Chapter Eighteen: Detention in the Forest

"There he is," Carol said softly, darting her eyes in Quentin's direction. We were in the Great Hall, about to sit down to breakfast. "Just keep watching. Let some people sit down...he was one of the first to arrive, and, look, he's still standing! Okay, sit down now." I did so, and noted with amusement that Quentin took a seat only after a quick glance in my direction.

Draco looked at us quizzically. "What? Who's still standing?"

"O, no one," said Carol. Well, it was true by the time she said it...

He rolled his eyes and snorted. "Right, like I'm supposed to believe that."

"What else would you believe, Draco?" retorted Carol.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it in confusion. "Eh...I don't know."

"Exactly," I said, and helped myself to a scone.

* * *

The day was drawing to a close, and the older students were just returning from Hogsmeade. Filch was selecting random students to search as everyone entered the Great Hall; he was afraid that every single person at Hogwarts had purchased a huge supply of dungbombs, for the sole purpose of making his life miserable. If only he hadn't insisted on blocking the doorway! Of course, Draco and I were at the very back of the crowd.

"Empty your pockets there, Johnson! Who knows wot you've got hiding. All sorts of con-tro-band, Mrs. Norris thinks, doesn't she, my sweet?"

"Stupid old git!" I thought. "Quit talking to your cat--I know that cats don't listen--and let us through so we can have dinner!"

The line moved forward as Filch let a knot of innocent-looking people pass without inspection. Thank goodness, I could finally go in and sit...

"Hey, missy, where d'you think you're goin'?" Filch said angrily. It took a moment for me to realize he was talking to me.

"To...eat?" I said.

"Not without bein' searched for con-tro-band! Empty your pockets!" he growled.

"But I'm just a first-year, I didn't go to Hogsm--"

"Shut your trap an' do wot I says!"

Draco shrugged apologetically. I could see that no amount of arguing would get me anywhere. Impatiently, I reached into my pockets. Filch smiled grimly as I handed over my wand, some notes from Potions class, a hair clip, a handkerchief, and three Knuts.

"That's all," I said, as cheerfully as I could. "Nothing against school rules. Now can I have my things back?"

Filch squinted at the handkerchief. "Wot does those letters mean? It better not be some kind o' magic spell!"

"Those are my initials, Mr. Filch," I said slowly. "A. W. Z. It's not a spell."

"Ooh, I think we have a liar, Mrs. Norris!" Filch cackled. "A. W. Z. must stan' for "Albert Wilfred Zonko," founder of Zonko's Joke Shop!" He spoke the name as if it were evil. "This must be a trick han'kerchief!"

"No," I said, even more slowly. "Those are my initials. Andromeda Winter Zænidh."

"Shut your trap!" he repeated.

Draco somehow managed to look down his nose at the caretaker. "I'll have you know," he drawled, "that my friend is guilty of nothing. That handkerchief--"

"Belongs to me," a new voice interrupted. I whirled around and found myself looking up at a tall boy with bright blue eyes...Quentin Mortema!

"Wot's the meaning o' this?" Filch snapped. "Who're you?"

"A Quidditch player, sir, who respectfully pleaded to wear Andromeda's colors for the next match," he said, in a pleasant voice. He met Filch's eyes easily. "Just like in the good old days, hm?"

The caretaker was dumbfounded for a moment, then he cackled sharply. "This'un knows somethin' about the good ol' days, right he does!" he laughed, handing "my colors" to Quentin. I quickly scooped up the rest of my things, before Filch could protest.

"But I still don' trust you, missy An-drom-eda! Don't try nuthin' funny!" And with that, he shooed us into the Great Hall.

Dinner had already started, but I found that Crabbe and Goyle had saved seats for Draco and me, with the usual group.

"So," said Draco icily, "who is that Quidditch player?" Carol bit her lip.

"What Quidditch player?" asked Joel, who was completely in the dark.

"Eh...Quentin Mortema," I said, feeling my face redden.

Draco scowled. "And you're letting him wear your colors?"

"Eh...yes."

Draco nodded. "Right, and you've known him for...how long?"

"Eh...as long as you have?"

"FIVE MINUTES!" Draco bellowed, causing the Bloody Baron to turn his hooded head in our direction. The blonde boy lowered his voice and continued. "Do you really think that's a good idea? I mean, yes, he is a Slytherin, but...he's..." He floundered for words.

"Older?" supplied Joel.

"How would you know?" interrupted Carol. "You don't even know what's going on!"

Adjusting his glasses, Joel replied, "Well, no, I don't. But I do know this bloke isn't a first-year. So, he has to be older, right?"

Carol looked put out. "Right."

Draco muttered something inaudible and glared darkly at Quentin, at the far end of the table.

* * *

Slytherin's next Quidditch match, which was against Hufflepuff, wouldn't take place until the last Saturday of May. Draco was very cool towards me, to the point that he refused to work with me in class, or even talk to me. Carol knew how to keep her mouth shut about the subject for the sake of peace, but Joel was clueless.

"Really, Draco," he said one day in Charms. "Don't be such a git! I mean, what was Andy supposed to say, 'No, I hate you, even though I've never seen you before'? It's common courtesy! If he was brave enough to ask--"

"Bravery is for Gryffindors," Draco interrupted, sneering, and wouldn't hear another word from anyone.

After class, I said irately to Joel, "Thanks for trying, but my name is Andromeda. I don't call you Jay, do I?" And I stalked out of the room.

* * *

Quentin wouldn't even talk to me. He seemed too shy to say anything. Of course, he talked to Flint and the rest of the Quidditch team, and a few other older students. Granted, I never tried to start a conversation...but, what would I have said? "O, hello, I was just wondering why you like a younger girl?" No. Everything I could think of seemed too forward.

A few weeks later, Draco and I had a terrible fight. I had stayed up late, reading in the common room. He had been wandering around the school grounds at night, goodness knows why, and he had discovered that Hagrid had been keeping a baby dragon as a pet. I told him to mind his own business, and the groundskeeper would eventually get what he deserved.

But Draco knew that the Foul Four were planning to meet someone at midnight, to hand over the dragon so it would be safe. He wanted to turn them in, to get them in trouble, and he wanted me to come with him.

I told him not to. I told him we would lose House points.

"Andromeda," he said, using my name for the first time in weeks, "think about it. There's four of them, and one of me. It's my word against theirs. If you come, too, our story will be more credible. We could take this to Snape, he'd be sure to--"

"You'd be sure to be caught!" I screeched. "Someone else would find you first, and there would be no way to explain--"

"Fine!" Draco yelled furiously. "I'll go alone!"

"Don't go at all! This is a bad idea, I can see...wait!" He had already pushed open the door, and was leaving the common room. I dashed out of the House after him, hoping to talk some sense into him.

"Changed your mind already?" he asked smugly.

"I was hoping you would change yours."

His grey eyes flashed darkly. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this"--he drew his wand--"but I can't have you standing against me. LOCOMOTOR MORTIS!" A jet of light hit me, and my legs seemed to freeze together. I couldn't even pull my feet apart, no matter how hard I tried.

My eyes must have shown the betrayal I felt, because Draco looked slightly sickened. "Sorry," he mumbled, and hurried down the corridor. "I'll be back soon." I tried to hop after him, but after about three hops, I fell flat on my face. He was gone.

I managed to get to my knees, and finally stand up. What was I going to do now? I could have reported Draco, for hexing me, but I didn't want to do that to my friend. Besides, I wasn't supposed to be out of the House at this hour, either. I would have had to admit that I had also broken the rules.

I sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. I could have gone to bed and hoped the spell would wear off by tomorrow. I could have asked an older student for the remedy. I could have lied and said Peeves was responsible for it.

"Speak of the devil," I thought bitterly. The troublesome poltergeist had just flown around the corner, and he spotted me instantly.

"Hee hee hee!" he cackled evilly. "A wee Ickle Firstie, not in bed! Peeves doesn't approve, no he doesn't! Hee heeee!" He turned a few somersaults in the air, then hovered upside-down. "How should she be punished? Peeves can think of a few ways, hee hee hee!"

"Eh....You don't want to do that!" I said, more confidently than I felt. "I'm in Slytherin; the Bloody Baron will be mad at you."

Peeves jumped and looked around suspiciously. "His Bloodiness doesn't talk to Ickle Firsties, fibber!"

"Well...," I continued, "um...why pick on one person, when you can pick on four? Four Gryffindor, ah, firsties are out of bed, with a dragon, on one of the towers. Sounds like much more fun, doesn't it?"

He laughed shrilly and zoomed away, but not before dropping a handful of pepper on my head. Rolling my eyes, I turned to the House door, but before I could say, "Emerald City," another harsh cackle erupted out of the dark corridor.

"Well, well, well," said Filch, hobbling towards me. "We do have a knack for getting in trouble."

"But--"

"No excuses!"

"But Peeves--"

"Peeves was here?" he asked angrily.

I nodded in reply. "And now he's off to torment Potter, Weasley, Granger, and Simmons, who are also out of bed."

"Which way'd he go?" Filch demanded, and I pointed up.

"One of the towers, probably the tallest one."

"Well, missy, that's awful nice o' you, but you're still in trouble!" He glared at me with his squinty little eyes, then rushed off to catch the Gryffindors.

A moment later, McGonagall turned the corner, dragging Draco along by the ear. So he had gotten in trouble after all! He scowled fiercely as he tried to twist out of the witch's strong grip.

"Really, Professor, I'm telling the truth!" he declared. "Potter had a dragon, and he met someone on the astronomy tower to hand it off, so Hagrid wouldn't be arrested--"

"Quiet, Malfoy!" she scolded. "Can you explain why Miss Zænidh is also out of bed?"

He finally noticed me standing nervously by the door, and drew a long breath. "I can explain."

McGonagall gave him a look that clearly said he should do so immediately.

"She told me to stay in the House, but I left anyway," he said reluctantly.

I interrupted his explanation with a better one. "And then Peeves showed up." I looked hard at Draco, hoping he would catch on. "He grabbed Draco's wand and hexed me, then flew off again."

Draco took over. "He dropped my wand, though. So, I tried to un-hex Andromeda, but I didn't know the right spell. But I knew I had to leave quickly, to be at the tower in time to catch Potter. Apparently, I was too late."

McGonagall pressed her lips into a thin line. "Why didn't you go inside after Draco left?"

I grimaced. "I was afraid I'd hurt myself on the stairs." She seemed to think about this for a moment, as if trying to decide whether the Dungeon really had stairs or not; evidently, she had no idea.

"What makes you think Harry had a dragon?" she asked Draco.

"He said so," he mumbled miserably.

"I see. Fifty points off Slytherin, for being out at night. And detention for both of you," she said sharply. "I was going to take this to your Head of House, but I would rather not disturb him at this indecent hour of the night. I'm sure he would have given the same punishment."

* * *

"I'm sure he wouldn't've," Draco grumbled, as we entered the common room. The Leg-Locker Curse had finally worn off enough that I could walk stiffly. "I bet Snape would've believed me."

"Well, he wasn't there," I said irately. "Thanks a lot, now I have detention."

He snorted. "So do I."

"Yes, but you deserve it!" I yelled, and half-fell down the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

* * *

Detention was a nightmare. Draco and I trudged to the school entrance, where Filch was waiting to take us out to Hagrid's hut, where our detention was to be served. Potter, Granger, Simmons, and Weasley were already there, as well as Longbottom. I wasn't sure how he'd gotten involved, but I didn't particularly care.

The old caretaker rambled on and on about the "old punishments," which involved hanging students by their wrists. We finally reached the hut, which sat too close to the Forbidden Forest for my comfort. Hagrid sat on the front steps.

"So, yer here fer detention, are yeh?" he rumbled. Filch nodded, smiling grimly. "Well, yeh ought to know, there's a unicorn what's been killed, and another what's been hurt pretty bad."

Simmons gasped. "Why would anyone kill a unicorn? They're so sweet, and pure, and beautiful..."

Draco snorted, and drawled, "If they're so great, why can't they save themselves? They're just a stupid bunch of duffers, is all."

The Parselmouth girl whipped out her wand in fury, pointing it at Draco's face. Potter and Granger held her back and snatched her wand. I didn't feel much like defending Draco at the moment, so I was glad someone else had. "Even if they didn't mean to," I added voicelessly.

"Righ' now, we need ter go in there an' find the wounded animal, and find out wot's went and killed th' other 'un," Hagrid said.

I just stared. Draco gaped, and said, "I'm not going in there! There're...werewolves!"

Filch grinned nastily at us, and told us there was much more than werewolves in the Forbidden Forest. Then Hagrid said that Draco would be expelled if he didn't serve his detention. I was quite upset by this, as I had been planning to bolt for the castle. Draco scowled balefully, and we all set out into the forest.

At the edge of the forest, Hagrid showed us a silvery liquid on the ground. I thought it looked a lot like mercury, but he told us it was unicorn blood. Simmons looked ill when he said this. I was merely outraged. I didn't care about some dumb animal; I wanted to stay away from the forest! What if something attacked me?

To top it off, Hagrid split us into two groups: Draco, Simmons, Potter, Fang, and me in one group, and Longbottom, Granger, Weasley, and him in the other. Wasn't this what always happened in Muggle movies? The group would split up, and then everything would go downhill from there. The presence of a large, vicious dog in my group did nothing to reassure my fears.

My group took the left fork of the path, looking for any sign of a unicorn. Well, maybe they were looking, but I was having a hard enough time staying on my feet. Shadows jumped out at me from all directions...then, suddenly, a huge figure actually did jump out of the trees! It was a very big horse...no, wait, it couldn't be a horse...it had the upper body of a man. Gads! A centaur!

While I was still beside myself at being scared so badly, Simmons curtsied to him and shook his hand. The centaur asked why we were in the forest at such a late hour (as if we were here often during the day), and Simmons told him that we were looking for an injured unicorn.

He gazed up at the dark sky, and his bright blue eyes caught the starlight. I was immediately reminded of Quentin, and I wished, irrationally of course, that he would come and save me. "Mars is bright tonight," the centaur said pensively.

"Yeah, well, thanks anyway," Simmons said, and the centaur galloped off to Hagrid's group. Everyone else stared at her. "Honestly, am I the only one who's read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?" Apparently, she was.

We continued on into the forest, which became darker and creepier. Potter seemed to have some sort of headache, especially near his scar. "O, look everyone, it's the famous Harry Potter and his scar," Draco drawled, sneering. I almost smiled. It was the best I could manage in the Forbidden Forest near midnight.

Suddenly, another figure staggered out of the trees, but this time, it was the unicorn! It was clear that it was hurt badly. Simmons and Potter crept up to it, but it backed away. "Get back!" Simmons whispered hoarsely to Potter, who did so. "They're not too fond of wizards!"

The unicorn's big, sad eyes looked about wildly. I crept up to it, behind Chloe, and we placed our hands on its side. Revolted, I found that it was covered with sticky, silver blood. "Well, what now, know-it-all?" I thought, glancing at the Gryffindor girl.

I looked back at the unicorn, then screeched in terror as a dagger implanted itself in the animal's throat. As the unicorn fell over, a dark, hooded creature crawled out of the bushes, and Simmons screamed as well. It was drinking the silver blood! O, it was so-o-o-o disgusting...! I couldn't even move.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Draco howled, and took off down the path, with Fang close on his heels. This shook me out of my paralysis, and I ran after them. Before I knew it, we were out of the forest. Hagrid and the others soon joined us; they had heard the screams.

Presently, the centaur cantered out of the forest, with Potter and Simmons on his strong, broad back. Hagrid greeted the centaur, calling him Firenze, and thanked him. Even though I wasn't exactly ecstatic to have the Gryffindors around again, I never would have wished them death-by-hooded-monster.

Then Firenze went on to explain something about unicorn's blood keeping people alive, even when they're almost dead...I wasn't listening much, as I was about to faint from shock. Suddenly, Potter and Simmons yelled, "VOLDEMORT?!" and everyone else yelled at them not to say the name. Draco only rolled his eyes, and I screwed my eyes shut, hoping that when I opened them, I would wake up in the middle of History of Magic.

I opened my eyes slowly. I was still outside, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid told us that our detention was cancelled, and the group headed back towards the castle. Draco and I turned towards Slytherin Dungeon, while the others kept going upstairs.

"Well, that was an adventure," Draco said shakily. "If Father heard about this--"

"He would tell you to mind your own...business and not wander around at night!!" I hollered, narrowly escaping cursing. "If you hadn't gotten detention for us--"

"Then we wouldn't have found out that Voldemort is coming back, would we?" he interrupted in a low, intense voice. I stared at him, openmouthed. "Firenze said so, in case you weren't listening."

"But...that...that's impossible!" I protested.

Draco laughed mirthlessly. "Don't worry, I'll never be a Death Eater. D'you think I want to play servant to that ugly, hooded thing?"

It took a moment for his words to sink in. I had just seen Voldemort.

To Be Continued...

Disclaimer: I am not JKR or Warner Bros., or even Tom Felton. So, naturally, I don't own the Harry Potter books, movies, merchandise, etc. Draco's "AAAAAAAAAAARGH!" was taken straight from canon. Eleven A's! Count 'em, it's eleven! I DO own Andromeda, Quentin, Carol, Joel, and the "real" name of Zonko. Chloe Simmons and most of the Forbidden Forest sequence belongs to ff.net author Wildmage42. Read "Year of the Parselmouth," I command you! IMPERIO!! Hee hee, please review!