Hi! So here's the new chapter on time for once! Yay! So we're down to the last couple of chapters. Are you excited? I know I was when I finally finished the first book. Anyways I figured I would let you know that I changed my penname so it matches some of my other sites and I have a poll going on my profile for whether I should write a Harry Potter Characters Read the Books story or not. I thought I would do one from around Harry's second year. It would be just for fun. It's up to you guys though, if you want me to write one, so go check out that poll!

Now I'm done babbling, so onto the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but my OC.

Chapter Fourteen; As the Pieces are Laid

As the days rolled on, the feud between the Weasley twins, Lee Jordan and Riley Langley continued and the boy's clothes still kept shocking them and changing their hair and skin. If they weren't so mad at Riley, they would've been extremely impressed.

Unfortunately, with the exams coming up they didn't have time to come up with something good enough to do to Riley as revenge. Despite what they told everyone, the twins knew if they did badly on the exams again their mother would kill them. So between Quidditch and studying, they didn't have much time to plan.

Riley was feeling awful. Three of her best friends weren't talking to her and she still wasn't on good terms with Hermione and Ron. She didn't even remember what they were fighting about, just that Hermione was still being cold towards her and Ron was being… well Ron. Riley was pretty sure he had forgotten that they were fighting, which was okay with Riley.

Thankfully she still had Neville and Harry to talk to and study with… and speaking of Harry…

Riley, Ron and Hermione were in the library, testing each other on astronomy. It was kind of awkward with Hermione giving her the cold shoulder, but Ron seeming to have forgotten they were fighting was fine. Harry had just left a few minutes before, but now came running into the place straight for them.

"What's up?" Riley asked worried as Harry fought to catch his breath.

"Heard— Snape— he knows!" Harry panted.

The other three just looked at each other in confusion then back to Harry.

"What?" three voices simultaneously asked.

When Harry finally caught his breath, he sat down at the table and explained.

Apparently, on his way back to the common room he heard Quirrell begging. It sounded like the person he was begging was hurting him. Then Harry heard Quirrell agree to something, sob and leave. Harry was sure it was Snape finally getting the information he needed to get the Stone.

Riley sat back as the other three debated on what to do.

Something wasn't right. Something just didn't add up in her head at all. So she tried laying out all the facts.

They said Snape was cursing Harry's broom, but Riley knew he could have just as easily been trying to save Harry.

Harry said he heard Snape interrogating Quirrell about his 'hocus pocus', and where the stuttering teacher's loyalties really lie.

Harry also said he heard Quirrell agree to something, and that he was scared. But he never said he heard or saw Snape around… or anyone else for that matter.

They also knew Snape tried to get past Fluffy on Halloween…

But what if he wasn't? What if Snape knew who was after the Stone, and was trying to protect it?

Okay… so maybe that's a bit far fetched to think with the facts she had, but something didn't add up right…

Gringotts was robbed on Harry's birthday…

Snape was at the teachers table through the whole Halloween feast…

Riley had also seen Quirrell standing right behind Snape in the Quidditch stands.

So why—?... No, that can't be right. It doesn't make sense either… but maybe…

Riley was pulled from her thoughts as Harry snapped; "No, we've done enough poking around."

As Harry went back to his homework, Riley gathered her things. Saying a quick good-bye she headed out of the library. She had a lot to think about.

~{}~

The next morning Riley got a note telling her of to go to the entrance hall at eleven that night for her detention and found Harry and Hermione got one too.

Riley hadn't forgotten about this particular detention, it was the first time she was truly terrified because of a detention. And it showed throughout the day as she became more and more sarcastic.

By now Harry and Ron had learned that the more sarcastic she got the more nervous or scared she was. The thought only made Harry even more worried about their detention if even Riley was scared.

~()~

At eleven o'clock sharp, Harry, Hermione and Riley said good-bye to Ron and headed for the entrance hall.

Filch was already there— and so was Malfoy. It seemed to Riley that the only good thing to come out of this detention so far was the fact that Malfoy had it too.

"Follow me." Filch said, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I'll bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said leering at them.

Riley scoffed. "No I won't. I'll just make sure not to get caught next time."

"You won't be saying that after tonight, I'm sure. It's just a pity they let the old punishments die… hang you by the wrist from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed… Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

"You've got some serious issues to work out." Riley muttered, shaking her head.

They marched across the grounds in relative silence. Riley could hear Malfoy muttering under his breath, but only caught random words like "My father" and "Sacked". Soon they could see lights ahead and Riley realized they were from Hagrid's hut.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started." They heard Hagrid shout.

Riley smiled in relief. If they were with Hagrid, it couldn't be too bad. Maybe McGonagall felt bad about the points and decided too let Hagrid take their detention. Filch apparently didn't like the relief that showed on hers and Harry's faces because he said; "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again— it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll come out in one piece."

"Then you're much mistaken," Riley replied automatically. "Because we will be fine."

But Malfoy still stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" he repeated. Riley happily noted that his 'cool' persona was failing him now. "We can't go in there at night— there's all sorts of things in there— werewolves, I heard."

"Don't be ridiculous." Riley snapped. "One, it's not even a full-moon tonight and two, werewolves are human beings, with lives. They're not going to go live in a forest on Hogwarts grounds. Besides, you're such a foul git; even the hungriest of werewolves wouldn't want you."

She couldn't help herself. Werewolves have always been and will always be a touchy subject with her.

Malfoy scowled at her, but seemed too scared of the prospect of going into the forest to retort.

Filch went to say something, but was cut off as Hagrid strode toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying a large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, you three?" he addressed the last part towards Harry, Riley and Hermione.

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid." Filch said coldly. "They're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" Hagrid said, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn, for what's left of them." Filch added nastily. Then he turned and headed back to the castle.

Malfoy turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going in that forest." he said, panic lacing his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts." Hagrid replied fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff; it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd—"

"—tell yeh that's that's how it is at Hogwarts." Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.

"Right then." said Hagrid. "Now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest. It almost looked like a black hole that sucked you in till you could never find your way out again.

"Look there." said Hagrid. "See that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

Riley immediately tried to think of any creature that could hurt a unicorn. They were extremely fast, and powerful. Most creatures stayed away from unicorns, to kill one was like torturing a baby; It was so wrong, even the most disgusting of people wouldn't do it. Plus to even get a bit of their blood past your lips, causes you to have a cursed life, or as they say a half life.

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy said, breaking Riley from her thoughts.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang." said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang." said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward." said Hagrid. "So me, Riley, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Harry, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now— that's it— an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh— so, be careful— let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Riley, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Harry, and Fang took the right.

They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.

Riley saw that Hagrid looked very worried.

"What could be killing the Unicorns, Hagrid?" Riley asked, not liking the silence.

"Donno." Hagrid replied. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."

"Could whatever it is, be after their blood? They might have to deal with the curse, but unicorn blood can heal a person even at the brink of death, right?"

Hagrid nodded, looking surprised she knew so much on the subject.

"It can, but anyone willin' ter kill a unicorn, I don' want ter meet."

Riley silently agreed.

The silence continued as they walked past a mossy tree stump. Riley could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path, but they were seeing the spots less and less.

"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. Hermione was clutching onto Riley's cloak with one hand and her wand with the other. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter – GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Hagrid seized Riley and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.

"I knew it," he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

"But what? That didn't sound like any creature I know." Riley asked. Despite the fact that she was scared out of her wits, her curiosity overran any normal response.

"I donno. Didn' sound like anythin' I've ever seen in the forest before." said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful now."

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself— I'm armed!"

And into the clearing came a centaur with red hair and beard, and a gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Hermione's jaws dropped.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan." said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"

He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.

"Good evening to you, Hagrid." said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"

"Can't be too careful, Ronan." said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. "There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Riley Langley an' Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."

"We'd noticed," said Hermione faintly the same time Riley smiled and said;

"We've met."

"Good evening, Riley." said Ronan. "I trust you're learning much, up at the school?"

"A bit." Riley replied grinning at the looks she was getting from Hermione and Hagrid.

"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."

"Yeah." said Hagrid, glancing up, too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt— you seen anythin'?"

Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, and then sighed again.

"Always the innocent are the first victims." he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

"Yeah," said Hagrid. "But have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"

"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently. "Unusually bright."

"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home. So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"

Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said; "The forest hides many secrets."

Movements in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.

"Hullo, Bane." said Hagrid. "All right?"

Riley waved. She didn't really like Bane. He was rather mean when it came to humans.

"Good evening Hagrid, Riley, I hope you two are well?"

"Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured - would yeh know anythin' about it?"

Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward. "Mars is bright tonight," he said simply.

"We've heard." said Hagrid grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."

"See ya!" Riley grinned. Helpful? They were not. Entertaining? Very.

Riley and Hermione followed Hagrid out of the clearing, Hermione staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.

"Never," said Hagrid irritably. "Try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."

"Yeah, but their really good at helping with Astronomy homework." Riley said absently.

"Are there many of them in here?" asked Hermione, deciding not to bother asking Riley how she knew them, or why they were helping her with homework.

"Oh, a fair few... Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs... they know things... jus' don' let on much."

"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" Hermione asked.

"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns— never heard anythin' like it before."

They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Riley kept looking nervously over her shoulder. She had the nasty feeling they were being watched.

She was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. She didn't know any good defense spells yet to keep them safe if something attacked.

They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm. Something was coming towards them fast. Hagrid lifted his crossbow as it crashed through the bushes next to them. The something turned out to be a scared out of his mind Malfoy.

~{}~

Riley sighed as she looked into the fire.

After Malfoy had shown up he told them the thing that was killing the unicorns attacked him and Harry. Sending Malfoy back to the hut, Hagrid, Riley and Hermione ran to find Harry. They didn't get far, before they found him riding on Firenze— another, much nicer and easier to talk to centaur's back.

After making sure Harry was alright, Hagrid walked them all back to the castle. Where once they got to the common room and woke Ron, Harry exploded into a rant about how Voldemort was the one drinking the unicorns blood, how Snape was getting the Stone for him, and how Harry was suppose to die back their according to Ronan and Bane.

Hermione and Riley united for once in telling Harry that Voldemort wouldn't try anything while Dumbledore was here, and that he should go and tell Dumbledore everything. But Harry refused to believe them and said Dumbledore would never believe four first years over a teacher.

After awhile Riley and Hermione gave up trying to convince the 'bullheaded prat' as Riley was calling him. And now they were just sitting by the common room fire, lost in their own thoughts.

Suddenly Riley looked sharply at Harry. "You said you met Quirrell in Diagon Alley on your birthday, right?"

The other three looked at her confused.

"Yes. But what does th—"

Riley immediately stood up. She quickly gave some excuse to her friends, who still looked completely confused, and practically ran out the portrait hole.

She was going to see a man about a stone.

~{}~

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