The next two weeks went relatively smoothly. Barbara visited a couple more times, and by now you could tell something was different, or as she put it, "I look less like I'm pregnant and more like I need to lay off the bacon." Harry sometimes had trouble determining whether certain women he saw were pregnant or just fat, but he knew it was rude to ask them.

"So two weeks until we can tell its gender, right?" Harry asked.

"Right," said Sirius.

"Can you feel it kicking yet?" Hermione asked eagerly. "Can we?"

"No kicking yet…but it does feel like butterflies are fluttering inside me, sort of," Barbara said thoughtfully. "I don't think anyone else will be able to feel it until way later, though."

Harry, Ron and Hermione went out onto the grounds to wave goodbye as Sirius took Barbara home. They kept waving until the motorcycle was obscured by the moon and the two of them were gone. Since it wasn't even seven yet, they decided to stay out on the grounds and talk a little. They used Harry's Invisibility Cloak to nick some food from the kitchens, and then decided to have dinner by the lakeside instead of in the Great Hall. It was more peaceful and less crowded; sometimes you just needed to get away from it all.

It had been possibly an hour, or a little more, when they noticed someone creeping out of the castle, towards the forest. Since the person had a cloak on, it was impossible to determine his features, but Harry could tell from the figure's walk that it was Snape. He wasted no time in pointing this out to Ron and Hermione.

"Well, come on," said Ron. "We've still got the Cloak on us, let's see what he's up to."

Hermione looked hesitant and bit her lip. She had already been a little uncomfortable about the food-stealing, and now they were going to go into the forest at night?

"He's trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, remember?" Harry reminded her. "We're probably the only ones who know that. We have to follow him."

Hermione reluctantly allowed Harry to throw the Cloak over the three of them, and they hurried as best they could after Snape, who was now running. Completely invisible, they followed him until he stopped to talk to someone. To all three of their amazement, it was Quirrell.

"I d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus," he was stuttering.

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private. Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other in alarm. It was just as Harry thought. Even after Snape had found it in his heart to make Potiogravida to cure Barbara, he still wanted the Sorcerer's Stone for himself.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?" Snape continued.

"B-b-but Severus, I—"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell."

"I-I don't know what you—"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

The three of them missed part of the conversation when an owl hooted annoyingly loudly. By the time it was done, they heard Snape saying, "your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't—"

"Very well," said Snape. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

Snape re-cloaked himself and left the clearing, narrowly missing Harry, Ron and Hermione in the Cloak. Quirrell stared after him for at least five full minutes, looking terrified, compulsively straightening his turban. Then, finally, he left as well, trembling. Once he was sure both of them were gone, Harry took the Invisibility Cloak off.

"What was that all about?" said Ron.

"This is proof we're right," Harry told him. "Snape is trying to steal the Stone, and now he's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it."

"And when he mentioned that 'beast of Hagrid's'…he must have meant that three-headed dog," Hermione added pensively. "I suppose that's how Hagrid's helping Dumbledore guard the Stone."

"There are probably a bunch of spells guarding it, not just the dog," said Harry. "Loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through—"

"What's that?" Ron interrupted. Harry looked, and he was pointing down at the ground.

"Unicorn blood!" said Hermione, sounding horrified.

It didn't look like blood. It looked silvery-blue, almost metallic, and it was glowing slightly, either of its own accord or because of the moonlight that shone on it.

"It's everywhere," Harry pointed out, looking around the clearing.

Maybe it wasn't everywhere, but it did look like whichever unicorn shed the blood had been staggering around in pain. Blood was scattered on leaves, twigs, trees and the ground alike. Harry's eyes followed the trail of blood. It went deeper into the forest, and his curiosity, as it so often did, was unfortunately winning the battle with his common sense.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Harry whispered, admittedly more to Ron than to Hermione.

"What are you thinking?" said Ron.

"I'm thinking should follow it, see where it leads."

"No!" hissed Hermione, as Ron was about to nod eagerly. "There's no way I'm doing that! It's dangerous, it's against school rules—"

Harry remembered how his last fight with Hermione had been about breaking rules. But that had been back in October, and she had become more relaxed about the whole thing since.

"Rules are meant to be broken, Hermione," Ron insisted.

"Rules are meant to be followed, Ron," she corrected him.

"Doesn't it depend on the rule?" said Harry. "I mean, this unicorn seems really hurt. Maybe we can save it. I'm sure Hagrid will know what to do. He seems good with animals, just like Sirius."

"What would Sirius think?" Hermione asked.

"Well, whatever he thinks, he's got no right to lecture me about it, because he spent his entire time at school breaking rules under this very Cloak," Harry replied. "And he won't know anyway, because he's taking Barbara back to London. That's a long trip, even for a flying motorcycle. Now come on, let's do this thing."

Hermione sighed. "Fine…"

They followed the trail of blood deeper into the forest. It seemed to be getting thicker. Harry, Ron and Hermione jumped in fright when they heard a soft sound. It sounded like a cloak, as if someone was dragging it across the ground like a child drags a security blanket, but there were no footsteps. Hermione looked frightened, but they were in too deep to turn back now.

"Look," Harry said softly. Something white was shimmering on the ground. Hermione let out a stifled sort of sob. They had found the unicorn, which was already dead. The three of them just stood there, staring. The shock was just beginning to wear off when they heard the cloak-dragging noise again. Some bushes rustled, and then something crawled into sight.

Was it a human? It looked humanoid, and it was wearing a cloak, but it was crawling along the ground instead of walking. Harry realized why when it stopped at the unicorn. It bent its head down over the unicorn's bloody wound, lowered its hood, and began to drink.

Hermione screamed. The cloaked figure, startled by the noise, looked up, unicorn blood now staining the cloak. Its head turned from Hermione to Harry. When it saw him, it stood up and began walking. Walking towards Harry.

Ron looked like he didn't know whether to stay and help or to run for his life; Hermione was crying; Harry was paralyzed with fear for a moment and then…

Pain, so much pain. Harry stumbled backwards, clutching his scar, while Hermione screamed again and Ron took off. The figure was about to come for Harry and Hermione when they heard something else, something huge, crashing through the undergrowth at a high speed. They watched in horror as it hit the figure at full force, bowling it over. And when Harry, through the lessening pain in his head, realized what had attacked the figure, he realized it had no chance. Even in the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, that black dog was unmistakable.

Padfoot stayed by the unicorn for a moment, barking and growling, until the figure had gotten to its feet and fled, deep into the bowels of the forest. Then he transformed back to his human form. Hermione was breathing heavily, looking like she was about to faint.

"Sirius," Harry said in relief. "Thanks for that, I don't know what we would've—"

"Follow me! NOW!" Sirius interrupted him, but Harry and Hermione didn't have a chance to follow. Sirius grabbed Harry's arm in his left hand, Hermione's in his right, so tight the grip was almost painful. It was hard to keep up with him. Finally, they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. To Harry's shock, Professor McGonagall, looking livid herself, was waiting there, as was a white-faced Ron. Professor McGonagall was holding onto Ron's arm like Sirius was to Harry's and Hermione's. When they got to the edge of the forest, he released them.

"Sirius…what's going on?" Harry asked.

The expression on Sirius's face was one of pure fury.

"What's going on!" he shouted. "What in hell were you three thinking?!"

Harry started to feel awful all over again, and something told him Ron and Hermione felt the exact same way. One thing you never wanted to do was make Sirius lose his temper, especially if you had broken a huge rule and were in the presence of Professor McGonagall as well.

They were screwed.