The wind grew colder as we neared Hogwarts. The ride took forever; I can now clearly recall drifting in and out of sleep.

When we finally landed, I was stiff and sore, but I didn't complain. Draco looked at me awkwardly.

"Let's find Dumbledore… then I need to speak to you… okay?"

"All right." I led the way to his office. The halls were empty except a few prefects that we avoided. "Sour Sherbet Lemon Pops." I said to the two stone gargoyles. They grimaced at me then let us in.

"Headmaster?" I asked, knocking on his doors. I was hoping he wouldn't be asleep.

"Ah, Ginny… I've heard some news," he said calmly, opening the door on the left. He revealed himself in a pair of dark blue pajama pants with white stars and moons on them and a shirt to match.

I coughed. "Yeah… I guess you did. Listen, it's real urgent… Hermione's still back in the forest, I don't know where Marsha is, we still haven't figured out all of the legend, I think their headmaster is crazy, and Gryffindor has a Quidditch match in a week and I haven't practiced in forever."

"I believe I can help you with all but one," he sighed, but managed a smile. "Come, have a seat."

Draco, who had remained silent for a majority of the time, followed me quietly. We both took a seat.

"It's odd to see the two of you here, together. Is there something I don't know of?"

I was fixing to reply when Draco cut me off. "No, sir. There isn't. Just two kids trying to figure out a mystery surrounding our lives."

I shot him a look. I felt hurt… After everything we'd been though… Now that we were home he was willing to dump me in a second to maintain his reputation.

Tears sparked into the corners of my eyes. I forced them back down as Dumbledore continued to speak.

"Ah, yes. Your family is mixed in with this too, aren't they, Mr. Malfoy?" the headmaster asked as Draco nodded his head. "All right, where do I begin? Hmm… let's start with the legend. To make it short and simple… everyone believed there was a monster in the forest. For all we know to this day, there is one, though it does seem positively ridiculous. Everyone has their own theories about where these kids could be disappearing to, though none have proved correct. I don't think the Headmaster is crazy. We both agreed that some of my best students would go over there in hopes of hearing this legend and that they could figure out what was going on. It seems as if Miss Granger figured this out and used the myth as a cover story. She's a very smart lady. It's a shame her hormones got to her head."

"Why didn't you send an adult back there?" I questioned whilst able to speak again.

"Oh, don't think we hadn't tried," he laughed richly. "But the 'monster' has only taken kids at the oldest of age eighteen. The thing is though… my theory does include a monster, but not of the sort that you would imagine… I believe each year, in that forest, Voldemort's teenage supporters meet. Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe Hermione had anything to do with them… but anyway… From the evidence I- and many others- have discovered, one student is chosen from that school each year and they get accepted into the followers. They make it seem like a kidnapping to cover up their mishaps."

Draco tilted his head slightly .She seemed intrigued by the theory. "Where's Marsha?"

"All of the Hogwarts exchange students came home about an hour or two before you two. Speaking of that, I believe that you both should head off to bed. Like Miss Weasley said here… Quidditch is coming up and I expect to see some fierce competition. Good night."

With my head spinning, I descended down the stairs, on my way to my common room, when I'd remembered what Draco'd said. I spun around to see him almost out of sight. "There's nothing between us?"

He stopped. As he turned around, I saw a look of pain on his face. "You know there can't be, Ginny. We're back now, and things are different… I… I… I'll miss you forever."

A tear fell down the side of his face as he walked away.