Note: If you've been reading my story and have yet to leave me feedback it would really mean a lot to me if you did. I'm not the type of person to stop posting just because I didn't get the response (or lack there of) that I wanted but I would absolutely love to know what you think. So please submit a review even if you think this story stinks. I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong. Thanks.

DISCLAIMER: All the characters you see here that are in any of the Harry Potter books belong to JK Rowling and I am not her. I am simply taking them out to play.

Chapter 9: The Whomping Willow

"I am telling you what I saw!" Mallory heard the voice of Sirius Black float down from the top of the staircase that lead to the Great Hall the following morning. "She protected that girl!"

"Mallory Crabbe?" The sound of her own name made Mallory stop in her tracks, "You think she was protecting someone? I'd say she did it just so she could hex those boys." Potter retorted. How did Sirius Black see me? There was no one else in that corridor.

"Yeah," Pettigrew chimed in.

"Shut up," Black barked, "I know what I saw James," he continued.

"Maybe the cloak obscured your vision mate-" Potter chuckled. Cloak, Mallory thought, what cloak? "-because Mallory Crabbe is nothing but another dirty, lying, big mouthed, hotheaded, egotistical, Slytherin." With each word that came from Potter's mouth, Mallory felt anger rising from deep within her. He thinks I'm egotistical? She raged, that bloody self-centered b*stard thinks I'm egotistical?

"That's a little uncalled for James," Remus' voice reprimanded, "she's really not as bad as you're making her out to be.

"How would you know?" Potter snapped, "It's not as though you spend anymore time with her than the rest of us."

"You just jump to conclusions too quickly," Remus replied, "Not all Slytherins are the same-"

"Yes they are!" Potter interjected

"– just like not all Gryffindors are the same," Remus continued.

"Let's just drop it shall we?" Black asked. "I know what I saw, believe me or not." With that Mallory heard footsteps and assumed the boys headed into the Great Hall for breakfast. She waited for a few minutes at the bottom of the staircase. She didn't want to go into the Hall too quickly incase they noticed.

Avery's voice brought her from her thoughts, "Mallory," he called, "what are you doing down here?" She turned and looked over at him.

"Nothing," she replied shaking her head, "I was just thinking."

"Should I leave you alone then?"

"No," she replied and began up the stairs. At least with Avery, if they noticed her, it was unlikely they would think she had overheard them.

"Where were you yesterday?" Regulus demanded as Mallory took a seat next to him at the Slytherin table.

"At Hogsmeade," Mallory replied simply, "just like everyone else."

"I didn't see you," He replied, "And I was looking."

"That's not my fault."

"Did you have a nice birthday?"

"Birthday?" Avery interrupted, "Yesterday was your birthday?" Mallory nodded.

"It was very nice,"

"Eagar was there wasn't he?"

"Yes,"

"Why didn't I know about this?" Avery interrupted again.

"Because you're too daft to pay attention," Darcy supplied. He scowled at her.

"Don't feel bad," Nott added in, "I didn't know either until this morning."

"I don't like to make a big deal of things," Mallory defended herself, "it's just a birthday."

"But this was your 17th," Avery replied, "You're finally an adult now."

"I'm aware," Mallory discreetly glanced sideways at Severus who was seated at the very end of the table reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. "You don't need to inform me of things I already know."

"This calls for a party," Avery announced, "some time this week."

"No," Mallory protested, "don't, I don't want a party."

"Too bad," Nott answered, "We need an excuse to get some firewhisky. I love that stuff."

"And how do you propose we get some?" The conversation turned to just Avery and Nott as Mallory began to eat.

"I have ways," Nott gave him a devious smile. "We'll have to choose a day."

"Can you make your party plans elsewhere?" Bellatrix interrupted, "I don't want to hear about it." Both boys turned to stare at her for a moment. She had her hand up to her temples and her elbows on the table. She looked miserable.

"Have a little too much to drink yesterday Bella?" Mallory joked. Bellatrix looked up at her with a sharp stare.

"If you hadn't left me, I'm sure I wouldn't feel this awful. You're the only one who can control my drinking." Mallory smiled.

"I know."

"What are you two on about?" Nott asked looking between the two girls.

"Mallory here is 17 now," Bellatrix explained, "so naturally we celebrated in Hogs Head-"

"-And Bella had just a tad too much to drink," Rosier said as he took a seat in between Regulus and Mallory, shoving Regulus out of the way.

"Just take a seat," Regulus grumbled.

"I will," Rosier replied. The rest of breakfast was passed in relative silence. Mallory didn't want to be in the vicinity of Evan Rosier for too long. When she was finished, she scuttled out of the Great Hall and down to the common room to get some homework done before class.

"We'll do it tonight then?" Once again Mallory found herself intruding on one of Sirius Black's conversations. This time she had been on her way to the library and was stopped just outside her Charms classroom.

"Yes," came Remus' reply.

"I'm so glad we finally get to do it," Pettigrew squeaked, "after all these years."

"Shut up," Black barked.

"Oi!" Potter shouted, "That's the fifth time today mate-"

"If he wasn't so annoying-"

"Can we focus please?" Remus restored calm to the room. "Thank you," Black muttered something that Mallory did not catch, "Now McGonagall always comes and gets me, as you well know, just after dinner and she takes me out onto the lawns to here," they must be looking at a map! Mallory cursed silently, "and she transforms into a cat and prods the knot at the base of the tree. Then I climb through the hole and follow the tunnel to the shack. It's quite simple really."

"And you're certain no harm can come to us?" Pettigrew asked tentatively.

"Yes," Remus reassured him.

"Alright then, it's settled," said Potter and there was a rustling of papers.

"I wish we had a better map," Black said longingly.

"We will soon mate," Potter replied, "now let's get out of here before anyone notices our absence." Mallory realized with a sudden horror that if they came out of the room they would certainly see her and she was too far from either stairwell to run for it. So, she did the only thing she could think of, a quick disillusionment charm. She jumped back against the wall as the cracked classroom door opened and Black stuck his head out. He looked around before strolling out with Potter, Pettigrew and Remus following.

"What's up?" Potter asked.

"I thought I head something," Black replied still eyeing the area, just inches past where she was concealed. Mallory thought she saw Remus look right at her for a moment and then look away just as quickly.

"I didn't hear anything," He said.

"There you have it then," Potter clapped Remus on the back, "It's nothing."

"Alright," Black agreed and the three of them carried on down the hall past where Mallory stood frozen to the spot. Had Remus seen her and was covering up? What did it matter if he had heard anything? And what had they been discussing in that room? Why did McGonagall take him somewhere after dinner? Finally, after a few minutes Mallory regained the ability to move and she took the disillusionment charm off herself before hurrying down to the Slytherin common room in hopes of finding Severus.

"What!" Severus seethed later that evening in the common room after Mallory relayed the early morning experience to him. Consequently he disturbed many of the students who were studying around them. "How dare he say those things about you!"

Mallory hushed him quickly, "I think I've come up with a plan to pay them back for both what they did to you and what he said about me."

"Let's hear it then," Severus said in a softer tone. Mallory looked around the room to make sure no one was listening. They all seemed to be minding their own business, but she knew Slytherins to be very deceptive and sly. So in an almost silent whisper she revealed to him the contents of her plan.

It was ice cold and Mallory's talons were frozen as she sat perched high in a tree just on the edge of the Forbidden Forest where she was able to see most of the grounds, thanks only to the full moon that was rising in the sky. She watched the large front doors of the castle intently. They were the only way out onto the grounds. Mallory had watched Professor McGonagall gather Remus earlier just after dinner from the Gryffindor common room. She was lurking the shadows of the hall to make sure she didn't miss anything. However when they came out she declined to follow them. Professor McGonagall was one professor she did not want to cross. While she didn't care for the woman she knew how powerful she was and she only imagined the type of trouble she would be in if she allowed herself to be caught following her.

Now she understood why birds migrated south for the winter, any longer in this weather and she would be frozen to death. Suddenly the large front doors opened spilling more light across the grounds, but no one came out. She searched the grounds but her falcon eyesight was completely ineffective for there was no one there. Then she heard a voice, a whisper really, on the wind.

"Ow!" She couldn't determine whom the voice belonged to, "That was my foot!" Whoever had been stepped on was immediately silenced by two other sharp whispers.

"Do you want to get us caught?" One of them hissed. It sounded vaguely familiar but … no. Could Potter, Black, and Pettigrew have found a way to make themselves invisible? This was not what she had been expecting at all.

Mallory scanned the ground again and finally she saw it. In the distance going around the side of the castle there were footprints in the dieing grass. If she flew over there now and it turned out to be Potter he would recognize her immediately and be suspicious. After the footprints disappeared, Mallory ventured to fly closer. She deftly glided from her perch to a small tree on the side of the castle. From there she could still see the footprints on the grass. There were three sets and she watched as they made their way toward the other side of the castle. In the background Mallory could see the Whomping Willow looking deceptively innocent standing still against the full moon. She couldn't get too close to that tree, or it would kill her without a moment's hesitation. She never understood why they planted the dangerous thing on the grounds in the first place. She really didn't think it was a species worth protecting. The footprints disappeared over a hill and again Mallory ventured a closer look. There was only one more tree between herself and the dangerously clever Whomping Willow. She flew over to it and found the footprints had stopped beneath it. She accidentally rustled some leaves when she landed.

"Did you hear that?" It was definitely the voice of Sirius Black.

"Hear what?" Potter replied.

"There's something in this tree. I heard the leaves."

"I didn't hear anything," Pettigrew squeaked.

"Will you both shut up?" Potter growled, "You're going to get us caught."

"Are you sure this will work?" Pettigrew whispered.

"Positive," came two replies at once.

"Now let's go," the three footsteps moved away from her tree and closer to the Whomping Willow. Then, the footsteps disappeared from sight. They walked around the tree and there was no way for Mallory to see unless she exposed herself, something she was not willing to do, or flew closer to the tree and that was not going to happen either. Getting them in trouble was not worth dieing for. Suddenly, for some unknown reason she desperately wanted to call out to them, to pull them back. Didn't they know how dangerous this tree was? Sure, it looked innocent but it was far from that. Yes, she despised those boys but she couldn't sit idly by and watch them be massacred by a tree.

As she expected but was unprepared for, the tree started moving violently around, smashing the ground with its powerful limbs. It was too late to warn them, they didn't stand a chance, but why weren't they screaming? No murderous cries penetrated the night. Had it been so swift that they were caught off guard and didn't have a chance to scream? Should she fly over and look for their body parts as she was sure they would be torn apart? An odd feeling in her stomach made her want to be sick.

Then just as abruptly as it started, it stopped, the tree froze in mid air. Mallory stared at it completely bewildered. What was going on? What kind of magic did those three boys know that could freeze this ferocious tree? Were they really that powerful? Mallory could not sit out there any longer. She had to know what was going on. She took off from her perch and did one, large swoop around the tree. It had moved again, but it wasn't raging any longer. It simply stopped and sat in an innocent pose. How she hated this malicious and deceptive tree.

There was no sign of any dead bodies at the base of the tree. There was no blood anywhere and there weren't even imprints where a body could be if it were invisible. Mallory couldn't understand. The boys were 5th years, they couldn't possibly have disappeared. No one could dissapparate on the ground of Hogwarts and even if they could, those boys were not old enough. She scanned the area one more time, there weren't even footprints leading away from the tree, so there was not a chance they had turned and went back inside. The tree didn't have a mouth it couldn't possibly have swallowed them.

Then, on the wind she heard the distinct, loud, brutal cry of a fully transformed werewolf. She instinctively looked up at the sky. Of course, there was a full moon and she had heard stories of werewolves in the Forbidden Forest. What was she doing out on the ground under a full moon? Was she asking for death?

In the next moment all she felt was complete and utter pain. Something had slammed into her middle, and she felt her ribs break. She had no air in her lungs as she felt herself plummeting to the ground. In midair she transformed herself back into her human form. It would take a less beating from the height she was at than her small falcon body. Seconds before she hit the ground, she was struck by the realization of it all. In her worry about the werewolf she forgot to stay away from the tree. And then the pain intensified as she felt her shoulder and hip shatter as they connected with the solid ground and everything went pitch black.