Dispelling the Lies
by Indygodusk
Chapter 7: The Forbidden Forest
The Forbidden Forest was a vast, ancient wood located in Scotland near Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Witchery and the wizarding town of Hogsmeade. From what Hermione had read, the Forbidden Forest was so called because of its ancient trees, accumulated secrets, and plethora of dangerous creatures living inside. Despite the serious nature of their visit, Hermione couldn't repress her innate curiosity. She'd hoped to catch a glimpse—from a safe distance of course—of an interesting magical creature. The Forest housed acromantula (a gigantic species of magical spider), thestrals (gaunt, reptilian-looking winged horses who were only visible to people who'd seen someone die), and centaur (highly intelligent half-humanoid and half-horse beings who generally disdained humans), just to name a few.
Both acromantulas and centaurs could reason and speak, but neither were prone to answering friendly questions. Acromantulas were much closer to beasts than to people and would eat humans if given the chance. On second thought, maybe she'd just content herself with foxes, songbirds, and deer.
After all, Hermione didn't need even more nightmare material on top of what she was already dealing with this week, though volunteering to visit the site of a murdered unicorn wasn't exactly going to help with her sleep. The longer she looked, the more the forest made Hermione feel young and wary, like when visiting an elderly person's house as a child and knowing you'd be punished if you broke something or sneezed too loudly.
Distracted by the looming forest, Hermione only distantly heard Harry cast Wingardium Leviosa followed by a strange whistling sound. When she looked over, nothing was hovering in midair. Instead, Harry had his head tipped back and was scowling up at the moss-draped branches of the nearest tree. "Is everything alright?" she asked, wondering what he'd been trying to levitate and why he was staring at the top of a tree. Everyone knew you couldn't levitate something that high.
The knuckles wrapped around Harry's wand went white. Abruptly turning on his heel, he took her arm and pulled her towards where Draco waited at the head of the path leading into the forest. "It's fine," Harry growled. Hermione had to trot to keep from stumbling at his fast pace. Her arm felt like it was next to a hot stove.
Hermione yanked herself free, "Harry, slow down! What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing," he grunted.
"It doesn't look like nothing," she said sourly, wondering if her offer to help him on this case had been a mistake.
Blowing out his breath, he rolled his shoulders. "Sorry."
"Do you want to tell me what that was about?"
Instead of answering, Harry kicked a rock out of the path. "Don't worry about it," he said curtly. "The Forbidden Forest is safe enough as long as you're careful and know what to avoid, but since this is your first visit, make sure not to wander off by yourself. Keep your wand in your hand and give a shout if you need help with anything, alright?"
Mental exhaustion swamped Hermione. "Alright," she said softly in defeat. She'd hoped that Harry would be more open now that they'd admitted they were in love. Obviously she'd been wrong. However, right now wasn't an appropriate time to argue about it, not while investigating a murder and on top of the threats to Hoshimi and Sirius, not to mention her own problems. Too many more deflections and lies from Harry might tip her precarious sanity towards a mental break down she could ill afford.
As they went deeper into the canopy of trees, the bright daylight waned into a twilight world stabbed through with only occasional shafts of harsh yellow sun. It felt like the forest was watching and laughing at them. The autumn wind snatched at them, moving leaves and branches in chuckling whispers, yanking Hermione's curls loose and spitefully tossing them to and fro. As the path descended and the underbrush thickened, the air become almost unnaturally still. The crunch of brown and red leaves beneath her boots was louder than it should be.
Unnerved, Hermione pushed her tangled curls out of her face. A strand stubbornly clung to her lips, requiring swipes from all four cardinal directions to find and dislodge it. "One of these days, I'm going to chop this all off," she huffed.
"What? I love your hair. Don't you dare!" Harry exclaimed, breaking her strange mood.
Raising a brow at his vehement words, Hermione felt a flattered smile fighting with the urge to frown at his high-handedness.
Harry looked down and rubbed at the back of his head. "It's your hair so you can do whatever you want with it. I just like it, though I'm sure you'd still be beautiful even with it short or shaved off completely."
He was adorable, reminding Hermione all over again why she loved him and put up with his infuriating moments.
"Ugh!" Draco quickened his step to put distance between them, muttering something scathing under his breath.
"Thanks, Harry. I know what you mean. I have opinions about your hair and beard too, like about how shaggy they've gotten recently—" he'd stopped trimming his hair and beard as often after a shaving accident at home (that he still wouldn't explain) led to him showing up for a date without any hair at all, including eyelashes and brows, "—but as long as you're the one wearing them, I like them because it's you." Hopping over a branch across the path, she added, "Well, that or I'm giggling a lot, like the week you experimented with the mustache, but either way, just seeing you makes me smile." Harry twirled an imaginary mustache and winked, though a shadow lingered in the back of his eyes. She wished he'd tell her what darkened his thoughts.
Harry's attention was caught by something above her head. She twisted around to see what he was looking at. Through a gap in the trees, the sleek shape of a flying carpet was silhouetted against the sky. "It must be the MLEP team," Harry said.
"Who's Emily P?" Hermione asked. "And aren't flying carpets illegal in Britain?"
The flying carpet disappeared from view as the canopy overhead became too dense. "Not Emily the name. It's the letters M L E P for the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol. They're tasked with collecting and analyzing crime scene evidence. As for flying carpets, they only recently become legal again a few months ago, and only for governmental and commercial use, requiring top of the line muggle-repelling charms. Even then, they require a ludicrously complicated permit application to attain. However, the head of the MLEP department hails from Mongolia and re-submitted the application eight times until she received a departmental licence."
Ducking beneath a low-hanging branch, Hermione mused, "I'd love to have the storage capacity of a flying carpet when my pockets are full, like last month's book sale at the public library. Of course, you know I don't like flying—"
"One of life's tragedies," Harry said mournfully.
"—but," she sent him a mock glare, "I have always wanted to take a ride in the middle seat of a flying carpet. I think I might feel safe enough to appreciate being up in the sky then. Maybe."
"What if I held you in my arms on my broom. Would you feel safe enough then?"
"No, you need both hands to steer. We'd both die! Don't even try that one on me, Harry James Potter!"
"You could press yourself up against my back and wrap your arms around my waist," he offered slyly. "I'd keep you safe."
"No!" Hermione said emphatically.
At the lingering gleam in his eye, Hermione got nervous and turned the subject. "What does the rest of the DMLE think about the flying carpet?"
Harry gave her an unsettling smirk that let her know a broom ride was definitely being planned. "People gripe about the flying carpet all of the time, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly jealousy. The MLEP claim they only used it to haul around the forensic team's field equipment and any collected evidence, but rumors say that the entire department regularly cramms on board to take the carpet out for picnics in the clouds and that they sneak out the window in the fifth floor stairwell to avoid mandatory Ministry team building exercises in the lobby."
Hermione nudged Harry with her shoulder. "Maybe I should make some friends so I can sneak out with them. I hate team building exercises."
"Don't we all," Harry sighed. "I tried and they tossed me into a potted tickle tree that made me strain my side laughing. Neville only ended up wrapped in curtains. They all like Neville," he whined.
"I like Neville too," Hermione said virtuously. "He's nice."
"I like Neville," Harry protested, "we've been friends since my first year at school, but I don't know how he can get scary woman to go all soft while the rest of us get slapped upside the head for doing the exact same thing. Two of my ex-girlfriends even went and dated him right after we broke up. It's not fair and it makes no sense! I'm just as attractive. "
Hermione laughed at Harry's grumbles and ducked a hanging vine that looked like it had eyelashes, "Well, I have no intention of dating Neville after you break up with me."
Looking distressed, Harry pressed a hand to his robe pocket. "I'm not going to break up with you," he said seriously, though really, what else could he say at an awkward moment like that?
Annoyed with herself for bringing up the depressingly inevitable end of the best relationship of her life, she spoke quickly before he could add something placating about always being her friend. "At least you can console yourself that Neville's never made the top spot on the Witch Weekly Men in the Ministry Poll. In fact, I don't think he's ever even gotten onto the list, though he can be a bit shy with people he doesn't know well, so perhaps that's why."
"Neville totally deserves the top spot if he wants it." A bundle of yellow leaves fell on Harry's head, forming a flamboyant feathered crest.
Hermione couldn't help but smile. Being only Harry's friend might be her consolation prize, but it would still be something wonderful because it was Harry. "You look like a strutting cockatiel." Reaching out, she gently raked Harry's hair free of leaves, trying to memorize the feel of running her fingers through his dark strands in case she didn't get another chance.
"I was just talking about the MLEP and not, not... oh, never mind," he sighed. Ears going red, he rolled his eyes at himself and bumped her shoulder.
As their conversation lapsed, the atmosphere returned to heavy and ominous. The nickname of the "Dark" wood seemed fitting. Trees that stood straight and tall on the edges of the wood became stooped and twisted inside, with the bark growing in disturbing patterns of frowning faces and distrustful eyes. Vines crisscrossed the path to trip the unwary and thick underbrush pressed in on either side. The forest projected a distinct air of power, age, and unwelcome. Something much greater than humans was in charge here, no matter what wizards safe in their towns and castles wanted to believe. She'd leave if she hadn't promised to help Harry count the unicorns.
As an Auror, Harry had to go into dangerous places like this all of the time to track down dark wizards. Even more than his coworkers, he always seemed to find himself in the thick of things. He'd accrued so many curses and injuries in the first five years as an Auror that he had a bed permanently reserved for him at St. Mungo's Hospital. His accident rate had gotten even worse recently, but Harry changed the subject whenever Hermione tried to bring it up.
Hermione wished Harry could be content in a safer job, but he didn't want safe. He was a man of action. When someone came to Harry with a problem, they knew with unshakable certainty that he would do his very best to solve it, with little thought to the personal cost. He was talented, hardworking, and kind.
However, he wasn't soft. Life had made Harry into an obsidian blade, sharp and decisive when he attacked, but with a heart determined to reflect only the best of others, a heart that also broke all too easily. Adversity had chipped away at him time and time again, but it couldn't blunt his will or his inherent goodness. It only made him more dangerous, as the broken pieces merely uncovered the sharper edges hiding underneath.
When the current head of the Auror department retired in ten years, everyone knew that Harry would take her place, despite Harry's relative youth. Harry was on the promotion fast track and had passed every test to date with flying colors. It was one of the reasons his boss rode him so hard. Captain Carlisle knew Harry needed the right mindset and skills to solve crime while leading an elite squad full of attitude problems and paranoia.
Hermione admired Harry's strength, but worried about the wounds he took to maintain it. Obsidian always stayed sharp, but only because it was brittle. Just because Harry was used to taking damage in silence didn't mean that he should have to. Perhaps it was hubris to think that she could tip the scales for him after a lifetime of abuse, but Hermione Granger had never had a problem with making and executing a difficult plan.
That's why she couldn't tell him what had happened to her before the party. The incident hovered over her like the sword of Damocles, but she vowed to protect Harry from the cut for as long as possible. No one deserved to feel safety and happiness more than Harry. She would not be the one to rip that away.
"—mione? Hermione, you in there?" Harry prodded, jerking her back to the present.
Shoving a lock of hair out of her eyes, she saw that Draco had grossly outpaced them on the trail. "Sorry, woolgathering," she said, increasing her pace. Reaching into her cloak pocket, she pulled out the red and gold enameled hair comb she'd reclaimed from Harry's flat during her morning tea break and secured her curls.
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Is that the other half of the set? Or the comb I stole from you at the party?"
"Well," Hermione said slowly, "I don't know if I should say. Considering you're in law enforcement, you probably shouldn't boast so loudly about being a kleptomaniac."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry said loftily, "but," he dropped his head to look at her through his unfairly long eyelashes, "either way, you still owe me."
Heat flushed through Hermione's body. Even with his silences, they still shared a smouldering attraction that easily flared into passion. Staring straight into his jade green eyes, she licked her lips, daringly fanning the flames.
Harry's eyes darkened. Hand darting out, he cupped the back of her neck and pulled, pressing his lips against hers in a firm kiss that sent sparks dancing through her veins. Hermione parted her lips for more and Harry's fingers tightened on her nape. His lips slid wetly across hers as he lifted his head away.
"That one's just interest," Harry said huskily. "I'll claim the principle later, when we're safer and there's more time…." He took a step back and dropped his hand, the delicate scrape of his wand and broom calluses along her throat making Hermione shiver. Their eyes stayed locked.
"Hurry up, Harry!" Malfoy called impatiently from just out of sight, breaking the gossamer spell of taste and touch. "The clearing is just ahead."
"We'll see who claims what later," Hermione promised breathlessly. It was ridiculous that he could make her feel this way with a single kiss. She felt branded, yearning, the touch of his lips some magic elixir that made her doubts morph from cutting daggers to smoke and ash.
"I'll look forward to it," Harry smirked, bowing his head and gesturing her forward to resume their trek.
Going around a tree trunk as wide as a carriage, they abruptly came out into a small clearing scattered with people. A small group huddling together on a log looked like unhappy locals. Across the way, DMLE officers moved about what had to be the scene of the crime.
"Harry!" boomed a voice. A large man with tangled black hair on top of his head and a beard reaching halfway down his chest waved a purple and orange handkerchief at them.
"Hagrid!" Harry waved, trotting out to meet him.
Astonished, Hermione stared. Hagrid must be more than eleven feet tall because he had to bend in half to hug Harry, who only came up to his waist. Releasing Harry, Hagrid buried his face in his checkered handkerchief and blew his nose. It sounded like an avalanche. Birds flew out of the trees in fright and a nearby branch broke off and fell to the ground, almost braining Hermione. She swallowed hard. Calling on her courage, and trying not to calculate how easily she could be squashed into jam by accident, Hermione joined them. "Hello," she offered politely.
Hagrid lifted red and swollen eyes and nodded. "Hullo, Miss."
Harry began introductions. "Hermione, this is my friend, Professor Rubeus Hagrid. He works at Hogwarts as the Keeper of Keys and Grounds and teaches Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, this is my genius girlfriend, Hermione Granger. She works in the Department of Spell Recovery and Creation. She came along to give a woman's touch with the unicorns since the DMLE is short of female officers this afternoon."
Hagrid sent her a wet smile and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Call me Hagrid. It's nice to finally meet'cha. I've heard good things from Harry here."
"It's good to meet a friend of Harry's, but I'm sorry for the circumstances," Hermione said.
Hagrid crumpled, tears and snot dripping down his face. Harry patted his arm sympathetically. "That poor mare, it's awful, just awful." Hagrid wiped his sopping hanky across his face, smearing shiny fluids across his cheeks and tangled black beard.
Fishing around in her pockets, Hermione pulled out her sturdiest handkerchief, a lavender twill. "Here you go, Hagrid," she said bracingly, passing it up to him. "Yours looks a bit damp."
"That's mighty kind of you, Miss Granger." The lavender handkerchief seemed suddenly very small, failing to span even the width of Hagrid's palm as he dabbed at his face.
"Please, call me Hermione," she said. "I'm sorry about the unicorn."
Before Hagrid could break out into fresh tears, the MLEP team landed their flying carpet in the clearing. Harry pushed his hair out of his eyes and became focused. "We're here to investigate the unicorn's death. What can you tell me? Also, do you know if any other unicorns are injured or missing from the herd? Hermione's here to help us count them."
Pressing the lavender handkerchief to his eyes, Hagrid sniffled and shook his head. "I haven't had time to check. A potions mistress was hiking in the forest this morning collecting ingredients when she came across the unicorn's body. The locals informed Hogwarts and I rushed over to help. I only glanced at the poor mare, but," face going pale, Hagrid looked from side to side before leaning forward to say in a hushed voice, "the death did not look natural. In fact, it reminded me of that horrible time when You-Know-Who drank that poor unicorn's blood to stay alive."
Unsettled, Hermione saw that Draco had joined the other officers searching the forest floor for clues. Expression tense, Draco rubbed a hand across his face and turned away, revealing the unicorn's pure white haunches peeking out from behind a tree. The unicorn might merely be napping, Hermione thought sadly. There were no obvious wounds. However, a moment later she noticed that the unicorn's tail had been cut off, leaving only a bristled stump.
Wringing his hands, Hagrid continued, "It's 'orrible, just 'orrible. I asked the centaurs to help us check on the unicorn herd, but I had to speak to Bane about it, so I'm not sure if they'll tell us what they find or not. You know how Bane is about helping non-centaurs."
Sighing heavily, Harry rubbed his temple. "I remember." Jumping at the peck of a glowing bird summons from Draco, Harry flashed a hand sign that had the blonde and his bird disappearing into the trees. "Thanks, Hagrid. I need to go look at the scene and then maybe you can take us over to the unicorn herd to check them out?"
"Sure thing, Harry. I'll just keep Miss Granger here company until you're done." Hagrid clapped Harry on the back, making Harry stumble forward to keep his feet. Hermione was perfectly content to stay away from the body and wait with Hagrid.
A few minutes later, they heard the crunching and cracking sound of something forcing its way through the underbrush. Hagrid tipped his head to the side to listen. She couldn't help but feel a little safer with such a large protector nearby, though just in case she made sure he didn't obscure her wand arm.
"That ain't no animal. That's a couple of humans not used to moving in the woods," Hagrid announced.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before two people burst into the clearing. The woman was middle-aged with sensible shoes, professional robes, and hair so over-charmed it resembled a blond helmet. The younger man trotting at her back had a camera slung around his neck.
"There's definitely a story here, Creevy," the woman said smugly, unfazed by the all the pointed wands and hostile stares. She gave her robes a sharp shake to dislodge the leaves and twigs and tossed her head to do the same, though with how stiff her hair was everything must bounce off. Whipping out a notebook and quill, her eyes darted to each face in the rough clearing. "Didn't I tell you that following the MLEP carpet would work?" she said from the side of her mouth.
"Yes, ma'am," Creevy said, lifting his camera to start snapping pictures.
Rushing up to Hermione and Hagrid, the woman gave a toothy smile, "Betty Braithwaite, reporter for the Daily Prophet. Would you like to make a statement about the tragic events that occured here today?"
"Uh-uh," Hagrid said, taking an uneasy step back despite absolutely dwarfing the woman. "Um, no. No thanks."
"No comment," Hermione said firmly. A second later she was blinded by the flash of Creevey's camera.
By the time she blinked the spots from her eyes, the two had run over to the huddle of officers around the body, only to be rebuffed by a tall Auror who looked barely twenty despite his ginger beard. Unfazed, they snapped a few pictures and then zipped over to the people sitting on the log. A woman in the middle of the group, presumably the potion mistress who'd found the body, wiped tears from her face and began talking to Ms. Braithwaite. Unsure what the protocol was when it came to the press at crime scenes, Hermione shifted from foot to foot but didn't move from Hagrid's side.
Malfoy came striding out of the trees, saw the reporters, and swore. He moved to intercept them, but by then it was too late.
"A dead unicorn?! That's awful," Betty Braithwaite cooed loudly, her voice full of syrupy sympathy and barely hidden excitement. "Please, tell me more." Her quill zipped furiously across the page.
Malfoy's irritated approach didn't deter the reporter at all. She looked up with a toothy smile. "Well hello! Thank you so much for coming over to speak with me. What can you tell me about the unicorn's death?"
"We're still investigating that," Malfoy said shortly. "Our office will release an official statement soon."
Leaning forward, the stiff slope of her blond hair not shifting with the movement of her body, Ms. Braithwaite placed her fingers on Malfoy's forearm and fluttered her lashes. "Should the public be concerned about their safety, Lord Malfoy?"
Removing the fingers adroitly, Malfoy stiffened and shifted away. "Officer Malfoy is fine when in the course of my duties. As there's nothing pointing to a threat towards the general wizarding public, you and your readers may rest easy. You can contact our press secretary for more details as soon as we have them. Good day." Malfoy turned on his heel, but the reporter followed doggedly, urgently gesturing for Creevy and his camera to join her.
"If you're here, then I'm guessing so is your partner Harry Potter. History shows that Potter usually means the worst kind of trouble. There's got to be a juicy story." The reporter hopped over a branch without missing a beat, looking up into Malfoy's face as she probed, "Did the Savior of the Wizarding World get bored working out of the spotlight and decide to make some mischief back in his old stomping grounds? Did one of Potter's friends accidentally kill the unicorn?" She sucked in her breath excitedly, "Did he?"
When Malfoy didn't answer, she switched tactics. "Considering your father, you must be familiar with the signs of Dark magic. Are you in on it with him, Lord Malfoy?" She made his title sound dirty.
Hermione was impressed with Malfoy's self-control. She wanted to march up to Betty Braithwaite and slap her in the face, followed by a hex to turn her tongue into a ten-ton slug with incontinence. Instead, Hermione took a deep breath and reminded herself that she wasn't a kid anymore. Being mature, she stealthily cast a rather innocuous hex to make the reporter's quill run dry, followed up by a slightly modified warding spell used in seventeenth century France to keep pixies away from elaborate hairdos during summer garden parties.
Braithwaite's helmet hair slithered loose. Hermione's modified spell not only negated the hair charms, it had also made the hair impossible to spell into submission for six weeks and three days. Hair potions and enchanted combs wouldn't work either, not even cleaning spells. If she didn't discover muggle shampoo, she'd quickly become greasy and dandruff ridden.
Malfoy sent the reporter an arctic look. "I said good day, Ms. Braithwaite. I suggest you contact the DMLE for the facts. You should be wary of spreading such slander." Ignoring her next question, he stalked over to where Hermione and Hagrid waited. The reporter started to follow, but the dangerous glare Malfoy raked her with finally made her quail. Biting her lip, Braithwaite returned to the witness and her companions.
Although Hermione would rather vomit and die than admit it out loud, she couldn't help but notice how attractive Malfoy looked as he stalked towards them with an arrogant and cruel expression on his face. There was a reason Malfoy was considered one of the most attractive men in the Ministry. If she ever hit rock bottom, lost all self-respect and reason, and decided to have hate-sex with someone, it would be him.
Horrified and disgusted by her train of thought, Hermione blamed it on exhaustion. Pinching herself hard on the thigh, she mentally recited a list of all of the magical libraries in Britain alphabetically. She had to get some sleep tonight for the sake of her sanity.
"Great, this'll be all over the papers in hours," Malfoy said. His voice sounded whiny, making it easier to find him unappealing. "Let's go check out the unicorn herd and see if this can get any worse. Harry and the others will catch up."
Sure enough, after only a minute or two Harry and two male Aurors jogged up behind them on the trail. The other aurors looked shocked to see Hermione included in the group. While Harry was distracted updating Malfoy, they muttered together and sent her dirty looks. Hagrid left them to range ahead, following subtle signs of the unicorn herd.
"Let's go over what we know," Draco said as they continued down the path.
"The MLEP has the scene secured and is taking the body back to headquarters. They estimate time of death between fourteen to twenty hours ago," Harry said, "so Sunday evening or early this morning.
Malfoy nodded. "Did they manage to find signs of the missing blood, mane, or tail under the body? Or any other clues? Griggs? Matute?" He looked expectantly at each Auror in turn.
Griggs, the young auror who'd rebuffed Ms. Braithwaite, was tall with brown hair and a ginger beard. He looked uneasily at Hermione. "Are you sure we should discuss this with a civilian around?"
"Even Granger wouldn't kill a unicorn. She's just here to help with the herd. Otherwise, ignore her," Malfoy said impatiently.
Clearing his throat, Griggs continued, "We didn't find the missing hair or blood beyond a few stray hairs and drops, but we're going to bring in more people in to widen the search in the forest. The next couple of hours are critical if we want to be in the time frame for the forensics spells to give us any good answers once we find something. The MLEP are pretty sure that the body wasn't dumped there after death, so blood from the wound has to be there somewhere."
"Unless the murderer drank it all," Auror Matute said grimly. He had tan skin, dark eyes, and a sharp widows peak leading up to slicked back hair.
"There weren't any fang or tooth marks," Harry argued weakly, obviously hoping this wasn't something similar to the Voldemort situation.
Matute snorted with derision. "Get your head out of the sand, Potter. After all of the freaky stuff you've experienced, you should recognize the work of a Dark wizard. Not to mention, it's our job. Maybe he's a fastidious bastard and drained it into a cup instead of slurping straight from the vein. Maybe he used a straw."
"Are we sure it wasn't an animal?" Griggs asked forlornly. Matute elbowed him in the side for the question.
Draco pushed a branch up to walk underneath and shook his head. "Matute's right. That cut was too clean for claws or teeth. It could've been made by a wire, blade, or spell. We'll know more once the MLEP get the body back to the lab."
Hagrid came trotting back, moving surprisingly quietly for someone his size. "The herd's lingering in the area, perhaps still seeking their lost member. They're just a ways on."
Grabbing the back of Harry's robe when he would've moved to the front by Hagrid, Draco towed him to the back of the group. "Unicorns dislike you even more than most males, remember? Try not spook them."
Less than five minutes later, the path took a sharp right and unexpectedly broke out of the dense trees into a clearing with a crystal clear pool on one side and grassy meadow on the other. A gorgeous herd of shining white unicorns, brighter than a field of snowdrop flowers, foraged in the meadow. Their golden hooves pawed at the ground, pushing away fallen leaves to nibble at the underlying plants.
Everyone stopped except Griggs, who was in the middle of telling Matute a story and not paying attention. His long legs ate up the ground so quickly that he made it a third of the way into the clearing before the group's warning hisses combined with the uneasy stomp of hooves brought him stumbling to a halt. He looked around and went red beneath his beard. The lead stallion trotted in front of the herd and snorted at him suspiciously. The unicorn's horn looked very sharp, though they were very rarely aggressive. The herd sidled back, uneasy at the presence of an adult male. Griggs put his wand behind his back and slowly backed up.
"Sorry," Griggs said, voice cracking as he apologized. Anxious sweat formed dark rings beneath his arms.
Matute thwapped him on the back of the head. "You idiot, pay attention. You're lucky those're unicorns and not hippogriffs."
Flicking long white tails that glittered like strands of diamonds, the Unicorn herd slowly shuffled and settled down. The movement revealed two small golden unicorns in the center of the herd. They gleamed brighter than the most expensive of golden fashion chains forged by man, dwarf, or elf.
"Oh, look at the beautiful babies," Hermione couldn't help but coo.
Beaming, Hagrid pointed, "The little one on the right has silver coming in through the gold on her forelock and legs. She's gotta be around three, since that's when their color first starts changing from gold to silver. When they're around seven, the silver turns to pure white, though the hooves always stay gold." He sighed reverently. "Unicorns truly are magnificent creatures. Although shy, they're almost never aggressive. It's a popular but false myth that unicorns and dragons are enemies. In fact, the only creatures unicorns seem to actively avoid are thestrals, which has to do with the thestrals relationship with death and their ease traversing the different magical planes versus how rooted unicorns are to the magic native to Earth. Thestrals themselves are sweet creatures who seem more bewildered than anything by the unicorns dislike."
Harry nodded. "How many unicorns should normally be in the herd?"
"On last count, we had twelve. The stallion, two juvenile males, seven mares, and three golden foals. With the dead mare, we should still have eleven. Right now, I only count eight, including two of the foals, but some of them may be farther back in the edges of the forest."
"Anyone see more than eight?" Draco asked. "I'm coming up with seven."
"Seven," Matute agreed curtly.
"Eight," said Griggs, "but maybe ten. I think I saw two in the shadow of the trees when I was up front." He blushed.
"Six or seven?" Harry offered.
Hermione hesitated. It was hard to get a good count at this distance, despite their pure white color. "I—I only see seven… oh wait, there on the right, that's a tail. Okay, eight."
"Right, so we should have eleven unicorns in the herd if nore are missing. Granger, you're up. Go be a woman and get close enough for a better count," Malfoy ordered. "Also look if any of the unicorns have wounds that could've come from the same attack."
"Please," Harry added pointedly.
"Yeah yeah," Draco said carelessly. "Harry, remember to stay in the back and act non-threatening," he said with a push. Harry sent him a dirty look but complied.
"Good luck," Hagrid said kindly.
Nodding, Hermione put away her wand and moved into the clearing. She'd only walked a few steps when a ninth unicorn wandered out of the trees. He looked mostly white with a few patches of silver hair on his coat, probably one of the male juveniles. She was relieved to see that so far none of the unicorns looked injured, but she needed to get a lot closer and examine them all to be sure.
However, before she'd walked even as far as the absent-minded Griggs, the nearest unicorns began stamping their hooves uneasily. They tossed their heads, showing the whites of their eyes. Hermione stopped, not wanting to spook them, but it was too late.
The unicorn stallion pranced uneasily in front of the herd, looked straight into Hermione's face and reared, pawing at the air. Bugling loudly, he twisted on his feet and stampeded the entire herd back into the forest. In seconds, all traces of the gleaming herd had disappeared.
The November wind laughed mockingly through the empty clearing.
"I don't understand," Hermione apologized with bewilderment as the others joined her. "I had no trouble approaching unicorns when I studied in France."
Matute glared accusingly. "So the unicorn herd somehow equates Potter's girlfriend to a thestral? To seeing death? That's great. What'd she do that unicorns don't trust her?"
Barely controlling the urge to shrink down, Hermione rubbed her arms. "I don't know," she said quietly. She braced herself for a cutting comment from Malfoy, but surprisingly, it didn't come. He was looking at her with frustration, yes, but beneath that lurked understanding.
Sighing, Malfoy smoothed a hand over his head. "Hagrid did tell us that unicorns don't like beings who have experience with other magical planes. We should've listened."
"What are you getting at?" Harry asked protectively, stepping up by Hermione's side and touching her gently on the back.
Malfoy held out his hands and gestured. "Going past the veil into death, even if only for a few moments, is to visit a different plane of existence. I suspect too much exposure to Dementors and the foul plane they hail from would also leave a taint of association. It would explain the unicorn herd's strong negative reactions to both of you, considering your histories."
Matute's eyes flicked between Harry and Hermione. He stepped in front of the younger Griggs protectively and fingered his wand. "You're using Dark magic to tap into the Dementor realm?"
"No, no, you're misunderstanding," Hermione said quickly. "We'd never use dark magic."
"Really? Then explain just what intimate history you two have with Dementors and do it quickly," Griggs demanded, not even trying to hide the threatening rise of his wand in their direction.
Eyes narrowing, Harry stepped forward aggressively, putting himself between Hermione and the other man. "You know my history of protecting the citizens of Magical Britain, Auror Griggs, as well as my record fighting Dark magic by your side as an Auror. Ms. Granger's tragic experience with Dementors is none of your business."
Draco stepped forward with a crunch of leaves. "Come on, guys, you both know Harry is a goody two-shoes. This isn't relevant to the crime we're investigating."
"Says who?" piped up Griggs at Matute's back.
"Says me," Harry interrupted harshly, his temper making the leaves around his feet curl up in the heat. "I am the senior Auror on this case. Do not forget that I outrank both of you. Take it down a notch and drop your wands. Now." He caught Matute's gaze and stared him down.
Tension crackled through the clearing. The air felt like mid-July, shimmering in waves around Harry's body. A bead of sweat dripped down Matute's brow and into his eye. He flinched and looked away with a huff. Having lost the stare off, he folded his arms sullenly, wand pointed down. "Fine," Matute shrugged moodily. "Your girlfriend, your responsibility."
Draco cleared his throat. "Our next step is deciding what to do about the unicorn herd."
Hagrid tugged on his beard, "I can track them down meself and send you a message later, tell you where they're at and what I find out."
"Thank you, Hagrid," Harry said evenly.
"No need." An unfamiliar bass voice announced. "We've already had enough human filth tromping around tainting the wood on this day of tragedy."
By the final word, everyone but Hagrid had their wands pointed. Harry and Draco had positioned Hermione between them. She'd drawn her wand faster than Aurors Matute and Briggs, but that just made her feel less safe instead of smug.
Somehow, no one had noticed their group being surrounded by a pack of huge centaur until it was too late. With equine bodies and human torsos rising from where a horse's neck would be, the centaurs looked tall, fierce, and very unfriendly. Centaurs didn't dislike humans in particular, they just disliked everyone not a centaur. The distinction didn't really help. Most of them carried bow and arrow or spears in hand and looked comfortable using them on the inferior humans in their way. Hermione gulped hard and clutched her wand tighter in her sweaty hand.
Rotating to keep Hermione and Draco at his back, Harry moved to face the speaker. "If you want us to leave quickly, Bane, help us find out what we want to know. A unicorn mare was killed near the edge of the wood. Do the centaurs know what happened or get a chance to see if anymore unicorns are injured or missing?"
Bane curled his lip but answered. "We centaurs know many things, most beyond your puny understanding, but of this crime we have no answers to share. Yesterday eve none of our people roamed in that part of the forest."
"And what of the rest of the unicorn herd? Did you manage to take a census?" Harry asked with forced civility.
"We did," Bane said curtly.
"And?" Harry prompted with barely leashed impatience. He really wasn't cut out for diplomacy, Hermione thought with a wince. Usually that was Draco's job.
Sucking on a tooth, Bane looked at them sourly. Hermione gave it better than even odds that he'd refuse to answer and take off as quickly and quietly as he'd appeared.
Hagrid stepped forward. "Please, Bane. We just want to help."
The muscles in his haunches shifting minutely, Bane nodded slowly. "Where once there were twelve unicorns, now we can find only ten. Only one dead mare is accounted for, but she gave birth last year. The foal is missing. We searched, but cannot find the young one's scent, alive or dead, anywhere in the forest."
"Oh no, not a wee foal," Hagrid sniffed, pulling out both used handkerchiefs to mop at his leaking eyes. "Poor thing."
Inclining his head sorrowfully, Bane said, "Indeed. You wizards must find the golden unicorn foal or the world will lose another priceless treasure."
"Thank you for the information," Harry said, determination lighting a fire in his eyes. There was nothing Harry hated more than violence against children, no matter the species. "We'll do our best to find the foal."
"Hopefully your human best will be good enough," Bane said doubtfully. At some invisible signal, the rest of the centaurs turned and trotted away into the trees, quickly blending into the dappled shadows. However, Bane stayed.
Putting his hands on his hips, Harry looked up into the centaur's face and asked, "Was there something else you needed, Bane?"
The centaur tossed his head. "It may interest you to know that a few days ago, a small group of acromantula left the forest and took off towards the town of Hogsmeade. They have yet to return. Do with that what you will."
"What?" Harry sounded ill. Matute swore under his breath and Malfoy immediately turned away to activate his Auror communications amulet. As Malfoy reported the news to the DMLE with Matute and Griggs at his back, the centaur kicked up his heels and disappeared into the forest without a trace. Hermione felt horrified, but clung to the hope that someone would have noticed and reported a group of gigantic spiders with up to fifteen foot leg spans devouring the neighbors. She desperately hoped that no Hogwarts students were missing.
Cycling through his own concerns, Harry listened to the response on Malfoy's amulet and then turned to the other two aurors, "Alright, you two go back and finish securing the scene of the crime. Make sure the bystanders, especially those reporters, are all escorted safely out of the forest but don't tell them why. When you're done, join us in Hogsmeade to search for the acromantulas. They're highly dangerous, so do not try to take them on on your own. Call for backup."
"You're the glory-seeker, Potter, not us," Matute said, shaking his head. "Though if we're going up against giant spiders, I need to go and requisition me a machete for chopping off legs in case I lose my wand."
Griggs looked pale beneath his beard. "Good idea. Maybe we can ask someone to bring us swords too."
As they disappeared down the trail, Harry turned to Hagrid. "Thanks for your help. If you think of anything else, contact us."
"Will do, Harry. You just take care of yourself and those acromantulas. Keep in mind that they're probably just lost. The sweet things are probably more scared of you than you are of them," Hagrid said earnestly.
Flabbergasted, Hermione turned to Malfoy and mouthed the words, 'sweet things.'
Producing an exasperated eye roll, he mouthed back, 'I know. Bleeding heart.'
With Hagrid gone and the unicorns scared away by her very presence, Hermione realized that she was only in the way. "I'm going to go back to the Ministry. I'll check in on Sirius and Hoshimi on the way. Let me know if I can do anything to help. Do you need more information on acromantulas? Their fangs produce poison when they're excited, so do look out for that."
Sighing, Harry pulled her into a hug. Hermione wrapped her arms around him and gave a good squeeze. "Thanks, but unfortunately, we're pretty familiar with the acromantulas here in the Forbidden Forest. I'm sure we'll be fine."
"Famous last words," Malfoy mocked. "Can we go?"
Harry stepped away from Hermione and gave her fingers a squeeze. "See you later."
"It's a promise," Hermione nodded. "Try to find the time to eat something if you can. You're no good to anyone if you pass out from manly hunger. And be careful!" Taking one last look of Harry's dear face, she pulled out the portkey he'd gotten for her, touched a finger to it, and was magically transported back to the Ministry.
AN: Acromantulas in the next chapter. Dun dun!
Editing this chapter was a beast and I'm still not satisfied with the pacing and tone, but I'm ready to just move on.
In happy news, I made an amazing cake for a dinner party yesterday: chocolate chip fudge cake with vanilla buttercream and filled with a layer of bavarian cream and a layer of raspberry pie filling. SO GOOD.
