MetaFic

As May passed and the weather improved, Ginny managed to coax Hermione into taking her books outside.  On sunny weekends, their studious friend read in the shade of a tree while everyone else played or relaxed in the sunshine.  Harry and Ginny discovered that they could run and chase their friends in separate directions without any difficulty, which gave them some hope that their problems with flying would eventually be solved.

One week before exams were scheduled to begin, Hermione persuaded the entire group to resume studying in earnest.  Monday evening after dinner, they had all put away their robes and were sitting at a round table in the common room.  Most of the table was taken up with Hermione’s textbooks, notebooks, parchment, quills, and assorted volumes she kept nearby ‘just in case she needed them.’  The other four students sat with their own books, and Harry and Ginny were getting restless as they read through their Potions book for the fourth time.

They looked up to find the twins wandering over from the table they shared with their classmates, identical looks of speculation on their faces.

“You know, George, I reckon you’re right,” Fred said.

“See?” his brother replied.  “I told you so.”

Ron, who had not turned a page of his book for several minutes, looked up.  “Right about what?”

“This pair,” George said.  “I think Harry might actually be growing.”

“What?” Harry asked, utterly confused.

“Back in September, Harry was just a couple of inches taller than Ginny,” Fred said.  “Now, I think she might only come up to his nose.”

“I think I’d know if I was that much taller,” Harry said.

Between us we certainly would, Ginny added.

George shook his head.  “Maybe not.  It’s gradual, see, so you don’t notice it unless you have something to compare it to.”

“Here, you two,” Fred said, pulling Harry and Ginny up by their arms.  “Stand up, back to back, and let’s have a look.”

There’s a prank coming, Ginny said as she rose.  I can feel it.

Silently, Ginny agreed, and they turned to put their backs together.  Fred put one hand flat on top of Harry’s head, while George did the same with Ginny.  Then the twins made a show of scrutinizing their hands and gauging the distance between them, but Harry and Ginny were already quite certain that neither of them had grown much more than the other.

“Hmm.  I dunno, George.”

“It’s borderline, at best, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, you two.  It looks like you’re still just titches,” Fred said, shaking his head sadly.

“And now… “ Fred’s voice came from their other side, and they turned towards him just as they felt something flat and unyielding pushed between their shoulder blades.  “You’re titchy bookends!”

The twins grinned, and then they triumphantly high-fived each other over Harry and Ginny’s heads.  Ginny turned to stand next to Harry instead of behind him, but Fred’s hands darted out to hold the two smaller students in place.

“Careful, now!” he said.  “You wouldn’t want to damage Hermione’s copy of Hogwarts: A History, would you?”

Harry saw Hermione’s head snap up.  “What?!” she cried.

Ginny reached awkwardly behind her back and found the heavy tome trapped between her and Harry, its spine facing towards the ceiling.  She tried to lift it away, but it tugged at their shirts, so she let the book go.  Hogwarts: A History was adhered to their clothes.

“George’s Gooey Glue!” George said proudly.  “Our very own invention.”

“Named for the slightly less handsome twin because we couldn’t come up with a snappy name that sounded good with Fred.”

“And because I was the one who dropped flobberworm saliva into one of our potions, leading to the discovery of Gooey Glue.”

“You’ve ruined my book!” Hermione shouted, shooting to her feet with a look of outrage.

“Ah, no, our dear Miss Granger!” Fred said quickly.  “That’s the absolute glory of Gooey Glue.  It sticks wonderfully, but when the correct counter-adhesive is applied, the Glue unsticks easily and leaves absolutely no residue.”

“So where’s this counter-adhesive, then?” Hermione asked. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

George shrugged.  “Why, in my pocket, of course.”

Here it comes, Ginny said with a sigh.

“And what do we have to do to get it?” she asked aloud.

“It’s quite simple, really,” Fred said with a wicked grin.  “Just walk from here down to the entrance hall.  Whenever anyone asks what’s going on, you tell them you’re bookends.  We’ll follow along, and when you get to the main doors, we’ll apply the counter-adhesive.”

“How are we supposed to get down all those stairs with a book stuck between our backs?” Harry asked.

“Well, that’s the challenge, isn’t it?” George replied.  Then his smile shifted into a knowing smirk.  “I’m sure that if anyone can do it, you two can.”

Oh, that’s just too much.

You have to admit, though, Ginny said, it’s rather smart of them.

“Oh, alright,” Harry muttered, attempting to sound sullen.

“I’m coming along,” Hermione stated.  She moved until she was in Ginny’s line of sight.  “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but… “

“It’s okay, Hermione,” Ginny said.  “We’ll be careful, but you can come along just in case.”

Ron rose from his chair.  “Well, not me,” he said.  “No need to make this any more of a parade than it already is, right?”  He shook his head and walked over to a nearby table, where Dean and Seamus were playing Exploding Snap.

“Oh, yeah,” Neville said quickly.  “I’ll, err…  I’ll stay, too.  Good luck, Ginny.”

“Thanks a lot,” Ginny replied.

So how do we do this? she asked Harry.

We walk sideways, I guess.

Too bad we can’t just transport down there, Ginny said.

Yeah.  People would see us, though, and who knows what it would do to Hermione’s book?

Carefully, they manoeuvred until they could link their elbows, holding their backs together and keeping the book safely in place.  One step at a time, they walked sideways across the common room, ignoring the snickers and pointing fingers of the other Gryffindors.  Hermione held the portrait open for them, and they climbed through it, one leg at a time.

Crossing the corridor was relatively easy.  All they had to do was relax and let their bodies step sideways, trusting their shared sense of balance to keep them moving smoothly.

The first flight of stairs, however, presented more of a challenge.  They had to move very slowly and carefully to walk sideways down the stairs, and without their ability to match each others’ motions they would have fallen after the first step.  Fred and George both went down the stairs beside them, keeping a light hand on each of their shoulders.

When Ginny cocked an eyebrow at Fred in question, her brother shrugged.  “It’s a prank, Gin.  Not a way to make you hurt yourselves.”  She flashed him a smile and returned to the task of creeping down the stairs.  When they reached the fourth floor, they turned to walk down the corridor.

The stairs by the library are big enough that we usually have to take an extra step on each one, Harry said.  That should make it easier.

They walked sideways towards the library, with Fred, George, and Hermione trailing several yards behind.  From what they could hear, Hermione was interrogating the twins about the Gooey Glue, and they were answering her questions about how it worked, what it was made of, and the process they had used to perfect the formula.

Trust Hermione to make it sound like homework, Ginny said with a grin.

Other students moved up and down the corridor, stopping to stare, laugh, or smirk at the spectacle of two very recognisable students caught in such a predicament.  When asked, Ginny dutifully told everyone that they were bookends, courtesy of Fred and George.

As a stretch of unpopulated hallway opened ahead of them, Ginny had a thought.

Harry, have you ever galloped before?  You know, run sideways?

His memory provided them both with the answer as he spoke.  Not personally, but it doesn’t look hard.  Worst case, we have to stop, right?

Or we fall on one of our faces, Ginny said.

They looked back and found that Hermione and the twins had fallen behind.  From Fred’s gestures and Hermione’s intense look, Ginny assumed that they had all somehow become caught up in their discussion of Potions.  Let’s try it, she decided.

In one unified motion, they picked up their pace, skipping sideways down the hall at much greater speed.  They were surprised to find that the motion required was easy.  Ginny’s memory told them what to do, and if they relaxed a bit, they felt as though her experience was guiding them both.

“Be careful!” Hermione yelled from the hallway behind them.  They grinned, confident in their movements, and rounded the corner towards the library at a trot.

This is fun! Harry said with a slight sense of wonder.

It is! Ginny agreed, though her thought was tinged with sadness that Harry had never tried it before.  We should do it without the book sometime.

Suddenly, as they straightened to gallop down the hallway towards the library doors, Harry’s legs adhered firmly to each other, and they were falling sideways.  Ginny used her feet and legs to slow their collapse, but she was not nearly strong enough to hold them up.  With no time to separate their elbows, they twisted to the floor, falling along Harry’s front left side and ending up with him on his stomach and Ginny lying face up on his back.

An all-too-familiar voice drawled from further up the hallway.  “Perfect.  Now you two look just as stupid as you really are.”

Harry shook his head and shifted slightly to look up the hallway.  Malfoy emerged from behind a suit of armour, smirking at their predicament, with his wand trained on them.  Ginny untangled her left arm and pulled out her wand as the blond boy approached.  Instead of hexing him immediately, she aimed along her body at Harry’s legs.  “Finite Incantatem,” she said, and Harry’s legs sprang apart.

Draco stopped abruptly, seemingly surprised at Ginny’s quick and effective counterspell.  Hooking her elbow back around Harry’s, Ginny threw her weight sideways as she swung her legs.  With Harry’s help, she pulled them both into a sitting position, still back to back, with Hermione’s book nestled safely between them.  They spread all four of their legs for balance, and once they were stable Harry drew his own wand in his right hand.  They twisted to point both wands at Malfoy’s chest.

“Don’t bloody move,” Harry growled.  His head swam from the fall, and his body ached from the impact.  Ginny let him lean back against her, supporting the weight of his torso as much as she could.  As Malfoy froze, an expression of shock on his face, Ginny realised that the hallway around them was uncomfortably warm.  She tried momentarily to calm them, but she knew how close Harry had come to serious injury, and she had no real desire for them to control their anger.

They stared at Malfoy for a moment, watching as his shocked expression became tinged by fear.

Dammit!  Ginny shouted in their minds.  We can’t just blow his face off, but I don’t know what else to do!

Malfoy must have realised that they were not going to retaliate, because his sneer returned in full force.  As he took another step forward and aimed his wand, Harry and Ginny realised that they had another option.

Before Malfoy could speak an incantation, they simultaneously lowered their wands towards Malfoy’s feet and shouted, “Ignis Caeruleus!”

Hermione had taught them the incantation and wand movement for her bluebell fire spell, but they had never tried it before.  Bright blue flames shot from the end of their wands, but before they had travelled more than a few inches, they froze in midair and fell to the floor.  The frozen flames shattered when they landed, and a moment later the shards vanished.

Professor McGonagall stormed down the hallway from the library doors, wiping her forehead and scowling as she lowered her wand.  Even after Christmas and their midnight excursion with Charlie, Harry and Ginny were certain that they had never seen their Head of House look so enraged.  Her features were cold, hard, and utterly unforgiving.  “What is going on here?” she demanded.

“They attacked me!” Draco shouted.

“I am aware of that, Mr. Malfoy,” McGonagall said, “but because you are standing on your own two feet, while they are sitting on the floor and clearly struggling to stay upright, I suspect that there is a more thorough explanation to be found.”  She turned to Harry and Ginny, her expression offering no hope for sympathy.  “What do you say happened?”

“We rounded the corner, and Malfoy cast the leg-locker on Harry,” Ginny said, failing to control the quaver in her voice.  They knew they had done almost exactly what McGonagall had instructed them not to do.  “We fell, but we managed to sit up.  He was about to cast something else at us, so we… err, we tried to hex him first, and then you found us.”

Hermione, Fred, and George jogged around the corner and slid to a halt as Harry and Ginny released their free arms and braced them shakily against the floor.

“Harry! Ginny!” Hermione cried.  “Are you all right?”  She leapt towards them and kneeled, looking concernedly between their faces.  Hermione looked between their backs, where they could still feel her book.  “Stupid prank!” she snapped.  Then she turned to look over her shoulder at the twins.  “Help them,” she ordered.  “Now!”

Blinking away his surprise, George crossed to them in two long strides and pulled a red vial from his pocket.  He opened it and sprinkled the contents along the backs of Harry and Ginny’s shirts.  The heavy book fell to the flagstones with a dull thud, and Hermione pushed it unceremoniously out of the way so that they could move freely.

“Hermione, help me,” Ginny said in a tight whisper, trying to avoid closer scrutiny by her Professor. Carefully avoiding Harry’s developing bruises, she took him by the shoulder and pulled him towards the corridor wall.  On Harry’s right, Hermione mirrored her friend’s actions, and soon he was able to prop himself up against the cool stone.  Finally, he relaxed his strained muscles and let his arms fall to his side.  Ginny sat next to him, gripping his hand in both of hers, and Hermione kneeled on his other side, holding his shoulder to steady him.

“Bloody hell, Harry,” George said sadly.  “We’re sorry.”

“Not your fault, George,” Harry muttered.

“Language, Mr. Weasley!  All of you stay where you are and be quiet,” McGonagall snapped.  Ginny looked up to see her professor glaring at the six students in the hallway.  Up and down the corridor, a few other students were walking away quickly to escape the professor’s incandescent anger.

McGonagall’s eyes finally came to rest on Hermione.  “Miss Granger.  Can you tell me why Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley were adhered to a book, and how they came to be here in such a condition?”

“Please, Professor,” Fred said seriously.  “That’s our fault, and we can tell you about it.”

Her gaze locked onto him.  “Then do so.”

Even Fred must have been intimidated, because he swallowed heavily and spoke without a trace of humour.  “It was a prank, Professor.  We used a potion to stick them to the book, and we said they had to get down to the entrance hall like that.  We were all having a good time with it, I think, and they went around the corner here ahead of us.  We heard them fall, and by the time we caught up with them, you were already here.”

“You were following to watch them?” McGonagall asked.

“Yes, Professor,” George said.

“Why is Miss Granger here?”

“It’s her book,” Fred replied.  “She didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley.  Is that so?”

“Yes, Professor,” Ginny offered with her eyes on the floor as Harry dazedly nodded his agreement.

McGonagall turned to glare at Malfoy, who was still standing against the opposite wall.  “Mr. Malfoy, do you have anything to add?  Remember that I can quite easily determine which spells were cast here.”

Malfoy pressed his lips together and stared down the length of the corridor.

“Very well,” the professor said.  “Mr. Malfoy, for attacking your fellow students, you will serve detention tomorrow night at ten o’clock in my office.  Fifty points from Slytherin.  You may go.”

The blond boy’s nostrils flared angrily, but he turned and walked stiffly down the hall.  When he rounded the corner and the sound of his footsteps faded, McGonagall turned back to her own students.

“Miss Granger, take your book and return to the common room.”

Hermione nodded and picked up her book, but before she turned away she looked at Harry with concern.

“I will see that Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley are cared for,” McGonagall said, her voice softening.  “Return to Gryffindor Tower.”

The bushy-haired girl nodded again, shot Harry and Ginny an apologetic look, and started back the way she had come.

McGonagall addressed the twins, her voice frigid once again.  “Fred and George Weasley, you endangered your sister and Mr. Potter.  Your prank may have seemed harmless, but it created a situation where they could be and were injured.  Do you see that?”

The twins nodded helplessly, their remorse plain on their faces.

“Good.  You will also serve detention tomorrow night at ten o’clock.  Fifty points from Gryffindor for the pair of you.  Wait here, and do not speak.”

Finally, she turned to Harry and Ginny where they sat against the corridor wall.  Gingerly, she crouched in front of them.  “Harry, are you alright?” she asked in a whisper.  Her words were still sharp and clipped, but concern showed in her voice.

“Just some bruises, I think,” Harry replied.

“Does your head feel the way it did at Halloween?” the professor asked.

Behind McGonagall’s back, Ginny saw Fred and George furrow their brows thoughtfully.

“No,” Harry said.

“He landed on his shoulder, mostly.  It jarred him, but he didn’t hit his head,” Ginny whispered.

McGonagall nodded and pulled out her wand.  “Where are the bruises?”

With Ginny and Harry’s help, their Head of House healed the bruises on his left side, and they both sighed as the pain faded to the simple soreness of overtaxed muscles.

“Ginny, are you alright?” McGonagall asked.

“I’m fine, Professor.  I landed on Harry’s back.”

I’m sorry, Harry.

“Very well.”  McGonagall rose to her feet and towered over Harry and Ginny.  Her expression slipped, and once again her displeasure showed clearly.   “Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, I am shocked at your behaviour.  I thought you would know by now that your spells often have unintended results.”

“We weren’t going to hurt him, Professor,” Harry said.  “We just wanted to…  err…  to set his robes on fire a bit.”

“A bit?!” McGonagall fumed.  “Things do not catch fire a bit.  They burn!”  She paused and took a deep breath, visibly controlling herself.  After a slow exhalation, she asked softly, “You were conjuring bluebell flames, were you not?”  Terrified, they nodded.  “Have you ever cast that spell before?”  They shook their heads.  “Saints help us,” she whispered.

After another steadying breath, she spoke at a normal volume.  “You mutually lost control of your temper and could very well have seriously injured or killed Mr. Malfoy.  You must not draw your wand unless you are absolutely sure of what your spells will do.  Do you understand?”

Silently and shakily, they nodded.  They were shocked by the idea that they might have killed another student.  Malfoy was certainly not their favourite person, but even he did not deserve to die for casting a childish hex.

“Fifty points from Gryffindor for each of you, and detention tomorrow night with the rest,” McGonagall said more loudly.  Then she sighed heavily and spoke quietly again.  “You must learn to control yourselves.  I will try to help you in more practical ways, but you must also accept the consequences of your actions.”

“Yes, Professor.  We understand that,” Ginny said.

“Messrs Weasley,” McGonagall said in a ringing voice.  “Help them directly back to the tower.  If either of them experiences any more pain or stiffness, find me or take them to the hospital wing yourselves.  Can you do that?”

“Absolutely, Professor,” George said.

“Good.  Be on your way, then.”

Harry and Ginny got to their feet, still holding hands, and Fred and George positioned themselves on either side of the younger pair with an arm around each of their shoulders.  They walked in a line back to the tower, taking the steps slowly.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Fred said quietly.  “We never meant for either of you to get hurt or to lose points.”

“I know, Fred,” Harry replied.  “It was Malfoy who messed everything up, as usual.  We were having fun before that.”

“You’ll tell us if anything else hurts, right?” George asked.

Harry smiled.  “I’m okay, and Ginny wouldn’t let me hide it if I wasn’t.”

“Too right,” Ginny said firmly.

Fred turned his head to look at her.  “What was that about Halloween?”

“Harry got a concussion when we fought the troll.”

“A concussion?  I thought you’d fought it with your wands?”

“We tried,” Ginny admitted.  “We couldn’t do anything to it, though.”

“Ginny bit it in the leg instead,” Harry said as he failed to stifle a grin.

The twins missed a step, but they recovered and smiled broadly.  “Good show, Ginny!” Fred said.

You had to tell them that, didn’t you? Ginny asked wryly.

I knew they’d appreciate it properly.

“Harry’s the one who tried to tackle it,” Ginny said.

The twins turned to him in surprise, but he spoke before they could.  “Sure, but you stuck your wand up its nose.”

At that, Fred and George laughed out loud, leaning more heavily against Harry and Ginny as they climbed the stairs.

“Well, it seemed like the thing to do at the time,” Ginny muttered.

George wiped his eyes.  “So what happened then?”

Harry’s grin faded.  “Still not our story, George.”

“Oh.  Well, alright.  Can’t blame me for asking, eh?”

George gave the Fat Lady the password and held the portrait open while the other three clambered into the common room.  Almost immediately, Hermione burst out of the crowd and stood in front of Harry and Ginny.  “You’re both alright?” she asked.  Ron and Neville appeared behind her.

“We’re fine, Hermione,” Ginny said.  “Harry had some bruises, but McGonagall healed them in a trice.”

Their friend let out a breath and then rounded on the twins.  Raising a finger to point at George’s chest, she hissed, “Of all the stupid, imbecilic, asinine, reckless… “

George raised his hands in surrender and shook his head sadly.  “We know, Hermione.  We’re sorry.”

She huffed through her nose and lowered her hand.  “Good.”  She spun on her heel and marched back to her table, settling herself among her books and bending over her homework.  Apparently satisfied for the moment, Neville and Ron followed her, leaving the twins with Harry and Ginny near the entrance.

“Wound a bit tight, isn’t she?” Fred asked jokingly, as though trying to lighten the mood.

“Hermione doesn’t have a lot of friends, Fred,” Ginny whispered.

Her brother froze for a moment and then smiled down at Ginny.  “Lucky us, then, eh?”

“Who said anything about you?” Harry teased.

“Haven’t you heard?” Fred asked.  “Everyone loves us.  It’s universal.”

“You two going to go to bed early?” George wondered, letting his twin’s comment pass without response.

Ginny shook her head.  “No, it’s early still.  We’re going to try to finish what we were working on.”

Fred nodded.  “Let us know if you need help or anything, alright?”

“Sure, Fred,” Harry said.  “Thanks.”

Harry and Ginny made their way over to the table where the others were waiting.  As Harry sat down in his chair, Ron looked up at him.

“Malfoy’s a bloody git, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.  Complete plonker,” Harry agreed.

“Wish you’d got to hex him,” Ron said.

Harry grinned.  “Maybe next time.”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Neville offered quietly.

Ginny pulled their books towards them.  As Harry glanced around the room, he noticed other Gryffindors staring at him and Ginny or at Fred and George.  Many of them were scowling or whispering to their friends.  “Why’s everyone looking at us?” he asked his friends.

Hermione looked up from her book, her brow furrowed in sympathy.  “The four of you lost a hundred and fifty points for Gryffindor.  Someone must have heard Professor McGonagall talking to you.  By the time I got back here, everyone already knew.”

“A hundred and fifty… “ Ginny breathed as the seriousness of the loss finally struck them.  “Then that means… “

“Means we’re dead last, that’s what it means,” Ron grumbled.  Hermione shot him a look, and he hastened to add, “Wasn’t your fault, of course, but that’s what it means.”

“Nobody else really knows it wasn’t your fault, though,” Hermione said.  “All they care about is that we were in the lead, and now we’re last.  Malfoy lost points, too, so they’re in second place instead of first, but Slytherin is still the only house with a chance of beating Ravenclaw.”

“It’s just a cup,” Neville said through a quiet sigh.  “We can try again next year.”

“I’m sorry, Hermione,” Ginny said after a moment.  “A lot of those points came from you.”

Her friend shrugged.  “A lot came from you, too.  It doesn’t matter.  I know what really happened.”

The remainder of the evening passed torturously.  Almost every time one of their housemates walked near Harry and Ginny’s table, they were muttering about silly first years and what a total disappointment the real Harry Potter turned out to be.

They liked me just fine when I was catching Snitches, Harry said.

Don’t listen to them, Harry, Ginny replied.  They’re just upset about the points.

Shortly before ten o’clock, Percy returned to the common room.  He approached their table and stood stiffly behind Harry and Ginny.  “I cannot tell you how disappointed I am,” he said in a ringing voice.  “Fred and George are bad enough, but I really hoped that you, Ginevra, had more common sense than they do.  I am sorry to discover that you clearly do not.”  Ginny was sure that her brother’s tone and volume were intended to shame his siblings into better behaviour.

Harry shot up from his chair, turning to face the prefect at his back.  His temper flared even as Ginny cringed from her brother’s words, but just as Harry was about to reply to Percy, Ron’s voice came from over his shoulder.

“Bugger off, Percy, and get a life!” he said harshly.  “Ginny’s got more good sense in her little toe than you’ll ever have, even if you live to be two hundred.”

Thank you, Ron, Ginny said silently.

Harry was still fuming, but he resisted the urge to immediately take Ginny’s hand and comfort her.  They did not want to draw more attention to themselves by heating up the common room.

“Percy,” Harry whispered, drawing the taller boy’s eyes back to him.  “Go. Away. Now.”

Percy’s eyes widened.  With a half-hearted sniff, he took a step backwards and then turned to go up the dormitory stairs.  Harry collapsed back into his chair with a deep sigh as he reached for Ginny’s hand under the table.  As always, the contact comforted them both.

Don’t listen to him, Ginny, he said, unconsciously echoing her words from earlier.  He just… he cares about all the wrong things.

Ginny stared at her brother’s receding back until he disappeared up the stairs.  Her anger warred with hurt and confusion, but finally she shook her head and turned back to her books.  Git, she summarised finally.  She picked up her quill in her left hand, holding it awkwardly, and squeezed Harry’s hand gratefully in her right.

The next day’s classes were gruelling.  In the hallways, the other Gryffindors scowled at them while members of all three other houses chuckled behind their hands or even outright laughed at the students who had cost Gryffindor so many points.  During History of Magic, only Ron, Hermione, and Neville refrained from whispering loudly about how badly Ginny and Harry had hurt Gryffindor.

At lunch, the five first years sat with Fred and George.  Angelina, Alicia, and Lee were sitting with the twins, but there was a broad open space at the table on either side, as though no one were willing to be associated with them even by location.

Harry and Ginny took their seats and began eating without looking around the hall.  The dark looks of their housemates and the near-glee of students in other houses had taken a toll on the young pair’s morale.

“Cheer up, Ginny,” Fred said.  “It’ll all pass over soon enough.  It’s just points, after all.”

“Have you ever lost a hundred and fifty of them in one go, Fred?” Ginny asked.

“Well, no… but I’m sure it will pass over just the same.”

“Oh?  When?” Harry asked.

“Err, well… if nothing else, we’ve only got about four weeks left in the term,” Fred said with false bravado.

“Wonderful,” Ginny said.  “Only four weeks of this.  That helps loads.”

The day got even worse that afternoon when, as they walked from Transfiguration to Defence Against the Dark Arts, they encountered Malfoy and Snape.  Malfoy was standing straight and sneering proudly as the Potions master nodded approvingly.  “Ten points to Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy, for your impeccable uniform today,” Snape said.  Looking over his shoulder, he saw Harry and Ginny walking by.  “Potter!” he snapped.  “Straighten your tie, you slovenly boy!  Ten points from Gryffindor.”

Slytherin will have all those points back by the end of the day, Harry predicted, needlessly adjusting his tie.

I hope Fluffy gave him a nasty scar, Ginny said, scowling.  Or, better yet, a raging infection.

That evening, rather than studying in the common room, they found a quiet corner of the library.  Hermione was happy to accompany them, and Neville and Ron came along with the group.  It was strangely relieving to have Pince watching them suspiciously instead of all their housemates glaring at them.

When the library closed, they went back to Gryffindor Tower and hid behind the curtains of Harry’s bed, reading their Defence book to pass the time.  Around nine-thirty, they heard Dean, Seamus, Ron, and Neville come up to bed.

“I don’t blame him for goin’ t’ bed early,” Seamus said.  “Half the house is lookin’ to hang him from a goal hoop by his ankles.”

“Lay off, guys,” Ron said.  “He and Ginny didn’t mean to lose any points. It was Malfoy’s fault.”

“It’s okay, Ron,” Dean replied.  “We know she’s your sister and he’s her best friend, but you don’t have to stick up for them when no one’s around.”

“I’m not sticking up for her.  It’s the bloody truth.”

“Aye, whatever you say,” Seamus said.

The boys fell silent, and Harry and Ginny heard the sounds of them preparing for bed.  At nine forty-five, when Ginny went back to her room and Harry emerged from his bed, the other boys’ curtains were all drawn.

Harry and Ginny crept out of their dormitories and down to the common room.  The twins were still huddled over a roll of parchment at one of the tables.

Fred looked up and saw the younger pair approaching.  “Time to go, then?”  Ginny nodded, and the twins stuffed all of their materials into their book bags.  As the four students walked down the stairs towards McGonagall’s office, Filch emerged from the fifth floor corridor onto the stairs.

“Stop there!” he snarled.  “Students out of bed at this hour?  Oh, the headmaster will hear about this, to be sure.”

“Hold on, Filch,” Fred said.  “We’re going to Professor McGonagall’s office.  She told us to be there at ten.”

“Ahh,” Filch wheezed.  “So it’s you who’s in so much trouble, is it?”  When the twins shrugged, he cackled menacingly.  “Well, we can’t have you running off, trying to get away from your detention.  I’ll make sure you get there on time.  She’s asked me to help with your punishment, you see.”

Filch herded them all down to McGonagall’s office.  They arrived a few minutes early, but the scowling caretaker forced them to wait outside the office until precisely ten o’clock.  One minute before the hour, Malfoy strode up to the door from the other end of the hallway, sneering as usual and attempting to ignore the other students.

“All five of you, then,” Filch said.  “Good, good.  I can break a different finger on each of you, perhaps.”  He pushed open the professor’s door and physically shoved the students into the office ahead of him.  Then he stepped inside himself and pulled the door noisily closed while leaning against it, preventing any escape.

“Here they are, Professor McGonagall.  Rounded up all five for you.  Just say the word, and I’ll see that they learn their lesson.”

“Thank you, Mr. Filch,” McGonagall said coolly.  “That won’t be necessary.”

She surveyed five students lined up in front of her desk and then addressed George, who stood in the middle of the group.  “You will be serving your detention tonight with Hagrid.  He will tell you exactly what you will be doing.  I expect complete cooperation with any instructions Hagrid gives you.  Any questions?”

“I thought we’d be copying lines or something,” Malfoy said haughtily.  “Do we have to spend the evening with that oaf?”

“If you would prefer to copy lines, Mr. Malfoy, feel free to do so,” McGonagall replied frostily.  “But you will copy them while assisting Hagrid.  Is that clear?”

Malfoy’s face twisted into his usual disdainful sneer, but a trace of rebellion remained in his eyes as he nodded.

“Good.  Mr. Filch, you will escort the students to Hagrid’s cottage and then return to your duties.”

“Yes, Professor,” Filch grumbled.  He yanked the door open and tilted his head, prompting the students to go out ahead of him.  In the corridor, Harry and Ginny led the way, followed by the twins, Malfoy, and Filch.  They emerged from the castle and headed across the lawn towards the lamplight shining from Hagrid’s windows.

“Think you’ve got it bad, do you?” the caretaker said as they walked.  “Detention outdoors at night is frightening, is it?  Rubbish!” he spat.  “If I had my way, there’d be no rule-breaking in this school.  None at all.  But they won’t let me use the rack anymore, and my poor thumbscrews haven’t needed cleaning in ages.

“Mark my words, though,” he continued, his voice a harsh rasp.  “Some day, a student will be in enough trouble that they’ll let me do what’s necessary.  I hope it’s both of you twins, myself.”

Ginny barely restrained a nervous giggle.  If eye-rolling made a sound, I bet we could hear it right now from Fred and George.

Harry glanced back over his shoulder and saw the tight grins on the twins’ faces.  George saw Harry’s glance and waggled his eyebrows in silent laughter.

You’d win that bet, Harry said.

They reached the door of Hagrid’s hut, and Ginny knocked firmly on the aged wood.  The door opened immediately to reveal Hagrid with his crossbow and Fang waiting at his knee.  “Run along, Filch.  Yeh’ve done yer part.”

Still muttering, Filch turned on his heel and walked back towards the castle.  Hagrid looked after him and snorted.  “Spiteful old codger,” he said.  “Spent the whole way ‘ere moanin’ an’ groanin’ abou’ what he wants to do to yers, did ‘e?”

“Yeah,” Fred said, nodding eagerly.  “Mentioned the rack, and thumbscrews, and all kinds of really exciting things.  I was a bit disappointed that we had to leave him, to be honest.”

Hagrid chuckled.  “Yer s’posed to be filled wi’ remorse righ’ now, you know tha’?”  He shook his head.  “I’ve been ‘ere a lot longer’n Filch, an’ I can tell you tha’ ‘e’s never once been allowed ter hurt a student, an’ I don’ reckon ‘e even knows what a rack is.  All mouth an’ no trousers, tha’ one.”

“Can we get on with this?” Malfoy demanded.  “I’m sure you yokels are happy to wallow together all night, but I have better things to do than waste my precious time listening to your plebeian drivel.”  The Slytherin’s voice and words were scornful, as he undoubtedly intended them to be, but Harry and Ginny could tell that his indifference was partially feigned.   His eyes darted nervously around the moonlit grounds.

“Fine,” Hagrid said, snorting again.  “You’ll be singin’ a diff’ren song before tonight’s over.  C’mon, the lot of yeh.”

He led them towards the edge of the forest with Fang at his heels.  “Nasty bit o’ business tonigh’,” he explained softly.  “Summat’ in the forest ‘as been hurtin’ the unicorns.  There ain’t much tha’ can hurt a unicorn, but I don’ plan on findin’ out whatever it is tonigh’.”  He stopped just inside the edge of the trees and pointed to a low bush.  “See tha’?  Unicorn blood.”

Hagrid touched his fingers to a shining, silvery substance smeared across the leaves of the bush.  He lifted his fingers towards the students, and Harry and Ginny watched as the thick liquid slowly gathered to drip from the end of Hagrid’s finger.  “Can’t miss it, see,” he said.  “Shines in the dark a bi’.  Wha’ we’re gonna do is ter follow the trail an’ see if we can find this unicorn.  I can patch it up a bi’, if I can jus’ find it.”

“You want us to go into the Dark Forest?  You’re mad!” Malfoy said, his eyes widening.

“Migh’ be,” Hagrid replied, “but I’m the one who’s in charge o’ yer detention.”

The blonde boy straightened again and visibly attempted to look imperious.  ”You . . . you don’t need us for this!  Follow the trail yourself.”

“Yeh think I ain’t tried tha’?” Hagrid said.  “There’s too much o’ the stuff, makes more than one trail to follow.  This unicorn don’t have time ter wait fer me to ‘xplore half the bleedin’ forest.”  He shook his head.  “Shouldna’ said tha’.  Ruddy bad joke.”

Hagrid wiped his fingers on his trousers and looked off into the forest.  “We’ll split up.  Two lots.  Follow the trails, an’ keep yer eyes peeled.  There’s lots o’ things in this forest tha’ ain’t too nice, but they’ll steer clear so long as me or Fang’s around.  George, Ginny…  yer wi’ me.  Fred, Harry, and Draco, yeh go wi’ Fang”.

“If yeh find the unicorn, let loose some green sparks.  If yeh get in trouble, let off red an’ we’ll come ter help yeh.  If yeh gets lost, send up sparks or jus’ follow the path uphill.  Yeh’ll come back to the castle eventually tha’ way, no matter wha’.”

Fred looked at Ginny questioningly when Hagrid split up the young duo.  Ginny shrugged in acceptance, and Fred nodded in response.

At least this way we can both know what’s happening to everyone, Harry said.

“Let’s go, then,” Hagrid said.  “I wan’ to find the poor beas’ before dawn.”

Hagrid led the group into the forest along a path, and Harry and Ginny spotted unicorn blood on leaves and tree trunks as they walked.  After a few minutes, they came to a fork in the path.  “Alrigh’, Fred, you take the righ’ path, an’ we’ll take the left.  Don’ forget them sparks.”

Ginny reached out to squeeze Harry’s hand, and then she veered off to the left with Hagrid and George.  Harry stepped forward to walk beside Fred, leaving Malfoy and Fang to follow behind them.

On the other path, Ginny walked next to George, who reached down to catch her right hand protectively.  As Hagrid walked a few feet ahead of them, George leaned down and whispered, “Keep an eye out for the rest of the family, Gin.  I won’t let you fall or anything.”  Ginny smiled up at her brother in thanks.

The two groups followed their paths slowly in the pitch dark.  Harry and Ginny each spotted unicorn blood from time to time, and they could tell that they were getting further apart as they walked.

“Stupid detention,” Malfoy muttered from behind Harry.  “Why should I have to search through this ugly forest?  Let the dumb animal die, for all I care.  You idiots got us into this, so you should have to chase it.”

“Quiet, Malfoy,” Fred said.  “You got us into this, and you know it.  Blaming us for it won’t make it any less your fault.”

“Shut up, Weasley,” Malfoy hissed in response.  “Without me, they probably would have sent the rest of you in here just to get rid of you for the sake of the school.  Be a good thing, I say.  Potter gone, and three less Weasleys to have to put up with.  If we could just get that fat cow of a mother of yours to stop breeding blood-traitors… “

The rest of Draco’s insults were cut off as Fred spun around and pushed the tip of his wand sharply into the flesh of Malfoy’s neck.  “You can say what you want about me or my brothers, Malfoy.  You can say nasty things about my sister, too, if you’re really that moronic.  But the next time I hear you say one word about my mother, I’ll break your arrogant, snobby, pureblood neck.  You hear me?”

Ginny’s hand tightened inside George’s, but she shook her head in response to his concerned look.  “Malfoy’s being Malfoy,” she whispered.

The blond Slytherin sneered at Fred over the length of his wand, but Harry could see sweat forming on the other boy’s brow.  After a long, tense moment, Fred dropped his wand and turned to continue down the path.  Harry shot Draco a warning look and then resumed his place at Fred’s side.

“Hagrid,” Ginny said a few minutes later, “what do you suppose is hurting the unicorns?”

“I dunno, li’l Ginny,” he replied.  “There’s lots o’ things in this forest tha’ migh’ want to, but there’s only one or two which could actually do it, and I’d know if it were one o’ them.  Summat bad, tha’s all I can say fer sure.”

They heard a rustling and slithering sound from the bushes ahead of them, and Hagrid stopped in place.  “Get down, both of yeh!”

Harry stumbled in surprise, but Fred caught his shoulder and kept him upright as they walked.  Fred’s face was full of concern, but Harry closed his eyes and let the older boy lead him as he readied himself to help Ginny if she needed him.

Wait, Harry!  Ginny told him.  We don’t know what it is yet.

George turned away from the unknown threat and dropped to his knees.  He pulled Ginny down in front of him, sitting her sideways between his knees and wrapping one arm around her shoulders protectively as he drew his wand and pointed it behind him with the other.  He twisted his neck to see behind him as best he could, but he kept his shoulders square to make a barrier for Ginny.  She could not see anything around George, but she heard Hagrid take a few steps, and then the slithering sound faded from hearing.

Ginny fumed at having been handled like a toddler, but she could not deny that she appreciated her brother’s instincts.  She raised her head to look up at George’s face.  “George,” she whispered, “thanks, but if there was something coming after us, I could probably hurt it a lot more than you could.”

After a moment, George nodded.  “Maybe so, Ginny, but… “

He was cut off by Hagrid walking up behind them.  “Good lad, George,” he said.  The huge man pulled George to his feet, then carefully picked Ginny up and set her on her feet, also.  “No harm done, then.”

“What was it, Hagrid?” Ginny asked.

“I dunno, Ginny, but it were nothin’ good.  I reckon it’s wha’s been a’ them unicorns.”  He looked around at the trees for a moment and then nodded.  “Come on, then, but be careful.  Stay righ’ behind me, hear?”

George did not try to take Ginny’s hand again, but she noticed that he walked as close to her as he could without potentially interfering with her wand.

Harry relaxed with a soft sigh and opened his eyes.  Fred raised an eyebrow at him, and Harry shook his head.  “They’re alright,” he whispered.  The older boy nodded, released Harry’s shoulder, and continued scanning the forest around them.

A minute later, Ginny heard heavy steps coming along the path in the other direction.  Hagrid swept both students behind his back and raised his crossbow.  “Who’s there?” he called.  “Come on out so I can see yeh.”

Ginny peered around Hagrid’s leg and saw a chestnut-haired centaur step around the bend in the path, his head cocked to the side in curiosity.  “Do you plan on shooting me, Hagrid?”

“No, not you, but yeh can’t be too cautious,” Hagrid said, lowering his crossbow.  “How’re yeh keepin’, Ronan?”

“I am as I should be,” the centaur said.

“Well, good fer you, then,” Hagrid said.  “This is George and Ginny Weasley, Ronan.  They’re students up at Hogwarts.”  The two siblings stepped out from behind Hagrid, though George kept his arm around Ginny’s shoulders.

Ronan leaned down towards Ginny, and his deep blue eyes regarded her for a long moment.  Ginny thought she could see hidden depths of knowledge and wisdom in his unblinking gaze, but she returned the centaur’s regard as best she could.  At last, Ronan bent his head slightly and said, “Be tranquil, little sister.”

“Thank you, Master Ronan,” Ginny said. She was uncertain how to respond or how to be polite to a centaur, so she went with what she knew.

Ronan’s placid expression shifted into a controlled smile.  “Your intent is appreciated, but I do not require your honorifics. Centaurs do not need them.”

Unable to think of an appropriate response, Ginny nodded.

Ronan straightened and looked up at the sky visible between the branches of the trees.  “Mars is bright tonight.”

“Yeah,” said Hagrid, glancing up, too. “Listen, I’m right glad we’ve run into yeh, Ronan, ‘cause there’s a unicorn been hurt.  You seen anythin’?”

Ronan did not answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward and then sighed again.

“Always the innocent are the first victims,” he said.  “So it has been for ages past, so it is now.”

“Yeah, right,” said Hagrid, “but have yeh seen anythin’ at all, Ronan? Anythin’ unusual?”

“Yes.  Mars is bright tonight,” Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently.  “Unusually bright.”

“Yeah, but I was meanin’ anythin’ unusual a bit nearer ter home,” Hagrid said.  “So yeh haven’ noticed anythin’ weird at all?”

Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, “The forest hides many secrets.”

Hagrid raised his crossbow again when the bushes behind Ronan rustled noisily.  A black centaur stepped into the path.

“Now then, Bane,” Hagrid said. “Alrigh’?”

“Good evening, Hagrid.  I hope you are well.” the second centaur said.  His body shifted constantly, in marked contrast to Ronan’s tranquillity.

“Well enough.  Look, I were just askin’ Ronan, you seen anythin’ odd round ‘ere lately?  There’s a unicorn been injured… would yeh know anythin’ about it?”

Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan.  He looked skyward.  “Mars is bright tonight,” he said simply.

“We’ve heard,” said Hagrid grumpily.  “Well, if either of yeh do see anythin’ at all, let me know, alrigh’?  We’ll be off, then.”

Hagrid led Ginny and George around the two centaurs and down the path.  “Never,” he said, “try an’ get a straight answer off a centaur.  Ruddy stargazers.  Not interested in nothin’ closer’n the bloody moon.”

“Why did he call me ‘little sister,’ Hagrid?” Ginny asked.

“No tellin’, Ginny.  Like I says, no straight answers.”

George attempted to lighten the mood.  “You’re a little sister to half the other people in the forest tonight, Gin.  Maybe Ronan just wanted to fit in.”

Ginny rolled her eyes.  “There’s five of you, and I’m not Harry’s sister.”

George nodded.  “And I wasn’t counting Malfoy as people.  He’s more like a slug.  See?”

Harry had tensed again when Ronan first appeared, but after Hagrid relaxed, he had walked along with Fred in silence.  At last, he had to stifle a laugh at George’s joke.

“What’s going on?” Fred whispered.

Harry leaned closer to keep Malfoy from overhearing them.  “They ran into a couple of centaurs.  Weird ones, I’d say, but Hagrid says it’s normal.  They kept talking about Mars being bright.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Malfoy demanded.  “Planning to leave me out here, are you?  Well, it wouldn’t work.  I can find this stupid unicorn and get back to Hogwarts without the likes of you getting in my way.”

“Arrogant wanker,” Fred muttered to Harry.  “Watch this.”

He turned his wand to point at the side of the path and whispered, “Wingardium Leviosa.”  The decayed leaves and loam along the edge of the trail leapt into the air, and Fred flicked his wand, causing the debris to fly across the path towards Malfoy.  The Slytherin shrieked, and before the dirt had settled, he had shot red sparks into the sky.

Hagrid noticed the red light immediately, and he cursed under his breath.  His eyes swept the forest nearby for a moment.  “You two come with me,” he ordered.  “Grab on my jacket, and don’ let go.”  He plunged into the undergrowth and crashed through the forest towards the other group with George and Ginny clinging to the long tail of his moleskin overcoat.

“What happened?” George asked in a nervous whisper, his voice nearly drowned out by the sounds of their progress through the bushes.

“Fred got tired of listening to Malfoy whine,” Ginny explained.  “He threw some leaves at him, and Malfoy started squealing like a pig.”

Malfoy seemed to realise what had happened.  He stepped away from Harry and Fred, busying himself with picking bits of leaves off of his expensive cloak.  The other two boys could hear that he was muttering darkly, but Harry was glad he could not make out the words.

Fred grinned at Harry, who could not help smiling in response.  They turned away slightly and covered their mouths to stifle laughter as they waited for Hagrid to arrive.

After a few minutes, they heard the other group approaching through the forest.  Malfoy finished straightening his hair and assumed an arrogant sneer as the huge man burst onto the trail with his crossbow readied.  When he spotted the students waiting for him, he lowered his crossbow and narrowed his eyes.  “Wha’s this ‘ere, then?”

“They attacked me!” Malfoy shouted.

He really needs a new line, Ginny said as she and George emerged onto the trail also.

“I tossed some leaves at him, and he screamed,” Fred said.

“Couldn’ yeh leave him alone jus’ fer a few ‘ours?” Hagrid asked, exasperated.

Fred scowled.  “It’s the least he deserves if he’s going to go around insulting people’s mothers.”

“What?” George asked, his face darkening.

Hagrid sighed.  “Can’t leave either of you twins near ‘im,” he muttered.  “Alrigh’,” he said more loudly, “Draco, you come wi’ me an’ George now.  Ginny, you go along wi’ Harry an’ Fred an’ Fang.”

He leaned down to Ginny and whispered, “Just so’s yeh know, I prefer yer company to his, but it seems like this path is safer anyroad.”

George looked at Ginny with concern plain on his face, but she raised her eyebrow at him and rolled her wand between her fingertips.  He sighed and nodded, and then he followed Hagrid and Draco back through the forest towards the other path.

“Let’s go, then,” Fred said, stepping in front of the first-years.  Ginny took Fred’s place at Harry’s side, but they restrained themselves from holding hands.  They both wanted to ensure that their wands were ready at all times.  The three of them continued down the path, leaving Fang to follow along behind.

They walked through the deep forest in silence.  After several minutes, Ginny and Harry thought they heard something large and heavy moving through the trees beyond the path.  Fred heard it also, and they all faced the forest with their wands drawn. They waited a minute but heard nothing else, so they turned and continued their search.

Several more times, Harry and Ginny thought they heard something, but nothing ever came of it.  They tried to ignore the occasional distant sounds as they became more nervous and walked behind Fred, saying nothing, for over half an hour.

Finally, as they crossed a narrow trail, they began to see larger splashes of unicorn blood on the soil, leaves, and tree trunks along their path.  At one point, there was a great smear of silvery liquid in the middle of the path.  The blood mixed with dirt to make a grotesque mud, and that substance was spread across the path as though it had been pushed around by something large and heavy.  Swallowing heavily, Harry and Ginny followed Fred around the mess.

As they approached a clearing, Harry spotted something white through the trees.  Emerging in to the open area, they found the unicorn they had been searching for.  Harry and Ginny froze at the sight of the beautiful creature lying dead in the grass, its silver blood seeping slowly into the ground beneath it.  The unicorn lay on its side, facing away from them, and its elegant neck was thrown back, exposing vicious gashes all around the base of its neck.  One blue eye stared, unseeing, into the sky above the Forbidden Forest.

“That’s the saddest thing I could ever imagine,” Ginny whispered, her eyes filling.  “I’ve seen pictures of unicorns, and I always wanted to see a real one because they were just so beautiful.  She took a deep, shuddering breath.  But this… this is… “

“An abomination,” Harry finished.

Fred stepped into the clearing cautiously, and Harry and Ginny followed him.  Just as Fred raised his wand to summon Hagrid, the same slithering, rustling sound came from the bushes at the side of the clearing.  All three of them turned to look in that direction, and Fred stepped in front of Ginny as he pointed his wand towards the source of the noise.  As they watched, something crept out from under a bush and circled to the far side of the unicorn.

Fang yelped loudly behind them and ran back into the forest.  Harry and Ginny raised their wands, but they had no idea what they were seeing.

The creature crawled close to the ground, and it was covered in a ragged black cloak.  When it reached the unicorn’s ravaged neck, it raised its head, and the three Gryffindors watched as it lowered its face, still hidden under the hood, to the unicorn’s seeping wound.  Horrible wet slurping sounds carried across the clearing as the monstrosity drank greedily from the silver liquid.  Then it raised its head, smacking its lips loudly, and turned towards Harry.  The unicorn’s blood shone softly where it ran down the creature’s chin and onto the front of its cloak, but its features were still hidden.

Pain exploded from Harry’s scar.  He and Ginny both screamed, their voices mingling as they fell to their knees.  Harry collapsed sideways to the ground, curled into a tight ball with his hands pressed against his forehead.  Ginny took a heaving breath and leaned over him as she screamed again, struggling to separate the searing pain in his forehead from her own senses.  She opened her eyes, focusing on the sight of her knees pressing into the cold, damp ground, and she carefully concentrated on feeling the soil beneath her.

Gasping as the pain receded slightly, she looked up to see the creature stand up and step over the unicorn’s head, approaching them with slow, wavering steps.  Ginny raised her wand shakily, but Harry’s pain was still too intense for her to concentrate on any type of spell.

Fred waved his wand strongly, but before he could speak the words of a spell, a stream of dark purple fire shot out of the creature’s cloak towards his chest.  Desperately, Fred leapt to the side. The flames missed him by scant inches, but he stumbled, slid in the damp grass, and fell heavily.  Ginny could not see what happened when he landed, but her brother did not get up from the ground.

Then, with a sound like thunder, something leapt over them from behind and stood between the three students and the monster.  Ginny recognised the creature as a centaur as it reared up on its hind legs and brought its front hooves crashing to the ground in front of the swaying black figure.  The dark shape released a sound that was half-hiss, half-grunt, and then it spun and darted away into the forest.

As soon as the creature turned away, the pain in Harry’s scar began to recede, and Ginny was able to think and function again.  She reached down and wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck, reassuring him with her presence even as her tears fell onto his face.

It’s gone, Harry, it’s gone.

Harry took a few deep breaths and was finally able to sit up.  He put an arm around Ginny, and they knelt together for a moment as the last of the pain faded into a distant throbbing.  When they had calmed a bit, Harry and Ginny opened their eyes.

The palomino centaur was standing near the corpse of the unicorn, watching them patiently with his hands held open at his sides.  He met their gazes and then stepped forward.  Carefully, he put a hand on each of their shoulders and helped them to their feet.

As soon as she was standing, Ginny darted to Fred’s limp form and peered anxiously at his face as she held his wrist.  Probing carefully with the fingers of her free hand, she found a growing lump on the back of his head and a rock on top of the soil.  There was no blood in his hair, though, which reassured her slightly.

He’s alive, but unconscious, she announced, but then she bit her lip in worry.  Dad said the spell to wake people up is dangerous if we don’t know how to do it properly.

Okay, Ginny, Harry soothed her, kneeling next to her and putting a gentle hand on her arm.  He’ll be fine.  Hagrid will know what to do.

The centaur crossed towards them and said, “Are you alright?”

Harry nodded jerkily as Ginny straightened Fred’s arms to make him more comfortable.  “Yeah, thanks.  Thanks for coming. What… what was that?”

The centaur did not answer.  He looked back and forth between Harry and Ginny, and they watched as his eyes flicked from Harry’s scar, to Ginny’s hair, to their joined hands.  “You are as you should be,” he said at last.  “It is interesting to meet you.

“We must return you to Hagrid.  You should not be alone in the forest, especially not now.  Can you ride?”

“Who are you?” Ginny asked.

“My name is Firenze,” he answered.

“We have to get Fred back to Hagrid,” Ginny insisted.

“I will carry him for you, certainly, but we will find Hagrid more quickly if you ride.”

“Won’t we hurt you?” Harry wondered.

“No, it is no trouble.  You weigh nothing.  Come.”  Ginny and Harry nodded in spite of their confusion.  Firenze knelt down and picked Fred up in his arms, and then Ginny and Harry climbed onto his back.  Ginny sat in front, with her hands on Firenze’s broad shoulders, and Harry rode behind her with his arms around her waist.  As Firenze rose to his feet, more hoofbeats approached the clearing, and Ronan and Bane burst through the undergrowth.

“What are you doing, Firenze?” Bane shouted.  “How can you allow humans to ride you like a common mule?”

“Do you know who this is?” Firenze asked.  “Do you see them?  They have no place in this forest yet, and the sooner they leave it, the better.”

“I want them in the forest no more than you do,” Bane said, “but it is not our role to interfere in their affairs.  We are centaurs!  Our purpose is to watch and know, not to act.”

Firenze reared slightly, forcing Ginny to grip his shoulders tightly as Harry’s arms wrapped more closely around her waist.  “No one may tell me my purpose except the stars,” Firenze insisted.  “That is the centaur’s way.  Do you see that unicorn?  Do you know what its death means?  I do, and I will do what is necessary to prevent the ascension of what lurks in the forest this night.”

With a shake of his white-blond hair, Firenze turned and trotted down the path, back the way Harry and Ginny had come a few minutes before.  He slowed to a brisk walk after a minute, and the two children were able to relax their grips.

“I’m sorry we caused a problem with your friends, Firenze,” Ginny said softly.

“You did not cause a problem,” he replied.  “They made their own problem, as all of us do.”

“What was that thing that killed the unicorn?” Harry wondered.

Firenze halted and lifted his eyes to the sliver of sky visible above them.  “You are sometimes called Harry Potter, are you not?” he asked.

“Err… yes.”

“Do you know what unicorn blood is used for, Harry Potter?”

“No,” Harry answered.

“It is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,” Firenze said. “Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.”

Harry and Ginny shivered slightly.  “Who would do that?” she asked.  “Wouldn’t death be better?”

“To one such as you, yes, it would be,” the centaur replied.  “But to others… what if all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else?  Something that will bring you back to full strength and power.  Something that will mean you can never die naturally.”  He paused for a moment.  “Harry Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?”

“The Philosopher’s Stone!” Ginny cried.  “Of course!  It creates the Elixir of Life! But who would… “

“Can you think of no one who has waited many years to return to power?  Who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?” Firenze asked.

Harry and Ginny froze as he remembered his day with Hagrid in Diagon Alley.  The huge man’s words echoed through their minds. “Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion.  Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.”

Implications multiplied a hundredfold as they considered the possibility.  Unable to sit still any longer, they half-climbed, half-tumbled down from Firenze’s back and moved around him to stare into his eyes from a few feet away, across Fred’s unconscious body.  “You mean that was Voldemort?” Harry whispered.  Firenze opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed it again as running footsteps approached along the path.

“Ginny!  Harry!”  George’s voice shouted from behind them.  The red-haired boy leapt in front of the smaller children, raising his wand at Firenze.  “Stay away from them!” he demanded.  “What have you done to my brother?!”

The centaur lowered Fred to the ground and backed away two steps, but he did not seem concerned otherwise.

“George!” Ginny shouted.  “Back off!”  She stepped in front of him and placed both of her hands on his chest.  She leaned forward, pushing him off-balance.  She glared at him as he straightened, and after looking at her face, George lowered his wand.

Harry walked around them and looked up at Firenze.  “I’m sorry, Firenze.  He didn’t…”

“It is natural, Harry Potter.”

Hagrid came jogging around the bend in the path, carrying Malfoy over one of his shoulders like a small sack of grain and huffing as he rumbled to a stop.  “Are you alrigh’?” he asked breathlessly.  Fang flopped to the ground next to Hagrid’s feet.  “Wha’s happened ter Fred?”

“He fell and hit his head, Hagrid,” Ginny said urgently, “but we don’t know how to wake him.  Can you do it?”

Hagrid shook his shaggy head.  “No, I can’t.  Not safe at all fer me to be castin’ tha’ spell.”

“Well, I can,” George said.  Before anyone could object, he waved his wand and said, “Reenervate.”

“George,” Hagrid said quickly.  “Yer no’ supposed to know tha’ spell ‘til fourth year.”

“Yeah, well,” George said, shrugging slightly as he leaned over his twin.

Fred stirred almost immediately, and with George’s help he got back on his feet.

“Oi, what a headache,” Fred moaned, fingering the back of his head.  “What happened?  Where’s that black thing?”

“Firenze ran it off just after you fell,” Harry explained.  “Then he brought us all back here.”

“You two are alrigh’, then?” Hagrid asked.

“We’re fine, all thanks to Firenze,” Ginny said.  “The unicorn is in a clearing back that way.  I’m sorry, Hagrid, but it’s dead.”

Hagrid set Malfoy on his feet and started down the path again, but he stopped and seemed to notice the centaur for the first time.  “Firenze?”

“Good evening, Hagrid,” the palomino replied sedately.  “It is time for you to return these students to the castle.  Your purpose for the evening has been fulfilled.”

“Err, righ’,” Hagrid said.  “I’ll jus’ check on the unicorn righ’ fas’, then.  You lot – all of yeh – stay here.  George, you keep an eye on ‘em, righ’?”

The twin nodded solemnly, and Hagrid followed the path back towards the clearing and the slain unicorn.

“I bid you good night, Harry Potter,” Firenze said, encompassing Harry and Ginny with his gaze.  “You are safe now.  May your path continue to be oblique.”

“Ahh… thank you,” Harry said.  “Yours, also.”

Firenze smiled slowly.  “Perhaps.”  He turned and pushed through the bushes at the side of the path, walking deeper into the forest.

With the centaur’s departure, George finally relaxed a bit.  Malfoy leaned against a tree trunk and refused to look at any of them, but Harry heard him making dire threats against Hagrid for treating him like so much produce.

“What happened, Ginny?” George asked as Fred rubbed his own temples gently.

She shrugged.  “That’s pretty much it.  We found the unicorn, and that thing Hagrid saw was there, too.  It came after us and shot weird fire at Fred, but he dodged it and hit his head when he fell.  Firenze drove the thing away, and then he brought us back here.”

“What was it that killed the unicorn?”

We can’t let the twins know, never mind Malfoy and Hagrid, Harry reminded her.

“We don’t know,” Ginny said.  “It was dark, and the thing was all black.”

Hagrid returned from the clearing and shook his head sadly.  “Nothin’ ter be done fer the poor beast now,” he said.  “Dunno what killed it, but we’re done fer tonigh’.  C’mon, back to the castle wi’ you lot.”

The trip back to Hogwarts was much faster than the trip into the forest.  They all walked briskly, eager to escape the darkness of the forest, and Fred kept an arm around Ginny’s shoulders the entire way, even though he occasionally rubbed his head with his other hand.

When Malfoy and Hagrid had pulled ahead by a few steps, Ginny leaned up to whisper in her brother’s ear.  “Are you okay, Fred?  Really?”

“Yeah, Ginny, it was just a knock on the head,” he replied.  Glancing down at her fearful eyes, he added, “Oh, right.  Err… for most people, being knocked out is just like being asleep.  It was nothing like what you described from when you were Stunned.  I don’t remember anything.”

“Good,” Ginny said faintly.  “I’m glad it wasn’t… the other way.”  Fred squeezed her shoulders affectionately in reply.

Without a word of explanation, Hagrid escorted them all the way to the entrance hall.  “Run along now, back to yer dormitories,” he said.  They climbed the stairs towards Gryffindor tower, and when Ginny glanced back from the first landing, Hagrid was still standing in the hall, watching them with a fierce, protective look.  Ginny waved at him, thanking him silently, and he nodded gruffly in return.

The four students said their goodnights in the common room, and Harry and Ginny quickly readied themselves for bed. When Ginny had wrapped herself in the Invisibility Cloak and tucked her body against Harry’s side with Bun-bun against her chest, they finally let their minds return to the encounter in the forest.

What are we going to do, Harry?

I don’t know, he replied. Hagrid said that other professors had things guarding the Stone, and Fluffy really is pretty good by himself.

And Dumbledore’s here, Ginny said, completing their thought.

Right. Snape’s no match for Dumbledore, and Firenze made it sound like Voldemort’s too weak to do anything himself.

Almost against his will, Harry remembered Mrs. Weasley telling Ginny and the boys about their twin uncles, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, and their part in the war against Voldemort. Harry could not help feeling a surge of sympathy for the woman who had lost her older brothers so horribly. He thought that, because of Ginny, he could understand how that would make her feel. Perhaps it would not be so different from losing his parents.

They were silent for a few moments. It all seems to happen to me, doesn’t it? Harry asked rhetorically.

It used to, maybe, Ginny said, raising her head to look at him directly. But now it happens to us. We’ll take care of each other, no matter what.

He smiled. Yeah. No matter what.

Ginny lay her head back on his stomach, and the familiar feel of his breathing somehow lulled them both, but it was a long time before they found sleep. For the first time in weeks, they had a nightmare. Something dark, with silvery blood covering its front, slithered towards them over and over, accompanied by familiar green light, wrenching screams, and endlessly cruel laughter.