Kori

Harry Potter smiled widely as he walked down the nearly deserted street, accompanied by his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They were arguing good-naturedly beside him. No matter how much they fought, Harry knew that not much could come between these two for long, not after all the dumb arguments last year over Hermione "fraternizing with the enemy". This was a rather touchy spot for the two of them, and neither has brought it up since.

It was Harry's first Hogsmeade weekend in his fifth year at Hogwarts. The weather was unusually warm for mid-October, and it felt nice to get away from the work. Even though they have been at school for just over a month, most of the teachers were already pushing the students to their limits. One of these teachers was Professor McGonagall. Even though she was Gryffindor's head of house, she showed no favoritism towards them. This was very much the opposite for Harry's potions teacher, Professor Snape, head of house for Slytherin. He favored the Slytherin in every possible way. Why, just yesterday, he took ten points from Gryffindor because Draco Malfoy knocked his inkbottle off the table. He called it, "obstruction of path, and a danger to the surrounding students."

Harry must have said this aloud, for Ron suddenly gave a bitter laugh and muttered, "Yeah, right."

It seemed that Ron and Hermione had reached an agreement, as it looked as if they were heading towards Zonko's, a magical joke shop. Ron soon made this clear.

"George asked me to pick a couple of things for him at Zonko's anyway."

A thought struck Harry. "Why didn't Fred and George come? I haven't known them to be ones to skip a chance to get out of school and restock their supply of dungbombs."

I know, I asked them that and they said that it was important that they worked on something. When I asked what, they told me to butt out. It was all very suspicious."

Harry filed that bit of information for later. "C'mon, it's getting late. Nearly everyone is leaving. Let's just get done."

So, they walked on towards Zonko's.

Draco Malfoy scowled as he watched the inseparable trio strut into the joke shop. He would never in his life admit it, but he was jealous. He hated it, being jealous of the famous Harry Potter. How could he not be? He had friends. Real friends. Sure, Crabbe and Goyle could be useful at times, but they were really too stupid to really talk to. They were hardly anyone Malfoy could count on. Hs scowled again, turning away. He cast a glance at either side of him, where Crabbe and Goyle stood. Yes, he thought. The only reason these two gits stay with me at all are because they are afraid of my father.

"C'mon. Let's head up towards the Shrieking Shack. At least there I won't have to deal with Potter and company."

He started away, Crabbe and Goyle walking faithfully at his heels, like two big dogs, just waiting to be praised. It was really quite pathetic.

They walked on in silence. Within a couple of minutes, they had reached the shack.

Malfoy quickly scanned the surrounding area. It seemed to be all clear, except for a girl standing by the shack. She seemed to be in a trance, staring fixedly at something he could not see.

"Hey! What ar....." Malfoy trailed off. His mouth dropped and his eyes widened. What the girl had been staring at now stepped into view.

It was small, three, maybe four feet high. Its pointed face was stretched into an evil smile, showing hundreds of long razor teeth. It opened its wide mouth and emitted a high, piercing laugh. It started towards the girl, the smile still plastered to its face.

Malfoy decided that it would be much safer to hide. He dived behind a rather large rock, pulling Crabbe and Goyle after him.

"What the hell is that?" Malfoy whispered, staring at the monster. Crabbe and Goyle, clueless, as usual, just shrugged.

The beast continued to advance towards the girl, who was still transfixed. When it finally reached her, it reached out its long, triple-clawed hand. It grabbed the girl by her wrist. That's when she snapped out of the trance.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stopped short as they heard the scream shoot through the air.

"What was that?" ask Ron.

" It sounded like it came from the Shrieking Shack!" Harry shouted, who had dropped his bags and was already running. Ron and Hermione were close on his heels.

Malfoy watched as the thing started to pull the struggling girl behind the shack. He felt panic take hold of him. He felt that he had to help her, although he didn't know how. He had left his wand back at the castle, thinking he wouldn't need it. He looked around, looking for a weapon that might hurt the beast in some way or another. Then, hearing footsteps, he realized he wouldn't have to do anything. It was Potter, Weasley and Granger, on their way to save the day again. Ripples of cold fury quaked through Malfoy. Potter always had to be the rescuer, always saving lives. It angered Malfoy. Just once in his life, he wanted to be the one in the spotlight. Malfoy clenched his teeth, telling himself that jealousy got you nowhere.

He glared at Potter as he ran up, pulling out his wand, the other two doing likewise. He scolded himself silently, swearing that he would never go anywhere without his wand again. Luckily, they did not glance his way, or surely they would have seen him. He preferred not to be associated with this situation just yet. That's all he needed, false accusations pointed at him about him setting the beast on the girl. He felt a plan forming in the back of his head. He would be the one saving the day, not Potter. At least, that's what everyone else would think. He would have to wait for a chance, though. After all, patience was a virtue.

As Harry sprinted up the hill, he took in the scene. A girl, his age, maybe a little younger was struggling in the hands of a small creature. As he neared, the monster hit the girl over the head, who immediately stopped moving. She became deadweight, unconscious. It continued to drag her away. Harry doubled his speed. He took out his wand, yelling at the beast.

"Stop! Drop her!" he shouted at it. It did no good. Ron and Hermione joined in the chorus of yells. They all shot sparks at it, making it pause to look at them. Harry had to get it to drop the girl, and then he could stun it. He ran at the beast, picking up rocks and throwing them at it. One of the larger stones hit it square in the jaw, dazing it. It was enough. It dropped the girl, and in anger and confusion, started after Harry. Long before it had reached him, Harry stunned it.

Harry and Ron ran to the girl, while Hermione stayed to inspect the beast. They could hear her muttering behind them. Harry, who reached the girl first, dropped to his knees beside her. He quickly listened for a heartbeat, and finding one, turned to Hermione.

"Hermione, go and get a teacher to help us get her back to the castle," he said. She nodded and stood up. "Ron, do you recognize her?"

"Yeah, I think so. She's in Ravencl..." Ron stopped hearing voices behind him. "Hermione, that was qui..." He stopped again as he saw who was standing there.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were blocking Hermione's path, arms crossed.

"Playing hero again, huh Potter? Thought you would come and save the day?" Malfoy sneered, a thin smirk on his face. "I don't think so. Move out of the way Granger, I'm going to help this girl," he said waving a hand at the girl. "Goyle, go get a teacher and explain the situation." His smirk grew wider as he approached the motionless girl. "In the meantime, I think we need to go over a few of the smaller details. Let's see, how about this? I Crabbe, Goyle and I arrived here, expecting a little peace and quiet, and found her getting attacked. I, realizing I had to do something, ran at the monster, (with no wand, mind you) and jumped on its' back. It, enraged, dropped the girl to get at me. Potter here came up at this moment, and saw me attacking the beast. He pulled me off before I endangered such a rare beast, and then stunned it. After I checked to make sure the girl was still alive, I sent Goyle to go get a teacher. Sound good?" he asked Crabbe. Crabbe grinned and massaged his knuckles.

"Now wait a moment, you can't do that! You didn't even show up until after Harry stunned it!" Granger yelled defiantly. In response, Malfoy just smiled.

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Naturally, Goyle was going to get Snape, who would surely believe Malfoy's version of events. Even if he didn't, he would find a way to take points from Gryffindor or give them detentions or something of the sort. Harry decided he had to do something before Goyle came back. He motioned Ron towards him.

Ron walked over and Harry cast a glance at Malfoy, who was lost in his own thoughts. Hermione, however, was attempting to get past Crabbe. Harry whispered into Ron's ear. "Ron, I need you to distract Malfoy for a minute, then get to the castle with Hermione. I'm going to bring her (he jerks his head at the girl) through the Shrieking Shack and into the castle. I brought the invisibility cloak, so I have a way of hitting the knot in the tree. Just make sure Malfoy doesn't see me!"

Ron nodded once to show his understanding and headed off towards Malfoy. Malfoy just watched him approach. Unexpectedly, Ron punched Malfoy in the gut.

"Well, not exactly the distraction I was looking for, but it works," Harry thought.

Crabbe, who saw Ron hit Malfoy, ran over to them, who were dueling it out on the ground. He immediately jumped into the fight.

Harry, worried about Ron, decided that he had better get going before Goyle got back. He ran over to the girl and dropped to his knees. She was still out cold. He picked her up in his arms, and started towards the Shrieking Shack. As he made his way over, he looked down into her face. She was really quite pretty. Harry shook his head and told himself that there were more important things to attend to right now. He opened the door to the shack, walked in, and closed it behind him. He could still hear the yells of Ron, Malfoy, and Crabbe outside, and Harry hoped that Ron would get out of there soon. He put the girl down and went to open the secret entrance in the wall. He put on his invisibility cloak, ran through the passage, and hit the knot on one of the roots of the Whomping Willow, the most violent tree Harry had ever encountered in his life. He ran back in to get the girl and carried her out. To Harry, it seemed like an awful long way to the castle.

Harry entered the castle exhausted and his muscles aching. It wasn't that the girl was very heavy, it's just that Harry wasn't used to such a workout. He rested quickly before heading up to the hospital wing. He didn't pass anyone along the way, and assumed everyone was on their way home from Hogsmeade. Little did Harry know, this was not at all the case.

As Harry climbed the staircase up to the hospital wing, the girl in his arms began to stir. Her eyelids opened just as he walked through the door. Madame Pomfrey was making a bed. She immediately saw Harry and rushed over. Harry put the girl gently down on the bed. Madame Pomfrey looked astonished.

"What are you doing out of the common room? All students were ordered to stay in their dorms until told otherwise. And what happened here?"

Harry started to ask why everyone was to stay in the dorms, but then decided otherwise. He explained to her about hearing the scream and stunning the beast and carrying the girls back to the castle. He left out the part about Malfoy and the fight Ron started.

"Why didn't you get a teacher instead of walking through the castle grounds alone? What were you thinking? Especially after what happened," scolded Madame Pomfrey.

Once again, Harry wanted to ask about what had happened, but she had turned away to see to the girl.

"You go back to the common room now," she said firmly.

Harry wanted to stay and see how the girl was doing, but curiosity overwhelmed him. He walked back to the common room.

Malfoy sat down in a chair by the fire in the Slytherin common room. Crabbe and Goyle did likewise. Malfoy winced as he sat, owing to the pain in his backside. That damn Weasley had knocked him down, and he was sure he would have quite a bruise later. He hadn't expected Weasley to attack him like that. Then after the fight, he had realized that Potter was gone, with the girl. Then both Weasley and the Mudblood ran off. What a job it was telling the story to Snape. Of course, he believed Malfoy's story, but was irritated at them for dragging him away from his drink in the Three Broomsticks. No doubt, he would be letting off some steam at Potter and friends on Monday. Malfoy smiled faintly at this. All in all, it had not been a good day.

Malfoy got up and walked up to his dorm, leaving Crabbe and Goyle behind. He knew they would follow shortly, but he just wanted some time t o himself. He saw that there was a note on his bed. He picked it up and saw that it was from his father.

"Draco,

My apologies if I did not elaborate enough

on our plan. That was one of my pets. It seems

that I forgot to tell you about that part. But

there are more important things at hand to discuss.

Did the rest of our plan work? Is the girl dead?

Return your answer as soon as possible.

Best wishes,

Your Father"

He got out a piece of parchment and began to write his reply.

"Dear Father,

Your plan has seemed to work well. All students

were ordered to stay in their dorms. I only hope that it

gave you enough time to get what you wanted.

Although the girl didn't die, she has lost part of her

memory and personality I'm assuming due to the spell that

our pet cast. I don't believe that anyone saw or suspects us.

That stupid Potter nearly ruined our plans. Although

Crabbe and Goyle remain loyal to me, I decided that

It would be better if I didn't tell them about this. I hope

you agree and that you are well.

Luck to you always,

Draco

Malfoy put his quill and ink and called his eagle owl over to him. He quickly tied it to his leg and it took off out the window. He walked back over to his bed and flopped down onto it. He just lay there, thinking about the events that day. He wondered what would have changed if they had been caught. He also wondered (against his will, but he could not seem to help it) whether the girl was all right. After all, she doesn't know her background. None of it is really her fault. He knew he should be wishing she were dead, as that were the original plan, but there was just something about her.

Malfoy shook his head violently, removing those thoughts from his mind. He vowed to himself that next time, no matter what, he would be the hero.