Spring 1992

Ronald Weasley

"You are an absolute prat," Daphne huffed, crossing her arms as she glared at Ron from her place on one of the two emerald sofas in the corner of the common room.

The night had slipped away while Ron sat hunched in a corner, chewing his nails and stubbornly avoiding sleep. Before he knew it, the common room had come alive with students, his friends among them, chastising and praising his midnight had pouted, demanding that he take her along next time he planned to sneak out. Blaise, noticeably paler than usual, had scolded him, reminding him that the House Cup standings were dangerously close and that a single first-year could very well cost them victory. Theo, unimpressed, had waved Blaise off, declaring that rule-breaking was a noble pursuit. Ron didn't agree.

He hadn't intended to break any rules, not really. He knew, in the moment, that he had, but it felt insignificant compared to everything else. Compared to the weight pressing on his chest, the unseen hands grasping at his ankles, threatening to drag him under. He bit the inside of his cheek, waiting, until his friends drifted away, leaving only Daphne. She hadn't said a word. Not until he did.

He recounted as much as his dream he could remember, which was nearly all of it before letting her know everything about what had happened in the corridor. Daphne listened in silence, her expression unreadable, until he finally finished. Then, her lips pressed into a frown, and after a brief pause, possibly rightly, she called him a prat.

Ron bit his lip and nodded. "I know, I should've talked to you before I left last night."

Daphne raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "You shouldn't have left at all."

"I needed to speak to Salazar, I still do. I didn't know what else to do," Ron defended.

"Maybe you could sit still and actually think for a moment?" Daphne groaned. "Merlin, you rush into things so blindly it makes me sick."

"Look, I wasn't trying to be an idiot about it—"

"Oh, well, that's a relief."

He shot her a look. "I just… I didn't know if I should drag you into it."

Daphne scoffed. "Right, because it's so much better to wake up and hear secondhand that you've gone off to fight some unknown blood-draining maniac in the castle."

Ron winced. "I wasn't fighting anyone."

"You might as well have been!" She stood, arms still crossed with her chin lifted. "You're lucky Professor Snape was the one who found you and not someone worse."

Ron felt a surge of ."I… yeah, I know."

Daphne sighed, shaking her head. "You're an idiot, Weasley."

"Apparently," Ron grumbled.

"Don't you understand what I told you? I'm not letting you do this entire thing on your own. So stop being so bloody thick about things and actually let me help. I've told you before, if anything happens to Astoria and it's your fault, I will make it my life's mission to hurt you, Ron. So stop being stupid, and just let me help."

"I… you're right." Ron swallowed. He had rushed off in panic, but Daphne was right. Panic was just going to get him killed, he needed to be smarter. Past that, he needed to make smarter decisions when it came to being the Guardian. If someone else had followed him to Sal's room, things could have gone a lot worse the other day. Someone worse, the blood-drainers, could have done the same last night.

Daphne studied him for a moment longer before rolling her eyes and sitting back down. "Good. Now sit down. Tell me everything about Diagon Alley again. We need to figure out how much time we have."

- SS -

The day passed in a blur of whispers that caught on the edges of Ron's senses. Once again he had become the topic of discussion, something that made him feel sick to his stomach. He had pushed himself into the centre of things, which was exactly what Sal had told him not to do. Worse, the length of their classes and the eyes following him kept him from finding time to sneak off to the seventh floor. He had instead to rely on Daphne to tell Sal whatever she could about what had happened whilst he was away at his evening detention. The feeling of relying on her made him nervous like he was giving away a part of himself that no one else was ever supposed to have.

By the time evening fell, the castle grounds looked much like Ron felt. An afternoon storm had swept in over the northern hills. Sheets of rain lashed against the castle walls, streaking the windows with rivulets of water that distorted the torchlight. The grounds which had been crisp with the frigidness of the passing winter had turned to a freezing sodden, murky mess. The trees of the forest swayed ominously in the wrath of the wind.

Ron barely noticed the cold sting of the rain as he trudged through the slop and mud, his outdoor robes and scarf soaking through with water and clinging to his skin. Each of his steps was accompanied by the thick squelch of his boots sinking into the earth followed by a sucking sound that was mostly swallowed in the wind. The lantern hanging beside the groundskeeper's hut, hagrid's hut, bobbed wildly in its bracket, barely cutting through the misty gloom.

Already, three others stood at the edges of the light, each shifting back and forth on their feet trying desperately to keep the cold away from the centres of their bodies. As Ron drew closer his heart beat faster, his eyes recognizing the three other students as Harry, Neville, and of all people, Draco Malfoy.

"Weasel? Ugh! This is the worst detention I've ever heard of," Malfoy sneered, shaking water from his sleeves as if the rain had somehow personally offended him. His pale hair clung to his forehead in long wet damp strands and his normally pristine robes were already splashed with mud.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry muttered, pulling his cloak tighter around himself. His glasses were already fogging at the edges and he looked about as miserable as Ron felt.

Did they get sent to detention together on purpose?

Ron clenched his jaw and stuffed his hands into his pockets as he approached the edge of the light. Hoping to avoid Malfoy's whining and to avoid breaking the knob's nose.

Draco huffed. "I don't even know why I'm out here with you lot, I didn't even do anything."

"I find that hard to believe," Harry said.

"Oh, believe it, Potter. It's Weasley's fault I'm here. Or if not him then one of his sick little minions. They stole a potion and planted it in my bedroom. Professor Snape said so," Malfoy sniffed.

Huh?"What are you talking about?" Ron asked. "We didn't do anything to you?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's the truth, Weasley. And I'm sure that Smith girl just fell down didn't she?" Malfoy sneered. "What is it with the blood anyway? Do gingers drink it or something?"

Ron's cheeks flushed with heat. "Careful, Malfoy. Hagrid isn't here yet."

"Going to punch me again, Weasley? Drain my blood too? You animal."

"You're the reason we're here, Malfoy," Harry said bitterly. "Why don't you talk about that?"

"Oh, please. If I hadn't told McGonagall, you two idiots would have let that overgrown lizard burn down half the castle."

Ron's eyes widened and he turned to Harry. "You let it hatch! I haven't even written to Charlie yet!"

Harry glanced away. "I know, it just happened too quickly! We were taking it to the kitchens because the house elves can apparate out of Hogwarts… or Hermione says so at least. We were going to send it to Neville's Gran's until you could talk to your brother."

"Exactly as I said," Malfoy added. "Going to burn down the bloody castle."

"Stone doesn't burn, idiot," Ron snapped.

"Oh, and you're some expert in dragons, are you Weasley? Was that why you stole that girl's blood? A little snack for the lizard?"

Ron blinked, rain dripping from the tip of his nose. "I. Did. Not. Hurt. Her."

"Sure,"

Ron took a deep breath, his fists clenching inside of his 't do it, don't do it.

Draco took a step forward, face twisting in frustration. "If you hadn't been sorted into Slytherin—"

"Yeah?" Ron tilted his head, his pulse picking up. "Go on, Malfoy, finish that sentence. If I hadn't been sorted into Slytherin, what? You'd be running your mouth somewhere else?"

Before Malfoy could say whatever it was that was on the tip of his tongue, the heavy wooden door to Hagrid's hut cracked open flooding the porch with more warm, flickering light. A massive shadow filled the doorway, and Hagrid's voice rumbled over the sound of the storm.

"All righ', that's enough squabblin'. Got work ter do, so quit yer yappin'"

"Sir," Malfoy spoke up, "aren't you going to cancel detention? You know? Because of the weather?"

Hagrid shook his head, his large bushy beard already dripping. He stepped out onto the porch, the wooden boards creaking beneath his weight. "Weather doesn't stop work, Mr Malfoy. Got somethin' important ter do tonight." He gave them all a gruff look. "We've got an important task ahead. We've gotta go into the Forest."

There was a sudden collective silence from the group as Hagrid's words stuck into them. Ron felt his breath catch in his forest? The forest where we were told to never go? Jesus fucking christ.

"Wait, what?" Neville squeaked, his face paling. "What's going on in there?"

"Unicorns," Hagrid grunted, his boots squelching in the mud as he stepped off the porch. "Something's been killin' them all year. We've gotta find out what it is before it's too late and they're all good and dead."

The words hit like a cold slap. Malfoy's mouth hung open like a broken latch, and Ron was sure the boy was collecting rainwater. Ron took a look at Harry, whose face had gone just as white. Something was killing unicorns, which Ron knew for certain weren't defenceless animals. Malfoy might have been right, this might have been the worst detention ever conceived of. Snape assigned this duty to him and Malfoy, that much he could understand, piss drinker seemed to hate children, but McGonagall?The professors are bloody mental!

"That's mad," Harry muttered, shaking his head. "You can't expect us to just walk into the forest with whatever's killing them out there."

"Can't exactly wait for sunshine, now can we?" Hagrid replied gruffly, not seeming the least bit fazed by their apprehension. "Come on now, no time like the present."

Neville's face twisted in panic, his legs giving way beneath him. With a soft thud, he crumpled to the ground, unconscious before he hit the mud.

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered.

Hagrid frowned and kneeled down beside Neville, checking his pulse with the back of his large hand. "He's just fainted, that's all," Hagrid said with a sigh. "Too much excitin' news for the poor lad." He stood up again, shaking his head. Hagrid took another step back onto the porch and threw open the shack's door.

A second later, Hagrid picked Neville off of the ground as if he was as light as a feather, carrying him in through the door of the shack and laying him on the cot.

"That'll suit him," Hagrid mumbled. "H' watch the shack while we gettin' at it."

The idea of facing whatever was in the forest felt like too much. It was supposed to be a punishment, not an adventure into something as dangerous as this. But as Hagrid gestured toward the dark, misty path leading into the trees, Ron realized they had no choice.

"Fang 'ere," Hagrid said, pointing down to the large dog beside him, "is a sweetheart, don't worry 'bout him. He'll sniff out whatever's been causin' trouble in the forest."

Ron frowned down at the large boarhound. It was a big dog, sure, but nearly as big as a unicorn. He swallowed thickly as he looked at Harry and Malfoy who looked about as terrified as Ron felt.

With a grunt, Hagrid bent down and grabbed a crossbow that had been leaning against a nearby stump. He checked the string and then knocked a large bolt into place. Malfoy's eyes widened once again.

"Are you crazy?" Malfoy muttered. "You want us to go look for something you're going to kill with that?" For once Ron agreed with him.

"Stop yer' complainin' now, nothin' bads going to happen so long as we're all together," Hagrid replied calmly, dismissing the looks on the boys' faces. "Alright, follow me," he said, leading the way into the forest with Fang trotting along beside him.

Harry, Malfoy, and Ron all shared a similar look of disbelief before slowly walking behind the half-giant. The forest's darkness seemed to swallow them almost immediately. The mist of the stormy night thinned and was replaced instead with the creaking and cracking of tree branches with needles carried into the air by the wind. The wind seemed to howl like some sort of beast, the sound sending shivers down Ron's arms.

"We've been trackin' this thing for a while. Whatever it is, it's strong. It's been huntin' the unicorns in the darkest parts of the forest. But Fang here, he's a good tracker. He'll lead us straight to it." Hagrid called over the sound of the wind.

The path through the forest was narrow, so narrow that Hagrid had to let Fang walk in front of him and Ron was forced to walk beside Malfoy. Who, for once, didn't seem like entirely terrible company. Ron secretly hoped that Malfoy's father had taught him something useful, like the killing curse. After all, Ron wasn't sure that he could even explode something that had been hunting unicorns all year.

"Isn't this a bit... dangerous?" Harry whispered from in front of them, as he glanced around. "I mean... this is the Forbidden Forest. Anything could be in here."

"Yeah, well, it's that 'anything' we're tryin' to track down, 'Arry," Hagrid said, not looking back. "And we're not alone in here. Fang can smell it, and I reckon we're gettin' close."

A strange noise echoed from somewhere ahead and the entire group froze for a moment. Ron slipped his wand out of its holster and held it tightly. The warmth it provided him did little to calm his nerves as Hagrid shouldered the huge crossbow and peered out in front of them.

"Just the wind…" Hagrid said a moment later, letting the crossbow rest again. Ron was almost sure it wasn't just the wind and never before in his life had he wanted to be back in the bathroom with the troll so badly.

They came to a small clearing, the trees parting just enough to let in a bit of moonlight. Hagrid stopped and motioned for them to do the same. Fang was standing at the edge, his nose sniffing the air, ears perked.

"Alright, stay quiet now," Hagrid murmured. "'Bout time we split up."

"Split up," Malfoy said, astonished. "Are you crazy?"

Ron couldn't help but agree. "Wouldn't it be safer, if we stayed together?"

"If we stay together, we might miss the thing we're after. We'll split up—quicker we do that, quicker we figure out what's been killin' the unicorns." Hagrid said, looking at Harry and Malfoy. "You two, take Fang and head north. He'll sniff out anything. Be careful, don't get too far ahead."

Both Harry and Malfoy nodded reluctantly. Fang, as if on cue, gave an excited bark and bounded towards them. Malfoy grimaced as he and Harry followed the dog off into the forest. They had only taken a few steps before Ron lost sight of them entirely. Ron's stomach tightened as he glanced in their direction one last time. He couldn't help but hope that Malfoy died before Harry so they could at least save one of them.

Hagrid pushed through a bunch of trees and revealed yet another path. Ron trudged behind him, darting his eyes across the dark trees and looking for any sign of movement. He felt as if he was being watched by a million eyes all at once. He could already hear Daphne yelling at him for doing something this dangerous, even if he didn't really have a choice.

As if undisturbed, Hagrid spoke ""How's it goin', Ron? How've you been settling into Slytherin?""

Ron looked up at the giant of a man, momentarily taken aback by the question.

"It's... fine," Ron replied.

Hagrid raised an eyebrow. "Not what you thought?"

"Yeah," Ron said, giving a small shrug. "I mean, my brothers are all in Gryffindor, so... it's a bit different."

Hagrid nodded in understanding. "Ah, must be tough, always comparin' yourself to your brothers, eh?"

"It's just... strange,"

"Ain't always a bad thing, bein' different, y'know? Gives ya a chance ter stand out, make yer own mark."

Ron nodded, he wasn't sure his brothers thought the same way. But it didn't really matter much to him, not anymore and certainly not at that moment. He didn't want to think about his brothers when he was already worried about some sort of monster lurking in the trees only a few dozen feet away. Suddenly, a thought broke into the front of Ron's mind.

"Hagrid… you took Harry to Diagon Alley right?"

"Aye," Hagrid nodded, his voice gruff but warm. "Picked him up from his Muggles, I did. Took 'im right off their doorstep, poor little thing."

"And you took him to Gringotts… and you took something from a vault there…"

Hagrid stopped suddenly, so suddenly that Ron almost knocked into him. The half-giant turned around and frowned at Ron through his bushy beard.

"What are you askin' me about, Ron?"

Ron swallowed. "There's something you've hidden in the school. Something that someone's trying to steal."

"That's none of yer business, Ron," Hagrid said with a firm shake of his head. "Best keep out of it if I were you. What's goin' on at that school is Dumbledore's and Mr. Femel's business, no one else's."

"Femel?" Ron asked, and immediately a name came to mind. "Nicholas Femel? Like the chocolate frog card?"

"I shouldn't have said that," Hagrid muttered, his thick brows furrowing. "Best not get too curious, Ron. Some things are best left alone, y'know?"

Before Ron could push the conversation further, a scream ripped through the air, slicing the howling wind. It was high-pitched and full of terror. Ron felt his heart jump into his throat. Hagrid's eyes widened considerably, and the half-giant turned around sprinting into the forest. Ron followed as best he could sprinting after Hagrid's large frame.

The rain hit Ron's face like a thousand needles, but he hardly noticed it. All he could think about was the worst. He imagined coming to a clearing and seeing Harry and Draco's mangled corpses. He imagined them being impaled on large pointed sticks, or hanging from the branches of a tree.

Ron didn't have to imagine for very long as they came to a clearing, Hagrid stopping and stepping out of the way. Harry, pale as a ghost, stood trembling beside Malfoy, who was muttering under his breath in a delirious sort of way. Ron couldn't make out what Malfoy was trying to say, something about his father and burning down the school. Fang stood quietly, his first bristled and ears pinned back in a way that made Ron shiver. The dog turned its head in their direction to reveal thick red splotches around its mouth.

It wasn't just Harry, Malfoy, and Fang in the clearing, and as soon as he noticed Ron's breath caught in his throat. There was a creature behind them. A centaur.

The centaur's hooves clicked softly against the wet ground as it sank back into the shadows of the forest, its eyes gleaming slightly through the darkness before disappearing entirely.

"Are you lot alright?" Hagrid's voice broke the stillness as he hurried forward, his concern palpable.

"Wraith... it's all... shadows and whispers... didn't see it clearly but it was there... something's watching... something wrong..." Draco said or tried to say.

Harry, looking utterly drained, nodded shakily. "He's alive..." His voice trembled. "The Dark Lord... Voldemort..."

Ron's body filled with dread and ice as he looked into Harry's emerald eyes and only saw sincerity. For a moment he almost imagined the man on the road behind them, the handsome face, red glowing eyes. His ears filled with cackles and laughter.