Chapter fourteen

Meeting by the forest

/

September quickly drew to its end. Ron kept trying to get out of Harry who he was dating and Harry in turn tried to convince him that he was just joking, which of course neither he nor Hermione believed him.

He wanted to tell them his sweet secret, but at Angela's insistence, he promised to keep their meetings a secret and not tell anyone. He was a little sorry for that, but he had to admit that if it got out that they were close, the reactions of both Slytherin and Gryffindor Houses probably would not be very friendly and they would draw a lot more attention to themselves, which neither of them wanted at all.

With the beginning of October, their lazy repetition of the past lessons ended, and all the professors started to discuss the new material with full vigour. Harry also began regular Occlumency lessons, in which, to Snape's astonishment, he continued to improve, and had already achieved considerable success in his telepathic communication lessons. After more concentration, he was already able to send individual words to Angela, but he was still a long way from her sovereignty with which she spoke to him in her thoughts.

The weather did not change much. It was permanently cloudy and often rained. In the morning and in the evening, thick fog obstructed the visibility and the students were leaving the castle as little as possible.

Fortunately, Harry's fight with Malfoy was not talked about much anymore, but it certainly was not forgotten. Harry felt a sting of jealousy every time he saw Angela talking with Draco, but her girlfriend told him they were just friends so he believed her.

In mid-October, an article about Cornelius Fudge appeared in Daily Prophet again. As expected, he was removed from office and currently replaced by the Wizarding Council. The names of the candidates for the vacant position of Minister of Magic, which were to be voted on soon, the Ministry did not want to reveal at any cost. However, it confirmed that elections were about to be held as soon as possible.

A week later, the front page of the newspaper was already of a much darker tone…

The last five Dementors, who until recently were under the control of the Ministry of Magic, disappeared from Azkaban prison without a trace late last night. One of the Aurors who was present in the prison at the time of their disappearance was found outside its gates. According to our unnamed witness, he showed signs of Dementor's kiss. This clearly shows the inability of the Ministry to provide protection for our citizens from these creatures. Disturbing information leaked to the public that they, like their predecessors, had gone into the service of He-Who-Must-Not-Named.

A state of emergency has been declared in Azkaban and the number of Aurors on patrol has doubled. The Wizarding Council has good reason to fear that You-Know-Who will try to free his followers from prison – several Death Eaters who were arrested in June thanks to the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore.

The entire wizarding world is already getting restless from the suspicious lack of activity regarding You-Know-Who, whose shocking return was recently confirmed by the Ministry. However, it may unfortunately be only calm before the storm...

Rita Skeeter

A special correspondent for the Daily Prophet

A few students, especially the younger ones, were somewhat disturbed by this news, but it soon faded away among the same and unchanged information from the Prophet.

Towards the end of October, Harry began to realize that Angela was often absent-minded and had dark circles under her eyes. However, when he asked her about it, she always found an excuse.

Ron and Hermione were still seeing each other in secret, even though their crush was literally oozing out of them and Harry tried not to smile every time he caught sight of Angela. She always looked at him, but otherwise had apparently no problem showing no change in her expression.

One morning, Katie Bell came rushing up to him at breakfast. Only her and Harry remained from the original Quidditch team. They also still had Ron and two Beaters from last year, but Harry did not expect them to stay on the team.

Together with her and McGonagall, they agreed to audition for the vacant positions of Chasers and Beaters. Almost at the end of their conversation, McGonagall shocked him with the news that he had been named the new team captain. Katie just giggled at his surprised expression and said goodbye.

Ron congratulated Harry warmly, but became slightly nervous when it came to his post. Harry hoped that his frayed nerves from last year's two unsuccessful matches had been repaired by the last one, which they had won.

In the following days, the weather improved and the Hogwarts students finally got to see a nice side of autumn. The soil was dry, colourful leaves were flying in the air in a gentle breeze, with them long fine cobwebs and the sun was warming up everything around. With that, Harry and Angela agreed on their next date outside by the lake.

/

Saturday's bright and windy morning promised a sunny day. The trip to Hogsmeade was planned for next weekend, and many students were very excited about this prospect. Everyone needed a change after the eternally tense atmosphere of the castle.

Angela's eyes skimmed over the headlines of the new Prophet, but her thoughts kept drifting to the evening when she had an appointment with Harry. A large owl landed in front of Draco, who was sitting across from her. A little surprised, he untied a letter from its leg, on which he recognized his mother's handwriting.

Angela put down the newspaper and started to eat breakfast without the slightest sign of interest. Draco looked around first, and then tore the envelope open in annoyance. The longer he read, the gloomier he became. After a while, he folded it and looked at Angela.

"Mother's letter," he announced quietly.

"And?" Angela hummed with her mouth full.

"She's sending words to you. Something I don't quite understand."

"What is it?" she raised her head, already anxious.

Draco lowered his voice even more: "You should wait where the lake meets the Forbidden Forest today at exactly half past eleven. What's that supposed to mean?"

Angela frowned. "She wasn't supposed to come!" she blurted out faster than she could stop herself, pushing the empty plate away from her.

"Who?" Draco wondered.

"Didn't your mother write that?" she asked teasingly.

"No," Draco grunted. "So, whom are you going to see?"

Angela stood up abruptly. "Be glad you don't know," she muttered annoyed and left.

/

Hermione suddenly sat down next to Harry and Ron, who were already playing the second part of Exploding Snap, and muttered something angrily to herself.

"They won´t get away with it. I'll stop them. I must, it's just not possible…"

"What is it again?" Ron rolled his eyes.

"Lavender and Parvati are planning some sort of secret party," Hermione fumed. "I heard them a while ago. They already have a long list of participants and of course – it will take place outside! What are they even thinking? As if they did not know that we aren´t supposed to hang out outside the castle! And certainly not after dinner!"

"Come on, Hermione!" protested Ron. "It's Lavender's birthday, isn't it? So let her enjoy it a little!"

"Enjoy?!" Hermione squealed. "By organizing a night party by the lake behind the backs of professors and thus violating not only the strict safety rules, but also several paragraphs of the school's—"

"Hermione, stop it," Harry interrupted her lightly. "You don't want to snitch on them, do you?"

"I'm quite tempted to do that," Hermione muttered angrily. "After all, it is also dangerous. What if one of Vol-, Voldemort's supporters got on the school grounds through the Forbidden Forest and ran into them? Do you think they would get out of this unharmed?"

"But the whole grounds are guarded day and night!" opposed Ron. "How are they even going to do it without anyone noticing? After all, they will make a terrible noise…"

"I have a feeling they've picked up some useful spells from the library to protect a certain place from noise and lights. Otherwise, they wouldn't have thought of it," Hermione replied.

"Hey, you've been thinking about it," Ron said ironically.

Hermione snorted: "You'd better keep your wonderful assumptions to yourself, Ron."

Harry looked at her: "But you're not going to tell, are you? I doubt anything will happen. At most, Filch will catch them up, but that will be their problem."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say," agreed Ron.

"Hmm," Hermione hummed very vaguely.

/

Harry had an appointment with Angela for nine o'clock. He quietly disappeared from the common room and pulled the Cloak of Invisibility from his pocket behind the portrait. Not a single foot of other student could be seen in the corridors anymore, so he would be quite noticeable.

The gate was locked, but not with a difficult spell, so he helped himself with his wand and slipped out of the castle. The stars were shining in the sky and the night was very warm for being near the end of October. Quickly, still under his cloak, he headed to a familiar spot by the lake.

Angela was not there yet. As he was hiding his useful property, he saw a flash of light nearby and for a moment heard laughter and music. But everything went silent again right away. That was definitely Lavender's party.

They should strengthen up that protection charm a bit, Harry thought.

He heard slow footsteps behind him and turned around. Angela walked up to him in a zip-up sweater and jeans.

"Hi, Angie," Harry kissed her briefly.

Angela gave him a fleeting smile. A worried frown immediately appeared on Harry's forehead and he took her around the waist.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's just… I'm tired," she muttered, clinging to Harry tightly.

I don't believe you.

Angela looked at him in surprise.

You are getting better and better.

"Yeah, but don't get off topic," Harry responded.

"Don't pry, please," she frowned, breaking out of his embrace.

At that moment, the light flashed again and a girl's giggle reached them.

"What's that over there?" Angela said in astonishment.

"A girl in our year is having a secret birthday party," Harry explained.

"Well, that's not very reasonable," Angela sneered. "At least they should—"

"- strengthen that protection spell. Yeah, I think so too," Harry finished.

They looked into each other´s eyes, stopped caring for others, held hands and went for a walk around the lake.

/

An hour later, they were already heading back to the castle because they were getting cold.

"You know, Harry," Angela said softly. "It feels really nice to be around you."

"It´s the same for me," he assured her. "Even though you're keeping secrets."

She eyed him carefully: "You're not different after all. What do I really know about you?" Angela objected.

"I'd say that quite enough," Harry sighed. She glared at him. "Okay, I admit… Sometimes it's better than knowing too much about the other…"

"I agree with you on that," Angela responded somewhat dejectedly.

They reached the gate and just as Harry was about to open it again with a spell, they heard a wheezing voice.

"Then let's go see what kind of lightning it is. Come on, Professor. You will see for yourself."

"Damn it," Angela whispered.

Harry reacted in a flash. They would not have time to run under the stairs without being seen. He pulled the cloak from his pocket. The lock clicked. He tossed it over them, grabbed Angela around the waist, and backed with her as close to the wall as possible. The gate creaked open and the area was flooded with light from the lantern.

Angela stared at Harry in surprise, but he just put a finger to his mouth. The caretaker walked right past them with a wheezing chuckle, followed by Snape with a rather sour look on his face. Mrs Norris was already downstairs.

As their lantern light faded into the distance, Harry gathered up his cloak and the two quickly slipped into the castle.

"The Cloak of Invisibility," Angela breathed out amazed. "Just wow. Where did you get it?"

"I inherited it," Harry replied quietly as he slipped it back into his pocket. "After my dad."

"A very convenient thing."

"Definitely," Harry grinned. "But…"

"Don't worry," Angela cut him off. "I won't tell anyone about it."

"Fine," Harry muttered. Good night.

She caressed his cheek and then gave him a long kiss.

Good night.

They split up under the stairs and each headed toward their common room. Harry ran briskly up the stairs, but Angela stopped in the corridor and followed him upstairs with her eyes. Then, without a smile, she quietly made her way back, the gate clicking softly behind her. Less than half a minute later, Draco Malfoy emerged from the same corridor and headed in her direction.

/

Draco sneaked quickly through the darkness following Angela's footsteps to where he had last seen her shadow. He was getting closer and closer to the Forbidden Forest. Far behind him, right on the shore of the lake, a shrill protest theatre took place, to which that he was completely oblivious.

He stopped by a large willow tree near the lake and looked around the night landscape, only faintly lit by the crescent moon.

Wherever she can… Draco didn't have time to finish the thought. Suddenly, a glowing wand was aimed directly at his face.

"Well, I knew it," came the sharp voice of the wand's owner, and Draco recognized Angela. "You really shouldn't be doing this."

"Angela, put that wand down," Draco grunted gruffly.

"No way," she retorted. "Now you turn around and crawl back into the castle."

"But Angela, I just wanted to…"

"Didn't you hear me?" she interrupted him harshly.

"My mother knows who you're supposed to meet there?" Draco replied with a question, nodding his head toward the forest.

There was silence for a while. Then Angela lowered her wand, so at least the light wasn't shining into his eyes anymore.

"Yes."

"Then why shouldn't I know?"

"The less people know, the better," she responded stiffly. "Now get out of here. Whoever's waiting for me there wouldn't be happy about you."

Draco hesitated for a moment and wanted to argue more, but he knew that Angela was determined not to take him with her.

"Okay, I'm going," he finally gave up.

"You'll find out one day anyway," Angela remarked quietly, hiding her wand.

"Really?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"In my opinion, definitely. Now go," only the dark silhouette answered him with a sigh.

"Take care," Draco mumbled barely audibly, quickly turning on his heel and walking back.

Angela kept looking in his way for quite long, but when Draco turned one last time, she was gone.

Before he could get back inside the castle, he had to hide behind the stairs and wait for Filch to pass, giggling contentedly, followed by a bunch of Gryffindors in a quite unusual state.

"I deduct thirty points from Gryffindor for each of you," Snape informed them mischievously, walking at the back of the group. "Of course, I will inform Professor McGonagall immediately. You will certainly not be spared of the punishment."

What surprised and pleased Draco at the same time was that in front of Snape marched Weasley with an angry look on his face and next to him that Muggle nerd Granger, who looked like a pile of misery.

Draco let out an almost mischievous chuckle as the gate slammed shut behind them.

/

Meanwhile, Angela was already a few meters beyond the border of the Forbidden Forest. After a while, she stood still, leaning against a wide tree trunk and waited.

In about twenty minutes, a bright greenish flickering light appeared to her left. Without any change in her expression, she headed in the designated direction. The light led her deeper and further into the forest...