Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The series belong to J.K. Rowling respectively.

Chapter 9

As the pair walked through the forest, Eve's eyes kept shifting left and right, as cold chills went up and down her spine. She could not help but feel as if the shadows in the forest moved with them as they walked, as if stalking them like they were the prey on a hunt. This made her unconsciously tighten her hands. Draco felt the slight increase in pressure and snuck a glance to the side to see Eve's nervous face. He squeezed her hand back in silent reassurance and saw her smile shakily back in thanks as she walked closer to him. Draco then focused his attention back to the front and lifted the lantern slightly higher to light their way.

"So far I do not see anything…nor any sign of the unicorn passing through here…" Draco muttered.

Eve stayed silent as she searched with her eyes. Though she knew she was probably paranoid, but she felt as if all the shadows in the Dark Forest were constantly shifting and elongating, attempting to swallow her whole. The jitters in her spine would not let up and continued to put her in a sense of panic, as if she were a deer caught in the headlights. Her body was tense and mind quick at work to try and calm herself down. However, the presence of Draco next to her helped a great deal in curbing her instinct to run.

Suddenly, a bush to the side rustled and Eve jumped with a squeak.

"Draco…!" She whispered, now practically shadowing him as her other hand came up to grab his arm.

"Shhh. It's just the wind." Draco whispered softly.

Eve gulped, her eyes fully dilated as she looked around. You could practically feel the fear rolling off her in waves.

"Draco, let's find the others…I have a really bad feeling…" Eve whispered even lower.

Her body had gone cold as if someone had shoved a cup of ice down to her stomach. Cold sweat started to form. When Draco was about to answer, Eve stopped in her tracks.

"Ahhh!" She screamed in pain as she tripped onto her knees and her hand flew to hold her head.

"Eve?! Eve! What's wrong?!" Draco panicked at seeing her so.

"I…I don't know! B-but…Harry! Something's wrong with Harry!" Eve cried.

The pain only increased and tears escaped her tightly shut eyes. Then, as soon as it came, the pain left. Eve sat there on her knees, her chest heaving with each heavy breath as she tried to regain her composure.

"Eve?" Draco had sometime grabbed her and sat down with her in his laps, her back to his chest, as he rocked her.

"I-I'm alright…the pain is gone…" Eve whispered as she lay her head back on his shoulder, tired.

"What was that?" Draco asked.

"I don't know…one minute I was fine – scared, but fine – and then my head started hurting like no tomorrow… Then, just like that it was gone." Eve shuddered.

Draco frowned. Eve then tried to stand up. Draco immediately stood and helped her up. Still weak from the ordeal, Draco wrapped his arm around her to support half her weight.

"Let's go find the others…" Eve said.

The pain had cause a dread like no other to settle within her heart. 'Please be alright, Harry!'

There was no doubt within her heart that the pain she just went through had to do with her dear brother. For the pain had started from the area on her forehead where Harry's scar resided. Draco had his arm wrapped around her waist to help her walk as he held up the lamp to light the way. All of a sudden, they hear a soft rumbling sound that gradually grew louder and louder. The two young teens stopped in their tracks and stepped near a tree, hoping it would hide their silhouettes. From the tree line, a large herd of what appeared to be…centaurs! Came running out in a line, shouting and whooping as they passed. Then one of them broke from the herd and came running towards the two.

Eve's eyes opened wide. 'Oh no! It noticed us! What do we do?!'

But before Eve could go into an even higher state of panic, Draco quickly pushed her back further into the shadow of the tree to hide her and stepped in front of her protectively. The centaur stopped a foot away from them and scrutinized them.

"Eve Potter?" the centaur asked.

Draco tensed as he reached behind him as Eve stepped closer to him. But she did not sense any hostility from him so she cautiously peeked behind Draco's shoulder at the centaur.

"Y-yes?" She softly answered.

The centaur stepped a little closer and looked her over as if…he was checking for injuries? The centaur then nodded to himself in acceptance.

"I have a message from your brother, Mr. Potter." The centaur said.

"From Harry?" Eve asked as she stepped around Draco, though he did not let her go farther from his side.

"Yes. You are to reconvene with Mr. Potter and Hagrid back at the school. The perpetrator for the harming of the unicorns has been dealt with." The centaur said before turning around to rejoin the herd.

"Wait!" Eve called out to the centaur, who turned back around in question. "May I know your name?"

The centaur studied her before lowering his head in a bow of greeting. "I am known as Firenze."

And with that, Firenze galloped away. Eve then looked to Draco.

"Well, I'm glad that detention is now over and we can finally leave this dreaded forest. Shall we, Draco?" Eve said as her shoulders slumped in relief.

"We shall." Draco smiled as he held out his arm for her to take.

Eve giggled as all the tension left her shoulders. Taking up on his offer, she looped her arm through his as they made their way back. Though she was still a bit jumpy, Eve relaxed against Draco's form. However, when they noticed a light off in the distance, Eve reluctantly let go of his arm. Draco's warm smile, reserved only for her, melted off his face as he once again replaced his stoic persona.

"Eve! Are you alright?!" Harry shouted as he ran to her and enveloped her in his arms.

"Umph! I'm fine, Harry." Eve smiled. "Are you?"

She let go of him and stared at him. A knowing look passed between the two as an understanding seeped into their minds.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Harry took her hand and led her back to the group led by Hagrid.

As they walked ahead, Eve sneaked a forlorn look back at Draco. Seeing her slight frown, Draco mustered up a small smile and nodded for her to go on ahead. Only then did she turn back forward and followed her brother and friends. But not without sneaking a look here and then as the strange group of children walked back to the castle. Hagrid first escorted Draco to the dungeons where Eve bid him a silent farewell. The four Gryffindors were then dropped of at their house tower. But before they went off to bed, Eve approached the other three about what happened in the forest.

"Harry?" Eve called out to her brother.

"What is it, Eve?" Harry turned around.

"What happened? In the forest, Dr- Malfoy and I were wandering around and then all of a sudden I felt a sudden and excruciating pain from my forehead...right where your scar would be..." Eve said, worry and apprehension shining obviously in her eyes (not to mention she almost slipped in saying 'Draco' in stead of 'Malfoy').

Hermione, Ron, and Harry looked at each other before sighing and sat down, motioning for Eve to join them.

"It was Voldemort." Harry said solemnly.

"E-excuse me?!" Eve gasped.

"V-v-voldemort was the one out there in the forest attacking unicorns." Hermione stuttered at first. "He was consuming their blood."

Then everything clicked into place.

"Of course...unicorn blood gives the drinker elongated life..." Eve muttered. "He's using the blood as a substitute for now until he retrieves the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Exactly!" Harry said. "We had it wrong all along. Snape isn't trying to steal the stone for himself. He's getting it for Voldemort."

"And with the stone, he'll be strong again..." Ron connected the dots. "He'll come back...But if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to...try to kill you, do you?"

"I think if he had the chance, he would have tried to kill me tonight..." Harry said.

Eve gasped and her hands clenched. 'Why does Harry have to subject to his kind of life...?' She hated to see her brother in such a dangerous predicament.

"And to think I've been worried about my potions final..." Ron gulped.

"Hang on a minute. We're forgetting one thing." Hermione perked up.

"And that would be?" Harry asked.

"Who is the one wizard Voldemort's always feared?" Hermione asked.

Realization dawned on Eve and she smiled. "Professor Dumbledore!"

Hermione nodded. "As long as Dumbledore's around, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around, you can't be touched."

Ron smiled at Harry reassuringly.

'Yeah...as long as he's around...' But the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach would not go away, and Eve could not help the heavy feeling weighing down her heart.

- Next Morning -

Eve woke up earlier than the other three and quickly dressed before going down to the Great Hall. But instead of going to breakfast, she turned into one hallway leading down to the dungeons in hopes of catching a certain Slytherin. And it was just her luck for Draco Malfoy had just exited the Slytherin common room, alone. Smiling, she quickly rushed up to him and grabbed his arm before pulling the shocked blonde into an empty classroom.

"Woah, Eve. I know you fancy me, but isn't this a bit too far ahead in our relationship?" Draco teased, a smug smirk adorning his young face.

Blushing, Eve smacked his arm before hugging him. Now it was Draco's turn to blush.

"That, was for the necklace." Eve smiled shyly.

"Well, you're welcome." Draco smiled.

"What does the engraving mean? I know it's French." Eve asked curiously, taking the necklace out from under her shirt.

"Ma Lionne. My lioness." Eve felt her heart warm at the endearing nickname.

"Anyways, what happened in the forest last night?" Draco asked.

Eve's smile immediately disappeared. "He's back..." she whispered.

"Who's back?"

"Voldemort. And he's targeting Harry..." Eve muttered, as her eyes watered.

"Hey now..." Draco pulled her into a hug. "It'll be alright. We're in Hogwarts. There's nowhere safer than the castle."

Eve clenched her fists. 'Draco's right. But at the same time, I shouldn't be crying like a little baby. I should be trying to find a way to help Harry and grow stronger.'

With her determination set, she bid Draco farewell as they headed to the Great Hall separately to avoid suspicions.

'Time to visit the library...' Eve thought as she joined the other three for breakfast.

Harry greeted her with a smile and motioned to her plate which was full of food.

'I'll die before I let anything happen to Harry. This time, it's my turn to protect him...'

Over the next couple of weeks, the four spent hours in the library studying for their final exams. Eve more so than the others, looking up books about the dark arts and the first wizarding war when Voldemort first came to power. The more they knew about their enemy, the more advantage they have.

"And here I though finals would be horrid. But I found them rather enjoyable." Hermione said as the four exited the class after one of their exams.

Eve laughed. Typical Hermione.

"Speak for yourself..." Ron complained.

"If you had studied like we did instead of drooling on the library tables, maybe you wouldn't be complaining so much." Eve laughed.

"I agree with Eve." Hermione joined in Eve's laughter.

"Of course you girls would side with each other." Ron pouted.

Harry laughed before grunting as his hand subconsciously reached up to his scar.

"Harry, are you alright?" Eve asked.

"It's my scar...It keeps burning..." Harry hissed.

As they walked to their next final - Herbology - they passed by Hagrid's hut. He was sitting out on his steps and seemed to be playing a tune on the flute. Harry paused as he stared at Hagrid.

"Of course..." Harry whispered before speed walking towards Hagrid.

The other three shared a look before jogging to catch up to harry.

"What is it, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Don't you think it's odd? That more than anything Hagrid wanted was a dragon, and a stranger turns up who happens to have one?" Harry pointed out. "I mean, how many people wanders around with a dragon egg in their pocket? Why didn't I see it before?"

The four of them stopped in front of Hagrid, who put his flute down when he saw them heading towards his hut.

"'ello there, you four! Don' you guys have a final to take?" Hagrid smiled.

"Hagrid, who gave you that dragon egg? What did he look like?" Harry asked frantically.

"I dun' know, never saw 'is face. Kept 'is hood up..." Hagrid said.

"This stranger, you and he must have talked." Hermione said.

"Well, he said he wanted to know wha' creatures I look after. I told 'im after Fluffy. A dragon's gonna be no problem." Hagrid chuckled.

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Eve asked, knowing where this was going.

"Well of course he was interested in Fluffy. 'Ow often do yer come across a three 'eaded dog? Even if yer were in the trade! But I said, I told him, I said tha' the trick to any beast was to know 'ow to calm 'im." Hagrid smiled.

'Oh nooo...' Eve winced. The other three had the same expression.

"Take Fluffy fer example. Jus' play a bi' o' music and he falls straight to sleep!" Hagrid smiled.

The four gasped and shared a look.

Hagrid paused before narrowing his eyes. "I shoudn't 'ave told yer tha'..."

The four Gryffindors spun on their heels before sprinting away back to the castle. Hagrid got up and shouted after them, "Where are yer going?!"

The four ran as fast as they could before they arrived at McGonagle's desk, panting and out of breath.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore. Immediately!" Harry wheezed out.

McGonagle stared at the four before responding, "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here."

"Not here. Not here?! But this is important!" Eve exasperated.

"He received an important notice from the Ministry of Magic." McGonagle said.

"This is about the Philosopher's Stone!" Hermione whispered.

McGonagle looked at her shocked. "How do you know..."

"Someone is going to try and steal it!" Harry said.

"And we know who!" Ron added.

"I don't know how you four found out about the stone, but I assure you that it's perfectly protected." McGonagle said. "Now would you go back to your dormitories. Quietly."

McGonagle returned to her work, signaling that the four were dismissed. As they were walking out, the four huddled together.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met." Ron whispered.

"It was Snape. That means he knows how to get past Fluffy." Eve hissed.

"And with Dumbledore gone..." Hermione worried.

"Good afternoon..." A slick voice said behind the four.

They all froze before turning slowly to meet the dark gaze of the Potions master.

"Now what would four young Gryffindors be doing inside the castle...on a day like this?" Snape asked.

"I-"

"We-"

"Uh-"

Eve, Ron, and Hermione stuttered while Harry just glared.

"You better be careful. People will think you're...up to something..." Snape paused as he caught Harry's glare.

Snape gave them one last look before turning in a flourish of robes and walked back the way he came down the hallway.

Eve let out a breath she was not aware she was holding. Ron looked like he was about to faint.

"Now what do we do..." Hermione hissed.

"We go down the trapped door. Tonight." Harry said.

The four decided to wait for night to fall and everyone to be asleep to make their move. They would sneak to the third floor corridor under the invisibility cloak. And from there, stop Snape from recovering the stone.

It's been a looong time! Please review!

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