PART EIGHTEEN

The Last Task

Oh, crap, Malfoy thought to himself, frowning at the itchy leaves sticking out all over the place at him as he crouched down lower onto the ground behind the tall grasses of the Forbidden Forest. He lifted his illuminated wand up to see through the almost impenetrable shadows of the thick trees, thankful, at least, that even though he was out here in the chilly and wet grounds, the snow had stopped falling as it entered into February. It made it easier to see through everything that was blocking his vision in the darkness tonight.

He shifted in his hidden position again as he got another itch, and he cursed his father silently for putting him through this. His father had chosen tonight as the so-called "perfect time" to finally get his final task done, but although he knew that his father had made a foolproof set-up, he was starting to trust it lesser and lesser by the minute. He'd been hiding out here in the dark for about twenty minutes now, and still his victim wasn't here yet. His father really did have a way of making Malfoy's life as miserable as possible.

Sighing, he shook his head again but suddenly froze, because he heard a faint snapping of branches and crunching of leaves someplace near through the silence of the night. He gripped his lighted wand tighter and closer to him to add to the glow the full moon was providing him, and after a few more minutes of listening to the snaps and creaks, Malfoy saw a solitary figure walk into the clearing he'd long been staring at behind the bushes. Malfoy narrowed his eyes as the figure stopped walking, and he squinted to see whom it was his father had chosen.

He rolled his eyes.

Justin Finch-Fletchley was out there in the clearing, standing as still as stone, his eyes hooded, and his gaze fixed in a dazed trance. Lucius had decided to use the Imperius Curse on him to get him to sneak out the castle and enter the Forbidden Forest smack in the dead of midnight so that no one would know and no one would interfere. But then all of a sudden, Justin instantly shook his head and came to his senses, looking around in horror at where he was unknowingly brought. Lucius probably stopped the Imperius Curse from the Manor where he was controlling him so that Justin could witness the terrible tragedy that would soon fall upon him. Malfoy almost felt sorry for Justin. Lucius was truly a sadistic bastard.

Malfoy watched stealthily as Justin looked around all nervous and fidgety and most probably just realizing that he was in the Forbidden Forest, with no one else around to save him. Malfoy carefully tried to keep hidden as best as he could; after all, he didn't want Justin to see him and ruin everything. Besides, that was only what he was out here for, anyway. As a spectator.

And, just when Justin was about to run aimlessly just to get out of there, a low, growling sound broke through the crickets right on cue. Justin's face went deathly pale and he went rigid. Another growl suggested that the creature was getting closer, and soon, heavy paw thumps could be heard from where they were. Malfoy grinned as Justin backed up against a tree, his eyes darting back and forth in alarm and caution. Then, out of the woods and into the clearing, it appeared.

The enormous, rabid werewolf his father had arranged to get his dirty job done.

Malfoy almost felt like running away himself as he stared at the long, white fangs that the werewolf bared when it saw the trembling Justin across from it, and when it finally growled a whole lot louder, Justin screamed and freaked out. Malfoy took a step back behind the bushes as he watched Justin whiz past him, the werewolf hot on his trail. Malfoy straightened up and made a move on as well, following Justin's cries for help from afar. He knew he wasn't supposed to make his appearance yet, not until the werewolf had done its job and silenced Justin, but as he broke through the forest with the horrible scene of Justin running like crazy for his life in frantic fear, he felt the urge to stop it all and help him. He couldn't stand the look on Justin's tear-stricken face when the werewolf made a long but unsuccessful reach for him with its heavily clawed paws. He couldn't help but feel that this was all wrong, and that his father was insane to sacrifice Justin and use him—not to mention make him innocently suffer a brutal and painful death—just so Malfoy could get his blood as a last ingredient for the Dark Mark that the Dark Lord would burn into him. It wasn't right. It wasn't human.

Malfoy stopped running and tried to catch his breath away from view when Justin paused as well, having lost the werewolf somewhere. Justin leaned back against a tree again, tears rolling down his cheeks silently, and Malfoy couldn't blame him. He was innocent, and he didn't deserve to wake up and find himself being chased by an untamed werewolf going for his life. Malfoy could see that Justin now had bruises and scratches, most probably due to his constant tripping and all the pointy branches that came his way while he was being chased. And that was just about all Malfoy could take. To hell with his final task. To hell with his father.

"Hey," he said casually, emerging from the trees he was hiding behind. "Are you okay?" He approached the shocked Justin, who jumped about a hundred miles away from him when he saw him. Poor guy; he must've been too traumatized.

"M-M-Malfoy?" Justin stuttered nervously, clutching the stitch in his chest. "What are you d-doing here?"

He shrugged. "Let's just say I went for a nighttime stroll." He reached out and touched Justin's shoulder, annoyed at his own conscience telling him to be concerned. "You haven't answered my question."

"I'm f-fine," Justin replied disbelievingly at Malfoy's 'nighttime stroll' excuse, still panting, eyes still paranoid. "L-Listen, there's no time to explain, but we have to get out of here as quickly as possible; t-there's a…a mad w-werewolf out there somewhere, and it—"

"I know," Malfoy cut him off. "Are you sure you're—"

"Wait a minute," Justin's eyes widened in even more horror, if that were possible. "How d-did you know there was a werewolf in here; you don't l-looked harassed s-so it couldn't have chased you…and y-you couldn't have h-heard its growl b-because it growls just like every creature does and y-you couldn't have distinguished it…s-so…how…"

Malfoy cocked his eyebrow in surprise at what Justin was saying. The guy was smart; he had to admit. It looked like this was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

All of a sudden Justin jerked his shoulder away from Malfoy's grasp and took a step back in fear at him now. "You're behind all this, aren't you! I should've known you're up to no good again! I don't know why you're doing this, but I swear it'll come back to you a thousand fold!"

Malfoy rolled his eyes as Justin continued to rant. What a loud-mouthed idiot. Malfoy really should have stayed hidden where he was and let the werewolf find Justin. Sometimes, he was just too nice for his own good.

But Justin wasn't even finished yet. And to think that he should've stayed quiet because the werewolf might find him. "…you really are a bad seed! That's what everyone says and it's true! I'll tell everyone! And when Harry hears about this, he'll—"

That did it. Malfoy immediately pointed his wand at Justin. "Locomoto Mortis!" And Justin's legs locked together, causing him to stop blabbering and fall flat on his face.

"You're not going anywhere, Finch-Fletchley. I came out here to save your sorry butt, and this is the thanks I get? You run to your precious Saint Potter and tell on me? Well, no thanks," Malfoy smirked at him. "Tell you what. I was going to get you out of here, but since you're doing a great job repaying me, I'll let you stay here for the night instead and let that werewolf have you for its midnight snack. How's that sound?"

Justin glared at him from the ground where he was lying down. "You'll pay for this, Malfoy. Somehow you will. I know what you're up to and I will tell—"

"Look, Justin. I honestly don't want that rampaging werewolf to get to you any more than I want to be a Mudblood, and trust me, I don't want to Petrify you. But if I have to, you know I will, so I suggest you shut up so that I can get you the hell out of here and back up the castle, safe and sound. And yes, I admit that I'm in on this stupid scheme and I've changed my mind about it so I'm taking you back unscathed, but I will leave that werewolf to chomp down every pathetic piece of your puny body if you go rattling this out to everybody." He looked at him meaningfully. "So the deal is, you tell anyone, you die. Simple."

"You're the most disgusting person on earth!" Justin went on, although now Malfoy sensed a great fear in his tone, and he knew that his threat worked. "You're foul, you're evil, you're—"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

And Justin finally shut up.

Malfoy sighed, looking down at the Petrified Justin on the ground. Justin was supposed to serve as the werewolf's target so that it would tear him down and Malfoy would collect Justin's Mudblood blood essential for the Dark Mark's last ingredient, which would finally finish his final task, but seeing how Justin was so pathetic, Malfoy didn't have the heart to take his blood. He wanted to leave him alone. It was too bad he had to Petrify him like this.

He shook his head. I'm sorry, but you asked for it, he thought, staring at the Mudblood's rigid form. He lit his wand again and looked around him. Where had that werewolf gone? It couldn't have transformed back into a man; the moon was still out in the dark sky, clearer and fuller than ever. Why couldn't he hear the growls anymore?

He looked back down at Justin, and started having second thoughts. He didn't know why, but he honestly did want to save him; he didn't want him to get hurt for some reason. He felt like he didn't deserve to be fed to a creature just because Malfoy needed his Mudblood blood. And he didn't want to hurt him either. Damn, what was wrong with him?

He raised his right hand and stared at the bandage on it. It didn't hurt, so he knew he wasn't straying from his task; at least, not yet. He knew he couldn't bear to hurt Justin for his own selfish purposes, and that made him decide on what he had to do.

He turned around abruptly and started looking for the werewolf, clutching his wand in determination. He knew it was no ordinary one; a simple Homorphus Charm couldn't turn it back to its human form. But, with all the hexes and jinxes he'd learned all his life, he believed he could somehow take it down so that it wouldn't hurt anybody anymore.

What his father had set up for him was wrong. And he wasn't just going to sit around and do his father's sick bidding.