Chapter 6: Into the Forest

by Shaya n'ha Margali

Beta: higginszoo

"All right, let's go then," said Sue, twirling to face the door.

"Er… I think the door's locked. How are we going to get out?" It was Albus who asked. "Filch said something about a magic alarm."

"He was bluffing," Scorpius stated, pointing to his pink hair. "If that was true, it would have already set off."

"Bloody hell, that's true! I completely forgot that! Merlin, that could have put us in a lot of trouble! I can't believe he lied to us!"

Sue just raised an eyebrow. "Well, let's see, shall we?" She pointed her wand to the lock and said: "Alohomora!" The door opened swiftly and she turned to face Weasley with a winning smile.

Rose dropped her mouth opened. "Bloody bastard! He really lied to us!"

Sue closed the door again. "Go ahead, say that a bit louder, will you? Now, I think we should cast Disillusionment Charms on ourselves. You can do that, right?" Three heads were shaken from side to side. Sue sighed. "Well, I can do it, but I'm not sure it's going to be perfect."

"You can cast a Disillusionment Charm?! But that's N.E.W.T.s level! We've just passed our O.W.L.s! Wow! You truly are intelligent."

Sue beamed at Potter's compliment. "Well, I'm a Ravenclaw, right?"

Rose fumed with anger. More beautiful than me, I can take! More popular, alright! But more intelligent? Never! "I can cast it!" All eyes turned to her. "I mean, at least I know the theory…"

Sue snickered. "Theory? Well, let's see, shall we? I'll go first, so you can try copying me," she said, condescendingly. She waved her wand in very flourished moves and muttered a spell. And just like that, she was invisible, her image blended with the surroundings. Well, almost.

"I can still see your outline," pointed out Rose.

"I think it's good enough. If we move fast no one will see us."

"Thanks Potter," Sue said, which was very odd, considering they couldn't really see her.

Rose took a deep breath. She had never cast a Disillusionment Charm before, but like hell she was going to let Steel win that one. She raised her wand and did the same movements Steel had done, only she moved her wand more delicately, and said the spell. And she, as well, became invisible. Well, different than Steel, she became completely invisible. She grinned, although they couldn't see it.

"Wow! You did it, Rose! And even better than Steel!"

"Seems so, doesn't it? Maybe I should do it to you, to make sure it's… perfect." She stressed the last word, knowing it would piss off Steel. Serves her right!

While Rose worked on Albus, Steel was doing it to Malfoy. Rose felt a little jealous, but said nothing, because it would only fuel the Ravenclaw.

Quickly they moved out of the room, making sure there was no one in the corridor that could see the door opening and closing by itself. They almost ran through the corridors, not doing it only to avoid unnecessary noise. But when they reached the yards, they actually started running. Soon they reached the entry of the Forbidden Forest.

"Here we are," said Albus, for the first time talking out loud since they had left the Trophy Room. "Can't we undo those spells now? We might lose each other if we don't".

"Good idea!" With a few more waves of her wand, Rose made Albus and herself visible again, while Sue did the same to herself. Malfoy, on the other hand, remained invisible. The others looked for him and called him, but got no answer.

"Do you think he's lost?" Albus asked.

"Maybe he wasn't able to follow us," stated Rose.

There were a few seconds of silence, then suddenly Steel shrieked and jumped, for something had just brushed her ankle. The other two looked at her, alarmed, and were about to ask what had happened when they heard a loud laughter. Rose waved her hand at the direction of the laughter, and, sure enough, there was Malfoy, sitting on the grass, laughing uncontrollably. Rose started laughing as well and Albus smiled, but Steel didn't seem to think it was funny.

Scorpius rose to his feet and winked at Steel, failing to see Weasley's angry face. "Sorry. I just had to do that! Oh, Merlin, I had never, ever, done anything so… so… mischievous. I liked it!" He turned to Potter. "Now I understand why your brother does it so much, it's really funny!"

"Now," Sue said, bitterly, "shall we proceed? The challenge was to enter the Forest and we are still on its limits." The other three nodded, still very lighthearted due to Malfoy's prank. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Weasley giggling from time to time and Malfoy openly laughing twice. After a while, though, all they could hear were birds flying over their heads and nesting on the nearby trees.

"This is the Forbidden Forest?" Albus said, gesturing around. "It doesn't look very intimidating, does it? I mean, it's just a lot of trees!"

"Oh, yes, that's very strange, isn't it?" Rose mocked, "With the name of Forest, I was sure I was going to find a lot of sand!"

"Can we go back now?" Scorpius asked. "The deal was to go into the Forest, which we've already done."

Sue smiled wickedly and got closer to him, putting her hands on her hips. "You are not afraid, are you… Scorpius?" she purposely used his first name, faking intimacy, and smiled when she saw Weasley's shocked expression.

Rose just couldn't believe it. When had those two got into a first name basis? Well, if Steel could do it, so could she. "I think Scorpius is correct. We should return now."

Scorpius smiled at her. "Thank you, Rose."

"Oh, we're using our first names, now? Cool!" the Hufflepuff boy exclaimed.

The other three shared a look among themselves and suddenly burst into laughter. Albus looked from one to another, not understanding what could be so funny. "That's right, Al! Only first names, now!" said Sue, approaching him and putting an arm around him.

"So, shall we return?"

Sue smiled. "All right Scorpius, let's return."

They all twirled and started walking back to where they had come from. Almost. The problem was that they hadn't exactly walked a straight line and as they tried to return, had made themselves completely lost.

"Are we going to admit to ourselves that we are lost?" It was Scorpius who first voiced their concerns, after a few minutes of random walking.

"Hum... Yeah, I admit it. I have no idea where the exit is," Albus agreed.

"Me neither," said Sue. "Whose stupid idea was it of going into the Forbidden Forest?" When nobody answered, but three pairs of eyes looked at her menacingly, she shrunk her shoulders. "It was just a joke."

Scorpius sighed. "This is not the best time for jokes."

The group stood in silence for a few seconds, then Albus said: "You know, my father said he once faced giant spiders in this place."

Rose trembled visibly. "Yeah, I remember that story… Dad said their leader had died and there were probably none left… Still, I wish we could just get out of here now."

"Sure, but where to?" Scorpius asked, looking directly at Sue, who gulped. "Let's try that way!" she said, pointing. "And let's mark these trees, so that if we walk in circles we'll know it." She marked small Xs in the bottom of the nearest trees with her wand. "Ok, let's go!"

"Where do you think you're going?" A deep and harsh voice asked, making the teenagers jump in surprise. They turned around to face a centaur. An ugly, angry and unfriendly centaur. There was not time to think, as the girls screamed and the boys went speechless, and all of them ran for their lives.

Author's note: Not my best work, I know… This was like a transition chapter, seeing as now the action takes place in the Forest from now on… Albus is coming off a little dumber than I had intended at first, but we'll see his best qualities on the next chapter (hopefully). I liked exploring a bit of Rose's bad temper (self-inspired, I must say). And I know Scorpius' prank wasn't really funny, but to someone not use to any pranks, he felt really funny at the moment. Oh, and they're using first names now! It'll make it easier to read, I hope. (Little voice in author's head: are you sure you're the one writing this story?). Now, answering the reviews (loved them, as always!):

sucalder – Yes, being a teenager can be really awkward. I know I wasn't exactly outgoing as a teen, and my characters reflect that. Well, except Sue. 

jocelynsmama – You read it twice?! grins Thanks! I'm not planning anything for Scorpius and Rose on the next chapter, but they're definitely appearing A LOT on the next-next one, so beware!

Christopher – Thanks for understanding the need of cliché! 