It was dusk. Dark clouds blanketed the sky and a thick fog covered the wet grass. It was raining gently. Not enough to really be noticed, but enough so beads of water gathered on the tips of the leaves. A bed of moss grew just outside of the forest's edge, and on it lay a figure, cloaked in thick wizards robes. Two wizards stood above the one on the moss-bed, one with it's arm extended, brandishing a wand.
The figure on the ground panted and shivered, flinching every time the wand so much as twitched. Then it spoke, in a trembling female voice stricken with shear terror.
"Please," she stammered, "Please stop!"
"Silence!" yelled a man's voice, belonging to the wand bearer.
The girl recoiled, her tear filled eyes clearly visible under her hood.
"Please!" she sobbed, "Ple--"
"Crucio!" Yelled the man.
A scream tore through the silence of the night, and a bolt of lightning struck nearby, illuminating the two figures standing over a writhing body. But it also illuminated a fourth figure... a large one... with a dog-like shape.
Darkness fell again, and the screaming stopped. The torrential downpoar began, and another lightning strike illuminated the mossy spot where the girl lay. Both of the figures that had stooped over her were nowhere to be seen.
The girl curled up, shaking uncontrollably from the residual pain and the dark cold brought on by the rain. She just lay there, whimpering as the night passed.
The two men never returned, and the dog-like figure could be heard howling, slowly getting farther and farther away as morning drew closer, retreating from the sun even before it showed itself.
As dawn broke, Harry awoke to Ron bursting into the room. He looked frantic and paler than Harry could ever remember. Harry reached over and put on his glasses. He then sat up, stretching his arms out and rubbing his eyes with his fore and middle finger under his glasses, "What's wrong?"
Ron didn't answer, but walked to his bed, grabbed his cloak and turned towards the door.
"Ron! What's the matter?" Harry persisted.
Ron turned towards Harry, and now Harry could see the tears streaming down his face. "Ginny's missing," said Ron, his voice breaking slightly.
"What!" Harry sat bolt upright, jumped out of bed as Ron left the room. Harry reached for his cloak, passing a shooting glance at the mirror, which showed him and someone behind him. Harry spun around to come face-to-face with nothing.
Ron ran down the corridor to the front door when a man swooped in from a side doorway.
"And where do you think you're going at this early hour?" Sneered Snape.
Get out of my way," said Ron as he continued walking towards Snape.
"Ooooh," he cooed, "Talking back... Tacky, that is. Five points from--"
He stopped when Ron brushed past him. "I do say, young Weasley," said Snape, his voice rising. "You're not helping your--"
Again he was cut off as Harry passed on his other side, running briskly to keep up with Ron.
"I'll have you know this will cost you," shouted Snape after them. He got no response.
Harry and Ron walked out the front door, the morning sun forcing them to squint until their eyes adjusted. Ron started for the Forbidden Forest, "Ron!" called Harry, "What's going on?"
Ron looked over his shoulder, "Harry, I woke up with a bad feeling, and as I entered the lounge to figure out why, a younger Griffindor girl came in. She..." Ron stuttered at this point, "... she... was in some sort of shock."
Harry looked at Ron and back to the trees, "What... what happened?"
Ron's voice cracked as he tried to explain, "They were in the woods... the girls that is... tracking a Unicorn, when they were stopped by two seventh year Slytherins."
Harry's head shot up at the news, "What! What would two seventh years be doing out past the curfew?"
Ron's voice took on a tone that Harry remembered hearing only once before, "They were 'huntin Mudbloods and Weasleys'..." Ron choked, "and apparently... they found what they were lookin for..."