Broken Fate

Chapter Twenty-Five ~ Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

"Wait, wait. If Will and Shay were following one lead, and you and Remus went to follow another one--where was Molly?" Hermione asked. She and Jamie were in the last stall of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, working on the Veritaserum potion, and Jamie had been filling the time telling Hermione the events that led up to finding the Time-Turner. Myrtle had become annoyed with them and disappeared down one of the toilets, for which Hermione was grateful.

"Oh, that's a story in itself. Hey, where did you get the ashwinder eggs?" Jamie asked as she picked them up, dropping them one at a time into the potion.

"One of the apothecaries on Diagon Alley had them; I ordered them by owl," Hermione said matter-of-factly. She carefully stirred the potion three times with a long silver spoon. "We're only missing a couple of ingredients, but we don't need to add them for a while. Neville said he was going into the Forbidden Forest after classes tomorrow. It needs to be added to the potion tomorrow night, and it needs to be fresh. Will's going to go with him."

"He is?" Jamie looked up, her forehead creased in a frown.

Hermione nodded, pulling the spoon out of the potion. "We thought it best if Neville didn't go alone. There. It needs to boil for exactly three hours, and it's nearly curfew. One of us will have to come down here with the invisibility cloak later. And that one of us will have to be me, since you're not supposed to be alone anywhere around the school, invisibility cloak or not."

"I'll ask Harry if we can borrow his," Jamie said. "Shay still has mine."

Hermione inclined her head at Jamie. "You haven't talked to him at all this week, have you?" Jamie had seemed rather restless and uneasy for a couple of days after her talk with Hermione and Ginny, but then she had suddenly seemed a lot calmer.

"I've said hello," Jamie protested. She sighed, leaning back against the wall of the stall. "You're right; I haven't talked to Shay--at least not about how I feel. I just...I feel like it's not the right time, Hermione. I did talk to Will about it the other day."

Ah. Will. That would explain why she was more peaceful--Will tended to have that effect on people.

"I know that might sound strange, but...well, I've always been able to talk to Will about everything that was bothering me. He's a great listener. And it really helped me sort some things out and come to peace with some things... Shay has so many things he's dealing with right now, and I just...I think he needs to sort some stuff out before I can bring...how I feel into it."

Hermione thought she understood. She, after all, had waited for several years for Ron to realize his feelings for her. He'd had to work some things out first, too. "And you're all right with this?"

Jamie nodded firmly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm good at waiting on Shay," she said with a slight grin. "I'll know when the time is right."

Hermione sat on the opposite side of the stall, watching the mixture to make sure it began to boil. "So--Molly?" she asked, bringing the conversation back to its original topic.

Jamie nodded. "Yes. You see, we were staying at Remus's house--well, his temporary house; he moved around a lot--and Will and Shay had gone to look for the Time-Turner. Not long after that, I had another lead on the Time-Turner, and I was discussing it with Remus when a woman showed up at his home. She and Remus went into another room and talked for quite a while, and then Remus came out and talked to me. He said she was an old friend of his, and she had a lot of important information that we needed. I told him I was going to follow my lead--I didn't have much time--and he insisted on coming with me. He arranged it so his friend--all I know is that her name was Nora--watched Molly. He said we could trust her completely, and...well, I trusted Remus."

Hermione heard hesitance in Jamie's voice, and she said, "But something happened."

Jamie nodded again. "After...when Remus died, I went back to his house to get Molly and to wait for Shay and Will. When I got there, the house was empty. I was already...well, very upset, to say the least, and I was frantic. I thought something had happened to Molly--maybe Nora had run off with her, or Death Eaters had attacked...I searched the house, and I found Molly asleep in a cupboard. Nora wasn't anywhere to be found. It was...strange. And I never saw her again--a month later, we traveled back in time." Jamie shrugged a little. "We were worried that Nora had done something to her, but Molly seemed fine. Well, as fine as she ever seems."

"Hmm. That's odd." The potion was boiling now, and Hermione looked down at the Muggle watch her parents had given her three Christmases ago. "I'm timing it now." She stood up. "Speaking of Molly, any news on how she's doing?"

Jamie shook her head, standing up as well. "You know as much as I do. Mrs. Weasley's last letter said she was doing fine--that was last week. She's always moved around a lot, so adjusting to being at Grimmauld Place wasn't that difficult for her. And she was used to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Gabrielle's been playing with her a lot. It's good for Molly." Jamie smiled fondly, and Hermione was again struck by the irony of this entire situation. It was still so strange to think that she and Ron had pretty much raised Jamie in the future, and that Jamie, Will, and Shay were actually raising Molly. She had a hard time imagining them changing diapers and making baby food, and helping Molly take her first steps and caring for her when she was ill. It was odd to think that Jamie had been the only 'mother' type of figure in Molly's life, and Jamie was still in such need of a mother herself.

As they headed out of the bathroom, Hermione groaned and stretched. "I'm hungry."

"We missed dinner because we were working on that," Jamie pointed out, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder toward the last stall. "Do you want to swing by the kitchens?"

"Well..." Hermione hated seeing the house-elves throwing themselves all over to try to make her happy. "I suppose it would be nice to see how Dobby and Winky are doing. Maybe we can get our own food..."

~*~

"Oh. My. Goodness." Hermione's gasp immediately caught Will's attention, and he looked up from the bowl of porridge he was eating. Hermione's eyes were glued to the front page of the Daily Prophet, which had just arrived via owl.

"What?" Will, Ginny, and Ron asked at the same time.

Hands shaking, Hermione set the paper on the table and wordlessly pointed. The Weasleys crowded their heads together to look at the paper, and Will's heart went cold at the huge headline. "YOU-KNOW-WHO TAKES AZKABAN."

"No," Will whispered. He scanned the article, and when he finished, he closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands. Yet another event had occurred early--most of the stuff that had happened this year had originally happened in his parents' seventh year, and now it was happening in their sixth. Will had come back hoping to prevent a lot of this from happening, and it constantly seemed he was making it worse.

He felt a hand on his arm, and looked up to see Hermione studying him in concern. "A long time ago you said the prisoners in Azkaban escaped."

"They did," Will said hollowly. "It just happened during your seventh year--like so many other things." He shook his head. "We changed everything."

"Morning!" Harry sat down next to Ginny and grabbed a piece of toast. "How--what's the matter?" He frowned at them, obviously seeing their shaken expressions.

Ginny slid the paper over in front of him. "Voldemort attacked Azkaban prison last night," she said quietly. "With his Death Eaters, hundreds of dementors and numerous giants. The Aurors couldn't hold them all off..." She trailed off, looking rather ill.

Harry grabbed the newspaper, his face going from shocked to angry to stony as he read it. Finally, looking equally sickened, he dropped the paper on the table. "Some of the Aurors were Kissed."

"And the prisoners were let loose. You know what that means?" Ron clenched his hands into fists. "Lucius Malfoy is out--and so are all the other Death Eaters. Again."

"The paper says that Voldemort is now using Azkaban as a prison for his own captives," Ginny whispered.

Neville chose that moment to join them. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully. He, too, saw their expressions, and he froze. "What's the matter?"

Ginny wordlessly pushed the paper over to him.

~*~

Will's mind was still on Azkaban when he trudged out to Care of Magical Creatures. He found himself standing beside Jamie, who looked even more exhausted than usual. Will nudged her shoulder with his own. "Late night?" he whispered.

Jamie nodded. "Well, not so much late as long. I was working on my...project with Hermione," she said carefully, in case anyone was listening. No one was; everybody was looking at the dozen-legged creature that Hagrid was holding aloft. "And then the news about Azkaban this morning...Will, I feel so responsible."

"Yeah. Me, too," Will whispered. No matter how responsible he felt, he knew there was nothing he could do to change what had happened. Life was so ironic sometimes. With a sigh, he tried to focus on the class. Now that Oscar was gone, and Charlie was staying in Romania until February, Hagrid was again teaching Care of Magical Creatures--they were learning about creatures called Jillywiggles. Ron was convinced they were another one of Hagrid's experiments, and possibly derived from the Billywig, given their name and the enormous stings they had. "Wasn't it bad enough with the Blast-Ended Skrewts?"

It was...interesting--not learning about Jillywiggles, but Hagrid's unorthodox way of teaching. It was certainly a change from all of the other professors. He was currently beaming at the class as he encouraged them to grab their own.

Will looked at the Jillywiggle, leery. He really had no desire whatsoever to touch it, but it looked like there really wasn't any way out of it. Or so he thought, until he heard his name being called. "Will!"

Will turned to see Tonks approaching. Her hair was short and purple today, all except for the ends, which were tinged blue. The entire class stopped and looked at her. "Pardon the interruption, Hagrid," Tonks said, grinning at the half-giant. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see Will."

"Righ'! You go ahead, then, Will!"

Exchanging a confused glance with Jamie, Will broke away from the Gryffindors and fell into step beside Tonks. "Aren't you teaching a class this morning?" he asked her curiously.

"I'm supposed to be teaching the first years, but Dumbledore asked me to come get you--something's going on that needs my attention--and yours," Tonks said.

"Um...do you know what?"

"No, but we'll find out in a minute."

It wasn't long before Will found himself standing beside Tonks in Dumbledore's office. "William, Nymphadora, thank you for coming. Please, have a seat." Dumbledore waved his wand, and two chairs appeared. "I apologize for interrupting your classes, but I was speaking with Molly Weasley--that is, your grandmother, William--and she brought up a matter of concern with your sister Molly."

Will froze, fear bred from a life of always waiting for the worst kicking in. "What happened?" Was she hurt? Had something gone horribly wrong? Was she--

"She's perfectly unharmed, William, but I think it would be best if you--and you, as well, Nymphadora--went to Grimmauld Place. I have a Portkey ready."

Will nodded silently. Was that all Dumbledore was going to tell them? He glanced at Tonks, who looked equally baffled. She shrugged a little. Dumbledore motioned to a cup--the Portkey, obviously. Will stepped up to it, and then suddenly realized--he was supposed to go into the Forbidden Forest with Neville that afternoon, and he had no idea how long he was going to be at Grimmauld Place. "Er, Professor? Would you mind telling Hermione that someone else needs to be with Neville?" Hermione would ensure that Neville didn't go into the forest alone.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly, but nodded. "I will."

Will again looked at Tonks. "On three?" she asked. "One, two, three..." They both touched the Portkey, and were yanked away from Dumbledore's office, appearing in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Just as Will was trying to orient himself, he heard Mrs. Weasley's familiar voice. "Will! Tonks!"

Will turned around just in time to meet Mrs. Weasley's tight hug. "Hello." He took a step back. "Where's Molly?"

"She's in her room, dear. I think it would be best if both of you came." Mrs. Weasley turned around and led the way through the kitchen. They went up the stairs to the room that Molly had shared with Hermione, Ginny, and Jamie over Christmas. "Gabrielle's been sharing the room with her since you left for Hogwarts," Mrs. Weasley explained, stopping in front of the closed bedroom door. She gave the door a worried glance before she pushed it open. "Molly, dear? Look who's here to see you!"

Will stepped into the bedroom, then stopped in shock. Molly was seated in the middle of the floor, surrounded by dozens of her drawings. Literally surrounded--they started at the edge of the first bed in the room and were strewn across the floor, across the beds, and on the trunks at the foot of two of the beds. She was working on another drawing, but at the sound of Mrs. Weasley's voice, she looked up. When she saw Will, she jumped to her feet and ran across the papers on the floor to hug his legs. Will picked her up and held her tightly. "Are these all your pictures, Molly?"

Molly inclined her head at him, and then her gaze landed on something behind him. Her eyes widened, and Will turned around to find her staring at Tonks. Molly twisted in Will's arms, and she reached out towards Tonks. A surprised expression crossed Tonks' face, but she held out her arms in return, and Molly practically dived out Will's grip to reach Tonks.

Even more surprised--Molly hadn't shown much interest in Tonks over the Christmas holidays; what had changed?--Will watched as Molly looked straight into Tonks eyes, then leaned her head forward so her forehead was touching Tonks'. She stayed that way for a moment, then wriggled out of Tonks arms and picked her way back across the room to sit in the middle of her pictures again.

"She's been drawing them almost nonstop for two days," Mrs. Weasley said quietly. "She's stopped to eat, but that's about it. We tried getting her to stop--we took away her paper first, but she started drawing on the walls of the bedroom; I removed those and took her crayons and markers away, but then she wouldn't come out of her room. She just sat in the corner, and when I tried to pick her up, she became as stiff as a board. Arthur and I finally decided to give her the paper and crayons back--we thought that perhaps she was trying to communicate something to us, and...well, here." Mrs. Weasley bent down and picked up a handful of papers, giving them to Will.

Will looked down at the first picture. Molly's images had become more distinguished--it was easy to tell that the drawing was of Will. He switched to the next drawing and frowned.

"That's me!" Tonks exclaimed, peering over his shoulder.

Will had to agree--he didn't know anyone else who had short pink hair, as Molly had drawn the person in the picture. He flipped to the next picture. "Who's that?" The image was that of a woman with very short black hair. He would have thought it was Jamie, except the hair was shorter than Jamie had ever had hers.

"I..." Tonks took the picture and frowned. Her face scrunched up in a look of concentration, and a moment later, her hair had changed from purple and blue to black. It also looked very much like the image in the drawing.

Will looked over at Molly, who was staring at Tonks with very wide eyes. She jumped to her feet, eyes still fixed on Tonks, and then--Will's heart almost stopped in shock--Molly smiled. Not a tiny smile; she gave a full-out grin that made her face light up and her eyes crinkle. She had Hermione's smile, Will realized, dazed. It was the first time he had seen her smile since she was seven months old; he hadn't even been sure she was still capable of smiling. When the grin faded from her face, Will swiveled to look at Tonks.

Tonks looked as bemused as Will felt. She pointed to her hair. "This is my normal hair color. I inherited the Black family hair--no pun intended."

"I've never seen you with black hair," Will said.

"I hardly ever use it," Tonks said with a shrug. "Not as fun as pink or blue," she added with a wink.

Will turned back around and saw that Molly was sitting down, once again working on her coloring. He carefully walked across Molly's drawings, looking at them as he went. Most of them were of Tonks, some with wild-colored hair, and some with black hair. A few had other people Molly knew, but the majority of them were of Tonks. In many of them, Molly had drawn herself standing with Tonks, and in just as many, she had drawn Tonks and Kreacher looking at each other, both with huge frowns on their faces.

Will stopped when he reached Molly, and he bent down beside her. "Hey, Molly," he said softly. "Can I see what you're working on?"

Molly stopped scribbling and glanced up at him, her hair blocking his view of the newest drawing. Will pushed her hair aside so he could see it, and sure enough, she was again drawing Tonks and Kreacher.

Will stood up and made his way back over to Mrs. Weasley and Tonks. "I have no idea why she's coloring you," he told Tonks.

"That makes two of us."

"You said she's been drawing them for two days," Will said to Mrs. Weasley. "What happened just before she started?" What had caused this?

"She started drawing all of this just after...well, you see, we used a Reciprocated Mirror at Christmas so that we would be able to have a record of your first Christmas here," Mrs. Weasley said. "And two days ago, I was watching it when Molly found me. She sat down with me and watched it for a few minutes, and then suddenly, she jumped up and ran upstairs--and she's been drawing ever since. Arthur and I went over the Mirror numerous times, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. It did have Tonks in it; and it was shortly after Molly saw Tonks on the Mirror that she started...all this." Mrs. Weasley waved her hand around the room. "We finally decided it would probably be best if you two came to see her."

Molly stood to her feet and walked across the room, stopping directly in front of Tonks and handing the picture to her.

Tonks glanced down at it, her forehead creasing. "Do you mind if I take a look at the Mirror?" she asked Mrs. Weasley. "Maybe I'll find something that you missed--or didn't know to look for."

"I'd like to see it, too," Will said.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Of course. It's downstairs; I'll go get it."

~*~

"What's wrong with Molly?" Jamie asked at lunchtime, as soon as Hermione had mentioned that Will had gone to Grimmauld Place.

"Dumbledore said she's not hurt; he said Will could explain when he came back--but that's probably not going to be this afternoon," Hermione said, looking around at the concerned faces of Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Neville. She was worried about Molly, too--she might not be hurt, but something had to be going on, or Dumbledore wouldn't have asked Will to go to Grimmauld Place.

Neville looked between Hermione and Jamie, a half-eaten sandwich in one hand. "It's all right. I'll go get the virish root by myself."

Jamie shook her head firmly. "The Forbidden Forest is dangerous."

"I've been in there before," Neville pointed out. "Numerous times, actually, and I know where I'm going."

"It'd probably still be safer to have someone with you, Neville," Ginny said. She sighed. "I'd go, except I have classes all afternoon."

"I'll go," Harry offered. "I don't have classes."

Hermione shook her head. "Harry, if you run into the centaurs--well, you and I barely made it out last time we were in there. The centaurs will kill us if they catch us--and the same goes for Jamie."

"And I have detention," Ron said, making a sour face.

Hermione looked at him with an expression of mingled exasperation and affection. "If you hadn't sabotaged Malfoy's potion yesterday--"

"He deserved it!" Ron retorted hotly. "Did you hear what he called Jamie? Besides, I didn't know that Snape put Reciprocated Mirrors in his classroom--he's a paranoid, sleazy--"

"Listen, it's really all right. I'll just borrow Harry's invisibility cloak--if that's all right with you, Harry," Neville put in.

Harry nodded. "'Course, Neville."

"Um..." Hermione raised her hand slightly, a habit from class that she did by instinct. "An invisibility cloak probably isn't going to make a difference. There are things in the forest that don't need eyes to find you."

Jamie nodded. "Like Fluffy. Have you seen the size of his noses?"

"Yes," Harry, Hermione, and Ron instantly replied. Hermione continued, "And there are things in there that can see through invisibility cloaks--centaurs, for one."

"Centaurs can see through invisibility cloaks?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Not so much see through them as sense them," she said. "One of these days you're going read Hogwarts, a History, and then you won't have to ask me questions like that."

Neville shrugged. "All right, I won't use the cloak. It's really not that far in, anyway."

"Still." Jamie sighed. "When are you going?"

"As soon as History of Magic gets out," Neville stated.

Jamie nodded, a considering look on her face. She exchanged glances with Harry and Ginny, realizing that she wasn't the only one who saw Jamie's expression. She hoped that Jamie wasn't going to try to go with Neville anyway; she'd have to keep a close eye on her after History of Magic.

~*~

"Shay."

Shay was on his way out of the Great Hall after lunch when he heard his name whispered. He recognized Jamie's voice instantly and swiveled to see her leaning against the wall. She straightened up as he approached. "What're you doing?" he hissed. "We're--"

"Acquaintances," Jamie said dryly. "Nothing wrong with a couple of acquaintances talking in the entrance hall after lunch, is there?"

"Jamie, I'm going to see you in our Transfiguration tutorial later this afternoon," Shay pointed out.

"It can't wait."

Shay's attention sharpened, and he moved farther away from the doors to the Great Hall to avoid any students overhearing their conversation. "What happened? Hermione told me about Molly; did Will--"

Jamie shook her head. "It's nothing to do with Molly." She hesitated for a moment. "It's Neville."

Shay closed his eyes in exasperation. If Jamie gave him one more speech on his relationship with Neville, he was going to--

"He's going into the Forbidden Forest after our next class to get an ingredient for the potion," Jamie said hurriedly.

Shay didn't have to ask which potion. "And?"

"Will was going to go with him, but he's at headquarters. None of the rest of us can go; we're either on the centaurs' death list, or have detentions or classes."

Shay crossed his arms. "And? Jamie, if this is just another way to try to get me to talk to my father--"

"Well, that's not why I'm asking you, even though I think it might give you an opportunity. He's nice, Shay. I think you'd like him if you'd give him a chance. He reminds me a little bit of Will. This isn't about that, though. It's just about finding someone to go with Neville. He said he'd go alone, but..." Jamie trailed off, giving him a plaintive look that he hated, because Jamie and her pleading looks were one weak spot he had. They had gotten him into more trouble during his life than anything else.

"Neville's a big boy, Jamie. I'm sure he can handle himself," Shay said, starting to turn away.

"Shay, please. I just...I have a really bad feeling about Neville going in there alone."

Shay stopped and turned back around. "Jamie, how many times have you had bad feelings about things?"

"What's your point?"

"How many times have you been wrong?"

"How many times have I been right?" Jamie retorted. "Please, Shay--it's...it's the Forbidden Forest! It's a horrible place, and I don't like the thought of anyone going in there!"

"Just because you had a bad experience doesn't mean that anything's going to happen to Neville," Shay said, making a stab at rationality. Not that Jamie was very big on rationality, but it was worth a try.

Jamie didn't say anything; she just continued to look at him beseechingly.

"Oh, for--" Shay let out a short breath. "I've got to be in Muggle Studies in three minutes, Jamie, and if I'm not mistaken, you have History of Magic." He swiveled and walked away from her, feeling thoroughly rumpled. It had not been a good week. If Draco had received a package in the mail, Shay certainly hadn't seen it. It was either too small to be noticeable, or it had been delivered to him privately; perhaps his owl had given it to him in his dorm. He had kept an eye on the Marauder's Map when he could, but had seen no suspicious activity on Draco's part. Then there was Jamie; she seemed to be acting normally now, but the first half of the week, he had caught her shooting him odd, almost apprehensive looks, and she had acted a bit awkward during the brief periods he saw her. Then, of course, there was the information that Azkaban was in Voldemort's possession, followed by the news that something was going on with Molly. Despite what anyone might believe, he loved Molly. She was a good kid, and he had certainly done his share in taking care of her the past couple of years. He didn't like worrying, especially about the people he cared about.

And now Jamie was giving him nonsense about Neville and the Forbidden Forest. Shay snorted to himself as he sank into a seat at Muggle Studies. He had been right; Neville was capable of taking care of himself--he had come this far, hadn't he? Jamie was the only one who was worried.

Despite being convinced that he was right, Shay had a hard time concentrating during Muggle Studies--they were learning about television sets, which Shay found rather pointless anyway.

By the end of Muggle Studies, Shay had convinced himself to go with Neville into the Forbidden Forest. He told himself it wasn't because he wanted anything to do with Neville--he just needed to make sure that Neville got the job done; they needed the Veritaserum, and that depended on getting the right ingredient from the forest.

And it had nothing to do with the fact that Jamie had asked him to do it.

It wasn't hard to find Neville after their afternoon classes let out; he caught him heading out onto the grounds. "I'm going with you to the Forest," he stated, his tone of voice not giving Neville any room for argument.

Neville opened his mouth--to argue, perhaps--but then gave Shay a considering frown and nodded. "All right. I was just heading there now."

"I know." Shay fell into step with Neville as they walked on a path through the snow. The silence was heavy and awkward, and Shay was beginning to regret his decision. A group of third years raced past them to start a snowball fight. As soon as they passed them, Neville abruptly started speaking.

"Er, Shay..." Neville heaved a sigh, keeping his eyes focused straight ahead. "Look. I know you don't like me, and that's all right. I don't blame you at all; I know what its like to grow up without parents." He took a deep breath and looked Shay square in the eye. "There have been times when I was mad at my parents, too, you know, even though I know that it's not their fault they're in St. Mungo's..." he trailed off and shook his head. "My point is, if it makes you feel better to be angry at me...well, whatever you have to do." Neville shrugged. "And--"

Shay felt the familiar bubble of anger welling up inside of him. "And what? You think you know me?" he asked forcefully. He knew about Neville's parents' fate, of course; he had always tried not to think too much about it. It always made him think of Molly, and the way the Death Eaters had tortured her...

"No," Neville said honestly. "I don't know you at all." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "I just--"

"Look, I didn't come out here for a pep talk," Shay said edgily. He was already mentally cursing himself for coming out here. What had he been thinking? He should never have listened to Jamie...this was just weird. Too weird. He didn't have anything to say to Neville. What did they have in common? Nothing, except genetics. "I know Will and Jamie might have got all nice and chummy with their parents' past selves, but I'm not Will or Jamie."

"I know that," Neville said quietly.

"Good." Shay was seriously tempted to turn around and go back to the school, but he figured that would make him look like an idiot. Besides, he and Neville had just passed Hagrid's hut and the snow here was unbroken by numerous footsteps. Jaw knotted, Shay plunged through the snow, creating a path to the Forest. Hagrid's hut blocked them from the vision of anyone who might be out on the grounds.

They entered the Forbidden Forest, wands in hand. Shay followed Neville as he made a certain path through the trees and peered around cautiously. Almost immediately, the trees became so thick that there was only a sprinkling of snow on the ground, and pretty soon, there was no snow at all.

After about ten minutes of walking, Neville suddenly stopped and stooped down. "Here's a virish plant." He motioned a plant with jagged pink-tinged leaves. "The leaves are poisonous--even to the touch. The root isn't, though." He pulled his wand out and pointed it at the plant. "Extracto."

The ground quivered, and with a spray of dirt, the entire plant came out of the ground. The root was perfectly round. Neville made a complicated jabbing motion with his wand. The root and leaves neatly separated themselves, and Neville pulled out a piece of cloth, carefully wrapping the root in it and tucking it into his robe pocket.

Shay crossed his arms. "Done?"

"Yes." Neville stood up and turned around. Shay had time to notice an expression of horror on Neville's face an instant before Neville suddenly threw himself at Shay, knocking him to the ground.

Shay barely managed to avoid slamming his head on the ground, but his left arm--his wand arm--twisted under him, trapping his wand underneath him. He shoved Neville off of him and rolled over just in time to see a huge gray monster rushing at them. He had a brief impression of a mixture of legs, suckers, and a huge sting before a blast of fire rushed over his head and into the trees. He wondered vaguely if any of the trees would catch fire, but his attention was focused on the...thing nearing his head. He aimed his wand at it. "Stupefy!"

The curse simply bounced off the creature, and Shay rolled out of the way just in time to avoid its massive sting. The creature whirled, following Shay's movements. Shay scrambled to his feet in time to see Neville jump headlong between Shay and the creature, just as the sting came down again. It slammed into Neville's shoulder, knocking him flat on his back on top of Shay's legs.

Shay caught a glimpse of a soft underbelly, and again pointed his wand at it. "Stupefy!"

The creature keeled over and hit the ground with a crash. Shay pulled his legs out from under Neville's weight, noticing in the back of his mind that none of the trees were on fire. Must be magically protected from that sort of thing. He leaned forward to look at him. Blood was dripping down onto the ground, and though Shay couldn't see anything on Neville's black robes, he could tell that the left side of his clothing was wet.

"Shay," Neville gasped, his face stark white. "I...think I'm going to..." His eyes drifted closed, and his body went limp.