Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 9 – The Forbidden Forest

The trio had no luck in discovering who might want to steal the stone in the weeks following, and Easter arrived with little fanfare, all three returning home for the holiday. The final term began in early April and with it came a new resolve from Hermione.

"I've been thinking." She said one morning as she took her seat across from the boys at breakfast. "Why are we trying to find out who might steal the stone?" Harry and Ron's attention snapped up from their food.

"Because someone's trying to steal it?" To Harry the answer was obvious. Ron nodded his agreement.

"Yes," She replied with a roll of her eyes. "But I mean why are we trying to find out? Professor Dumbledore is protecting the stone, so is that three-headed dog, and there are probably other spells and enchantments protecting it as well. So why are we, three children, trying to stop someone stealing the stone when the greatest wizard of modern times already is? What do we think we'll accomplish by continuing this search? That we might somehow offer something that Dumbledore already hasn't?" Harry and Ron looked at each other and had to concede she had a point. They'd continued the search because it was the right thing to do, and it was a mystery to be solved. And for Harry, something in his gut told him this was important. There was also his hesitation to trust Dumbledore completely. He knew, thanks to Hagrid, the gamekeeper, that Dumbledore had been the reason that he'd ended up at his aunt and uncle's house as a baby. Dumbledore had left him in that abusive environment and had never once checked in on him. That the man could do that to a baby lost him a lot of faith where Harry was concerned; however, Hermione made a good point as well. What could three first-years do that Dumbledore couldn't? While Harry might not really trust the Headmaster, he couldn't deny that he was a powerful and brilliant wizard.

"So you think we should just let it go?" Harry asked, not sounding convinced that they should.

"Not entirely. I mean, if we hear something I'm not saying we should just ignore it, but I don't think we should continue to spend all this time going through the library yet again to try and find out who it is." Ron looked scandalized.

"You don't think we should do research in the library?" Hermione glared at him.

"Not on this. We have final exams coming up and we should be studying for them. Plus, your midnight wanderings, Harry, could really get you in trouble, and it's a miracle you haven't been caught yet." Harry couldn't disagree with her on that point either. He'd had several close calls in recent weeks, for while the cloak made him invisible, it didn't give him the sight to see what was ahead; he'd almost crashed into Snape the week before the holiday as they both rounded a corner.

"Alright." Harry finally agreed. "No more midnight wanderings, and no more research into who might be trying to steal the stone. But we should still keep our eyes out for anything suspicious." Ron and Hermione agreed.

"Excellent. Now, with exams only ten weeks away, I've drawn up a study schedule." Hermione got right down to business and pulled out three pieces of paper, handing two of them to Ron and Harry. The boys looked down and saw it was indeed a weekly schedule that was colour-coded and looked much worse than their actual class schedule. "We really should have started studying before the Easter holiday, but we were otherwise preoccupied, so we'll have to really double down and start right away. I've given each of us the same schedule so we can study together, though the subjects in each time slot are dependant on which subjects you're both struggling with." As Hermione continued to prattle on, Ron and Harry looked at each other in horror.

-H/G-

Hermione's study schedule proved as brutal as they thought it would be, but the boys adhered to it as much as possible to keep the peace. However, that didn't mean that when an opportunity presented itself to take some time off that they wouldn't take it. Right now harry was flying around the quidditch pitch having told Hermione that another practice had been scheduled, though none had been. There was no chance of Gryffindor winning the cup this year, though they were going to come in second. At least, Oliver said they would. The final game of the season would be played next week between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, but Oliver didn't particularly count them as a challenge. Sadly there wouldn't be a game to determine first place as Slytherin was too far ahead for any of them to catch up. As much as it galled Harry that the house of snakes would triumph, he had to admit that they had played better than Gryffindor. Yes they'd played dirty at times – fairly often actually – but not quite so much that they got all their points that way. They had to play well at least some of the time to have as large a lead as they did. The Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, was actually a good strategist, even Oliver had to admit it, so Harry didn't feel too bad about coming second to them. Of course he would never admit this to anyone, especially not to a certain blonde pain in his ass.

"Come to terms with your loss yet, Potter?" Harry glanced to his left and sighed as Draco approached on his own broom.

"Shove off, Malfoy."

"Oh, not very friendly, are we? What would the Minister say?" Deciding to ignore his rival, Harry took off around the pitch at speeds that the old school broom Draco rode could not match. That didn't stop him from trying though and he continued to pester Harry as he went. After a couple more laps Harry had had enough and decided that going back to studying with Hermione was better than dealing with Malfoy, so he flew off towards the school, landing just outside the doors. Unfortunately, Draco was in one of his moods where he was determined to drive Harry nuts and so he followed him into the castle.

"Perhaps we can offer the Gryffindor team some pointers next year."

"You're not even on the team, Malfoy."

"Next year I will be, you'll see." Harry rolled his eyes.

"What, is daddy going to buy you a spot on the team? You're pathetic, Malfoy." Well used to Draco's tactics after years of learning together Harry knew that he was going for his wand. Luckily, Harry was faster.

"Rictusempra!" He cast the tickling charm before Draco's spell had had a chance to pass his lips. The Slytherin fell to the floor laughing and Harry shook his head; Draco had never been good at the quick draw and Harry didn't know why he insisted on trying it still.

"POTTER!" Harry turned and saw Snape bearing down on him, his cloak billowing out behind him. "You know magic isn't allowed in the corridors, let alone to attack another student." The professor pulled out his own wand and cancelled the spell on Malfoy before helping him up, the blonde turning a smug smirk on his rival.

"Draco drew his wand first, Professor, I was merely defending myself."

"Silence!" Clearly Snape wasn't going to be in any way fair today, though Harry wasn't surprised. He usually favoured his own students. "Fifty points from Gryffindor, for this unwarranted attack, and-"

"And fifty from Slytherin." Harry hid his own smug smirk at the Scottish brogue that announced Professor McGonagall's arrival. Snape stood a bit straighter in the presence of the Deputy Headmistress, though he was prepared to argue about his house losing points. "I saw what happened too, Severus, and Mr. Potter is indeed correct. Mr. Malfoy here drew his wand first, Mr. Potter was merely faster in defending himself." Whatever argument Snape might have used, it died when McGonagall said she'd seen the interaction; there was now no way he could claim that Harry was the only one to draw his wand. "Of course, Mr. Malfoy had not yet cast a spell and you did not wait to merely defend yourself but cast your own spell immediately. So, Professor Snape's punishment stands, and both of you will receive detention."

"But-" Snape shot Draco a look and silenced his protest, which was just as good, for the raised eyebrow McGonagall gave him clearly said any protest wouldn't go over well.

"You will both report to Mr. Filch after dinner at eight o'clock on Friday."

"Yes, Professor." They said obediently and with one more withering look, McGonagall took her leave. Snape shot Harry his own withering look, with no small dash of hatred, before turning and pushing Malfoy towards the dungeons.

-H/G-

The lecture Hermione gave him on finding out he had detention was almost as bad as serving the detention itself, so it was with some relief that he had to leave her on Friday before she could begin her lecture all over again. At exactly eight o'clock he and Draco met Filch at his office expecting to be given some part of the castle clean, however, instead Filch led them outside.

"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight." He told them. "He's got a little job to do, inside the Dark Forest." Harry wondered what detention would really be, as Filch was no doubt just trying to scare them. Students weren't allowed inside the forest, let alone two first-years, as it was far too dangerous. That danger didn't diminish just because it was detention, so they couldn't possibly be going into the forest for real. "A sorry duo here, Hagrid." Filch said in greeting as the gamekeeper emerged from his hut. Harry had met Hagrid a few times since arriving at Hogwarts, but didn't know him well. The Keeper of Keys and Grounds had invited him to tea shortly after the first term began and Harry had gone out of politeness, but he'd not returned. Hagrid had been excited to see him again and eagerly told the story of their first meeting when Harry said he couldn't remember. Hearing that Hagrid had had a part in bringing him to his abusive aunt and uncle had been enough to destroy any chance of their becoming friends. Over time though, Harry saw that the gamekeeper was a gentle giant, who was actually quite naïve, and certainly he trusted Dumbledore completely and would do anything for him. Because of this blind trust in the Headmaster, Harry couldn't hold against Hagrid what he'd done that night, and so while they'd never be friends, he had nothing against Hagrid either.

"Filch." Hagrid returned the greeting and began gathering supplies, including a crossbow and several arrows.

"Hang on." Draco spoke up, seeing the arrows. "We're not really going into the forest, are we? Students aren't allowed. And there are…werewolves."

"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that." Filch said quite gleefully.

"Perhaps, but as he said, students aren't allowed in the forest." Harry reiterated. "I can't believe that Dumbledore would allow this. There's a reason students aren't allowed in the forest, and that reason doesn't disappear just because we have Hagrid with us."

"Exactly." It was one of the rare times that Harry and Draco were in agreement.

"We've got a special job to do, boys." Hagrid spoke up. "I found a unicorn dead a few weeks ago in the forest, and now another's been hurt bad. It's our job to go and find the poor beast."

"So? I'm sure animals get attacked in the forest all the time. And what if whatever attacked it, attacks us as well?" Draco exclaimed.

"Unicorns are pure creatures. To attack one, let alone kill one, is a terrible thing." Harry remembered from one of the books on magical creatures that he'd read over the years. "I can't believe that many get hurt. Most other creatures can sense their purity and would leave them alone, knowing bad things would happen if they didn't." Hagrid nodded.

"Right you are, Harry."

"But that means that whatever is attacking and killing them is that much more dangerous." Harry continued. "No one should be going into the forest looking for it. Especially not two first-years."

"Got no choice though, do you, lad?" Filch said. "Though perhaps if you refuse to do your detention they'll bring back the old punishments just for you. Used to be detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God I miss the screaming." He sounded so wishful that Harry wondered if such punishments had actually existed.

"I'm sure the Minister would not be happy about this." He replied.

"My father will hear about this too. And he's a school governor." Filch looked like he couldn't care less about who Draco's father was and so merely waved goodbye and left them with Hagrid.

"Come on." Even with all their protests, which were far from two students just not wanting to have detention, it seemed like Hagrid was still going to take them into the forest. Harry and Draco looked to each other, deciding if they should just walk away, but ultimately decided against it. Harry didn't want Cornelius rushing to the school tonight and making a scene. Better Harry owl him tomorrow and he approach Dumbledore as an indignant guardian concerned for the safety of his ward, and the other students. He could tell that Draco thought the same way, though knowing Lucius as he did, Harry knew that Draco also wanted to make his father proud, and cowardly refusing to go into the forest, no matter how legitimate the reason, wasn't the way to do that. So, with trepidation the two followed Hagrid, and his hound, Fang, into the forest, holding their wands aloft. They knew that nothing they could do would actually stop any of the dark creatures they may come upon, but they might be able to distract the creature long enough for Hagrid to shot it with his crossbow. They walked for almost an hour before Hagrid spotted something shining on the forest floor. Looking closely, Harry could see that it was a liquid of some kind. Hagrid dipped his fingers into and held it up for them to see.

"This is unicorn blood." He said. "Fresh too. We're getting close." Even more on alert, they continued forward, Fang trotting alongside them. Harry wasn't sure how far they were into the forest, but he thought it a miracle that they hadn't run into any dangerous creatures. Several minutes later, he was cursing himself for jinxing it. Hagrid raised his crossbow, ready to fire, for before them lay a pure white unicorn, dead on the ground, though it was not alone. A dark hooded figure appeared to be drinking the unicorn's blood.

"Ah, vampire!" Draco screamed and took off at a run. Fang barked loudly and followed him.

"Oi, get back here!" Hagrid deemed catching up with Draco and making sure he didn't get lost in the forest to be more important than dealing with whatever the dark figure was and so went off after him. "Harry, come on!" He didn't wait for Harry to follow him though, and Harry was quite incapable of moving at the moment. With the noise of Draco's retreat, the creature had looked up, silver blood dripping down his chin, and Harry stood transfixed as his scar burst into pain.

A/N - Review please!