Puddle-Wonderful

Chapter Three: Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

"Are you going to punish him further for being late?" Draco asked, as he leaned against a workbench in the Potions classroom. "It's not fair if he gets away with it. I was on time. In fact, I was early so I should be let off early."

Snape snorted, but didn't bother looking up from the essay he was marking, however tedious it was. Who on earth would be stupid enough to think that belladonna was an appropriate substance to mix with mercury in an effort to create a remedy for tonsillitis?

He marked a big fat F on the front in red ink, glancing up when the door was thrown open, and Potter, rushed in, out of breath, his cheeks red and his glasses askew.

Severus took great delight in sitting there in silence for a good long moment, watching Harry grow more uncomfortable.

"You've decided to finally join us, have you, Potter? Fifty points from Gryffindor for tardiness."

Harry frowned but wisely remained silent. He glanced around when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and all-but growled when he saw Draco. "What's he doing here?!"

"Detention, the same as you, Mr Potter," Snape told him, with much delight, as he stood up and swept around to the other side of his desk, folding his arms. "It's his punishment for the spectacular 'accident' you two decided to involve yourself in."

"But Sir! It was all Potter's fault!" Draco piped up from where he was leaning. "I will be proven innocent!"

Snape struggled not to roll his eyes. "That may be so, Draco, but the detention still stands." He let his gaze move back to Harry, and narrowed his eyes. "I have cleared it with Madame Pomfrey. She says that she's happy to have you cleaning out bottles tomorrow afternoon during your free period."

Harry groaned; he'd been hoping to nip down and see Hagrid during that time.

Draco sighed a long-suffering sigh, and straightened up. "I suppose you want us to do some cleaning too?" he asked. "Cauldrons maybe? Or do you want us to write lines or something?"

"Actually, I have much better plans for the pair of you," Snape told them, with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Follow me."

With that, he swept from the classroom, leaving Harry and Draco exchanging a nervous look before they reluctantly followed him.

*

"In my day the pair of you would have been hung."

Harry took a step backwards, away from Filch, and almost stood on Draco's toes.

"Watch it!" Draco shoved him forward again. He had no intention of standing close to that disgusting man, and Potter made the perfect shield.

"Want me to take them down into the torture rooms?" Filch asked, and licked his leathery lips as he eyeballed Harry, and then Draco, who cowered a little more. "Chains gettin' a bit rusty through disuse."

Snape couldn't decided who he wanted to shout at more - Draco for making Slytherin look like a bunch of cowards, Potter for existing, or Filch for being the most disgusting, creepy creature he had ever had the displeasure of coming across.

But what he wouldn't give to toss Potter to him and let him do as he wanted. Would serve the boy right.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Snape replied, looking bored as he studied the two boys. "They are doing a task for me tonight."

"Ooooh...are they?" Filch cackled and leaned down, moving closer to Harry. "Watch your step out there," he advised. "Or you may be coming back without your feet."

Harry shivered as Filch moved away, tossing them a careless, backwards glance over his shoulder as he vanished back inside the castle.

"This is just like first year," Harry mumbled, and wrapped his arms around himself. "Only I imagine the punishment will be much, much worse."

An owl hooted overhead, and Draco jumped. "Can't we do something inside?" he pleaded. "Where it's warm. And light."

Harry laughed. "Not afraid of the dark are you, Malfoy?"

"No. I'm afraid of being eaten by some sort of disgusting creature in the forest."

Snape lifted a hand and snapped his fingers. "Enough. From both of you." He handed them each a lantern. "I expect you back within two hours. And if you're not...well, I suppose we will search for your lifeless bodies in the morning."

Draco stared at him wide-eyed, while Harry snorted. "I think if I can manage to beat Voldemort every year, I can manage a stroll through the forest to pick daisies."

"You are not picking daisies, as you so put it, Potter," Snape told him, his voice holding a warning tone. "I have three tasks for you, so please do listen carefully."

Harry swallowed, and wished Hermione was there with them. She'd probably take all the information in, connect it with a hundred other things in her brain, know exactly where to find what Snape wanted, and have them back out within a half hour. As it was, he was stuck with bloody Malfoy, who was likely to run away at the first sign of trouble and leave him there for dead.

"Your first task," Snape said, taking his time, thoroughly enjoying himself, "is to bring back some Ashwinder eggs. Hagrid has discovered that a couple of them have made themselves a home a short distance before Aragog's lair. I assume you remember this, Potter?"

Harry nodded, and hoped that by short, Snape meant at least a mile away. "I remember."

"Good. Make sure you go there first. You must collect the eggs, and freeze them quickly. If you do not, they are likely to cause a great deal of destruction with their fire."

Harry gulped, and watched as Snape handed Draco a small box to store the eggs in, and then removed a couple of vials from his robes, handing them over too.

"These are to collect Bundimum secretions. Mr Filch tells me home-made cleaning solutions are far preferable to store bought."

Draco sighed loudly behind Harry. "Sir, don't you think this is a bit much?" he said.

"A bit much?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Malfoy, if you'd rather, you can come back to Hogwarts during the summer and attend a special program designed just for you by Mr Filch."

"Ah. Well, I am rather looking forward to this detention."

Snape smirked. "Indeed. Your third and final task is to find a group of Glumbumbles and collect their fluid. Do either of you know what exactly we would use this for?"

Harry shrugged, and scuffed a foot along the ground.

"I thought not. Draco?"

"The fluid causes melancholy and is usually used as an antidote to hysteria that results from ingesting Alihotsy leaves."

"Twenty points to Slytherin."

Harry rolled his eyes. "May we go now? I wish to be back before midnight."

Snape snorted, and considered keeping them back for a moment. But he was so close to finishing his book, and he too wanted to get some sleep that night if he was expected to teach children in the morning. "Very well. Report back to me with the ingredients when you are done."

Snape turned to walk away, and then seemed to have a second thought. "Hold out your wands."

For a brief, terrifying moment, Harry thought that Snape expected them to go into the Forbidden Forest without their wands, but then Snape took out his own wand, and tapped each of theirs in turn. "Tracking spells," he explained. "It means your wands will glow green when you are heading in the correct direction to each of your goals, and red when you are heading away from them. I have also decided that for my peace of mind, and that of possibly Dumbledore's, to place my own personal tracking system on your wands, should we need to find you."

Harry wrinkled his nose, but squared his shoulders, eyeing the glowing green tip of his wand. He'd managed to stay alive so far, so what could one little forest do?

He glanced back at Draco, then glared at Snape, before heading into the forest, vanishing under a canopy of trees.

*

"Will you wait up? I'm not about to run after you because you want to be some bloody hero of the quest and dive into danger." Draco scoffed, climbing over a large branch. "Really, this is servants stuff, that oaf should be out here doing it."

Harry rolled his eyes and then whipped around from his position far ahead of Draco, shooting him a nasty glare. "Hagrid can't use magic so he can't freeze the eggs. Just make sure you're ready to deal with this once we come upon them because I don't want the forest set on fire whilst I'm in it." With a huff he turned back around and started walking once more through the intense darkness.

He was glad for the silence that Draco seemed to have lapsed into and squinted as he tried to figure out which direction was the proper way to go. Last time had been so much easier. All he'd had to do was follow the spiders, not remember the path they took, and avoid getting too close. Malfoy must have caught on to his hesitance because after a few moments he let out a heavy sigh.

"You don't even know how to get where we're going, do you?" he asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Harry shot him a glare. "Well, excuse me for not having a map inside my brain to follow when all the trees look the same." He glanced down at the tip of his wand. "It says we're going in the right direction, but I'm wondering if we shouldn't try to loop around."

"And why exactly would we do that? Let's take the most direct route and just get this over with." Draco started walking on ahead of Harry, his lamp a beacon in the darkness.

"Do you even know what Aragog is, Malfoy? He's this huge giant spider that will happily eat humans."

That stopped him dead in his tracks. Draco turned around quickly, staring at Harry in shock. "What?"

Harry stood there looking rather amused at his expression. "I said it's a giant spid--"

"I heard what you said!" Draco practically shouted, letting out a loud breath, and then turned to continue walking. "Is he trying to get us killed? Sending us near a giant spider..."

"Well, actually..."

Draco narrowed his eyes at that and looked over at Harry. "Well, actually, what?"

As Harry continued to walk through the trees he wondered if he should even tell Malfoy that there was more than one. After all, if he told him and he ran, Harry would be the one facing it all by himself, and frankly, he really didn't want to do that. He couldn't really count on Malfoy, but having someone else there at least meant there was more of a chance they wouldn't both be eaten. Perhaps if they were attacked he could throw Malfoy to the spiders and run for his own life.

"Nothing. Never mind. I think we need to go left around this tree," Harry said, trying to cover up.

"Potter, you are the worst liar in history. I don't know what you are hiding but I hate you for it." With that Draco made his way around the tree before Harry, and let out a high pitched shriek.

"Malfoy?!" Harry rushed around the tree, lamp swaying and smacking against his forearm as he went. When he reached the other side he saw a large spider approaching Draco from the left, its eyes set on him, looking for all the world as though it had found its nightly snack. Before he could even think he whipped out his wand and yelled, "Arania Exumai!"

He watched as a flash of blue light slammed the spider back from them, and he grabbed Malfoy's wrist, yanking him along with him as he ran front the spot, getting as far away as possible before hiding behind a tree and letting out a breath.

He swallowed before speaking. "Seems we're going the right way."

Draco turned his gaze towards him, giving him a look of utter disbelief, mouth open and gaping. "You think?"

Harry couldn't help himself, he burst into laughter at that, finding the whole situation incredibly surreal. Once he was able to calm down he pulled back from the tree and looked over at Malfoy. "You alright?"

"Do you actually care?"

Tilting his head Harry considered that for a moment before shrugging. "Come on then, they have to be somewhere nearby." He stepped over a tree branch and started looking around on the ground for anything that could pass as Ashwinder eggs.

They walked in silence for a few long moments, both searching the ground hoping to find the eggs as soon as possible so they could get out of there.

It seemed as though Draco couldn't stand long silences because once again he was the first to break it. "There's more than one, isn't there? And where did you learn that spell anyway? I've never heard it."

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Draco before turning his attention back towards the ground. Normally he would be glad to divulge where he'd learned a spell, especially since it gave him the upper hand in their current situation and Malfoy had had no clue it existed. Then again, Malfoy had never been confronted with these creatures before, of that he was pretty certain or else he wouldn't have screamed like that. The fact of the matter was though, Harry didn't want to tell him that he'd learned it from Riddle's diary. That he'd learned something from Voldemort himself. It seemed rather ironic that something he had picked up from the killer was something that could save his life, but he also just hated the idea of having that connection, of admitting something out of Voldemort's mouth was of use.

"You're not ignoring me are you? Because if you are, I can happily turn back and let you take care of this," Draco's drawl came, breaking into Harry's thoughts.

Shaking his head to clear it, Harry let out a sigh. "No, I'm not ignoring you, I was thinking. Of where the eggs could possibly be. Yes, there is more than one. I learned the spell in a book for when I had to come out here, and I'm surprised you haven't done so already."

If Draco had any clue that Harry was lying, he didn't let on.

"I would have, but I don't doubt I would get blamed if someone were to find your corpse out here. I have an image to think of, you know." There was a moment of silence and then Harry heard a crunch and Malfoy swear, forcing him to turn around. He had to keep himself from laughing as he saw Draco hopping on one foot, trying to rub his toes through his shoe.

"You're not very graceful, are you?" he asked, more to himself than to the other boy. The only reply he got was a nasty glare.

Harry was rather amused by the situation by now. He was finding that Malfoy really wasn't cut out for this kind of thing and it only gave him more faith in his own abilities to deal with it. He looked about himself and saw an old log nearby, a tree that had fallen over and been hollowed out over time. Letting his mind wander, he tried to think like a snake. If he were one, he would never lay his eggs out in the open where they could easily be discovered or destroyed. Making a quick decision he moved over to the log and kneeled down, peering inside. About halfway down were bright red eggs that cast an eerie glow throughout the log, highlighting the backs of several beetles as they scuttled along.

Grinning to himself, Harry lifted his head and looked over towards Draco. "Found them!"

Narrowing his eyes, Draco walked over to the log and kneeled down next to him, peering inside. "Well, that's just insane! Who would think to look in some cruddy old log for some eggs? And how are we supposed to freeze them and get them out of there?"

Harry let out a laugh and sat back on his haunches, tilting his head to the side. "We need to freeze the closest one first...I don't know how to get them out though. Should we lift the log?"

"Are you crazy? Are you trying to get burned? If you only freeze one egg and then try to lift the log the whole bloody thing will go up in flames from the others!" Draco huffed, giving Harry a nasty look. "I say we levitate them one at a time after we freeze them. I'll levitate, you freeze. No doubt you'd have it hitting the top of the log and then where would we be?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry silently agreed to let Malfoy have his way as long as it would get them done faster. Squatting down, he lined himself up with the entrance of the log and lifted his wand, aiming it carefully as he muttered the freezing charm. He watched as the egg glowed blue for a moment, and then he sat back to allow Malfoy room to get in there and cast his levitating spell. Harry took the box to store the eggs and held it steady while Draco lowered the egg into the container with ease.

They continued on like that until the box was filled to the brim. Peering inside the log, Harry let out a long breath, seeing there was one last egg for them to collect.

"We don't have any more room for the last egg," he said, glancing up at Draco. "What should we do with it?"

"We can't leave it here, it will go up in flames and destroy the whole forest then probably take down the school." Draco paused for a moment, looking considering. "On second thoughts, perhaps we should leave it."

Harry rolled his eyes and gave Draco a look. "I don't think so, Malfoy." Moving away from the log he let Draco levitate it out and then caught it in his hand, looking at it for a long moment before placing it carefully in his pocket. "Don't bump into it."

"What does it matter if I do? You froze it, it should be fine. If not, then you catch on fire and really, it's no big loss to me," Draco replied, smirking at him as he lifted the box of eggs.

Harry shook his head and pulled out his wand, eyeing it as the tip had now gone red. "Looks like we need to turn around."

There was a short, high-pitched sound and Harry furrowed his brows, glancing over at Draco. "What's wrong?"

Draco only shook his head and stared off over Harry's shoulder. Taking a deep breath and licking his lips, Harry turned around.

Oh. This was not good.

*

The last time Harry had been surrounded by spiders, he was with Ron, and it was easier to try and think on his feet when his best friend had such a strong phobia. But with Draco it was different - for a start, he was starting to get a little sick of his snark, even if Harry could admit that he couldn't have done without him when it came to collecting and freezing the eggs.

"Do something!" Draco hissed from next to Harry, and Harry felt him step closer to him, pressing up against his side.

"Mind the egg!" he hissed back, and lifted his wand as the spiders circled them.

"I bet they're after you," Draco whispered, his eyes wide. "You killed one of them so now they're after your blood."

"Thanks for that. I feel so much better now."

Harry eyed the spiders as they moved closer, trying to think of the spells he could use to get rid of them. Many would work on one or two, but he had no idea how he was supposed to battle against all of them.

"Oh Merlin..."

Harry glanced at Draco, following his gaze over to a particularly large spider that had all of its many eyes fixed on Draco as it slowly moved towards him, its great, heavy abdomen almost dragging on the ground.

A loud crunch just behind it made Draco squeal, and he pointed his wand at the spider, shooting off the first spell he could think of. "Incendio!"

Harry watched as the spider burst into a ball of flames, and the other spiders jumped slightly before turning their gaze back towards them, their own images bouncing back at them ten-fold from the reflection of the fire in the spiders' eyes.

How Harry wished for Mr Weasley's car right then.

"Potter..."

Draco tugged at Harry's sleeve, and pointed with his wand back towards the spider that was still writhing around in flames. Suddenly it made a loud screeching noise, and fell onto its back, its legs curling in on themselves as it died.

The fire dipped low for a second, and then exploded in a bright white ball, leaving ashes behind. Glancing back towards the other spiders, Harry found they were all facing the burned spider now, instead of paying them any attention.

"Back away slowly to our right," Harry whispered to Draco, and took a step across, tugging him with him.

A couple of seconds later the boys paused, their brows furrowing as the ashy remains of the fire shifted on the ground, and a group of long, thin, grey snakes slithered seemingly out of the ground, their red eyes glowing.

"Ashwinder!" Draco breathed. "Of course! They come out of magical fires."

Harry glanced at him, wondering how on earth he knew all this, and then looked back towards the snakes, watching as they slid closer towards the spiders, who now appeared completely absorbed by them, forgetting that Harry and Draco were even there.

"Look!" Harry whispered, as the snakes began to rise up, their tails beginning to whirl like a rattle snake, making a loud noise.

In a split second, the spiders stumbled backwards over themselves, and scuttled away, back into the depths of the forest, away from the snakes.

"Of course!" Harry laughed, glancing at Draco. "Spiders hate snakes!"

"They do?" Draco looked thoroughly shaken. "Oh...I mean, yes, I know. Why do you think I cast Incendio in the first place?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Sure. You just said the first thing off the top of your head. It could have been a Jelly-Legs Jinx for all you know. And then where would we be?"

"You can admit it you know," Draco told him, some of his bravado returning. "I did brilliantly."

Harry laughed, shaking his head. "It was brilliant, but it was purely accidental. You can't have any of the credit."

"Plebeian."

Harry laughed again, mostly out of relief, and glanced back at the snakes, which now appeared to be sliding towards a log.

"They're going to lay more eggs, aren't they?" Harry asked, sounding a bit disturbed. "What on earth are we supposed to do with those?"

Draco shrugged. "They won't lay for a day or so yet, so we can just tell Snape when we get back. Or you could just carry them all in your arms and hope for the best?"

"I'm sure you'd love to see me burst into flames, Malfoy, but I'm sorry to inform you it isn't going to happen any time soon if I can help it."

"Oh." Draco moved his gaze up to him, pouting a little. "I was so looking forward to barbecued Potter."

All of a sudden there was a loud scraping noise, and Draco grabbed onto Harry's sleeve again, peering towards the trees. "What's that?" he asked, his voice a little shaky. "Please don't tell me it's the spiders' daddy."

Harry furrowed his brow, tilting his head as he listened. The noise sounded awfully familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He strained his eyes to see through the darkness, holding his lantern high.

With a loud honk, and a screech of tires, Mr Weasley's Ford Anglia drove towards them, careening around a few trees, completely demolishing the undergrowth, before grinding to a halt right in front of them, all four doors flying open as if in invitation.

"A bit late, aren't you?" Harry chastised the car, and shook free of Draco's grip, walking over to it.

"Potter?" Draco sounded rather unsure. "What the hell are you doing?"

Harry looked back at him, and laughed at the expression on his face. "What's the matter, Malfoy? Scared?"

*

Climbing into the car, Harry looked at all the parts in front of him. It was at about this moment Harry realised he'd never actually driven the car before and silently wished Ron was there with him to help him out. Figuring the car was alive, he decided to see if it would be able to take them where they needed to be itself.

"Hullo," Harry said kindly, running a hand over the steering wheel. "Would you be so kind as to get us out of here and get us headed in the right direction as to where we can find Bundimums?"

Draco gave Harry an odd look as he climbed into the passenger's seat. "Are you talking to this... contraption?" The car beeped and smacked Draco's thighs with the door as he tried to climb in, obviously not pleased with being referred to as anything less than a car.

"It's a car, Malfoy. A muggle automobile, only it's been spelled to fly and it seems to have a mind of its own now. It's gone wild in the forest. It used to be Ron's so it seems to help us when we need it," Harry explained patiently. It was really quite amazing that he still had patience left after the day he'd been having. Slumping down in his seat he heard the door close behind Draco, and he looked down at the steering wheel. "If you please?"

It was a moment before the car jolted to life and started making the bumpy ride along the forest floor in the opposite direction as to where the spiders had scuttled away. Checking his wand, Harry saw that the tip was glowing a bright green, and he looked over at Malfoy, smiling at having got them a free ride to where they needed to go. Malfoy, however, looked rather ill.

"Are you alright? One of those spiders didn't bite you, did they?" Harry asked, suddenly rather alarmed at the idea that Draco might be poisoned and he had no idea how to treat it.

Draco glanced over at him and scoffed, rolling his eyes. "No, it's just this blasted thing keeps jolting up and down. I think I'm going to lose my dinner at this rate."

Watching him for a moment, Harry burst out into laughter and leaned his head back against his seat. "You're really quite delicate."

"I am not! Take that back!"

"No way! It's true. You screamed at the spiders and stubbed your toe, then you are scared of the car, and now you're complaining about your stomach. Does it ever end?" Harry asked, looking vaguely amused by the indignant expression on Draco's face.

"Yes, of course it does. It ends when this stupid bloody adventure does." Draco huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Shaking his head, Harry let himself relax, allowing the car to control their location and trusting it not to abandon them until they were there. He leaned his head against the glass of the window, letting out a long breath and doing his best not to think of what was to come or what got him here. If he did, he'd probably throw Malfoy out of the car to whatever creatures lurked out there, or he might just strangle him right there in the car. He watched the trees go whizzing by, thankful for the silence Draco seemed to be managing to lapse into.

After a few moments, Harry spotted a pair of red eyes reflecting in the glass back at him, and he jerked away from it, whipping his head around to look behind him. All he saw was a startled looking Draco, looking as though he'd been almost given a heart-attack by Harry's sudden movement.

"What the hell are you doing, Potter? You would have scared a lesser person half to death!" Draco cried, giving him a long nasty look.

Furrowing his brows, Harry looked back at the glass, looking through the window to see if anything there could have caused the reflection. Shaking his head he squinted at the glass, looking it over thoroughly, his fingers sliding along it, but found nothing there that gave him any clue as to what just happened.

"Potter, stop molesting the glass and tell me what the hell is going on." Draco scowled and narrowed his eyes at him as Harry finally gave him his attention.

"I just thought I saw--" He broke off. Did he really want Malfoy knowing about this? After all, with nothing around them it seemed as though it was a false scare. Maybe Harry had been drifting off to sleep and had imagined it? "Something," he finished lamely.

"Uh huh..." Draco eyed him suspiciously but didn't have the time to ask any further questions as the car jolted to a stop and flung its doors open.

Climbing out of the car, Harry gave it his thanks and watched as it sped off into the distance. That was when Harry realised there were several pairs of eyes blinking down at them from the trees surrounding them.

"Oh, gross..." came Draco's voice from a few feet away. "We actually have to collect stuff from these?"

Harry let out a laugh and shook his head. "Looks like it."

Draco stared up at the trees forlornly before turning around and looking at Harry.

"Well, get to it then."

*

"Get to it?" Harry repeated, sticking a hand on his hip. " Suddenly become incapable as well as stupid, have you?"

"Ha ha, Potter. Where did you learn that one? Weasleys' Lame Jokes 101?"

Harry rolled his eyes. He should have known Draco would protest at having to do anything more than stand around trying his best to look glamorous and suave. He eyed him from where he stood, as Draco walked around the small clearing, staring up at the slime as the eyes stared back at him.

It was amazing Draco had made it to his teens really, what with his complete inability to defend himself. Well, apart from the Incendio, and that was entirely an accident. It was pretty hard to equate Draco with his father, Lucius, as he picked his way over a couple of abandoned logs, and pulled at the front of his shirt, checking for dirt.

Harry couldn't imagine Draco working for Voldemort. And he certainly couldn't imagine him carrying out some of the more disgusting tasks that were undoubtedly given to the Death Eaters.

"Well? Are you actually going to do this or are we going to stand here and starve to death? Students who have detentions will find our skeletons in years to come. It will be All. Your. Fault."

On second thoughts, Harry decided Draco would make a fabulous Death Eater. He could talk his victims to death quite easily.

With a sigh, Harry walked over to where Draco stood, and stared at a pair of blinking eyes stuck in the vile green goo. "Any idea how we collect this stuff?"

"Absolutely none," Draco replied with a shrug. "I guess you just kind of scoop it into the tube."

Harry wrinkled his nose. He really didn't want to touch the slime at all, but he supposed he didn't have much of a choice. He stood up on tip-toes, eyeing the slime, which seemed to eye him back, and held the test tube underneath it. He took out his wand, and gingerly poked the edge of the slime, hoping it would somehow slide into the tube.

A low rumble began from what Harry assumed to be inside the tree, and he furrowed a brow, exchanging a curious glance with Draco. As they stood there listening, their heads cocked to the side, the rumbling grew until the tree began vibrating with the noise.

"I don't think this is a good sign," Draco ventured, and Harry had to agree.

"Maybe we should go," he said. "Or at least wait until the sound stops."

As if the tree was listening, the sound suddenly ceased, and a deadly silence descended upon the clearing.

"Guess that's my cue," Harry said with a laugh, and stepped back to the tree as Draco's tension deflated and his shoulders relaxed.

"BURRRRRP!"

The slime belched, and then exploded in a shower of green, oozing, foul smelling gloop that rained down upon the clearing, covering Harry and Draco from head to toe, dripping down off their hair, and running down their faces like green tears.

Draco's mouth opened and closed a few times as he stared at Harry in horror. "This is all your fault!" he suddenly screeched, and launched himself at Harry, knocking him over. He grabbed the front of his shirt, and shook him a bit, his fist pulling back when another gurgle erupted from the tree.

"Oh shit."

Both boys squeezed their eyes shut as another large splatter of slime showered them, and they waited a few moments before opening their eyes again, staring at each other.

Harry watched, transfixed by a globule of slime that dripped off the tip of Draco's nose and onto his top lip.

Draco reached up and wiped it away with the back of his hand, before talking in a hushed voice. "You do know that this stuff is supposed to be dangerous, don't you? It's a very strong cleaning agent."

"Guess you won't need a bath when you get back then, will you?" Harry said sarcastically, then shoved Draco off him and sat up. With a quick scourgify he manage to eliminate most of the slime from himself, although it looked like it had seeped into the fabric of his clothes, effectively ruining them.

Harry stood up, pushing his hair out of his eyes, and then glanced back down at Draco, who was busily staring at himself in shock. "Oh for Merlin's sake, Malfoy, it will probably wash out. Think of it like bird shit...maybe it's lucky?"

"Lucky?!" Draco looked up at him, his eyes wide, then bit his lip before plucking at the shoulder of his jumper. "But...but...it's cashmere!"

*

Staring at Draco in disbelief, Harry burst out into laughter at his expression. "Oh, god... You have to be kidding me, right?"

Scowling at him, Draco narrowed his eyes. "And why would I be kidding? Look, just go collect that gross slime and I'll stand way over here." He pointed over past some of the trees where no slime had reached, and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me? We're in this detention together, which means we are both working on it."

Sighing, Draco approached the tree and eyed it. "It burped out that slime when you poked it right?"

"Yeah..." Harry crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing Draco's back and wondering what his point was.

Turning around to face Harry, Draco gave him a slow, winning smile. "I think I just figured it out." Draco grabbed one of the vials and stepped back from the tree, wand out and staring at it as though it was an opponent in a wizard's duel. "Okay... poke it."

Harry gave him an incredulous look. "I hope you know what you're doing." He couldn't believe he was about to trust Malfoy with this, but he was also pretty certain that Malfoy didn't want to get covered in slime again. Reaching up with his wand and wrinkling his nose, Harry tapped the edge of the slime and quickly backed up, hearing the tree begin to rumble once more.

Draco smirked and brandished his wand, looking as though he were waiting for precisely the right moment to act. The rumbling grew louder and then silence fell upon them once more. As they waited Harry began to get anxious; he wasn't really sure what was about to happen.

Suddenly the tree made its loud "BURP!" and Harry wished he'd never listened to the other boy. "Whatever you're doing you better do it fast!" he yelled out.

With quick reflexes, Draco waved his wand, whispering a spell under his breath, and the slime froze in mid-air, hanging above them in the imitation of a wave. Harry stared up at it before moving his gaze over towards Draco where he stood smirking triumphantly.

"That's all well and good, but how do you expect to collect it?" Harry asked, eyeing the slime.

Draco scoffed and tilted his chin up, giving Harry a look. "Please, that's the easy part," he replied, waving his wand at the nearest glob and directing the goop into the vial in his hand. "See?"

Harry had to admit it seemed as though Malfoy had come in handy for something. "Alright, give me another vial."

After a while of zooming globs of slime into vials they were almost finished when suddenly Harry heard a crack of branches in the forest, and spun around.

"Did you hear that?" he asked in a low voice.

Draco crept over to his side like a small child looking for protection from the monsters under his bed. "I'm not deaf, of course I heard that. 'What was it?' is the better question."

Shrugging, Harry scanned the forest out in front of them, only to find himself confronted with yet more trees and darkness all around. Whatever it was must not have stuck around. Letting out a breath he turned around to face Draco and almost smashed his forehead into his, not realising he was standing so close.

"God, Malfoy, what are you doing? Back up!" Harry exclaimed, pushing him away from him a bit. Draco scowled at him and brushed off his clothes as though being near Harry had somehow forced them to gather dirt.

"I'm being a Slytherin. If there is anything out there I'm using you as a shield so you die first and I have time to run away," he said haughtily.

Harry stared blankly at him for a long moment before rolling his eyes. That was just typical of Malfoy. Shaking his head he looked down at his wand in his hand, seeing the tip glowing bright green.

"Well, looks like you need to turn around Malfoy; we need to go this way for our next task" Harry lifted his gaze from his wand to see Draco frozen to his spot.

"Potter," Draco mumbled quietly, an underlying hint of panic in his voice, "there is a thing aiming a bow at us."

Harry blinked and that seemed to be all the time the creature needed, as in the next moment Harry felt the sharp tip of a small arrow poking into his back. Wincing he looked across at Draco who had gone rather pale, and he watched as he whipped around only to suddenly see several centaurs come out of the darkness and circle around them.

"Oh Merlin..."

*

They traipsed along through the forest, arrows occasionally poking into their backs when they were walking too slowly, and Harry wondered where they were taking them. It wasn't like centaurs to be so forthcoming and aggressive. Harry had often thought they tried to avoid contact with people who came wandering into their forest, but obviously things had changed as they shoved Harry and Draco down onto the ground and tied them together with vines.

"They are magical. Vines will not hold them long if they have their wands. Remove them." One of the centaurs spoke in deep tones as though his voice hadn't been of use to him in a long time.

Harry watched as they removed their wands from their hands and placed them among the branches a few feet away, tips glowing harsh, blaring red.

"You don't think they are going to eat us, do you?" Draco asked, as he looked up at the centaurs surrounding them, watching them speak in hushed whispers to one another.

Letting out a short laugh, Harry shook his head. "No...they don't eat people. Don't you know about centaurs? I mean, you are a wizard."

"What do I need to know about these creatures for? I know what they are...but that doesn't mean I know everything about them down to their mating habits." Draco scoffed and Harry had to wonder if he felt a bit safer now if he could sound so indignant.

Shifting, Harry strained his ears to try and catch what they were saying, only managing to hear bits and pieces.

"The stars are bright-"

"-terrible times ahead-"

"Take them to Ronan-"

"-the dark one will die-"

"-futures are bleak."

"Take them to Ronan-"

Furrowing his brows, Harry decided it might be best not to listen anymore as his stomach turned as the words presented. He didn't know fully what they were saying or what it meant, but it was obvious that whatever these creatures saw in store for them was not something positive. Then again, Harry could have likely predicted that. Glancing over at Draco, he blinked when he felt something bump against his side. Remembering the extra egg from earlier, Harry suddenly thought of a plan to help get them out of there.

"Malfoy, put your hand in my pocket," Harry whispered. Draco turned his gaze over to him and gave him a rather startled look.

"Excuse me? Don't you think that's rather inappropriate? Yes, we may die, but honestly, Potter."

Harry blinked at that and then felt himself blush at the implications. "Not like that! The egg is in there. I can't reach it tied up like this but you should be able to. We need to use it to start a distraction and get out of here. Unless you'd rather take your chances with the centaurs."

Draco gave him a long look and then let out a breath, looking over at the centaurs before looking back at Harry. "At the moment, they almost seem preferable to you getting us in all this trouble."

After a long moment, Draco shifted and then stuck his hand into Harry's pocket.

*

"Hurry up!" Harry hissed. "They'll take us to their leader eventually, and then where will we be?"

"Exactly the same position as we are in now!" Draco sounded scared. Not just pretend scared, like Harry had suspected on numerous occasions during their adventure, but real, toe-curling, lip-trembling, bone-rigid scared.

"What do you mean?! Stop playing games."

"I'm not! The egg isn't there. It must have fallen out."

"What?!" Harry suddenly heard the same scared tone in his own voice. "But it must be! Surely if it fell out then it would have exploded or something."

Harry heard Draco swallow audibly, and he craned his neck to try and look over his shoulder. "Don't you dare flake on me now," he warned him, as he watched Draco shifting against him.

"I'm not that pathetic," Draco shot back, and he shifted a little more, his hand grazing against Harry's other thigh as he searched for his pocket, his fingers finally inching in. "Move to the left just a bit and lift your hips up," Draco instructed him. "I can feel it...you indicated the wrong pocket, you twit."

Harry grit his teeth; he would have time to shout at Draco later, after they'd escaped with their lives. He did what he said, tilting his hips up, shifting slightly, as Draco strained to reach deep inside of his pocket.

"Got it!" Draco exclaimed, just as a dark shadow fell over him.

*

Malfoy was not a name that immediately made one think of cowering, yellow-bellied cowards, but that's exactly what Draco felt like -and what's more, he didn't care- as a centaur bore down on him, its great shaggy-haired head tilting in curiosity as he watched Draco remove his hand from Harry's pocket.

"You are too young to be out here, Draco Malfoy," the centaur said, and Draco shivered, pushing back against Harry as if he could protect him.

"How do you know my name?" he managed to ask, his eyes wide. He was completely in awe, not only of how much power was radiating off the centaur, but also how beautiful he was. He was both equine, and human, but there was an other-worldly quality to him as well. Draco was reminded of the unicorns Hagrid has shown them. They had the same sort of etherealness to them that made him want to reach up and touch their silky necks.

Not that he thought that this particular creature would let him touch him anymore than most of the unicorns; they weren't supposed to like boys. That fact hadn't stopped Draco sneaking down to the paddocks after lights-out, however, and he was surprised that one of the smaller unicorns, the baby of the bunch, took an instant liking to him, nuzzling against his hand as he ate an apple from his palm.

"He knew you would not do him harm," the centaur said.

"What?" Draco felt his breath hitch, but he couldn't help it. Surely, surely the centaur didn't know what he was thinking.

"I know more than you can possibly imagine," the creature told him, with an amused half-smile.

Draco gulped. "Surely not everything?" he managed.

"Everything. I know what you think, and what you feel." The centaur's eyes were sparkling now, and Draco pursed his lips - he was reminded too much of Dumbledore.

"He's a fine man."

Draco continued to stare in awe. Any doubts that the centaur couldn't read his mind were suddenly banished, and he swung between utter amazement and horror that someone would know everything about him. There were so many things he kept to himself, and he really didn't want anyone else to know.

"I will keep your secrets," the centaur told him, and shook his head, his red mane flying out like fire. "But you must keep the secrets of the forest in return."

*

Harry frowned, listening to the conversation between Draco and the centaur. He knew it was Ronan even without seeing -he recognised his voice- but what he didn't understand was why he was being so amicable. He thought back to when he met him with Hagrid, when they were out looking for the injured unicorn, and he supposed he wasn't as bad as some of the others. He certainly seemed to be on civil terms with Hagrid, which instilled a tiny bit of confidence in Harry.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then promptly shut it again when he and Draco started talking. He could hear very little of Draco's end, but it was obvious that Ronan was answering silent questions. He just wished he knew what they were, because if there was one thing Harry knew about Draco, it was that he didn't do awed, and that's certainly what he was doing right then.

Whatever Ronan was hearing in Draco's head, it was definitely interesting.

"What secrets does the forest have?" Harry suddenly piped up. However comfortable he was beginning to feel in Ronan's company, he was still wary of what the other centaurs would say if they stayed like that for too long. He glanced off to the side, watching them as they stood a little distance away, all still staring up at the moon.

"You have known forest secrets for a long time now, Harry Potter, and you have kept them well enough. But you have decided to bring someone with you this time. Someone who speaks first and acts later. We need his promise."

Harry rolled his eyes. This wasn't good. While he knew that Draco probably could keep the secrets of the inhabitants of the forest if he wanted to, it was practically impossible that he would want to in the first place. It was just too juicy not to tell people about. There were the spiders, the centaurs, the car...and that was just for starters. Who knew what would happen by the end of the evening?

"I can keep secrets..." Draco said in a hurry. "Just let us go and we'll walk on out of here like nothing ever happened."

Ronan shook his head. "We are concerned less with our secrets than yours, Draco Malfoy. We have prophecies for you that you need to protect."

Harry swallowed hard. He knew all about prophecies, and the importance of keeping them. And what had happened when he heard part of it back at the Ministry. He shook his head, a bitter taste in his mouth as he thought about Sirius falling through the veil.

"Harry Potter."

Harry tried to look over his shoulder towards Ronan, wincing at the angle, relieved when Ronan trotted towards him, shaking his long head as he swept into an almost-bow.

"Harry Potter," he continued. "Humans are not welcome here. You are aware of this."

Harry sighed. "I do know that, but we didn't have a choice. Professor sent us out here on detention. We couldn't exactly say no, could we?"

"Double trouble for Severus Snape."

"What?" It was Draco's turn to crane his neck, and he sounded alarmed. "Potter, this is all your fault. You heard him - he said you knew not to come here. You put me in danger!"

"Harry Potter." Ronan spoke again, and Harry looked up at him expectantly, trying to tune out Draco's rambling.

"You are the One," Ronan continued. "And it is no concern of ours."

Draco scoffed. "Finally, someone who doesn't care about you, Potter!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry clenched his jaw, looking at Ronan still.

"Worlds are created, and worlds are destroyed. Choices are made, Harry Potter. Not fate, but choices."

Harry frowned. It didn't make much sense. How could anything be a choice if someone was predicting it?

"Bloody stupid prediction," he heard Draco mutter, and he rolled his eyes, hoping Ronan hadn't heard.

Further over, the other centaurs began kicking their hooves against the ground, stirring up the dirt. They began stomping, shaking their heads as they kept their eyes glued to the skies.

"-great storms ahead-"

"-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named must be named-"

"Harry Potter"

"Harry Potter"

"Harry Potter"

Harry imagined Draco thinking that he was safe, that the centaurs wanted him instead. Typical Malfoy, really, always looking out for himself.

Ronan chuckled, and Harry met his gaze again. "Know thy enemy?" he asked, and Harry could have sworn his eyes were sparkling again.

Before he had time to answer, there was a short explosion through the trees; it flashed a fiery red, and the undergrowth burst into flames. The group of braying centaurs looked up in shock, and then with loud cries galloped in the direction of the flames, trying to put them out before they got out of control.

"All eggs must hatch in the end, Draco Malfoy," Ronan said, and reached down, loosening the vines before trotting away, towards where the other centaurs were as they stamped out flaming bushes.

"What the--?"

"Run now, talk later, Potter!" Draco told him, and quickly shucked away the rest of the vines, getting shakily to his feet. Harry followed after him, and they grabbed their wands from the trees before racing through the undergrowth, barely caring about the direction they were heading, stumbling over logs as they moved, hell bent on getting away from the centaurs.

"The captured!" Harry heard from behind them, and a couple of Centaurs began shouting.

He fully expected to hear them crashing through the trees after them, but the forest was eerily silent as Draco ground to a stop in front of him, almost causing Harry to bang into him.

"What the hell are you doing, Malfoy?" he asked angrily, panting heavily, trying to catch his breath.

Draco pointed to a patch of nettles growing just in front of them, and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Not scared of a bit of stinging nettles are you?" he mocked.

Draco whipped around before Harry could blink, and straightened himself to his full height, glaring at Harry. "Look Potter, I know you don't like me, and I don't like you either, but we are out here, with Merlin knows what else, together, so we just have to deal with it. If you actually listened in class, you would know that Glumbumbles eat nettles, so chances are we will find them around here, and we can finish Snape's tasks. That means we can get out of here. Understood?"

Harry nodded dumbly, and Draco snorted before crouching down, quietly looking through the bushes surrounding the stinging nettles.

"Do you see any?" Harry whispered, his heart beating wildly against his chest. He felt guilty that he automatically had assumed Draco was reluctant to go near the nettles in case he stung himself, but then again, could he blamed for thinking that? This was the very same Draco who practically had a nervous breakdown when his cashmere jumper got slimed.

"Shh!" Draco stilled, his gaze directed towards the bush, and Harry leaned a little closer, trying to work out what exactly Draco was looking at.

With a sudden movement, Draco grabbed something from the bush, cupping his hands around it, and let out a breath before straightening. "Got one," he whispered. "Now we have to be really careful not to scare it, else it will squirt its liquid at us."

"Then how do we get it if it doesn't squirt it?" Harry asked.

Draco rolled his eyes as if he were stupid. "We make it cry, of course. Its secretions are its tears."

Harry shrugged. He guessed that made sense.

Slowly, Draco opened his hands, and Harry stared in fascination as an insect stuck one of its legs out against Draco's fingers. He thought that it looked a little like a stick insect with a jumper on.

"You're a pathetic little creature," Draco whispered. "I could squash you and you'd be dead. Not much of a defence mechanism, is it? What would you do? Depress someone until they killed themselves?"

Harry stared at the Glumbumble. It shifted slightly, and then hunched down, looking rather sad. Draco smirked at Harry, then bent his head a little lower to the insect. "You really are rather silly. I bet you don't have friends either. I bet everyone hates you because you're such a lame little creature to have around..."

The Glumbumble made a strange choking sound, and Harry watched in amazement as it began to cry shiny, pink tears. He quickly grabbed one of the test tubes, and held it under Draco's hand, catching some of the tears as they dripped off his fingers.

"How did you know how to do that?" Harry whispered, knowing he looked rather impressed, but not really caring at that moment.

Draco shrugged. "We have some at the manor. It gets boring in the summer."

"So you make creatures cry?"

How utterly Malfoy of him.

"It's not like I do it just for kicks, Potter. I use the secretions and make potions."

Harry was sceptical, but kept quiet as Draco released the Glumbumble back into the bush. He held up the test tube, eyeing it. "Didn't get much," he said.

"No, we have to make a few cry," Draco told him, and with seeker reflexes, grabbed another insect, holding his hands out towards Harry. "You want to try?"

Harry wrinkled his nose. He didn't think he really wanted to stand there and insult a creature on purpose, but then again, he didn't want to look like a wimp either. "Sure," he said, and held out his hands, taking it from Draco.

He cupped his hands around it, smiling when the legs tickled his palms, and tilted his head, trying to think of something that was upsetting enough.

*

Draco turned back to the bush, picking out another Glumbumble for himself as he listened to Harry's pathetic attempts.

"You're not that much fun, are you?" Harry asked, and there was a deafening silence. "Not that you're all that crap...I mean, you are pretty and furry, aren't you?"

Draco rolled his eyes as he watched his chosen Glumbumble vanish under a leaf. "You're supposed to make it cry, Potter, not make friends with it."

"It's hard, all right? I don't naturally insult things like you do."

"Could have fooled me."

Draco huffed and then pounced on another insect, pulling it out of the bush. "There there, aren't you ugly?" he cooed to it, and felt it shift under his hands before he'd even straightened.

Draco glanced back at Harry, who began pacing as he tried to talk himself into saying something really nasty, and shook his head. "I'm sure you can manage it, Potter. You've been hurling insults at me for years."

Harry looked up sharply. "That was easy simply because it was you, Malfoy. You bring out my worst side."

Harry turned to continue pacing, and promptly tripped over a log, a loud crack sounding through the forest as he fell over, grunting as his shoulders hit the ground.

"It's all right!" he said, holding his still-cupped hands aloft. "I didn't drop him!"

"Potter, toss it away!" Draco started towards him, but it was too late. Harry brought his hands back to his face and opened them, gasping as the Glumbumble squirted him right in the face.

"Shit." Draco quickly released his own insect, and ran over to Harry's side, sinking down on his knees. "Potter?" Reaching for his wand, Draco blasted a quick stream of cold water into Harry's face, hoping to wash the worst of it away.

Assuming it wasn't too late.

Harry sat there, staring in front of him, and Draco held his breath.

"Potter?" he asked tentatively, and Harry looked up at him finally, his eyes large.

"I killed him," he whispered. "I killed Sirius."

*

Harry rubbed a hand over his face as a dark blanket of sorrow descended down upon him in much the same way as he felt like he was being plunged into a freezing lake every time a Dementor went near him. He felt a burn at the back of his eyes, and quickly swiped at them before tears could fall.

"It was all my fault," he whispered, staring up at Draco. "If I hadn't gone to the Ministry..."

At the back of his mind, Harry wondered exactly why he was telling Draco all this, but he couldn't seem to help himself.

"Potter, just shut up, okay? It will wear off in five minutes and you'll be fine."

"But..." Harry swallowed, and curled up in on himself, drawing his knees to his chest. "I don't know what to do anymore. How can I kill him?"

Draco bit his lip. He didn't really want to hear all of this, but part of him was curious too. It was an opportunity he'd likely never get again. "What do you mean?" he asked, a little uneasy that Harry Potter was actually sitting in front of him looking like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"I'm just one boy," Harry said. "I'm nothing special. I was kept in a cupboard and rarely given food because I'm just...I'm just..." Tears started streaming down Harry's face, and Draco stared at him in horror. "Just...nobody."

Draco bit his lip, looking around. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

*

Harry sat there continuing to cry, and he swiped at his eyes, horrified somewhere in the back of his mind that he was actually crying in front of Draco Malfoy. The chilling sorrow was weighing down heavily on him and he couldn't do anything but let it consume him, making him think of all the things he'd rather never think of again.

Draco looked over at Harry helplessly, his eyes wide in what almost looked like amazement that Harry Potter could actually break down and cry like this. Harry had to admit, it had to be quite the sight when usually they only ever saw each other pissed off.

"Oh for God's sake! You're Harry Potter. You're not a nobody, so just... suck it up and stop crying already!" Draco huffed, leaning back and looking rather stressed.

Harry took a shuddering breath and swiped his fingers under his glasses. "I can't do it, you don't understand! I can't. He's just... he's so powerful and the only way I ever survive is to run. How is that ever going to be enough to finish him off? The Dursleys were right to lock me in a cupboard. I'm a danger to everyone. People die all around me. You should run while you can, you'll probably die out here."

With a growl Draco got to his feet and looked down at Harry. "You need to wait this out. Just... sit here and I'll go collect more of the secretions."

As Draco went to move away he felt a hand grab the leg of his pants and he hopped a few times to catch himself from falling, turning to see Harry had hold of it tightly.

"Don't leave me."

Harry looked up into Draco's face seeing the shock written clearly across it. It was shocking to Harry himself that he had even come out and said that. He silently decided he hated this serum beyond all measure and slowly released Draco's pant leg, letting his hand fall limply at his side. He had never let anyone know that one of his greatest fears was ending up all alone without anyone. It's the way he had started his life and he knew he hated it. Now that he'd had friends, had people that cared for him, he never wanted to go back to a life without them.

Draco stood there staring at him for a long moment before shifting and taking a seat next to Harry once more.

"You're freaking me out, Potter," was the only reply as they sat there side by side in the darkness among the trees. In the distance a soft hooting could be heard and Harry took a deep breath, wiping the tears off his face.

Part of Harry was glad that Malfoy wasn't making a huge deal out of the situation even though he seriously doubted it would last long once the effects wore off. After all, he'd just got to see Harry cry, and if he knew Draco there was no way he'd let that pass without a mention at a later date.

Slowly the icy grip of despair that had its claws dug into Harry's chest started to ease, and he began to feel properly horrified at what had just happened. Finally he could feel himself back to normal and he looked over at Draco before standing up and walking over to the nettles silently.

"I'll take it that's the sign that you're back in working order, Potter?" came Draco's drawl from the ground back where he left him.

Harry winced and then turned around to look at him. "Look, can we just not go into this? I practically had a break down in front of you. I don't want to talk about it. Can we just finish this now? You can yell at the bugs and get them to cry and I'll hold the vials, alright?"

It was a moment or two before Draco came up to his side but he only raised a brow and went over to the nettles bending down to catch another of the tiny insects.

"I just have one question," Draco said as he made his way back over with his hands cupped around the bug. "Did you really mean it when you said you lived in a cupboard and were barely fed?"

Pursing his lips, Harry took in Draco's curious expression but could find no real malice there. Yet this was Malfoy. And that meant if he told him something it was likely to be used against him at a later point, wasn't it? Though if he could get Malfoy to drop the rest by telling him this it might be worth it.

Looking over at Draco he met his gaze steadily. "Yes."

*

The two of them managed to finish off their last task in silence and Harry heaved a sigh of relief.

"Finally! We can go back and get some sleep. It has to be late by now, it feels like we've been out here for ages." He pushed a hand through his hair, making it stick up on end even more than it already was. Glancing down at his wand he realised that the tip was no longer glowing. "Uhh... Malfoy... either the tracking spell has worn off or Snape is a cruel and terrible man."

Blinking at that, Draco lifted his wand and stared at it in panic. "This has to be a joke. How are we supposed to find our way back with nothing to guide us?" He shook his wand as though doing so would make the tip light back up.

Biting his bottom lip, Harry glanced around them, trying to figure out which direction seemed the most likely for them to head in to get back to the castle. Every direction he turned everything looked the same: trees, fog, and darkness. It was overwhelming to think that after everything they had been through, they now had to also figure out how to get back without any idea as to how to approach it. Letting out a breath to calm himself, Harry decided right then that they had to just start walking and hope for the best.

"I say we go this way. It seems like it's the opposite direction to where we came from, doesn't it?" Glancing over at Draco, he saw just how upset he seemed. Harry could understand; it was disappointing to think they were almost done only to have to shove their way through the forest with who-knows-what lurking just out of sight.

With a sigh, Draco started walking in the direction that Harry had indicated. "This is ridiculous, Potter. We had to come out here, find some stupid eggs, almost get eaten by spiders, attacked by slime, get captured by centaurs, and now we have to bloody go on a hike to try and figure out where the castle is? I'm sick of this. There is no doubt that Professor Snape is getting a piece of my mind if we ever get back!"

Harry bit back a laugh and rushed to catch up with him, his lamp swaying by his side. "Can I help? Frankly I'd love to get a good hex in."

Draco shot him a withering glare. "No you may not."

With that he stomped off ahead of Harry, letting out a frustrated growl, leaving Harry watching his back in amusement.

Suddenly a howl pierced the air and Harry looked up, a feeling of dread washing over him.

"Oh god. Malfoy, is tonight a full moon?" He asked, feeling he already knew the answer.

Draco stopped in his tracks and turned around, staring at him in horror. "You don't think that..."

"I don't have to think. I know. Run!"

Grabbing Draco's arm he pulled him along through the trees and the darkness as fast as possible, his heart pounding against his ribcage.

Draco somehow still had the air to speak as he gasped between pants. "I knew there were werewolves in the forest but I thought they were at the other bloody end!"

Shrugging, Harry kept running and then yanked Draco's arm, pulling him against a large tree, letting out a long breath. "I don't know anything about it, Malfoy. I just know that howl from when Professor Lupin transformed." He leaned his head back against the bark of the tree and panted heavily. "It seemed like it wasn't that close, right?"

Draco gave him a side-long look and then pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Great, all we need is to get eaten by a pack of savage werewolves. Could this night get any worse?"

"Don't say that," Harry snapped, then swallowed and looked off into the distance. There he saw a pair of eyes, glinting in the darkness. "Shit. Don't make any sudden movements."

There was a small sound from Draco as he pressed himself against his side as though trying to climb behind Harry for protection. Harry knew if they were to face a werewolf there was no way the encounter would be anything like the one he'd had with Lupin. After all, there was no Buckbeak to save him this time. Slowly he hedged his way around the tree, tugging Draco along with him as he went, biting his bottom lip. A low growl in the distance made him freeze and he let out a long breath.

Without a second thought, Harry shoved Malfoy in the opposite direction of the wolf. "Go!"

Picking up a large rock he threw it just off to the side where he saw the pair of eyes, hoping to distract it long enough for them to make their escape. Turning around he raced after Draco, racing over the roots of trees as they went, not stopping despite the burn in his lungs telling him he needed to catch his breath. Harry saw Draco stumble in front of him and knew he was racing along too fast to stop, smacking into his back and causing them both to fall over onto the hard ground. Wincing, Harry glanced down at his knee, only to find his trousers tattered, the skin underneath bleeding from having hit a root on the way down. He heard a groan from Draco and felt him shove his side.

"Merlin, Potter, can't you see? Perhaps you should go get those glasses checked out. That or your brain. You seem to be enjoying smashing into me lately." Draco huffed as he shifted and sat up. His eyes were drawn to Harry's knee and he looked up into his face, still white with fear. "You can't run like that. You can't even walk like that."

Swallowing hard, Harry looked down at his knee and let out a breath. "No, no I can't."

*

Draco stared at Harry for a long moment. What the hell were they supposed to do now? He considered just leaving him there and making a run for it on his own, but even if he did manage to escape by some fluke, he'd get slaughtered when he returned to the castle alone.

Not only that, but he knew his chances out there were slim if Harry wasn't with him.

Damn Potter.

"I'm not all that good at healing spells," Draco admitted sheepishly. "I can make some decent healing potions though. Not that I have any with me, of course."

He looked back in the direction they'd just come, and shifted nervously, before freezing as he heard a crash. "Potter, I don't care how injured you are, we have to move! Now!"

And with that, Draco grabbed Harry's arm, throwing it over his shoulder, and tried to drag him along. However scrawny he considered Harry to be, he was definitely a lot heavier than he looked, and their progress was slow. Draco tried to use initiative, and wove throughout the trees that looked more tightly packed in an effort to lose the werewolf, but he knew it was futile as he heard the crashing sounds getting closer.

"Oh sweet Merlin, we're going to die out here!"

Harry grunted - it was too much effort to talk when he needed the energy to try and run, and the pain was getting pretty intense.

"You're sweating," Draco pointed out needlessly, before glancing back over his shoulder, his jaw dropping when he saw the dark glowing eyes hidden between the leaves, watching them. The worst part was that he couldn't see the rest of the werewolf, and subsequently didn't know when he was going to pounce.

With a loud, ear-shattering howl, the werewolf charged, and Draco got his answer. Thinking on his feet, he shoved Harry to the side, into the undergrowth, and turned around, his wand held high, albeit shakily.

"Relashio!" he screamed, casting the first spell that came into his mind, and a jet of bright sparks shot out of his wand towards the werewolf, lighting up their section of the forest momentarily before dying again, leaving them in pitch-black once more.

Draco blinked as he adjusted to the darkness again. The sparks had briefly confused the werewolf, but it was approaching, snarling as it slowly moved in on its prey.

Draco looked around wildly, trying to think of another spell, but it was hard with the werewolf moving closer by the second. "Stupefy!" he cried, and for a second the werewolf froze where it was, before groggily shaking its head.

Shit. Shit. Shit! Think, Draco, think!

"Incarcerous!" A thick set of magical ropes flew through the air, and bound themselves tightly around the werewolf's limbs, causing it to fall to the ground, howling in frustration.

Draco didn't stay around to see if they held, and quickly grabbed Harry's arm. "Come on!" He pulled him out of the undergrowth, fear fuelling his strength, and they lumbered through the trees awkwardly.

"Draco, just...go on, okay? I can try and hold him off. I'm just slowing you down."

"Shut up, Potter. Stop being a Gryffindor for five seconds!"

Draco closed his eyes briefly as he heard another ear-piercing howl behind them, instantly knowing that the werewolf had broken the bonds. "We need to find a cave or something!"

"Oh yeah. Brilliant. Where are we going to find one in a bloody forest?"

Draco growled in frustration, and kept on moving. He could swear the ripping, tearing sounds of the bushes being uprooted were growing closer. He could almost feel the foul breath of the werewolf at the back of his neck, and every part of him prepared for the pain that was bound to come.

All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, a bright white light appeared, and a unicorn stepped into their path, bowing its head down low.

Draco made a lunge for it, not caring by that point what it did, as long as he could get it between them and the werewolf, and he pressed himself back against a tree, Harry next to him.

The werewolf skidded into the small clearing, and came to an abrupt stop when it saw the unicorn flashing white and silver, lighting up the entire area. The two creatures stared at each other, locked in a mental battle for what seemed like forever, before the unicorn reared its head and charged, its silver horn pointing directly towards the werewolf's heart.

The werewolf jumped, and then turned tail, loping back into the forest, letting out long, mournful cries as it went, lamenting the disappearance of its lunch.

Draco let out a sigh of relief, and collapsed against the trunk, barely caring that he was leaning into Harry. "I thought we were goners that time..." he whispered.

Harry nodded in agreement, then nudged Draco's shoulder. "Malfoy...the unicorn...it's approaching us." He sounded unsure, having been taught that unicorns didn't much care for boys, and could turn quite nasty if they felt like they were being threatened. Personally, Harry couldn't think of many things more threatening that a werewolf in the vicinity.

But Draco appeared to be curious, and he stepped away from the tree, eyeing the unicorn intently, and took a couple of steps towards it. "Merlin, it is you!" he exclaimed, and laughed before walking bravely over to the unicorn, holding out his hand.

"How on earth...?" Harry asked, gaping as the unicorn nuzzled against Draco, and then bent its head down low, allowing him to stroke its gorgeous shimmering mane.

"We know each other," Draco replied, sounding more cheerful than he had all night. "He was one of the baby unicorns in Care of Magical Creatures back in forth year."

"But Hagrid only really let the girls approach, didn't he?"

Draco snorted at that. "And you think that was going to stop me? They looked so gorgeous and golden back then, when they were young. I wanted to get close to them. So I sneaked down after lights-out, and this particular one decided to be friends." Draco laughed when the unicorn pressed its nose into his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Aether?"

"You named him?" Harry was amazed. He'd never seen Draco pay anything this much attention before, unless it was something expensive.

"Of course. Everything has a name." Draco let out a breath, then smiled at the unicorn. "Didn't recognise you for a minute, boy. You've grown up since then. Turned silver."

Harry pushed away from the tree, and carefully made his way over to where they stood. "You think that's why the werewolf left? The silver?"

Draco shrugged. "Who knows? I'm just glad he's gone." He petted the unicorn quietly, whispering to it as Harry stepped closer, causing it to become a little bit skittish. "Maybe we could use him."

"Use him? For what? Malfoy, I've had enough for one night."

Draco gave him a withering look. "That's what I mean. Maybe we can get him to show us back to Hogwarts. Maybe we could ride him."

"You what?" Harry exclaimed. He'd ridden many odd things in his life - a hippogryff, the thestrals, his broom, the Knight Bus, just to name a few. But he'd never ridden on a unicorn. Then again, maybe it was time to change that.

"Think he would let me?" he asked after a while, willing to give it a go if it meant getting away from there and back to the castle where he could get his leg attended to.

"Guess we'll find out, won't we?" Draco stroked the unicorn's nose, and then spoke to it calmly again. "Please may we ride you? We've had a long night, and Potter here can't walk very well."

The unicorn lifted its head and looked directly at Harry, as if it was considering what to do, and then let out a loud snort before dipping its head.

"I think that's a yes," Draco replied. "Only...there's one small thing..."

He looked embarrassed, and Harry furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Well...uhm..." Draco shifted from foot to foot, and Harry could see, from the glow of the unicorn, that his cheeks were turning pink. "Unicorns will only allow virgins to ride them."

"Oh!" Now it was Harry's turn to blush. "Well...I guess...I mean...I haven't..."

"No..."

The two boys glanced at each other, then looked away hurriedly.

"I have kissed before!" Draco suddenly announced, and folded his arms across his chest. Aether shoved him with his nose, as if he was amused at that statement.

"Me too!" Harry said quickly. "Kind of, anyway. It was a bit weird."

"Everything you do is weird." Draco rolled his eyes. "So I guess that means we can ride him then." He moved to the side of the unicorn, then paused. "If you dare tell anyone about this I will kill you in your sleep."

Harry laughed, and hobbled over, rolling his eyes. "Yeah yeah. Shut up and get on his back."

Draco didn't need to be told twice. He swung his leg up, mounting the horse, and took hold of handfuls of the silver mane, grunting when Harry managed to climb on behind him.

"Urgh! I can't believe I've got you pressed up against my back. I'm going to have to have a shower when we get back."

Harry laughed against the back of his neck. "Then I suppose you won't want me to remind you of how you clung to me for most of the night then?"

"I did not!"

Draco shut up then, as Aether began to trot off through the forest. Neither of the boys could make out any discernible route, but the unicorn seemed to know exactly where it was heading, which was good enough for them. They just clung on -Draco to the mane, and Harry to Draco's waist- and let the metronome of the hooves lull them half-asleep.

After what seemed forever, the unicorn emerged from the forest, and Harry looked up over Draco's shoulder, breathing a heavy sigh of relief when he realised they were back in the grounds, and he could see the castle just up ahead.

Unfortunately, he could also see a tall, opposing figure, who began marching towards them as soon as he saw them.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Snape demanded, holding his wand high to light up the area. Aether backed up a little, stomping his hooves. "You've been gone for four hours! We were considering coming in after you!"

Harry scoffed. "You said you'd come after two!"

Snape chose to ignore that comment. "Mr Malfoy, what are you doing on the back of a unicorn? Get off at once!"

Draco sighed, but obeyed. He slipped off the back of the unicorn, Harry following his lead, and patted Aether's head.. "Thank you," he whispered, before turning to Snape.

"Explain yourself at once!"

Draco bit his lip, glancing around, then looked back at Snape, meeting his gaze. "I really did almost get killed this time! Many times, in fact!"

Snape looked skyward, silently asking the heavens to give him strength.

*

When they got to the main entrance of the school, Harry was glad that Snape hadn't made him hobble the entire way. His muscles were screaming with ache from the exertion of running about the forest and all he wanted to do was go up to his bed and sleep.

"So you are telling me that you ran into giant spiders, were captured by centaurs, got covered in slime, chased by a werewolf, and met up with a unicorn that led you home." Snape raised an eyebrow looking as though he had just swallowed something particularly nasty.

Draco nodded earnestly and pushed some hair out of his eyes. "Yes, Sir, it was quite the adventure. However we did manage to secure the desired ingredients. Though I think we should get something for all the trouble we went through."

Laughing, Harry turned around and looked at the two of them. "Like me getting away with this being my only detention?"

Narrowing his eyes, Snape snorted and eyed him with distaste. "Hardly," he sneered before turning his attention back to Draco. "Very well, if it will quiet your tales down. Fifty points to Slytherin." He swept into the hall as rain began to splatter once more across the grounds of Hogwarts.

"What about Gryffindor?" Harry asked indignantly. "I went out there and collected them too."

Snape turned around and gave Harry a long look before snorting and calling over his shoulder as he swept away. "Twenty points to Gryffindor and do not forget you are both due in Headmaster Dumbledore's office first thing in the morning."

Harry watched as he walked away and then turned his gaze over to Draco, standing there awkwardly for a long moment, not sure exactly how to act now that they'd saved each other's lives for an entire night.

"Um..."

Raising a brow Draco looked over at him and seemingly inspected his expression as though looking for any signs as to what he wanted to say. "Yes?"

Shrugging a shoulder Harry looked out over the hall. "Thanks for not leaving me out there."

There was a sound like a scoff before the reply finally came. "Think nothing of it, Potter. I would have been skinned alive if I'd made it out of the forest and got back here alone."

Turning his gaze back to Draco, Harry nodded once before shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Look, how about what happened in the forest stays in the forest, alright? We don't bring up any of the things we found out."

Draco stared at him blankly for a long moment before drawing himself up and laughing. "Are you serious? And give up the chance to do impressions of you crying like a girl? Why would I do that?"

Suddenly Harry was reminded who he was really talking to and he almost wanted to kick himself for even forgetting for a moment. "Fine! Then I'll just go about spreading you're a virgin and that when you're scared you cling to people like some little child. Bet there would be loads of people interested in finding out all your confidence is an act!"

Draco scowled at him and turned, making his way over to the dungeon's entrance. "Fine, have it your way, Potter. We'll have an agreement not to tell anything about the other from the forest. Now piss off. I need my beauty sleep so that I can watch you get reamed out in the morning." He threw a smirk over his shoulder and then left Harry standing there in the middle of the entrance hall all alone.

For a moment, Harry had to wonder if everything that had just happened was some crazy sort of dream.

With a sigh he went to the stairs and started climbing them. Whatever had happened, Harry wasn't about to think it over now. At that moment all he wanted most was a shower and his bed.

And that's exactly what he got.

*