I've been working on this chapter for a few weeks now. It's the longest chapter in the story, but it's got a lot of excitement. I sincerely hope it's been worth the wait, for it's been one of my favourites to write for you all!
Before you get down to reading, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the fact that I have finally figured out how to link to artwork for this story on my profile. I have recently commissioned quite a few people and even have some realistic portraits of Nina and Nora posted, so if you would like to check them out just clickity-click the link on my profile. Enjoy the chapter!
Neville, Ginny, and Luna had all seemed to have vanished into thin air in the days following their raid in Dumbledore's office. Every single member of the D.A. had gone to bed, still clad in their make-shift masks and black cloaks, anticipating the horrible morning to come, dreading having to watch their leaders hanging from the ceiling by their wrists again, drenched in their own blood.
But when breakfast came, there was no such spectacle to behold. The Great Hall was the same as always, their breakfast laid out before them on their house tables. Nina noted, however, the distinct lack of their presences for the next two days.
Nina had taken to Hagrid's in the early morning yet again, skipping out on breakfast with Blaise and Ibrahim to instead help feed his goats and chickens, which were kept in a pen in a nearby clearing. After heaping several large clumps of hay around the pen for the goats, she set to work with a shovel and bucket, scooping up bits of dung as Hagrid watched nearby, looking oddly still. She didn't think it was so odd at first, but after several more minutes consisting of him staring at her in silence, she perked up.
"Are you feeling all right, Professor?" she called out, leaning her shovel against the fence and—with some difficulty—hoisting the dung bucket into her arms.
"Huh?" His head snapped upward, and upon catching her eye he waved his massive hands. "Oh, 's nothing, don' worry."
"Are you sure? You look rather... detached."
"Fine," Hagrid insisted, though his voice cracked as he said it. "I'm... I'm jus' fine, Nina."
Nina nodded slowly as she approached him with the container, setting it down in front of him. "Okay. Shall I add this to the fertilizer heap?"
"I'll take care of it, not to worry..." he grumbled, picking up the bucket with ease and ambling towards a large clearing in the pumpkin patch reserved for fertilizer. "Go on and eat in the castle, Nina, yeh shouldn' have ter bother with me here,"
Nina squinted at his retreating back for a moment before trailing behind him. "If it's okay," she said assertively. "I'd like to have a cuppa here with you. Is that all right?"
"I... I suppose so. I've made some eggs, go on and... and grab a plate. Make yerself at home. I'll be right in."
She trotted up the steps and pushed through the wooden door, nearly tripping over Fang's droopy, snoring black figure in the entranceway. Sure enough, she spotted a large pan on the stove full of what looked to be burnt scrambled eggs, but she ignored it. Something wasn't right with Hagrid, she just knew it. He had been angry beyond belief at what had happened to Neville, Ginny, and Luna, not frightened... yet she couldn't read what he was thinking.
"Don' be shy, now," came his voice from behind as he meandered inside. "Plenty there for the both of us, I don' mind sharing..."
"I just want tea, thanks though," she said attentively, snatching a bowl-sized mug from one of the cupboards and setting to work on her tea. "How have you been, anyway?"
"Oh, about as good as anyone in Hogwarts these days," he said morbidly, dumping the entire contents of the pan onto an enormous plate he was holding and taking a seat at the table.
"Not well, then," she muttered, taking a seat across from him. "Want to talk with me about it?"
Hagrid stared at her for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "Don' have ter worry about me, Nina. I can take care of myself, yeh know."
"I don't doubt it." she replied quietly, staring into her cup. "I trust you, Hagrid. I mean... we trust you."
Hagrid looked away from her, instead shovelling ladlefuls of charred eggs into his mouth, chewing so quickly that bits fell into his beard.
"I know you know, Professor," she said, not taking her eyes off of him. "About what Harry started up two years ago; about what we're fighting for."
He nodded quickly, still looking anywhere but her.
"And I know that you're hiding something from me."
"Ain't hiding nothin'," he said softly, his black eyes sparkling.
She shook her head. "You're lying."
This time, his response was anything but mild. Heat rose in his face and he stood up from the table, capsizing it and knocking its contents to the floor; Nina had to practically jump out of her seat to avoid being scorched by her piping-hot tea.
"Now you listen here," he snapped, taking a threatening step towards her and raising a sausage-sized finger. "I ain't gonna tell you nothin'—and that's for yer safety, yeh hear?"
"Hagrid," Nina said calmly. "Please, if you know something about Harry or—or what Snape's up to, then we need to know! The Order can't do anything about him capturing three of our students! But we can."
"The lot of yeh are babies!" he howled. The flare of anger was gone now, instead replaced with tears and desperation. "Jus' babies... jus' babies..."
Nina bit her lip, searching Hagrid desperately for some kind of clue as to what was going on. "Please just... just relax, okay? Here," She bent down and set the chair Hagrid had knocked over upright behind him. "Sit down, sit down... just tell me what's happening. We can both figure this out, whatever it is,"
But Hagrid just continued to shake his head, large tears sinking into his beard as he wept. "S-Snape's... Snape's set on killin' 'em... told me not to say a thing, or else he'd hurt you, too."
"He said that?" she whispered, hands trembling slightly now. "He's... he's going to kill them? Are you... are you sure?"
"I... I overheard 'em talking yesterday night," Hagrid wailed, pulling a handkerchief the size of a table cloth from his coat pocket and dabbing his eyes. "Jus' after dinner had finished and we were all heading ter bed. They was arguin' about something fierce; about what their detention would be..."
"About Neville and them?" Nina asked, to which Hagrid nodded.
"Carrows both want them sent... sent into the forest for a night. No wands. Jus' the clothes on their backs. And... and I've got to lead 'em all in."
Nina pursed her lips, gripping Hagrid's shoulder. "Hagrid, it's okay. You'll be there with them."
"No," Hagrid said darkly. "They found me eavesdropping, that's when Snape started threatening me... I think they're gonna Imperius me, Nina, and order me to go in with 'em, so I can't protect 'em..."
"So that's it, then..." She reeled back, heart thumping against her chest. A night in the Forbidden Forest, left to fend for themselves without so much as their wands to protect them? Was that what Snape and the Carrows had been planning over the past two days? They were trying to get rid of them quietly, so as not to cause a fuss... it was clever of them, really.
"When is this happening, Hagrid? Do you know?" Nina asked.
"Tonight, I think... Nina, I don' want yeh goin' in there, d'yeh understand? The Carrows are planning somethin' nasty, I know it. There's got ter be another way…"
"I understand where you're coming from, Hagrid, but you know we can't just stand by while this happens."
He nodded slowly.
"We won't go in there, wands blazing. I promise you that much," She gripped his hand, trying to smile at him reassuringly.
"I've been thinkin'… maybe it'd be better to jus' run, maybe they'd stand a chance if…"
Nina shook her head. "No, Hagrid. If they're going to bewitch you, then I want you to let them. Don't disrupt their plan, no matter what, okay?"
Hagrid blinked at her, staring into her face as though she had gone completely mad. She stood up, her mind whirring. She had to call an emergency meeting with the rest of the D.A. at all costs. If Hagrid's prediction of the Carrows taking the trio into the forest that was true, then they had less than twenty-four hours to come up with a plan to save them.
"I'm sorry, but I won't be coming to your class today," she said, turning on her heel and sprinting out of the cabin.
"Wasn' expectin' yeh to!" he called after her.
She ran as quickly has her feet could take her back to the castle, her heart pounding in her chest and sides aching. On the surface, detention in the Forbidden Forest didn't seem so bad; it was a trifling matter to the older students, considering that Hagrid has been ordered to do so with delinquents before. But if their wands were being taken away and they've been held captive for two days… it was more than likely that the Carrows had been beating and starving the trio so as to make them less likely to escape from the forest alive.
In the entrance hall, she ran into Blaise, who was heading to breakfast with Theodore Nott.
"Going somewhere?" Nott sneered.
"Me? Oh," Nina halted completely, panting. "Uh… I was out helping Hagrid. I thought I was running late."
"It's fine, we woke up late, anyway. Come on," Blaise said, clapping her on the shoulder and leading her into the Great Hall.
"What were you saying about Alecto, Zabini?" Nott said as they took seats at the Slytherin table.
"Oh, right," Blaise nodded as he reached for a piece of toast. "So she came to Daphne and I last night in the common room and went into this long speech about us excelling at our Prefect duties… said we've been assigned to oversee Longbottom's detention tonight."
Nina froze.
"What've they got? Filch?" Nott asked casually, piling slices of ham onto his plate.
"Nah, the Forbidden Forest."
"Oh, that's rich," Nott rolled his eyes. "So they get to goof off in the woods all night with that fat oaf? How is that even a detention?"
Blaise chuckled. "Yeah, I haven't the foggiest, either. But now they've assigned us to patrol the tree line all damn night."
"What?" Nott snapped. "It's a Thursday today! You've got class tomorrow!"
"Nope, we've both been excused," Blaise said with a grin. "They've promised us a few extra privileges to us if we do it, so I thought it'd be worth it."
"Are you telling me you get to sleep in on a Friday while I have to write an essay for that old hag McGonagall tomorrow?"
"What, are you jealous, Nott?"
"Fuck yes, I'm jealous, you pissant little blighter."
"If they've assigned you to patrol the tree line," Nina interrupted, staring at her empty plate. "Then you must have some pretty heavy duties."
Blaise raised an eyebrow, as though to warn her to shut her mouth. "Not really. Just to make sure nothing comes out of that forest before dawn. The Carrows will be with us."
"It doesn't really sound like some light-hearted detention to me, then," she muttered.
"True," Nott said, glancing from Nina to Blaise. "What're your orders if one of them tries coming out of the woods?"
Blaise shrugged. "Incapacitate them."
Nina nodded slowly. How many times had she skipped meals accidentally now? She felt like it had been ages since she slept properly, but despite her exhaustion she felt oddly rejuvenated.
"Speaking of incapacitation," Blaise spoke again, seemingly carefree. "You look like you're ready to pass out, Brimstone."
She nodded. "My… period cramps kept me up all night." she lied wildly, and beside her Nott shifted uncomfortably. "I think I'll skip classes today."
"Tut, tut, tut," Blaise chided, waving a finger. "I hope you know I'm not going to make any excuses for you,"
"Yeah, that's fine," She nodded, grabbing a piece of toast and layering the top with a slice of ham. "I'm going back to bed… see you."
She shoved the makeshift sandwich into her mouth as she marched away from the table, her tired mind buzzing still. Reaching into her skirt pocket, she pulled out the magic Galleon and aimed her wand at it, sending out a new message to the other D.A. members.
Meet in the G.C.R. ASAP
It felt strange to let herself into the Gryffindor common room without being invited. Upon arriving, she found that it was almost completely deserted apart from a few stragglers, and she sighed. In the living area, she plopped down on a large, scarlet couch, letting herself sink into the cushions as the fire cracked merrily in front of her, warming her fingertips. Surely most of the D.A. would have gotten the message by now, right? She thought that, at the very least, they would have skived off of their first class to attend an emergency meeting. She felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into the couch, her eyes drooping shut as she drifted off…
"G'mornin', beautiful."
"Oi, stop messing with her,"
"C'mon, it's her own fault for falling asleep here."
Cracking her eyes open, Nina was confronted with a haunting, pale blue pair of eyes, swimming in front of her face. She cried out, bolting upright, and next to her several people laughed.
"Have a good sleep?" Seamus asked, smirking. "Kind of rude of you to barge in here and then just pass out on the couch, don't y'think?"
She lashed out and smacked his shoulder, teeth clenched. "You didn't have to scare me like that! I hardly get enough sleep as is!"
"Whoa, whoa, relax, Brimstone," Ernie came into view as he took a seat beside her, placing a hand on her back.
She groaned and placed her face into her hand, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"
"Classes have finished for the day," he replied. "So… about three o'clock."
Nina's eyes snapped open, and for a moment she was sure that her heart had stopped. "What? Ernie, I said to come as soon as possible!"
"We did!" Seamus yelled defensively in Ernie's place. "We had to round everyone up! What, d'you think we can all just go absent from our classes like you did? Carrow's been looking for you."
Nina bit her lip and looked away from them both. The entire D.A. had shown up, as far as she could tell, and all their eyes were on her.
"Stop it, both of you," Hannah said, stepping up to the couch and placing her hands on Nina's shoulders. "Can't you see? She's tired."
"Tell us what's happening, Nina," Lavender said anxiously. "Is it about Neville?"
Nina nodded quickly, blinking away her tearfulness and standing to face the group. "Right—Hagrid told me about their detention. It's the Forbidden Forest."
Immediately, the D.A. seemed to collectively sigh in relief.
"Fantastic," Seamus said, his hand on his chest. "Thank God, I thought it would be worse…"
"It is," Nina said sharply, and the entire room seemed to freeze. "Snape and the Carrows don't want them coming back out. Hagrid was crying about it."
"No offense or anything," Michael interjected. "But I saw Professor Hagrid sobbing over an earthworm that drowned in a rain puddle once. What if you just took what he said out of proportion? I mean, you sometimes do that..."
"You know what, Corner?" Hannah snapped, and Nina jumped at the harsh tone of her voice. She had never heard Hannah yell before. "She's your damn superior, so you had better show her a little more respect."
"She's gotten Terry caught and herself almost captured already!" Anthony yelled. "Look, I'm sorry, but I can't see how we're in the middle of a war and we're supposed to put our faith in a superior who's done nothing but run and… and fail."
Susan Bones shook her head. "We're not doing this again."
"My mistakes don't make what I'm saying now any less valid," Nina said calmly.
Anthony pressed his lips together. "I disagree."
She nodded, not taking her eyes off of his. "I suppose I'll just have to change your mind, then."
"You don't doubt yourself, then?" Hannah whispered.
Nina shook her head. "I'm right about this. I know I am. I think they're going to use Hagrid to lead them to a dangerous part of the forest and then… and then leave them there. If they die, then it'll just be blamed on Hagrid. But if they survive until dawn… then they'll have earned their wands back from the Carrows. It will have served as nothing more than a standard detention, and no one's the wiser."
"What's keeping Hagrid from telling them the way out?" Padma asked.
Nina shook her head again. "Blaise mentioned this morning that he and Daphne have been assigned to keep watch on the tree line until dawn… there's no way of them escaping the forest and back into the grounds."
"Let's just break them out tonight, then!" Jason Lau voiced, and his fellow fifth years nodded eagerly alongside him.
"What would that achieve?" Terry said morbidly. "The Carrows would just have more people to punish if we did that. They still wouldn't have their wands back… it'd be a mess with more collateral damage than I care to deal with."
Jason looked disappointed, and Jimmy Peakes patted him on the back sympathetically.
"They have to spend the night in the forest," Ernie groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tonight?"
Nina nodded. "Tonight,"
A few more moments of silence passed by before Seamus mumbled, "Anyone got any bright ideas?"
"Well..." Nina said, crossing her arms. Everyone stared at her hopefully, and she felt herself blush under their gazes. "It's stupid... there's no guarantee it would work."
"But you think you might have something in mind?" Ernie asked, blinking.
"What is it, Nina?" Hannah urged, her green eyes brimming with anticipation. "What will we need?"
Nina glanced into the fire, which continued to crackle and pop. She, Ernie, and Seamus—despite their higher ranks—were in no fit position to lead Dumbledore's Army on their own. They needed their trio of leaders. Neville's guidance... Ginny's passion... Luna's unhindered faith; each of them were irreplaceable among the group. Without them, Nina had no doubts that the entire group would fall to shambles.
"I need two people," Nina said, eyes raking over the group. "Who aren't afraid to die tonight."
A chilling series of winds were carrying themselves across the grounds of Hogwarts that night, sweeping across the Black Lake and to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Nina lay low in a thicket, her bare hands and face prickling despite the thick black cloak wrapped around herself. Despite her shivering, she clutched tightly onto her broomstick, ignoring the brushes of scurrying critters bumping against her legs every so often.
"Blimey! I'm getting eaten a-bloody-live! Nasty fecking mosquitoes... it's October!"
"I told you to wear long pants."
"Shut up, Ernie."
"Why don't you go and join Brimstone down in those bushes?" Ernie said, gesturing to her. "Put yourself to some actual use, why don't you?"
"Can't," Seamus snapped. "I've got to take care of Fergus."
"Fergus?" Ernie gawked. "Fergus?"
Nina rolled her eyes, turning swiftly away from the grounds and glaring at the squabbling forms of Ernie and Seamus, their tall bodies shrouded in the blackness of the night. "Will you two stop that? You're acting like children."
"He named it," Ernie said in disbelief, ignoring her and regarding Seamus with an intense look of shock. "He named the goat."
Beside Seamus, a small, white goat bleated impatiently, nibbling his cloak pocket in a search for sustenance. Seamus snorted, pushing the goat's head away from him. "So what? I feel bad for him. Besides, he's kind of cute... don't y'think?"
"I wouldn't get too close to him, Seamus, considering what he's in for." Nina interjected, turning her back on the forest yet again and scanning the grounds. They had been waiting in silence for nearly two and a half hours now, and the bitter cold was the only thing keeping Nina from passing out in exhaustion. She should have had someone sneak her food from the Great Hall... she was absolutely famished, having eaten nothing but a slice of toast and bit a ham the entire day. Until now, she had been completely occupied with working out the kinks in their plan to save Neville, Ginny, and Luna from whatever the Carrows had waiting for them in the forest.
"She's right, you know." Ernie said.
"It's the least we can give the poor little guy," Seamus replied.
At long last, a short distance away and just beyond Hagrid's well-lit cabin, were several figures approaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"I can see them," she muttered, and behind her Seamus inhaled deeply.
"How do they look?" he asked tentatively.
"It's too dark, I can't tell. Ernie, the charm..."
Ernie nodded curtly and stepped back, taking each of them into the scope of his wand. "Silencio maxima."
Immediately, everything Nina did was completely muted; her breathing was silent, and speaking was impossible. Even her hands brushing against leaves or feet against the forest floor was completely devoid of sound.
The figures of Hagrid and Neville were easy to spot now, for they were the tallest of the bunch. She thought she saw one of the long haired girls limping in her walk, but whether it was Ginny or Luna, she could not tell. She craned her neck and saw the stout figures of the Carrows, both of whom had their wands to the trio's backs. At the very back of the group, Nina saw two more people, who she figured to be Slytherin Prefects Blaise and Daphne.
"All right, then," Amycus said loudly, and as Nina craned her neck she watched him pull up his sleeve and check his wrist watch. "Now you've got—let's see here—six hours to go in there and think about what you've did. Six hours, and at dawn you all get your wands back. Come out any sooner, we'll send you in again tomorrow, and you won't be conscious next time. Capisce?"
"Of course, Professor." came Ginny's snarling voice.
"Another thing," Alecto piped up. "Our friend Hagrid, here," She patted his elbow roughly. "Is in a bit of a daze. He's under strict orders to rip your little legs off if you try to wander off anywhere, so I wouldn't advise running. Right, off you go, don't doddle."
The Imperius Curse, she thought, and upon making eye contact with Ernie and Seamus, she could tell that their thoughts were aligned with her own.
"I do hope we can make plans for tea later, Professors." Ginny yelled in a very posh sort of way as Hagrid pushed them forward roughly into the forest. "Wouldn't want to find ourselves in a pickle deep in, would we?"
"Why, I wouldn't dream of it, Ginny, dear," Alecto called back sweetly.
Nina, Seamus, and Ernie sat as still as they possibly could, listening as Hagrid's thunderous footsteps continued deeper into the forest.
"You two," Alecto snapped back to Blaise and Daphne. "Go and set yourselves in the positions we assigned you, and don't move. If you need to piss, then you've got a bathroom right here," She jabbed her fat thumb in the direction of the trees. "Get moving."
As they scurried away, she turned back to her brother.
"How long d'you think they'll last?" Alecto asked amusedly.
"Not long, I'd reckon. Snape's set against killin' them directly, and that's all well and good. But I'm a Darwinist, myself." Nina caught a glance at his cold grin in the pale moonlight. "And if the forest wants them... well, there's nothing we can do about that, then, is there?"
She slipped away from the tree line, moving past the boys and taking the lead, Ernie and Fergus in tow and Seamus taking up the rear, both his own and Ernie's brooms in hand.
Three brooms, Nina thought, following the sound of Hagrid's footsteps against cracking twigs and stale earth. Three brooms, three wands, and a goat was all they had to get themselves out of the forest alive. If they moved quickly and paired up so as to distribute their weights on each broom evenly, then there shouldn't be a problem. She knew very well that the plan had its risks; it had only been devised a few hours ago, after all. But still, there was an immense feeling of terror welled up inside of her as she continued through the rustling trees, walking deeper down a path that had once almost led to her death, all those years ago.
They continued into the forest, and due to their footsteps being silent, Nina had to glance back every so often to make sure her companions were with her, rather than stuck on a tree root fifty yards behind. Ernie seemed to be struggling a great deal with Fergus, who stubbornly stopped every so often to try and rip bits of moss and bark from trees. Nina began listing off all the creatures that lived in the forest mentally. Centaurs were known to kill adult wizards who came into their territory, but she knew there were many more dangerous beasts lurking in the depths of the woods; ones that wouldn't necessarily think before striking to kill. The part of the forest they were walking in didn't seem to harbour much, life, though. Its shrubs were devoid of any kind of nourishing foliage and there were no chirping birds or gurgling streams. Instead, the trees were tall and barren, their thick roots sprawling and interlocking along the forest floor.
After an eternity of walking, her feet aching and legs sore from mosquito bites and thorn bush scratches, the three of them came to a halt as a loud, male scream pierced the air.
"Neville," whispered Ernie. He had undone the Silencing Charm.
"C'mon," Seamus muttered, hurrying through the trees and towards the source of the scream.
"Don't do this! Hagrid! You have to try and fight back! Fight back!"
Sure enough, it was Neville's desperate voice that rang through the air, and as he came into their line of sight Nina found Neville, Ginny, and Luna, back-to-back as Hagrid looped a thick rope around them, binding them together.
"Where... are we?" Ernie whispered, holding Fergus' small, trembling form closer to him. Nina and Seamus followed his line of sight, casting their eyes on an enormous, dome-like clearing, covered with thousands of thick, glittering webs. Nina shifted slightly, and upon hearing a series of sickening crunches beneath her feet, she noticed that scurrying beneath them were hundreds of tiny spiders, all scuttling towards the dome.
"Don't let them win, Hagrid!" Ginny chimed in now as Hagrid finished tying them together, fashioning a knot and knocking them on their sides. "Hagrid—please listen! Please!"
But the Imperiused Hagrid did not follow their pleas. With one great push, he rolled the trio into the middle of the empty clearing and then turned to leave, ambling away as though nothing had happened.
"Wait," Nina breathed to the boys, holding her hand up to stop them. They had to wait until Hagrid was gone and no longer posed a threat to them, or he might try to kill them under the Carrows' orders.
"D'you... h-hear that?" Seamus stammered, shivering underneath his cloak. Nina clenched her teeth and shut her eyes as a series of horrible clicking sounds rented the air, like a thousand sets of giant, chattering teeth going off at once. In the pit nearby, Luna screamed, and the three of them stiffened; anything that scared Luna was a force truly to be reckoned with. With all the stealth they could muster, they inched closer to the hollow.
"Spiders," Seamus said again, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "Fecking spiders."
They were absolutely everywhere; hanging some every single tree and burrowed in every single hole in the area. Their poked their heads and legs out curiously upon spotting the new arrivals in their den. Nina knew this breed of beast: Acromantulas. She never dreamed that she would ever find them in Scotland, let alone in this kind of situation. They were vicious man-eaters with incredible intelligence and—among a select few—the capability of human speech.
"Shit," Ernie snarled. In an instant, he had scooped up the goat and sprinted into the Acromantula hollow, ignoring Seamus and Nina's hands as they reached out to grab him. Nina and Seamus watched as he tossed Fergus aside and severed the ropes binding his friends with his wand, helping them to their feet.
"Get back!" he screamed, waving his wand desperately in some attempt of posing a threat to them. "Get back, you hear me?"
The spiders were all coming out of their collective holes and corners now, completely encircling the four of them, hissing at the sight of Ernie's wand. Nina clutched tightly onto Seamus' cloak, refusing to let his foolish Gryffindor heart jump into the fray alongside them. Glancing downward, she noticed that Seamus still had Ernie's broomstick.
"We have to do something," Seamus whispered harshly, gazing helplessly into the pit.
As Nina opened her mouth to retort, an echoing, ghostly female voice reverberated throughout the dome, and Nina couldn't help but shudder.
"Is that the stench of humans I smell?" the detached voice called out. The webs shifted and rocked as the long, hairy limbs of an enormous creature poked out from the depths of some great cavern. She was easily three times the size of any of the other spiders, with a massive thorax and a hairy brown head.
"Strangers, Morgana," another voice, presumably from one of the smaller Acromantulas, hollered. "Wizards in our midst!"
"Wait! Wait—" Neville cried desperately, his voice so hoarse Nina almost didn't recognize it. "We're friends of Hagrid! WE KNOW HAGRID!"
"Hagrid has not been welcomed in our hollow since the death of my father..." Morgana replied slowly, her deep voice vibrating through the ground. "... since I became queen. If that is all, then help yourselves, my brothers..."
"There are more in the trees there!"
Nina gasped, and before she could reach her wand she was snatched from behind, and nearby Seamus was screaming as their bodies were brought to the edge of the hollow and tossed in, landing with painful thuds against the frozen dirt below. She moaned, clutching her broom handle, and upon opening her eyes she noticed, in her horror, that the force of her fall had snapped her Nimbus clean in half.
"My, my," Morgana cooed greedily upon laying her many, glittering black eyes on them. Nina groaned as Ginny helped her to her feet, and she discarded her useless broom handle. Seamus seemed to have stuck the landing just as well as her, but Ernie's broom now lay strewn in pieces at his feet, demolished by the crushing footfalls of the Acromantulas. But still, he held onto his own broom—still intact—for dear life.
One broom, she thought. One broom, and six people that needed to get out of the hollow alive.
"It would appear we have had a feast delivered for us... If I may be so bold, I would like to claim the succulent flesh of the little one..."
All around them, the spiders clicked excitedly, slowly scuttling in towards them, eager to feast on what would soon be their carcasses.
"We're finished... we can't fight them all..."
Nina imagined her friends' bodies, torn apart and unrecognizable, strewn across the hollow along with her own as the Acromantulas' pincers ripped them apart, limb from limb, crunching down on their bones. Surprised at her own quick-thinking and audacity, Nina stepped forward and wildly screamed, "Morgana! Queen of the Acromantulas! We have ventured into these woods to... present a gift for you and your ever-growing colony!"
Morgana's eyes glistened at her words, and all at once the incoming arachnids froze. "Oh?"
Nina froze, her pulse quickening. What was she thinking? Had she gone completely mad? With two of their three brooms snapped, there was no possible route of escape... unless...
Accio Ford Anglia, she thought desperately, her wand clenched tightly in her hand.
"Yes," she continued, as calmly as she could possibly muster. "We come from Hogwarts, now reigned by that of Salazar Slytherin's noble and great ancestor... the Dark Lord. And we bring f-four... delinquents that have opposed him! And—and also a part of our livestock—" She pointed at Fergus, who was trying to cower behind Luna. "—out of respect for you!"
"And why do that? Why risk your flesh to gift my family?"
"To ensure... peace between our peoples, of course." She struggled to keep her voice from trembling. Accio Ford Anglia. Accio Ford Anglia. Accio Ford Anglia. The car had to come—George had told her that it still remained in the forest. "We hope that... you'll be willing to fight for our side, when the time comes." What if it had gone to scraps in the forest? What if the enchantment that made it an almost-sentient being had worn off completely?
"And what, little witch, would hinder my colony from taking you and that other male?"
She gripped her wand, glaring into Morgana's many, beady eyes. "The Dark Lord himself, and... his monster, which resides below our floors."
Upon mentioning the Basilisk—the creature she knew they feared above all others—the entire colony collectively hissed and clicked in horror. Seizing her opportunity, Nina gripped her wand and yelled, "Accio Ford Anglia!"
"I shall not waste my time being threatened by lying humans!" Morgana spat, her massive pincers snapping angrily and she spoke." Not when they could be in my belly instead!"
"We're telling the truth!" Nina yelled.
"Lies! You cannot fool I! Liars and monsters, all humans are the same... if you are to prove your innocence, little witch, then answer me this: if you intend on so generously giving us four, why do you and your mate carry three brooms?"
Mate, she thought. She thought Seamus was her mate. Suddenly, George's voice was ringing in her ears.
We'll make it, you and I. And even if we don't... we'll give it our all.
She clenched her fists, glaring at Morgana, her heart pounding in her chest.
"As I thought." Morgana sneered, moving in along with her brothers. "Kill them all, but leave the filthy little liar for me..."
"So this is your big rescue plan?" Neville yelled, scrambling away from the horse-sized spiders that were zeroing in on him. "I'm a bit unimpressed!"
"Oi! We never said it would be a good one!" Ernie yelled.
"But we reckoned it would be worth a shot, cap'n! Here—" Seamus turned to Nina and tried thrusting his broom into her hands, but she pushed it away, anxiously scanning the tree line. "Mine's still fine, take it!"
"Girls, you can all fit on a broom—GO!" Neville ordered, stepping in front of Ginny and Luna as the hoard moved in on them.
"Fuck you, Neville, I'm not leaving!" Ginny screamed fiercely.
"NINA! USE YOUR DAMN WAND!" Ernie shouted, and Nina took aim at a large coupling of spiders that were grabbing at Neville and Luna with their long, spindly legs.
"Arania Exumai!" she screamed, a blast of white-hot light steaming from her wand tip and blasting several of them backwards. "Arania Exumai Maxima!"
"Stupefy! Shit... Avada Kedavra!" Ernie shouted, and without any warning he collapsed backwards, suddenly looking sick.
"Ern!" Neville grabbed him by the scruff his robes and pulled him upward, smacking his cheek. "Don't you die, mate, not here."
"Ugh... shit..." Ernie moaned, looking as though he wanted to keel over and vomit. "Here—" He grabbed the scruff of Fergus' neck as he bleated solemnly. "Chew on this a while you vile, filthy—"
"Car!"
Nina hadn't seen it appear as Neville shouted it in her ear, but sure enough there was a tidal wave of arachnids as they flew up high, high into the air as they crashed against the hood of the tiny, baby-blue Ford Anglia, and it veered to a stop a few feet away.
"Bloody hell!" Ginny shouted in her surprise.
"SEAMUS!" Nina cried as she gripped his shoulder, silently praying that her assumption about the half-blood boy would be correct. "Did your dad ever teach you—can you drive?!"
But he had already leapt into the car, its left door missing, and plopped himself into the driver's seat on the right. "COME ON!"
There was no need to ask twice. Neville, Luna, and Ginny—who Seamus passed his wand to—all piled into the back seat, which Nina noticed was meant for no more than two people. Ernie, however, lagged behind, scooping up Fergus.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS? LEAVE THE FUCKING GOAT!"
"IT'S FINE!" Ernie snapped back, cradling the goat and tumbling into Neville, Ginny, and Luna's laps in the back seat.
Nina dove into the passenger's side as Seamus fumbled with the gears and ignition, muttering quickly under his breath. To her left, they were closing in, the pincers like razors as they jolted toward her.
"Protego!" she screamed, and the force of the spell knocked them backwards like an expanding blue bubble over the doorless side of the car. To her dismay, however, her Shield Charm was no match for their crushing weight on the roof and what was left of the shattered windshield, their hairy legs smashing through glass and weak bits of metal with ease.
"Seamus, go! I can't hold them much longer!" Nina yelled.
"I'm trying—shit!"
"You said you could drive!"
"IT'S FECKING STICK-SHIFT! KEEP THEM OFF ME!"
She had no idea what he was talking about or referring to, but decided it was best to follow his order anyway.
"Ginny, Ernie, use light!" Nina screamed, struggling to keep her hold on her Shield Charm. "They can't stand it!"
"Got it! INCENDIO!" Ginny laughed delightedly, thrusting Seamus' wand out the window, and a blast of fire spurted from the wand tip, lighting the hollow up like a bonfire. Seamus hit a gear, popped the clutch, and slammed his foot on the pedal, causing the car to jolt backward madly. They drove wildly through reverse, ploughing through spiders to their rear and heading up the slope that led out of the hollow, hundreds of Acromantulas trailing alongside them, desperate to halt their escape.
"We won't get anywhere like this!" Luna cried, squished on the floor with Fergus.
"George said the car could fly," Nina stammered, grasping onto the dashboard to keep herself from flying out of the side of the car. "There must be a button or—or a lever of some sort!"
Seamus fumbled with the gears yet again, and this time they were blasting forward, back towards the trees that led out of the spider den. As they gained speed, Nina clenched her teeth, sure that they were about to crash in the dense trees ahead...
But then, suddenly, they were gaining altitude, slowly but surely. Several more spiders still clung to the car angrily, ripping apart sheets of metal to get at them, but Ginny, Nina, and Ernie stunned them with ease, their bodies stiffening and plummeting to the ground below, which was a considerable height away now.
"YES!" Seamus howled in delight, and the entire car erupted in cheers as they skimmed the top of the trees of the forest, the freezing—yet liberating—autumn wind numbing them to the bone. Seamus drummed his hands against the wheel, whooping. "BRIMSTONE, YOU BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!"
Nina chuckled and shook her head, only to have Seamus wrap an arm around her shoulders and kiss her full on the mouth.
"Seamus!" she yelled, scandalized as the entire car roared with laughter.
"Give that to Weasley for me—hell, I'll kiss him myself if I ever see him again." he said joyously, grinning ear-to-ear. "Brilliant!"
"Spiders!" Neville moaned into his hands, his wide eyes visible through his fingers. "Freaking spiders!"
"Acromantulas," Nina corrected. "I've only ever heard rumours of a colony in Scotland, they're native to—"
"Shut up, Brimstone, that big one wanted to eat you," Ginny said.
"Which is quite flattering, really, considering she's the queen," Nina said, her voice shaking madly as she rambled. She pointed at the broad-shouldered Ernie and Neville, "She could've had a steak, but instead she wanted me! Really fascinating..."
"We can turn around and drop you off, if you prefer," Seamus called out over the blasting wind.
"No—" She looked away from them, blushing. "I think I still prefer dragons."
"Speaking of nutters," Neville said, raising his eyebrows. "Really, Ern? The goat was your priority?"
"Hey, I was about to hand him over, I figured it was only fair to bring him back home if we didn't need to sacrifice him."
"How did you know guys know—?" Ginny started.
"Hagrid tipped Nina off," Ernie said, grinning as he stretched out across their laps. "We all figured that if you were going in for a night wandless, then they weren't expecting you to come out."
"And the goat?"
"His name is Fergus and Nina wanted to feed him to the spiders, the little sadist."
"Insurance," she piped up. "I suspected the Carrows were going to feed you to something in there, I thought it would be worth bringing something to distract them—Hagrid uses them to feed skrewts, anyway."
As Neville and Ginny laughed, relieved, Ernie placed his head in his hands.
"Are you all right, Ernie?" Luna asked.
"Fine..." he muttered, though he looked gravely pale. "I just... feel like someone punched me in the stomach."
"It was the curse you used," she said softly, placing a hand on his knee. "The Killing Curse. It took something from inside of you."
Ernie nodded slowly. "I think you might be right."
"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Ginny quipped, glancing at them concernedly.
"All spells take strength from inside of us," Luna said. "Just as any physical activity might."
"The Killing Curse is a nasty bit of work. I've never..." He swallowed. "Never tried to use it before... I wasn't thinking."
"You were just following your instincts, Ern," Neville said.
After several more moments of silence, which consisted of them gazing over the forest, moonlight glinting softly off the tree tops and Black Lake beyond, Seamus finally spoke again. "So, I'm just going to ask what's on everyone's mind... Brimstone?"
"Hmm?" she hummed.
"Uh... the car?"
"What?" she asked, and in the backseat Ginny snorted. "Oh, yes! The car! George told me about it!"
"I figured that out for myself," he replied. "But... how did you know it would come? We were all making peace with our deaths back there."
Nina nodded. "I... I didn't know. It was just a... a risk; a chance."
"That's one slim bloody chance," Ginny interjected, grinning.
"Yeah," Nina nodded. "But it was our only one. We all got..."
"Lucky." Neville finished. "Really, really lucky."
Nina sighed and nodded, now feeling rather discomforted at the wind blasting in her face the castle came into clear view. "Seamus, stay away from the grounds. Find someplace where we can—"
Suddenly, the entire vehicle shuddered violently, and a sense of alarm filled the interior as everyone exchanged wide-eyed, terrified glances. Again, the car jolted, and this time the sound of the engine sputtering accompanied it.
"Oh, no... no, no, COME ON! NO!" Seamus yelled angrily, fumbling with the gears.
"What's happening?"
"The damn thing's in its last leg... no, no.."
They were descending rapidly now, the engine spitting and creaking horribly as Seamus desperately pulled at the flying gear.
"Up, up!" Ernie cried, shaking Seamus' shoulder. Fergus whined loudly. "For fuck's sake, Seamus! Take us up!"
"It's done for!" Ginny screeched. "We're gonna crash!"
The engine gave one last whir as it died, and the passengers screamed as they fell into a nose-dive into the trees, shimmering glass and sharp twigs smashing through the remains of the windshield and embedding themselves into their skin. The ground was fast approaching. There was no escaping death now, Nina thought.
From behind her, Ernie yelled, "ARRESTO MOMENTUM!"
Everything seemed to slow down as they hit the ground, glass and metal shattering all around them. Nina's head flew forward, and everything fell into blackness.
Nina awoke with an arrow pointed between her eyes.
"Get out."
She felt as though her entire mouth was filled with angry wasps, stinging her upper lip and gum line relentlessly. She blinked slowly, her vision hazy as it struggled to adjust to the darkness. Finally, she was able to process the fact that a very tall man was standing at the passenger entrance, a bow pulled back and directed at her face. Gazing sleepily across what was left of the dashboard, she found that the hood of the car was wrapped around a tree and completely smattered with blood and bits of gore.
"Is the other one dead?" the man with the bow and arrow said.
"I think not. He appears to be breathing, but he is not with us." said another, deep-grained voice.
"Pull him out and set him aside with the others. This one, as well, Ronan."
There was the sound of shifting glass and shuffling as Seamus was pulled out of the driver's side and dragged away from the car, apparently unconscious. A few moments later, Nina was grabbed by her shoulders and pulled from the wreckage and carried into a nearby clearing, where the rest of the occupants of the car were lined up. Now starting to fully come round, Nina noticed that everyone but Seamus and herself seemed to have made it out of the car wreck completely conscious.
The man carrying her plopped her on the ground in between Ginny and Neville, making no attempt at letting her down gently. She groaned as she tried to sit up, Ginny having to take hold of her shoulders to keep her from collapsing back onto the forest floor. They were surrounded by what Nina now realized to be several dozen centaurs, their bows pulled back like a firing squad.
"Humans again, in our forest... I tire of their filthy stench." said one with a gleaming raven coat and pronounced, arching black brows. "Leaving behind their usual trash that we have to clean up,"
"Please—we didn't know we were in your territory," Ginny said desperately.
"Our territory consists of this forest in its entirety, none of which belongs to your kind! A single step into these woods is a violation against us!" a dark centauress hollered, her grip on her bow tightening. "Entitled brats! Let us pierce their skulls!"
"Just a moment, Olelas," Ronan, the redheaded centaur who had pulled Nina and Seamus from the wreckage said. "We do not harm the young,"
"And young, they are not!" came another booming voice from behind them. "These three bear the stench of men, as clear as day."
"Blease—" Nina said, and to her horror a cup full of blood cascaded from her open mouth like a waterfall and onto the forest floor, drenching the dirt and leaves beneath her hands in deep, inky red. Upon closer inspection with her tongue, she discovered several of her teeth were missing. "Blease—we're dudends! Dudends ad Hogwards, dey hab been send do deir deafs! Wadless!"
"It's true," Neville said quickly. "After Dumbledore was killed, Vol—You-Know-Who's followers took over. They sent us in here to die, without our wands."
"We were trying to save them and get back to school," Ernie gestured to the car with his head. "But we crashed."
"We have been very tolerant of students in our midst until now," the thick-browed centaur said again, stamping the ground angrily. "And I tire of your stinks."
"There is no benefit to our deaths," Ernie said calmly, and Nina noticed that that his blonde waves were now streaked with red. "All we want is to leave, alive."
"We do not cater to wizardkinds' desires, you filthy swine," Olelas spat, cocking her bow so it was aimed between Ernie's eyes.
"They pose no threat, Magorian," said Ronan again. "They are wandless; common humans.
"You dare sympathise with them, Ronan? Have you learned nothing from Firenze? I say we kill th—"
"The moon is particularly bright tonight," Luna said suddenly, softly, gazing upwards. As if on cue, nearly all of the centaurs looked up, too. For a long moment, there was silence, during which Nina, Ginny, and Neville all exchanged confused looks.
"When the final battles comes," Neville said hesitantly. "We'll have enough dead on our hands."
Ronan glanced at Magorian from the corner of his eye, and he sneered in reply. "A centaur's promise always holds true, young human," he growled. "And I will promise you this, here and now: if I ever see your kind in these woods again, young or old, I will kill on sight."
Neville nodded quickly, shakily getting to feet. "Thank you; all of you. Ern, help me over here..."
The boys knelt down and slung Seamus' arms around their shoulders, and Ginny dragged Nina to her feet, letting her lean on her as they trudged out of the clearing as quickly as they possibly could, terrified that with each step, the centaurs would suddenly decide to go back on their word and pierce the backs of their heads with arrows. Luna had taken Seamus' wand from Ginny and was now leading them through the forest by wandlight.
They all shuffled along until the trees began to thin, and a milky, orange light began to shimmer through the branches. The forest floor turned to rocky shore; the eerie silence was interrupted by the first chirps of the morning larks. They plopped down at a deserted section of beach, overlooking the Black Lake and hidden away from prying eyes by the trees. Poking out behind the Scottish mountains beyond was the sun, at long last, there to greet them.
"Alright, let's see what we've got here," Ernie said as he kneeled down next to Seamus, reviving him. He groaned loudly as he stirred.
"Would you like me to fix your teeth Nina?" Luna asked, crouching in front of her. Nina nodded eagerly, unable to stand the dull pain and heaps of blood filling her mouth any longer. "Alright, open your mouth just a bit... Ah, you've lost a few on the top, hold on... Episkey Dentata!"
There was a violent crack in her mouth and Nina reeled back in pain as her gum line was seemingly set on fire yet again. After a few more moments, however, the pain began to settle, and Luna smiled at her reassuringly. "There, there, it's all better, now,"
Sure enough, her teeth had returned to her gums, though they felt smaller and more crooked than they originally were. "Thanks, Luna," She spat out a clump of blood. "Really,"
"Naw," said Neville, who was now helping Seamus sit up. "Thank you. All of you. We... we would've been ripped to pieces by now if you hadn't come in after us."
"Well, we can't just let our Commander in Chief and two best Lieutenants die on us, can we?" Ernie said, further inspecting Seamus' face.
"Where's Fergus?" Seamus muttered, holding his head and looking extremely pale.
"Right, I forgot you were blacked out," Ernie said, holding his shoulder. "He flew through the windshield when we crashed. He was obliterated on the tree the car wrapped around."
Seamus nodded. "What a goat. He'll be missed."
"We can compose a funeral march for him later," Ginny said, dipping her hands into the lake and washing the dirt and blood off of her face. "Call it Ode to Fergus,"
Nina grinned. Somehow, it seemed most fitting that Fred and George sing a ridiculous song like that.
"You've done well, Nina," Ginny said gently. "If this doesn't make Michael and Anthony shut up, I don't know what will."
Nina laughed. "I don't care about that, Gin. I'm just glad this all worked."
Nearby, she heard Neville sigh.
"Are you okay, mate? You look peaky," Ernie said.
Neville looked away from him, nodding unconvincingly. For a moment, he caught Nina's eye, and she understood; the forest changed people.
"It's over," Ernie urged, shaking him slightly. "We're okay; we're alive."
Ginny chuckled dryly, shaking her head as she looked out over the lake.
"I appreciate your optimism, Ern," Neville replied in a low mumble, his voice carrying in the breeze. "But it's not over."
"The Carrows will still have plenty more to dish out," Seamus said quietly, his voice shaking as he rested his head against his knees. "This was just... just the beginning. They won't stop... they'll have killed us by the time the New Year comes round..."
"No," Ernie snapped. "Don't think like that—don't you dare. We've shown them that we're going to fight. That they can't break us down so easily. They're terrified of you, don't you realize that? They're scared of what we're capable of."
Neville nodded, scratching his chin. Now that the sun had began to rise, Nina realized how terrible Neville, Ginny, and Luna all looked; their faces, necks, and arms were all lined with bruises and scratches, and they looked a great deal thinner. "You're right."
Nina turned away from them and stared back out over the lake, her eyes drooping. She felt impossibly hungry and tired. Beside her, Ginny grinned and took hold of her hand, and they all took in the vanilla sunrise that they had earned, together.
Sorry about the insanely long chapter! A lot happened, and it took a very long time to plan out and execute, so I hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading, and all my love to Melya Liz, guest, Crystal Flower Solitude, Shizuka Kitsune, sarahmichellegellarfan1, LeopardFeather, and (of course) bellatrixD for your kind, motivating reviews. You're all incredible.