Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that this year brings you happiness.
Of course I do not own any of these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling. Please do not get angry, oh goddess of the Harry Potter universe for the use of your characters!
Please review. I read each and every one. The suggestions are very helpful.
Hagrid looked at Harry and then back to his employer. Professor Dumbledore made his way to Hagrid. Hagrid's whispers were hurried and fearful. Professor Dumbledore nodded in understanding and turned to address the students and guests.
"Everyone remain calm. There is no need for panic." He looked at the band. "Please continue." It took no further prompting for the band to start playing their instruments.
Harry looked back at Minister Fudge. "Excuse me, but I think that I am going to get a drink."
"Very well, Potter." The minister nodded and headed in the direction of the other ministry leaders, no doubt to talk about this startling course of events.
Harry walked to the bowl of punch and picked up the ladle with a shaky hand.
When Hermione saw Harry leave the minister, she recognized her cue to meet Harry. "What do you supposed happened?" she asked.
"No clue. I wish we could see, but I think that I am being watched. If I left, the minister would know that something is going on."
Draco sauntered over to the growing group. "Any idea what Hagrid was yelling about?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Well, aren't you going to find out?"
"Not this time," Harry answered. "I can't leave."
"What about Hermione and Ron?"
Harry looked to where Ron and Pansy were still dancing. "I don't think that we could get him to abandon Pansy that easily."
"Sure we could, it would—"
Hermione patted Draco on the shoulder. "It's no use. We are just going to have to find out the good, old fashion way."
Draco slammed his hand down on the table. A few of the students jumped. They slinked away, afraid that Draco was going to hex someone.
"We've got to do something. I know! Hermione and I will go."
"What?" Hermione yelled, startling as many students as Draco had.
"Good idea. You know, Hermione can go up to my room and get my cloak." Harry looked around enthusiastically. "No one's looking. You could leave now and try to catch up with Hagrid and Dumbledore."
"You don't agree with this lout, do you Harry?" Hermione saw that she was outnumbered and gave in. "Always with these adventures…can't keep to ourselves."
"Hermione, you got involved when you became my best friend. I will always be tied up where Voldemort is concerned."
"Fine." She turned to Draco, "Meet me at the base of the stairs in three minutes."
Hermione stormed out of the Great Hall.
Draco swallowed down his fear. "Touchy, isn't she."
"Draco, be careful when you go into the forest. Watch out for the centaurs. They aren't too friendly. Oh, and if you start to see lots of spiders, turn in the opposite direction."
"Thanks…I think."
It was about time for Hermione to return, so Draco made his way into the crowd. Hermione was waiting for him, just like she said, wearing a black, woolen cloak over her dress robes for warmth. She handed another like it to Draco.
"It's Harry's, but I don't think he would mind you borrowing it. I figure that it will be pretty cold outside."
Draco nodded and noticed that she held something in her hands. She tried desperately to make it seem as if there was nothing, but she failed the attempt.
"Come on, we've got to catch up," Draco said as they walked outside.
They pulled the hoods of their cloaks up to keep out the cold. The snow on the ground crunched every step they took. They stopped and Draco got as close as he could to Hermione. She took the invisibility cloak and settled it around their shoulders.
"We are almost too big for this anymore. Pretty soon, we'll have to get one for each of us."
"That won't be a problem. I've got some at home."
Hermione looked at him in wonder, but realized who his father was. Of course Draco would have invisibility cloaks. He had probably used one more than Hermione or Harry had in their lives—combined.
They made their way slowly to the Forbidden Forest, following the tracks that Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore made.
Inside the forest, the air warmed up a touch. Barely any snow had touched the forest floor, so the footprints ended at the tree line. Hermione stepped out of the invisibility cloak and looked around. They were at the start of a footpath that wound its way to the heart of the forest.
She turned back to Draco, whose head was sticking out of the invisibility cloak. She lifted it off of his shoulders.
"What do you think?"
He looked at the path in front of him. "Really, I think that there's only one way to go."
He started down the path in front of her, but stopped after a few steps. "Hermione, keep the invisibility cloak if anything happens. Use it to get out unseen and get to Harry. He will know what to do if something happens to me."
"And what if I were attacked? Then what?"
Draco looked at her seriously. "I will have died saving you."
Hermione choked down the panic that rose in her throat. She followed Draco down the path.
After walking for what seemed like hours, Hermione thought she heard voices. She tapped Draco on the shoulder and put a finger over her mouth. He nodded in understanding and let her take the lead. She followed the sounds of the voices.
As they grew louder, Hermione thought she heard two voices. One was deep, booming voice that Hermione thought she recognized. The other was a hiss, almost a whisper that carried on the breeze to her ears.
Hermione edged around a tree and saw a hooded figure talking to a black centaur. She recognized Bane immediately, but the hooded figure had his back to her.
"We can barely keep Hagrid out of our forest. Tonight he has brought a powerful wizard into our territory."
"Why has it been such a problem? I have given you years to rid the forest of that school's influence. Wasn't your treatment of the last headmaster sufficient enough."
"It could not keep out the one who would challenge you, master."
The hooded figure sighed. "If you fail me once more, Bane, your punishment will be severe."
Hermione motioned back the way they came, back to the path. Once they got there, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "I had heard enough."
"Did you recognize the centaur?" Draco asked.
"Yes, but it is no matter if we do not know who is behind that hood."
"It was You-Know-Who."
"Volde—"
"Do not say his name when he is so close. We do not need to attract unnecessary attention to ourselves."
Hermione nodded, keeping silent to avoid making a mistake.
"Do you think that is what Hagrid wanted Dumbledore to see?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, Bane would have known if Hagrid was near. There is something else. No matter, we need to let the centaurs know about Bane."
Draco started on the path. Time passed in silence. Finally, Hermione heard the sound of hooves. A group of centaurs surrounded Hermione and Draco, arrows notched on their short bows.
"What are you doing in the forest?" asked a red centaur.
Hermione looked around the group until her eyes rested on Magorian, whom she had met a year ago.
Carefully, she took two steps toward the centaur to plead her case. "Back in the forest, we saw Bane talking to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We wanted to let you know that he is betraying you."
Magorian looked at her with anger in his eyes. "And who are you to tell us when our kind has been betrayed." He was prideful, a common characteristic of centaurs.
"Please, believe me when I say that Bane is working for someone who would do you harm. I do not say this as a superior; I say this as someone who is concerned for the entire world."
"Centaurs ask nothing of humans, even their own saving grace," another of the centaurs replied.
Hermione's eyes shone with her own anger. "This war will not end with the work of one person, or one group of beings. It will take our entire cooperation to rid this world of that evil. If you refuse to help us now, you refuse to help the world. And I hope that when every one of your foals suffers, you think of the part you should have played."
The centaurs were taken aback, except for Magorian. "And what would you have us do?"
"Open your eyes and see the truth. For too long you have been looking at the stars for all of your answers. Look to yourselves to correct the problem. You have the power. Use it!"
"Are you sure that it was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
Draco stepped up so that he was behind Hermione. "I am sure that it was."
"What is your name, young one?"
"Draco Malfoy."
One of the centaurs gasped.
"Your family's reputation precedes you."
"I am not like my father. Please, listen to Hermione. Bane is talking to him; Bane is helping him. He is poisoning you from the inside."
Magorian nodded. "I will talk this over with my kind."
A smile spread across Hermione's face. "Thank you for your consideration."
A whistle came from somewhere deeper into the forest.
"We must go young ones. Twice you have been in this forest. We will not give you another warning. You won't be foals for too much longer." The centaurs slinked back into the forest.
When the last of them was gone, Draco gave Hermione a small hug. "That was amazing."
"I just hope what we did was right. It is possible that more of them, or all of them are in league with Vold…" She left off, remembering not to say the name.
"Are we going back to the school, or do you want to continue?"
Draco's question was answered by crashing in the forest. Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore appeared on the path slightly ahead of them.
"Hermione, what are yeh doing here?" Hagrid's booming voice echoed off of the trees.
Professor Dumbledore put up a hand to silence Hagrid. "It does not matter in any case. We have got to get you two back to the school."
Professor Dumbledore started walking down the path. Hagrid let Draco and Hermione file in front of him.
"Hagrid, what was so important in the forest?" Hermione asked in an almost whisper.
"I don' think it will hurt to tell yeh that Grawp found something of interest to the Professor."
Professor Dumbledore coughed, interrupting Hagrid. They walked the rest of the way out of the forest in silence. Professor Dumbledore said goodbye to Hagrid at the forest's edge. Hermione watched through Hagrid's window as he stoked the fire and poured a cup of something hot to drink. She wished she were with Hagrid instead of being escorted by the professor.
In his office, Professor Dumbledore pointed at the two chairs in front of his desk. "Want some hot chocolate?"
Both of the students nodded eagerly as they sat down.
When he finished serving three cups of hot chocolate, Professor Dumbledore sat down behind his desk.
"It was completely unnecessary of you to go into the forest tonight. It is too dangerous for you to be running around. The centaurs are particularly unhappy with Hogwarts right now."
"Professor, we did run into the centaurs," Draco offered. He was hesitant to share with Professor Dumbledore from years of his father's hatred of the headmaster.
Hermione noticed Professor Dumbledore's slightly curious face. She related what she saw of Bane and the meeting with the centaurs, aided at times by Draco's input.
"I figured that Voldemort was not done in the forest. The unicorn was not all that he wanted."
"Professor, was there something you were trying to get in the forest tonight?"
The headmaster smiled through his long beard. "Yes, Hermione. A buried treasure of sorts…" He pulled a small box out of his robes and set it on the desk. He twirled his wand and the box grew to its full size.
About eight inches long and six inches high, the box was made of ash wood. "Mr. Ollivander was so kind to make this for me a few years ago. It is made out of wood for wand making, but it is not given a core, like your wands, for power. It simply relies on the power of the wood…and the power of the wizard who protects it."
Slowly, Professor Dumbledore opened the box. Inside was a ruby like Hermione had never seen. This one shone, but its glimmer was only surface deep, not like a true ruby. It was also a darker shade of red than any ruby she had ever seen.
"It is the bloodstone from one of the most powerful dragons to roam the face of the planet, Eriador."
"That would explain its appearance," Hermione said to herself.
Draco understood some of its power, so he asked the professor what he would need it for.
"It is not for me, Draco. It is to keep Voldemort from using it. Much like when he needed the unicorn blood, dragon blood is especially powerful. When a dragon dies, the bloodstone is the last drop of blood to leave its heart. In potions, it can give a wizard the strength of a dragon, though it wears off after a time."
He gave them both a smile. "Wouldn't want to give away an unfair advantage, would we? It is also my duty to help Harry in his battle in any way possible, short of fighting."
"How did this get in the forest, Professor?" Hermione asked. Her interest was peaked by the stone, larger than her fist, sitting in front of her.
"The Forbidden Forest holds many strange and mystical things. It is almost as old as this island."
Hermione nodded and shut the box. It hurt to tear her eyes from such a precious treasure, but it was not hers to keep.
"Would you both do me a favor and keep the stone secret from Harry? I would not like for him to get any ideas himself."
"Why couldn't he use it? If it would give Harry strength, I say let him use whatever he wants," Draco said.
"Harry has all the strength he needs right here," Professor Dumbledore put a hand over his heart. "Anything else might take away from that power. What Harry needs is inherent. That is why Voldemort sought to defeat him as a child."
Hermione yawned. "I think that I need to be off to bed, Professor."
Professor Dumbledore smiled again. "Yes, whatever you would like."
Both students turned to leave. Before they went through the door, Professor Dumbledore called out to them.
"I would like to say thank you for what you did in the forest tonight. I think that the centaurs will take your warning to heart. Oh, and if anyone were to ask, a thestral was sick. That should keep them preoccupied." Professor Dumbledore turned to the paperwork on his desk.
Draco was unnerved by what the headmaster said, but Hermione just smiled and left. They walked down the stairs and headed for their common rooms.