(I hope the last chapter wasn't that boring and unbelievable...please read and review...thanx...and btw read my profile thingy too coz' I got another author name and all the details are there...thanx!)
Meanwhile, Ron and Draco were busy whiling away the time by telling jokes and talking about Hogwarts; or what was Hogwarts. Right then, Draco had just finished telling a joke. Ron laughed and checked his watch. "Oh my --! We've been doing nothing for like two hours! And we're supposed to be collecting firewood. Bet the others've reached the clearing with the food already..." said Ron. "So? I'd love to make Potter wait some more...c'mon, sit down," said Draco, pretending to shove some leaves aside to make space for Ron. "Urghh...Malfoy, get up, NOW," Ron said, trying to hold back laughter.
"Why? Scared to sit down? Don't worry; I've made sure that there are many spiders at this spot. Don't you just love the company of spiders?" Draco said in a bittersweet tone. "Don't talk like that...it makes me want to puke. Anyway, get up. If you don't I'm going..." Ron said turning his back on Draco. "Wha—Wait up! I don't fancy being lost in this forest," said Draco, shuddering at the same time. "Hehe..." Ron said. "By the way, Weasley, I would appreciate it if you did not tell Granger and Weasley about this new-found 'ahem' friendship...you won't, will you?" asked Draco. "Yeah...yeah...whatever. Pick up some twigs here and there," replied Ron, fully intending to tell Harry and Hermione about 'this new-found ahem friendship'.
They walked some more and rested. Then they started walking again. "What is this nonsense? We've been walking here for like 2 hours!" Ron said, looking at his watch incredulously and looking flustered at the same time. "We didn't even walk that long when we came out of the clearing!" "Weasley, have you ever heard of the word,'lost'?" Draco answered, looking completely calm. "I should've known you were no help Malfoy..." Ron said looking in all directions. "Wha—you mean you didn't know?" Malfoy said sarcastically. "Quit it and come help!" Ron said frantically. "OK, OK..." coming," said Malfoy in a resigned tone.
Ron heard it and turned around incredulously. "Here we are, in the Forbidden Forest, lost and you can stay so calm?" Draco opened his mouth. "Forget it...look here, you gonna help or not?" Ron said. "Yeah...whatever..." Draco said. "Good," Ron replied, pulling Draco along. They walked and walked for what seemed like hours. "Stop Weasley...we aren't getting anywhere. You just have to face it...we are lost," Draco said, stopping and forcing Ron to stop too.
"Why are you such a pessimist Malfoy?" Ron inquired, stopping and facing Draco squarely in the face. "Dunno," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders indifferently. Suddenly, Draco's eyes widened. "What is it? Not a spider right?" Ron said, fear slowly creeping into his voice. Draco shook his head and mouthed, "Centaur." "Oh..." Ron said turning around. There it was, a small centaur. It had a black mane and was staring intently at the two boys. "What's your name?" Draco said, coming up to the centaur. "My name is Keene and I am a kid-centaur. My boy, you bear a certain mark on you," said the centaur. "Yeah...well, he's Draco Malfoy and I'm Ronald Weasley. What mark d'you mean?" Ron replied uncertainly. "By George! You are destined to become great ones! Felosky was right! What he said was true!" Keene exclaimed excitedly.
Draco and Ron exchanged looks and then stared at the centaur, whose eyes were sparkling. "What d'you mean and who's Felosky?" asked Draco uneasily. "You are part of the army of four destined to kill him!" the centaur replied. "Who?" Ron asked. "You mean, you don't know? Why...you are two of the four people destined to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" Keene half-shouted, not answering the question about Felosky.
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"Where are they? Why are they taking so long?" Hermione said, looking at Harry who was pacing about in the clearing. The two had collected a respectable amount of food and were restlessly waiting for the desired firewood to turn up. "Geez...Hermione, I don't know! I mean, I've only got two eyes!" Harry replied. An uneasy silence lingered in the air, until Harry broke it. "What's really getting to me is that Voldemort might have caught them already..." Harry broke off when he saw that Hermione was gaping at him. "What?" "Harry...it's a, it's a –" "What?" Harry said, turning around, annoyed.
He saw it. A pretty creature covered from top to bottom with sparkles. She had a tiny face with little blonde curls framing it. She was quite small and on top of that, she had WINGS. "Harry...it's a fairy," Hermione said, coming up behind him. "They're supposed to be really rare." "Are they shy?" Harry whispered to Hermione. The fairy was still fluttering in the air and staring at them. "Well...not so much I guess. I'm gonna try talk to her," Hermione replied, brushing past Harry and coming closer to the fairy. The fairy did not flinch and regarded them calmly.
"Hello, what's your name? I'm Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter," Hermione said, flicking her finger at Harry. "Ha-harry P-Potter? H-hermione G-ranger?" the fairy stuttered, as her already pale face turned even paler. Her pitch rose with every syllable. "Yes...what's wrong?" Harry asked, coming closer too. "N-n-nothing," the fairy replied, backing away an inch. "Well...why're you stuttering then?" Hermione asked. The fairy got some of its colour back in its face and faced them, in what almost seemed a defiant way. "I am Quintaz. My father is a seer and he can look into the future. In the Human World, you call it Divination. I have a twin brother, Quantaz. We live with the whole of the fairy clan in this forest. A few weeks ago my father had predicted something, which was very shocking to me because it concerned me and I am still considered a mere child in my clan. He predicted that I would meet two great-wizards-to-be in this very forest a few weeks later; a boy and a girl whose first names were starting with H. He also predicted that I would help them greatly in becoming very great wizards, which I think is untrue. Even the clan elders think that it is not true. But none of us know for sure. This was why I was stuttering. I did not expect a visit from you so soon," the fairy replied. "What?" Harry exclaimed turning to glance for a second at Hermione. Hermione turned and glanced at him too. They stared at each other for a bit longer than necessary and then quickly looked back at Quintaz.
"W—" Harry started to speak but Hermione cut him off. "Quintaz, have you seen any other kids, two boys, around? One had red hair and the other one had Silvery Blonde hair," Hermione asked the fairy anxiously. "No, I have not. Are they your friends?" the fairy asked. "Yeah they are. We asked them to go search for firewood but they haven't come back yet," Harry replied. "Why are you here in the forest?" the fairy inquired. "Our school got destroyed. Period. Do you have any ways of finding people in here?" Hermione asked the fairy curtly. "No. But if you came with me, maybe the fairy clan can help you. We are also friends with the centaurs and the birds and they may happen to know something about these two people you are talking about. Do you want to come? We can provide dinner also," Quintaz replied, sounding somewhat hurt that Hermione had spoken so curtly. Harry glanced quickly at Hermione who nodded slightly. "Yeah...we'll come. Lead the way," Harry said to the expectant fairy. "Yes!" the fairy said and did loop-the-loops in the air. "Follow me then," the fairy said, calming down and leading the way out of the clearing.
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"Wait a sec...did I hear you right, or did you just say that we were destined to kill You-Know-Who?" Ron asked Keene incredulously. "What I said was true! To think that you did not know this is astonishing! Felosky was correct!" the centaur exclaimed excitedly. "Who is Felosky?" was all that Draco could say. "Oh...he's a seer centaur. My boys, you did not know this? Really and truly?" Keene asked them, his eyes shining. "Both boys shook their heads numbly. "To think that I was the centaur to break the news to you is such an honour for me!" Keened shouted rearing on his hind legs.
Ron and Draco exchanged looks. Then they looked back at the centaur, which was now dancing. "Wait! Calm down! I don't get it..." Ron shouted at Keene. "What is there to get? YOU are going to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and what's more, it is going to happen this year or next year! The stars foretold this, and they cannot lie," Keene replied, becoming all-serious again. Draco recovered his poise. "Stars, Mars! Can we talk about this later?" he said. "Probably all rot," he whispered in Ron's ear. Keene opened his human mouth to say something and was interrupted by a bird, which landed on his shoulder. It cheeped to him and he listened intently to the message it had to say, evidently understanding bird language.
After listening to the bird, Keene nodded at it and it flew away. He then looked at them and asked, "Have you come here with two others?" Both of them nodded vigourously. "Then I have good news for you. Your friends have been taken in by the fairy clan of this forest and are waiting for your arrival. You are very lucky as the fairies are excellent hosts. This bird has come to me to inform me to bring you to where the fairy clan lives." "Then what're we waiting for? I'm starved!" Draco said, walking up to the centaur. "Follow me," Keene said, leading the way into the dark, deep forest.
Ron and Draco looked at each other, shrugged and followed Keene. A few minutes later, they were in the middle of huge elephantine trees. Tendrils crept down from the trees and draped themselves over the boys' shoulders. "Ewwww…what is this stuff?" whined Draco,who had just stepped into a puddle of something white, slimy and definitely gooey. It looked unmistakably like… "Pus. Don't worry, it won't bite you…" Keene said over his shoulder. "What? You mean I just stepped on pus!!!" Draco shouted. "Malfoy, shut up, it's not like the pus is gonna eat you or something…" Ron said dismissively, overtaking Draco who had stopped in disgust. "Fine, I'm not going with you guys then," Draco retorted, and stood in the same place. Keene and Ron just walked on, not looking at him at all. "We-elll…maybe going is better than staying here,"Draco said quickly, and ran to catch up with them.
