"Draco!" I yelled.
Even in the middle of the day, the Forbidden Forest had a gloomy darkness in it. I carefully stepped over tree roots, thick plants and other natural traps.
I kept to the path, making sure not to stray. Who knew what was inside here...!
The sounds of small creatures messing around in the bushes and the high-pitched sounds of the insects filled my ears completely, and all I could see was trees and darkness.
"D-draco?"
My voice got sucked into the darkness and died, sounding muffled and supressed. God, this place were really freaking me out, I had't noticed how lonely it was here yesterda.. Well, then I had been with Draco and my mind had been filled with other things. Eventually the path started disappearing, and at the point where I no longer could see it I stopped and rested my head against a tree, trying to think. No way I would stray from the path, I would get lost and possibly hurt. The teachers didn't need two lost students.
I slowly lifted my head and stared into the thick shadows. Small, luminent yellow dots stared back at me, and as I held my breath they loosened themselves one by one and flew up to me.
It was. Fairies They were like humans in miniature their small faces strange and white, and the wings that were way bigger than their bodies glowed in yellow neon. I slowly reached out one of my hands, and one of the fairies bit my finger.
I smiled at them, comforted by the dim light. Being bitten by a fairy meant luck.
Mesmerized by the small creatures, I followed their soft glow deeper into the forest, completely forgetting my good plan of staying on the path. They were so beautiful, and I didn't want to be alone any more in this heavy darkness! They even flew in my pace, turning around to see if I was still there, slowly leading me trough the thick vegetation.
Suddenly they decided to not waste more time on me and flew off, disappearing like small lanterns into the forest once more.
I was by myself. And lost.
I cursed myself. I had studied the fairies, why was I so stupid I let myself trick? Everyone who had done their homework knew how the small luminescent creatures lead humans to their death by getting them lost! Stupid, stupid, stupid!
And while I was sitting against a tree with my head in my hands, I swore I could hear a small hiss, as if by a snake. I jerked my head up and stood, trying to look everywhere at once.
The kind words of Professor Flitchwick rung in my head.
The Forbidden Forest is a dangerous place... Who knew what might be in here?
Seeing the environment almost everything you didn't want to be with would flourish here. Dark. Moist. Vegetation and small creatures to eat and with no humans? It was like snake paradise. Now, I am not a coward, but I will gladly admit my heart was having a race with my breath at the moment. The slow hiss came again, leaking from between the trees, the sound falling to the ground and surrounding me like fog. I was too scared to even think.
And slowly a pale silhouette emerged from the shadows in front of me. It looked humanoid, but the face was smooth and white like marble, and only two small holes sat where his nose should have been. His eyes were red like the evening sky, with thin pupils, like a cat.
I had never seen this man before, but just one look at him convinced me he wanted nothing good. He was draped in a heavy black cloak, making it look like he was wearing the very shadows around him.
"W-who are you?" I stuttered, crushing my back against the tree behind me, like I was going to disappear into it and away from this new threat.
The wierd man reached into his robes and slid a wand out, and my heart got stuck in my throat This thing had either attacked a wizard or, dare I say it, was a wizard himself. What had happened to this man?
Without uttering a word, he just flickered the wand and I found myself being unable to move. He slowly opened his lipless mouth, and when he spoke his voice was merely a thin hiss, digging into my brain and filling me with fear.
It felt like cold, bony fingers dug into my head, and I wringed in pain, clenching my teeth. What was he doing to me?
"Ebony..." He hissed. "Listen closely... You will make my way into Hogwarts..."
Painful tears beginning to well in my eyes as the invisible fingers tightened the grip of my brain. Who was he? And why did he want to get into Hogwarts? Couldn't he just go in by himself, he was already inside the grounds!
I couldn't help it - the slow increasing of pain made me squeal, falling to my knees and holding my head.
"Stop it!" I begged, tears clouding my vision. No answer, just more of the pain, slowly increasing and melting my brain. I couldn't stand it.
"I'll do it! I'll do it!" I screamed, over and over, banging my head into the root before me.
The pain faded, leaving me panting and crying on the filthy ground.
"You will return here tomorrow night..." The man hissed, and I didn't dare look up at him.
"To this very place."
I smelled burnt wood and looked up, watching him burn a big "X" In one of the trees. It glowed suspiciously red, even after he was finished and it had cooled down.
And with that he descended into the darkness again, leaving me all alone.
I heard the leaves rustling behind me and spun around, expecting the extreme pain in my head, whipping out my own wand in defence. But all I saw was the concerned, pale face of Draco malfoy.
"Freak? What was that?" He asked, completely forgetting his new policy with using my real name. I massaged my temples.
He had heard me screaming.
"I..." I couldn't tell him. I was in trouble, the worst I could do was dragging him into it as well.
"I got attacked..." I said. It was a lousy explanation but it had to do.
"Woha, are you okay?" He asked, and I was happy that he cared at least. Another step against being a nice person there, Malfoy!
"N-no..." I said, clutching my head. "I think I need to see the nurse..."
Well, I wanted to check that nothing was wrong, and I kind of missed her. After all, she was that one person I could let down my façade to.
Giving the best painful smile I could manage, I started following Draco out of the forest, following the path of broken branches and plants he and I had left behind.