"Perhaps this is not the place for this conversation."

"No, we're discussing this now!"

"Look, I'm just saying, Hermione, Harry and I can deal with it ourselves. We shouldn't have too many of us out tonight. We might get caught."

"And what exactly makes you and Harry so much more qualified than me for this job, Ronald?"

"They're expecting us, we're the ones who told them about Norbert."

"Plus, Norbert knows us, and call me crazy, but I don't think introducing a dragon that we're gonna be stuffing into a cardboard box to a new playmate is the safest idea."

"He's waking up."

"Really? Move over, let me see."

"Do you really have to get that close to a guy who's been sleeping up till now, Hermione? Someone might see that as creepy."

"Shut up, Harry."

"He's got a point."

"Stay out of this, Ron."

"Perhaps you all can stop bickering for a few minutes so we can talk with our patient?"

"Oh, right."

"I'll get Madam Pomfrey."

Neville opened his eyes. He saw Harry, Ron, and Theodore sitting at his bedside. The back of Hermione's head was just barely visible over Ron's shoulder, presumably getting Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse. He noticed that he was in the hospital wing, which confused him for a minute. "What happened?" he asked.

"You collapsed in the library," Theodore said. "You've been unconscious for about ten hours."

"Ten hours, huh?" Neville asked. "Good thing I passed out on a Saturday or I might have missed some classes."

"This is no laughing matter, Mr. Longbottom," Madam Pomfrey said as she strode over to the bed.

"Plus the joke was weak anyway," Harry chimed in.

"Mr. Potter, please, for the sake of my patients and my sanity, please remain silent any time you enter this hospital wing," Madam Pomfrey said without looking at him. Ron and Neville both stifled laughter, and even Hermione and Theodore smiled at that. "Mr. Longbottom, your friends said that before you fainted, you clutched your forehead in pain. Were you experiencing head pain of any sort?"

"Well," Neville said, closing his eyes and thinking hard, "not exactly head pain. It was more like the pain was coming from inside my scar. And I think I heard a voice. But I couldn't make out what it was saying."

"Mhmm," Madam Pomfrey said thoughtfully. "Well, auditory hallucinations aren't entirely unheard of during such episodes...but I've never heard of pain coming directly from a scar before. Then again, your scar is unique..."

"I'm pretty unique, too," Harry muttered.

"In any case, I recommend that you stay here overnight, just to be safe," Madam Pomfrey continued, ignoring Harry. "Between you and the Malfoy boy, I've got my hands full tonight, that is for sure."

"Any idea what happened to Draco and the others?" Theodore asked with a convincing look of concern on his face.

"Well, Mr. Nott, I do have my theories, but the headmaster has asked me to keep the details on Mr. Malfoy's case private," Madam Pomfrey said.

Theodore nodded. "Of course, Madam Pomfrey, I understand."

"Then maybe you'll understand that visiting hours are now over. Say your goodbyes, Mr. Longbottom."

Neville didn't get much sleep that night. He was too nervous. His scar had never hurt like that. What had set it off? He didn't feel sick. Was there something in the library that triggered the pain?

There was a creak. Neville sat up and looked around. He didn't see anything. He looked to the other beds. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't moving. He couldn't see their faces, but they were too still not to be asleep.

Still, doesn't hurt to check, Neville thought to himself as he quietly slipped out of bed. He crept over to the three beds where the Slytherins were sleeping. He saw Crabbe and Goyle with their eyes closed, unmoving, and for the third time that night he wondered if he really did the right thing by using the Shiyi seeds. It's not that Crabbe and Goyle were people he really cared about, but still, they were people. And Neville just messed with their brains just to cover his tracks. I sure hope they'll be okay.

Neville moved on and checked Malfoy's bed. The covers were drawn up over his head, which made Neville raise an eyebrow. Neville had been discreetly watching Malfoy ever since he woke up just to be safe. When he first woke up, Malfoy was asleep and his head was visible. He hadn't moved since then, until Neville fell asleep. Neville was quite worried at the time for Malfoy's safety, but now he was worried for a different reason.

Neville examined the bed closely. "Strange," he whispered. "There aren't any pillows." He quickly and quietly pulled the blanket. He didn't see Malfoy, but instead saw pillows stacked up. Neville whirled around and looked at the door to the hall. It was slightly ajar.

Neville's eyes widened as he looked down at his watch. 11:32. Charlie was supposed to pick up Norbert from the Astronomy Tower at midnight. The others were talking about Norbert when he was just waking up. "This isn't good," Neville muttered.

Neville crept outside and entered the hallway. He started to walk to the nearest staircase, but he stopped when he heard a crash behind him. He turned around and saw Malfoy picking himself up off a suit of armor that he knocked over. Neville ducked behind a statue and watched Malfoy carefully. Malfoy looked over his shoulder nervously, and walked off. Why is he going that way? Neville wondered. The Astronomy Tower is the other way. What's he up to? Neville quickly weighed his options and followed him.

Neville followed Malfoy down a few flights of stairs, through the Entrance Hall and out the front doors. Good thing Malfoy doesn't want to be seen either, he thought. There's a lot of cover here. Neville and Malfoy weaved through trees and bushes heading not for Hagrid's hut like Neville expected, but toward the Forbidden Forest. Just as they reached the edge of the forest, Neville stepped on a twig. It snapped loudly, and Malfoy stopped, and looked around, panicked.

"Who's there?" he asked, drawing his wand.

Well, so much for stealth, Neville thought. "It's me," he said out loud, standing up from behind the bush.

"Longbottom? What are you doing here?" Malfoy asked. He didn't lower the wand.

"I was going to ask you the same question," Neville said, taking a step toward him, holding his hands up. "You should be in bed."

"Go to hell," Malfoy sneered. "Get out of here before I blast you."

"Be smart, Malfoy," Neville said. "If you attack me, you will make noise. Hagrid will hear you, and we'll both get detention. You don't want that." Malfoy didn't move. "Come on, Draco, tell me what's going on," Neville said in his best compassionate voice. "Maybe I can help."

Malfoy dropped his arm to his side. "Why do you want to help me?" he asked weakly.

"Because I found you, Crabbe, and Goyle out cold right here," Neville lied. "Right here outside the Forbidden Forest. That's serious. You might be a git, Malfoy, but I don't want you to die or anything."

Malfoy looked at his feet for a few minutes. Neville didn't move. He was pretty sure that his bluff was working, but he had to let Malfoy come to the conclusion that Neville was on his side on his own. "Okay, Longbottom," he said, looking up at Neville emotionlessly. "Let's do it."

Neville smiled. Either Malfoy is an idiot or I'm better at lying than I thought, he said to himself. I guess it does help that I want to make sure he's alright. "So," he said aloud, "why are we here?"

"You found me and the others here, right?" Malfoy said. "So, whatever happened to me happened somewhere around here.'

"You don't remember?" Neville asked.

"I-I don't remember anything for the last three weeks, Longbottom," Malfoy said irritably. "That's why I'm here. I want to take a look around. Try to figure out what happened."

"You don't actually plan on going into the Forbidden Forest, do you?" Neville asked.

Malfoy clenched his fists. "We might have to." he said. "My current theory is that something in there attacked us and the trauma caused me to lose my memory." Malfoy started walking toward the treeline. "Are you coming or not?" he asked, still walking. Neville looked at his watch. 11:43. Harry and the others needed more time. He swore and followed Malfoy.

They walked in silence down the path, keeping their eyes peeled for...neither of them were entirely sure. Neville had a feeling Malfoy wouldn't be satisfied until either they found a clue for a fake incident or something really dangerous happened. Neville checked his watch. 12:13. "Malfoy, we've been at this for half an hour," he said. "We need to get back to the Hospital Wing before Madam Pomfry wakes up and finds out we're gone. Maybe we can try again tomorrow."

Malfoy stopped and dropped to one knee. He put his hand on the ground and rubbed his fingers together. "I think I found something, Longbottom," he said.

Neville ran up to him, feigning excitement. "What?" he asked.

Malfoy pointed at the ground. "It's some kind of blood," he explained. "Can't be human, it's silver."

"So, what does this have to do with anything?" Neville asked.

"Maybe something, maybe nothing," Malfoy said, rubbing his fingers together. "This blood is still wet, so this might not be directly related, but maybe one of the monsters here is responsible for my memory loss."

"Uh-huh," Neville said skeptically, looking at the blood. "So what? You want to follow the blood to a deadly monster? That's not really a good id-" He looked up. Malfoy was walking off the path. "Oh, brilliant," he said to himself as he followed Malfoy.

"Malfoy!" Neville called as they weaved through the trees. "This is stupidly dangerous! We should head back!"

"Then you head back," Malfoy said, creeping forward toward a clearing.

"Malfoy -" Neville began.

"Shh," Malfoy said, looking out into the clearing. Neville crept forward and looked out, and saw a cloaked figure leaning over a dead unicorn.

"What is he doing?" Neville whispered.

"I think he's drinking the unicorn's blood," Malfoy answered. Malfoy shifted his feet to get a better look, and the figure stiffened and looked up, unicorn blood dripping from its hood. He drew a wand and shot a flash of red light at Neville and Malfoy.

"Get down!" Neville shouted, tackling Malfoy. The red light sailed over them. Neville's scar started aching as he rolled off Malfoy, and scrambled to his feet. "RUN!" he shouted.

It turned out, Malfoy didn't need any convincing. He was already running before Neville shouted. The hooded man shot more spells at Neville. Ignoring the pain from his scar, Neville dove behind a tree and took out his wand. "FLIPENDO!" he shouted, shooting red sparks at the figure. The figure waved his wand upward and deflected the spell. The figure ran forward as Neville bolted, barely avoiding the curses being fired at him.

Neville was too busy trying to avoid the spells being cast by the figure that he didn't notice that he was moving deeper into the forest. Neville weaved and zig-zagged through the trees, using them as cover from the figure's curses, desperately firing Knockback Jinxes and Leg-Locker Curses over his shoulder, which, naturally, were way off-target. It wasn't too long until Neville tripped over a root. He started to push himself to his feet, when he heard something that sounded like hoofbeats.

Neville swore and fell prone as he heard something leap over his body and charge the figure. He kept his head down as he heard spells being cast and arrows being fired. When the noise finally stopped, he looked up and saw a blond centaur approaching him. "Neville Longbottom," he said, "you are not meant to be here. The Forest is not safe for you."

"I think I figured that out," Neville said, pushing himself to his feet. "Thank you for rescuing me."

"You are welcome, Neville Longbottom," the centaur said. "I am Firenze. Can you ride? It will be faster that way.

Neville nodded and climbed on Firenze's back. "Who was that guy?" he asked as they started moving. "What happened to him?"

"I do not know who he was," Firenze answered. "He chose to retreat after a brief skirmish."

"FIRENZE!" a voice roared from the trees. Two centaurs galloped out of the trees. One was old, with white hair and a wrinkled face. The other was younger, with dark black hair, and a very angry expression. "What are you doing!?" the younger centaur yelled. "You would challenge destiny? You allow a human to ride your back? Are you a common mule!?"

The older centaur shuffled and looked uncomfortable. "I am sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best."

"For the best!?" the younger centaur yelled as he reared up onto his hind legs in anger. "For the best, Ronan? Have you not read the stars? Firenze sells his dignity for a mere boy!"

Firenze gave an angry whinny and reared onto his hind legs as well. "Do you not know who this is, Bane?" he asked. "This is the Longbottom boy! The one who the stars speak of! Are you so sure that this is his day to die!? Or have the stars not let you in on that secret?" Firenze galloped away from Ronan and Bane in a huff, Neville hanging on for dear life.

"What was that all about?" Neville asked when they slowed down. "Why was Bane so angry?"

Firenze didn't answer at first. When he finally did speak, he did not answer Neville's question, but instead said: "Neville Longbottom, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

Neville blinked in surprise. "No," he said, confused, "we only use the horn and the tail in potions."

"That is because it is a terrible crime to kill a unicorn," Firenze explained. "One that would only be committed by one with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will thus live half a life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

"If it's such a horrible existence, why would anybody want to drink the blood, no matter how long they would live?" Neville asked.

"That is the right question to ask," Firenze answered. "And I will answer your question with another question. If there were another substance, another method to prolong your life in Hogwarts, one that would be strong enough to remove the curse, then wouldn't it be worth the risk to drink unicorn blood to tide yourself over until you can procure that substance?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone!" Neville said in realization. "The Elixir of Life!"

"Indeed," Firenze said in approval. "Now, who would be so desperate as to use unicorn method until he could obtain the Stone and restore himself to his prime?"

Neville's jaw dropped. "A-are you saying that was-"

Firenze stopped. "This is where I leave you, Neville Longbottom," he interrupted. They were back at the edge of the Forest. Neville slid off Firenze's back and turned to see him walking back into the forest. "Wait!" he called out, but the centaur did not answer as he vanished into the trees. Neville sighed and walked back to the castle. He had to return to the Hospital Wing before Madam Pomfrey woke up.

Author's Note: I. Hate. This. Chapter. Why was this so hard to write? I don't get it! I knew I wanted Neville to go to the Forbidden Forest, but I kinda sorta wrapped up the Norbert thing last chapter, thus getting rid of the reason to go to the Forest in the first place. So, Malfoy was basically a plot device. I feel that him willingly going into the Forest was a bit out of character for him, but whatever, it works. I do like the chapter overall, I guess. Don't forget to review and tell me how terrible this chapter was! See you next time!