CHAPTAH EIGHT! WORDS, WORDS, READ 'EM!

Together

A/N: This is chapter eight only a few more chapters left :) I can't wait for the later books; the cannon is basically thrown out the window :D I have some good ideas for the next few books and I have a good feeling about this series. Anyway…I'm rambling. Bye and love you, with ALL THE HOMO! (lol jk). I am not a boss named J.K. Rowling, so I don't anyone but my OC's. Make sure to review, and include the homo! (lol jk. Again.) Thanks to all who reviewed or put me on alert or favorite: daniboy95, magical fan18, gracefuldarkangel, Cathie Cathie, katt1222, Cat Woman, .Nicoleta, IrisGoddesOfRainbows, Dovewing123, DoctorWho41, Yvonna, Randy21tx, Birthdaychat, and Good-Fellow. You all get a virtual hug! Take that as you will.

~Third Person POV~

"It sounded like Snape was threatening Quirrell!" Harry exclaimed quietly to Ron, Hermione, and Xena. Apparently, he had heard a conversation between the two professors, which made it seem as though Snape was pressuring the DADA teacher for the solution to his obstacle. So far Quirrell was holding strong, but they weren't sure if it would last. They could only hope it would.

Later that day, Xena, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, and Neville received notes from McGonagall stating they were to be escorted by Filch to meet Hagrid. They were going to be serving their detentions in the forest. All of them, except for Xena, being a werewolf herself, were terrified. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were scared, but slightly less than Neville and Malfoy because they knew Hagrid would be with them.

"We're gonna be searchin' fer a unicorn tha's been injured," Hagrid said. He pointed at a silvery liquid splattered on the leaf strewn floor. "See that? Tha's unicorn blood. We're going ter be splittin' inter two groups- one with me, an' one with Fang."

"I want Fang," Malfoy said quickly, eyeing the boarhound's long, sharp teeth.

"Fine, but he's a coward, jus' warnin' yeh," Hagrid said with a snort. "Xena, can you go with him and Neville? Yer the only one Fang likes as much as me."

"Sure, c'mon, Neville, Dung Brain," Xena said. Malfoy turned faintly pink, but did not retort, even when he heard everyone's snickers. He knew if he said anything, he would be in even more trouble.

"That was mean, Malfoy. Why did you have to scare Neville and make him send up sparks?" Xena said angrily.

"Trust me, I'm regretting it. Now I have to put up with the Freak and Scar Head," came Malfoy's reply. Harry put a calming hand on Xena's shoulder when he heard her snarls. He knew she would not hesitate to punch or hex Malfoy. Xena quieted, but glared at Malfoy furiously. Malfoy cowered slightly and edged away from her.

Xena and Harry were rooted to the spot. A shadowy figure had been drinking blood from the dead unicorn until it noticed them. Once it had noticed the pair, it began slithering towards them. Malfoy and Fang had long since fled. Harry's scar was exploding with pain, nearly blinding him. Xena was standing next to him, clutching his arm painfully, with her eyes wide. She was attempting to pull him away, but was frozen with fear.

Suddenly, heavy hoof falls could be heard thundering in their direction. A centaur with a pale blond mane and light golden colored body stood before them. The shadowy figure left quickly.

"It is not safe for you in here," the centaur said. He looked at the two children before his amazingly blue, fathomless eyes rested solely on Xena. "I know he is Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, but who may you be?"

"Xena Sharma. What is your name?" Xena was too nervous for this kind of small talk, but figured it was only polite.

"My name is Firenze. But come, as I said before, it is not safe," the centaur said. "Climb onto my back; it will be faster."

The two children did as he requested, and Harry asked, "What was that thing?"

Firenze let out a heavy sigh and asked, "Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No, we've only used the horn and tail hair in potions," Harry answered. Xena stayed quiet, listening to the discussion intently.

"That is because it is a monstrous thing to slay something so innocent. Unicorn blood will keep you alive, but at a heavy price. Once the blood touches the drinker's lips, they will have a cursed life a half life. Only someone with nothing to lose and everything to gain would do such a thing," Firenze said.

"Wouldn't it be better to die?" Harry questioned curiously.

"To most, yes, but if you had nothing left to lose, and everything to gain, it would not matter. Do you know what is hidden in the school right now, something that can bring a person back to full power?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone," Xena said quietly.

"Do you know of anyone who has clung to life, waiting for their chance to return to full strength?

"Voldemort," Harry breathed. Firenze didn't say a word, but his silence was definite yes. Xena opened her mouth to say something, but the centaur cut her off.

"This is where I leave you. You are safe now," Firenze said, spying the large figure of Hagrid bobbing towards them with a lamp in hand before letting the children off and galloping away.

"You mean You-Know-Who wants the stone? Oh Merlin," groaned Ron.

"Well, he won't be able to get it with Dumbledore here. He was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of," Hermione stated confidently.

"I sure hope so," Xena murmured.

"All yeh have to do is play some music, and Fluffy'll go right ter sleep," Hagrid said. He seemed to comprehend what he revealed, because a horrorstruck look crossed his face.

It was right after exams had finished when Harry realized what a suspicious coincidence it was that Hagrid's greatest wish was to own a dragon, and a stranger had supplied him with one. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Xena had rushed down to Hagrid's cabin, only to find that Hagrid had indeed (not intentionally, of course) given the hooded stranger the key to bypassing Fluffy, one of the Sorcerer's Stone's guardians.

"Forget I said tha'" Hagrid ordered, but the four first years were out the door with a hasty, "Bye, Hagrid!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Xena were in the common room on their way to the third corridor. But Neville was blocking their way.

"Neville, I'm really sorry about this," Hermione said regretfully. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Neville's body went rigid and he fell backwards onto the ground.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Xena. "You'll understand later."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Xena stood under the invisibility cloak in front of the thick wooden door separating them and Fluffy nervously.

"Well, this is it," Xena said apprehensively, grasping the brass doorknob and turning it. The four slunk inside. The effect was almost instantaneous. The three headed dog (a Cerberus as Hermione had said) began growling gutturally. Hermione gulped and raised Harry's wooden flute to her lips. When the first few reedy notes piped out of the flute, Fluffy's eyes drooped ever so slightly. As the music kept pouring out, his eyes drooped even more. Eventually, the giant, three-headed dog was fast asleep.

"Alright, who wants to go first?" Harry whispered, after moving Fluffy's paw and opening the trapdoor. No one volunteered. Harry sighed and said, "Okay, I'll go and tell you if it's safe or not. If it's not, go and owl Dumbledore as fast as you can."

Xena nodded and cautioned, "Be careful."

Harry took a deep breath before jumping into the darkness below. Ron, Hermione, and Xena perked their ears to hear over Hermione's flute playing. They heard a muffled 'thump' and Harry called that it was safe to them.

Xena stepped up and peered into the chasm Harry had disappeared into. She closed her eyes and plunged into hole. After a few moments of falling she landed on something soft. Ron and Hermione followed. Hermione screeched loudly she saw the vines creeping up on her friends and wrapping around them. She screeched even louder when she felt those same vines beginning to restrict her movement. Xena, Ron, and Harry were struggling, but Hermione lay still.

"It's Devil's Snare! Stop struggling and relax!" she shouted. "It'll only kill you faster!"

"Kill us faster? Oh, gee, we can really relax now!" a hysterical Ron screamed in an unnaturally high voice, fighting the plant even more furiously. Harry, too, continued to squirm, but Xena had enough sense to let her body go limp. She knew from experience- the more you resist, the worse it will be.

Hermione looked to be thinking hard and asked no one in particular, "What did Professor Sprout say about Devil's Snare?" Her tone was panicky and fretful.

Xena had never felt more useless in her entire life. Here she was, getting strangled to death by a plant with her friends, and she was letting Hermione do the thinking.

"That's right; she said they hate warmth and light!" Hermione concluded.

"So light a fire," gasped Harry.

"But there's no wood!" cried Hermione. It astounded Xena how the brightest witch in the year had forgotten she was a witch.

"ARE YOU MAD? YOU'RE A WITCH!" Xena bellowed.

"USE YOUR WAND!" shouted Ron. Hermione blushed and conjured some bluebell flames, as per her specialty.

The plant retracted its vines and slackened its grip. They all fell through the Devil's Snare and onto a hard concrete floor.

"Whew, good thing Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis," Ron said, heaving a sigh of relief.

"No, good thing Hermione pays attention in herbology," corrected Xena. "There's no wood, honestly."

"What's that noise?" Harry interrupted as they crept ever closer to the next chamber. Xena stood stock still and soon she heard the noise. It sounded like the buzzing of at least a thousand bees trapped in a small room. She dearly hoped none of them were allergic. As a werewolf, her only allergy was a fatal one to silver. Though contrary to common muggle folklore, it had to enter her bloodstream to take effect.

Ron twisted the door knob and the four Gryffindors rushed inside. Xena was wrong; the room wasn't filled with bees, but instead with flying… keys?

"What do you think we're supposed to do?" Ron asked in a low voice.

"Isn't it obvious, Ronald?" replied Hermione. "We're supposed the catch the key we need."

"But there are hundreds!" protested Harry.

"Well… not necessarily," Xena said. "The lock looks sliver and old, so I bet the key will be too. It'll probably fly funny and look battered because it has already been used." Hermione looked immensely proud at Xena's use of logic.

"But could they be dangerous?" Harry persisted.

"They're keys, mate," said Ron. "Maybe if they attacked together, but…"

"Enough chatter!" announced Xena, clapping her hands together. She pointed at the wall near the door. "See those brooms? Harry, you try and catch the key, Mr. Seeker, and I will distract them."

Harry nodded in understanding and the two grabbed the brooms. Hermione and Ron watched as their friends kicked off the ground.

After intense search, Harry spotted the key they needed.

"Look!" Harry cried. Xena glanced over and saw the key in question. She nodded firmly before jetting off with hundreds of keys hot on her trail. Eventually, Harry caught the key and unlocked the door.

Stepping through it, they were greeted by a life size chess set.

"I'm terrible at chess," Harry, Xena, and Hermione all said in unison.

Ron smiled and said, "Well, I'm not. We'll be fine."

The children all took their places: Harry as a bishop, Hermione as a queen, Ron as a knight, and Xena as a rook.

After a difficult while, Ron murmured, "Yes, it's the only way." Then, in a louder voice, he declared, "I have to be taken. That will leave Harry open to check mate the king."

His friends protested, but he ignored their pleas and made his move. The queen struck him down viciously, extracting more cries from his friends. Harry check mated the king the game was over.

"He'll be okay, right?" Xena asked uncertainly.

"Yes, we'll come back for him," whispered Hermione, tears building in her eyes. Harry and Xena nodded and the trio through a room containing a troll with a large lump on its head. The stench was overpowering and they hurried to their next obstacle.

As soon as they stepped over the threshold, violet flames popped up behind them and in the doorway to the next challenge inky black flamed shot up. On one side of the room stood a long table on which stood several bottles of different shapes and sizes and a single piece of parchment.

The three skimmed the parchment, though Xena was slower due to her dyslexia.

The paper read:

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle-wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side
Second, different are those who stand at either end
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third as you see clearly, all are different size
Neither dwarf nor giant hold death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."

Xena swore under her breath and proclaimed, "We're screwed." The other two ignored her.

"Brilliant," Hermione muttered. "It's not magic- it's logic- a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards don't have an ounce of logic. They'd be stuck her forever."

"Won't we be too then?" asked Harry.

"No, I should be able to figure it out. All I need is some time," Hermione said.

Xena was once again feeling useless, letting Hermione do all the work. She and Harry waited nervously while Hermione paced, brows furrowed, talking to herself under her breath.

After ten painstaking minutes, she announced, "I've got it."

Hermione pointed out the potions to go forward and back.

"There are only about two swallows in each one. I'm going back to help Ron. Which way do you want to go, Xena?" Hermione asked.

"I'm going with Harry," Xena said confidently.

"Are you sure you want to? It'll be too-" Harry began before Xena slapped a hand over his mouth.

"We'll be fine," she assured Hermione. The bushy haired brunette nodded and took a gulp of the potion. She shuddered violently.

"What's it like? It's not poison, is it?" questioned Harry after Xena had removed her hand.

"It's fine, but it feels like ice," Hermione replied. She looked at them mournfully before throwing her arms around them. "Oh, do be careful!" she sobbed. "You're both great wizards, you know."

"Hermione, you're much better than me," Xena said uncomfortably.

"Yeah, you're better than me too," Harry added.

"Me? Book! And cleverness! There are much more important things- like friendship and bravery- in life! You're both great friends. Stay safe!" Hermione wailed.

"We'll be alright "Mione," soothed Xena. "Now hurry, go before the potions wears off."

Hermione walked to the wall of purple flames tearfully, and with one last wave, walked straight through back to Ron.

Now it was just Harry and Xena. They exchanged a look and both took a swig of the potion in turn. Hermione was right: it did feel like ice coursing through their system. Looking at each other again, they clasped hands and strode through the black fire. Together.