You step into the Muggle Studies room to drop off a package to the professor from McGonagall. The room was deserted. You place the large package on the desk and turn to leave. Hermione was in the doorway.
"What are you doing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes to thin slits.
"I am dropping off a package for McGonagall, why? You going to tell Moody I'm stealing information' from teachers?" you spat.
"God! That was weeks ago, Jade! Let it go for gods sakes!!"
"You are so annoying, you know that, Mudblood?" She grabbed her wand and pointed it at you and you grab your wand and returned the action. "You positive you want to do this? Crossing wands with a half? You are only a mere Mudblood!"
"Stupefy!" she shouts and you side-step and returns the action.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
She abandons the doorway and opens her mouth to shout another spell but a voice stopped her. "Jade, don't, she's not worth it." It was Draco.
"You're right. Why waste time on a Mudblood?"
"Furnunculus!" Hermione shouts and Draco pushes you out of the brutal path of the spell.
"That was cheep, Granger!" Draco scolded pointing his wand at her as you get to your feet and join him.
"Drop your wands, Slytherin scum!" came Ron's voice. Harry and Ron joined Hermione's side.
"She asked for it!"
"No! You did Jade!" Hermione said with anger in her eyes.
"Shut up, Mudblood!"
"Filthy little ungrateful wretch!" Hermione shouted angrily.
"Take- that- back!" Draco warned taking a step towards the three Gryffindors.
Soon the room was full of spells. Streaks of yellow and red, flashes of blues, pinks, and greens whizzed from the tips of five wands.
"What's going on in here?" demanded a stern voice. You all turn to face an unusually angered Professor Sprout. "Dueling in Hogwarts? And four of you are Prefects! You should all know better!! You will all have to attend detention tonight. You are to report to Professor McGonagall's office at nine o'clock tonight."
"But, Professor!"
"No buts!" she turned on her heal and trotted out, leaving you and Draco glairing daggers at the Gryffindors who returned the deed.
You sat in the Common room trying to finish your homework before you had to go to detention. You saw Leander, one of your father's owls, swoop in the window with a package. He dropped it into your lap and gave your hand a few playful pecks before taking flight again. A letter was tied to the soft paper package. You opened it. My Dear Jade, I believe that this would help you have a bit more fun. I had a great time with it when I had attended Hogwarts. I know you have always wanted it and now I think you are old enough to keep it. Use it well. Happy Birthday. Love, Dad.' You opened the package and gasped. Your father's invisibility cloak.
You made your way to McGonagall's office. The Gryffindors were already there. After a lecture, she sent all five of you to the Trophy room. You had to serve it with Filtch. "All right you five, I will be placing you all in groups and you must work with your partners in the chores I assign you. Griffin, you're with Weasley, and you three are together." He said pointing at Draco, Harry and Hermione. "You three work in here, you two come with me." You and Ron follow Filtch out to the Library. There were stacks of books scattered about the room and stacked on tables and chairs. "I want you two to reorganize the books and place them on the correct shelves. The muggle way! And so I know you wont cheat, I'll be having your wands." You and Ron both unwillingly handed him your wands. "The others will join you after they have finished in the Trophy room." He turned and walked out, however, his cat, Mrs. Norris stayed to watch you.
You shoot Ron a hateful glare as you start placing books onto the shelves. Ron did the same and Muttered something that sounded a lot like; "Stupid… having to… Slytherin…"
"Shut up, Weasley! It's not like you have never done this muggle way of work before, what with your family being so bloody poor and muggle-obsessed! Honestly, you should all just snap your bloody wands in half and go join all the pathetic muggles!!"
"Take that back!"
You smirk, "Why? Your just as bad as a Mudblood, just like that ineffectual girlfriend of yours!"
"Take- that- back- you- Slytherin- slut!"
"Dismal Gryffindork!"
A hiss from Mrs. Norris shut you and Ron up and you continued to work in silence. You start cleaning off a table when a small black book hidden by an array of parchment, quills, and books caught your eye. A green skull on the cover seemed to glow as you touched it. It wasn't a library book, the pages were blank. You look across the room where Mrs. Norris had curled herself up. Her sharp eyes were trained on Ron's turned back bending over, picking up the books he had dropped. You slip the small book into your pocket and continue to work. You worked until midnight, Draco, Harry, and Hermione had not joined you. You place the last scroll onto the shelf and Mrs. Norris escorted you and Ron to the trophy room where Filtch was watching Draco and the two Gryffindors work. He looked at you. "I take it that you two have finished?" you nod. "And you'd like your wands back?" he handed you your wand and dismissed you. You make your way back to the Slytherin common room.
The common room was deserted so you sat on the black couch and took out the book you had found. It had no writing but you knew it was holding a secret. The skull looked familiar, but you couldn't place it. You flipped through the old yellow pages and a folded piece of parchment fell into your lap. You unfold it and know instantly where you had seen the skull. It was the dark mark, only missing the snake. The paper held that much. Under the small hand sketch of the dark mark, ink smudged, was a small scribble you could barley see. You put your face so close to it that your nose touched the paper. The spell is the key to many secrets.' "Spell? What spell?" you asked yourself. "Hm, if this is a Death Eater's book… what spell?" you thought about all the spells you had seen your father use. Then it hit you, the incomplete mark, you had to say the spell that creates the mark, but what were the words? "Morsmordre." You mutter as you remember. The eyes of the skull turned red and a green snake slithered from its mouth as the skull turned white. The empty yellowing pages were now filled with green lettering. The paper that told you the key to unlocking the secrets of the book now had messages filling the space. You heard the stonewall that conceals the door to the common room open and Draco stepped in looking tired.
"You still up?"
"You just get done?"
"Awe, you stayed up just for me?"
"No, I'm reading."
"Reading?"
"Look, I found this in the library." You said holding up the book.
"Oh my god, is that?"
"Yes."
He sat next to you. You start to flip through the pages of the book until one page made you stop. It was a map of your common room your face and Draco's face was in it near the fireplace. You got up and walked away from the fireplace and the picture of your face moved too. You smirk. "I wonder, Gryffindor girls dorm." You mutter. The map changed to show the layout of the room you had said. Hermione's face was pacing the room.
"What are you doing?" Draco said from the couch.
"This page is a magic map! It shows me anywhere I want!" you giggle. "Watch." You said as he joined you. "Hogwarts Grounds." It changed again to show the grounds. Dumbledore and a handful of teachers were on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Then they entered.
"What are they doing?" Draco muttered.
"Want to find out?" you ask with a mischievous grin.
"And how are we to do that?"
"Hold on." You ran down to your dorm room and grabbed your invisibility cloak from under your mattress and ran back out to meet Draco.
"You have an invisibility cloak?"
"Father gave it to me." You said as you hooked it around your neck and tossed it over Draco. You made sure nothing was still hanging out, seen. You quietly made your way to the edge of the forest and took off the cloak. You hid it under a pile of leaves a few feet into the forest. You opened the book to the map.
"Lumos" Draco muttered and his wand shed a dim light over the map.
"They are strait ahead a ways, and they aren't moving, we should catch up with them by following this path." You said placing the book into your pocket and lighting your wand. Soon the path was narrow and unused. You and Draco struggled through the jungle of branches and roots. The thick canopy above let no light through and it seemed the forest dimmed the light from your wands.
Voices floated towards your ears on the dead silenced air, you and Draco put out your wand-lit light and felt your way to a clearing. The teachers were all there, standing in a crooked circle.
"Albus, why did you call a meeting this late, and here of all places!" Snape said.
"I agree, this place gives me the creeps!" Sprout squeaked.
"You all know of the prophecy that connects Harry and The Dark Lord Voldamort."
"Poor boy."
"Another prophecy has been discovered, one that will help our side in the war at hand. However, we do not know the child it talks about, but he, or she, is the key to helping our young Mr. Potter."
"What does the prophecy say?"
A dreamy look came over Dumbledore's face, making his eyes sparkle even more in the light from the wands "ONE CHILD, THE STONE KEY, OPENS THE DOOR TO THE DARK LORD'S DESTRUCTION, ONCE TRAPPED IN DARKNESS, NOW SET FREE, LIVING UP TO SURPRISING EXPECTATIONS. SUCCEEDING WHERE THE FATHER HAD FAILED, FLYING IN ON DARK SWIFT WINGS, TO ASSIST A LOVED ONE WHO'S STRENGTH HAS BAILED, UNAWARE OF ALL UNFORGIVABLE THINGS.'"
"What does it mean?"
"There is another child, one who will somehow weaken the Dark Lord as so our Mr. Potter may do his part in the war."
"How will we know this child?"
"That, I know not. He could be a Hogwarts student for all we know, we just have to find him."
"Why did we have to come out here for this?"
"We cannot risk Voldamort finding this information, and he has spies everywhere, they could even be at Hogwarts."
"Oh, good point."
"Come, its two hours before dawn."
"The group of professors made there way back down the dark and barely visible path as you and Draco hid behind a tree. "Wow," Draco muttered when the forest had been dead for about ten minutes.
"So, Potter is the prophecy' daddy was muttering about last year!"
"And there is another one. I wonder who he is."
"We should tell the Death Eaters, when we find them. They are working with our fathers…"
"We should head back." You said taking his arm.
"Lumos." He lit his wand and you do the same.
"How are we to find them?" You ask after a wile in silence and looking around the dark surroundings.
"I don- um, Jade?"
"What?"
"I don't recognize anything, I can't see the path."
You look around, he was right; you had wandered off the path.
A loud clicking sound behind you made you jump and grab Draco's hand. An army of Acromantula's surrounded you.
You step closer to Draco, and he put his arm around you. "Nox." He muttered leaving just your wand for light so he could fend the gigantic eight-eyed spiders off.
A spider from behind you grabbed you with its pinchers. Another one grabbed Draco and you were carried off deeper into the darkened forest.
The spiders dropped you and Draco in a small grove lined with dome-shaped webs. "Aragog! We have strangers in our mist, yet again!" clicked the spider who had dropped you.
"More friends of Hagrid's?" clicked the largest spider. "Is he in trouble again? Do they think he opened what they call The Chamber of Secrets?"
"No!" yelled Draco as if they couldn't hear what he said. "We are not friends of that olf!"
"Then, why have you come to our hollow?"
"We didn't! we are trying to get back to school!"
Aragog turned to the other spiders that had been clicking their pinchers like a shocked crowd would whisper. "Kill them, it has been to long since we have had fresh meat."
The spiders closed in on you and Draco, clicking excitedly at the knowledge of a fresh meal. Draco sent off spells that had no effect, a spider grabbed your leg and picked you up so you were hanging up side down, making you drop your wand. You gave a scream as its pinchers scraped the skin on your arm, easily slicing it open, blood started to seep out, staining your school uniform and robes.
The ground shook and the spider dropped you. Draco who had been picked up also, was dropped on top of you. Your still-lit wand was just within your reach and you grab it. Spiders started scattering around you and Draco. The rumbling stopped and you heard a loud crack, like a twig being snapped, only bigger. Then there was a crash, then silence. You looked up, the spiders were gone, a tree had been uprooted and tossed, squishing a few spiders, and their long legs were sticking out from under the tree's trunk, twitching. You and Draco stand up and look around in silence. Draco walked over to where he had dropped his wand and picked it up. "L-lumos" he said silently.
"What happened?" you whispered.
Draco shook his head. "I don-"
A large foot landed behind Draco, cutting him off. A giant crouched beside us. "Grawp swat spider!" it said. "Girly scream like Hermy."
"H-Hermy?"
"What girly name?"
"Wh-what?"
"Girly name."
"Oh! I think he wants to know your name!" Draco said.
"J-Jade."
"Jade." Said Grawp trying it out. "Jade like Hermy. Hermy n Harry"
Now you understood. "Draco, he thinks we are like Grainger and Potter!"
Grawp gently picked you and Draco up and took you out of the forest, setting you in Hagrid's pumpkin patch. He then turned around and retreated into the forest. The rising sun shed a pink light over the dewy grounds. After retrieving your invisibility cloak, you went back to the Slytherin Common room Dorms to try to get some sleep for classes that morning.
You awoke to Amy and Millicent jumping on your bed. You grown and pull the dark green quilt over your head.
"Oh no you don't! We are going to enjoy being the ones waking you up." Amy laughed
"I'm not this annoying in waking you two up!" you grown turning onto your stomach.
"Oh yes you are!" Millicent said pulling your covers off the bed and you heard her gasp.
"What?" you groan
"Jade!"
"What?" you repeated sitting up.
"Your arm! What happened?"
You look at your arm and see that you are still in your cloths from yesterday, a large tear hung open showing a long jagged cut, dried blood was crusted around it and staining your white blouse. Flashes of what had happened filled your mind and you jumped up, running into the bathroom attached to the dorm. You showered and wrapped your arm in bandages. The pain had returned now that you remembered the cut. You put on some fresh clothes and walked out, ready to be bombarded with questions from your two best friends. They were sitting on your bed and they opened their mouths when they saw you. You held up your hands. "You don't have to ask, I'll tell you." They sit and you take a deep breath. "Draco and I were attacked by Acromantulas."
"But colonies hear in Scotland is unconfirmed!"
"Confirmed by Draco and I!"
"Where?"
"The Forbidden Forest."
"Jade? You went there?!"
"Yes, Milly, we did. Come on, I'm hungry." You started up the steps to the Common room. Draco was sitting in a chair, looking tired as some of the guys questioned his coming to bed late. His usually neat hair was askew and there were bags under his ice-blue eyes. "Tired?" you ask pushing your way between Crabbe and Goyle and sitting next to him.
"Aren't you?" he asked.
You pulled out a comb from your pocket and handed it to him. "No. Didn't you get any sleep?"
"No, I've been up with the guys pestering me."
"Were you two together?" asked Montague in interest.
"Yes, you know, I could never let myself get almost killed by an Acromantula without him there in the same boat!" you said rolling your eyes.
"What?"
"You heard her, we decided to go on a little trip to the Forbidden Forest."