Harry Potter and the Book of Shadows

Detention in the Forbidden Forest

It was a good thing Harry had made sure he was on time to Transfiguration the next day. It was glaringly obvious when he, Ron, and Hermione walked in that McGonagall was still peeved about whatever had happened the night before. They quickly found their projects and set to work, trying to avoid eye contact with McGonagall.

When class was over, most students exited quickly, not wanting to end up like several of their classmates who had managed to earn themselves extra homework over minor mistakes.

Ron looked mournfully at his notes. "An extra two-foot essay! It's not fair."

"Well your chess pieces-" Hermione started.

Ron narrowed his eyes. "I'm not finished yet!"

Harry watched the two, saying nothing. McGonagall had given them until Christmas to finish whichever transfiguration project they had chosen. Ron had decided to make his own wizard chess set. While he had done well in making the figures mobile and even have their own individual personalities, whenever they spoke, it was only in rather coarse swears. Harry wasn't sure, but it might have been due to Ron's frustrated mumblings during class.

Hermione was going to argue the point but decided a well-placed sigh said enough. She stole a glance at Harry, who had been quiet all morning.

She was about to ask Harry if he was all right when he turned toward the dungeon stairs instead of the Great Hall.

"Aren't you coming to lunch?" Hermione asked.

Harry stopped, thinking quickly. He couldn't tell them he'd gotten detention; they'd ask why and he couldn't tell them he'd gotten caught out after hours because he'd been researching the Book of Shadows. "I'll be right there. I just needed to ask someone something."

As he hurried down the stairs, Ron and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks. Ron shrugged and led the way to the Hall.

Harry hurried to Persephone's office, knowing he'd have to tell Ron and Hermione something when he did get to the Great Hall. Hoping inspiration would strike sometime between now and then, he knocked on the door, peering in cautiously.

Persephone sat behind her desk, scribbling furiously. There were stacks of parchments of varying sizes and several unopened letters. Without looking up she motioned for him to sit. "Hello, Harry."

Harry sat and waited as she finished writing and set the paper to one side. Folding her hands in front of her, she leaned forward slightly, looking Harry in the eye. "We need to arrange your detention."

Harry merely nodded in response. He didn't think it would be too bad, since he didn't think she would have given him one if McGonagall hadn't shown up.

"Quite frankly Harry, I don't have time right now to oversee a properly boring and tedious assignment, so instead you can help me."

Harry perked up. This sounded like it might actually be fun.

"Don't get your hopes up. I shouldn't even consider it, but right now, this is all I can come up with. Meet me at Free's paddock after dinner. I had planned on taking Ginny but I decided it was too dangerous. Since you seem to have no issue with endangering yourself, you can help me instead."

Harry felt a slight chill. "What-"

"I'll explain it all then. If you don't mind, I have a lot to do and I'm sure you want to be off to lunch." Persephone arranged several papers in front of her and picked up her quill.

Sensing she was already absorbed in what she was doing, Harry stood to leave. As he did, a house-elf scurried by, carrying coffee and a sandwich on a tray.

"Pardon, sir," the house elf squeaked as she squeezed by. She laid the tray on a corner of Persephone's desk and bobbed a curtsey.

"Thank you, Laemlli," Persephone said absently. The house elf scurried back toward the door.

Just as Harry made it to the door, Persephone's voice called him back. Turning, he raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"If anyone asks, you're helping me with Free, nothing more." Persephone looked at him meaningfully.

Harry nodded, not sure he understood, but glad he had an excuse not to say any more than he had to.

By the time he walked into the Hall for lunch, Ginny had joined Ron and Hermione. They were talking quietly with worried expressions, whatever Ginny said in response obviously not allaying their fears. Harry had sat and poured a glass of pumpkin juice, taking a sip before Hermione cleared her throat.

"I was out after hours last night and Persephone gave me detention. I was just talking to her about it," Harry began before Hermione could.

"What were you doing? Why didn't you ask me to go?" Hermione and Ron asked at the same time.

"I needed to..." Harry still didn't want them to know what he was up to and searched for a reason. Recalling what Persephone had assumed the night before, he said, "...think."

He had been thinking, just not about what they would assume. It wasn't really a lie.

"Persephone gave you detention?" Ron sounded surprised. Hermione actually looked pleased and Harry saw Ginny struggle not to laugh.

"Yeah." He didn't elaborate.

"I bet her detention is way better than Filch's," Ron mused, thinking of the times he'd ended up cleaning something horrible without magic for getting caught out late.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After lunch as he, Ron, and Hermione stood outside Hagrid's hut with the rest of the class, waiting for Hagrid, they noticed the paddock gate was open and Free was nowhere to be seen. It was a bit windy and looked like it might rain and several students debated going back to the castle. Just as the students were deciding how long they had to wait before they could leave, Hagrid lumbered out of the Forbidden Forest.

"Sorry 'bout that. Lost track of time." Hagrid came up to the class. "Well the, er, subject of today's lesson seems to have taken off so..."

"I can't imagine how he got out," Malfoy said just loud enough for everyone to hear. Several of the Slytherins snickered, eyeing the open gate.

Hermione glared at them. "If you'd been paying attention, you'd know that Free is quite capable of flying so there's no point in closing the gate, Malfoy," she spat his name out.

"Righ'," Hagrid interrupted, in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "I have another creature comin' but since it's not here yet, we'll have to make due with this." Hagrid held out a what looked to be a rather large brown, furry weasel. Its whiskers twitched as its beady black eyes focused on one of the Slytherins.

"What're you lookin' at, ugly?"

Pansy stopped mid-squeal and stared at the creature, surprise evident on her pug-nosed face. A number of students snickered loudly. The weasel turned to where Crabbe and Goyle stood by Malfoy, laughing at Pansy's indignation.

"What's it to ya, ya-" Hagrid's hand clamped the creature's mouth shut before it could finish its comment. It continued to eye Malfoy as muffled noises sounded from Hagrid's closed hand.

"So this here's a jarvey." Hagrid fished a handkerchief out of one of his many pockets and wound it around the ferret-like animal's snout. "Fascinatin' creature, but not much of a vocabulary, I'm afraid."

When Hagrid released the large furry animal onto the table to give the students a better look, it began rolling around, attempting to paw off the cloth binding its mouth shut. Most of the class was laughing at the jarvey's antics, though a few students looked sorry for the unfortunate beast.

"That's not hurting it, is it?" Lavender asked as the jarvey gave up and rolled over to stand and glare at the students, air snorting through the bit of black nose poking out of the handkerchief.

"'Course not!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Just keepin' 'em from spouting a bunch of nonsense."

Lavender didn't look convinced but didn't say anything more. Malfoy had moved closer to where Ron and Harry stood, eyeing the weasel, then Ron distastefully.

"Little family reunion for you, Weasley?" he said with a sneer.

"Seems like he'd be more likely related to a ferret, Malfoy," Harry replied coolly.

The Gryffindors within earshot sniggered. Malfoy cast a hateful glance at Harry, but backed off. Ron's angry flush subsided a bit as Malfoy retreated to the far side of the table. "Thanks."

While he told the class about jarvey hunting techniques and social behavior, Hagrid somehow managed to keep the creature from escaping both the handkerchief and the table. At the end of the class, while Hagrid held it gently, the class took turns nervously petting the now quite riled weasel. Muttering and snorting, the jarvey's fur rose with every hesitant pat.

"Think we'd best set 'im free," Hagrid declared when the class was nearly over. "He'll find his way back to his burrow, no problem."

The class stood back, leaving a clear path to the forest as Hagrid untied the knot securing the handkerchief. With a stream of rude exclamations the jarvey raced back into the forest, leaving a class of surprised and snickering students.

"Well, that was, er, interesting," Hermione commented as they walked back to the castle.

"I thought the lesson was pretty good," Ron replied as they passed by the Great Hall and headed back to Gryffindor.

"I suppose for coming up with something last-minute, it could have been worse," Hermione agreed.

Harry thought about what Hagrid had said. "I wonder what Hagrid has planned next. He said whatever it was hadn't arrived yet."

"Well, we've already covered..." Hermione launched into a list of the animals they'd covered in their previous Care of Magical Creatures classes, beginning with their first class ever. She even included creatures they'd studied with Lupin in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Ron leaned over to whisper to Harry, "Does she spend all night memorizing stuff or what?"

Harry shrugged as Hermione finished. "There's not much we haven't done yet," she stated. "There are mostly only highly dangerous creatures like Chimaeras and such left, and we certainly won't be studying those hands-on."

Even Hermione paused when she realized what she had just said. The three exchanged looks and continued to the common room, now intensely curious, not to mention anxious, as to what Hagrid had planned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening Harry, Ron, and Ginny were walking to the quidditch pitch when Ginny turned and headed in the opposite direction.

"Where're you going?" Ron stopped, confused. Ginny had been showing up late to practice more and more often, which is why they'd arranged to walk down to the field with her.

Ginny turned slightly, but kept walking. "I'm going to check on Free. Persephone and I usually meet around now." She'd missed the first ten minutes of practice more than a few times and knew Katie wasn't happy. Ginny had protested, stating she more than made up for it on weekends with Harry and Ron, and her game obviously hadn't suffered. Katie had grudgingly agreed, so Ginny kept her nightly appointment with Persephone and Free. Still, Harry and Ron were worried she might get kicked off the team.

"What about practice?" Harry asked. Since their rival match with Slytherin was over, Katie had cut practice by an hour, so they could all have a normal dinner. She also gave them a few days a week off. It wasn't as bad if Ginny missed ten minutes of a two-hour practice, but it started to add up when it wasn't as long. After the accident in the last game, Harry thought she should get as much practice as possible so it wouldn't happen again.

Ginny stopped. "I won't be that late. Besides, our next match isn't until after Christmas and it's against Hufflepuff. Missing ten minutes of practice won't make a difference. Free will be gone for good soon, and I want to see him while I can." Ginny also liked spending time with Persephone. For once she felt like she had a friend like Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Her anecdotes from the ranch were always good for a laugh, too. "It won't take that long, I promise."

As she hurried off, Ron and Harry tried to understand, but just couldn't figure how a feeding a horse could be better than playing quidditch. Shaking their heads, they headed to the field.

"Hi, Ginny!" Persephone greeted her as she walked up.

Ginny opened the grain barrel as Persephone rinsed out Free's feed tray and handed it to her. They had their routine down.

"How's everything going?" Persephone asked as she filled a water bucket.

Ginny added two scoops of grain to the feed tray, shouldering Free's head aside so she could put it on the ground. "All right, I suppose."

Dumping the water into the large trough by the fence, Persephone noted Ginny's clothes. "You have practice tonight?"

Ginny nodded. "Our next game's not for a while, so it's not too bad if I'm late."

"As long as you're not getting in trouble or anything," she replied with a meaningful look.

Ginny shrugged it off. "Nah. Besides, Free will be gone soon and then I won't be late anymore."

Persephone patted his neck. "Ah, well. He belongs with his own kind." She smiled a bit as Free munched.

Watching them for a moment, Ginny wondered about Persephone's poignant expression. "What is it?"

"Just thinking. We've had some good times in the few short months we've been together." She smirked. "And some not so good ones."

Ginny was definitely interested in the details. "Not so good how?"

"He wasn't always the nice boy he is now, you know. He's tossed me around a fair few times. Into trees, bushes, the ground, the fence..."

"The lake." Ginny laughed.

Persephone laughed, too. "I deserved that one."

It still surprised Ginny that Persephone wasn't the least bit angry about it. "It took you a long time to get back."

"I landed in a patch of weeds that happened to be full of grindylows. It's a good thing I had my wand in my hair. If I had kept it in my robes, I would have been in trouble." She shook her head with a smile. "And he's always telling me not to put it there..."

Ginny noticed the last line was said to herself. "Who told you that?"

"Hmm? Oh, someone back at the ranch. Actually, he'd get a kick out of hearing Free tossed me into the lake."

Ginny was curious. "Because he thought Free was dangerous?"

Persephone grinned. "No. Well, yes, he did, but that's not why he'd think it was funny. See, there's a lake not too far from the ranch, much warmer than this one and with far less critters in it. There's a cliff where the river waterfalls into it. It looks high, but it's actually kind of fun to jump off of." She stopped, obviously picturing it in her mind. "Now, he was pretty new and obviously needed to talk, but he just wouldn't open up. Well, one way we get the more high-strung horses to calm down is to overexpose them to things that scare them. That way they get used to it. I sort of did something like that with him."

Ginny thought for a moment, not understanding. After a second, she grinned. "You pushed him off the cliff."

Persephone laughed. "Actually, pulled would be more accurate. I'm not that cruel, and never let him say I didn't jump first. I grabbed his hand and made him run down and just didn't...stop when we got to the edge. He didn't know it was safe, so he had a good scare."

"Was he mad?" Ginny was still grinning.

"At first, but not for long. It certainly got him talking. He thanked me in the end." They each gave Free a pat as they left the paddock. "Still, I know he'd love to hear I got mine."

"Will you see him again?" She knew Persephone missed her friends from the ranch.

Surprisingly, Persephone did not look sad, but smiled a bit. "I'd be surprised if I didn't."

Though most of the team looked disgruntled at yet another late appearance, Ginny performed well in practice, so no one could really complain. Katie had her and Julian practicing accuracy drills. Ginny had nailed the target dead-on every time. Harry watched them laughing together as Ginny gave pointers to Julian. His attention was diverted when a poorly aimed quaffle smacked him in the side of the head.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Harry!" Taylor called.

Katie shook her head. "All right it's obvious we're getting tired. That's enough for tonight. Good work everyone." They headed into the locker rooms to clean up.

Ron met Hermione in the front hall for another prefect meeting with McGonagall, leaving Ginny and Harry to walk back to Gryffindor together. Harry thought Ginny seemed unusually pensive, but dismissed it as his own anxiousness about detention with Persephone. He couldn't help but wonder what had made Persephone change her mind about bringing Ginny, if she had even truly planned on taking her the first place. Harry Shaking his head, Harry ruefully thought he was getting to be as paranoid as Mad-Eye Moody. When they reached the painting of the Fat Lady, Ginny stopped him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the conflict on her face.

Ginny hesitated. "Harry, I..." She stopped and seemed to change her mind about whatever she was going to say. "What were you really doing out last night?"

Harry scrambled to think of something to tell her, but before he even opened his mouth, Ginny gave him a hard look. "Don't lie to me, Potter." Harry almost flinched at her tone, and for some reason he really didn't like her calling him Potter. "I thought we were friends."

"Well, going in or not?" The Fat Lady's voice cut through the awkward pause.

"Lickety schnickets," Harry gave the password and the portrait swung wide. When they were on the other side, Harry turned to Ginny with a sigh. "We are, Ginny. I was...it was something I had to do on my own."

Ginny only looked back at him with strange expression. "Was it, Harry?"

She headed up the girls' staircase, leaving Harry standing confused in front of the portrait hole. Knowing he didn't have time to puzzle out what she had meant, Harry hurried to get a sweater, thinking it would be cold outside for whatever Persephone had planned. He found her outside Hagrid's cabin, sorting through objects laid out on the wooden table.

"Good, you're here. I don't want to be out too late," Persephone greeted him and looked up at the clouds skirting across the darkening sky. "We're going into the Forbidden Forest."

Harry stared. "What? But it's...dangerous." Though he had been in it numerous times already, Harry wasn't sure he wanted to go again, especially with someone he wasn't sure he trusted.

Persephone fixed him with a look. "No more dangerous than wandering though the castle by yourself in the middle of the night."

He had to disagree. "Hogwarts is safe!"

"As long as certain people remain under that roof, I would not be so foolish as to consider it so." Giving him a meaningful look, she picked up a long thin object from the table and examined it. Grasping the handle in one hand and the scabbard in the other, Persephone drew a long sword out in a swift motion, causing the bright blade to make a high singing noise. Moonlight glinted off the highly polished surface. "And neither should you."

Harry swallowed. "What's that for?"

Persephone examined the blade, then cut the air with a practiced swing. Harry instinctively moved back. "We'll be tracking a herd of winged horses that are moving through the forest. I have a feeling Free is trying to lure some of the younger females away and I want to see for myself."

Harry nodded at the explanation of why they were headed into the forest but still felt slightly ill at ease. "What's the sword for?"

"Take a look." She deftly flipped the sword and offered him the hilt.

Harry examined it, not knowing what he was looking for. The blade seemed unusually bright, too highly polished to be steel. While he was scrutinizing the sword, Persephone picked up something from the table. Silently coming to stand beside him, Harry started when she placed her hand over his to reclaim her sword.

"Do not lose this." She slipped a short, thin chain of silver around his neck and fastened the clasp. The metal felt cold against his skin and, looking down, he saw an oddly shaped pendant. The red stone in the center gleamed in the moonlight, almost pulsing with an inner glow. The pendant looked oddly familiar, but Harry couldn't place it. She placed two bands of metal in his hand. "Put those on."

As she placed a similar necklace around her own neck, Harry slid the bracelets over his hands, wondering what was going on. She fastened the sword belt around Harry's waist. "I hear you've used a sword before?"

Guessing she was referring to Godric Gryffindor's sword he replied, "Once, though I don't know how well..."

"You're alive, that's well enough." She surveyed him and herself. "That should do it. Ready?"

"Wait! What? No! What's going on?" Harry didn't want to go anywhere until he knew exactly what it was she had planned.

Persephone raised an eyebrow. "I told you, we're going into the forest to track a herd."

"But what's all this," Harry indicated the jewelry and sword, "for? And wouldn't it be easier to track during the day? And why didn't you go with Hagrid instead?" All he knew was he wasn't sure he trusted her enough to follow into the very dangerous Dark Forest with night quickly falling.

Persephone took a deep breath, suddenly reminding Harry of Hermione. It was the same look she gave him and Ron when they couldn't keep up with her reasoning. "I didn't ask Hagrid because I was going to go alone after I decided not to bring Ginny. I'm taking you because I thought you'd be able to handle yourself and I was serious when I said I couldn't think of anything else. We're going now because I didn't have time earlier and I think Free will be gone for good within the next few days. The herd moves too fast during the day, so my best bet to find them would be just after sundown when they've settled somewhere for the night. The light from the moon should be enough to guide their path since winged horses always stay on a trail where there's open sky above. Now, we need to get going before it gets too late and the moon moves to an angle where it won't be any use."

"But what about all of this?" Harry asked again, mostly indicating the sword. What was she expecting them to run into?

"Didn't you look at it?" Persephone asked, obviously slightly annoyed.

"Yes!" Harry said impatiently.

"What's it made of?"

Harry repressed an irritated sound. Why did he have to guess? "I don't know, steel?"

Persephone took a few quick steps and pulled the sword free. She held it within an inch of Harry's face. "Listen closely, you had better start using your head or you could get us both in trouble. From what I've heard you're supposed be good at thinking on your feet, so you'd better start right now. I ask again, what is it made of?"

Harry tried not to back up, wondering what she would do if he didn't answer correctly. A thought flickered, maybe she'd leave him behind if he didn't, but pride made him look at the bright blade again, and try to figure it out. Moonlight glinted brightly on the razor-sharp edge. Harry looked up. Moonlight. From a full moon. "Silver, it's made of silver." He looked at the circles of metal around his wrists. "So are the bracelets. For protection against..." Harry trailed off, thinking of Lupin, "...because of the full moon."

She slid the sword back into its scabbard. "Good, plated with silver, yes. Just a precaution, I'd hate for you to have to use them." Persephone turned and started walking toward the forest.

"Is the pendant some kind of protective ward?" Harry asked. The familiarity still escaped him, though he figured it was a safe guess.

The look on her face was almost sad when she turned back to him. "You could say that. That is not something you need to worry about."

Seeing she wore no silver other than the unusual pendant, he hurried to catch up. "What about silver for you?"

"Also something you don't need to worry about. Now, stay close and try not to make too much noise."

As they moved into the forest, Harry felt a slight prickling on the back of his neck. He tried to ignore it as Persephone pointed out faint hoof prints and bent vegetation signaling the passage of horses. Harry's gaze followed hers skyward to see a thin ribbon of night sky above.

They followed the trail in silence for several minutes, both pausing at a faint rustling in the underbrush that turned out to be some kind of small rodent. As they moved through the trees, Harry couldn't help but notice how eerie the branches looked, having started to lose a number of their leaves. Moonlight fell in broken patches, enhancing rather than dispelling the creepy mood. At the next pause to check tracks, Harry spoke, mostly to interrupt the almost menacing quiet.

"How can you be sure these are from the winged horses and not the unicorns, centaurs, or thestrals?"

Instead of annoyance at his disturbing the silence, Persephone actually looked pleased. "Good question, Harry." She moved off their path a few feet and looked around. "Here, look." Harry hesitated then joined her. "These are unicorn tracks, see how the hoof is a rounder U-shape? Also note the slight indentation in the front of the print, because unicorns still have a slight cloven hoof. If I come across some thestral tracks, you can see how they come almost to a point in front, like a V." She led him back to the path they had been following and knelt, looking for a clean print. "What we're looking for is a more traditional horse hoof shape, often with a broken outline as winged horse hooves tend to be brittle and flake off in the wild, leaving jagged edges."

"What about the centaurs?" Harry asked, relived she knew what she was doing.

"They have a pretty similar shape, but centaur prints are far larger than what we're looking for. The herd can't be too much further. I don't think they'd venture too far from open land." She spoke quietly, hardly breaking the unnerving quiet of the forest.

A long, mournful howl sounded and they both froze. Harry's hand went instinctively to his wand and then to the sword hilt. Glancing at Persephone, he thought he saw her pupils shift to vertical slits as she glanced up at the moon, showing just over the treetops, but when he blinked it was gone. He played it off as a trick of the light. Straining to hear any sounds after the howl died, only the rustling of the wind in the leaves could be heard. After a moment, they continued.

They made their way as inaudibly as possible, Persephone showing Harry how to walk so as not to make the usual crunching noise on newly fallen dead leaves and branches. When they came upon a small clearing, Persephone put out an arm to stop Harry and whispered so softly he almost didn't hear her, "Don't move. Look."

He followed where she was pointing, not seeing anything at first. Then he saw a flicker of movement just under the trees across the glen. Dark shapes resolved into the forms of about ten winged horses, plus three small lumps on the ground Harry realized were foals, curled up by their mother's feet.

Moonlight fell gently into the clearing in small dappled pools. The winged herd stood sheltered under the trees, just out of view of the sky. In that moment, the forest no longer seemed sinister, but peaceful and safe. Harry held his breath, whishing he had some way to capture the moment of calm serenity.

He felt Persephone's hands on his shoulders turning him to face at an angle to the herd. He could still see them clearly, but he wondered what she was doing. Wanting to ask, but afraid to make any noise, he gave her an inquisitive look.

"Tilt your head down a bit, toward me," Persephone whispered. Harry inclined his head slightly. "In this position, you seem smaller, less of a threat. Your head angled down is a mimic of their rest and graze position which shows you're calm. Just relax. You can make movements, in fact, it might be good if you did, but move slowly and never face them front-on."

"What about you?" he asked as quietly as he could, wondering how long he was going to be there.

"I'm going to circle around to see if Free is nearby, and maybe catch a glimpse of the herd stallion, if there is one. Stay here, I'll only be a few minutes." Persephone moved off, making almost no noise.

Harry stood rooted to the spot, not wanting to disturb the silence. In watching, he began to notice the herd was not as still as they had first appeared. There was the occasional stamp of a foot, the soft swish of a tail and the silent flicker of ears, alert even in rest to every sound of the forest. Just as Harry reached up to scratch his nose, one of the small lumps got up and shook. Harry relaxed his arm and tried to seem as non-threatening as possible.

The colt's mother turned to Harry's direction, ears perked, but seemed to dismiss him, leaning down with a gentle muzzle to assure herself all was well with her baby then settled back to rest. Harry felt a slight twist at the maternal affection.

Not so eager to return to sleep, the colt twitched his ears, turning his head in Harry's direction, in a mimic of his mother. Tail and ears perked up, the small winged creature hesitantly made his way across the clearing. Harry tried to be as relaxed, yet as still as possible, not sure what to do, and not wanting to scare the baby, or the herd, off. He had never been so close to a wild baby of any sort and it was kind of thrilling. The small horse stopped a few feet from him, his chestnut-red wings slightly extended. His ears flicked back and forth and he blew out softly in curiosity. Taking another step, he extended his head to sniff at Harry's sweater.

Harry couldn't help but jump slightly when the colt snorted and pranced back a few steps. Looking to see if the mare had been alerted, Harry saw that, while her head was up, she did not seem overly concerned. The rest of the herd remained as quiet as ever. He and the colt eyed each other curiously for a long moment.

"Good job, Harry." Persephone's voice was right beside him. He hadn't even heard her come up. She took a step toward the colt while stretching out a hand. "Hello, little one."

The baby nosed her hand and made a short, high 'whee' noise, then snorted again, backing up and tossing his spiky baby mane. Across the clearing his mother blew out softly, and the colt turned to her, flicking his ears. Harry decided they were assuring each other everything was all right.

The colt allowed Persephone to scratch his forehead. "You'd best get back to your momma. Go on, now."

Snuffing at her hand once more, the colt turned and pranced back to his mother's side, giving them one last look before settling beside her to sleep.

"Let's go, Harry."

They walked back in silence, Harry thinking that had to be the best detention he'd ever had. When they had reached Hagrid's hut again, Persephone helped Harry remove all the items he'd borrowed. He'd forgotten he'd even had it on. Hesitating, Harry started, "That was...that was amazing."

Persephone smiled. "Not bad for detention, huh?"

"What did you see on the other side?" Harry asked as they walked back to the castle.

"Other side?" Persephone's forehead wrinkled.

Harry almost stopped, if she hadn't gone to the other side of the herd, where had she gone? "The other side of the herd."

"Oh! That other side." Persephone laughed. "They do have a stallion. He's a beautiful deep chestnut. You couldn't see him from where you were, but he could see you. It was a good thing he didn't think for one second you were a threat to that baby. There was also a small group of three young females, standing slightly off to one side, I don't know if you could see. I think they're the ones Free is trying to tempt away."

"Did you see Free?"

Persephone sighed. "No. He might be in that field on the other side of the lake, or further in the trees, watching the herd. I just hope he can get the girls without challenging the stallion."

Harry was curious. "You don't think he'd lose again, do you?"

"Not against the chestnut, no. In fact, quite the opposite, that stallion is getting old. I'd hate for Free to take his whole herd away. Those babies wouldn't fare too well, either."

Harry remembered Hagrid explaining when a younger stallion challenged and won, sometimes he'd kick out the old stallion's babies so there would be more room for his own. Remembering the fuzzy curious colt, Harry hoped the three mares would just sneak off.

As they entered the castle, Persephone turned to Harry. "I'd bet money that when the time comes, your colt is the one to take over that herd. He's a brave one." Harry smiled in agreement. "You did wonderfully, Harry. You should be proud, wild animals don't walk up to just anyone."

Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower in good spirits.

When he entered common room and spotted Ginny sitting by herself, he headed over, knowing she would love to hear about the herd and the baby aethonan. She gave him a guarded look as he sat and his enthusiasm wavered at her cool greeting. It died completely when he realized he couldn't really tell her about the winged herd anyway.

She turned back to her book. "How was detention?" Her voice was polite but distant.

"Um, it was okay." She made a noncommittal noise in response. Harry was thoroughly confused at her aloof behavior. "Is something wrong?"

Ginny didn't look up. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Harry didn't think it sounded like she was.

"Fine." Her tone indicated she clearly was not.

Not knowing what else to do, Harry changed the subject. "Where're Hermione and Ron?"

"Probably still talking with McGonagall. It's not like I follow them around wherever they go, you know," she said shortly.

Harry felt like he was on a sinking ship, and decided to get out before it went completely under. "Oh, okay. I have some homework, so I'll see you later then."

He got up and hurried to the boy's dormitories, wondering what had Ginny so upset and why she wouldn't talk to him. He gathered some notes and blank parchment and headed back to the common room.

There were several more people there when he walked down the stairs, though Ron and Hermione had yet to appear. Harry turned to where Ginny had been, but his seat had been occupied by Julian. Harry frowned as he sat by himself by the fireplace. Ginny was smiling as she and Julian chatted. She'd abandoned her book, showing him none of the aloofness she'd shown Harry.

Harry was still muttering to himself when Ron and Hermione joined him a few minutes later.

"Hey, Harry. How was detention?" Ron asked as he and Hermione sat.

His good mood having disappeared, Harry merely shrugged. "Fine. Has Ginny said anything to either of you?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. Hermione shook her head. "No, why?"

"She seemed upset earlier," Harry said.

Ron looked over to where she sat, laughing with Julian. "Seems okay now."

Harry only muttered something unintelligible in response. Hermione looked from Harry to Ginny, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"How about a game of chess, Harry?" Ron suggested.

"Don't you have that extra Transfiguration essay to do?" Hermione admonished, pulled out of her reverie.

"Playing chess will help me write it," Ron insisted. "Come on, Harry. Can't play by myself."

Harry had to admit Ron was getting very good at countering Hermione's nagging. Thinking he should pay more attention to how he did it, Harry agreed to a game. He didn't feel like doing work anyway.

Harry had lost three games in a row when Ginny joined them. With only half his attention on the games, Harry had made some poor strategic decisions.

"Want a game, Ginny?" Ron asked having noticed Harry was not really paying attention.

Sitting next to Harry, she replied, "Sure. How was the prefect meeting?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. "Um, fine. Nothing exciting." Ron's ears tinged pink and Ginny knew he was lying.

"Something's going on." Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Spill."

"We're not supposed to say. You'll find out when everyone else does," Hermione added loftily.

"Oh, come on. We won't say anything, will we Harry?" Ginny nudged his arm.

Harry nodded, glad that Ginny seemed to be over whatever had been bugging her, though she seemed to have shifted her mood onto him.

Ron seemed about to give in when Hermione looked at them all sternly. "To keep things fair, McGonagall and the other professors don't want anyone to know ahead of time. Quite frankly, I think the whole thing is a very bad idea. You'll just have to wait until December first."

Her tone left no room for argument. While Hermione turned back to her stacks of notes, Harry watched Ron trounce his sister in their first chess game, feeling a bit better about losing three times in a row. Ginny won the next round but refused a third, announcing it was late and she was heading to bed. Ron collected his pieces as Hermione stacked and organized her notes.

"You and Ginny didn't have a fight, did you?" Hermione asked after Ginny was out of earshot.

Harry shrugged. "Not that I know of. She seemed upset about something before, though. I asked but she said she was fine."

"It was probably nothing then," Ron said as they got up from the table.

"Or maybe she just didn't want to tell you," Hermione said cryptically.

Harry's brow furrowed. "Why not? I asked."

Hermione only looked at him, her expression clearly stating the reason was perfectly obvious. She rolled her eyes when it became clear he still had no idea what was going on. "Goodnight."

Ron and Harry stood at the bottom of the boy's stairs, utterly bewildered.

Ron spoke first, "Some help that was. Besides, she looked fine to me."

Harry knew something had been bothering Ginny and Hermione probably not only knew what it was, but why Ginny wouldn't tell him. Why were they both being so mysterious? "I don't get it. Why can't they just say what they mean?" Harry asked.

"Who knows?" Ron shook his head. "I'm going to bed."

Knowing they would never be able to decipher the complicated workings of the female mind, they headed to the safety of the boy's dormitory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they sat down to breakfast the next morning, Harry wondered why Ginny hadn't walked down with them. Was she avoiding them? Or just him? Harry poked at his bacon, thinking.

"Where've you been?" Ron's voice cut into his thoughts. Harry looked up to see Ginny walking toward them.

She greeted them and sat, taking a blueberry scone. "Morning."

"Where'd you run off to so early this morning?" Ron asked. "Your hair's wet."

Ginny took a bite of her scone, eyeing her brother. "Some of us do shower regularly, Ron."

"Liar." Ron flushed when he realized he'd said it out loud. He coughed and rushed on, "That's not what I meant. You were outside."

"I was no-" Ron cut her off with a hard look that clearly stated he knew whatever she was about to say was a lie. Ginny gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine, I was outside. Persephone said Free would be leaving for good any day now and I wanted to see if he was around this morning, okay? Do I need to tell you whenever I plan on going outside? Would you like my class schedule with notes about when I planned to visit the bathroom and a second-by-second account of my whereabouts while you're at it?"

Everyone sat, looking at Ginny in surprise. Hermione cleared her throat. "Ginny, Ron's just trying to-"

"Is there ever a time you don't have the answer to a question no one asked?" Ginny snapped.

Hermione sat back, stunned hurt evident on her face.

Ron's expression darkened. "Ginny, that was totally uncalled-"

"Your constant pestering me is totally uncalled for." Ginny stood up. "Just leave me alone."

She stalked out of the Hall, leaving the trio staring in bewilderment.

"What just happened?" Ron asked. Somehow, Harry sensed the same thing that was bothering her last night was bothering her now, but he still had no idea what it was. Still, he couldn't help but feel relived her anger seemed to be directed at everyone in general, instead of just him in particular.

Harry and Ron looked to Hermione, remembering her cryptic comment the night before. She looked back and shrugged. "I don't know. I thought I had an idea, but now I don't think I was right."

Harry wasn't sure if it was Ginny's harsh words, or the fact that she didn't know the answer to a problem, that had Hermione looking so upset.

"Someone should talk to her," Ron said. Hermione nodded in agreement. They both looked to Harry.

"Me?"

"You're the only one she didn't yell at," Ron pointed out.

"Today," Harry mumbled.

"I'd let her cool off a while, though." Ron advised.

They finished breakfast and started walking to their first class. "How did you know she went outside?" Hermione suddenly asked.

Ron stopped. "I...don't know."

"Good guess," Harry said.

Ron frowned as they entered the potions classroom. "It wasn't a guess."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Ginny didn't follow the rest of her class as they left Herbology, deciding she wasn't hungry or in the mood for Ron's inevitable inquisition. She made her way down to Free's paddock, not surprised, but still disappointed, to find it empty. At least it had stopped raining, she thought. Sighing as she leaned on the fence, she tried to resign herself to the fact Free had left and she hadn't gotten to say goodbye. She had thought Persephone would have let her know, but couldn't bring herself to blame her. After all, Persephone might not have gotten to say goodbye, either.

A loud, piercing whistle startled her out of her gloomy thoughts. Ginny squinted into the Forbidden Forest, trying to see where the sound had come from. It sounded again, and was followed by the crunch of heavy footfalls on leaves and branches. Suddenly, something large broke out of the forest's canopy. Ginny stumbled back, whipping out her wand.

Two more figures joined the first, and Ginny let out the breath she'd been holding when she realized they were winged horses. Looking to the forest again, she wondered what had made them take off like that. Who had whistled? Her first thought was Hagrid, but Persephone stepped out of the shadowy recesses of the trees, just as she realized it must have been her.

"Ginny! You all right?" Persephone called.

Ginny stuffed her wand back in her pocket. "Fine!"

"Hope they didn't scare you," Persephone said, as Ginny joined her.

"No, not at all. What's going on?" She asked, watching the three skittish mares as they touched down just outside the tree line.

Persephone turned back to the forest as though listening for something. She whistled loudly again. "I think Free is ready to go. I'm trying to lure him away from the rest of the herd he's been eyeing."

Ginny watched the three winged horses for a moment. "I thought you wanted him to go back to his own kind."

Persephone whistled again. One of the mares whinnied. A faint answer came from deep in the trees. "Yes, but the herd he's been trailing has babies I would hate to see get hurt. I managed to separate those three and scare the rest in the opposite direction. Those girls are the ones he was really after, anyway."

"Won't Free end up fighting the rest of the herd for territory if they stay around here?" Ginny asked, concerned.

Persephone sighed. "Possibly. I want to believe he'll take the three and find his own place, or that the other stallion will be smart enough to avoid him, but I don't know. This is the best I can do for them."

Ginny saw the genuine regret in her expression. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

Free came crashing out of the woods, neighing loudly when he spotted his mares. They whinnied in response. Persephone imitated the short 'whee' Ginny had heard Free sound only rarely. Free turned, ears perked.

"At least say goodbye," Persephone said quietly as she walked toward him, her hand held out. Feeling like she was intruding, Ginny took a step back.

"It's time to let him go." Persephone turned back to Ginny. "Do you want to say goodbye?"

"No," Ginny said softly. She walked up and stroked Free's soft nose. "Goodbye, Free."

She hugged him around the neck, then turned and wiped her eyes, not wanting Persephone to see her cry.

"Goodbye, my friend. Be careful out there." Persephone put her arms around Free's neck, pressing her forehead into his mane. "Thank you."

As soon as she let go, Free took off toward the mares. They whinnied and reared, turning to run with him. Almost as one, they spread their wings and took to the sky.

Persephone stood, watching them go. Ginny wondered if she should say something, when suddenly, a cold, fat raindrop landed on the top of her head. It was quickly followed by several more and she turned to head inside. After several steps, she realized Persephone wasn't following.

She almost called out when Persephone spoke softly enough Ginny almost didn't hear.

"Goodbye, freedom."

Somehow, Ginny knew she was saying goodbye to more than just her friend. She continued on to the castle alone.

Ginny paused once she entered the main doors, partly to see if Persephone was coming in, partly because she didn't know where she wanted to go. She was sure she didn't want to go back to Gryffindor. Inevitably her brother would have something to say, and she did feel a bit guilty for snapping at Hermione that morning. Until she was in a better mood, she thought it best to avoid them. Where to go? There was always the Room of Requirement, but though the predictable storylines and happy endings of her romance novels usually soothed her, Ginny knew today they would only serve as reminders of how real life did not work like that. And Harry might be there. Truth be told, she wanted somewhere to go and be alone. She walked dejectedly up the staircase, hoping some brilliant idea would come upon her.