I know I said I'd update Halloween, but this chapter turned out way longer then I expected, so I had to cut it in two. Then this part was better than the other part to name Goosebumps (Second part named Samhain up this Saturday).
Thanks to my lovely reviewers purple breeze, kmb3 and lalyta8! And thanks to all the people who have followed and favorites this story! You are all amazing.
Xx
Goosebumps
Hermione had been in a horrible mood all week. Evan should be glad, no scratch that he shouldn't care at all. But for some reason his eyes always drifted over to her in the classes they shared.
She looked sad when she didn't think anybody was watching, and angry when she knew they were.
When their eyes met one sunny afternoon they both stared at each other for a long time. The brown in her eyes seemed to dull, too dead to be hers, and the red in them told him she had been crying. He had seen her like that often over the summer, usually because of him. Guilt gripped him for a second.
Hermione didn't know why it felt so nice to have him paying attention to her again. But when their eyes met she forgot about what was troubling her for a moment.
When he sneered at her, she was reminded again though. She turned back towards the teacher, heart aching.
Lorry had just confirmed how everyone felt, the only reason to be around her was so you could gain favour with someone else.
Lorry had seemed different for a while, but the only thing separating her from the others was that the person she was interested in was not her father, but her body guard.
Evan. Now with him gone she didn't have to delude herself anymore and believe that she had a friend in Lorry.
She found herself alone at the library.
Without Evan it seemed the standards of her stalkers were lacking, only with Lucius around could she be assured she was "protected" But she wasn't complaining.
It was very surprising to see a flash of red and gold trimmings in her periphery vision before someone sat down across from her. Glancing over her book she found the smirking face of Benjy Fenwick.
"Done ignoring me are you?" it was more of a statement then a question. Since she didn't look up from her book she missed how Benjy frowned at her.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?"
"I haven't seen you around in ages."
"You've been surrounded by a wall of Slytherins. I wasn't going to start fighting with them."
"So much for being a brave Gryffindor." she snarkily replied, knowing where to hit home to really insult him.
"And you wonder why I stayed away." it was the first time the light hearted Benjy had ever come across as angry towards her.
"Well you are all about self preservation, just like the other Slytherins." she stared at him now, his green eyes that she always tried to sneak a peak at no longer sparkling with mischief. Now they were sharp and glinting with anger.
"I don't need this. I came over here to talk to a friend but I guess that person went away when she started hanging out with snakes."
He raised himself up and started to storm away.
In his angry retreat he almost missed the soft whispered words "They're the only ones that will have me…"
He stopped, but when he turned to look at her she was gone, leaving her books behind in her usual neatly stacked piles.
Guilt tore at his heart, but then he remembered her harsh words and got angry again. If she was going to be like this, he didn't have the time for her.
Suddenly it was like first year again. She would avoid the boys, hexing them or make them get in trouble. But her heart wasn't in it. Somehow seeing Regulus Black in the place of Evan Rosier made her sad as well.
She was again friendless, and the curiosity of Benjy's gaze that had followed her half a year before, was now turned to an angry frown, if she saw him at all.
She had taken to reading outside, leaning against a tree near the lake. The changing of the season had brought a lot of colors to the trees, like fire consuming the world.
Sitting with a good book, bringing a cup of steaming tea (under a stasis charm) and being in the large open space brought a calmness to her.
Somehow being somewhere waste like this all alone, made her feel less alone.
Having finished she spotted Hagrid near the forest, walking over to his cabin. She vanished the cup and book up to her tower and walked over to him. It had been a long time since they'd talked.
"Hey Hagrid, what are you up to?"
"Hermione! I- uh. I didn't see ya there. Everything alright?" he moved to hide something behind his frame, successful in hiding it yes, subtle, no.
"Yeah sure- What's that?" she pointed to what he was hiding. His eyebrows rose high up, surprised by his inability to hide it from her.
"Nothing for you to worry about!"
"Is it from the forest?"
"Now don't you go poking your head in there! You have no business in the forest. I forbid you from going in there."
"You can't forbid me from doing anything Hagrid." her anger rising to high levels, she was never good with being told what to do. "You're not a teacher! You're not even allowed to carry a wand!" she clapped her hands over her mouth, surprising herself with the sudden outburst.
By the look on Hagrids face she had again hit a sore point. "how do ya know about that?!"
"Hagrid I'm sorry I didn't mean-"
"Just stay away from the forest!" the otherwise gentle half giant snapped. Then he quickly entered his cabin, slamming the door and locking it before Hermione could even entertain the idea of following him.
Seemed like the only thing Hermione was good at, was making enemies out of friends.
The question of the forest haunted Hermione for the next few days. She didn't want to anger Hagrid even more by going against him.
But he had never been bothered by her going into the forest before, so why now?
After rereading the same sentence around 13 times because she couldn't concentrate, Hermione decided she had to do something.
And it wasn't like she had ever been caught before right?
She decided to escape her guards during the feast. People seemed to be distracted by such trivial festivities. Hermione had never seen parties as anything but boring, but few echoed her thoughts when it came to that.
"Evan, we need your help."
He sighed looking up at his two best friends. They didn't spend nearly the same amount of time together anymore since he had opted out of being Hermiones little plaything for any longer. He figured he could gain the Dark Lords favor another way later. His father would strongly disagree if he ever found out.
"What?"
"It's Hermione."
"Then go bother Malfoy or something." Evan was happy down in the dungeon, this was usually the place they went to escape her craziness, they even had a rule not to mention her name after stepping into the common room.
"We need your help finding her." Malfoy said from the other side.
Evans response was banging his head on the table, and mutter out a strangled "why me?"
"She sidestepped us before the feast. We figured she had gone ahead before us, but she still hasn't turned up." Avery fretted, eyes darting around like the walls had ears and eyes, like the Dark Lord would find out how they failed him.
"And?"
"And what?" Mulciber asked, looking extremely confused.
"Why is this different than before?"
"We asked one of her classmates, Barney or something, and he said Hermione never showed up for the feast." Avery continued.
Evan sort of envied her for that. Except for the increase in food, he didn't really see how it differed from any other dinner at Hogwarts. Except for how disgustingly cheery and phony everyone became. Feasts and parties were things he did everything he could to get out of.
"We've searched the castle, she is nowhere to be found. Eventually we got desperate enough to ask Moaning Myrtle if she knew anything." Malfoy drawled, disgust evident from having to talk to Hermione most hated accomplish.
"Get to the point already."
"She's gone into the forest." Mulciber said, horror lacing his words.
"So? She's done it a thousand times before, we get in trouble, she comes out without a scratch."
"We really need to state the obvious?" Evan looked up at Malfoy, confused as to why he was so passive aggressive. "It's Samhain."
It took him a while to understand what they were saying, then he thought back to his bedtime stories as a child. "I'll get my coat."
It had been easy to get out, too easy she thought. She didn't know if she was getting better, or they were getting worse. She was intercepted by an unusually cheery Myrtle on her way out. They exchanged pleasantries, Hermione in a bout of unusual honesty admitting where she was taking her stroll. Leaving the ghost hurriedly, so she wouldn't be caught, she missed Myrtle calling out after her, saying they might be together forever come midnight.
It was still bright out, the sky turning red as the sun was devoured behind the horizon, making way for the moon and stars as night befell.
Usually she would have to somehow get around Hagrid to get to the forest, but he was up at the feast like every other breathing soul at Hogwarts.
At first she thought the forest was more quiet, more secretive than usual. The birds that usually chirped on the outskirts and random intervals throughout the forest were absent. The only sound was her breathing, the crunchy leaves underfoot, and the occasional branch she would break on her walk.
She hadn't decided where she was going that night, maybe to see the thestrals? Curiosity had lead her into the forest, but going through it she had no idea where to start looking for clues to what Hagrid was hiding.
Her thought were broken as she heard a twig snap behind her. She turned around, trying to see through the darkness. The last rays of light disappeared, and the moon hung above her. The day changed too quickly she thought, and then she heard the wolf howling in the distance.
"How are we supposed to find her?" Mulciber snapped as he was once again hit in the face by a branch. The guy was not used to the woods, he had lived a spoiled life never setting foot in a green setting besides the Slytherins quarters and his mother's garden.
Avery fell face down for the millionth time, groaning and mirroring Mulcibers disgruntled mood. "Yeah, we've been walking for an hour! Can't we just give up? I'm sure she'll be fine!"
Lucius rolled his eyes at their behaviour, but didn't deem their questions worthy of a response.
"You dragged me into this remember? Now shut up, I'm trying to listen for sounds of life." Evan responded instead.
Avery hoisted himself up, Mulciber helping him. Then they both lost footing falling in a heap and loudly declaring their pain "Ow!" "Get off me!" "You get off me!" "you're on top of me you idiot!" "don't call me idiot idiot!"
"Boys" Lucius grumbled, shutting them up to Evans pleasure.
"What's that?" Regulus asked, pointing into the darkness.
At first it seemed like nothing, but then they all saw the eyes staring at them through the darkness.
"wands out." Evan whispered.
All of them whipped out their wands and trained them on the single set of eyes in front of them.
They didn't move, but silence seemed to stretch out, like it wanted to smother them with its overbearing presence.
"Lucius!"
"Shut up Regulus."
"But-"
"Sh!"
"Evan…"
"Stop your whimpering Avery!" he shout whispered back.
"We're surrounded." Mulciber said in an even voice, the boys spreading out in a circle to discover he was indeed right.
"Fuck." Malfoy swore, the rest of the boys too freaked out to comment on the abnormality of him swearing.
She had run away from where she had heard the branch breaking. And in her escape, she had gotten lost for the first time ever since she had begun taking refuge in the Forbidden Forest.
After walking for a while she had come across a Unicorn who had almost run her over as it darted through the forest. Whatever it was running from it was afraid, she had seen the fear in its eyes as it bumped into her. The usually serene animal looked wild as it desperately moved off into the distance.
She continued walking, hoping she would eventually come across somewhere familiar, even if the shadows of the night, and light of the moon made everything strange and unfamiliar.
Later she almost stumbled into a clearing with a group of Centaurs, and they looked afraid too. She had broken a branch while she hugged a tree to stay out of sight. And instead of charging at her like they normally would, they looked towards her in fear, and disappeared.
She continued walking, the chill of Autumn creeping up on her, making her cold. Shivering and getting uneasy and afraid by how strange the forest was on this night, she wasn't careful where she was stepping.
Suddenly the ground opened up and she fell down. She cried out in surprise, her hands moving to grasp at something to hold her up. Anything to manage to keep her from the pit that threatened to swallow her.
But she fell, and fell and fell. It feel like ages before she crashed on the floor of what must be a cave or something. She tried to gasp, but her lungs were not cooperating as her breath had been knocked out.
She was spread out, unable to breathe, unable to move, suspended in a moment of terror. She looked around, but all she could see was darkness, the moon overhead too far away to cast light down into the pit she was in.
Help she tried to cry out, but she was still not breathing, and no sound came out. The moment of being suspended, almost like she was outside her own body, ended. But instead of bringing breath and relief, it brought pain. Spreading out and consuming her limbs.
Before darkness overtook her, she tried to call out for help again. No sound came from her, but overhead she heard the wolf howling one last time before the world was black.
They must have been fighting the spiders for well over an hour. Somehow they had found a semblance of a routine together, which managed to hold the beasts at bay. But they were growing tired, and they weren't sure of they could keep up with the attacks they were delving out.
They had somehow moved further into the forest. The further they got, the more spiders disappeared, seemingly unwilling to continue their pursuit as they moved out of their territory.
When they all of a sudden seemed to run off, the boys were relieved, too tired at first too look into why the spiders took off.
"Guys?" Regulus said. They all looked at him, and again he pointed into the darkness behind them.
As they turned and looked where he pointed Avery muttered "You are never allowed to point again."
Hermione woke up, gasping, relieved to find her lungs working again. Logically she knew they must have been working for a while, or else she would be dead.
Moving she discovered her body in even more pain than before. With little choice if she wanted to get out alive, she stood up with great difficulty. She moved around to see if there was a way out.
The hole seemed to be a narrow round tunnel going straight down, stopping where she landed. It wasn't narrow enough for her to climb by using both sides. The sides were too slippery and straight too be able to climb it using only one side. Wracking her brain for solutions she couldn't come up with a single spell to help her. If she had someone at the top she could easily conjure a rope to help her climb.
That was if she didn't include her broken ankle in the plan. Thinking she had nothing to lose she yelled out for help, her voice finally doing like she wanted it too.
After a while of calling out she heard movement.
"Thank Merlin you're here! I'm stuck please help me!" She called out as she heard the person coming close to her.
The growling and the glowing red eyes had her yelping and hugging the opposite wall of her pit. Her breathing was going faster, heart beating against her ribcage as fear gripped her. Then the creature was joined by several others, circling around the edges of her prison.
Somehow they had managed to escape the big thing following them. Neither of the boys were sure what it was, only that they were happy to escape it. They continued moving through the forest, now truly lost they decided that trying to find Hermione made as much sense as finding Hogwarts. The first of the two they managed would be fine, after the night they had, disappointing the Dark Lord didn't seem as terrifying.
Then they spotted what looked like wolves circling something, the noise the boys made barely drawing their attention. The others made to walk in the opposite direction, but Evan stopped as he was sure someone called out his name.
"Did you hear that?" he asked, moving closer to the predators to the others discomfort.
"What are you talking about?" Regulus who was usually so observant answered.
"Come on Evan, it is probably just a rabbit or something." Avery said, looking at the flock nervously.
"They are right, we should continue." Malfoy said in a drawl, fixing his clothes up that were still flawless even through all they had endured that night.
But he didn't listen to them, moving ever closer. Some of the beasts growling at him, but he sent sparks at them, scaring them backwards. As they moved back, growling at him and snapping at his feet, he saw the hole in the ground.
"Help!" he heard the strangled cry from the hole. He moved closer and found the familiar brown orbs staring up at him.
"Hermione?" he had completely forgotten about the boys or the angry hungry beast surrounding him. As he saw her lying in a pit defenseless his mind and his heart were conflicted.
He had been so angry at her after her cruel prank, and the situation she was in now was something straight out of his revenge daydreams.
Brown pleading eyes and her meek melodic voice whispering his name as she stared up at him had him forgetting about that though. His lips parted in surprise when she said "Thank Merlin it's you." like he was the answer to her prayers.
Hermione stared up at Evan, her heart leaping in joy. Without much thought she said "Thank Merlin it's you."
She might have been thinking about Benjy swooping in and rescuing her seconds before. But had she been completely honest with herself Evan was the person she had hoped would rescue her all along. He was familiar and safe in a way the Gryffindor wasn't yet.
For the first time in what felt like weeks, Evans blue eyes weren't cruel and unwelcoming. They sparkled with compassion like she had never seen directed at her before.
Soon the other boys had scared away the beasts. Lucius being the one most talented and trained with spells managed to get Hermione out of the pit pretty quickly.
"Thank you." she whispered, looking down at the mossy ground.
"Sorry, didn't quite catch that." Evan said, and when she looked up at him to give him an earful, she found his eyes mischievous and sparkling. She couldn't be mad at that, and she was happy they had rescued her after all "Thank you." she said again, to the surprise of all the other boys. Evan just kept her gaze, smiling like they shared some secret.
It unnerved her.
"We better get back." Malfoy said in his usual drawl, but as they made to move they heard the first Gong of the clocks at Hogwarts, ringing out over the quiet of the forest.
Gong
The boys held their breath. Hermione stared at them.
Gong
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Gong
"Midnight." Regulus said.
Gong
"So?" she questioned.
Gong
"It's Samhain" Avery and Mulciber said in unison.
Gong
"and?" She sighed, tired of their dramatics.
Gong
"You've heard the bedtime stories." Malfoy said, his voice breaking slightly.
Gong
"No?" she said, and the boys all stared at her in surprise.
Gong
"Does Voldemort strike you as a bedtime story kind of guy?" Hermione said.
Gong
"I guess not." Lucius answered for all of them.
Gong
"Bedtime stories aren't real." she scoffed.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough princess." Evan said, their eyes meeting once again in the dark.
Gong
Suddenly the previously eerily quiet forest was filled with growling, howling and the sound of things moving closer.