Thanks so much for the incredible response I've gotten so far! I'm loving hearing what you guys think of my story. I'll try to update a bit more regularly. Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it.

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Now it was my turn to drop my jaw.

"You have an actual invisibility cloak?" I screeched, before remembering myself and hushing up quickly.

"Yup," Potter poked his head out from underneath and grinned. It was unnerving, seeing only his floating head bobbing around next to Black's smirking one.

"But… where… but-how..when- but" I stammered, unable to process how a 17 year old had come by such a rare and expensive item.

"Hush, now lead the way, Paxton." Potter gestured for me to go ahead.

I took a breath and turned the handle of the door, hoping it wouldn't be locked. It opened with a click. I stepped inside the dark room, alive with the noises of the nocturnal creatures kept inside.

"Wait here, Pads. Keep lookout." Potter whispered to Black.

"You know next to nothing about magical creatures, Prongs. You keep lookout." Though I couldn't really see him properly, I almost felt Black rolling his eyes.

"Fine." Potter huffed and stepped back outside.

Black nodded to the back of the room. Suddenly I felt even more nervous, though I had no idea why. Black was far more intimidating than Potter. Being alone in the dark with him seemed a nerve-wracking situation. I swallowed my anxiety and crept to the back of the room where the luminescence of the gold calf gave the cage a slightly eerie glow.

"How were you planning on stabilizing it while you took it outside?" Black asked, peering into the cage.

"Um… I was going to give it some of this and carry it in one of the crates I'd seen at the back of the room." I fumbled through my coat for the little sky blue vial.

"Some what?" Black asked, bemused.

"Oh, it's just a potion I threw together before I went to bed. It's basically like an Essence of Exhaustion, but far weaker and without the drowsy side effects." I tried to simplify the work that had gone into altering the Essence of Exhaustion recipe.

"You… invented this? Does it work?" Black sounded sceptical.

"Yes. I invented it in 3rd year and had all the kinks worked out by 4th. I've used it many times when I can't get to sleep and it definitely works." I glared back, feeling a little affronted that he'd so quickly doubted me.

I tapped the lock of the cage with my wand and slunk inside.

"Now, if you are serious in wanting to help me, please make yourself useful and go and grab one of the larger crates from the corner." I snapped and inched towards the calf.

"Be careful… Calves are very untrusting." Black warned.

"Then they and I have something in common." I muttered under my breath, too quietly for Black to hear me.

Black, obviously with the hearing of a bat, halted and turned back. He crinkled his eyebrows and looked at me with a curious expression. I felt myself go red and turned my back to him quickly.

The poor thing was so weak it barely had the strength to put up a fight as I eased the potion into its mouth. It instantly yawned and dozed off.

"It should be out for a while now." I said and carefully lifted it in my arms. It was far lighter than I'd expected.

Black had the box all set up and had even had the thought to line it with some newspaper and one of Lindbergh's spare robes.

He lifted the box and gestured for me to go first out the door.

"MERLIN, you guys took forever! I thought one of the creatures must have gotten you!" Potter cried when we stepped into the hallway.

"And your response to that thought was…. Stay outside?" Black mumbled. I chuckled at Potter's indignant face.

"Let's go shall we, time's ticking." I said.

Potter threw the invisibility cloak around Black and the unicorn. He and I would have to go with the risk of being seen.

We stole through the castle and ended up in front of a large painting.

"As lovely Defoe the Gory is to look at, what the hell are we doing here?" I sighed and looked at Potter.

He was doing something strange with his wand. Tapping every third brick surrounding the painting. Suddenly, the painting swung around to reveal a passageway.

"Secret passageway to the forest." Potter smirked.

"Oh…" I replied, dumbfounded. These boys truly knew everything about the castle.

We stumbled down the uneven passageway until finally we came to an opening covered with what appeared to be shrubs and ivy. Potter pushed the vegetation away and held it back for Black and me.

Black shrugged the cloak off and set the unicorn down.

"We can't just leave it here." He said. "It needs to be with its mother."

"If we let it out, its mother will come. That is, if she's still alive. Who knows how Lindbergh captured it." I stated, trying not to think what we would be faced with if its mother didn't show up.

I lifted it out of the crate. Its eyes were beginning to flutter open, the potion had worn off just as I had predicted it would.

The young calf stumbled around the clearing a little, getting its bearings before letting out a high pitched whinny-like noise.

"Guys, back away." I muttered to the boys. I could see the mother hiding behind some bushes, but I knew she wouldn't approach until the scent of human was gone.

We tiptoed as far away as we dared from the passageway entrance and waited. The mother crept out into the clearing and gave her calf a sniff. Seemingly satisfied, the two unicorns disappeared back into the forest.

I couldn't stop myself from beaming at the sight.

"That's the first time I've seen you smile and mean it in a year." Black said to me, seriously.

"That can't be true." I said, taken aback that he had noticed.

"It is true." He said with finality. "It's good to see."

I tucked some hair behind my ear, unsure how to respond. I guess all that time I was checking up on him, he was checking up on me too.

"Yes! High five team!" Potter broke the silence by launching himself at the two of us. He pulled us both into a bear hug, grinning maniacally.

"We were so awesome." I agreed. "Thanks for helping me guys. I would never have found the passage on my own."

"All good, love." Potter ruffled my hair.

We walked back to the castle amicably. Potter chattering away about all sorts of nonsense, myself forced to chatter back. Black was silent. But I didn't feel as intimidated every time he glanced my way or accidentally brushed against me.

The Fat Lady was Not. Impressed with us when we returned, but grudgingly let us in. Potter gave me another hug at the bottom of the boys' staircase.

"Looks like you have more Gryffindor in you that I thought. Turns out you're not just a Claw after all." He winked and disappeared up stairs.

Black didn't say anything, but gave me the ghost of a smile before following Potter. I blinked, confused by this stoic, intimidating boy who was so careful with his words. He was so difficult to read. I almost hoped we wouldn't encounter one another again so that I wouldn't have to feel this strange uncertainty again.

Of course, this was not the case.

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