Professor McGonagall waited until morning to go and inform Alaina of what her adopted son had done. Alaina was so furious she could hardly speak. She had to excuse herself from Minerva's presence and go back to her private quarters to calm down. By the time she felt she was cool enough to handle Harry without hurting him, it was time for class.
Alaina walked into her classroom and sat down at her desk. She didn't greet the class before her at all like she usually did. She went through the lecture she had planned without smiling one time. Once class was over, she was ready to move on to the next one. Her class exited the classroom fast, whispering as they left. They had never witnessed her in such a bad mood before.
"Why the long face?"
She looked up. Fred and George Weasley were standing there. George was grinning.
Alaina shook her head. "It's nothing, boys. Just go on to your next class before you're late."
Fred smiled. "It's about the trio, isn't it? They lost a lot of points for Gryffindor. Everybody is real sore at them."
She frowned. "Really?"
"Yeah," George agreed. "They're planning an ambush. They're going to tie them down and-"
"Don't ruin it, Georgie," Fred stated.
Alaina stared at them. Were they serious? Were some of the students planning to do something to her son and their friends?
"I really wish you hadn't told me, Fred, George," she told them. "Now if anything happens to him I'm going to have to interrogate the entire Gryffindor house."
They both cracked up.
"What's so funny?" she asked with a smirk.
"We were only joking," the twins said simultaneously.
Alaina sighed in relief. She smiled. "You two really had me going there."
"We got you to smile, didn't we?" Fred asked.
"I guess you did."
"You're welcome," George said.
"Thank you."
Fred and George gave her a goofy nod and then darted out of the classroom. Alaina smiled. She really did like those boys.
She went through the rest of her classes for the day easily. Once they were finished, she went straight to Harry's last class of the day and waited outside. He came out with Hermione and Ron and Neville. They were all chatting excitedly about their teacher. Professor Binns was apparently boring.
"Harry."
He stopped when he heard her voice. The tone was not pleasant. He swallowed hard. "Hello, Mum."
"We need to talk," Alaina told him. "Say goodbye to your friends."
Harry turned to them. "I'll see you guys back at the Common Room."
"Bye, Harry," Hermione said quietly.
She, Ron, and Neville went on down the hall without him. He looked up at her thoughtfully.
"What did I do?" he asked.
Alaina set her jaw. "You know exactly what you did. I was going to speak to you this morning, but I was too upset. We'll discuss it when we get up to my office."
Harry gulped. His mind was reeling. He hadn't told her about his late night adventure. He wondered what he had done other than that. He thought about it the whole way up to the seventh floor.
They went inside Alaina's office and she closed the door. She instructed Harry to sit down. He sat down on the couch and placed his hands in his lap. He looked up at Alaina, who had started to pace the floor in front of him.
"Harry, I want you to listen to me. Professor McGonagall told me what happened last night, how you sneaked out of your dormitory and went down to Hagrid's. All I want to know is why." She stopped and turned to him. "Why would you do something like that? You know you're not supposed to be out after hours."
Harry averted her eyes, studying his hands apprehensively. So she did know. "I'm sorry, Mum."
"Sorry doesn't always cut it," she said harshly. "You could have gotten hurt or...worse."
"We wanted to go and visit Hagrid."
"And you couldn't visit him during the day?"
Harry sighed. "I made a mistake."
"And you're being punished for it. I know that." She sighed in frustration. "I just want you to understand...I love you so much. And if anything happened to you I wouldn't know how to handle it. Promise me you won't do anything else like this again."
"I can't," Harry said honestly.
Alaina smirked. "Why not?"
"I'm too curious I guess."
She walked over and sat down beside him. She embraced him tightly. "Just promise me you'll be careful then. And try not to get caught next time."
He gazed up at her strangely.
"I'm not giving you permission to break the rules, I'm just saying if you think you're going to die if you don't or there's an emergency to be as careful as you can."
Harry smiled. "I promise."
She kissed him on the cheek. "That's my boy." She stood. "Now you better go and get started on your homework. Your detention is in half an hour."
He nodded. "I love you, Mum."
"Love you, too."
She watched Harry leave her office and she sighed. She hated scolding him. He always seemed so wounded when she did. What she told him was true though. If anything ever happened to him, she would not be able to handle it. Lily and James's death was hard enough for her to handle. To have to bury her son, would be the final straw. She would literally go insane. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she left her office. She needed to go and spill her guts to someone and Severus was the first person who entered her mind.
She knocked on the door when she got down to his office. There was a faint rustling inside and then the door opened. Severus seemed a little agitated until he saw it was Alaina standing in his doorway. He smiled.
"Alaina, what brings you down here?" he asked.
Alaina ran her fingers through her hair. "I just had a long talk with Harry. Did you hear what he and his friends did?"
Severus beckoned her to come in. She walked inside and he closed the door. "I'm well aware of their nighttime adventure. I just finished speaking with Mr. Malfoy. I noticed Slytherin was minus points and McGonagall stopped by to tell me why. I gave him a good tongue-lashing. It was stupid behavior. No excuse for it."
"I know. I wasn't nearly as hard on Harry as I would have liked to have been," she admitted, pulling up a chair in front of his desk. "I'm just so afraid I'll lose control and I can't. I would kill him if I did."
He flashed her a sympathetic smile. "I'm lucky I don't have your power. There's no telling how many causalities there would be."
"I just don't want to lose him, Severus."
He walked over to his desk and sat down behind it. "You won't. Just take it one day at a time."
Alaina smiled. "I knew you could make me feel better." She leaned back in her chair. "There's just one thing that would make me feel even better." A mischievous look appeared on her face.
Severus studied her curiously. "And what is that?"
"I know it sounds silly, but I just want you to hold me."
He smiled and got up from his chair. "The couch?"
She nodded. "Thank you."
The two of them went into the next room and cuddled together on the couch.
"So are we officially dating?" Alaina asked once they got settled.
"We are," Severus said. "In secret, but still dating."
She sighed. "Good." She leaned back against his chest and closed her eyes. If she could, she would stay there in the same spot in his arms forever.
~ * ~
The mood was somber as Filch lead Malfoy, Ron, Hermione, and Harry out of the castle later that night. Their detention was going to be served with Hagrid and Professor McGonagall insisted the caretaker escort them to him. The night was chilly and they had dressed accordingly in warm robes. Filch lead them out into the grounds toward Hagrid's Hut. Neither of them knew where they were going or exactly what they were supposed to be doing. They saw Hagrid at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Filch let them go and headed back to the castle. When the four of them approached him, Hagrid seemed a little bit somber.
"Evening, Hagrid," Harry greeted him.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione." The last name he said was no more than a grunt. "Malfoy."
Hermione and Ron both said hello. Malfoy remained silent, throwing dirty looks at the trio and Hagrid.
"So what are we doing tonight, Hagrid?" Hermione asked. It was the question everybody wanted to know the answer to.
"Er, very important business, Hermione. Found a bit of unicorn blood earlier and Dumbledore has asked me to find the beast. It's badly injured."
"That's terrible. Who would want to kill a unicorn?"
"No one good. Come on now, let's go."
The youngsters followed Hagrid deep into the Forbidden Forest. They split off into two groups. Ron and Hermione went with Hagrid and Harry and Draco went together. Draco demanded he have Hagrid's dog who had been trailing behind him. He really was a brat. They walked for what seemed like forever.
"This is ridiculous!" Malfoy exclaimed. "You wait until my father hears about this. This is servant stuff!"
Harry shook his head. "If I didn't know better, Draco, I'd say you were scared."
"I'm not scared, Potter," he spat. He searched all around. It was clear he was scared half to death.
The two of them walked a good distance into the spooky forest. Fang, Hagrid's dog, sniffed the ground in front of them. It wasn't until he stopped and whimpered that Harry saw it. There in front of them was the unicorn they were looking for. It was lying there motionless and it wasn't alone. There was a black hooded figure bent down over top of it and it looked like the figure was drinking it's blood. Harry's eyes widened and Malfoy's face drained of all color. Suddenly, his scar started to hurt. It felt like someone stabbed him in the forehead with a knife.
The figure raised it's head. Harry could see the unicorn blood on the stranger's lips. Malfoy screamed and ran, but Harry was frozen to the spot where he stood. The figure came around the unicorn and headed toward him. Harry didn't know what to do. He started to back up, but he tripped and fell. The figure was coming at him full force now. He braced himself for impact, but it never came. A creature soared over him and chased the figure away.
Slowly, Harry stood up. It was hard to believe what his eyes were seeing. The creature was standing in front of him. He was half man and half horse. He had never seen anything like it in his entire life.
"Harry Potter, you must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you," the creature said.
Harry gulped. "What was that thing you saved me from?"
"A monstrous creature. It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking it's blood will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But it comes at a price. From the moment the blood touches your lips you will have only half a life, a cursed life. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."
"Who would choose such a life?"
"Can you think of no one?"
"Do you mean to say the thing that killed the unicorn, that was drinking it's blood, was Voldemort?"
The creature nodded. "Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment, Mr. Potter?"
Harry took a deep breath. "The Sorcerer's Stone."
Suddenly Hagrid and the others appeared there with him.
"Hello, Fierenze," Hagrid said to the creature. "How are you and the other centaurs?"
The creature before him was a centaur, Harry noted silently.
"Fine, Hagrid. Thank you."
"I see yeh met our young Mr. Potter."
"Yes." Fierenze looked down at Harry. "This is where I leave you, Harry Potter. You're safe now. Good luck."
The centaur galloped off.
"Alright there, Harry?" Hagrid asked.
Harry gulped and nodded. He was in no shape to answer that question verbally at the moment. At least now he knew who had been trying to steal the stone all this time. It wasn't Snape. It was Voldemort. He couldn't wait to get back to the Common Room so he could tell Ron and Hermione the information he'd just found out in private.