Chapter 4: It's dangerous to go alone- Here, take a Ford Anglia.

"Yell, 'I'm the king of the world'!" Scorpius shouted up to Al, who had climbed onto the second branch of an enormous, sky-reaching oak.

Seeing her cousin cup his hands around his mouth, Rose quickly took out her wand and pointed it at him just as he began to shout. "Langlock!" His eyes widened and he made incredulous noises. "Nnnn! NnnNnnn!"

Scorpius laughed and asked Rose, "What did you do to him?"

Rose looked mortified. "I… glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth…"

Albus leapt down from his perch. Scorpius raised his arms and did his very best Quidditch commentator impression. "And he sticks the landing!" Al shot him a murderous look. "Nnn! NNNNN!"

Rose backed away from him with her hands in the air. "I'm sorry, Al! I just didn't want anyone to hear us! No, Al! No, no, no!" She let out a small shriek and dodged the headlock he tried to put on her. Laughing, she ran around an aspen, just out of his reach. Scorpius stood, hands in his pockets and watched the two cousins with amusement.

Al managed to catch the back of her sweater, but Rose batted his hand away and ran to Scorpius. She pushed him towards Al, using him as a human shield. "Do something!"

Scor grinned. "Alright," he said, and lifted her from the ground. As he did, he noted once again that she hardly weighed anything. As light as a feather, he thought to himself.

Rose, of course, shrieked as he put her over his shoulder and spun around in a circle. "I didn't mean that!" She pounded on his back with her hard little fists. Albus, though he still couldn't speak, was doing his best to laugh uproariously at his cousin's expense. Just as Scor was beginning to feel sick from spinning, Rose yelled, "Don't make me jinx you, Scorpius Malfoy!" and he was given an excuse to drop her. As soon as he did so, his knees went all wobbly and he fell to a sitting position on the forest floor beside her.

Al stood above them and pointed, laughing past his tongue. "NNnn! NnnnNNnnnNN-NN!"

Rose brushed red and brown leaves from her thick hair, ruining the perfect state of dishevelment that Scor so loved to see her in. One stubborn leaf, however, clung to her hair without her notice, and he had a sudden urge to reach out and touch it. But of course that was just ridiculous.

As quick as you like, Rose performed the counter-jinx to Langlock, and Al wasted no time in using his freed tongue. "Bloody hell, Rose. Where'd you learn that? Wait, don't tell me. You found it in a book."

"Of course."

"Of course," Scorpius echoed her with a roguish wink.

She stuck her tongue out at the both of them. "Perhaps if you read a book or two, you'd be able to block spells like that."

Al laughed and kicked at the leaf-covered forest floor. "From whom? Who'd want to jinx us except maybe you?"

Rose scoffed superiorly. "James, of course, you twat. I would have thought you'd be tired of dancing like a maniac whenever he's in an ornery mood."

Al's face contorted in a grimace at the reminder of many painfully exhausting memories. "Right… I uh, see your point."

Scorpius laughed. "Never mind that. We'll just let you protect us if we ever incur the wrath of James, Rose. C'mon, let's explore some more." He started off deeper into the forest.

Al and Rose followed him, the latter more reluctantly. "What time is it? Shouldn't we be getting back soon? What if we miss class?"

Al rolled his eyes and gave Scor a look. "Notice that she didn't even mention lunch. Tch, girls." To his cousin, he said, "You can go back if you're worried about your precious class. I thought you were finally going to loosen up for once, but apparently not."

Rose frowned indignantly. "I can loosen up! I'm loose."

Her cousin turned, walking backwards so he could face her. "Oh, really."

"Yeah!"

"Alright then," Scorpius interjected suddenly. "Prove it." He was curious as to how Rose would handle such a challenge, but also worried she would see it as antagonistic. She had such an irregular temper.

Rose seemed to wrestle with the issue for but a short moment before she replied, "Fine. I will." Despite her firm words, however, she moved not an inch.

The boys waited in silence. Finally, Al questioned her. "Well, what're you going to do?"

"What d'you mean? I thought you were going to give me something to do."

"What? Uh, well, er… Scor?"

"I dunno, mate."

"But it was your idea."

"Well, why can't you think of anything?"

"Er, right… Hm…"

Rose scowled as they puzzled over the matter. "Come on, you two. We haven't got all day."

"I've got it!" Scor exclaimed. "Carve 'Madame Hoochie-Cooch' into one of these trees."

Rose's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "I could never do that! She's a teacher, Scor! Hagrid comes out in these woods! I could never…!"

"I thought you said you were going to be laid back." Scor knew she could hear the challenging edge in his voice.

Albus nodded. "Yeah. And it's not as if anyone will know it was you. If anything, they'll think it was James." He obviously enjoyed the thought of James getting the rap for something that he hadn't done.

Rose fretted for a moment. "Ohh.. I shouldn't be doing this…" She selected a small, unnoticeable tree and muttered a spell, waving her wand in a tight, script-like motion. The challenge phrase appeared on the bark, burnt into the tree as she wrote. Smoke hung about the words even after she was through. "Alright. I've done it." She closed her eyes as if in pain. "That was completely embarrassing. I hope no one EVER sees that."

Albus clapped her on the back. "Well, done that! Now you're one of us!"

"Now?" She raised a dangerous eyebrow at him, looking scarily like their headmistress. "I thought I already was."

"Well, er, I mean, yes of course…"

Scor laughed. Albus was always saying the wrong things. "Shut up, mate, before you get yourself in more trouble."

Al nodded quickly. "Right. Shutting up."

Rose tucked her wand inside her robe, asking, "Shouldn't we head back now?"

"You late for something, Weasley?" God, how Scor loved to tease her. The little pink patches that appeared on her cheeks when she became cross were so fascinating. He was lucky she didn't have her cousin Teddy's abilities though. He imagined he wouldn't tease her so much if her hair caught flame every time she was angry.

Rose gave him a look to go with the pink spots. "There are other things in here, you know. I'm just saying it's forbidden for a reason."

"Enlighten us, please."

She shrugged. "Oh, you know, werewolves, acromantula, thestrals, angry centaurs, and who knows what else."

That caught Al's attention. "What's an acromantula?"

Scor supplied the answer. "Big bloody spiders."

"Oh."

Rose crossed her arms and looked satisfied with herself. "'Oh', is right. Now since we're not really doing anything interesting, I'm going back to the castle before you two come up with some brilliant idea that will get us attacked by horrible beasts, or expelled."

"She sounds like my aunt," Al commented, though he didn't sound so sure of their decision to stay out in the woods as he watched his cousin flounce back the way they came.

"She's just trying to scare us," Scorpius reassured him. "You can only see thestrals if you've watched someone die. There aren't any werewolves out here- that's just a rumor some sixth-years started to scare the first-years into behaving. And even if there were centaurs around, they wouldn't do anything to us," he said, though he wasn't so sure about the centaurs. His father had told him once that centaurs were temperamental beings and were very territorial. He also specifically forgot to mention the acromantula. Al didn't seem too fond of those, but then who would be fond of humongous, vicious, hungry spiders? "No need to worry, right?"

"Right," Al repeated. "No need to worry."

"Onward, then!" Scor raised his fist like an invading general ordering troops forward.

"Onward…"

The two boys trekked deeper and deeper into the woods, the trees steadily growing larger and more foreboding as they walked. Now and again, a crackling or scurrying noise would startle them from their idle chatter, but for the most part, the thrill of adventure prevented them from having any real doubts about the safety of the woods. They acted out mock wizarding duels, taking turns being the evil overlord wizard and the ultimately triumphant young auror. This led to a squabble over whose turn it was to be whom, which of course had to be settled with a tussle in the leaves. With total disregard for the dirt they were accumulating on their cloaks and pants, the two wrestled and rolled across the woodland floor. Albus had Scorpius pinned with one arm behind his back when the echo of a distant crash reached their ears.

Al paused with his knee in Scor's back. "What was that?"

Scor pushed his friend off of him and scrambled to his feet. "I dunno…"

From his position on the ground, Al listened tentatively. His eyes widened. "I heard it again." He looked at Scor, almost hoping that he was simply hearing things, but he was only rewarded by the grim expression on the blonde-haired boy's face. "Oh bloody hell," Al groaned. "We should've listened to Rose."

"No need to panic," Scor said in attempt to assure Al, but mostly himself. "It's probably just a…" He trailed off.

They heard another crack, significantly closer and more distinguishable as the sound of a large object hitting wood with an incredible force.

Al leapt to his feet. "A what?" In succession, a series of crashes mapped out a path that headed directly for their current location.

Scor backed up hastily. "I've no idea, but let's get out of here quick."

"Right…" Al agreed, and followed suit.

A low, gruff, guttural roar startled them and inspired them to turn and run. Whatever had found them was now pursuing them, apparently with no concern for any trees in its path. The boys leapt and bounded over roots and rocks, under branches, and through bushes, but no matter how fast they ran, the creature behind them drew nearer with each passing second.

Scor didn't recognize any of the scenery he managed to glimpse as he streaked past. "AL!" he shouted. "IS THIS EVEN THE RIGHT WAY?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" he yelled back, his voice cracking as he stumbled over a fallen log. "I'M NOT BLOODY WELL GOING TO STOP AND ASK FOR DIRECTIONS! JUST KEEP RUNNING!"

Scor couldn't argue with that logic. He heard the same log that had tripped Al up trampled and tossed aside, not twenty feet behind them. He chanced a glance backwards and saw a massive, rearing, horned beast, almost like a grey bull or water buffalo with a purple look to it, tear great chunks out of fully grown trees with a single swipe of its horns. Bloody… he thought to himself, and promptly fell over a dense, prickly bush. He landed on his left shoulder and back, the breath expelled from his chest as if extracted by a harsh spell.

Albus practically skidded to a halt and slid on the leaf-covered ground when he realized Scorpius was no longer with him. "Get up!" he yelled in what he must have thought was a motivational tone.

Dazed, Scor could do nothing but watch as the beast charged towards him. He noted, for some reason, that it galloped at a lopsided sort of angle. Al yelled behind him- probably something about moving his arse. The creature was not five feet from him when it was barreled over by a rusty old, flying car. Its faded blue frame shuddered at the impact and groaned horrendously. The beast lay, dazed, upon the ground, and allowed the old contraption to land between Scorpius and Al. Its driver and passenger-side doors flew open with a metallic creak. The two boys could only take this as an invitation, and practically dove inside the car.

By this time, the beast was back on its hooves, tossing and snorting in what Scorpius assumed was rage (he highly doubted it was happy to see them). The car snapped the doors shut again and took off by itself, swerving slightly to avoid the beast's renewed, horned attack. Al and Scorpius were jolted and bounced around until, just as Scor thought their spines were going to crack, the ride suddenly became exponentially smoother. He looked out the window, which barely held onto a few shards of glass around the corners, and saw that the trees rushing past them were also becoming shorter. There was no longer any sign of the horned beast. He looked at Al questioningly.

Al's eyes were as large as teacups. "W-we're flying…"

Scor looked out the window again, this time downwards, and saw that Al was correct- the forest floor was at least forty feet below them. He gulped, and managed to say, "Actually, I think the car is doing the flying."

Albus could only nod.

They flew along at a rather wobbly pace for a few minutes, just until they reached the edge of the forest. When Hagrid's hut came into view, the car descended so rapidly that it almost dropped out of the air. The landed with a bump and a rather dangerous-sounding crash. Once again, the car's doors swung open of their own accord. Before they knew what was even happening, the boys were tossed from the car, upended by the very old, very mangled seat cushions. When they managed to get to their feet, the car was just a blue, matchbox-sized blur up in the trees, rattling away.

Scorpius and Al stared after the car for a moment or two in silence. When they finally spoke, it was at the same time.

"Let's not tell Rose-" "We have GOT to tell Rose!"

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A/N: So sorry about the lateness of this chapter, but when I started this fic (back in the fall), I somehow forgot how busy I was going to be for the rest of the year. Unfortunately that means that chapters will be sporadic. Sorry again!