A/N

I would first like to thank those who have reviewed my story! I know that there isn't much so far but I really am thankful for your comments!

Shelimar: I'm really glad that you like my story!

Angels Last Breath:I'm super glad that you find it original! I'm trying not to put in all those Harry Potter clichés that really annoy me when I'm reading other stories

SLNS: I'm super glad that you like my Zoë and I promise that she won't be completely OOC. There will be some Draco characteristice that we all know and love!

And for all of those who have this story on alert here is my next installment!!!

…….

Chapter 5: Demons

The fire provided the much needed light allowing Zoë to get her first look at their attacker.

And she screamed.

There amongst the debris of broken trees was … something.

It was a grotesque worm like thing only a thousand times bigger. Its skin was filled with wrinkles and it secreted some gross slime that coated the shards of wood that were the only remnants of the trees it crashed into. Huge red glowing eyes stared at them with an insane look. It had four stubby legs with claws and its teeth were these massive spikes all interlocking and covered in the remains of its previous meals. There was fresh blood dripping down its face from an unknown source.

A grotesque sound of scraping metal sounded through the air as the thing opened its jaws from its dozens of interlocking teeth scraping together. It released a horrifying scream as its eyes burned brighter.

Zoë screamed again.

She barely registered Harry grabbing her arm and forcing her to her feet.

"RUN!" He screamed giving her back a shove.

"Bu-…"

"Zoë! Run!!"

"Damn it! RUN!"

Startled into action Zoë took off running two of the globes of fire following her lighting the way. Crashing through the trees she ran as fast as she could with no true direction as to where she was going.

What the hell was that thing! And why was it that whenever she when into this forest she ended up running from something terrifying. God she was such a coward! She should have stayed and helped Harry instead of running like he told her to.

Tripping open a root for what seemed like the hundredth time she was just able to catch herself before her face landed in the mud. Mind reeling Zoë lay there her harsh breathing the only sound in the otherwise silent for. Harry's conjured fire globes floated around her casting an eerie look and feel to the forest.

Rolling over to her back Zoë climbed to her feet; her magic making quick work of any scrapes she sustained from her fall. The warm feel of her healing magic helped calm her down enough to realize how hopelessly lost she was. She hadn't been paying any sort of attention to where she was going. Running her hands through her messed up hair in aggravation she gave a frustrated growl and reached for her wand. Well she wasn't a witch for nothing. Pulling out her wand she conjured a small floating ball of blue light. This was a little trick that her mother had taught her. This ball was actually able to hone in on unwarded magical buildings. Since Hogwarts wasn't warded against the students attending there it should be able to lead her directly to the castle.

"Take me to Hogwarts." She instructed. The ball glowed a deeper blue at the command at after a second's pause it floated off with Zoë following close behind.

-------With Harry------

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Zoë finally listened to him and ran. His back was starting to become numb and while he might not have Zoë's knowledge it didn't take a healer to know that it wasn't a good sign. Nor was the odd smell he could detect coming from the wound.

Closing his eyes he accessed the part of his mind where his Yami was locked away and allowed it free reign. His eyes snapped open and instantly flashed entirely black. A dangerous smirk appeared on his face that now seemed more angular and mature. His claws shot out as a dark laughter sounded out into the silent forest and his smirk grew to a full out grin. Finally that boy was letting him out.

"Foolish boy allowing yourself to be hurt by such a pathetic Oni. You still have so much to learn"

The high pitched screeching brought the Yami's attention to the reason why it had actually been fully freed. He didn't know why this boy insisted on doing things the hard way but oh well he just had to keep the kid alive until he grew up and grew a brain that he actually used.

Stretching his arms high above his head the Yami absently noticed the wound on it back. However he was in too good of a mood to really pay any attention to it. What a glorious night. A huge smile spread across his face showing off the Yami's sharp teeth as he surveyed the destroyed area around him.

"Tisk tisk … it seems that Mr. Wormy made a mess." Laughing at the earsplitting screech Mr. Wormy gave off the Yami twirled out of the way of a flying glob that Mr. Wormy spat at him. The glob hit the tree and instantly dissolved the trunk of the tree.

"That wasn't nice Mr. Wormy you could have hurt me with that."

More drool slid down the worm's huge teeth as it became more and more enraged. The high pitched screeching of metal followed by a inhuman growl warned the Yami of the impending charge. A the worm oni threw itself forward the Yami jumped up in the air and landed right on Mr. Wormy's head sending the thing crashing to the ground.

It seemed that Mr. Worm was growing tired of this game it's eyes swirled red as it prepared for its final charge. Claws flashing the same black as the Yami's eyes that dangerous smirk returned. A black light formed just above his nails and a small movement of its wrist sent a black whip slicing through the charging worm splitting it in half with basically no effort. (AN think Sesshomaru acid whip form Inu Yasha) Half of the worm fell on each side of the Yami before it disintegrated into dust.

Before the Yami could remark on the oni's weakness he felt the ground starting to move under him. Brow wrinkling in confusion as the world started tilt the Yami cursed as it remembered the injury to its back. Weaker Oni tended to poison their victims in order to defeat stronger opponents if they actually managed to injure them.

"We've got a lot of work to do boy."

Cursing as its vision started going fuzzy the Yami knew it was going to have to get it touch with it's other half soon and get all mistakes the old wizard caused straightened out.

A quick shake of the head got its brain back on track and the Yami quickly expanded its senses. Since the Yami was so young it knew that there was no way they were going to survive on there own. They were going to need that girls help. After a second the Yami managed to locate that little healer that the boy knew. A small sigh of relief escaped when it found the girl not that far of a distance from their current location. Accessing a small amount of its magic the Yami slid into the shadow of the tree it was currently leaning against.

Shadow walking would be disorienting to anyone not welcome in the realm. To those that were it wasn't much nicer. Glimpse of the world rushed by you in black and grey whips. And for those unskilled at walking the pathways it was very easy to get eternally lost. For the Yami poisoned and incomplete it was a task that required little to no concentration. Instinctively knowing when they reached their destination the Yami reached out and pulled its self into the physical world through a rocks shadow.

Staggering on its feet slightly the Yami tried to hold onto its control over the body for just a little longer. Injury or not it didn't know when the next time the boy might let him out of that cage in their mind again. He wanted to extend his time of freedom for as long as possible.

"Harry?"

Raising its head at the tentative sound of the girls voice the Yami got its first look at the little healer. Instantly identifying just who was standing in front of him the Yami reached out one hand in disbelief and started to move slowly closer. He didn't get far before fireworks of pain shot through his body starting and culminating at his back. No matter how hard it tried the combination of shock and poison was too much for the Yami and it felt itself succumb to the darkness engulfing it.

"Harry!?!" Zoë cried out when she saw his body give one final shudder before collapsing to the ground. Sprinting she was able to catch his upper body before it he completely landed in the ground.

"Harry? Oh my god, Harry! Answer me!" Quickly realizing that panicking wasn't going to get her anywhere Zoë gently lowered Harry the rest of the way to the ground and instantly saw what was wrong with him. The light from her homing globe was sufficient enough to get a good look at his wound, the fire globes had disappeared when Harry passed out. And she knew instantly that there was something wrong with the gashes on his back. They weren't bleeding properly. They were most likely poisoned.

"Bloody Hell, Bloody Hell, Bloody Hell." She chanted as she held her hands out above his back almost touching it but not quite. Exhaling sharply she closed her eyes and reached inwards instantly finding her healing magic. These past weeks she had been working with Madame Pomfrey in order to quickly locate her healing magic and she was eternally grateful to the nurse for that now. Pulling the thickest strands she could she focused now on building a "bridge", as she liked to call it, from her to Harry so that her magic could flow freely into him. She always found this to be the hardest and most taxing part.

As soon as the final link in her bridge was connected her healing magic was just yanked from her into Harry with no effort on her part which was good because the drain she felt afterwards always hit her hard. Forcefully severing the bridge she just built Zoë rested her hand on the ground and let her head drop. She was sweating and panting deeply but when she raised her head to inspect Harry's back through his ripped and bloodied shirt she saw no sings that he had even been scratched. Shakily reaching for her wand her cast a few simple diagnostic spells to ensure that the healing wasn't just superficial.

Laughing quietly in relief when all her spells showed that Harry was in perfect health she tucked her wand away and gently tried to rouse him.

Groaning Harry tired to ignore the Soft voice calling out his name. It was no use as it seemed whoever it was calling out to him didn't seem likely to go away anytime soon. Cracking an eyelid he wondered why his bed was so hard and who had changed the décor in the dorms.

"Harry, can you hear me?"

Awkwardly twisting his head he was able to catch a glimpse of someone kneeling close to him.

Groaning again when the events of the night came rushing back Harry pushed himself up so he was no longer lying face first in the dirt.

"Are you alright Harry?"

Glancing at Zoë's worried face Harry gave her a reassuring smile.

"Ya, actually I feel amazing" And he truthfully did. It was like nothing had ever happened to him. "Did you heal me?"

"Yes." Zoë whispered. "Listen Harry I'm so sorry I shouldn't have run away and left you there alone." Why did she always leave him alone in this forest? She was so weak and she hated herself for it.

Grabbing onto Zoë's shoulders Harry forced her to look at him. "It wasn't your fault Zoë. I'm the one who told you to leave. If anything it's Snape's fault for sending us out here at night."

"Professor Snape." Zoë corrected automatically

"Ya, ya, ya. Come on Zoë lets get out of here." Climbing to his feet he reached down and gently helped Zoë to her feet only to catch her when her knees buckled unable to support her weight after all the energy she expended healing Harry. Summoning his fire globed once again in order to see what had happed he became more worried as the orange glow worsened the look of Zoë's already pale skin.

"Shit! Zoë… Zoë. Come on answer me."

Tipping her head back to look at her face he saw here eyes closed and eyelids dark as if she hadn't slept in days. "Fuck"

Felling that she was breathing steadily with no apparent injures Harry summarized that she had passed out from exhaustion. Slipping the bag of collected plants over Zoë's shoulder he then maneuvered her onto his back and picked her up piggyback style. "Well let's get out of here."

Letting out a small sigh of relief when the edge of the forest finally came into view Harry gently shifted the sleeping girl and continued making his way up to the castle. As he approached the castle entrance he saw Blaise leaning against the castle just to the side of the door.

"What the hell happened to her, Potter?" Blaise spat glaring dangerously at Harry who suddenly felt eleven years old again with huge glasses and baggy clothing under that look. He hated that feeling.

"Hey Zambini. How are you this fine evening?"

"Don't play cute with me Potter. Personally I don't really like you so if you did anything to Zoë I will have no problem with breaking your face in." Blaise's voice was low and dangerous and his normally dark brown eyes were currently glowing a deep blue reminding Harry that he wasn't dealing with a human. And as her would always tell Ron concerning Hermione, "You never want to piss off a fairy."

"We were attacked by something in the forest. I got hurt and Zoë healed me. She passed soon after. I'm guessing from exhaustion."

After a long pause Blaise backed down slightly; his eyes once again hidden behind his glamour. "Attacked by what?"

"That I honestly don't know."

"Fine, give me the plants."

"What?"

"Give. Me. The. Plants. I'll bring them back to Professor Snape. There's no way in hell that Zoë is going back into that forest because you forgot to hand the plants over to Professor Snape."

"Right, Zoë's got the bag over her shoulder."

With a little bit of maneuvering the were able to slip the bag off of Zoë's back and without another word Blaise started off towards Professor Snapes office.

"Hey Blaise, thanks!"

"Whatever, Potter."

Shaking his head at Blaise's attitude Harry entered Hogwarts and started the long walk up to the Gryffindor common room. "You know." Harry said talking to the sleeping girl on his back, "Blaise's not all that bad is he. He seems to really care about you. You two must really be close. I'm kinda jealous." Laughing softly Harry continued speaking softly to Zoë the entire way back to the common room.