"Ron, can you—Ronald, put that down."

His face suspiciously blank, Ron dropped Scorpius' trunk, narrowly missing his own foot.

Hermione sighed heavily. "I will levitate it into the car with the rest, Ron. Rose, have you seen your cousins?"

"Right here," said Albus, strolling through the open front door. "Morning, Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron. Rose, James said he'll wait by the car. Still sulking."

"Of course he is," said Rose with a sigh. "C'mon, Scorpius, let's go."

The journey back to the station was slow and uncomfortable. Ron had never warmed up to Scorpius, no matter how much Rose tried to put them in situations where they could bond. She gave up after one horrible dinner where Ron had decided to ignore Scorpius' presence entirely. That night, she had heard the beginnings of a row between her parents before Hermione had put a silencing spell on their room.

Rose had spent so much time watching the boys fly, trying to keep her father away from Scorpius, she had failed to complete most of her given assignments. Instead of resting in the dormitory with Tia Marsh and the other girls, Rose spent her first day back at the castle holed up in a corner of the library, then the common room when the library closed.

The next morning was a Saturday. Rose skipped breakfast to finish a scroll of parchment on how wolf bane affects dandelion roots for Professor Slughorn. Before noon came along, however, she was struck by an intense urge to get out of the castle. Gritting her teeth, she packed her Charms textbook and trudged into the snow.

She was surprised to see the Riders out with one of the bright scarlet dragons. Approaching them, she noticed that both dragon and Rider appeared winded.

Marco sat a bit away from the others, holding a small glass ball in the palm of one hand. He gave Rose a strained smile as she took a seat next to him.

"Good morning, child," he said softly as Rose sat. "I was hoping to see you again."

"Sorry I haven't come back to see you sooner," said Rose, a bit embarrassed. "I thought about what you said about the glassblowing, and I've been reading a few books about it so I can know the basics."

Marco chuckled. "Then we will have to try testing your knowledge soon," he said.

Rose watched as Maria stroked the dragon's neck. The creature was immense- Rose had yet to be so close to one of them. She noticed that all of the Riders had their wands out, but they were gripping them casually. Even Marco held his loosely in one hand.

"That one is Contessa," said Marco, following Rose's eyes. "She's a real beauty."

"She is," said Rose quietly.

Laughing male voices echoed out from the edge of the forest. A moment later, Hagrid and Uncle Charlie emerged. Hagrid was thumping Uncle Charlie on the back, while the smaller man winced from the blows.

"Rosie!" cried Hagrid with a grin. "Come t' have a closer look at the dragons?"

"I didn't know if there was a lesson today," she said. "Hello, Uncle Charlie."

Uncle Charlie lifted a hand in greeting, but his mouth had twisted into a frown.

"You didn't tell me you were involved in the lessons," he said to her. "Are you planning on entering the exhibition for the end of the semester?"

"I haven't thought that much about it," said Rose truthfully. While she enjoyed learning about the dragons, she didn't know how she felt about actually riding one of them.

"Well, you should be getting back inside," said Uncle Charlie. "We have some work to do out here, and the students aren't supposed to be so close."

"I'm going," she said, springing to her feet. "I'll be back next weekend for lessons."

"I shall see you then," said Marco with a soft smile.

A week later, Lorcan plopped down opposite Rose in the library.

"Hello, Rose. What're you up to tomorrow?"

Rose looked up, startled out of her book. She hadn't seen much of Lorcan lately; most of his free time was taken up with extra lessons with Professor Trelawney.

"Dragon lessons" she said, "why?"

"After today?" Lorcan looked surprised. "Weren't the dragons too tired to fly this morning?"

It was true. Rose had shown up that morning with a dwindling number of other students only to be told that the lesson had been cancelled. This resigned her to another day at the library—which she loved, make no mistake there, but part of her wished to be out with the dragons. They were supposed to get to watch the Riders in action today, something they were all eager to witness.

"I'll go with you tomorrow," said Lorcan suddenly.

"Alright," said Rose, "but it's not that exciting. We haven't been doing much practical work yet."

"I'll go," repeated Lorcan with a misty smile.

The next morning, Rose and Lorcan hurried down from breakfast only to find Marco sitting alone by a fire.

"Hello," he said, offering them a sad smile. "I'm afraid the lesson has been postponed to next week."

"Is... is everything alright?" asked Rose hesitantly.

"Why do you ask?"

"My Uncle Charlie mentioned the Ministry wanting him to come and make sure things here were safe. And I don't doubt that they are," she added quickly, "but with the lessons being cancelled-"

"Things are..." began Marco, then he stopped and gestured vaguely with one hand. "We are thinking that the dragons are not meant for your climate. They are not happy here."

"Oh," said Rose.

"I've seen you from the Divination Tower," said Lorcan suddenly. "Your fires are beautiful."

"You study Divination?" asked Marco. "You will like this, then."

He began rummaging through his sack. Only when his arm disappeared beyond where the bag should have ended, did Rose realize that it was enchanted far beyond its size. Finally, Marco drew his arm out and held out his hand to Lorcan.

"From a Seer in my country," he said.

It was like one of the crystal balls Rose had seen in Diagon Alley, but there was no fog inside. Instead, it was like watching a miniature film that had been squeezed inside the orb. She recognized the man as Marco, though he was much younger. He was conversing with another man wearing deep blue robes and a hat that obscured half of his face. A moment later, the man handed Marco a box, looked around, and Disapparated.

"What is it?" asked Lorcan, his eyes wide.

"We had been trying to hunt down a street merchant who specialized in... shall we say, black market goods," said Marco softly. "I went to a Seer to help. She was able to put what she saw into this orb, so that I could see it too. I've never gotten rid of it."

Rose watched as the scene in the orb began again with Marco approaching the man in blue. It was so vivid and lifelike, she was amazed.

"Can I learn how to do that?" asked Lorcan eagerly.

Marco laughed. "Oh, I am no Seer!" he said. "I only use the glass."

He reached into the sack again and drew out another orb. This one was only clear glass, smooth and colorless.

"Take this to your teacher," he said, giving it to Lorcan. "Perhaps she can show you how it works."

Lorcan took it from Marco with a grin. "Thank you," he said, "I'll ask her tonight."

Breakfast the next morning was louder than Rose was accustomed to. Scowling, she sat at the Gryffindor table, where her cousins and friends had already gathered.

"What's the riot about?" she grumbled, grabbing a piece of toast.

Lysander raised a brow. "You really forgot?" he asked, obviously amused. "Today's our first mixed lesson, remember? With Hagrid and Neville. It's second and third years to the forest."

Of course - - how could Rose have forgotten? Hagrid had been talking about it for the past two weeks, but Rose had been too preoccupied with the dragons to make note of it.

"This'll be great!" exclaimed James. "Frankly, I'd have gone in there this year anyway. Do you know what sort of monsters and creatures-"

"Don't be ridiculous, James," said Rose dismissively.

She looked at Albus, who seemed deep in thought. His plate was loaded with scrambled eggs and a stack of buttered toast.

"James told me I'd need my strength," he said quietly. "It is true that there are monsters in there?"

"No," sighed Rose, "it's just another one of James's tall tales."

The group made their way down to the forest together. There was a nervous sort of tension in the air. Giovanni was by Hagrid's hut, speaking with him and Professor Longbottom.

"We are merely concerned," said Giovanni. "There have been some footprints, you see."

"We understand," said Professor Longbottom.

"Yeh, we've got it," said Hagrid. "We'll keep 'em away from yer dragons, not ter worry."

"Thank you," said Giovanni. "We will be watching the area, of course, but it should be far enough into the forest."

Giovanni shook both professors' hands before turning and quickly disappearing into the trees.

"Right, then!" said Hagrid loudly, clapping his hands to get the students' attention. "Yeh all heard the man. Yer not ter be huntin' 'round the forest lookin' fer the dragons, yeh hear?"

There was a general grunt of acknowledgment.

"Good," said Hagrid gruffly. "Now, Professor Neville over here- oh yeh," he said amended as the students chuckled, "it's Professor Longbottom, ain't it? Sorry, Neville, it's jus'-"

"That's all right," said Neville with a smile. "Should I just explain what we're doing today?"

"Yeh, sure, why not?"

Neville cleared his throat and once again group became Professor Longbottom, the best Herbology teacher Hogwarts had seen in centuries.

"Our mission today," he began, "is to collect an herb called hegolith. Does anyone know what hegolith is?"

Rose's hand shot eagerly into the air.

"Yes, Rose?"

"Hegolith is an herb that, one crushed, turns from dark green to burgundy," said Rose without needing to think about it. "It is a known relaxer of humans, which led to it being a rumored mental stimulant."

"Very good, Rose," said Professor Longbottom promptly. "Five points to Griffindor."

Rose straightened proudly. She had already read the next chapter of the Herbology book, in which hegolith was discussed. She ignored James, who rolled his eyes at her answer. Shouldn't he be happy that she had earned some house points?

"Today," continued Professor Longbottom, "we shall be collecting hegolith from the forest. It grows in abundance there, but the snow may give you some difficulty in finding it. You will split yourselves into groups of four. These will be your groups for the remainder of the day."

Without waiting for more instruction, the students edged closer to their friends. No one wanted to be the last person without a group.

Rose turned to see Albus, James, and Lysander waiting for her. She grinned and took a step closer to their group.

Professor Longbottom cleared his throat. "Right, then. Each group must fill one of these bags with hegolith." He held up small velvet bags, then began passing them out to the groups.

"And yer t'do it by sunset," interjected Hagrid. "We won' be havin' yeh wanderin' 'round the forest in the dark."

"But it shouldn't take you so long by any means," added Professor Longbottom hurriedly. "You are to return to Greenhouse Two upon filling your bag. We will then discuss the affect hegolith has on creatures."

Rose nodded eagerly, though she already knew that the findings on hegolith's effect on magical creatures were inconclusive. She wouldn't mind a lesson on it- it would give her brain some time to relax.

James immediately took charge of the group. "Let's head deep in," he said, his voice hushed, as if he didn't want the other groups to hear. "No one else will, because they're afraid of the dragons."

"As we should be," pointed out, Albus.

"Nah," said James, "we won't get anywhere near them. Come on, follow me."

After bowing respectfully, the group passed by Witherwings and entered the Forbidden Forest.

Rose was glad she had brought along her water-repelling boots and dragonskin gloves to keep warm. James quickly developed a knack for finding large piles of snow to wade through and thick bushes to push past.

"We have to slow down," said Rose as James jumped over a frozen puddle. "There's no way we'll find the hegolith at this rate."

"But we have all day," drawled James. "Come on, let's go on an adventure."

Rose glanced at Albus and Lysander. None of James's adventures ever ended well.

"I should have brought the map!" cried James suddenly. "I could've seen how much of the forest it shows."

"I don't know if it does," said Rose. "Isn't it only for the castle?"

"Well," said Lysander, thoughtfully, "it might. The forest is on Hogwarts grounds, correct?"

"But the forest is huge!" said Albus. "It couldn't possibly show everything."

Rose thought about it at the boys continued to argue. The Marauders' Map was said to show all of Hogwarts, but did that include the Forbidden Forest? She wished the Marauders were alive to explain it all to them.

Another hour passed without any sign of hegolith. The group had just stopped to rest for a moment when Rose heard something. It was like a muted drum beating against the ground. She recognized the sound moments before they arrived.

Hooves.

A group of centaurs flew into the clearing, rearing in what appeared to be anger. James had his wand out before they all landed. Rose motioned for him to put it away, but, steely-faced, he ignored her.

One of the centaurs stepped forward, his head held high regally. "Children," he said, his face twisting in a sneer. "And what would children be doing in our forest?"

Rose felt sudden heat on her chest and let out an internal scream of frustration. It was her locket. It had remained dormant since her last interaction with Alistair Trimble during the Triwizard Tournament. She had almost convinced herself that it was a normal piece of jewelry. Almost.

"Please, sir," she said, getting slowly to her feet, "we were sent here by Hagrid and Professor Longbottom."

The centaur sniffed imperiously. "Unlikely," he said. "Bakah, had we any note of this?"

"Yes, my brother," said a second centaur. "The request for permission was made a year ago by Minerva, their headmistress."

A third stepped further forward than either of the other two. He approached Albus slowly, then leaned down to him, staring at his emerald eyes.

"I do not understand," said the centaur. "Time has changed you in the wrong direction, young one."

The leader of the centaurs, the first to speak, snorted. "It is not the boy child you once knew, Firenze," he said, loathing clear in his voice. "Return to the herd. It is not your place to interfere in such matters."

Reluctantly, the centaur called Firenze obeyed the order.

"Now," continued the leader, "why are you so far into our forest?"

"Please, sir," said Rose, not knowing to what other title to address the centaur by, "we are only trying to complete an assignment."

"They are not the thieves, brother," said Bakah, his voice low. "I saw no girl-child amongst the young ones, and they were larger than these males."

Rose's heart began to race. They could be in serious trouble if the leader of the centaur heard thought they were stealing from the woods.

"Girl child," snapped the herd leader, "what do you know of young ones coming into my forest? They have taken from the land, and have given nothing in return. Speak, child!"

"I - - I do not know of whom you speak," she said, trying to match their pattern of speech. "But I would like to apologize for the whole of the castle for any displeasure we have caused you. It was not our position to do so."

This silenced the centaur leader for a moment. Finally, (for Rose had been waiting with bated breath), he chuckled slowly.

"Very nice, child," he said loudly. "You are a strange one, aren't you?"

"The portent!" cried Bakah suddenly, his eyes wide. "Brother, do you believe-"

"Silence!" snapped the leader. His dark face creased with thought. "Firenze, come forward!"

Firenze approached the other centaur silently. "Yes, master?" he said slowly.

Rose, startled, stepped backwards. Centaurs never recognized a comrade as their master. The furthest they ever went was acknowledging a herd leader, and even that was not set in stone. What Firenze had said-

But the other centaur seemed completely unfazed by it.

"You practice the old ways," he said, "do you not?"

Firenze bowed his head. "I do."

"Tell me of the portents you see, then." The centaur said portents with a sneer of disbelief.

"With all respect," said Firenze resolutely, "it is in and of the stars. I am not free speak of it to those -"

"You speak of what I tell you to!" ordered the leader, stamping his hooves in the snow. "Tell me of your speaking stars."

"I will not."

The dark centaur reared back on his hind legs. His brother stepped forward and leaned close to Rose.

"Get out of here," said Bakah urgently, his voice low. "Noxe will lash out at you if you are near. Keep close to the edge of the woods. Go, children, now!"

Rose hesitated, locket still blazing on her chest. She wanted to stay, to help Firenze...

Lysander nodded and wasted no time. Seeing Rose's hesitation, he grabbed her arm and pulled her along behind him. Albus did the same to James, who still had his wand out.

No one spoke until they were a good distance away from Noxe and the other centaurs. Lysander released Rose's arm and leaned against a tree.

"That was quite the experience," he said, glancing back at the path they had created. "Rose, have you-"

"Never," she said. "That just wasn't right. Since when do centaurs-"

"They don't," said Lysander.

"And Firenze?"

"He still does, it appears."

"What a dictator," grumbled James obliviously. "What was his problem?"

"They don't know," said Albus shrewdly. "Rose, were the centaurs acting odd?"

"Extremely," said Rose. "Herds don't work like that. And from what Noxe said, they no longer follow the stars."

"But that's impossible," objected Lysander. "That's... it's just what centaurs do."

Rose shook her head. "We'll have to do more research on it, but there must be some sort of explanation. I'll have to spend some time in the library."

"Yes, the library," groaned James. "I want to have an adventure in the Forbidden Forest, and where does it lead us back to? The library."

"We should keep moving," said Lysander, "and slower this time. We still need to do this assignment."

Once they begin moving in a more decent pace, the hegolith was easy enough to spot. The deep green leaves turned to dark red once Rose removed her gloves and crushed it between her fingers. Their bag filled quickly.

"Now we have to return to Greenhouse Two," said Lysander, tying the top of the bag. "Which way is the castle?"

Albus pointed one way as James pointed another. Rose froze as Lysander met her eyes. She had no clue which way Hogwarts was from here.

"This is why we were supposed to stay close to the castle, James!" cried Rose. "Now we're lost."

"We are not lost," said James. "We simply need to choose direction and stick to it."

"And find those friendly centaurs again?" said Rose. "Oh, I'm sure they'd love that."

Rose's hand flew to her throat. The locket had begun to tug her forward, towards a clearing between the trees.

"Follow me," she said to the others, already stumbling forward. "I think it knows the way."

"Are you serious?" cried James. "You won't listen to me, but you'll listen to that bloody locket? Doesn't it lead you to danger?"

"No," said Rose, though secretly she admitted that it sometimes led her straight into the storm. James began to protest again, but a glare from Lysander quieted him.

Rose led the way slowly, keeping her wand drawn. Her stomach ached for lack of food. How long had they been out in the woods? They had certainly missed lunch, but the sky was thankfully still light. Perhaps James had been right, telling Albus to eat a lot.

The trees towered above Rose as she trudged on. Finally, they reached a spot where the trunks grew thinner and Rose could see the side of the castle. When they emerged, they were right by Hagrid's hut.

"Rosie!" cried Hagrid, who was sitting on the steps outside his door. "Al, James, Lysander! What in the world are yeh doin' back so late?"

"We ran into the centaur herd," said Rose. "Hagrid, what happened to them?"

Hagrid's gaze darkened. "I don' go mixin' with Noxe and his lot," he said, "and neither should any of you. Now, get along to Neville. He's waitin'."

Rose let the others explain their hold up to Professor Longbottom when they arrived at Greenhouse Two. She paid no attention to the lesson that followed, trusting that Albus would take at least adequate notes. They did not speak on their way back up to the castle, except for James, who was busy telling one of the girls in his year how he had scared away the centaurs.

Rose was still lost in her thoughts when she sat for dinner, piling roasted potatoes onto her plate while trying to remember what her uncle had told her about his interactions with centaurs. Though her mother handled a lot of situations involving magical creatures, Rose hadn't heard her mention the centaurs before, which suddenly struck her as odd.

"Ugh!" cried James, plopping down across from her. "Rose, get that away from the food!"

Startled out of her thoughts, she stared at James blankly.

"What?"

"Your hand," said James, his face screwed up in disgust. "What happened?"

She had been too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice the angry red rash that had broken out across both of her hands. Now that she saw it, she realized that it was itching wildly!

"I have no idea," she said, rubbing the backs of her hands on her legs furiously. "Must've been something in the forest."

"Hospital Wing," said Albus firmly, "before it spreads. Madam Chang will fix you up."

Rose scowled at her plate of potatoes, wishing that she could just stay and fill her stomach, but her hands were awfully itchy. Sighing loudly, she pushed the plate away and stood.

"I'll bring some food to the common room," offered Albus.

"And I can nick some from the kitchens if you want more!" said James with a grin.

Madam Chang frowned at the rash, which covered both of Rose's palms, looped around the back of her hands, and had begun to creep up her wrists.

"This is precisely why they shouldn't have students out in the forest," said Madam Chang crossly. "You're the third student to come see me because of this accursed experiment. Did you know that Kara Welsh twisted her ankle and tried to walk back to the castle on it? Because there were no professors around?"

"Is she alright?" asked Rose.

"Of course," said Madam Chang dismissively, "but that's not the point. Leaving children unsupervised in the forest won't lead to any good."

Madam Chang applied a lotion to Rose's hands and gave her a pair of long, soft gloves. "Wear these until tomorrow morning," she instructed. "You'll want to let the lotion sink in."

Rose thanked her and returned to the common room. As promised, her cousins had brought plenty of food back from dinner. She brought most of it back up to her dormitory, where Kara was sitting in bed.

"How are you?" asked Rose hesitantly. She didn't really talk with any of the others in her dormitory besides Tia.

Kara looked up from her magazine, and Rose recognized the baffled expression of one who had been too busy reading to realize someone else had entered the room.

"Oh, I'm fine!" chirped Kara with a smile. "That was some lesson, huh?"

"Some lesson," echoed Rose, sitting on her own bed, drifting back into her own thoughts. Kara returned to her magazine, occasionally letting out a giggle or snort of derision, but otherwise leaving Rose to comb through the events of the day in peace.