The Attack

"Dear Sirius,

Hope you're well! Not long now until the Third Task. It might be an obvious answer, but do you think it would be possible if you were there too? I'd do with the moral support – although I'm not too sure how you'd get around without everyone thinking that you were the escapee serial killer.

Speaking of – you don't happen to have a brother, do you? Or any siblings in fact? Don't worry, I'm not up to anything, I just thought it would be nice to hear something about you. You still haven't told me about your trip to India.

Or what you and my dad got up to.

Well, considering you took me, Ron, and Hermione to your sex cave, I think maybe wait until I'm a bit older for those stories.

Anyway, wish me luck – I don't have time to write to you now.

Love from your favourite godchild

Ila."

Ila re-read the letter once more before beckoning Hedwig to come down. She brushed the fur under her beak. Hedwig hooted in response, sticking out her leg. Ila tied it down. While doing so, she glanced at her watch to see –

"Fuck's sake I'm late!" Ila grumbled. "Go on, go!"

Hedwig took off, her long wings flapping gracefully in the sky. Ila watched her, bouncing on the tips of her feet to make sure nothing happened before taking three steps at a time down the stairs of the Owlery. Ron and Hermione were also waiting there.

"What took you so long? We'll be late and we'll get another detention!"

"Not with this, we won't," Ila said, taking the map from out of her pocket.

"You're late," McGonagall said as the three friends stepped into the classroom.

"Ok…so maybe I shouldn't have taken that right turn," Ila admitted when Hermione glared at her before going into a string of apologies to McGonagall while Ron glared at Dean, who looked merely amused. Ron took his seat on the other side of the class and the two girls followed. Ila saw Draco leaning against the desk, twirling his hand between his fingers. "Now that everyone has arrived," she said, pointedly looking at the three, "you will all serve your detention in the Forbidden Forest. All eight of you will go out to the forest, collect a few FLOWERS for Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey. You'll have an hour before you can come back. Filch will walk you to the edge of the Forest and we trust you enough to find the clearing and collect it without any problems. If anything, use this as an opportunity to figure out whatever issues the lot of you have."

Ron snorted at the thought as the buckets were being passed around. Ila walked to Draco, giving him the last one. He raised a brow, asking her if she had found a way. Before she could answer, Filch ushered the eight of them out of the castle and down the dark pathway that lead into the thick Forest, that the last time Ila was in was a werewolf chasing her and Hermione.

"Surely this goes against some sort of health and safety guidelines the school has? They can't really expect fifteen-year-olds to go into the Forest by themselves," Hermione wondered to her friends.

"It's Hogwarts Mione," Ron said. "Did you really expect anything less?"
Ila bent down, telling the two that she needed to do her laces. She watched as the two followed the group ahead and waited patiently for the person behind her.

"Did you find anything then?" Draco whispered just as she stood up.

Ila gasped. "Why the fuck do you like sneaking up on me?" The two started walking, making sure to keep their distance away from the group.

"It's fun to be reminded just how bad your reflexes are," Draco said, sizing her up. "We might need to work on that."

"And why's that?"

"You'll need better reflexes when we go to Borgin and Burkes."

Ila rolled her eyes, though he couldn't see. "We're not going there, I told you."

"Well, have you found our mystery man then?" Draco asked. The group ahead of them already found their clearing. It was filled with white daisies that made it look like it was still snowing.

"I've asked…I've asked around," Ila said, making sure to not give away Sirius's identity. "It'll take a few days."

"So then why don't we go to Borgin and Burkes in those days that we do wait," Draco said, finding a loophole.

"Yeah…but…" the rest of Ila's sentences dissolved in a fit of grumbles.

"I have no idea what you just said, but I will take that as a yes," Draco said happily. "And don't worry, you'll have me to protect you."

Ila stopped walking, letting him walk by himself. Once he stepped into the clearing, Ila stamped on a twig. Draco yelped, turning around quickly. Ila stood with her arms akimbo before walking up to him.

"You clearly should have been sorted into Gryffindor," Ila snorted before heading towards Ron and Hermione and began picking out flowers.

"Don't you think people might be suspicious as to why he's here?" Hermione asked, nodding to the blond-haired wallflower.

Ila glanced up at him. "Nah…no cares about him that much."

"Hiya Ila," Parvati sang. Ila could already feel her brain cells melt away the moment the two girls stood in the middle of the circle. "It's such a coincidence to see you here, isn't it?"

Ila visibly grimaced. "What do you want?"

"What makes you think we want anything?" Lavender said innocently.

Ila stared at the two girls, waiting for one of them to break.

Parvati sighed. "Oh alright…we were just wondering that don't you think it's such a coincidence that Malfoy's here too. I mean, why would he be here?"

"Cos he got detention…?"

"I mean, how would he have gotten detention?" Lavender elaborated. "He had to have been talking to one of us. And it can't have been Ron or Dean because they were busy fighting and it can't have been us too, or Hermione or Seamus cos we were too busy breaking the fight up…"

"Well, you weren't doing a very good job at it, were you?" Ila said, already feeling where this was headed. She looked at Ron and Hermione, who were doing a very good job at staring at their flowers.

"Where were you then?" Parvati asked. "We're not accusing you of anything," she quickly added when she saw Ila's eyes narrow. "We're just…curious."

Ila stood up, her bucket swinging dangerously close at the two. "Well, if you two are so curious, why don't you go and 'accidentally' talk to him?" she said, with a bit more bite that she wanted to have. "And why don't you 'accidentally' lose your younger sister and let him find her while you're at it!" Ila walked away to a less crowded area. She dropped her bucket, not caring anymore about plants underneath and sat down. Merlin, why was she so angry? It's not like they outright said it…oh who cares?

Ila plucked the flowers harshly, taking the entire root of the plant out as well. She was sure that she wasn't supposed to do that, but again, who cares? They're just stupid plants in this stupid forest, next to this stupid school that's filled with stupid people that seem to question every move –

"You're picking them wrong." Ila looked up. Draco was staring at her bucket, in slight disgust. Since when was he such a plant empathiser. "If you keep picking them like that, they won't be able to grow again. Getting rid of the roots won't do anyone good."

"First of all, there's only a few-" Draco let out a snort. "You know what, if you're such a flower expert, why don't-"

CRUNCH

Ila immediately stopped talking.

She might not be a flower expert, but she was certainly an expert in the creatures in the Forbidden Forest; none of which come up to students or make that noise.

"What is it?" he asked, crouching down beside her. Ila got to the balls of her feet, her wand at the ready. She glanced behind them to see that everyone was busy picking their flowers. Well, everyone but Ron and Dean who seemed to be in another argument. She assumed that everyone else was done with them and ignored it.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, her eyes moving throughout the edge of the forest.

"Hear what?"

CRUNCH!

Ila stood up. There it was again. Her ears pricked, trying to see where the direction came from. She started to move into the middle of the clearing.

"Ila what're you - "

CRUNCH!

"Hear it now?" she asked.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Dean yelled as Ron had his hands balled up into fists. "It's not like I fucked her or anything. Cos of you I can't fucking do anything."

"As it should be!" Ron shouted back. "You don't get to touch my fucking little sister."

"Why not? Is she just for you and your brothers to touch?" Dean said. Ron turned an unhealthy shade of red before lunging at the boy.

"Get off him, Ron!" Hermione yelled, dropping her bucket, and running over to them. Seamus did his best to get in between the two but was only punched in the nose in the process. Lavender and Parvati were trying to pull Ron away, screaming for help as well.

"HELP! HELP!"

"FILCH! WE NEED YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW!"

"Oh, for merlin's sake," Ila mumbled, massing her temples. It was safe to say that none of them had heard the –

CRUNCH!

Even in the midst of the chaos, Ila knew it was getting closer and closer to them. It sounded like it was coming from the right of her. She shifted to the edge of the clearing, where the plants had stopped growing and watched. She felt Draco stand guard next to her, his eyes, and ears at the ready for any sudden movements.

"What do you think it is?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It could be a deer for all I know," she said. "But something tells me it's a tad bit more dangerous."

"Lum - "

"Don't," Ila said, pushing his wand arm down. "We can't let them know that we know."

"You think standing at the edge of the forest, watching for something isn't going to let them know?" he whispered.

She glanced back before wildly waving her hands in front of her. "HELP! SOMEONE COME HELP US! PLEASE!"

Draco looked at her as if she had grown another head before catching on and copying her, shouting at the top of his lungs trying to get help.

CRUNCH!

Ila stopped once more. This was the loudest it had gotten. She wasn't sure how, but it felt like whatever or whoever was making those noises was right on the edge of the clearing. Hiding behind a tree perhaps?

CRUNCH!

There was another, but this time coming from the opposite side. How was that possible? Unless…

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!"

"AND DON'T YOU EVER GET IN THE WAY OF MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GINNY!"

"WHAT RELATIONSHIP? YOU HAVEN'T EVEN GONE OUT."

"YEAH! BECAUSE OF YOU BREATHING DOWN OUR - "

"You two better shut the fuck up right now cos I think someone's about to attack us, and I don't think they're alone!" Ila hissed at the two boys who immediately stopped.

"What do you mean?" Ron whispered; his wand pointed in a random direction.

"While everyone else was busy trying to stop you two from fighting, there's been people creeping upon us," Draco explained. Ila was slightly shocked to see this interaction but then again adrenaline makes you do crazy things.

"How many do you think are here?" Hermione asked.

"At least two," he said before turning his back on the group. "Get back-to-back, point your wands out. Watch and listen."

The group all formed a circle, their backs touching each other while everyone face the edge of the clearing. Everything was silent. Too silent, Ila realised. Even if you weren't talking, the forest went out for miles, you would still be able to hear the distant echoes of Ron and Dean's yelling. There was no buzzing of insects, cooing of birds. Ila glanced up. The trees were swaying and yet no sound of leaves brushing against each other, no wind howling.

"Someone's cast a muffling charm," Ila whispered.

"I'm scared," Parvati confessed, her wand shaking in her arm. "What happens if they hurt us?"

"They won't," Draco reasoned, "they're probably trying to scare us."

"It might be the centaurs," Hermione added, though, from the crack in her voice, it didn't sound like she believed it. Ila could feel her trying to grab for her hand. She took it. On the other side, Ron grabbed for Hermione's as well. It seemed to calm her down for the moment.

In the distance, Ila could see a shadowy figure float from behind one tree to another. She squeezed on Hermione's hand accidentally.

"What? What is it? Did you see something?" she whispered.

Ila pointed at the pair of trees with her wand. "Over there."

"I thought you said they were close," Hermione said. "Those trees aren't another few metres."

"Make that three people we have to look out for," Ila said.

CRUNCH!

The group visibly jumped. "I can't do this no more," Seamus muttered. "Why can't they just do something already."

"Maybe they're waiting for us to make the first move," Lavender suggested.

"Or maybe they're just trying to scare us," Draco said through gritted teeth. Merlin, this is why he can't be a team player. No wonder why he gets pissed off after every match.

"At least show them we're not afraid," Dean said, bumping his arm to Seamus. "Try something."

"Don't do it, Seamus," Ila whispered. "You don't know who they are."

"I know they're a bunch of pussies for trying to attack a group of students," Seamus replied loudly, and she couldn't help but recoil at his choice of words. If it weren't for the situation that they were in, Ila would've thrown up. Merlin, she hated that word.

"Nothing happened," Ron said, also starting to get a bit more confident.

Seamus waved his wand around before yelling, "STUPFY!"

"No!"

A jet of red light shot out from his wand, travelling at lightning speed towards a tree. Unfortunately, whoever they were had put a bubble around the students. The jet of light had hit the wall and ricocheted, hitting Seamus directly in the square of his chest, knocking him out.

"Oh well done!" Ila said, unable to help herself at the snoring Seamus, now collapsed at Dean's feet.

However, she couldn't go any further in her rant. Another jet of blue flew straight past their heads, hitting a branch that was dangling above them. All seven of them, with Dean dragging Seamus to his feet, moved out of the way, separating them completely. Ila was now with Draco, Ron was with Hermione and Parvati, Dean, Seamus, and Lavender were together.

"RUN!" Draco yelled. He grabbed Ila's arm and the two began to sprint out of the clearing, forgetting their buckets completely. Ila saw the other seven had done the same, giving some sort of relief. "Jump!"

Ila didn't even register the thought, but her legs pushed up, the two jumped over the log. They landed, separating their hold on each other. The log was big enough to use as a cover and they two pushed their backs onto it. An orange flame burnt at the edge of the log, nearly taking off their hair before it set fire to a bunch of kindling in front of them. Draco stamped the fire away.

"What the fuck is going on? Who are they?" he yelled.

"I – I don't know. I didn't get to see them," Ila said. "You don't think it's…them, do you?"

Draco stared gravely at the burnt litter of leaves. "The people at the Quibbler? They might have figured it out."

"They can't be working with them though – you saw the way they were when we mentioned Lauren - "

"Maybe not working but maybe they were forced," Draco said before another jet of orange hit the side of the log, setting it alight. "C'mon."

Ila held onto his hand as they two set off again. They zigged – zagged their way through the forest as if it was a Quidditch training session. A spectrum of light blurred in their peripheral before seeing the results of those spells ahead of them. Cut down trees, welts, and boils on the branches. Ila could even see a bunch of leaves disintegrate in front of them. Who the fuck were these people?

"IMPEDIMENTA!"

A cascade of turquoise light shots hurtled towards Ila and Draco. She wrenched her hand away from his before diving behind a tree, seeing that he did the same. Ila breathed heavily. Ok, maybe she really needed to work out.

"I know you're here somewhere! I can you hear your breath!" a guttural voice called out. Ila immediately held her breath. She took one look behind her. A slow-moving black cloak floated in front of her tree before stopping. "You're here, aren't you? I can smell it."

Was that racist?

Oh, who cares Ila! You're going to get killed!

"Stupefy!" she whispered. The spell flew towards the cloak, who moved to the right, hitting the tree behind it. "Shit!"

Ila sat back behind the tree, pushing herself against it as hard as she could. But no matter what she did, she could still be seen. She couldn't hear it but there was another spell coming her way. She could hear the whoosh of it coming straight at her. But in her peripheral, she could see the green spell that was heading for her wilted all the leaves around it. The shrivelled up before turning black. She couldn't even register it. She couldn't move. The green spell missed just by millimetres, lightly grazing the end of her ear before hitting a field of flowers. The moment it did hit it, they died.

She was a few inches away from dying.

"Great," Ila whispered, shell shocked. She lightly touched the tip of her ear. It was like a scab had formed. The moment she touched it, however, it crumbled away. What looked like black soot pooled in her hand as she took it away. She was going to throw up. In fact, she dry heaved at the thought of the death spell only being a few inches closer.

"Did I miss?" it yelled out again.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Draco yelled from behind his tree.

"OI! That wasn't very nice now, was it?" the voice taunted as Ila felt the heat of Draco's spell fly over her shoulder.

Ila clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to wake herself up from this nightmare. She needed to do something right now unless she wanted another killing curse towards her and this time, it won't miss her.

She grabbed her wand before slowly rising. The Hanged Man flashed in front of her eyes. Was this it? Was this the end to Ila Potter? It was strange that Voldemort wasn't the one to finish her off.

No, she can't think like that…

This is like a task, isn't it? A task that they never mentioned to Ila. If she gets past this, she'll be able to go through the last one. Yeah…

Ila stepped from behind the tree, shouting the first spell that came to her mind – "Expelliarmus!"

The black cloak turned around – or at least Ila thought it turned around – only to miss the spell by a few inches. The cloak watched the spell hit the tree behind it before slowly turning back to Ila. With no eyes, Ila still felt as if it was watching her. Ila took a step forward, the cloak moved forward.

"You're not what I expected," the voice said. It felt as if it was in her head. It echoed and reverberated in her mind, giving her a slight headache.

"Who are you?" Ila asked, raising her wand to reach the cloak's 'throat.'

The cloak seemed to smile, the edges of the material rising slightly at Ila's threat. "Oh, you didn't think it was that easy did you little one?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Ila asked, starting to get more agitated. There were only so many spells in her arsenal but the longer she was talking to the fucking thing, she was ready to use it all.

The cloak moved forward once more until it reached the tip of Ila's wand. She could feel that it was hollow. What the fuck was this?

"It's not Him if that's what you're thinking," the cloak whispered.

Before she could ask anything else –

"BOMBARDA!"

A loud bang ruptured her eardrums. A cloud of dust and leaves wrapped around the two. Ila dived away as she covered her eyes, coughing up any soil before a pair of hands wrapped around her wrists and pulled her to her feet. She began to run once more, though all her trust and sight was now in the pair of hands that were dragging her along.

"You're fine now, Ila," Draco said, as they two sprinted. "Open them!"

"We have to get back!"

"Yeah, I know that – thanks for telling me the fucking obvious!"

"Why're we still running if you already know that?" Ila yelled as a branch ripped her shirt arm, cutting her shoulder.

"In case it wasn't obvious Ila – I don't spend my spare time roaming around these fucking woods!" Draco shouted back, his hand tight around hers. "I don't know where we are!"

"So you're telling me you've lost us!" Ila scoffed.

"I'm sorry, didn't I just save your life back there?"

"I had it covered," she replied. Even as the two were running from mortal danger, Draco couldn't help but glance down to raise a brow. Always do sceptical. "Are we even still being followed?"

Draco glanced behind him before slowing down. He was still looking around him, his eyes darting around for any possible signs of danger, while Ila was taking a break, sitting on a log. As she was catching her breath, there was something poking her in the stomach. It was coming from – Ila patted herself down – her pocket.

Shoving her hand, she felt the familiar scratch of worn parchment against her fingers and for the first time, it felt like she could breathe.

"Oh, I'm such a genius," Ila whispered to herself as she pulled the map out.

"How is some dingy old parchment paper going to help us get out -"

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," Ila announced, tapping her wand three times. Draco was looking over shoulder, watching in confusion as the words – "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present, THE MARAUDER'S MAP" – appeared on the front of the map. Ila unfolded the parchment, laying it on the log.

"What the fuck is this? Is this the school?" Draco said, pointing to the Slytherin Common room where he could see Crabbe and Goyle in the common room, while Theo and Blaise were up in their room. His eyes roamed over the rest of the map, past the Great Hall, Dumbledore's office, through the Quidditch pitch, landing on a pair of footprints that appeared that was in the exact position he was in right now. He glanced down at his feet before looking back at the map. He moved to the left. To his surprise, the pair of footprints moved to the right as well. Draco jumped up and down. On the map, his prints disappeared momentarily when he was in the air and reappeared when he landed.

"Are you done playing with it?" Ila asked as if she was his mother. "Can I go back to saving ourselves?"

"Where did you get this?" Draco said, checking the parts of the map that Ila wasn't using.

"It's…an heirloom," Ila said quietly. C'mon, where were they? Ila used her finger, glancing at the entire forest. Not there. McGonagall's classroom...No…

"How did they get there so quickly?" Draco said, pointing to the Gryffindor Common room. Ron, Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati were all there.

"We're not that far away," Ila said, pointing back to their footprints. They were at the edge of the forest. "Hang on – isn't that Barty Crouch?" Ila said, showing him the footprints. "We can tell him about it – he's in the Ministry! He'll have to listen to us."

"What's he even doing here?" Draco asked. "I thought he was sick or something."

"Maybe he's here to discuss…Tournament stuff – does it matter? C'mon!"

Just as Ila was about to fold the map away –

"Wait!" Draco said, stopping her hands. Ila glanced at him, but he wasn't even looking at her. His remained where they were as he peered at the map, specifically at their feet.

"Never mind – let's get going."

"What? What did you find?" Ila asked, packing it away and the two started walking again, this time heading towards Barty Crouch. While Ila had to admit that it was quite strange that out of all people Barty Crouch would turn up to Hogwarts, possibly unannounced and be waiting at the edge of the forest, she had dealt with stranger things that night alone. Specifically, the talking cloak that wanted her dead.

"I thought I could find who attacked us," Draco said, digging his hands in his pockets. "But there wasn't anything…but they can't have gone too far…"

"How did they even get here in the first place anyway?" Ila asked. "I thought you couldn't apparate into the school because of the wards."

Draco looked at her. "You've read A Hogwarts History as well?"

"No," Ila said slowly. "Have you?"

"Not by choice," he replied bitterly. "Mother made me read and memorise it."

"What a cute party trick," Ila muttered.

Draco cleared his throat, trying his best to cover his pink-tipped ears. "Anyway, you're actually able to appear into the Forbidden Forest only because it's technically not a part of Hogwarts's grounds."

"What do you mean?"

"As in the Forest has too many creatures for Dumbledore and the castle to be the sole owner. All the creatures and the Founders did make a pact that the students were able to use the forest so long as there's no disturbance to anyone…or anything."

"So, you mean to tell me that this castle that's full of hormonal teenagers that trek to the forest for…things…are actually walking into a forest that not even Dumbledore knows what's in?" Ila said, her voice slowly rising in octaves. "What?"

"My thoughts exactly."

"So why haven't they thought to put apparition wards in place? Surely that benefits everyone's?"

"I guess…but what about the house -elves? They can only apparate to places."

"To think the wizarding world couldn't get any weirder," Ila wondered aloud before stopping in her tracks. A hunched-over figure, dressed in all black with a bowler hat to top it off was at the edge of the forest, blocking the pathway back to the castle. Oh, she's never missed Hogwarts more than she did at that moment.

"Mr Crouch!" Ila yelled before realising that something was wrong. His shoulders moved up and down vigorously, while a strange liquid was coming out from his mouth onto the floor. Immediately, the two ran towards the old man. When she reached him, she saw a pool of blood beneath him. He hadn't even heard her.

"Mr Crouch? Are you alright?" Draco asked, gingerly placing a hand on his back. The moment he touched Mr Crouch, he sprung up, causing the two to back away. A crazed look plagued his eyes as red blotches scattered his face and hands. Blood dribbled down the right of his lip. If Ila didn't know who it was, she was sure she had just walked into a vampire.

"I've – I've been p – poisoned!" he spluttered out. He lunged towards Ila, grabbing her shoulders. Ila tried pushing him off but for a poisoned man, his grip was tight. "Tell him that I'm sorry! I should have listened – tell him I forgive him – ARGH! G-get Du-Dumbeldore – NOW!"

He started coughing up blood once more. His knees gave out and he was on all fours, hacking up puddles of blood.

"O-ok! Er – Draco you stay with him – I'll get Dumbledore," Ila commanded before running around Mr Crouch and heading towards the castle, seeing the gate coming into view.

"Wait! Ila!" She could hear the heavy footsteps of Draco's feet hitting against the stone floor of the castle.

"What – you're supposed with Crouch!" Ila hissed.

"He's acting all – he just kept saying that he had to see him, and he needed to apologise. I didn't be him by myself. Not after what happened."

"Fine! But hurry up!"

Ila and Draco sprinted as fast as they could, passing McGonagall's classroom, past the Great Hall, through a few secret hallways that Ila remembered from the Map before reaching Dumbledore's office.

"Ila! I didn't expect you to be here," Dumbledore announced. He wasn't the only one in the office. In fact, Snape, McGonagall, and Bagman were all there, muttering things to one another before stopping when they saw the two students.

"You're supposed to be detention. What're you doing here?" McGonagall questioned, stepping in front of Dumbledore's table, clearly hiding something from them.

"I – he's – B – Bar - "

"We got attacked in the middle of detention and then we found Mr Crouch at the forest, and he kept saying that he was poisoned. He said to - "

Draco hadn't even finished his sentence when the four adults rushed downstairs, their capes billowing in the wind.