Amisty's attention went back to the group, green eyes losing a small part of the blaze that was in them.
Emphasis on the word small.
"I'm not going in that forest," Malfoy declared to Hagrid, a tint of alarm in his voice to Amisty's amusement.
"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts. You've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it," Hagrid replied forcefully.
"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd --" He started.
"-- tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts. Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!" Hagrid snarled back.
Draco didn't reply, though his usual cool grey eyes were now the color of charcoal.
"Right then, now listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment," Hagrid lead them over to the edge of the forest, is lamp illuminating a long narrow path that looked like it never ended.
A ghostly breeze ruffled their hair, and their eyes glowed unearthly in the darkness.
"Look here, see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff?" He asked, pointing at a gleaming liquid that splattered the trees, "That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery,"
Amisty felt her heart stop in her chest, what kind of creature would kill a unicorn. A chill went down her spine, and she shivered involuntarily.
Hopefully it went by unnoticed.
"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Draco asked, and Amisty found herself wanting to hear the answer as well.
"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang." He replied. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."
"I want Fang," Draco announced, his eyes drawn to the boarhounds yellowed pointed teeth.
"All right, but I'll warn yeh, he's a coward. So me, Harry, an' Neville'll go one way an' Draco, Amisty, an' Fang'll go to the other," Amisty sent a wide eyed look at Harry, her displeasure with the situation very clear. "Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now -- that's it -- an if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh -- so, be careful -- let's go."
Amisty groaned internally, before grudgingly turning back to face Draco and Fang.
Anger and frustration were very very tame words in comparison to what she was feeling at the moment.
"Look's like I'm stuck with you," She growled lowly, glaring daggers at the platinum haired boy.
"I could say the same to you, freak," He snapped back before getting roughly shoved by Fang.
Amisty didn't even try to conceal her laugh, patting the dog on the head in praise.
"Let's just go," Draco groaned after regaining his balance.
Amisty nodded, walking right into the darkness with only a millisecond of hesitance.
Wariness sent her stomach into knots as she went farther in, suddenly losing the confidence she once had.
"Is someone scared?" Draco taunted, suddenly speaking from behind her.
The girl jumped slightly, letting out a frustrated breath.
"Don't sound too cocky, I know how scared you are right now," Amisty scoffed, running a hand through her messy curls.
"I think that's a figure of your imagination," He replied smoothly, back to his silky, annoying tones.
"Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep better at night," She listened for any suspicious noises, tuning out the own noise they were making with their footsteps on the leaf mold.
"What do you even have to be afraid of, you're practically the same as all the monsters in here," He growled, changing the subject quickly.
Amisty stiffened, her fingers curling into fists.
"What was that?" She hissed softly, stopping dead in her tracks but not turning around to face him.
"You heard that correctly. You're just like all the other creatures in this forest, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise. You're not normal, Amisty, you're far from it. But you're just too scared to admit it," Draco continued, his voice getting slightly gleeful as he realized he had struck a nerve.
Amisty's hand twitched slightly, and she bit her lip to retain the colorful words she was dying to reply with.
"Shut up, Malfoy," She whispered, barely contained fury tainting her soft voice.
"Oh have I said something I shouldn't? Is poor little hot headed Amisty getting annoyed with the truth?" He smirked, crossing his arms.
"I'm warning you -- " She started, hot with suppressed anger.
"Warning me about what, hm? That you're a freak, a weirdo, a monster?" his eyes narrowed at the last word, a malicious glint in his grey eyes.
Amisty broke, her vision tinted red.
"Shut. Up!" She screeched, launching herself at the boy.
When she landed on his chest, she was smaller, nimbler, her senses heightened. Though the force of her attack and the sheer surprise sent them both tumbling to the ground.
"My point is proven," Draco smiled, nose to nose with the now transformed Amisty.
Her fangs bared and fur spiked up with anger, a low growl sounded from the base of her throat, echoing around the small clearing.
He wasn't even the littlest bit shocked at her shift.
"You're not helping your case by making a racket," He commented, shutting her up in seconds.
Amisty flexed her front paws, unknowingly digging her claws into the grey-eyed boy's torso.
"That's not helping either," He hissed, pushing her off of him with one swift motion.
He got to his feet, brushing off the dirt from his robes.
Triumph glowed in the she-wolves green eyes, and her ears flicked upwards. Fang trotted up next to her, pressing his nose to her furry cheek.
She circled around Draco, tail raised and spirits high as ever.
"Oh stop gloating. Joke's on you, you can't turn back without someone else doing the spell," The said boy commented nastily, stopping the victorious she-wolf in her tracks.
He knew the spell? What even, was he a stalker?
"You didn't think about that, did you?" He smirked, once again, emerging on top in their quarrel.
Their quarrel that was semi one sided...
Amisty padded toward him, her ears slowly flattening. She pawed at his shoes, desperately seeking pity with a pathetic excuse of an apology.
Draco looked down at her, arms crossed. She let out a little whimper, tilting her head to the side. If apology wasn't going to work, maybe pulling out the 'help the cute little wolf turn back into a fuming girl' card.
Huh. Suddenly that didn't seem like that would work.
"Hmph... I'll turn you back on one condition," Draco, to her surprise, gave in, pulling out his wand. Amisty was already nodding her head furiously, not even pausing to listen to the rest of what he was saying, "You can't retaliate to anything I do for the rest of the year."
Amisty stopped nodding, her green eyes narrowing at what he said. But he had already seen her agree.
"Too late the back out now, less you don't want me to cast the spell," He smirked, twirling his wand around and around in his fingers teasingly.
She didn't make a noise as she sat down, her tail twitching irritably.
"Lupus Estaria." Draco waved his wand in the looping motion, and Amisty felt her body lift up into the air, a pulsing white light shining through her black fur.
She squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth together. Shadows danced at the edge of her vision, and suddenly the light that pierced through her closed eyelids faded, and she felt the cool touch of leaf mold underneath her.
When she opened her eyes, they glowed brightly for a second before fading back into their dark green. She was lying sprawled on the ground, dried leaves getting tangled in her hair.
Pushing herself to her knees, she glared up at the platinum haired boy.
"I'm not doing it." She shook her head, her black curls bouncing with the movement.
"You already agreed, darling. Sorry," He tilted his head to the right, a little smile lighting up his face.
"That's not fair," Amisty snapped back, getting to her feet so she could talk to him without having to crane her neck to meet his gaze.
"It's plenty fair. Not my fault that you agreed before I finished explaining. This is why you have to listen when people talk to you," Draco countered smoothly, not even flinching under her burning glare.
"I'm not dealing with this!" She threw up her hands in frustration, stalking farther into the forest, with Fang a few pawsteps behind.
She didn't look back once to see if the thorn in her side was following. To be perfectly honest, she didn't really care if he was.
Her eyes scanned the dark forest, barely managing to pick out where branches were in the poor lighting from the moon.
The reliance on her sight tampered with her hearing ability, and she couldn't catch the rustling of leaves and bushes until it was too late.
Amisty had just paused in the middle of the pathway, finally paying attention to the sounds that were following her, when Draco leaped out of the shadows, scaring the black haired girl out of her skin.
"AHHH!" She shrieked loudly, her high voice echoing throughout the empty forest.
Instinctively her wand lifted the sky, sending out a shower of red sparks high above her, illuminating the culprit of her scare in a wash of scarlet light.
"Hahahahahaha!" Draco laughed, to Amisty's anger.
She whirled around to face him, eyes blazing with green fire and narrowed into slits.
"DRACO!" She snarled, raising a hand to hit the snickering grey eyed boy.
"Nah ah ah, you can't touch me," He grinned, a wicked glint in his eyes as he raised his hand to lower her fist.
"Who said I would keep my word?" She challenged hostility, struggling against his hold in vain.
"I do. If you want everyone to keep thinking you're normal, I suggest you don't give me any reason to, oh, I don't know, announce to the entire school what you really are," He threatened, almost managing to force her hand down, almost.
"You... you wouldn't," She objected softly, her shock at his audacity reflected in her wide green eyes.
"Oh... but I would," He replied, voice as smooth as honey.
Amisty twitched, a wave of newfound anger washing over her. That, as well as the shock and fear of uncovering the truth was overwhelming.
"I can't believe you," She whispered, her fist dropping to her side and her eyes losing the burning fire that had once brightened them.
"WHAT DID YEH DO TO 'ER, MALFOY!" Hagrid roared, bursting out of the tree's, crossbow in hand.
Amisty yelped quietly, leaping backward at the sudden appearance of her friend.
"Nothing," Draco replied steadily, not a trace of dishonesty in his voice.
It was true, he hadn't done anything to her. Physically, at least.
"Follow me, we're changin' groups," Hagrid growled lowly, stalking back into the forest.
Draco followed back, not the slightest bit hesitant to follow the seething man. Amisty trailed after them, a little wary of how embarrassing her false alarm was.
Head low and moral even lower, she trudged through the forest, highly aware of the snickering ahead of her.