Dedication: to the Red Dragons Order –you're the best, Red-
Disclaimer: Well, I keep saying it ain't mine. If you can't believe it, then you are an idiot.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
Chapter 27: What Did I Get Myself Into This Time?!
"We're heeeere" Sania said jollily and made a few more steps into a clearing.
Harry entered the clearing and, to his surprise, saw... absolutely nothing.
"Here where?" he asked.
"Well, the directions to the Green Flame Torch are right here"
"There's nothing here!" Draco said. "What are you talking about?!"
"Well, you didn't expect the directions to be right in the open on a stone table, written on a piece of enchanted yellow parchment, did you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh my God, you did" she added when she saw their expressions. "The directions are in this clearing. Do you see the bit of green grass over there, greener than the others?"
"No" Mark Evans said.
"Idiot" muttered Draco. "I do" he added loudly.
"There is a stone right beneath it that contains both the directions and the key" Sania said. "Well, fellows, let the bearer get the stone"
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Why me?"
"Because you're the bearer" Sania answered. "Therefore, it is your job to dig a hole in the ground and get positively dirty while we watch. Well, good luck!"
Draco, Luna and Jane started laughing and the others grinned and snickered. Harry glared and went to the grass and started pulling the grass out of the earth. Surprisingly, it came out easily, like a blanket or something of the sort, earth still holding the grass in one piece. Harry stared at the weird thing and put it next to him. In the uncovered earth he saw the stone Sania had been talking about. He took out the stone and put the grass back.
"Aw, and I wanted to see you full of dirt" Amala said.
"Well, what does it say? What does it say?" Sania said, overly excited. "I never looked at it, don't ask me why, I don't know"
Harry was wondering how he'd clean the stone enough to see what was written on it clearly when he heard a sigh.
"Scourgify!" Hermione said.
"Heh, thanks" he said and the girl shook her head and rolled her eyes.
They all gathered around the stone, Mark Evans jumping around them like a rabbit, saying 'let me see!', but not being able to get a glance at the stone. He decided being short sucked. But, hey, how did Jane get there? Life was just not fair.
Meanwhile, the others were studying the stone. It had a pentagonal shape and writings all around it.
"I, Stoney the first, belong in the small pentagonal gap in the hidden in that special little secret place in the dungeons. See Map of Hogwarts for more details"
Sania and Draco started laughing.
"Well, that's stupid" he said. "And a lot of help, too"
"Mhmm" Jane said. "Stoney the first?! Who wrote this had a weird sense of humor"
"Might as well be the Goblin from Ireland" Ron said.
"Who?!" Sania, Hermione and Harry asked in the same time.
"A guy in children's stories" Draco replied.
"Never heard of him" Hermione said.
"Yeah, well, usually people who go to Hogwarts are past that stage, you know" Draco said, drifting off.
"So, what do we do now?" Jane asked. "This is not something you can guide yourself after"
"Actually, yes, it is" Hermione said. "The Torch must be somewhere in the dungeons and it must be in a secret place there. So, it helps. Kind of"
"Maybe the Marauder's map shows the place" Harry suggested.
"Should I ask what that is?" Sania said, raising an eyebrow.
"No" Harry replied.
"Well, then, we should be getting back to the castle" she said, after eyeing him in a way he didn't like. It felt like being x-rayed. "You can figure it all out after you get out of the Forest"
The others nodded and started heading backwards.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight! Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight! Hush, my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight"
Sania lifted her head, hearing the soft noise of someone singing. Jesus, she must have drifted off. How careless was that?! But she could recognize that voice anywhere.
"Varamesh!" she said, standing up.
A tall figure appeared from the trees, looking at her. Obviously, he was the one who had been singing before. Right now, he had stopped and stared at her.
"Sanii" he said, his face breaking into a grin. "My heart has been wishing to see you, Sanii, that is why I have come in the first place"
She smiled.
"Well, hello to you too and nice to see you" she replied. "Have you seen DC, by the way?"
"DC?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Washington?"
"No, Dark Claw, my tiger!" she said, giggling.
Meanwhile, most of the teens woke up because of the commotion.
"Who.... Where... what?" Draco asked.
"This is an elven friend of mine" she recommended and Hermione's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"An elf?!" she asked. "This time, a real elf?!"
"Yes, milady" he answered and smiled at her in a way that reminded her why elves were considered some of the most attractive beings in existence.
"Wicked" Ron mumbled, managing to get himself up. "Wanna join the party?"
He let out a few chuckles.
"No thank you, although it sounds tempting. I came here to return a tiger to his mistress"
"So, you did see him!" Sania said with a smile.
"Claw!" the elf cried and a rather small, sheepish-looking tiger came from behind the trees. "He got lost and couldn't find his way back"
Sania started laughing.
"Crazy tiger!" she said and the beast growled half-menacing, half-pathetic. "Don't worry, I still love you"
"Well, I should go, milady" the elf said. "I bid you farewell and wish to see you soon"
"Hermione, stop drooling" Harry muttered to the girl's ear, making her turn red as the elf left, starting to sing again. It seemed to be 'Lord of the Rings' by Dominator. Heh, the irony!
"Well, you're all up" Sania said, looking over them. "Chop, chop, let's go and no complaints! We'll reach Hoggie soon"
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"We're close" Sania said. "But there is something in the air that makes me think something will not let us go out so easily"
"I have a bad feeling too" Amala said.
"Uh oh" Draco said. "Sounds bad enough to me with only Sania here predicting something, but knowing that Wrighty's a Seer makes it worse"
"Stop mocking me, Draco" Amala said. "I was serious"
"So was I" he replied. "Plus, this is the Forbidden Forest"
They kept walking in silence for a while, but not the comfortable silence that sometimes made them feel just like home, but a tense one which reminded them that probably, the reason for calling it the 'Forbidden' Forest was that it was, indeed dangerous. Yay.
Only a few steps after, they could hear weird sounds as if something was coming towards them. But before they could even wonder what it was, Sania's eyes widened in horror.
"Acromantulas!" she said. "Run, quickly, quickly!"
They started running like crazy, but the sounds became louder and louder.
"Shoot them, or they'll reach us!" she cried and Draco, Jane and Hermione stopped and started shooting random spells at the incoming creatures. "But keep bloody running!" Sania cried. "Oh, we're sooooo screwed!" she muttered.
"We're friends of Hagrid!" Harry cried.
"Mate, that never works" Ron cried back.
"Claw, be a decoy!" Sania cried towards the tiger, but it seemed to have no intention of doing so. But it gave Luna an idea, however, as she cried:
"Harry, get a Patronus!"
Harry stopped and shouted "Expecto Patronum". The silver stag erupted from the tip of his wand and ran towards the acromantulas, creating some kind of a cover. They kept running however, knowing the spiders were far from stopped. Indeed, after a small confusion, the beasts ran again towards them. Harry recast the spell, but it took even shorter for the spiders to get away from it.
"This isn't working..." Mark cried, pale knowing he was the last of the group.
"Protegus! Protegus! Protegus!" Draco shouted and the spiders hit the shield, collapsing. "It won't last long" he warned. "Potter, stop1 Serpensotia! Engorgio! Engorgio!"
A snake came out the tip of his wand and landed on the forest ground with a small thump, only to become larger than a boa constrictor soon.
"Tell it to attack the bloody spiders, Potter!" he said and Harry turned to the thing.
*-Attack the ssspidersss-* Harry hissed.
*-Sssssure. My pleasssssure-* it replied and jumped towards the spiders.
"Remind me to get myself a pet snake one day" Harry said as they kept running. The snake seemed to be doing a great job, but it still didn't mean they could stop running, did it?
So, they kept running, but this time the distraction was great enough to leave the spiders way behind. So, after about five minutes, they stopped running and started panting.
"God... that... was... close" Harry mumbled.
The others nodded. Only Sania looked a bit less tired. Probably because she spent the whole day outdoors.
"I hoped that never happened again" she said, taking a deep breath.
"You've been chased by acromantulas before?" Draco asked.
"Oh, yeah" she replied.
"How'd you get away?" Hermione asked.
"Well, once I was with elves, another time we were interrupted by a herd... no, pack... group of centaurs and the third time I jumped in a tree and ran through the forest air way. Hoped never to do that again."
Draco snorted.
"So, we should be really close to the edge of the Forest now" Sania added. "Let's make a few steps."
They got back on their feet –well, Amala, Mark, Neville and Luna did, the others never sat down- and started walking again, not paying any attention to Mark's complaints –'guuuys, wait for me! Can't we stay here for a while?'-. Indeed, they made it in nearly half an hour.
"Thanks for the help" Harry said to Sania when they reached the edge of the forest.
"No problem, I was loosing my time anyways" she replied. "Plus, how often can you get chased by acromantulas, eh?"
They chuckled and one by one shook her hand or hugged her.
"Hey, I'll miss you" Amala said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Miss you too" Sania replied. "Come by and visit sometime." She thought over for a second and added: "second thought, don't. Maybe I'll drop by. Farewell"
She smiled at them one more time and they turned and started walking towards Hogwarts, when Draco turned said to the others:
"You guys go ahead and enter the castle, I'll be right there"
He turned on his heels and went back to Sania –who was leaning against a tree-, who raised an eyebrow, seeing him rush back to her in the fading light of the sunset.
"Yes?" she asked.
"When will I see you again?"
"I don't know" she replied truthfully.
"Pity. Look, I generally hate Muggles, but you're an exception"
"Um... Thanks" she said, looking at him weird. "So, your point is?" she asked as if she'd been blind and didn't see it.
He got impossibly close to her and put his hand on the tree behind her neck and asked:
"You don't guess?"
"How... romantic" she said, with a snort. "You expect me to fall into your hands with this?"
"No, I expect you already did" he replied, making her smile and her eyes to narrow, making her look even more beautiful and elfish.
"I don't think any of your actions may have made me fall in love with you" she said in a low whisper.
"It must be the Malfoy charm, then" he answered.
"You don't want a relationship, Draco" she said. "And I don't think I've fallen for you and frankly, I'd be the first to know"
"Well, it's a good thing you didn't, otherwise I'd have to play romantic" he said. "Come on, Sania, let's go out for a while"
"I'm no slut, Malfoy" she replied.
"I know" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Never said you were."
"I'm still looking for a nice guy"
"But while you are, no use to be single, you know"
"Mhmm. But I have no intention in being cheated with anybody" she said.
"No fear of that" Draco said. "I wouldn't dream to cheat on you"
"No, you'd just do it"
"Ah, yeah, maybe" he admitted. "So?"
She just smiled, so he leaned on her and kissed her. To his surprise, she kissed him back and somehow her hand ended up tangled in his hair. But she broke the kiss too soon for Draco's pleasure and said with a smile:
"You're a good kisser and I had been wondering about that for a while. Unfortunately, that was all I was willing to give. Good luck with your love life!"
Draco groaned and tried to kiss her again, but before he knew it, she was out of his arms.
"Come back?" he pleaded, but she just smiled and shook her head.
"Sorry, Dragon. As I said, good luck in your love life. Come, Clawsie and tell me since when was your inner self a pussycat? Don't you dare fight against spiders?"
Draco just watched her go and left towards the castle himself. He hated to be rejected and he just had been. And she even had the nerve to make it seem as if she'd fall for him eventually! Why, the Slytherin! But was that a promise? Maybe, maybe a small one? Oh, he knew she wouldn't do that to just anybody –as she had said, she was no slut- but he could sense she had just been playing by his rules. Damn the woman!
He entered the castle and headed towards the dungeons and eventually to his dorm, where he collapsed in bad. Man, was he tired...
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The nine students were walking towards Hogwarts, chuckling at Draco's expense.
"Oh, he likes her, he likes her" Jane said. "Could you see the way he looked at her?"
"Yes" Hermione answered and giggled. "But she'll probably rub his face in the dirt"
"In a very nice and delicate way" Amala added, giggling.
"Don't you think she might just go out with him?" Ron asked.
"No!" the girls answered like one.
"Why not?" Neville asked.
"Because he's so obviously a don Juan" Ginny answered. "If I were her, I'd toy a bit with him and sow him I'm not in his hands"
"Do I want any details on that?" Ron asked.
"No" she answered giggling.
"Oh, tooo many details" he said. "Bad, bad mental images"
The others started laughing. And they laughed until they entered the castle of Hogwarts encountering –what luck...- Filch and Snape. They froze in mid laughter and everything went deadly quiet for a few moments.
"Care to explain where you have been for the past two nights?" Snape asked in a quiet, menacing tone. Amala felt everything pressing down on her. Not good.
"In the F-Forbidden F-F-F-Forest, sir" Neville surprisingly said.
"And what were you doing in the Forest?" the Potion Master asked with an icy glare.
"Well, we don't know if you have found out, sir, but Harry..." Ginny started.
"Potter?!" Snape spat. "So, you are the cause of this?"
"His destiny is the cause of this" Amala said, looking him in the eye.
"Destiny? What exactly can destiny do so that all of you enter the Forbidden Forest?!"
"Many things, sir" Amala answered. "Destiny plays an important role in life"
"What would you know, Wright?" he asked, glaring darkly at his girlfriend.
"I know things, Professor Snape" she said, pushing her chin a bit forward.
"You know nothing, Wright. The whole world gets together to protect 'Golden Boy' Potter and he runs off in the middle of the Forbidden Forest because of his destiny?!"
"There is more to be said that shall not right here for unknown ears may listen and hear" she said like in a small chant.
"My, my, aren't we in trouble?" Filch muttered, enjoying the show. He loved to humiliate people, but Snape was the king of humiliation himself.
"What do you mean by that, Wright?" Snape asked in a low growl.
"Ask Dumbledore" she replied.
"Fifty points from all of you. For each and every one of you" he added.
"You can't do that!" Amala said. "Professor, don't!"
"I will do what I want, Wright and you just won yourself a month of detention!"
"Not fair!" she said. "I just spoke up when you asked questions"
"Wright, with me, now!" he cried. "And perhaps you could explain why Malfoy is missing?"
"Malfoy's a bit behind, sir" Harry muttered darkly.
"If he's smart enough to stay back, then I shall not deduct points from him or put him in detention!"
"Not fair!" Amala said.
"Miss-Wright-you-are-in-a-lot-of-trouble-do-not and I repeat, do not make it worse! The others, free to go!"
Filch seemed a bit disappointed, but let it pass and the students scattered to their common rooms. With Amala, however it was another story. Snape didn't say a word until they reached his office. Then, he entered, cast a silencing charm and turned back to her, not seeing that she was fighting hard not to snap at him and to look down. But rage was boiling through her veins.
"Amala, what the hell were you thinking?" Severus asked, fuming. "Going out in the Forrest like that!"
"I was helping Harry" she said, backing down and staring at the ground.
"And you even lied to me!" he said, mad. "You told me that..."
"I had to say it, otherwise you'd have stopped us!" she cried, tears in her eyes, raising her eyes to meet his, but then immediately swallowed and looked down. "Please, stop yelling..." she added in a lower voice.
"How dare you tell me to stop yelling?!" he snapped. "I'm older than you!"
"WHAT?!" she cried, looking back up to him again. "How can you shove that up my throat?!"
"Stop yelling!" he commanded her, angry to see her dare raise her voice and eyes like that and to whom? To him!
"Look who's talking!" she cried pissed off, refusing to back down now. "Excuse me, I'm not the one who started this!" she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
"You were the one who went in the Forrest!" he said, glaring at her with his worst glare. "Do you have any idea..."
"Yes, and I would do it again, and again and again! It's called friendship, you git!" she said, nearly screaming
"Friendship does not mean you can go kill yourself!" he spat.
"But we were ten people! It wasn't as if I went in there by myself!" she said, shooting her head forward and putting her hand on her chest.
"Shut up, will you?!" he commanded, pissed off with her dare.
"I'm not your average student, Severus! You can't shut me up like that!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'm your ruddy girlfriend!"
"Don't be cheeky!" he said, frowning.
"Cheeky?!" she shrieked. "Cheeky?! How dare you call me cheeky, you slime ball!"
"How did you call me?!" he boomed, enraged by her yelling. "I can't believe you just called me that! You little, fussy girl who knows nothing and I repeat, nothing about me and dare call yourself my girlfriend!"
"And who's fault is that?!" she cried. "I'm trying, Severus, I'm trying but you're goddamned difficult to deal with! Did you ever look at yourself in the mirror?!"
"Did you?! Going after teachers twice your age, you idiotic girl!" he cried.
Her eyes filled with tears of anger and her face was so tense and her frown was so deep he was surprised to hear her speak quietly, her voice shaking in pain and anger.
"How dare you?! How dare you turn this against me?"
"I can and I will!" he replied, angrily. "What, you think I love you? Foolish girl, think I'd fall for you? Not a bloody chance."
"But... but" she mumbled, suddenly shaking.
"I don't, snap out of it. It hurts nothing to see you cry" he spat. 'Wish that hurts' he thought to himself.
Well, that had been a lie, he realized when she broke down into tears and fell on the armchair, sobbing. The moment she did that, he realized that he did care and bit his tongue.
"Um... Amala?" he asked, a bit confused. He didn't mean to make her cry like that. Maybe make her cry with fear, but definitely not destroyed.
"Leave me alone" she said, sobbing, her voice hoarse.
"Look at me" he said in a low growl.
"Get the fuck out of here" she said, a bit louder and he realized just how hurt she was. She had never used the word 'fuck' before.
"Amala, look at me" he said again. He didn't know what exactly he'd do when she'd look at him, but that really didn't matter.
"I said get out of here, Severus!" she cried and picked up one of his vials with potions from the table and threw it hard at him, while he barely managed to get out of the way. "Get out! GET OUT!"
He decided it was a great idea and nearly ran out the door, away from the flying vials. When he reached out of the place, he noted somewhere in the back of his mind that the room he had just left was part of his personal quarters, but also that he didn't quite care. Who'd have known she could get to be like that?
He wondered a bit until he reached his classroom and just sat on the teacher's chair, thinking. Why was she acting like that? She'd never yelled at him before, did she? She was all sugar and sweetness... And he forgot she had feelings. Shit. Maybe he had been a bit too mean and secretive. But it wasn't like she should have gone in the Forbidden Forest in the first place! And why was she so cheeky, had she no respect for him? He was older... No, that argument didn't quite work well here. She was his girlfriend and therefore his equal... He hadn't been quite respectful had he?
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The door to the office opened and Amala didn't even look towards it.
"I said get the Hell out of here!"
"Oh, my, perhaps this is not the right time?" she heard a voice from the door and turned to see something that made her gulp.
"Heh, sorry, Professor Dumbledore, sir" she said. "I'm... um... I'm..."
"Upset" he completed the sentence. "It's not a problem."
"Maybe you want to know what I'm doing here..." she said in a hoarse voice.
"No, I got the picture" he replied. "Actually, I had come to see Severus, but I understand he is not here right now"
"No sir. I have no idea where he is"
"There's no problem. All I wanted to ask about was your well being"
She let out a short laugh.
"Well, I'm not too well, now am I?"
"Severus tends to be a pretty difficult man" Dumbledore replied and ended up with a sobbing girl in his arms.
"Pretty difficult is too little said" she sobbed.
"I know."
"God, and you must be wondering about the others" she said in a low voice. "They're all fine, sir. Even Draco, although he is a little late. Stood there with our guide, Sania... Towers' contact. And Harry managed to get something in order to find the Torch"
"Well, I understood all is alright when I saw you here, although you are not fine" he replied and she let out a sob, but then pulled back.
"Sorry to be crying on you like this, sir, but you look a lot like my grandfather"
"No problem" he replied. "None at all. But do not put what Severus says at heart, sometimes he says things just to hurt people"
She snorted a little.
"I should go to bed, sir" she said. "I feel tired, didn't get too much sleep"
Dumbledore nodded and helped her get up.
"Will you manage to get to bed?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, sir. I'm stronger than I seem"
He led her out of the dungeons and then their roads parted. Soon, she was in her bed, not knowing exactly how she'd gotten there but not caring at all. She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
AN: Mwahaha! A Snape Amala fight! Bet you didn't see it coming, did ya?
Thanks:
Babyjayy: Thank you!
Violet: Thanks! I love you!
The Red Dragons Order: Thank you and, yes, the line's from LotR.
Other chapters:
Harryp/charmedfreak: Thanks. And I like the pairing!
Well, sorry to reply so short but I'm short of time! Cya soon!
Disclaimer: Well, I keep saying it ain't mine. If you can't believe it, then you are an idiot.
/*-/*-/*-/*-/*-
Chapter 27: What Did I Get Myself Into This Time?!
"We're heeeere" Sania said jollily and made a few more steps into a clearing.
Harry entered the clearing and, to his surprise, saw... absolutely nothing.
"Here where?" he asked.
"Well, the directions to the Green Flame Torch are right here"
"There's nothing here!" Draco said. "What are you talking about?!"
"Well, you didn't expect the directions to be right in the open on a stone table, written on a piece of enchanted yellow parchment, did you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh my God, you did" she added when she saw their expressions. "The directions are in this clearing. Do you see the bit of green grass over there, greener than the others?"
"No" Mark Evans said.
"Idiot" muttered Draco. "I do" he added loudly.
"There is a stone right beneath it that contains both the directions and the key" Sania said. "Well, fellows, let the bearer get the stone"
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Why me?"
"Because you're the bearer" Sania answered. "Therefore, it is your job to dig a hole in the ground and get positively dirty while we watch. Well, good luck!"
Draco, Luna and Jane started laughing and the others grinned and snickered. Harry glared and went to the grass and started pulling the grass out of the earth. Surprisingly, it came out easily, like a blanket or something of the sort, earth still holding the grass in one piece. Harry stared at the weird thing and put it next to him. In the uncovered earth he saw the stone Sania had been talking about. He took out the stone and put the grass back.
"Aw, and I wanted to see you full of dirt" Amala said.
"Well, what does it say? What does it say?" Sania said, overly excited. "I never looked at it, don't ask me why, I don't know"
Harry was wondering how he'd clean the stone enough to see what was written on it clearly when he heard a sigh.
"Scourgify!" Hermione said.
"Heh, thanks" he said and the girl shook her head and rolled her eyes.
They all gathered around the stone, Mark Evans jumping around them like a rabbit, saying 'let me see!', but not being able to get a glance at the stone. He decided being short sucked. But, hey, how did Jane get there? Life was just not fair.
Meanwhile, the others were studying the stone. It had a pentagonal shape and writings all around it.
"I, Stoney the first, belong in the small pentagonal gap in the hidden in that special little secret place in the dungeons. See Map of Hogwarts for more details"
Sania and Draco started laughing.
"Well, that's stupid" he said. "And a lot of help, too"
"Mhmm" Jane said. "Stoney the first?! Who wrote this had a weird sense of humor"
"Might as well be the Goblin from Ireland" Ron said.
"Who?!" Sania, Hermione and Harry asked in the same time.
"A guy in children's stories" Draco replied.
"Never heard of him" Hermione said.
"Yeah, well, usually people who go to Hogwarts are past that stage, you know" Draco said, drifting off.
"So, what do we do now?" Jane asked. "This is not something you can guide yourself after"
"Actually, yes, it is" Hermione said. "The Torch must be somewhere in the dungeons and it must be in a secret place there. So, it helps. Kind of"
"Maybe the Marauder's map shows the place" Harry suggested.
"Should I ask what that is?" Sania said, raising an eyebrow.
"No" Harry replied.
"Well, then, we should be getting back to the castle" she said, after eyeing him in a way he didn't like. It felt like being x-rayed. "You can figure it all out after you get out of the Forest"
The others nodded and started heading backwards.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight! Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight! Hush, my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight"
Sania lifted her head, hearing the soft noise of someone singing. Jesus, she must have drifted off. How careless was that?! But she could recognize that voice anywhere.
"Varamesh!" she said, standing up.
A tall figure appeared from the trees, looking at her. Obviously, he was the one who had been singing before. Right now, he had stopped and stared at her.
"Sanii" he said, his face breaking into a grin. "My heart has been wishing to see you, Sanii, that is why I have come in the first place"
She smiled.
"Well, hello to you too and nice to see you" she replied. "Have you seen DC, by the way?"
"DC?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Washington?"
"No, Dark Claw, my tiger!" she said, giggling.
Meanwhile, most of the teens woke up because of the commotion.
"Who.... Where... what?" Draco asked.
"This is an elven friend of mine" she recommended and Hermione's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"An elf?!" she asked. "This time, a real elf?!"
"Yes, milady" he answered and smiled at her in a way that reminded her why elves were considered some of the most attractive beings in existence.
"Wicked" Ron mumbled, managing to get himself up. "Wanna join the party?"
He let out a few chuckles.
"No thank you, although it sounds tempting. I came here to return a tiger to his mistress"
"So, you did see him!" Sania said with a smile.
"Claw!" the elf cried and a rather small, sheepish-looking tiger came from behind the trees. "He got lost and couldn't find his way back"
Sania started laughing.
"Crazy tiger!" she said and the beast growled half-menacing, half-pathetic. "Don't worry, I still love you"
"Well, I should go, milady" the elf said. "I bid you farewell and wish to see you soon"
"Hermione, stop drooling" Harry muttered to the girl's ear, making her turn red as the elf left, starting to sing again. It seemed to be 'Lord of the Rings' by Dominator. Heh, the irony!
"Well, you're all up" Sania said, looking over them. "Chop, chop, let's go and no complaints! We'll reach Hoggie soon"
/*-/*-/*-/*-
"We're close" Sania said. "But there is something in the air that makes me think something will not let us go out so easily"
"I have a bad feeling too" Amala said.
"Uh oh" Draco said. "Sounds bad enough to me with only Sania here predicting something, but knowing that Wrighty's a Seer makes it worse"
"Stop mocking me, Draco" Amala said. "I was serious"
"So was I" he replied. "Plus, this is the Forbidden Forest"
They kept walking in silence for a while, but not the comfortable silence that sometimes made them feel just like home, but a tense one which reminded them that probably, the reason for calling it the 'Forbidden' Forest was that it was, indeed dangerous. Yay.
Only a few steps after, they could hear weird sounds as if something was coming towards them. But before they could even wonder what it was, Sania's eyes widened in horror.
"Acromantulas!" she said. "Run, quickly, quickly!"
They started running like crazy, but the sounds became louder and louder.
"Shoot them, or they'll reach us!" she cried and Draco, Jane and Hermione stopped and started shooting random spells at the incoming creatures. "But keep bloody running!" Sania cried. "Oh, we're sooooo screwed!" she muttered.
"We're friends of Hagrid!" Harry cried.
"Mate, that never works" Ron cried back.
"Claw, be a decoy!" Sania cried towards the tiger, but it seemed to have no intention of doing so. But it gave Luna an idea, however, as she cried:
"Harry, get a Patronus!"
Harry stopped and shouted "Expecto Patronum". The silver stag erupted from the tip of his wand and ran towards the acromantulas, creating some kind of a cover. They kept running however, knowing the spiders were far from stopped. Indeed, after a small confusion, the beasts ran again towards them. Harry recast the spell, but it took even shorter for the spiders to get away from it.
"This isn't working..." Mark cried, pale knowing he was the last of the group.
"Protegus! Protegus! Protegus!" Draco shouted and the spiders hit the shield, collapsing. "It won't last long" he warned. "Potter, stop1 Serpensotia! Engorgio! Engorgio!"
A snake came out the tip of his wand and landed on the forest ground with a small thump, only to become larger than a boa constrictor soon.
"Tell it to attack the bloody spiders, Potter!" he said and Harry turned to the thing.
*-Attack the ssspidersss-* Harry hissed.
*-Sssssure. My pleasssssure-* it replied and jumped towards the spiders.
"Remind me to get myself a pet snake one day" Harry said as they kept running. The snake seemed to be doing a great job, but it still didn't mean they could stop running, did it?
So, they kept running, but this time the distraction was great enough to leave the spiders way behind. So, after about five minutes, they stopped running and started panting.
"God... that... was... close" Harry mumbled.
The others nodded. Only Sania looked a bit less tired. Probably because she spent the whole day outdoors.
"I hoped that never happened again" she said, taking a deep breath.
"You've been chased by acromantulas before?" Draco asked.
"Oh, yeah" she replied.
"How'd you get away?" Hermione asked.
"Well, once I was with elves, another time we were interrupted by a herd... no, pack... group of centaurs and the third time I jumped in a tree and ran through the forest air way. Hoped never to do that again."
Draco snorted.
"So, we should be really close to the edge of the Forest now" Sania added. "Let's make a few steps."
They got back on their feet –well, Amala, Mark, Neville and Luna did, the others never sat down- and started walking again, not paying any attention to Mark's complaints –'guuuys, wait for me! Can't we stay here for a while?'-. Indeed, they made it in nearly half an hour.
"Thanks for the help" Harry said to Sania when they reached the edge of the forest.
"No problem, I was loosing my time anyways" she replied. "Plus, how often can you get chased by acromantulas, eh?"
They chuckled and one by one shook her hand or hugged her.
"Hey, I'll miss you" Amala said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Miss you too" Sania replied. "Come by and visit sometime." She thought over for a second and added: "second thought, don't. Maybe I'll drop by. Farewell"
She smiled at them one more time and they turned and started walking towards Hogwarts, when Draco turned said to the others:
"You guys go ahead and enter the castle, I'll be right there"
He turned on his heels and went back to Sania –who was leaning against a tree-, who raised an eyebrow, seeing him rush back to her in the fading light of the sunset.
"Yes?" she asked.
"When will I see you again?"
"I don't know" she replied truthfully.
"Pity. Look, I generally hate Muggles, but you're an exception"
"Um... Thanks" she said, looking at him weird. "So, your point is?" she asked as if she'd been blind and didn't see it.
He got impossibly close to her and put his hand on the tree behind her neck and asked:
"You don't guess?"
"How... romantic" she said, with a snort. "You expect me to fall into your hands with this?"
"No, I expect you already did" he replied, making her smile and her eyes to narrow, making her look even more beautiful and elfish.
"I don't think any of your actions may have made me fall in love with you" she said in a low whisper.
"It must be the Malfoy charm, then" he answered.
"You don't want a relationship, Draco" she said. "And I don't think I've fallen for you and frankly, I'd be the first to know"
"Well, it's a good thing you didn't, otherwise I'd have to play romantic" he said. "Come on, Sania, let's go out for a while"
"I'm no slut, Malfoy" she replied.
"I know" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Never said you were."
"I'm still looking for a nice guy"
"But while you are, no use to be single, you know"
"Mhmm. But I have no intention in being cheated with anybody" she said.
"No fear of that" Draco said. "I wouldn't dream to cheat on you"
"No, you'd just do it"
"Ah, yeah, maybe" he admitted. "So?"
She just smiled, so he leaned on her and kissed her. To his surprise, she kissed him back and somehow her hand ended up tangled in his hair. But she broke the kiss too soon for Draco's pleasure and said with a smile:
"You're a good kisser and I had been wondering about that for a while. Unfortunately, that was all I was willing to give. Good luck with your love life!"
Draco groaned and tried to kiss her again, but before he knew it, she was out of his arms.
"Come back?" he pleaded, but she just smiled and shook her head.
"Sorry, Dragon. As I said, good luck in your love life. Come, Clawsie and tell me since when was your inner self a pussycat? Don't you dare fight against spiders?"
Draco just watched her go and left towards the castle himself. He hated to be rejected and he just had been. And she even had the nerve to make it seem as if she'd fall for him eventually! Why, the Slytherin! But was that a promise? Maybe, maybe a small one? Oh, he knew she wouldn't do that to just anybody –as she had said, she was no slut- but he could sense she had just been playing by his rules. Damn the woman!
He entered the castle and headed towards the dungeons and eventually to his dorm, where he collapsed in bad. Man, was he tired...
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The nine students were walking towards Hogwarts, chuckling at Draco's expense.
"Oh, he likes her, he likes her" Jane said. "Could you see the way he looked at her?"
"Yes" Hermione answered and giggled. "But she'll probably rub his face in the dirt"
"In a very nice and delicate way" Amala added, giggling.
"Don't you think she might just go out with him?" Ron asked.
"No!" the girls answered like one.
"Why not?" Neville asked.
"Because he's so obviously a don Juan" Ginny answered. "If I were her, I'd toy a bit with him and sow him I'm not in his hands"
"Do I want any details on that?" Ron asked.
"No" she answered giggling.
"Oh, tooo many details" he said. "Bad, bad mental images"
The others started laughing. And they laughed until they entered the castle of Hogwarts encountering –what luck...- Filch and Snape. They froze in mid laughter and everything went deadly quiet for a few moments.
"Care to explain where you have been for the past two nights?" Snape asked in a quiet, menacing tone. Amala felt everything pressing down on her. Not good.
"In the F-Forbidden F-F-F-Forest, sir" Neville surprisingly said.
"And what were you doing in the Forest?" the Potion Master asked with an icy glare.
"Well, we don't know if you have found out, sir, but Harry..." Ginny started.
"Potter?!" Snape spat. "So, you are the cause of this?"
"His destiny is the cause of this" Amala said, looking him in the eye.
"Destiny? What exactly can destiny do so that all of you enter the Forbidden Forest?!"
"Many things, sir" Amala answered. "Destiny plays an important role in life"
"What would you know, Wright?" he asked, glaring darkly at his girlfriend.
"I know things, Professor Snape" she said, pushing her chin a bit forward.
"You know nothing, Wright. The whole world gets together to protect 'Golden Boy' Potter and he runs off in the middle of the Forbidden Forest because of his destiny?!"
"There is more to be said that shall not right here for unknown ears may listen and hear" she said like in a small chant.
"My, my, aren't we in trouble?" Filch muttered, enjoying the show. He loved to humiliate people, but Snape was the king of humiliation himself.
"What do you mean by that, Wright?" Snape asked in a low growl.
"Ask Dumbledore" she replied.
"Fifty points from all of you. For each and every one of you" he added.
"You can't do that!" Amala said. "Professor, don't!"
"I will do what I want, Wright and you just won yourself a month of detention!"
"Not fair!" she said. "I just spoke up when you asked questions"
"Wright, with me, now!" he cried. "And perhaps you could explain why Malfoy is missing?"
"Malfoy's a bit behind, sir" Harry muttered darkly.
"If he's smart enough to stay back, then I shall not deduct points from him or put him in detention!"
"Not fair!" Amala said.
"Miss-Wright-you-are-in-a-lot-of-trouble-do-not and I repeat, do not make it worse! The others, free to go!"
Filch seemed a bit disappointed, but let it pass and the students scattered to their common rooms. With Amala, however it was another story. Snape didn't say a word until they reached his office. Then, he entered, cast a silencing charm and turned back to her, not seeing that she was fighting hard not to snap at him and to look down. But rage was boiling through her veins.
"Amala, what the hell were you thinking?" Severus asked, fuming. "Going out in the Forrest like that!"
"I was helping Harry" she said, backing down and staring at the ground.
"And you even lied to me!" he said, mad. "You told me that..."
"I had to say it, otherwise you'd have stopped us!" she cried, tears in her eyes, raising her eyes to meet his, but then immediately swallowed and looked down. "Please, stop yelling..." she added in a lower voice.
"How dare you tell me to stop yelling?!" he snapped. "I'm older than you!"
"WHAT?!" she cried, looking back up to him again. "How can you shove that up my throat?!"
"Stop yelling!" he commanded her, angry to see her dare raise her voice and eyes like that and to whom? To him!
"Look who's talking!" she cried pissed off, refusing to back down now. "Excuse me, I'm not the one who started this!" she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
"You were the one who went in the Forrest!" he said, glaring at her with his worst glare. "Do you have any idea..."
"Yes, and I would do it again, and again and again! It's called friendship, you git!" she said, nearly screaming
"Friendship does not mean you can go kill yourself!" he spat.
"But we were ten people! It wasn't as if I went in there by myself!" she said, shooting her head forward and putting her hand on her chest.
"Shut up, will you?!" he commanded, pissed off with her dare.
"I'm not your average student, Severus! You can't shut me up like that!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'm your ruddy girlfriend!"
"Don't be cheeky!" he said, frowning.
"Cheeky?!" she shrieked. "Cheeky?! How dare you call me cheeky, you slime ball!"
"How did you call me?!" he boomed, enraged by her yelling. "I can't believe you just called me that! You little, fussy girl who knows nothing and I repeat, nothing about me and dare call yourself my girlfriend!"
"And who's fault is that?!" she cried. "I'm trying, Severus, I'm trying but you're goddamned difficult to deal with! Did you ever look at yourself in the mirror?!"
"Did you?! Going after teachers twice your age, you idiotic girl!" he cried.
Her eyes filled with tears of anger and her face was so tense and her frown was so deep he was surprised to hear her speak quietly, her voice shaking in pain and anger.
"How dare you?! How dare you turn this against me?"
"I can and I will!" he replied, angrily. "What, you think I love you? Foolish girl, think I'd fall for you? Not a bloody chance."
"But... but" she mumbled, suddenly shaking.
"I don't, snap out of it. It hurts nothing to see you cry" he spat. 'Wish that hurts' he thought to himself.
Well, that had been a lie, he realized when she broke down into tears and fell on the armchair, sobbing. The moment she did that, he realized that he did care and bit his tongue.
"Um... Amala?" he asked, a bit confused. He didn't mean to make her cry like that. Maybe make her cry with fear, but definitely not destroyed.
"Leave me alone" she said, sobbing, her voice hoarse.
"Look at me" he said in a low growl.
"Get the fuck out of here" she said, a bit louder and he realized just how hurt she was. She had never used the word 'fuck' before.
"Amala, look at me" he said again. He didn't know what exactly he'd do when she'd look at him, but that really didn't matter.
"I said get out of here, Severus!" she cried and picked up one of his vials with potions from the table and threw it hard at him, while he barely managed to get out of the way. "Get out! GET OUT!"
He decided it was a great idea and nearly ran out the door, away from the flying vials. When he reached out of the place, he noted somewhere in the back of his mind that the room he had just left was part of his personal quarters, but also that he didn't quite care. Who'd have known she could get to be like that?
He wondered a bit until he reached his classroom and just sat on the teacher's chair, thinking. Why was she acting like that? She'd never yelled at him before, did she? She was all sugar and sweetness... And he forgot she had feelings. Shit. Maybe he had been a bit too mean and secretive. But it wasn't like she should have gone in the Forbidden Forest in the first place! And why was she so cheeky, had she no respect for him? He was older... No, that argument didn't quite work well here. She was his girlfriend and therefore his equal... He hadn't been quite respectful had he?
/*-/*-/*-/*-
The door to the office opened and Amala didn't even look towards it.
"I said get the Hell out of here!"
"Oh, my, perhaps this is not the right time?" she heard a voice from the door and turned to see something that made her gulp.
"Heh, sorry, Professor Dumbledore, sir" she said. "I'm... um... I'm..."
"Upset" he completed the sentence. "It's not a problem."
"Maybe you want to know what I'm doing here..." she said in a hoarse voice.
"No, I got the picture" he replied. "Actually, I had come to see Severus, but I understand he is not here right now"
"No sir. I have no idea where he is"
"There's no problem. All I wanted to ask about was your well being"
She let out a short laugh.
"Well, I'm not too well, now am I?"
"Severus tends to be a pretty difficult man" Dumbledore replied and ended up with a sobbing girl in his arms.
"Pretty difficult is too little said" she sobbed.
"I know."
"God, and you must be wondering about the others" she said in a low voice. "They're all fine, sir. Even Draco, although he is a little late. Stood there with our guide, Sania... Towers' contact. And Harry managed to get something in order to find the Torch"
"Well, I understood all is alright when I saw you here, although you are not fine" he replied and she let out a sob, but then pulled back.
"Sorry to be crying on you like this, sir, but you look a lot like my grandfather"
"No problem" he replied. "None at all. But do not put what Severus says at heart, sometimes he says things just to hurt people"
She snorted a little.
"I should go to bed, sir" she said. "I feel tired, didn't get too much sleep"
Dumbledore nodded and helped her get up.
"Will you manage to get to bed?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, sir. I'm stronger than I seem"
He led her out of the dungeons and then their roads parted. Soon, she was in her bed, not knowing exactly how she'd gotten there but not caring at all. She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
/*-/*-/*-/*-
AN: Mwahaha! A Snape Amala fight! Bet you didn't see it coming, did ya?
Thanks:
Babyjayy: Thank you!
Violet: Thanks! I love you!
The Red Dragons Order: Thank you and, yes, the line's from LotR.
Other chapters:
Harryp/charmedfreak: Thanks. And I like the pairing!
Well, sorry to reply so short but I'm short of time! Cya soon!