(CoS) CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: FOLLOW THE SPIDERS
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins all chastised Ellie in the coming days for her reckless and irresponsible saving of Hagrid, but she didn't regret it. There was an arrest warrant out for him, but he was safe from Azkaban, and that was the important thing. As for her, other than a weak description of a big, black dog that had attacked him, Fudge hadn't known what else to say to the authorities.
She wished she could've somehow managed to get Dumbledore to stay. Fear was spreading quickly with him gone. It was only April, which left several more months for the Heir of Slytherin, whoever he was, to incite more violence.
Harry was still feeling down for a number of reasons, most of which involved his classmates thinking he was the Heir of Slytherin. During Herbology one day a few weeks after the incident at Hagrid's hut, though, that particular issue changed for the better. Ernie MacMillan came up to Harry in the middle of class and greeted him as if they were friends.
"Wotcher, Ernie," Harry replied carefully, glancing back at him.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry for suspecting you," said Ernie rather dejectedly. "I know you would never hurt Hermione."
Ellie smiled as Harry's eyes lit up. "Wow," he said. "That's okay, Ernie—thanks for apologizing."
Ellie squealed and hugged Harry as soon as Ernie was gone, temporarily forgetting that he, like everyone else, was supposed to be mad at her for the whole Hagrid thing. "Maybe everyone sees it that way—that you would never attack Hermione, so you couldn't possibly be the Heir."
"I sure hope so."
They exchanged a look at that. They hadn't kissed since the night they left for Hagrid's, though Ellie could tell that whatever was going on between them was far from over. The few people who had seem them kissing in the common room had spread the rumour around a bit, but Ellie and Harry both ignored such rumours; they were going to figure this out on their own time.
For a second, Ellie wondered whether Harry might come out and kiss her right there in the middle of Herbology; at the very least, she could tell he wanted to. But then Ron approached them, tearing them both out of their daydreams.
"Look," Ron hissed at them, pointing to something traveling from their greenhouse out toward the Forbidden Forest.
It was a trail of spiders.
"Follow the Spiders," Ellie and Harry said at the same time, recalling Hagrid's words.
"We can't go now, obviously," said Harry, frowning. "But I do think we should go soon."
"Why not?" asked Ellie, allowing herself a grim, half-manic sort of laugh. "We're practically experts at the Forbidden Forest by now."
"Good afternoon, class!" said Lockhart in his rather infuriating, chipper voice when they took their seats that afternoon. "Today will be an independent study day, but I promise I have something else exciting to share with you before the year is up."
"Else?" Ellie muttered to Harry. "Like the rest of the year has been a bundle of fun?"
He laughed, then pointed out, "Well, I wouldn't call those pixies he released on day one 'boring.'"
Even Ron, who had been in horrible spirits since Hermione's Petrification, had to laugh at that. The three of them pulled out their Defense books, glad to be doing work if it meant less talking from Lockhart. Unfortunately, before they could dive properly into their studies, Pansy Parkinson spoke up.
"Professor," she said in an irritatingly flirty voice that reminded Ellie a little too much of her own interpretation of the girl. "Don't you think it's interesting that the attacks have ceased since Professor Dumbledore left?"
"Ugh," muttered Harry, glaring up at Pansy with clear distaste. "And I thought your version of her was bad."
Ellie grinned at that as Lockhart replied, "Oh, no, Miss Parkinson—it's certainly not related to Albus's departure from the school. It's all about that runaway groundskeeper of yours—Rubeus Hagrid."
Ellie, Ron, and Harry's eyes all shot up at that.
"Keep in mind, though," continued Lockhart, "the brute is still at large, if only in hiding at the moment, so you aren't truly safe."
"That's not true!" shouted Ellie, but Harry nudged her, urging her to be silent. She knew he was right; what better way to give herself away for the crimes she had committed than to defend Hagrid so openly?
"Sorry, Professor," she muttered, and Lockhart smiled pleasantly, apparently forgiving her.
"Enough of this," Ellie whispered to Harry and Ron as soon as Lockhart turned his attention elsewhere. "We follow the spiders tonight."
"You're up to something," George said that night at dinner. Ellie had decided that she was long overdue for some twin time and politely told Harry as much; he had smiled easily, assured her it was fine, and even given her a gentle squeeze of the hand—not quite as satisfying as kissing him, but she took it.
"You mean, something besides physically assaulting the Minister of Magic and helping a convict escape into Hogsmeade using our map?" grumbled Fred.
"He wasn't guilty, and we all know it," Ellie said hotly. "Isn't it bad enough that there might be one innocent man in Azkaban right now?"
Fred's eyes clouded over with sympathy at that, and he lifted his hands in defeat. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"Enough stalling," said George impatiently. "Out with it."
Ellie sighed. "Fine. Tonight, we're planning on following a bunch of little spiders to their nest, where their huge, father spider called Aragog resides—at least, I'm guessing that's where they'll take us."
Fred and George both stared at her in disbelief for several seconds before Fred demanded, "Why?"
"Because it's all we've got!" she nearly shouted. "Hermione's in the hospital wing, Dumbledore's gone, and Hagrid's in hiding. The last thing he said to us was to follow the spiders. How could we not?"
Again, both twins fell silent. Finally, Fred said, "Count me in."
Knowing better than to argue with him, Ellie glanced instead at George, who didn't look quite so sure. "It's okay," she said immediately. "Why don't you stay and look after Ginny, instead? I haven't seen her since lunch."
Both twins scanned the table for their little sister and saw that Ellie was right: Ginny was nowhere to be found.
"I don't get it," said Fred. "I thought the diary was the problem. The diary's safely stowed away, right?"
"I can't imagine how it would have gotten out," said Ellie, frowning, as she got to her feet. "But that one might have to be a tomorrow problem."
When Ellie headed downstairs that night to meet the others in the common room, she saw that Ron and Fred were still upstairs. Harry was pacing in the common room, looking anxious. He didn't see her when she approached, so she gently reached out to touch his arm.
There was fear in his eyes, she could tell. But there was also determination.
"It's going to be fine," she said softly. "I'll protect you."
He allowed himself to grin at that, taking her by the hands and guiding her closer to him than she'd been since the last time they kissed. "Good," he murmured softly as he lifted one hand to her cheek. "But who's going to protect me from you?"
And before she could read too much into what that meant, he kissed her.
Their third kiss was no less impactful than their first two. Again, Ellie marveled at how good it felt—how safe, happy, and warm it made her feel when she needed all of those feelings the most.
"Timing," said Fred from behind them. "I'm quite good at it, aren't I?"
Ellie pulled reluctantly away from Harry, sharing a sheepish grin with both him and Fred. Fred didn't exactly grin back, but he didn't look all too upset, either; apparently the hints she'd dropped to him about her and Harry had done the job of easing him into the idea.
"Wotcher, all," said Ron obliviously a moment later as he, too, clambered down the stairs. "Who's ready to follow some spiders?"
Since all of them couldn't fit under the cloak, they came up with a strange, new plan: Harry and Ron would use the cloak, and Ellie and Fred would go by broomstick.
"Little risky," Fred explained when he pitched the idea, "but it gives us a safe way out if things get bad with the spiders—we can always go double on the brooms."
Everyone seemed to agree, and before long, Ellie and Fred were slipping out the window with their broomsticks while Ron and Harry took the on-foot route through the portrait hole.
"Don't fly in front of any windows," Fred warned her as they mounted their brooms. "If anyone's as bad a sleeper as you, they'll see us."
Ellie chuckled at that. "Fair enough. Check the map?"
Fred pulled out the Map, scanned it carefully, and nodded. "All clear. C'mon."
They headed for the Forbidden Forest via broomstick, waiting to land until they were safely out of eyeshot of the castle windows. They dismounted and carried their brooms at their sides as they scanned the forest floor for signs of spiders.
"Guess you figured things out," Fred said quietly as they walked. "With the Boy Who Lived, I mean."
Ellie tried not to stiffen at that. Fred had a right to ask, right? He was her best friend, after all. "Yeah—I guess we did," she said carefully. "I really like him, Fred."
He nodded, not meeting her gaze. "I know. I can tell."
She knew she had no reason to feel guilty, but for some reason, she did, anyway. Jealous wasn't quite the right word for how Fred seemed, but he certainly didn't seem happy. How would she feel if their roles were reversed, she couldn't help but wonder? If Fred started dating someone close to her—Hermione, for example, or Katie or Angelina?
She'd be devastated, even now, with her own feelings for Harry becoming stronger by the day.
Harry and Ron reached them at that. "C'mon," grumbled Ron, gesturing deeper into the forest. "They're headed that way."
They all followed Ron in the direction of the moving spiders, letting a stony silence overtake them. Ellie felt Harry's hand brush against her fingertips, and she accepted it, glad for a distraction from the mixture of fear and guilt she was currently immersed in.
"Look," whispered Fred, gesturing ahead of them to a clearing. Inside of it were larger spiders—not the size of Aragog from the Riddle vision, but easily the size of Ellie's Animagus form. The spiders spotted them and immediately started to screech; before long, several had come over to them and hoisted Harry and Ron into the air.
Ellie understood that this wasn't necessarily a death sentence, but she also had no intentions of allowing them to hoist her into the air. So, swiftly and sharply, she changed into her dog form and snapped her jaws at the offending spiders. She even managed to protect Fred from getting scooped up; instead, she and Fred followed the horde carrying Ron and Harry further into the clearing.
It could only be described as a domed web. It was covered in sticky, silken web material, and created a huge, iridescent orb. Hundred of spiders of different shapes and sizes stood watching them approach. Finally, the ones carrying Harry and Ron tossed the boys into the center of the web—right at the feet of the largest spider of all.
This, she knew, was Aragog.
Moment of truth - will the spiders still try to kill them all, or will something else play out? And what do we think about the latest and greatest in the Ellie/Harry/Fred love triangle? Keep those reviews coming, and stay tuned for the fun next chapter, "Bartenders and Basilisks!"
