow to reciprocate his feelings, and Potter wouldn't stand a chance.
Draco sagged again. Who was he kidding — this was Potter he was talking about. Harry Potter and Y/N Black — the Hogwarts golden boy and golden girl. They were bound to be together. Give it a few years and she'd belong to him.
'Oh well,' he thought glumly, 'there's always Pansy.'
Of course he saw the way Pansy Parkinson looked at him. How could he not?
Pansy looked at Draco the way Potter looked at Y/N. Unlike Y/N, however, Draco knew that she had a crush on him. He found it quite amusing at first, but when Pansy had started nagging him over and over repeatedly, he found this quite annoying.
Salazar, why couldn't she have had a crush on someone else?
Pansy was the last person Draco would get married to. But what other option did he have? Y/N was out of the picture, since Potter liked her and was very protective of her, understandably.
And technically, Pansy did belong to a pureblood family, so he wouldn't be disobeying his father by marrying her...
Right then and there, Draco made a very bold decision.
If he couldn't find a girlfriend by the end of his magical education, he would have no choice but to date Pansy.
He didn't see why he had to find someone to marry or date by the end of his years at Hogwarts, anyway; it just seemed like a waste of time, if you asked him. Not only was it a waste of time, but it would surely affect his performance at school. Still, he had to agree because his father had drilled it into his head that he had to be a certain way. Draco had a reputation to uphold, after all. He couldn't ruin the Malfoys' reputation as a pureblood family. He felt like pointing out that the Malfoys' reputation wasn't exactly spotless, because his father had previously worked for You-Know-Who, but what was the point? His father would make up excuses like he so often did.
He didn't know how he fell asleep, but he did; it was a light, uneasy sleep, but it was sleep all the same. He had a strange dream that night; he was standing in a black void.
"Hello?" he called out into the void. "Is anyone there?"
Draco felt immediately stupid; of course nobody was there. He was alone in his dream.
'It's a dream,' he thought to himself. 'Nothing can or will hurt me here.'
The feeling of comfort that radiated from that thought lasted for about five seconds.
Suddenly, somewhere from the depths of the inky blackness of the void, a figure walked closer to Draco. He couldn't make out the figure's physical features. All he could tell was that it was a boy and that he was a Gryffindor. 'Ugh,' he thought with distaste, scrunching up his nose, 'Gryffindor.'
"You like her, don't you?"
Draco did a double take when the figure spoke for the first time. "What?"
"Don't play dumb."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
But Draco knew that he was lying, and the mysterious Gryffindor must have known it too, because there was a pause where they just stared at each other. Draco noticed that the Gryffindor boy seemed to be the same age as him, a first year. Then the figure spoke. "Y/N. You like her, don't you?"
Draco was about to answer when he felt something cold and pointy poke his neck -- and to his shock and horror, it was a knife that the figure was pointing at him. "Actually, don't answer that."
Although the Slytherin couldn't see his facial features, he knew by the tone of the voice in which he said the next sentence that the Gryffindor was smirking at him. "You shouldn't take things which aren't yours, you know."
And then Draco woke up, rolling out of bed.
The Slytherin landed on the floor next to his bed, clutching his neck and massaging it. There was no knife. No mysterious Gryffindor figure.
This dream left the young Malfoy with many questions.
Who was that Gryffindor?
Why did he have such an interest in Y/N?
And most importantly....
Was he after Draco?